The Rooftop Window

The first time Nina saw him, he was watering basil.

That was disappointingly ordinary.

Her new apartment faced another building across a narrow service lane. Six floors up, the rooftops were almost level. Most evenings Nina worked beside her open window because the September air was finally warm enough.

Across the lane, a man appeared on the opposite rooftop at roughly the same time.

Basil. Folding chair. Beer.

For a week they ignored each other politely.

Then he waved.

Nina waved back.

The next evening he held up a cardboard sign.

HELLO, WINDOW PERSON.

Nina laughed and wrote on the back of a delivery box.

HELLO, BASIL PERSON.

That was how it began.

His name was Leo. Thirty-four. Nina was thirty-two.

They communicated badly across the gap until Leo wrote his number in enormous digits.

Nina texted:

YOUR BASIL LOOKS UNWELL.

Leo: PERSONAL ATTACK.

Their messages became an evening habit.

Neither crossed the lane.

Neither suggested meeting downstairs.

The distance was part of the pleasure.

One Friday Nina came home late from drinks and found Leo sitting on the rooftop.

He texted:

YOU’RE DRUNK.

Nina: SLANDER.

Leo: YOU WAVED AT A CHIMNEY.

She laughed.

Then she noticed he was shirtless.

Not remarkable.

Except she had never seen him shirtless before.

Nina leaned against the window frame.

Nina: SHOW-OFF.

Leo looked at his phone.

Then across at her.

Leo: YOU’RE LOOKING.

Nina stared at the message.

Nina: YOU’RE VISIBLE.

Leo: DIFFERENT THING.

He was right.

The distinction stayed with her.

The following evening Nina changed beside the open window.

Not naked.

Not accidentally either.

She removed her work blouse and stood in her bra for several seconds before pulling on a T-shirt.

Her phone buzzed.

Leo: WAS THAT FOR ME?

Nina smiled.

Nina: MAYBE.

Leo: DANGEROUS ANSWER.

Nina: YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR CURTAINS.

Leo: I DON’T HAVE CURTAINS ON THE ROOF.

Nina: TRAGIC.

The game sharpened.

Nothing hidden.

Nothing stolen.

If either wanted privacy, they simply closed the window or stayed inside.

Instead, they became more visible.

Leo exercised on the rooftop in the evenings.

Nina started reading at the window wearing less than she ordinarily would.

One night she wore a silk robe and nothing beneath it.

Leo knew because she told him.

Leo: THAT INFORMATION SEEMS UNNECESSARY.

Nina: THEN FORGET IT.

Leo: IMPOSSIBLE.

She opened the robe slightly.

Across the lane, Leo stopped moving.

Nina: STILL THINK IT WAS UNNECESSARY?

Leo: NO.

She closed it again.

The power of the distance surprised her.

He could look.

He could not touch.

Every extra centimetre of skin belonged entirely to her decision.

Three nights later Leo texted:

CAN I ASK SOMETHING DIRECT?

Nina: YES.

Leo: DO YOU WANT ME TO WATCH YOU?

She appreciated the question more than she expected.

Nina: YES.

A pause.

Nina: DO YOU WANT ME TO WATCH YOU?

Leo: VERY MUCH.

Nina locked her apartment door.

Then she opened the window completely.

Leo was already on the rooftop.

Nina stepped into view wearing the robe.

She let it fall.

Across the lane, Leo stood absolutely still.

Nina was naked.

She folded her arms.

Her phone buzzed.

Leo: YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL.

Nina: YOUR TURN.

Leo put the phone down.

He removed his shorts.

No underwear.

Nina laughed softly.

He was already hard.

Her phone buzzed again.

Leo: SUBTLE, I KNOW.

Nina: VERY.

She sat on the wide window ledge, safely inside the room, and opened her legs.

Leo’s hand wrapped around his cock.

Nina watched him stroke once.

Slowly.

She touched herself.

For several minutes neither used the phone.

They did not need it.

The lane between them became the entire point.

Nina slid two fingers over her clit while watching Leo’s hand move up and down his shaft.

He watched her spread herself open.

She could see his breathing change even from across the gap.

Her own became shallow.

Leo picked up the phone with his free hand.

Leo: CAN I SEE MORE?

Nina looked at him.

Then she shifted closer to the window and lifted one leg onto the ledge.

Her fingers moved between her folds.

Leo’s hand sped up.

Nina: LIKE THAT?

Leo: FUCK YES.

She laughed.

Then pushed two fingers inside herself.

Leo leaned against the rooftop wall, still stroking.

Nina watched his cock disappear into his fist and emerge again.

The visual made her wetter.

She used her thumb on her clit.

Leo’s phone lit.

Nina: DON’T COME YET.

He read it.

Stopped.

Then raised both hands in theatrical surrender.

Nina grinned.

She kept going.

Her orgasm built under the pressure of being watched exactly because she had chosen every part of it.

When she came, she bit her lip and held his gaze across the lane.

Leo picked up his phone.

Leo: NOW?

Nina: NOW.

He stroked himself quickly.

Nina watched him come across his stomach.

Afterwards they remained where they were, naked and laughing across six metres of empty air.

Leo texted:

COFFEE TOMORROW?

Nina considered.

Meeting would change the game.

Maybe that was fine.

Nina: 10AM. DOWNSTAIRS.

Leo: FINALLY.

Nina: WEAR CLOTHES.

Leo: RUDE.

She closed the window.

Not because she was finished with being seen.

Because tomorrow, for the first time, he would be close enough to touch.