7 days in limbo [Billie Eilish]

DAY III.2: wow

"Oh, now I get it. You are the one who is trying to murder me."

"I know this looks weird," I replied while walking deeper into the dark alley.

"What are we even doing?"

I stopped in front of a metal door and started to look through my pockets for something. The door was the side entrance to the building.

"Shhhh," I hushed with a finger to my lips, "keep your voice down. This is highly illegal."

I found what I was looking for. With a mischievous look I opened the small leather case to reveal an array of small metal tools.

Billie lowered her voice to match my mocked secretiveness. "What the hell, Mara?"

I chose one of the lock picks and took out the tension hook as well before positioning myself in front of the door. As I started fishing around in the look for the pins I replied in normal volume, "I can't do the front door but this one is easy."

There was no real need to be quiet. I had done this often enough to know nobody cared if I broke in here. I felt the last pin and grinned at Billie when I turned the tension wrench and heard the lock click.

Billie shook her head at me. "Good thing you're handy, I guess."

"You have no idea," I uttered under my breath, pushing against the heavy door with my shoulder. It opened with a creak.

I had said it to myself but I could have sworn to hear her chuckle behind me when we stepped into the stairway.

"Wait..." Billie stopped me with a hand on my arm when I started walking up the stairs, "are you– are we... I think I know what we're doing."

"Yeah?" If so I could not wait for her reaction once we got where I was taking her. "Get ready for a few hundred steps then."

Now she looked as excited as I felt. "Race to the top?"

As soon as Billie had said it we were in motion.
At the same time we spun around and started running up the stairway, taking two steps at a time. By the second floor we were booth short of breath and by the fourth positively wheezing.

We reached the fifth floor without a clear winner and both laughing breathlessly. Billie held herself up by the wall and I had to press a hand into my side.

After recovering for a moment I walked up to a door with a sign that read: OFF LIMITS TO UNORTHORISED PERSONNEL.

"Girl," Billie drew in deep inhales, "why are you... always... talking my breath away?"

"Shit," I had begun to pick the lock of this door as well but I paused and turned around, "are you doing ok there?"

"Yeah." She began to catch her breath. "...not that out of shape. And... my idea to run, remember?"

"Right. I hope it was worth it."

With that I pushed open the door to the rooftop.

A gentle breeze blew through my hair.

Billie walked up to me but stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh..."

It was just after sunset. The capital's skyline was emerging from the twilight, lights glittering in the falling dusk. The Thames was a dark ribbon weaving itself between old and new architecture, between districts and bridges. In the distance the London Eye was turning leisurely and behind that, back even further, the horizon was blurred by rain.

The night was charged with the heavy smell of a summer thunderstorm: warm pavement and fresh mistakes.

I watched Billie take a few steps towards the edge as if in trance. Dark clouds hung low above us. The air was electric.