An Episode on a Hotel Rooftop

{Author's note: I am not responsible for the actions and remarks of the characters in this piece. Nor am I responsible for events leading up to this episode on this particular hotel rooftop. Like you my dear reader, whoever you may be, I am clueless as to what is happening here. If you would happen to possess any information which may be crucial in helping me understand these goings-on, kindly communicate it in the comments section underneath. Kind regards.}

"Sit down," she said abruptly, her voice tinged in suppressed frustration. She took in a deep breath, and the icy wind rushed through her parted lips as if seeking shelter from the night, draining the little colour left in her cheeks. She appeared ice sculpture-esque, if not for the fact that her fingers spasmed every time she tried resisting her instinctive shivers. In an airy whisper she pleaded, "Please?" He saw the resolution in her eyes and reluctantly sat down, legs dangling over the hotel building. Looking down he saw the vertical lane of protruding hotel room balconies, warm yellow light pouring out of some. Each of these temporary abodes enclosed a medley of lives. A few individuals with heads settled on pillows knowingly or unknowingly explored the realm of the sub-conscious, while others feasted on decadent cocktails and vintage wines, the best the hotel had to offer. Elsewhere, razor blades were at the ready near small snowy heaps, and discarded designer fashion label lingerie lay at the foot of king-sized beds where pay-per-hour prostitutes were attending to wealthy senior businessmen, helping them relieve the stress of their inherited corporate empires.

Sitting on top of this microcosmic monument of human life, he took it all in. The suit he was wearing felt restricting. He impulsively pulled his shirt out of his trousers, and unbuttoned it at the top. Not much better, but better nonetheless.

She gazed at him momentarily, understanding what he was going through, yet simultaneously conscious that her time was almost up; soon dawn would come. She needed to get this done with now, there was no 'then' anymore. She took off her high heels, lifted the hem of her gown in order to bend her knees, and cautiously sat next to him. Her toes curled with the exhilaration of dangling her feet over such an abysmal drop. She had to catch her breath. She could feel that irrational voice inside enticing her to fulfil curiosity and experience the fall. Not tonight though, maybe there will be some other time, in another lifetime perhaps.

"Look, about tonight," she began deliberately, "it is important that you know I was only trying to help."

"Some help you've been," he retorted.

She knew he was angry with her but was still taken aback by the harshness in his voice. "That's unfair. You were the one who begged and begged me to show you what I knew. I warned you, once I showed you there was no turning back. You can't unknow knowledge like that."

"But you cheated me. You made me believe it was something real, something ..," he struggled to find the words for what he now understood and knew.

"Well it is real," she cut in quickly, seeing him stuck. Time was ticking. "Just maybe not what you would've normally defined as real," she let that seep in. "Listen, you also need to know this. I had explained to you that I was instructed to share my knowledge with one person, only one person, a person the Others and myself agreed upon, someone we believed would be ready." She really wished she could get away with not mentioning the next part, but that would just make his situation worse. "This is extremely hard for me to explain to you, but it is vital that you know."

"Know what?"

"Well that ... that you were not the intended one. The Others haven't got a clue that I ignored all prior deliberation and agreements."

"What?" he was aghast. The burden he would now have to endure the duration of his life could have been prevented if not for a sudden whim? "Then why the hell did you choose me? Christ, I know I begged, but if you are who you say you are, then surely you would have known I was not ready for this. I can't deal with this."

"It was something you said to me that made me change my mind." This, she was hoping, would convince him that her decision hadn't been mindless. "Remember that first night we met at The Apache? We went out for a cigarette and talked about that girl from your office, the one who hung herself because of the way this city is changing, the way people are being treated. You had no sympathy for her, you were angry with what she had done.” She realised he was beginning to comprehend where she was going with this; she continued determinedly, “I asked you how do you know you wouldn’t bail on life if it gave you a wrong hand. You answered ...”

“... I just do,” he finished her sentence off for her. He had said that. He had been so convinced at the time; a mere 5 months ago. How life had changed since then.

“I’m sorry,” she picked up, and followed with a hollow laugh, “I am gonna be in so much trouble when the Others find out. You have no idea.” She would probably be excommunicated, in exile for the rest of her ... well not life, existence? “Somehow I think this is going to work out, you are going to figure this out.” She put her hand on top of his and squeezed it gently, he felt calm. For a while they sat looking out over the city, letting the city lights and sounds take over their minds. Even at this hour cabs were still pulling up to the hotel entrance, the concierge busy welcoming guests and calling porters to take care of any luggage. The odd wave of music would come floating by; the murky bass of nearby underground electronica clubs, improvised jazz phrasings from nocturnal city buskers, and the smutty chanting of intoxicated youths, all merged with car horns and police sirens.

A lustful red gleam could now be seen dead ahead, its molten fringe softly drinking up the dark velvet in the sky. “Lana shall we go back down now?” his eyes were still locked on the metamorphosing skyline. She didn’t answer. “Lana?” But there was no one there. She was gone and he knew intuitively that he would never see her again. He was now in this alone. He took a final glance down the side of the hotel – tempting - got up and walked across the rooftop to the fire exit he had forced open earlier, pulling the door shut behind him.