Nick, 24
Nick, who recently moved to the city, secretly takes great pleasure in observing his neighbour's life and activities through the window of his apartment.
3 min read
The untold secret:
Nick, a 24-year-old guy who recently moved to the city, secretly takes great pleasure in observing his neighbour's life and activities through the window of his apartment. He watches with a sense of intrigue and fascination as his neighbour, a handsome man in his late 50s, hosts lively dinner parties and socialises with an array of flamboyant friends and colorful associates. Nick is fully aware that this behavior is borderline unethical and that it could be considered as voyeuristic, but he finds it impossible to resist the temptation of indulging in it. Besides, it's not like his neighbor tries to be very private either. He finds comfort in overhearing some of the conversations the guests have while smoking cigarettes at an open window. He imagines the rich and dynamic, but also sometimes dramatic and maybe tragic, lives of some of the people his neighbour invites for dinner might have. Nick has never really dared to tell anyone about his fascination for his neighbour mainly because he is afraid that people might think of him as a voyeur or simply disapprove of what he does, which would make him most likely too self conscious to go on and truly enjoy those moments.
About Nick:
Nick grew up in a small town with his younger sister Isabelle and two loving parents. Though his father was outgoing and sociable, Nick was always more of an introvert, which caused a bit of a disconnect between the two of them at times. But despite this, they had a beautiful bond and a good relationship. Nick's dream was always to live in a big city to work for an architectural firm that designed impressive buildings. So when he was 21, he packed his bags and moved from the countryside to pursue his dreams of becoming an architect.
Nick now resides in a small studio apartment in a town that is very different from the village he grew up in. From his window Nick has a clear and direct view of his neighbor's living room. At first, Nick was certain that the constant sound pollution of his neighbour's endless dinner parties would drive him mad. But one summer evening, as he lay on his sofa with a cold beer in hand, enjoying the gentle breeze coming through his window, he found himself listening to the sounds of yet another party. Instead of being annoyed, he felt surprisingly entranced by the evening's events. He couldn't help but turn his head in the darkness of his apartment to catch a glimpse of the guests through the open window. He realized that he, in fact, enjoyed hearing his neighbor's parties. There was something comforting, something familiar about it. Not to mention watching the guests who often looked like they could have stared in a television series or a movie.
Nick noticed that those parties reminded him of his childhood, when his parents would have friends over for drinks. His mother would make a simple dinner for him and his sister before the adults sat down to taste a fancy “amuse bouche” she had prepared. Nick would often retreat to his room, building castles and other elaborate structures with his Legos, and listening to the soothing, muffled voices coming from the living room. He loved how the evenings developed, how the moods changed and often became lighter as the night went on. He especially enjoyed falling asleep to the distant laughter of his mother, probably slightly tipsy from the champagne they all had been drinking that night.
In essence, Nick's current neighbour has in some sense replaced his parents and brought a sense of familiarity and comfort to his small and still somewhat empty studio apartment which was far from home, that home he sometimes seemed to miss. At the same time, the view into the neighbours living room served as a kind of entertainment system, like watching a tv show without having to have a TV which he couldn’t afford anyway. Every so often when Nick would come home from work late in the evenings, he wouldn’t turn on the lights to remain unnoticed, pour himself a drink, get comfortable on the sofa and watch yet another evening unfold at his neighbours place before falling asleep to the laughter and giggles of tipsy strangers.