Down to Meet You

The ticking of the clock on the wall to the left of me was almost deafening. So many thoughts raced through my head as I waited for my sister to come back to her office. Lydia said this guy was nice and very charming, but what did she know? According to her, Lydia’s only worked with this guy for a little over a month. Not to mention, she’d been out of the dating game for far too long to know how everything worked. I’m not even sure I’d caught on yet. 

I twirled a long piece of my auburn hair around my fingers while I circled my eyes around the room, taking in Lydia’s meticulous setup. File folders were organized in a nice, neat stack by order of importance in the corner of her desk. A ‘to do’ checklist nearly completed with precise red checkmarks rested to the right of her mousepad. A professionally photographed picture of Lydia and her husband embracing their two little monsters I absolutely adored stared back at me. 

I felt myself shrinking in my seat at the subtle little reminders to get my life in order, ‘like my big sister’. It was the last thing I needed. How could I go on a blind date with someone when all I could think about - okay, more like worry about - was all of the shortcomings my parents liked to point out to me on a semi-regular basis?

“Okay, all done. Sorry about that,” Lydia interrupted my own pity party, walking back into the room with some paperwork. “Are you wearing that?” The look on her face suggested my scoop neck black and white striped, short-sleeved dress that hung loosely to my knees and red flats weren’t to her liking.

“Hey! I googled what to wear on a blind date and this is what I came up with. If you had suggestions, you should have shared them earlier,” I answered a little more defensively than I intended. 

Lydia threw her hands up in front of her while she sat down at her desk. “No, that looks fine. Sorry I asked,” she responded calmly, eyes bulging in surprise.

My palms began to sweat and my pulse quickened. “Maybe this was a mistake. Is it too late to cancel?”

“B, stop. Michael’s a good guy and I really think you two will get along well.” Lydia broke her concentration to give me her client smile. 

She didn’t know I knew that smile from a mile away. I knew it was the smile she usually showed to her clients to placate them and it didn’t do anything but heighten my anxiety.

I slapped both hands on the armchair sides, bracing myself to stand up. “Well, as good of company you’ve been, I’m leaving,” sarcasm dripped from my tone and arched eyebrow. Lydia tapped her phone to check the time.

“Yeah, I know. I have an hour and a half until the date, but until I get downstairs-“

“B, just take the stupid elevator,” Lydia interrupted. 

A shiver ran over me as the reoccurring nightmare of a small, confined space plummeting to the ground floor flashed before my eyes.

“Is that why you were huffing and puffing when you first walked in?” Her eyebrows looked like they were going to lift off her forehead. 

“I’m just trying to get my steps in,” I lied, tapping the FitBit on my wrist.

  “I can’t believe you walked up ten flights of stairs. Do you need deodorant or perfume?” Lydia asked, leaning over her desk toward me to take a whiff. 

I jerked my head back with a sneer. “No! I’m fine.” This time I stood up and began to walk out of the office and into the hallway, Lydia following me only to lean against the doorway. 

  “Please take the elevator down. I’ve worked in this building for five years and haven’t had any issues, so you should be fine. I don’t want you to show up all sweaty and stinky.”

 “It’s easier walking down than it is up. Besides, I’ll be able to chill out at the bookstore.”

Lydia crossed her arms in front of her, giving me a look that told me she didn’t approve.

  “Yeah, there’s a used bookstore near the restaurant that I want to check out,” I beamed while a scowl formed on her face.

  “Don’t show up late. I know how you are with bookstore.” I felt my cheeks pink at her accusation. 

She had me pegged. Once I set foot inside of a bookstore, all bets were off. It was like I fell into an entirely different world while I searched for the books on my ‘to be read’ pile while I also discovered books I never knew I needed. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend an ungodly amount of time inside a store I’d never been.

 “I won’t. I promise. I set an alarm on my phone,” I reassured her before I started walking down the hallway.

 “Take the elevator. If you do, you’ll have more time to peruse your precious books.” Without fail, my sister always managed to turn a negative into a positive to pique my interest. I threw my hand up in the air and waved while I walked. “Have a good time and make sure you text me later to tell me how good of a matchmaker I am,” Lydia called after me. 

I turned the corner to take the stairs when I almost ran into a ladder that had been set up in front of the doorway. Stunned, I gasped and jumped backward.

  “Oh, sorry, Miss,” an older gentleman smiled down at me. “Just changing some light bulbs before I call it a day. Be out of your hair in a couple of minutes. The elevator is available, though, if you’re in a hurry.”

I cringed at his suggestion, but knew if I wanted to stick with my plan, the elevator may be my only choice. Lydia did say in the five years she’s worked here, there hasn’t been any issues. 

I took a deep breath and decided to brave it for once. I walked around the ladder and the couple of feet toward the elevator. When I got to the elevator, the call button had already been pushed by a cute blonde-haired guy patiently waiting while he busily tapped away on his phone. I crossed my arms and started twirling another strand of hair while we waited.

When the elevator finally opened, the blonde guy walked in and pressed a button. I stood frozen as he looked up at me.

  “Going down?” He asked, holding the elevator door so it wouldn’t close. I gulped and bit my bottom lip, hesitant to move forward. “Miss?”

I closed my eyes for a moment and took another deep breath before I crossed the threshold into the giant death trap. “Sorry, I’m not a big fan of elevators,” I managed a shaky smile his way.

 “No problem. Going to the main lobby?” he asked while the doors closed. I nodded, wide-eyed and white-knuckling the handrail beside me. He returned my smile after he glanced down at my death grip, and tucked his phone into his gray dress pants. 

I turned my eyes to the floor numbers blinking in descending order as the elevator crept down toward the lobby, mentally counting along. Six. Five. So far so good. Four. Three. Almost there. Two. One. Lob- 

I felt the elevator jolt and come to an abrupt stop. The lights flickered off and on, but no movement other than blondie pushing different elevator buttons. My heart began to race and it felt like it was harder to breathe with every moment we didn’t move. 

 “It’s okay. This is okay,” he turned to me, hand reached out toward me, but not touching me. I nodded, eyes closed shut as tight as possible. “Oh, crap,” I heard, forcing my eyes open.

 “What?” I dared to ask.

 “Nothing. It’s okay. I was just checking to see if I had any cell service, but I never have any in here. Do you want to check?”

I glanced down at my grip on the handle bar and back to him. “I’m good,” I whispered. I tried to concentrate on my breathing while he continued to push the emergency call button, but nothing happened. 

A man’s voice came from outside the elevator doors. It was a faint sound, but I recognized it all the same.

 “Larry!” I called out much louder than I thought. The blonde guy cringed and tugged at his ear, but braced himself for me to continue.

  “B? Are you in there?” the security guard from the front desk lobby called back to me. I inched toward the doors, still firmly attached to the hand rail.

  “Yes! Me and -“ I looked to the handsome stranger for a name. 

  “Mick!” he shouted and then mouthed ‘sorry’ for doing the same thing to me that I had done to him.

 “Hang tight - we got the fire department and an elevator technician on the way.”

  “Thanks, Larry!” we both called out. 

  “B! What are you doing in the elevator?” Larry called out with a laugh. “Figures you would be in there when the power goes out!”

My hands felt numb, but I felt like I couldn’t let go. What if I left go and the elevator moved? I knew it was irrational thinking, but I couldn’t help it. 

 “Are you okay?” I felt a hand on my back, distracting me thought. I looked up into heavenly blue eyes closer to me than I realized. 

 “No,” I answered honestly. The tears I had been holding trickled down my cheeks and my legs felt weak beneath me. 

 “It’ll be okay, we’re just here for a little bit. It shouldn’t be long,” his silky voice comforted. “My name is Mick - you’re B?” I nodded, meekly, unable to look anywhere but his calm and convincing smirk. “B, how about we sit down while we wait for everyone to get us out of here?” 

In a daze, I followed his motion to sit against the wall of the elevator. I hadn’t realized until we sat down that Mick had pried my hands from the hand rail while we talked and I was now holding his hand instead. 

 “Take a couple of deep breaths, B. We’re going to be okay.” He left out a deep, breathy sigh. 

 “Bianca,” I offered in a whisper. 

 “Bianca?” he asked, turning to me.

 “My name. My sister, Lydia, calls me B.” I cleared my throat. “And, apparently, Larry.” 

Mick’s eyebrows raised, a lopsided grin curved his lips while he nodded. “Okay. Bianca it is. What else should I know about you, Bianca?” 

 “I hate elevators.” 

Mick left out a bellowing laugh. “Yeah, I think I got that one.” He glanced down at our hands and gave me a wink. “I don’t typically go out of my way to hold hands with a stranger.” 

My mouth gaped open and I felt my eyes flutter when I realized. “I’m so sorry-“

 “Oh, no, no no. It’s fine,” he interrupted before I continued to apologize and held onto my hand. “I was just trying to make a joke,” His eyes crinkled at the corners and his blue eyes sparkled with reassurance. Mick was rather handsome which seemed to be the distraction I needed. 

 “I love books,” I blurted before I realized every book I had ever read completely left my mind. I felt my cheeks pink, knowing his next question and that I didn’t have an answer. 

 “Oh yeah? How much?” 

Caught off guard, I readjusted myself next to him and eye balled him carefully. “What?” 

His smile widened as he cocked his head to the side and looked up at me. “How much do you love books?”

 “No one’s ever asked me that before.” I looked up at the ceiling of the elevator to think of an answer. “I love books so much that I typically read one or two a week, depending on my schedule. I love the smell of a physical book - old or new - but how easy it is to tote my e-reader around and have thousands of books at my fingertips in no time.”

Before I knew it, Mick had me off on a tangent about my love of books and reading. How, when I was a kid, my parents had to fight my books away from me so I slept at night. How I was the nerdy kid in school because I had my nose in a book every day. How I went to school for English literature and was struggling to find what I wanted to do with it. How my parents never approved, but also never bothered to mention to me until just recently. 

Mick listened and shared his own story of how disappointed his parents were when he informed them he wanted to be a lawyer instead of a doctor, like them. While I appreciated his attempt to relate and empathize, it wasn’t the same. But what surprised me most was his understanding it wasn’t and how he was willing to admit it.

The time passed by quickly, sharing our likes and dislikes easily after sharing such heavy conversation to start. If I hadn’t known any better, I’d have thought this was a date.

When the power finally kicked back on and the elevator began to descend down to the lobby again, Mick noticed it was nearly nine o’clock. My stomach twisted in knots with the thought of how mad Lydia would be when she found out I never made it on my date.

The elevator doors opened to a frantic Lydia with wide eyes. “B! I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have told you to take the elevator!” she cried out when Mick and I walked out into the lobby, wrapping me into a hug. Mick dropped my hand for the first time since we were trapped in the elevator and gave Lydia and I some space.

 “It’s okay. Thanks to Mick, here, it wasn’t so bad,” I answered, patting her arm to signal she needed to let go of me. She backed away and glanced at Mick. “Sorry I never made it to the date,” I added in a whisper. 

 “B, you didn’t miss your date,” she replied with an innocent, broad smile, glancing from me to Mick and back to me again. “You were stuck in that elevator with Michael.”

I side eyed over to Mick who seemed to cower away.

 “Sorry. It seemed like you had enough on your plate with the whole elevator thing. I didn’t want to add any pressure by telling you,” Mick answered sheepishly. “I go by Michael around the office for professionalism, but I go by Mick usually.”