Wouldnt It Be Good - Nik Kershaw (2027)

The air smelled of expensive sandalwood and something sharp—like ozone. But as he moved through the marble foyer, the "perfect" life began to fray.

He looked back up at the penthouse. It still glowed. It still looked perfect. But as he turned toward his own dim attic, he adjusted his scarf and started to walk. The shoes were still worn, and the pockets were still empty, but for the first time, he didn't mind the weight of his own feet. Wouldnt It Be Good - Nik Kershaw

One evening, through a fluke of a broken service elevator and a misplaced key, Julian found himself standing in the hallway of the penthouse floor. The door to Alistair’s unit was ajar. Driven by a desperate, feverish curiosity, Julian slipped inside. The air smelled of expensive sandalwood and something

Julian backed out of the room, leaving the door ajar. He walked down the twelve flights of stairs, his heart hammering against his ribs. When he reached the street, the rain felt different—not like a burden, but like a cold splash of reality. It still glowed

The neon-drenched streets of 1984 London didn’t feel like the future to Julian; they felt like a cage built of static and synthesizer hum.

Julian looked at the man he had envied for months. He realized that while he was looking up, wishing for the shoes, the man wearing them was looking down, wishing for the escape of being nobody.