One Chapter Short Stories

The Elevator

As usual I was the last person to leave the office. I was working towards a promotion and that meant a lot of late nights.

I filed the last of the paperwork for the night before grabbing my coat, heading towards the elevator.

The doors opened and I stepped through, hitting the button for the ground floor.

Just as the doors started to slide closed, I heard a voice. "Hold the doors!"

I put my hand between them as a young woman ran onto the elevator next to me.

She was breathing heavy, rapidly tapping the floor button.

"Everything ok?" I asked.

She nodded. "Y-yeah... Yeah, everything's ok."

I slowly nodded back. "I didn't realize anyone else was here this late."

She leaned back against the wall as the doors finally slid shut. "Yeah... Just... Catching up on some paperwork..."

I nodded, folding my arms over my chest, watching the floor numbers count down. 'Just a few more floors...'

Suddenly, there was a loud screeching noise and the elevator forcefully stopped, causing the other woman and I to fall to the floor.

I hit my head against the back wall, closing my eyes tightly. "Son of a bitch!"

"What's happening? Why did we stop?" The woman asked, panicking slightly as she stood back up, quickly pressing the floor buttons.

I stood back up as well, rubbing my head. "I don't know why we stopped..."

She rested her head in her hands. "No, no, no, no... I have to get out of here..."

"It's probably nothing, I'm sure we'll be moving again in a few minutes." I said, trying to calm her down.

Unfortunately, the minutes ticked by slowly. First five minutes. Then ten. Then twenty. Still no movement.

The woman sat in the corner, knees hugged tightly to her chest.

I inspected the panel, pressing a few different buttons. Nothing.

"Hm... I wonder what happened." I said.

"This is ridiculous, we can't stay here... I have to get home." The woman said.

I leaned against the doors, looking to her. "Why are you in such a rush?"

She looked up at me, what looked like tears behind her eyes. "It's none of your business."

I held my hands up. "Fair enough..."

The woman went silent after that, the minutes eventually turning into an hour. I'm sure maintenance would clear this up soon enough.

"So... What's your name?" I asked.

The woman looked up, glaring at me. "Why do you want to know?"

I shrugged. "We're stuck here together... I just figured I'd like to know who I'm trapped with, that's all."

She looked down, the glare disappearing. "My name's Susan..."

I knelt in front of her, offering her my hand. "Claire... Nice to meet you."

She looked up at me before shaking my hand. "Why are you here so late, Claire?" Susan asked.

I stood back up. "Just finishing up some work."

"On a Friday night?"

I shrugged. "I'm not gonna earn that promotion by sitting around."

"Don't you have a family?" She asked.