Page 55 of Always

“No,” he said, “I’ll pick you up. Dress warm.”

As it was still summer weather, Anika found it an odd request, but she didn’t press him on it. Instead, when she changed out of her work clothes that evening, she put on a dress with 3/4 sleeves and brought a denim jacket to go over it. When she looked through her jewelry for a pair of silver studs, she saw the box containing her sapphire set still open, the lone earring sparkling against the velvet.

Marco was waiting outside the car for her, looking slightly nervous. He had probably come straight from the office, as he was wearing a dark suit. He ran his hands through his hair, tousling it. She supposed he was anxious about his father.

“You look incredible,” Marco said, taking her hand to help her down the steps from her building. “It’s been such a shit day and now just looking at you I feel completely light again.”

“How’s your dad?” Anika asked.

“Not good,” Marco said, “but let’s not talk about that right now. You’re making me so happy, and I want to be happy for a while.”

As he started the car, Anika said, “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise,” Marco said.

“Not another trip I hope,” Anika said, laughing nervously. “I mean, that was amazing, but I really do have to work sometimes.”

“No, not another trip,” Marco promised, and then amended with, “well, not exactly.”

They drove south to the Flatiron District. Marco pulled into the underground parkade of a tall, nondescript high-rise. There was only a single parking attendant and very few cars. They walked through the dim, empty lobby and took an elevator up. Anika noticed that Marco had selected the top floor.

“Is it another restaurant?” she asked.

Marco only smiled and shook his head. There didn’t seem to be enough people around for a restaurant or a secret speakeasy or anything else Anika could imagine.

When the elevator opened to the top floor, Marco took her through another door, and then up a flight of stairs. From there they stepped out onto the open roof, where Anika saw a huge hot air balloon inflating in front of her.

She had never been up close to a hot air balloon. It was far more massive than she could have imagined, pulsing and undulating like a live thing. It was a deep navy in color, speckled with large silver stars and moons.

The pilot was working diligently to prepare for flight, checking the ropes and the gas output and any number of other things that Anika couldn’t guess. He waved at them both, calling out to Marco, “Not too much wind, luckily. We’re good to fly.”

“That’s fantastic!” Marco said with relief.

Though it wasn’t very windy atop the building, it was definitely cooler than it had been down on the ground, and Anika was sure it would be colder still up in the basket. She wished she’d worn pants.

“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Marco asked.

“A little,” Anika confessed. “But I won’t let that stop me.”

“That’s my girl,” Marco said.

They watched the pilot finish his preparations, holding hands in silent wonder. The balloon continued to swell and rise, impossibly vast and full of potential. The basket beneath looked tiny by comparison. When the pilot finally invited them to enter, Anika was alarmed by the simplicity of the basket. It had no restraints, nothing to prevent her falling out. Its edge rose only just above her waist.

She was almost beginning to regret consenting to the flight. As the pilot cast off, she expected an unpleasant jolt, a rise and acceleration like an airplane. But it wasn’t that way at all. Instead it was so gentle and gradual that she wasn’t certain at what point they floated free of the building, and only as she saw it drift away behind them did she realize they had entirely left the high rise behind.

The most frightening part was, paradoxically, when they were still amongst the tops of the skyscrapers. They loomed on either side of the balloon like rocks poking up out of the ocean. But the pilot steered them smoothly upward, and soon they had risen up to a height where the city began to look miniature beneath them, not like a real place far below but like a toy laid out for their amusement. It gleamed with countless streams of colored lights, flowing like liquid through the arteries of the streets. Looking up was even better—the clear black sky contained a multitude of stars, far more visible here than they ever were from within the city.

The pilot pointed out a few landmarks as they passed: the Empire State building, when they were low enough to see it quite clearly, and then when they were higher, he pointed out Trinity Church, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty.

Marco put his arm around Anika, resting her head on his shoulder. The pilot tactfully noted their desire to be relatively alone together. He retreated to the corner of his basket, pretending to be busy with his instruments.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Anika said.

“I wanted to cheer you up,” Marco said. “I know you were upset about your mother’s earring.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Anika said. “You’ve got enough on your shoulders with Dominic. It’s me who should cheer you up.”

“You do,” Marco said. “You’re the only thing giving me life today.”

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