You live in the same apartment as him

The apartment building had one elevator.

One.

And somehow, every time Ren used it, she was already inside.

Today was no different.

The doors opened and there she was, holding a paper bag and staring at her phone.

She looked up.

“Oh. Hi.”

“Hi.”

The doors closed.

Silence.

Normal.

Peaceful.

Then the elevator suddenly jerked.

And stopped.

The lights flickered once.

Twice.

Then stayed on.

Neither moved.

Neither spoke.

A full five seconds passed.

Then she looked at him.

“Did we just get stuck?”

“No.”

The elevator remained completely motionless.

“…”

“…”

“You’re lying.”

“Yeah.”

She sighed.

“We got stuck.”

“We got stuck.”

The realization seemed to hit them both at the same time.

They lived on the seventh floor.

The elevator was currently between floors.

And judging by the ancient noises this building made on a daily basis, they could be here for a while.

She leaned against the wall.

Ren pressed the emergency button.

Nothing happened.

He pressed it again.

Nothing.

“That’s reassuring.”

“It probably works.”

“You don’t sound convinced.”

“I’m not.”

She laughed.

A mistake.

Because now Ren was looking at her.

Not intentionally.

Just automatically.

The same way cats notice movement.

Unfortunately, she noticed him noticing.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re looking at me.”

“No I’m not.”

“You literally are.”

Ren looked at the ceiling.

“There.”

“That’s worse.”

“How?”

“Now it looks like you’re avoiding looking at me.”

He immediately looked back at her.

“Happy?”

“A little.”

“You’re annoying.”

“You’ve told me that before.”

“And I’ll tell you again.”

She smiled.

Way too pleased with herself.

A few minutes passed.

Then ten.

Then fifteen.

The elevator still wasn’t moving.

She slowly slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor.

Ren looked down.

“You comfortable?”

“No.”

“Then why are you sitting there?”

“My legs hurt.”

“You walked from the lobby.”

“Exactly.”

He stared.

She stared back.

Then, somehow, they both started laughing.

For completely different reasons.

After another minute she noticed something.

Ren had taken off one earbud.

The other remained in.

“What are you listening to?”

“Music.”

“Very informative.”

“Thanks.”

She held out her hand.

“Let me hear.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ll judge me.”

“I won’t.”

“You absolutely will.”

She continued holding out her hand.

Ren looked at it.

Then at her.

Then at her hand again.

Finally he pulled out the earbud and handed it over.

She put it in her ear.

Listened.

Paused.

Then looked at him.

“…”

“…”

“You’re judging me.”

“I thought you’d listen to something cooler.”

“I am listening to something cool.”

“This sounds like something a divorced office worker would listen to during a rainstorm.”

Ren snatched the earbud back.

“Give it.”

“I’m right though.”

“You aren’t.”

“You absolutely got your heart broken in another life.”

“I hate you.”

“You don’t.”

The answer came too quickly.

Both of them noticed.

Neither mentioned it.

The elevator suddenly lurched back to life.

The doors opened.

Freedom.

At last.

She immediately stood up.

“So, see you later.”

“Yeah.”

She started walking away.

Then stopped.

Turned around.

“By the way.”

“What?”

A small smile appeared on her face.

“The song was nice.”

Then she disappeared down the hallway.

Ren stood there for a moment.

The elevator doors opened and closed behind him twice before he finally moved.

For some reason , the rest of his playlist sounded a lot better than usual. 🐈‍⬛🦌🎧✨