Our story stars a couple, let's not get into the nitty-gritty details and just call them Husband one and husband two. So these young adventurous people, go ahead and pull a stunt like getting hitched right in the middle of a pandemic. It's one thing to carry on a dim-witted idea to begin with, but during a pandemic? You gotta be kidding me, right? A whole new level of lunacy, I say.
Right, they somehow managed to succeed in tolerating one another without ripping each other's hair for a whole year. That needed authentication, like a dinner on the town. Like most of us, they had stayed indoors, no social interactions, no going out uselessly, working from home, etc, etc. But come on, one long year demanded a fancy sushi restaurant meal, in the central business district, not far from where they lived.
The evening of the so-called date, Husband one as always, minimalist that he was, didn't bother spending time on dressing up. He opted for a simple white linen shirt, khaki pants, and a pair of light-weight canvas shoes. It was a warm night after all and he was certain the walk guaranteed sweat. Of course, he felt a million bucks after having dressed for more than a year in shorts and t-shirts, he sat smug in front of the tv. He watched a rerun of the French Open, Nadal vs Federer, two of the greatest tennis players of all times.
Husband two, on the other hand, soaked in a luxurious bath with camomile and lavender bath salts then moisturized with shea butter. He deliberated for 15 minutes on his outfit and finally settled on a burgundy pantsuit with a white crew neck. He paired it with black block-heeled shoes.
Certainly, he felt more than a million bucks.
Eventually, just before 7, they left their apartment on Hobson street. Generally, the walk to the Observation tower would take less than 10 minutes from their place. They chose to walk the longer route and took the bay walk. It was dimly lit and was devoid of any other walkers. They walked hand in hand, leisurely. There was hardly any breeze and soon it was stifling, what with the masks on. Abruptly, H2 turned around letting go of H1's hand.
"Did you forget something?" asked H1.
"No. Didn't you hear that?" H2 replied.
H1 asked puzzled, " Hear what?"
"I thought I heard someone calling out for help..." H2 trailed off.
"Huh? Really? I didn't hear anything." H1 said reaching H2's hand and continuing to walk pulling H2 with him.
H1 talked about his work and how he had to convince his boss for the next big idea. H2 listened half lost in his own thoughts. They reached the tower which was a major attraction in the CBD. It was a massive building of 50 floors with an observation deck at the top and a revolving restaurant.
The sushi place they intended to go to was on the 6th floor and usually was a busy place but tonight, there were no long queues of customers waiting to be seated. Thanks to the pandemic, businesses everywhere were taking a grisly beating. Almost immediately they were taken to their table and the waiter seemed more than happy to attend to them. H1 tipped the waiter for a surprise sake for H2. The chef sent out a complimentary kappa maki accompanied with shoyu and wasabi along with the sake. That was the best dish they had all night. They enjoyed the meal immensely and with no more room for dessert, paid the tab and left the restaurant. They did not take the elevator instead went to the escalator. It was past 9 and all the shops were closed. They saw a security guard making his routine checks on the 5th floor. Other than that, it seemed as if there was not a single soul around. On the 4th floor, H2 spotted a flower shop window with an exquisite collection of rare flowers. He got off the escalator and walked towards the store. He moved from one bouquet to another. The corridor was eerily quiet. H1 called after H2 to move but H2 was transfixed staring into the shop window. H1 stood restlessly tapping his foot. The tapping echoed in the corridor. He whistled nervously and looked out the window and froze. He saw a ghostly white shape out in the dark alley below edging slowly towards the tower building. Realizing H1 stopped whistling suddenly, H2 looked at him. Following his fear-stricken gaze, he turned to the place where there was a white form suspended in an angle moving creepily towards them. There was an ear-piercing, blood-curdling scream followed by a thundering deafening echo of running. H2 turned around to see H1 had fled the scene. God bless the brave soul!
H2 moved closer to the window, his block heels clicking on the hard stone floor only to see a construction crane on the ground below carrying a marble statue of a woman.
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