text: I stepped into the small elevator. Generic music played from the small speakers in the corner of the elevator car. I selected twenty-two from the keypad. As the doors closed, a petite figure slipped in. She fell into me then shot back up. “I’m so sorry!” she brushed off her navy blue pencil skirt. “It’s alright,” I replied. “You work here?” she asked. “Yeah, I work on twenty-two in management. Do you work here?” “Yes I work on thirty,” she nodded. I didn’t mean to stare, but she was beautiful. Her hair was dark brown and her eyes blue. “What? Is there something on my face?” she touched a hand to her cheek. “No, you’re just...really pretty,” I stuck my hands in my pockets. “Oh well thank you,” she did a mini curtsy. “I’m Charlie,” I took a hand from my pocket and offered it to her. She shook it. “Like Charlie Brown,” she laughed. Her laugh was like music. It wasn’t forced or overly obnoxious. She was perfect. She looked at the floor indicator. “Seems we have seventeen floors left to learn everything about each other,” she smiled. “That’s not much time,” I looked to see that we were on floor five. “Well, how boring are you?” “I like to think I’m an average guy,” I shrugged. “Then we should have plenty of time.” So we talked. I told her everything about my averagely boring life. My job, my apartment, my friends. I still hadn’t gotten her name but it was too late to ask. I asked about her life and she simply answered, “Heavenly and divine,” with a smile. The elevator came to floor twenty one. “We should go out for coffee sometime,” I suggested. “I would like that,” she glanced down. I pulled a post-it pad from my pocket and wrote my number on it. I gave it to her and she smiled again. That angelic smile. The elevator pinged as we reached floor twenty-two. “This was lovely,” she smiled again. “That it was.” “See you around, Charlie,” she waved as I exited. I walked over to my desk. “You look unusually happy,” my co-worker, Peter said. “I just met the most perfect human being,” I sunk into my chair. “Where? The elevator?” “Yep, she works on thirty. It’s weird, I’ve never seen her around,” I spun around in the chair. Peter’s face twisted from happy to concerned. “Charlie, are you feeling okay, man?” he walked over and put a hand on my shoulder. “Never better, why?” I looked up at him. “There are only twenty-five floors in the building. The top five floors were burned down after that accident,” Peter gestured upwards. “But, that’s impossible, I just met this girl,” I was confused. “You should go home for the day, get some rest,” Peter said. “No seriously, I’m fine,” I moved away from his hand. I stood and rushed to the elevator. I searched the buttons, but twenty-six to thirty had tape over them with the words, “OUT OF ORDER” scrawled in permanent marker. I frantically pressed twenty-five. As the elevator came to a stop, I ran out and searched the cubicles for the beautiful girl I had met before, but she wasn’t there. I ran to the stairs and practically slid down them. I rushed out to the street to see if she was there, but I didn’t see anyone nearly as perfect as her. I rushed out into the street as an eighteen-wheeler flew down the street, running me over in the process. “Hello,” a voice floated through my ears. I opened my eyes. All I could see was this bright light, like the sun. I looked for the voice and saw her. Standing right in front of me. She was dressed in a white dress. “Welcome,” she smiled. She offered me a hand and pulled me up. “Where am I?” I looked around, but I saw nothing but light. “Where you belong,” she took my hand. I pulled it away. “I- I can’t be here, I have a job, a life.” “Charlie, you didn’t survive that crash,” she looked me in the eye, her face sympathetic. “No, no this can’t be happening, I’m only twenty-seven, I have a whole life ahead of me,” I was freaking out. “Charlie, listen to me, there’s only one thing that can be done now,” she said. “What is it? I’ll do anything.” “You must find someone willing to give you their life. You will have the same body and soul, but I warn you, it is quite difficult to find someone willing.” “I’ll at least try,” I answered. “Wait, Charlie, I know someone,” she grabbed my hand and looked me in the eye once again. “Who?” I asked. “Me,” she replied. She held my face in her hands and closed her eyes. “Wait! Before you do this, please, tell me your name,” I begged. She opened her eyes and smiled. She whispered her name in my ear. It was as beautiful as she was. She took my hands and closed her eyes again. Everything glittered and shone and suddenly, I was back on the sidewalk. I went back into the building and pressed button twenty-two.