It had become a new routine

Wake up. Make coffee. Get dressed. Go to the window for a little meet and greet.

Seeing her across the street in her apartment gave him a spark—so to speak—to his boring everyday life. A little something to raise his spirits so he could deal with all the assholes in the office.

Oh, how Kester hated that goddamn place! Everyone had their heads so far up their own asses that they didn't see how their holier-than-thou attitude pushed them one step closer to getting a punch in the face and a hospital bill for a much-needed nose job.

This morning was no different. He stood beside his window, steaming coffee in hand. He took a sip, savoring the bitter taste on his tongue. He lived off coffee at this point. Staying long hours in the office demanded it. And all for what? A paycheck only to live a quote-unquote decent life?!

Kester fixed his reading glasses that he'd put on earlier to read an email his boss had sent him about today's meeting. He stared up at a very particular window, waiting for the person living inside to push the curtain aside and look back at him.

Across the street, on the twelfth floor, her window had a perfect view of Kester's seventh-floor apartment.

Finally the curtain slid aside and the familiar figure came into sight through the floor-to-ceiling window, making the sides of Kester's lips curl up into a smile.

It was stupid how much the little silent interaction meant to him. He sometimes wondered if the woman in the window felt the same about their long-distance morning meets.

The same questions did a speed-run through his brain as he failed to provide them with answers.

What's her name?

What does she do for a living?

Why the hell's there a giant sword hanging on the wall?

And so, so many more.

Kester was curious about her. Not in an obsessive way. More in a... 'I-want-to-get-to-know-the-woman-staring-down-back-at-me-everyday' kind of way.

Their window meets remained just that, and so his questions remained unanswered.

Every day they'd stay there for a few minutes before going back to their lives, leaving those small moments of silence at the back of their minds to deal with their own shit.

As his watch beeped, Kester looked at the time. He took off his glasses and stepped away from the window with a nod, going to work. The business meeting did not go as planned. Everything was out of order, and needless to say, they lost a very important client. His boss, upset about the whole thing, sent everyone home for the day. The upside of a failed money-making deal.

When he got home, he picked up the pack of cigarettes from the coffee table. Putting one between his lips, he lit it. Kester could already hear his mom screaming at him if she saw him smoking. A ridiculous habit he'd picked up a few months ago to deal with the stress from work.

His eyes fell on the window. 'Is she there?' he thought.

With a heavy heart, he pulled the curtain aside, looking up at that familiar window. The lights were on. She was home. He wasn't religious, but he prayed to whatever higher power there was to bring her to that window. A simple glance would be enough for him. To step into the pocket world he'd created with his nameless stranger.

It must've been his lucky day because she did. She came to the window like a sign from above that not everything in the world wanted to screw him over.

Kester smiled a stupid grin. He saw her look his way, and his brain short-circuited.

He raised his hand to give her a wave.

What the fuck was he doing?!

"Please wave back," Kester muttered under his breath. He kept his hand up, leaving the cigarette unattended between his lips, hoping to get a reaction.

She waved back. She waved back!

His stupid heart started pounding in his chest. What was he? A teenager with raging hormones?!

"Okay... What do I do now? Jesus... Fuck!" Kester hadn't really planned anything out for after the hello gesture. He just kept staring like an idiot.

He scoffed at his own antics, putting the cigarette between his two fingers, exhaling the smoke.