Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Chance Meeting In An Elevator

30 Day Bloggers Challenge - May 8

Okay for the prompt it is something that we missed or have never thought of.
May 8 - You have just recognized the girl or guy in the elevator with you. She/he is the person you loved from afar in high school but never asked out. The elevator stops between floors. You two are alone and stuck for at least an hour. What do you do?

I am definitely making this fiction because a guy I liked in high school actually spoke to me once and that was to swear at me and tell me to stop following him (he also happened to be in a group of guys my friends also liked and the school was not that big - so I was not stalking him).

I was rushing, always rushing. I made it to the building and zeroed in on the elevator remembering the publishing company had its offices on the 19th floor. Being an odd time of the day and the bank of ten elevators there were not a lot of people around but still enough. I squeezed into the one on the end and made my request for the nineteenth floor.

Elevators were a strange things. People packed like sardines, but nobody making any kind of contact - whether by sight or touch. They either stared up at the numbers or down at the floor. I huddled in the corner bundling my nerves into myself. Closing my eyes and practicing my deep breathing. I felt the elevator rise, then stop. I would open my eyes to take in the floor number then resume my calming techniques. I could sense the easing of tension as the people shifted and left the elevator. When I felt the strain ease, I opened my eyes and did a causal check. I was alone with one other person. He stood in the other corner eyes trained up, his focus directed at moving those numbers up. I took in his suit, expensive looking. Suits had a way of making anyone look beautiful, but there was something about this guy that pulled at me. I shifted my head so that I could get a better view, pretending to stretch out the kinks in my neck when all of a sudden the elevator let out a terrible groan and did a jerk sending us forward into each other. The lights flickers briefly then resumed.
I had dropped my briefcase in the jostle and my hands now gripped the arms of the man I had been trying to get a look at. He had also dropped his briefcase and I found his hands on my waist. Fear gripped my heart in a panic and I forced myself to find my breath as I looked up into eyes; eyes I recognized. His eyes settled on mine and I wondered frantically if he remembered me, too.

He smiled. A smile I remembered from so long ago. Long ago when I watched him from afar. Never once missing any of his games. Sitting at the top of the bleachers wanting to be seen but fearing to be seen as the basketball game played out across our high school's gymnasium. My friends sat on either side of me, their own secret crushes mixed with mine as we watched, spellbound by the boys and not the game.

Now here I was, practically in his arms.

He moved his hands away first and took a step back, so I reluctantly released my grip and let my hands fall to my sides.

He motioned with his chin that my briefcase had suffered a deposit and some of my pages had scattered and slipped out. We both dipped to retrieve the contents bumping heads for our trouble.

"Oh, I am soo sorry." I began, but he merely grinned again and shook his head. His hand rubbed the spot of contact.

"You okay?" He asked.

I nodded. Speech had fled me.

His hands stilled on the papers as he glanced at me. “You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?”

My face flared at his words. I felt as if I would incinerate at that very moment. My mind whirled. Did I really want to mention high school? Remind him of some gangly, awkward girl; a girl I no longer was but at that moment.... history was reawakened for me.

He continued to look at me, waiting so I cleared my throat and not meeting his eyes, I mumbled, “We went to school together.... Ryerson High.”

“Oh, hell... yeah... Cartonia, right?”

My mouth dropped open. He knew my name. I was momentary speechless before I decided to correct him. “Yeah, but I go by Toni these days.”

“Toni.” He repeated and then his smile deepened. “Yeah, that suits you.”

He resumed helping me collect my papers. His eyes scanned the pages. I held my breath. My life’s work lay out at our feet and I suddenly felt even more vulnerable.

“I see you are still writing... this is pretty good...” He said shaking the paper gently as he met my gaze.

Again I looked at him wide – eyed, but I managed to keep my mouth closed this time. I smiled instead. “This is my first...” I began, then because I could not help myself, I asked, “How do you know I write?”

His smile deepened and my heart skipped a beat. “I am sure you don’t forget we shared a few English classes... and I read more than the sports section of the school paper.”

“Seriously.” I blurted.

“Seriously.”

I dipped my eyes back down to the papers. I tried to place this information into what I remembered of high school. Brandon Williams was one of the cool kids. He ran with the popular crowd... she did not.

“I did what was expected of me.” She heard him say and looked back to see him looking at her. There was an air or regret in his voice. “Followed my friends. Dated the expected girls... not necessarily the ones who interested me.”

“You dated Felicia Adamson. She was beautiful.”

“Yes, but Felicia was not very... bright. I think we dated because it was expected. Jock and Cheerleader. So stereotypical.”

I took a deep breath and tried to make sense of what I was hearing. As I looked into his eyes I felt the ground beneath me shift and the elevator groaned again before beginning its assent.

“Could I take you to lunch?” He asked. “Please let me take you to lunch. Or how about dinner?”

Feeling light hearted, I laughed, “Really?”

“Yes, really. I want to take you to dinner. I want to take the girl of my choice to dinner. What do you say?”

“Well...” I finished gathering up my papers and slide them back into my bag before standing up.

Brandon rose beside me, looking hopeful. I felt my heart skitter happily. This felt like a dream. “My meeting with my editor goes until 3 o’clock...”

“I can pick you up at home. Say 7 o’clock, if that’s not too late?”

Smiling I decided to take the chance. I reached into my purse and withdrew my business card. I wrote my address on the card and as the elevator door slide open I handed it to him. I was not sure if he really meant it but I was willing to take the chance.

He smiled as he took the card. “Until tonight then.” He said, looking relieved and pleased.

She looked back as the elevator door began to close. Her heart fluttered as he blew her a kiss.

She stood there a moment letting her heart resume its steady beat, then set off down the hall to her meeting. Things were certainly looking up.