Mark straightened his tie as he waited for the elevator. He felt a little giddy. He had an interview today, his first since he graduated from business school. Everything was happening so fast. Just a week ago he'd been drunk in his cramped dorm room, and now he was wearing a suit and standing in the expansive, immaculate lobby of one of the tallest skyscrapers downtown.
Beth sighed as she waited for the elevator. She felt the unpleasant weight of another workday sinking into her shoulders. Another day of ringing phones, fake smiles, and endless files. Her life was being sucked into the vacuum of corporate monotony. She had been trying to find a better job for almost six months.
Mark heard someone sigh behind him and turned to see a pretty young woman looking wearily at the floor indicator of the elevator. She was just a little shorter than him, with curly brown hair and a round face. She wore a simple blue skirt and a cream-white blouse, with a red patterned scarf around her neck. Mark smiled at her over his shoulder.
A young guy in a suit was smiling at Beth. His suit didn't quite fit right- the jacket was too big. He was just a little taller than her, with straight black hair and a square face. His smile looked genuine. He must be new, Beth thought. She smiled back at him. The elevator arrived, and they both stepped in.
Jennifer strode towards the bank of elevators. She was late, but she would not run. Let them wait. Her heels beat a swift rhythm against the marble floor. An elevator was just closing its doors ahead of her.
"Hold that!" She commanded. A kid reached out from inside the elevator to stop the door. She breezed into the car. "Thank you." She said coolly. "23, please." The kid pressed the button for her floor. There was a young woman in the other corner of the elevator looking bored. Jennifer didn't recognize her.
A tall blonde woman in a blue power suit was standing between Mark and the smiling girl. She had made him hold the elevator. He wasn't sure if he and the brunette had just shared a moment. She had smiled at him. Now she was on the other side of the elevator- but everybody did that. You didn't stand next to someone in the elevator unless you had to. But now he felt silly. She had just smiled at him. That didn't necessarily constitute a 'moment'.
The elevator doors slid slowly closed. Beth sighed again. Only a handful of floors stood between her now and her eight and a half hour workday. She would feel every dreary, monotonous moment of it grind slowly past. And then tomorrow, she would do it again. If only she had sick days left. If only something would happen. The office could be filled with toxic gas. Everyone would go home, they'd have to evacuate the building. Beth smiled to herself, thinking of all that she could accomplish with a free day.
She was smiling again, but not at him. Mark realized that he was staring at the girl, and quickly tried to focus. He had an interview in ten minutes. In six... five... four more floors, he would...
The elevator jerked suddenly. And then stopped moving. A red light winked on near the panel of buttons. For a brief second, nobody spoke. Mark looked at the floor indicator, which was stuck between 18 and 19. Jennifer scowled at the red light. Beth looked up and silently breathed:
"Yes."
"What happened?" Mark asked.
"The elevator stopped." Jennifer replied coolly. "Don't panic."
"I'm not, it's just that I've got an interview in like five minutes..." Mark stammered.
"Shut up. Move." Jennifer pushed Mark out of the way and pressed the intercom button on the panel. "Hello? Our elevator just stopped." There was silence for another moment. Then, a tinny voice replied:
"Hello?"
"Hi. Our elevator has stopped." Jennifer repeated frostily.
"Uh oh. What car are you in?"
"What what are we in?"
"There should be a number, near the inside of one of the doors..."
"I see it! Eight! We're in car eight!" Mark shouted.
"Okay then. We'll check it out. Is everybody okay in there?" Jennifer looked quickly at the two other people in the car. The kid was looking pleased with himself for spotting the car number, and the girl was leaning against the far wall with a funny little smile on her face.
"Everyone's fine. How long is this going to take?"
"Oh. Uh, no more than an hour."
"Great." Jennifer said acidly, and pulled out her Blackberry. She hurriedly keyed a number. "Gary? Jen. Can you hear me? I'm stuck in an elevator. Start without me." She slipped the device back in her pocket and started to open her briefcase. Mark cleared his throat.
"Hey, I forgot to bring my phone, and I've got an interview in a few minutes upstairs, do you think I could..." Jennifer shot him an icy stare and then sat down awkwardly in the corner of the elevator, pointedly ignoring him.