Answer the door to your cancer
And close the drapes in your mind
Do what you do to the evil
It will all find you in time
Listen or don’t to the message
Sit away or close to the flame
They talk about things getting better
But you take none of the blame
They say someday you’ll get through this
They’ll tell you it will all be set right
But people lie just like you do
We all expect you to lose this fight
There is no hope in the corner
No rope to pull you free
I fired the angel on your shoulder
This is not what you expected it to be
The lights are out in the hallway
In your room the bed is unmade
Soon we all hope to forget you
One day your memory will fade
As I turned the last corner before the elevator lobby, I glanced down at my watch, it was 5:46 pm. My shift was supposed to end at 5:00pm, but as usual I was got stuck working on a proposal for Monday's meeting. I still wasn't done, so I had my laptop tucked under my arm and my hand full of files and loose papers. Pie charts and bar graphs were still swimming in my head as I reached to push the DOWN button to call the elevator, but stopped short because it was already lit. I looked up, and leaning against the wall was Wendy the new receptionist, I mean administrative assistant. Her nose was buried in a beat up paperback, and I am not sure she knew I was there. Wendy was new to Hastings Morgan, having only started 2 weeks ago, but she had already a reputation around the office. She was hard nosed, snotty little brat who thought she was smarter than everyone around her. I had never actually spoken with her, so I wrote all the rumors off as hearsay. I cleared my throat to see if she's look up, but she kept herself buried in her book. What was she reading? I took a cautionary step towards and leaned forward to get a look. Catcher in the Rye.
"I enjoyed that book." I said, with a friendly smile.
"Yeah." Was all she replied not looking up, so I decided on a different approach.
"Have you been waiting long for the elevator?"
"Yeah."
Is this the only word she can say? But I wasn't ready to give up on her just yet.
"I wonder what the deal is, don't they know it's Friday? Let us go!" I pretend to protest. This time Wendy abandoned her standard response of "Yeah." Instead she went with an annoyed sigh, still never looking up from the book. I decided I'd give her one more chance at saving my judgment, I'd give her one more chance to prove to me that the rumors were wrong.
"Big plans this weekend, Wendy?" I asked, this time using her name in the hopes that she would recognize me as someone she might know, maybe someone she'd like to be nicer to. Wendy, keeping her finger marked in the book, looked up with an emotionless expression. I couldn't decide if it was contempt for me, or she was thinking of an appropriate response, I hoped for the latter.
"Look, man I just want to read my book while waiting for the elevator and get the hell out of here. So if you wouldn't mind could you just wait in silence like a good little boy? Thank you, Chuck?”
She dived back into her book without another word. I stood there staring at her, with a shocked looked on my face. Then my temperature started to rise, and I began to grow angry. Who in the hell does little good for nothing piece of trash thinks she is? I don't deserve to be talked to this way! How dare she? Just as I was about to open my mouth to tell her off, the elevator chimed and the doors slid open. Wendy walked in with out looking up from her book, and I followed in after her. The elevator was empty except for us, and she dug herself into the corner of the elevator opposite the buttons. I was still fuming as I took up the other side of the box. I noticed she hadn't pushed any of the buttons, I guess she expected me to do this for her, the snarky little smart ass. I took a deep calming breath, and turned to her.
"Which floor, please?" I asked in the sweetest sing-songy sarcastic voice I could manage. There was no way I was going to let her know that she got a rise out of me. I waited patiently, fingers poised over the unlit buttons.
"Wendy? Which floor for you?"
She still didn't answer, but instead she shot me an angry glare, followed it up with another sigh.
"Unsure? Well how about we sample a few of them, to see which one fits best."
And with that I started pushing every button. And since the we are on the 31st floor, that was a lot of buttons to push.
"What the hell are you doing!?" She yelled at me.
"Sampling floors, of course!" I responded with a grin.
"I swear to God, Chuck! What the hell is wrong with you?" She continued to shriek as the elevator doors opened on 30th floor with a 'Ding'. I leaned back and smiled. Tit for tat, she pissed me off I piss her off. The universe is in balanced.
Ding, 29th floor.
Ding, 28th floor.
Ding, 27th floor.
I hope I am ruining her Friday night, maybe next time she'll learn to be a bit more nicer.
Ding, 26th floor.
Ding, 25th floor.
She let out another sigh and closed her book. She leaned her head back against the wall of the elevator, and began mumbling to herself. I couldn't quite make it out, but it was full of venom, she was furious.
"This is the most immature, childish thing I have ever seen. You are unbelievable!"
She kept her dark brown eyes glued to me, waiting for a response.
Ding, 24th floor.
Ding, 23rd floor.
"You should learn to be nicer, to show some respect. What is wrong with you?" I ask, still leaning against the wall trying to act non-nonchalantly.
"Me? What's wrong with me? You're the one acting like a complete jack ass! Damn it, Chuck!"
"Stop calling me Chuck! It's Charles. Not Charlie not Chuck, Charles!"
For the next 3 floors we hurdle insults at each other. We call each other names, we yell over each other, we point fingers, and roll our eyes.
Ding, 19th floor.
On this floor we stop screaming at each other instantly and turn to see that we have an audience. Standing there is the office building custodian, pushing a yellow mop bucket about to step into elevator. We both look at him, and his unsure, uncomfortable look on his face.
"I'll wait for the next one." He says timidly as the doors close.
I can't help it, I start laughing. An uncontrollable, side splitting laughter. My laptop clatters to the floor, as do all my files and papers, and I struggle to breathe between laughing fits.
Ding, 18th floor.
Ding, 17th floor.
I look up and Wendy has started laughing too. Hers is a high pitched giggle, but tears are streaming out of her eyes, her copy of Catcher in the Rye sits face down on the floor of the elevator.
Ding, 16th floor.
Ding, 15th floor.
Ding, 14th floor.
We have just started to calm down and regain composure, as we reach the 12th floor.
Ding, 12th floor.
“You are still a jack ass, Chuck.” Wendy says wiping tears from her cheeks.
“Well, you’re still a mean person, Wendy.” I say as I bend down and collect my belongings.
“Aw, man I needed that.” She says as picks up her book.
“The yelling or the laughing?”
Ding, 11th floor.
“Both, I guess.” She says.
“Can we start over?” I ask brushing my hair back out of my face.
“All 31 floors?” She asks with a smile, the first smile of our trip.
Ding, 10th floor.
I laugh a little, but stop it quickly in fear I might lose it again.
“I did enjoy that book.” I say looking at her with a hopeful grin.
“Yeah.” She replies. And I stop, thinking that we are headed down the same path, but she continues.
Ding, 9th floor.
“I’ve read it like 20 times.” She continues.
“20 times? Wow.” I respond, truly surprised.
“I think it’s Hemmingway’s greatest work.” She says with what I think is a smirk.
Ding, 8th floor.
“I think the Sun Also Rises is Hemmingway’s best work. But that’s not who wrote Catcher in the Rye, that’s Salinger, but you already knew that.”
“Yeah, just a little literary test.” The harshness has left her eyes, and her smile looks like it fits better than the scowl. I smile, and glance as the doors slide open yet again.
Ding, 7th floor.
“Sorry about all the buttons I pushed.” I say, as I feel the blood rush to my face in embarrassment.
“It was cheaper than therapy.” She says, and holds my gaze for a moment, chewing on her lip.
Ding 6th floor.
“Look, we only have 5 floors left. So let me get this all out, before we reach the bottom, and we are released from our cell.” She says, and takes a deep breath.
“I am sorry I was so rude to you. I’m not a very nice person, I like to keep to myself. But, for some reason everyone here wants to chit-chat or hit on me. I don’t come to work to build friendships or find dates. Everyone in this whole city comes off as big phonies. And I can’t stand it.”
Ding, 5th floor.
“So, I keep to myself and I try to keep people away. It’s just how I’ve always been, and over the years I’ve become good at it.” She takes a deep breath and I notice a little shakiness in her voice as she continues.
“I just want to be left alone, most of the time.”
I pause and let her words hang in our moving box.
Ding. 4th floor.
I am at a loss for words, and I search my thoughts for something to say. I move my laptop to my left arm and put all my files in my left hand. I step from my cozy corner of the elevator and cautiously extend my hand.
“Well, my name is Charles, and I am not hitting on you, I’m not a phony, and I don’t do small talk.”
She takes my hand and grips it harder than expected, and we shake.
Ding, 3rd floor.
“It’s nice to meet you, Charles. My name is Wendy, and thank you for not hitting on me, and not trying to small talk me, and I know you are not a phony.” She releases my hand, and smiles.
Ding, 2nd floor.
“Well, we are almost there. I hope you have a good weekend.” I say as I turn and readjust my take home work, ready to depart the elevator.
“Yeah, you too. See you at work on Monday?”
“Sure thing, but with fewer stops on the way down.”
“Agreed.”
Ding, 1st floor.
