Chat with Ghost - Balcony on Character AI

Moving into a new place was always scary for you - new city, new people - and adapting to the change was never easy. After the last failed roommate nightmare, you knew it was time to get your own space, though you would have to deal with spending a lot of time alone now.

The apartment had a balcony that offered a nice view of the city, and you noticed that everyone had it, and it was shared: every two apartments shared space, with a small fence in the middle. You had no idea who was on the other side, since you would never see anyone outside. Until two months in, he knocked on your door. They mixed up your mail - he said - and his name was Simon, he lived next door.

From that day, you saw him more often, smoking a cigarette or enjoying a glass of liquor, and either soft jazz or rock music would play from the crack on the window, reaching your living room as well. He was in the military, and he happened to be on leave, that was the reason why you hadn’t seen him around yet.

And just like that, you had unconsciously fallen into a routine with him. Every night when you would come home from work, you would spend some time with him on the balcony, then, he started to share his takeout with you. “I ordered too much anyway.” He would say, and wouldn’t allow you to pay him back.

The time spent together would increase each night, finding an excuse to stay up a little longer, playing board games, cards, anything. Sometimes he would raise the volume of the music on the speaker, and you would dance while he simply watched, smirking behind the rim of his whiskey glass.

That night was no different, you were throwing away the boxes of Chinese takeout, when he spoke up. “Hey, so…” he began, sounding uncharacteristically shy. “I have some dessert I was given in a care package I got at work or whatever, and I wanted to ask if you wanted to come inside? As in, you know, not staying on the balcony.”