“I what? How?”
She pressed the button to call the elevator again. “This button is busted, but now the elevator has already probably gone back up, so there’s no way we are getting out that way.” She pointed to the door to the parking garage. “And go ahead and try your keycard on that lock, see if it’ll work for you because I just keep getting the red light.”
Frowning, I walked over to the door and swiped my card through the key slot. The red light flashed at me as well. I tried again, nothing. Sighing, I turned back to face her. “Huh. How are we going to get out?”
“You tell me! This is your building.”
That was a good point. I nodded, then I took my phone out and started scrolling through numbers until I saw the one listed as ‘Vinny (Building manager)’. I dialed his number, and he picked up after many, many rings. “Yeah?” he said.
“Vinny, it’s David Becker from Becker Technologies,” I said. “Wait, you still work for us, right? You’re still our building manager?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“Right, well, sorry to bother you on Friday night, but a colleague and I are stuck in the room between the elevators and the parking garage. It seems the button isn’t working to call the elevator back and the keycard swiper thing is busted as well. We are, incidentally, trapped. So, if you wouldn’t mind coming down here as soon as you can and helping us get out, that would be greatly appreciated.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can boss,” he said. “But I’m at least an hour away, and I’ve been drinking so I’m gonna have to order a ride or something. My apologies, but I just don’t normally get calls on the weekends, and I figured it was safe to start drinking after 8 on a Friday.” He laughed and I heard what sounded like the commotion of a crowded bar in the background. “I didn’t think anyone would still be in the building.”
“I understand, but yes we are here, we were working late. And technically this is your job, and we do need your help. So, can you please just hurry?”
“I’m leaving now,” he said. “Be there when I can.”
I hung up and put my phone away, exhaling loudly. “He’s coming, but he said he won’t be here for another hour.”
“Anhour?” Lily asked. “What the hell is he doing that’s going to take him an hour?”
“Enjoying his Friday night it would seem,” I said.
She sneered. “Figures.” She looked over at the glass door separating us from our cars. “Why don’t we just break the glass?”
“Uh, because this is my company and my building, and I’m not going to destroy it when the two of us are more than capable of waiting an hour to get help.”
“Speak for yourself! Maybe I had plans tonight.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. You better call and push them back because I am not going to throw something through that glass, and frankly, I don’t think you’re strong enough to break it yourself.”
“Care to make a bet?” She walked over and picked up the little sign arranged on a short metal stand that said, “Please remember to lock your cars. Becker Technologies is not responsible for any break-ins or items stolen from the vehicles parked in our garage”. “I think if I get a running start, I could at least put a crack in it.” She hiked the stand up over her shoulder and got ready like I was actually going to let her do this. “Then from there, it’ll be easy.”
“Are you nuts?” I said. I stood in between her and the door. “You’re just going to hurt yourself!”
“I’m stronger than I look.”
“Be that as it may, I am not going to allow this. End of story.” I laughed and shook my head. “But it’s good to know just how desperate you are to be out of this room. Honestly, it’s a little insulting that you’d rather go through all of this than spend one hour with me.”
“Are you that surprised?” She put the sign down and crossed her arms. “You’ve been antagonizing me since the day we saw each other in the office.”
“Not on purpose,” I said.
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and frowned. Then, she walked back to the corner she was sitting in when I first arrived and slid down to her butt. She brought her legs up against her chest and let her forehead rest on her knees. “I don’t want to fight anymore,” she said. “Can we just sit here quietly until the maintenance man comes to let us out?”
I shrugged. “Fine with me.” I sat down across from her, leaning my back against the opposite wall. “But for what it’s worth,” I said softly. “I haven’t been trying to hurt your feelings.”
She said nothing for a while, then finally she looked up at me. “What about that first day?” she said. “You made that joke about being left at the altar.”
I shook my head. “I honestly don’t remember that. What was the joke?”
“You compared me leaving you behind in the hotel room in Hawaii to a bride being left at the altar.”
I slowly nodded. “Okay… and that hurt your feelings because…?”