Blind was quite determined to escape the embarrassment of his automated butler, and he carefully guided Mina up the spiral stairs. Much to her amazement, he didn't trip or fumble. She didn't know why he was so embarrassed. She replayed his handsome face in her head over and over like some instant playback. Still, she wondered what he possibly could have wanted her to say to him. As he pushed the hatch open, the two found themselves on the balcony with elegantly carved railings in the shape of Louve style golden statues.

It seemed her William had frequently come up here before, seeing that he knew exactly where to sit: a pair of steel chairs overlooking an entire cityscape by the edge.

"Come," he beckoned to her, a rare smile formed on his often stoic face.

Mina didn't just that, not minding the chill February night air from the heights of an eighty story building.

"What did you want to me to tell you?" Mina asked eagerly as she rocked slightly in the chair.

Blind cast his hand to the edge, over Business Park lit up like a night sky. And a night sky lit up like a well...Business Park.

"How do the stars look tonight?" Blind asked.

A very simple request, but impossible for someone whose eyes were tarnished.

Blind smiled again. "I'd love to hear about them in detail."

"Homina homina homina huh?!" Mina awkwardly muttered. It was such a romantic question to ask, and as simple as it seemed, it was a tough order to describe the night sky with poetic or scientific grace when you were an eighteen year old.

Mina grinned sheepishly and leaned her head back in the chair. "Okay...a disclaimer..." she answered. "I'm not a professional astronomer or someone knowledgeable like Star Skye!"

Blind tilted his head, his chocolate locks of hair falling wayside.

"Well then, what do you normally say when someone asks you?"

Mina fidgeted a bit but spoke to the best of her ability. "Well, I guess I would say they dazzle me like a pile of diamonds on a blanket of black satin. And then, I dunno, when they look that good I just want someone to kiss me under them..."

Mina turned her head away from Blind to gaze into the twinkling lights above the world, and felt her mind go adrift.

***

Suddenly, she found herself standing on a moonlit California beach. She found herself wearing a white gown lined with fake plastic blue diamonds. She was in her junior prom dress, she realized and...there was someone's hand in hers. She looked to find a handsome, tan young man with a blonde mullet and a bandage across his nose. "Chad..." she gushed.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Chad Hangten. Her deceased boyfriend from high school. The one whose demise has pushed her into crusading for truth and justice in a hot pink suit.

"It's me, Baberoni," he said, in his surfer dude drawl.

"Baberoni?!" Mina exclaimed. "What a cheesy thing to say!"

"It's like a combination of my two favorite things," Chad said. "You and macaroni and cheese! Double the goodness!"

"And double the cheese!" Mina giggled.

He leaned close to her, his eyes twinkling like the starry sky. He had a way of disarming her cynicism with a well placed cheesy pun. And then, she missed him with her whole heart.

"Chad," she said, her lips wobbling and her knees trembling. "Why did you have to leave me..."

But right when she was about to break down sobbing, he pressed his finger to her lips.

"I'm not gone..." he said.

"Whuh?" Mina gasped, choking back a sob.

"Well, dudette, I am gone, but I'm not like gone gone. I may have silver surfed to another dimension, but like, for some reason, I'm a total astral projection from the stars!"

He pointed to the butterfly necklace right above her chest. It was glowing with a purple aura.

Mina squeaked as she looked at it. "My psychic powers! Do they have some kind of connection to the afterlife?"

Chad grinned with his hands to his temples like a fortune teller. "You're like a certified Miss Leo. Bodacious! Anyway, I just came here to tell you something..."

"What is it?" Mina asked softly.

Chad embraced her, holding his arms around her waist. "I just don't want you getting caught up in the past, babe. You can't just spend your life hanging ten on someone who isn't there anymore."

Blind immediately came into Mina's head as her deceased boyfriend spoke those words.

"You mean," she said softly. "You'd forgive me if ...I found someone else in this life...."

"People come and go," Chad said, speaking like a surfing sage. "If you passed, would you forgive me if I found someone else?"

Mina was slow but she did manage a nod. Admittedly, she'd be a jealous ghost for a while, but she would still want her surfer dude to be happy.

"Exactamundo, Baberoni!" he said and pointed out into the ocean. "This is another big wave in your life! So are gonna back down...or are you gonna hang ten?"

Mina grinned a shiny toothed smile. "I'm gonna hang twenty!"

"Excellent babe," Chad answered. "Totally tubular. Speaking of tubular, here's my ride to a whole nother galaxy!"

Mina watched in amazement as a shining silver surfboard formed in the water.

And Chad, even with a tuxedo hopped on it. He began to ride the waves, and soon, the skies, leaving Mina feeling bittersweet.

As he exclaimed "later dudette!" Mina sniffled and managed a teary eyed smile

It was good to see Chad again and she was happy that tonight she could finally cast her feelings out into the ocean.

***

When she came to, it seemed everything had happened in a nanosecond, because Blind had answered her statement.

"That's quite poetic," Blind answered. "And very romantic. Hearing that reminds me when I could look out onto the night sky...and I too wanted to kiss someone."

"Kiss me, Baberoni!" Mina screamed out over the balcony.

"Baber-mmmph?!" Blind said before he was snuggled and muffled by his girlfriend's lips.

"I love you! Mina exclaimed, planting hundreds of smooches all over his face.

"I..." Blind said, so flustered his chocolate brown face glowed as bright red as his suit. "love you too!"

If this was a movie, Mina believed things would fade to black and the credits would roll. But instead, she had a whole night to show her newfound love.

She hoped it would never end...until it did.