Scary Stories

The Man in the Elevator

6/21 

  As Jenson got ready for work, he couldn't help but beam from cheek to cheek. He loved his job. It's all he thought about in the morning when he woke up and it's always the last thought in his mind before he sleeps. 

  Once he was done with getting ready for the day he walked to work. He enjoyed taking the scenic route. The cool breeze, the chattering people, and the infinite lives he could stumble into surrounding him as he made his way to his perfect place was always his favorite way to start the day. Jenson was old. He had no problem admitting it to himself, it was just the truth after all. His hair had grown old and gray. His skin was creased and wrinkled, folding into itself in places. His veins shined like the freshest rivers of the world weaving and intertwining on his arm, a show of his age. He still found himself beautiful and contemptuous. Living, maybe not the fullest life, but a happy one. 

 

  His short walk to work made him contemplate his life. He never found a true love, never had kids, never went skydiving or traveled the world. He lived for the simple things, the things that made him happy, and that was this walk. The towering thirty-four-story building mingled with the birds and played hide and seek with the clouds above him. Jenson smiled as he walked through the doors of his favorite place in the whole world. The Hillshire Hotel.

  Now this particular Hillshire is one of many in a long line of fancier and more prestigious hotels, but it's all the same to Jenson. One thing that always confused him, however, was how little business this particular Hillshire got in comparison to all the other more successful Hillshires. Nothing they had was lower quality than the other hotels. Though Jenson had heard a rumor flying around that this Hillshire was haunted, he called phooey. It's not that he didn't believe in the paranormal, he never discouraged the belief of something different, but he had never experienced anything of the sort. And Jenson has been working there for a long time. 

  As Jenson entered the building he waved to the lobby receptionist Maggie. Jenson thought Maggie was a nice enough girl, but she hadn’t been working there all that long. In reality, however, Maggie had been with the company for over seven years which in comparison is nowhere near as long as Jenson. So you could see where the confusion could come from.  

  Jenson clocked in and made his way to the hotel's elevator. Jenson was this Hillshire Hotel’s personal elevator operator. Now the CEO of the Hillshire company knew that elevator operators were outdated. Especially for the simple purpose of only pushing buttons, but he just didn’t have the heart to let go of somebody who had been working for the company for so long. So he saved a special place for Jenson in this smaller Hillshire where he knew he would be happy and he was right. Jenson was more than happy here. 

  Jenson's day consisted of waking up, brushing his teeth, getting ready, taking a scenic stroll to work, working for six hours, taking a one-hour break, and working another six hours till he gets off and heads home for the day. This was his normal everyday routine and it was ideal for him to never miss a day of work. He would make his rounds do what he needed to do, and then repeat the same thing the next day. He relived the same day over and over again since he graduated high school and started working here. 

  Jenson made his rounds to the top, stopping on each floor on the way up to make sure everyone was accommodated. However, when he got to the top floor the elevator made a loud creak. Jenson didn't like the sound of it, but he didn't have the time to worry about it since he had guests to attend to. 

  As the doors opened on the top floor two men stood in its place. One man was tall, lanky, and pale. He wore a bright plaid suit to contrast his lighter skin that didn’t quite reach his wrists where it was supposed to. Next to him was a shorter and rounder man. The shorter man was tanned, he looked as though he spent much of his time in the sun golfing or vacationing. He wore a dark pinstripe suit to offset his more pigmented skin tone. They were polar opposites. The taller man wore a bowler hat that matched his suit while the shorter man wore none. The taller man had a long mustache that curled itself into a short spiral at the ends while the shorter man had a lampshade mustache that seemed as though he had just started growing it out. The shorter man carried no briefcase whilst the taller of the two carried two. Presumably his and the other gentleman’s.