Shyness

Shyness.

Life is in full swing in high-rise buildings built in big cities. Hundreds of thousands of people live here, busy with the concerns of life, in buildings ranging in size from four stories to one hundred stories. In these buildings, everyone is condemned to live in a limited space called an apartment.If this area is larger, then you can make all kinds of entertainment rooms in this apartment to relax and spend your free time, otherwise you will definitely suffocate in a narrow room, inside a cramped wall.In such cases, the “Balcony” - the so-called rescuer - will help you. When you're suffocating in a cramped apartment, going out onto the balcony to drink a cold drink or smoke a cigarette, or just look around, will help you relax. There is another side, if the multi-storey building where you live is open, then you can relax only if you see further places, and that is, there are houses that are built very close to each other, at a distance of 10-15 meters. From the balcony of these buildings, you will only see the building in front of you and feel even worse.
Daria also lived in one of these buildings. Since his apartment was one-room, she always went out to the balcony and read books. She loved to read. Daria worked as a nurse in a hospital, working four days a week and spending the rest of the days at home.
More than twenty years have passed since she moved here with her mother; they previously lived in another city. Because his mother got sick, they sold the previous apartment and bought this apartment for half the money. His mother was treated with the remaining money, but this treatment did not help her, and two years later his mother died. Since then, Daria has lived alone, unmarried, she had two or three affairs, but none of them proposed. At the moment, Daria is forty-two years old, every day goes the same way: she goes to work, goes out to the balcony and reads a book.
A week ago, a new neighbor appeared on the balcony of the house opposite Daria’s house. He went out onto the balcony to have a drink, smoke cigarettes and occasionally glanced at Daria, who was reading a book.
This man was Nikola, who had recently bought and moved into an apartment opposite Daria's house. Nikola used to live with his mother, wife and daughter. Nikola's wife divorced after ten years of marriage and took her daughter with her.
Nikola worked as a school teacher and lived with his mother since childhood. After his marriage, he continued to live with his mother. Nikola’s wife was very capricious, she always didn’t like something, she was dissatisfied with something, and in the end she divorced Nikola. Nikola continued to live with his mother. When his mother told him to “get married again,” he said, “Yes, I will, if I can find one.” Fifteen years have passed since then, during which Nikola’s mother died, and he was left alone in a large three-room apartment.
A couple of colleagues told Nicola that “we should go to a resort, it’s easy to meet people and get married there.” He believed them, sold his apartment and bought his current one-room apartment. With the remaining money, he went to a resort, but even there he was not lucky enough to meet and marry. And now he lives alone in his new one-room apartment.
Nikola came home from work, ate and went out onto the balcony to smoke cigarettes and drink cold drinks, but never drank alcohol. His classmates taught him to smoke cigarettes when he was a student, and he tried to drink all types of alcohol, but Nikola did not like it at all. Since then, Nikola smoked cigarettes, but did not drink alcohol at all.
When Nikola went out onto the balcony and looked around, he saw a woman on the balcony of the house opposite, constantly reading a book (it was Daria). He felt that she was as lonely as he was, and he watched him carefully. Nikola gradually got used to this situation; if Daria was on the balcony, he would smoke on the balcony for a long time, and if Daria was not on the balcony, Nikola felt that something was missing and went into the room.
Daria was glad that a lonely man appeared on the balcony of the house opposite and looked at her. She also looked at the man from the side, and when she saw that he was looking at her, she blushed with embarrassment, but was very happy.
These observations lasted from weeks to months, from months to years. Two or three times a month they met face to face on the street or at a bus stop, but none of them had the courage to speak. When they met face to face, Daria would blush, thinking: “He’s talking now,” Nikola would worry, not knowing what to say, and these meetings would end with a couple of minutes of blushing and excitement.
After that, years passed, Nikola turned 55, and Daria 52, but they never met, they just watched each other and sat on the balcony, dreaming of a life together.
For two days Nikola went out onto the balcony, but for some reason Daria did not go out onto the balcony. Nikola began to worry about this. He hoped that Daria had gone somewhere and would return in two or three days, and each time he was angry at his lack of courage. On the third day, some people appeared in Daria’s apartment. Watching these people, Nicola saw that they were dressed in mourning clothes, and felt as if something had been snatched from her.
Azot 07/14/2024.