Sleep was a bitch. Bloody thing wouldn't come when she thought she needed it the most.
Stretching her limbs in irritation, she unwrapped her self from the warm comforters and sat upright, trying to get her sight back from the eternal darkness.
Once her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting, Blair fixed her camisole and pyjamas which were displaced from their original position.
Standing up, she walked over to the glass doors opening to the balcony and stood there staring at the starless sky for a few moments. It had been long since she had last been on the rooftop. She couldn't be more grateful that she chose the room on the first floor with a balcony and a direct connection to the roof. Her dad had had settled with the room downstairs, happily granting both the rooms upstairs to the females of the family.
She opened the sliding door and walked outside, only to have her hair all over her face due to the gushing wind but she loved the feeling which was something she was usually annoyed of.
Her eyes stretched over to the horizon, in spite of it being invisible due to the unavailability of sunlight. The suburban landscape glimmered like an empty night sky with a few lone stars. Little street lights illuminated between huge patches of green. Windows of houses slowly glittered off, signalling that people had fallen asleep. The little sources of luminescence that coruscated had an enthralling effect on her. The full moon shone like it wanted to be brighter than the stars. Like it wanted to be unique and different so that it could cast its light to the very tips of the world. Just like her.
Another gush of wind had her shivering and consequently, her arms wrapped around herself to block any heat from escaping. The idea of getting a thin hoodie struck her and she shook her head at her ignorance of not thinking about it before.
Wasting no time, she hurried in and searched through her wardrobe for something warm when her eyes landed on a faded hoodie in the corner. Perfect. Quickly covering her camisole-clad torso, she trotted back to the balcony feeling much better thanks to her newfound warmth.
She looked over at the rusty old ladder that was attached to the roof from her balcony. She had always been so grateful that her room had that ladder and not her parents'. She could get on the roof anytime, undetected, to gaze at the stars amidst the tranquillity. If it were up to her, she'd have her room up there.
Gripping onto the above treads of the ladder, she hauled herself up each step gracefully. She had been doing this so frequently- since the day her dad had taught her- that nervousness had vanished without a trace. It didn't take an ounce of effort anymore.
She held onto the edges of the roof and pulled her body upwards so that she could place her left foot on the slope. Without loosening her hold, she brought her right foot up as well and Voila! She was done.
Taking a deep breath, she laid down her body on the hard surface, which should have been uncomfortable but surprisingly wasn't.
She stretched her limbs in such a way that her body now resembled a starfish. This was the most comfortable position to sleep in, but could not be accomplished on her bed due to the lack of space.
The wind tickled her toes making her giggle like a little girl. She loved being up here. She felt free like a bird who had been caged for eternity but was now let to fly.
The whole day was a cage, suffocating her every moment. She wasn't given a chance to show her talent at the office. Her home environment wasn't great either. Her dad's... death had taken a huge toll on both of them. And so far, both of them hadn't been able to move on. Mostly her mom.
She closed her eyes and deeply sighed. Her mind always swirled with such emotional thoughts whenever she was on the roof, alone. But she found her solace, her space here. The serenity that this place offered was like no other.
Just as she thought she could finally catch that long lost sleep, a whiff of undesirable smoke swept her nose. Cringing immediately, she bolted to a sitting position to know where the bloody smell came from. It annoyed her to the moon and back that something as worse as a cigarette disturbed her relaxation process. She recognized the smell very well, for she had been in quite a close contact with for the past few days.
Her boss had smoked cigarettes like he was inhaling oxygen. Former boss, she corrected her thoughts. It had actually triggered a few fire alarms.
The sound of footsteps made her turn her head towards the cause. Slowly and carefully, she crept over to the edge of the roof to see who it could be at this time of the night. From her angle, all she could see was a guy, with a good physique might she add, climbing up the roof of her neighbour's house effortlessly. He was climbing on the pipes, for God's sake! And he did it with such fluent moves, that you might assume him to be a thief. But his clothes proved otherwise. You don't really see thieves steal stuff in the latest collection of U.S Polo t-shirts and Tommy Hilfiger jeans, do you? She could recognize brands from far. She wasn't into fashion for nothing.
And besides, there weren't many thieves in Allestree. It was a joyous and calm neighbourhood with a bunch of lively people all seeming content with their own lives.
She watched as, within seconds, he was on the other roof. He walked over a little to the centre and sat down with one of his hands supporting his well-built body, while his long legs stretched out in front of him giving her a pretty damn sight of his toned calf muscles. His other hand held the same disgusting cigarette which literally sucked out her enchantment. Major turnoff.
He looked a lot like her neighbour she'd seen a few times. Funny how she always thought he was a geek. Repairing electronic stuff for people around the neighbourhood and all.
Her eyes travelled up to his face- lingering a bit by his abs in hopes to burn the fabric so she could get a sight- and she almost swooned out loud. He had this really indescribable rugged look which had her rapt. He was turned towards the landscape, the one she had been observing her a while ago, giving a pretty clear sight of his chiselled jawline, sharp nose and doe-like eyes which were currently looking at the view in disgust. She wondered why.
In between wondering, she never noticed that his eyes weren't on the view anymore. They were set on something closer. Something just a roof away. Or rather, someone.
When she realised his direction of view, a gentle shiver passed through her body. Then she recognized her position. She was on all fours and looking at him quite keenly. Godammit! Her impression must've been that of an obsessive stalker.
Quickly scrambling to sit back in fairly decent position, her eyes averted from him. But his eyes never left her. It held the same cold and disgusted expression like he considered her to be some peculiar insect. That elicited another shiver. A not so gentle one.
Hesitantly, she looked back and accidentally made eye contact. She gulped. The situation couldn't have become more awkward.
Wait. Why the hell is this awkward? It's just two people sitting on the rooftops. Why the hell am I feeling so intimidated?
The sudden burst of confidence made her chirp a 'Hi'. He heard it. She knew. But his reply wasn't spontaneous. Like he wanted to humiliate her a little before responding. That was enough to have her seething.
After a while of uncomfortable silence came a grunt from his way. She scoffed at his demeanour. Getting up, she intentionally coughed and clapped her hands a few times to catch his attention. She wanted him to see her leave because of his meanie-prick attitude.
So far, her tries were as successful as trying to drink water using chopsticks. In short, her attempts failed; miserably.
But the partial reason for her departure was the smoky odour. Another minute on top and she'd be puking her guts.
Huffing at the ignorance, she quietly slid down her ladder and walked straight into her room. Warmth and relief surrounded her straightaway. The warmth of the indoors and relief from the cigarette.
Without bothering with her hoodie, she dived straight into her bed and let sleep reign.
~***~
She woke up in her camisole. The hoodie had been too warm so she had a slight memory of throwing it away in the middle of the night. And she was right. It sure was lying in the middle of her room.
Groaning, she got up from her comfortable bed and picked up the warm piece of cloth. Throwing it into her closet, she set off to get ready.
~
She judged herself in front of the mirror. She let her brown hair loose which in an odd way, complimented her hazel eyes. She had on a blue, tight-fitting dress with a little slit at the bottom. It reached her knees. She paired it with white heels which weren't too high. High heels made her fall.
The proud look on her face signified that this dress was special. It was her first design- her own- which she loved, so it held a special place in her heart.
Last night had felt like a blur. Her sleep had been so deep that she was left in doubt whether the events that occurred were a dream or not. She decided to think about it later.
She made sure that her hair covered the little bald spot behind her ears and headed downstairs thinking about what they had yet to bring. Her mother stood in the kitchen trying to get the toaster to work.
"Is it stuck again?" Blair enquired.
Her mother jumped on the sudden intrusion and turned around. Sophia Casella's eyes were stuck on her daughter.
Blair raised an eyebrow at her mother's dumbfounded expression but then she noticed her mother's eyes welling up.
"Oh my god, mom, why are you crying? What's wrong?" She rushed to her mother and hugged her trying to console her. Her mother looked like she could cry her a river.
"Nothing hon," taking deep breaths, her mother continued. "You look so beautiful. You just reminded me of your father."
Blair's face fell. They wouldn't normally talk about her late father because it made both of them the stereotypical emotional wife and daughter of a dead man. It was a sensitive topic and they tended to avoid it as much as possible.
"I'll go change," She announced, her words lost of the happiness she was full of moments ago.
Her mother pulled her back by her hand as she turned around to go to her room.
"No dear! You look amazing or- what do you kids call it these days?-uh... uh, fantabulous or uh uh-" The mother stammered.
"I'm not a kid!" The daughter playfully whined. She was surprised to see this side of her mother.
Both of then burst into chuckles. Blair's face turned a bit serious as she got ready to tell her mother her day's plans.
"I'm going for another interview for an internship. I might be kinda late, judging by my recent struggles," She informed, sadly.
Her mother smiled the same heartwarming ear-to-ear motherly smile and brushed her hand through Blair's hair. She found herself missing her mother's tenderness and leaned into her touch.
"Your father..." Sophia started. Blair stiffened. "He taught you never to give up. Don't be disheartened, child. You work hard. Now up you go. Get up. Up up up," She encouraged.
Smiling back, Blair stood straight and grabbed her purse, which she had brought along and had left on the tabletop to console her mother.
"I'll have my breakfast on the way," She shouted and tried to rush out the house as fast as possible on her heels. Her sudden encounter with her mother put her in a good mood. It felt odd to talk to her mother so, so normally after a long time, that her heart couldn't stop soaring with affection.
On her way out, she saw another figure exit her neighbouring house at the same time. The geeky one? She didn't know. So she turned towards him to have a look.
Same build. Same hair. Same angular face. Same broad chest but his eyes were covered with spectacles. His rough look had vanished as if last night, she had seen an entirely different person. He looked the same but he managed to look entirely different. A good looking different.
She suddenly felt the need to clarify something more important.
"H-hey! You! Geek boy!" She called out to him. Maybe his reply would be same as last night. The Grunt.
"Oh hey! Neighbour?" Came his overjoyed reply. Entirely polar opposite from the grunt.
What the heck?
"Blair!" She snapped. She was confused. Hence, she was frustrated. And frustration made her angry. Who likes their brain going haywire?
He lifted his hands in surrender. She scrutinized his palms in an attempt to look for cigarette traces. No luck. She frowned. His hands were as innocent as a baby's!
She looked back up at his face to see his lips parted and his gaze down on her legs.
"Eyes up here!" She barked and motioned towards her eyes. But his attractiveness made her heart flutter. And to think of him even giving her a speck of attention took the fluttering to a whole new level.
His gaze flickered but he eventually found his focal point. He grinned cheekily like a naughty child.
Don't faint. Get to the point.
"What's up with you huh? Last night you were on the roof with all that bad boyish look and now you look like a geek. Who are you? And geeks don't smoke-" she prattled.
"You're a geeks-ist," He remarked, interrupted her.
"Shut up and answer my question. Who are you?" She ordered.
Half of her rant was the result of the confusion and the other half because of his shallow reply the night ago.
"I'm Keith Jones." He replied, calmly.
"How old are you?"
"I'm 25."
"Where do you work?" This had started to feel like a police enquiry.
"At a hardware store down the street. I sometimes repair things for people around here. I'm good with all kinds of computer stuff. But why are you asking?"
Ignoring his question, she drifted back to her thoughts. So she was right, he was a geek. But then she was wrong, he wasn't a bad boy. She looked him up and down, while his face formed smirks.
His answers and attire didn't make him seem like someone rowdy. What kind of a bad boy wears a blue and white chequered a shirt paired with white khaki trousers? The outfit was something designed for an old man with his tummy trying to spew out of the pants, not for a handsome epitome of good looks!
"Do you do drugs?" She raised her voice to an accusatory tone. For some ridiculous reason, she expected him to say the truth.
His eyes widened into saucers. Innocence? Panic? Blair couldn't point her fingers at the look.
"N-no! I don't smoke, no drugs, no any kind of illegal stuff. You must be dreaming if you think that." He negated and waved his hand in dismissal.
Her eyebrows furrowed in uncertainty. She folded her arms, pondering over what ge- Keith, had just said.
Maybe last night was a dream. Maybe the guy wasn't real. The grunt, the disgusted expression, the narrowed gaze.
But she remembered it all. She could hardly ever recall dreaming. She remembered her shivers in spite of wearing the hoodie. She wasn't dreaming.
But then, she couldn't recollect putting on that hoodie.
"So was I really dreaming?" She mumbled lowly to herself, not quite aware of her surroundings.
Suddenly, she felt a warm breath very close to her neck from behind her. She stiffened in alarm. Goosebumps spread all over her folded bare arms and her eyes closed at the foreign, but euphoric feeling. She didn't have to open them to know who it was. There had been no one else around.
"None of it was a dream," The same rough and rugged voice from last night whispered in a thick, raspy tone.
Once she felt the presence leave her back, she whisked around immediately. But unfortunately, she hadn't been quick enough for the guy was already walking away whistling to himself as if nothing happened. Neither this nor last night.
|||||| END OF CHAPTER 2 ||||||
Countless hours and 1% battery later, the chapter is finally done.
Okay, on a serious note, my fingers are numb. But anyway, I'm ecstatic that I finally finished with this.
Note: This will have errors.
And if you think it's moving a bit too fast then let me apologize, but it has to because this one will be a long ride.
Hope you like it.
Word Count- 2873 words (😩 I know.)
Pears🍐