text: The air smelled like dish soap. I gave the janitor a polite, forced nod and stepped over the disgusting soapy puddle, holding my breath. My mother had always thought the smell was fresh and lively, but to me, it was horrible. It smelled like white hospitals and washing machines and lateness, my three least favorite things. I glanced at my brand new watch, it had cost a fortune, mind you, noting that my big presentation was in 7 minutes. I had prepared a slideshow, and I couldn't help but hope that everybody else would like my presentation. I straightened my skirt, taking comfort in the fact that I was pulling off the "work-chic" look absolutely perfectly. I walked into the elevator the second the doors slid open, accidentally brushing shoulders with the man who was already inside. He looked about two years younger than me, somewhere in his early twenties. His sharp jawline was what drew my attention to him, but he didn't even bother to take a single look at me when I smiled at him. I widened my smile to show my teeth, parting my red lips. "The fourth floor," I said, widening my smile even more, and waited for him to press the button. He did nothing but glance at me, unimpressed. Perhaps he hadn't heard me, I thought. "The fourth floor," I repeated, my voice a good amount louder and firmer, but he didn't even bat an eyelash. I'm sure he heard me this time! I looked down and cleared my throat softly, now feeling like an absolute idiot, and stepped forward to press the glowing number 4 on the set elevator buttons. I heard a mumble behind me and I spun around, almost tripping in my new high heels. I hadn't quite gotten used to them yet, but I knew that I had to look good for my big presentation. "What. Do you want?" I asked, trying to make my voice sound as uninterested as possible. Sure, he was definitely handsome, but if he was rude to me, then there isn't a single reason why I can't be rude back. "All you had to do was say please," he said shrugging his shoulders coolly, like saying that to a complete stranger was okay. An involuntary scoff escaped my lips. I had done absolutely nothing wrong to him, and he has the nerve to act like this? How dare he! I glanced at the number 3 lit up at the top of the elevator. My floor was next. I could see that he had to go to the 21st floor by looking at the illuminated numbers on the button. I started pressing all the numbers starting from 5, avoiding his confused glare. "What are you doing?" he spat loudly, stepping towards me. "Stop it! Now! I have somewhere to be, you know!" I smiled sweetly at him and kept pressing, enjoying the face he made whenever he heard satisfying little clicks. When I got to number 19, I paused, looked at him, and said, "All you had to do was say please." His jaw dropped open and if we were cartoons, you would practically see the smoke puffing out of his ears. I reached towards number 20 just to tick him off even more, when I noticed something very odd. The buttons weren't glowing anymore. I shot a confused glance at the man, which he returned with a sneer, when all of a sudden, the inside of the elevator went completely black. I felt myself falling before I could even start to register what was happening. I heard ear-shattering screams, although I couldn't process whether they were his or mine as I grabbed onto the elevator bar. I felt a sharp shard of glass fly into my forearm, and then two more shards flew into my leg. Even as I was falling, I understood that they were from my watch, which was now broken Something, or rather, someone clasped my leg tightly and I screeched even louder as I was suddenly pulled down to the elevator floor. "LIE DOWN!" the man screamed, pinning me down next to him with his elbow, pain running through my arm. That's when I felt the jolt. It was terrifying, I was thrown upwards as I crashed into the side of the elevator, my knee taking the full blow. The man rammed into me and we both fell down in a heap on the floor. Tears were streaming down my face and I was shaking uncontrollably when the doors crashed open. "Are you okay? Evacuate now!" A deep voice called, but I couldn't bring myself to move. My eyes stayed wide open and frightened, and I felt like I was frozen in time. I could barely process strong arms lifting me up and carrying me bridal style out of the elevator and onto a stretcher. I was loaded into an ambulance and then I blacked out. #-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#_#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#- I was still curled up into a tiny little ball when I woke up in a white hospital bed, but at least I had stopped shaking wildly. "Water," I croaked, to anyone who would listen, blinking slowly, the bright lights blinding me. "Please," I said, my voice cracking and hoarse from all the screaming I had done when the elevator was falling. I noticed a familiar face in the bed next to me. It was the man from the elevator! He had white gauze that had turned a little bit red on his head and leg. He handed me a glass of water from his bedside table, wincing a little as he stretched over to my bed. "See?" he said, smiling slowly, still obviously in lots and lots pain. "All you had to do was say please." And for the first time in what felt like forever, I smiled back. A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_A_ Thank you so much for reading! This is my first writing contest entry on Reedsy and it was so much fun to write! - Shriya