Stars | completed

33. The Dead End

name:- The Dead End
word count:- 4500 words
published on:- 8th December, 2019

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[ unedited ]

N A N D I N I

Next day,
Early afternoon,
After the presentation:

"I don't believe I'm here!" I say, my eyes twinkling as I kept staring at the Eiffel Tower in front of me. It was beautiful in photos, but the actual body was even more beautiful then I had imagined. It was tall, made of wrought-iron, and easily reflected back the blue sky, making it shine.

I always wanted to visit the Eiffel Tower at night, but it looked equally heavenly during the day. What made the experience even more surreal was my hand that was held firmly in the hand of the man I love, our fingers entwined.

I had worn my favourite dark red dress, which was long, covering my legs to the ground, and had a long slit on my right leg till the thigh, along with hoop earrings. I felt slightly overdressed, but Manik was wearing a tux too, and it was him who asked me to dress this formally.

I had asked him a total of ten times until now, for the first four times he told me it was a surprise, and then ignored me for the next four times. On the ninth time, he glared at me, telling me he'd send me to nursery because I clearly did not know the meaning of surprise. The last time I asked him, he told me he wanted to push me from the top, and I was dressed so that I could look nice on my funeral. I didn't ask him after that.

A small surprise awaited me as we went upstairs and instead of stepping out on the common floor from where you can look out at the whole of Paris, we stopped on the floor below that.

I looked at Manik with questioning eyes, but he just smiled proudly as the elevator doors opened, and we stepped out into an apartment.

An apartment?

It was like a one room- apartment, with long glass windows that overlooked below. The living room wasn't as furnished as it should've been, the wall was half painted and there was a ladder, indicating the painting work was still on. Nonetheless, the other half, next to the window, was all done. There was a table of two with rose petals and a candle in the centre.

"Manik?," I asked in shock as we stepped inside. This was beautiful, but, shocking. I couldn't figure the right words to say.

"The Eiffel Tower opened apartments on this floor a few years ago, and my friend bought one recently. I had helped him set up his new business generously a few years ago, and when I asked him if I could use the apartment for a lunch, he agreed and insisted to do all of this for us. It's not me, it's him," he grinned sheepishly as he led us to the table, pulled out a chair and tucked me in before sitting opposite to me.

I still felt too dumbfounded to speak a word, and only broke out of the bubble when a lady approached from inside.

"Champagne?" She asked with a polite smile and a bottle in her hand. Manik nodded, and she turned the glasses to give us some.

"This is awesome," I said, my eyes twinkling. Still unbelievable... and that's what my life had been since I stepped into London, but this was... too good to be true perhaps. I was in the place I have been dreaming about for so long, sitting in a luxurious private apartment with the love of my life, eating lunch and having champagne while having a good look at most of Paris.

This was more than a dream.

The love of my life. I have never ever called Manik that, even to myself, but now that I think of it, I think he is the love of my life. I don't think I'll ever be able to love anyone as much as I love him, and it's not about the things he does for me, it's about how he makes me feel.. as if the universe was made only so that I and him can exist and meet and love.