Nia. Hey, are you okay? What happened in there?
Sebastian. I don’t know really. Were you waiting long?
Nia. No, not really. I tried calling your cell but I guess you can’t get service in the elevator.
Sebastian. Yeah, it didn’t work. You ready to go?
Nia. I know this great place to eat. Are you hungry?
Sebastian. Yes I am. Let’s go.
Nia. So what happened? Was there something wrong with the elevator?
Sebastian. It was really strange. This guy gets into the elevator, and you can tell something’s wrong with this guy, by his walk, by his posture, this man’s face was drenched with sweat...
Renz. Nia? Hey.
Nia. Oh hey, how are you?
Renz. I’m good. You know, I just started dancing lessons.
Nia. Really? What kind of dance?
Renz. Swing.
Nia. Wow, we have to swing sometime.
Renz. Definitely.
Nia. Oh, Renz, this is Sebastian, we’re about to have lunch. Sebastian, this is Renz. Renz works for an insurance company, and Sebastian here is in international trade.
Renz. Hello.
Sebastian. Nice to meet you.
Renz. Well, I’ve already had lunch, so I’m off to the lab to develop photos for the job. Enjoy lunch. It’s good to see you, Nia.
Nia. Bye. Call me about the dancing.
Renz. I will. See ya.
Nia. I’m sorry ... so the man, all drenched with sweat is in the elevator.
Sebastian. Oh, yeah. So this man shuffles into the elevator, goes to pick a floor, and touches the lobby button repeatedly, but slowly. By then, he also has his forehead pressed against some of the top floor buttons, lighting them up, and sweat is dripping down his check down to the floor.
Nia. What was wrong with him?
Sebastian. I actually asked him ... oh, do you know that guy over there? He’s waving to you.
Nia. Oh yeah, that’s Antonio. We’re only acquaintances. We met at Penn Station a couple of months ago. Hi, Antonio, remember me?
Antonio. Of course I remember you. Did you get to Chicago in time?
Nia. I was a couple of hours late because of the delay. Thanks for keeping me company that day.
Antonio. You’re welcome.
Nia. Antonio, this is Sebastian. Sebastian, this is Antonio.
Sebastian. Antonio, hello.
Antonio. Hello. I can’t believe that we’ve bumped into each other here.
Nia. Yeah, it’s kind of funny.
Antonio. Do you still have my card?
Nia. I think so, yes.
Antonio. Give me a call sometime.
Nia. Okay, I will.
Antonio. It’s really good to see you again, Nia.
Nia. You too. We’re off to have lunch now. I’ll give you a call one of these days.
Antonio. Good. I’ll see you around.
Nia. Thanks, see ya.
Antonio. Bye.
Nia. I’m so sorry. People keep interrupting your story.
Sebastian. It’s okay. Do you still want to listen to it?
Nia. Yes, I do. So you were about to ask the man what was the matter?
Sebastian. Right. When I ask him if there was something wrong, all the sudden he presses the emergency stop button.
Sebastian. What? Was there anyone else in the elevator with you?
Nia. No, it was just this guy and me.
Sebastian. So what happened?
Nia. I didn’t know what to do. The elevator’s stopped and the alarm is ringing. I was thinking crazy things like if he went for his pocket I would jump him. I even bent my knees a little so I could tackle him hard. But he didn’t do anything. He ...
Jackie. Nia!
Nia. Oh. Hey, Jackie.
Jackie. What are you doing here?
Nia. I’m about to have lunch with my friend here. I don’t think you two met. Jackie, this is Sebastian. Sebastian this is Jackie.
Jackie. Nice to meet you.
Sebastian. Same here.
Jackie. So did you hear about Anita?
Nia. No, what happened?
Jackie. She won like ten thousand dollars at AC the other day.
Nia. What? Really? What was she playing?
Jackie. The slots. She hit the jackpot.
Nia. Wow. Ten thousand dollars?
Jackie. Yeah, crazy huh? I gotta go now. Back to work. See ya.
Nia. See ya.
Sebastian. *laughs* It’s like everyone knows you.
Nia. Yeah, I know. I’ll eventually bump into high school friends by the next block.
Sebastian. I should keep some distance from you until you bump into another person you know. Then I’ll come in and interrupt the conversation.
Nia. It seems only fair. So did you tackle the guy?
Sebastian. Nah. He started to mumble something about it being the wrong floor, but he’s still pressing the lobby button, so I ask him what floor he wanted. Then he mumbles the number three over and over again. All this while the alarm was still going.
Nia. How freaky.
Sebastian. Yeah, it was. So I go over and tap three, and ask him if that’s the floor he wants. I don’t think he knew I was there, but he jumped when he saw the button light up. I think he thought it just lit up by itself. So I move to pull the emergency stop, but then he turns around and yells, “Stop!”
Nia. Holy oh my schnikies.
Sebastian. This absolutely freaks me out. I’m starting to sweat now, but I do manage to get the elevator going again.
Nia. How?
Sebastian. I just repeated to the guy ...
Orson. Hey, Nia. Hey.
Nia. Hi, Orson.
Orson. What’s ...
Nia. I’m sorry, can you hold on? What did you tell the guy, Sebastian?
Sebastian. Uh ...
Nia. It’s okay, go ahead.
Sebastian. I told him that everything was going to be okay. There is nothing to worry about. I then told him that there was no way of thinking clearly in this elevator and that we need to think clearly to be calm.
Nia. You said that?
Sebastian. Yeah, I felt like I was helping a person ready to jump off a bridge.
Nia. Something really traumatic must have happened to him.
Sebastian. Yeah, probably. So he finally backs off and I get the elevator going again.
Nia. I don’t remember seeing him when you got off the elevator.
Sebastian. Yeah, he got off of the third floor.
Nia. Weird.
Sebastian. Where did your friend go?
Nia. Oh, I don’t know. He must have left.
End. Elevator on Hold