The Man from The Elevator

I walked out that huge revolving door prepared to start my new life.

I picked up my suitcases off the side of the road where the landlord had carelessly tossed them. I didn’t bother checking to see if anything was broken; honestly, I didn’t care. I reached my hand up and hailed one of the closest taxis and asked him to take me to 5 Cabot Rd, Medford, MA. The address of the apartment complex in which I would begin being who I wanted to be. I had the rental lined up before I was evicted, so all I really had to do was piss my landlord off enough to kick me out. Not really necessary, but definitely fun. 

I was tired of working my nine to five at the grocery store dealing with cranky customers and bothersome coworkers, but it’s what made me enough money to be able to rent a place in Modera. I hated it, but the job paid well so I had to stick with it. Eventually, I might pick up a couple extra hours at the cafe right next to the complex, but that really depends on how well it pays. 

Either way, I was happy to be out of that crummy apartment I had rented right out of college. It was dirt cheap, which meant I was able to save up for the new apartment I wanted. 

The taxi driver slowed to a stop and I looked out the dirty car window. 

Only one word crossed my mind when I saw the place I’d be staying in for at least the next two years. Wow. 

I thanked the driver and gave him almost all of the cash I had in my wallet; I guess it was a long drive. I walked into the modern building that I would call home. My hands were full of bags and papers, and my feet seemed to stop working properly. Practically stumbling to the front desk, I managed to pull out the form they informed me I needed when I came to receive my key. The lady at the front desk gave me a puzzled look when she saw me struggling to hold all of my possessions. 

She was pretty. Long blonde hair, hazel eyes. They sparkled in the sunlight in a way that could light up the whole room. She was a bit short, but her curves made up for that.

She sighed. “Can I help you?” She spat.

“Uhm, yes. I’m here to get my room key.”

She held out her hand with her eyes on my form. I pressed the sheet of paper into her palm with a little bit too much force. She annoyed me, what can I say?

She scanned the information on the paper and raised her eyebrows at me. 

“Unit 238?” She asked.

“I mean if that’s what the paper says, then yeah, I assume I’d need the key for Unit 238.”

She made a face at my words as if to say “Okay then”.

Reluctantly she pulled the key off the hook on the wall behind her and held it out to me.

“You lose this, you pay a replacement fee. Got it?”

“Yeah sure.”

I snatched the key out of her hand and gathered my things and made my way to the elevator. 

I assume Unit 238 would be on the second floor, considering it starts with the number two. I guess I’ll start there. 

The elevator doors were about to shut when I hear the patter of footsteps bounding towards me. 

“Hold the elevator!” a man’s voice yelled. 

I pressed the button that kept the doors open, and they slid back into the sides of the opening. 

The man stepped into the already-cramped elevator and looked down at me. He had a solid five inches on me and to be honest, it was a little terrifying. He was so tall. 

“Y’know, you could’ve just stuck your foot in the door and it wouldn’t have closed. You don’t really have to press the button,” he said, all matter-of-factly.

“I considered that, but when I was like 13, I had an elevator door close on me and it was really scary. I try to keep my body parts out of the door as much as possible.”

He laughed. I looked up at the man and realized how handsome he was when he smiled. Sensing my gaze, he looked back at me and I instinctively looked away. I could feel my ears burning and let my hair cover my face.

You literally made eye contact with the man. Stop freaking out. Calm down.

“Sorry, but do you mind pressing the-” the doors closed, cutting him off. “Haha, never mind. Hey cool! I’m on floor two as well! What unit?”

“238,” I muttered, still avoiding the man’s face.

“Oh okay, cool! Maybe I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah..”

The doors opened yet again, and I got off and hoping I would get to see this man again. He walked out of the elevator and I, once again, collected my bags and started walking to my new home. 

After at least five minutes of searching, I found the door. I put the key in the lock and twisted. I opened the door and was amazed by the apartment in front of me. I’d seen it before, of course, but I’m still astonished by how beautiful it is. 

I remember why I wanted this place so bad now. I never even got that guy’s name. He could’ve been my first friend here.

I spent the rest of the night watching TV until I realized that I hadn’t eaten dinner. I got so caught up in unpacking and thinking about my encounter with the mystery man from the elevator. I picked up my phone and ran my finger across the crack that ran through the entirety of the screen.

I really need to get that fixed. 

It was already 8:30. It was dark out, and I wasn’t sure if any places would be open. I opened the maps app on my phone and looked around the area. 

There’s a Chipotle across the street, I guess I could go there.

I put on a coat and my shoes and grabbed my key off of the counter and set out on my scavenge for food. Luckily I was able to get in and out of the elevator without getting stopped by anyone this time. But when I got out into the lobby the lady who gave me my key was giving me a weird look. Not the weird look she gave me before, but a more judgy look that says, “you’re really weird”. I tried to ignore it but apparently, she really had something to say. 

She cleared her throat.

“Do you need something?” I barked.

She crossed her arms. “Somethin’ like that. Who were you talkin’ to in the elevator?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t get his name. What’s it to you?”

“Well miss, it looked to me like you was talkin’ to no one.”

“You’re crazy. He was like 6 feet tall! Did you not see him running to the elevator to catch it before I went up?”

“Aye now, be careful who you callin’ crazy. I ain’t see no one runnin’ to that elevator when you was in there.”

“W- what? How? I saw him!”

“I’m jus sayin’ miss, I didn’t see no one.”

“Hmm. Okay. Thank you for telling me I guess?” I didn’t really know what else to say and neither did she. She picked up her phone and started typing - I assume she was texting someone - and I walked off.

Odd. How did she not see that man? How do you miss something like that?

That’s when I saw him. The mystery man standing by what I assume is his car. I run up behind him.

“Hey!”

Clearly startled, he jumped forward a little and turned around. “Oh, hi! Sorry, you kinda scared me a little.”

“Oh, that’s my bad. Can you come with me for a second?” Without waiting for an answer I grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the complex. 

“Hey, what-”

“See? This is him,” I said, pointing to the man I dragged away from whatever he was just doing. 

“This is who? Hon, I still don’t see who you’re talkin’ about. Are you good?”

“I-” I turned to what used to be the man from the elevator and realized that no one was there. 

“Miss, are you good?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry about that.”

Embarrassed, I walked to the elevator as fast as I can without seeming weirder than I already am. I gave up on getting dinner. I needed to think. I made it back to my flat and laid down on my bed.

Am I going crazy? I swear he was right there. I touched his hand!

The more I thought about it, I realized that after he had left the elevator, I didn’t actually see him walk to a unit. It’s like he… disappeared.

The next day I knew I had to find this man and figure out what was going on. I called in sick to work and asked for an extra shift on the weekend so I could make up for the lost hours.

I paced back and forth down my hallway. I was determined to stay out there until I saw him again. This is the floor he got off at last time, why would he not come back?

I had retired my pacing to sit down on the bench in front of a window at the end of the hall. 

It had been 5 hours before I actually saw anyone, and it wasn’t even him. It was an elderly lady leaving her home. She looked at me and smiled. When she pressed the down button for the elevator, two men and a woman in suits exited. I didn’t recognize them from the lobby, so I assumed they were neighbors I hadn’t met yet.

Clearly, I was wrong. They made their way towards me. I got out of my seat and started walking away, assuming the worst. 

“Miss,” the woman said carefully, as if not to scare me more than I already was, “we’re going to need you to come with us.”

The two men got on either side of me, grabbing my forearms, and practically carried me to the stairwell. Squirming was no use against them, they were around 50 pounds heavier than me and built of pure muscle, so I started to yell. The man on my right used his free hand to cover my mouth. They took me out the back door and shoved me into their SUV. 

“No need to worry, dear. We’re taking you somewhere safe. You’ll be okay.”

Still screaming, I looked out the window of the spotless car. 

Standing by the door they carried me out of, was the man from the elevator.