Elevator Love

Chapter 1 - "Who are they?"

Irene is living in a huge apartment buildung with 13 sticks. The building is settled in a peaceful region and surrounded by greens, flowers and trees. She lives here for about 1.5 years in a small apartment which is on the 8th stick. 1.5 years ago she decided to leave her parents house just because she wanted to be more independent and feel more like an adult. She had a big argument with them at first but since they loved their daughter very much, they gave in at the end. They had one condition though. She should visit them once every weekend, which she perfectly did for 1.5 years without letting a day off. Irene is working in a bakery shop around her block as a part time job and is a full timer psychology student.

Her life is pretty simple. Since she is an introvert, she loves to spend time by herself and has almost no friends. Well, she does have a few friends from her high school years like Wendy, Joy and Seulgi, but even them she doesn't see very often. They have a promised ritual to see each other every once or twice a month, simply to prevent getting more apart from each other. Irene enjoys these times. She loves seeing them from time to time and listen to their happy stories about their lives. She just loves the feeling when people talk about things, they're passionate about in their lives.

What Irene is passionate about might be boring to a lot of people. She loves domestic work, cooking, reading, walks in the nature, watching movies and her cat 'Lola' (a white persian cat). She bought her cat as a companion 1.5 years ago when she moved in. As much as she enjoyed being alone, Irene didn't like the idea of being alone forever in life. When she talked about this topic, the others wouldn't understand her. Her friends suggested to live together, but that was not Irene's concern. It wasn't about physical company. She knew she could reach her family and friends. She knew they loved her and she loved them back. That was enough for her. Enough to know that she is not alone in this life. She is loved. Also by her cat, even if she turned her the cold shoulder. Irene knew, Lola loved her as much as she loved her.

Irene knew everyone who lived in the building just by greeting each other. She never once spoke to anyone, because they also didn't. Those people living there were mostly ones who minded their own business. Sometimes Irene thought, if the building was made for not so talkative people like her. Her father paranoically told her that it's not okay to not know your neighbours since they could be serialkillers or whatever, but Irene took it as a joke. There was not a single person living like her. She was the only one. Instead, the building was filled with small families and old people which she found very cute and safe.

Friday, 5:34pm. Irene impatiently watches to the clock hanging above the main door of the bakery shop. 26 minutes until she can leave the shop and start into her weekend. She moves her heels impatiently as she leanes against the counter with her green apron. Irene notices how one of two boys sitting at the table in the corner is checking her out unobtrusively, trying hard to catch her attention, but Irene doesn't give a damn and looks to the front with hands into the pockets of her apron.

"Excuse me?" She hears a male voice calling her. She immediately moves to the front and wears her perfect smile. Her chef told her always to smile in work because it left a good impression on customers, so they visited their shop again and again. The theory might be true, no one liked a bitch faces workers in restaurants or cafe shops. Nevertheless, Irene thought it was not necessary to smile 24/7 when you don't feel like it. She did it anyway since her chef was eyeing her behind the counter. "Yes?" Irene responded, standing in front of their table. "Would you recommend me your best cakes?" The young man asked with a smile. Irene mentally rolled her eyes. It was late and they were sitting there for almost 2 hours already. "I'm afraid, we'll close in a few minutes." She informed them politely. The young man shrugged "So, what? I'll be fast." He said with a smirk. Irene turned around to check the time. It was 5:40pm. "Would you like to have it wrapped and take home? We'll start cleaning up in 10 minutes." Irene suggested. "How about we eat it together?" He smirked. Irene frowned a little and lowered her gaze "Excuse me." She bowed a little and walked back to the counter. On her way, she could hear them giggling which made her really pissed off. She felt her cheeks getting warm slowly. Not because she was flustered, but annoyed. She hated men. Every single men wanted the same. The only one thing. They weren't truly interested in the girl's feelings or personality. These facts didn't make her go gay. Irene was still straight and adored features in men which were attractive in her eyes, but everyone in her life was so out of place which made her almost believe that the right person didn't exist.

Irene wasn't that hopeless though. For some reason she believed that the right person was somewhere out there and it didn't matter when he'd appear. And that was her romantic side. The side she showed no one. Not even her closest people. She treasured this side like a jewel. When her friends would be asked what kind of a person Irene was, they'd probably say she is like her cat 'Lola'. Loner, independent, disciplined and cold. Irene didn't like to show her weak side to people. She believed that in life, people would only use those weak spots against her. So, it was a waste of time to be emotional and romantic. To survive as a woman, she needed to be strong and cold.

After surviving her part time job that day, Irene walked home. It was a rainy day, so she took off her big black umbrella. Arriving to the front door she lowered her umbrella and wiggled the wetness on the surface. Then, she opened the door with her keys and walked to the elavator in the middle of the hall. She pressed the button and waited for it to arrive from the 13th stick. While waiting for it, she checked her phone for new messages. She only received a few message from the group talk with her friends. She checked the messages and put her phone back in since there were no important ones. The elevator was on the 9th stick now. Irene sighed and impatiently looked to the blinking number. For some reason, she missed her home and cat more than ever today.

When the elevator finally arrived the ground-floor, Irene made herself ready to get in. She corrected the hold of her bag on her shoulder, when she heard the peep sound of the elevator. The door opened slowly with two people inside. A man and a woman. Irene slightly furrowed and moved to the side to make space for them. She never saw these people in her building before. The woman was about her height and slightly smiled at her, when she exist the elevator. The man had a cap, so Irene couldn't see his face, but judging from his overall appearance she was sure they didn't live there. They were holding hands when they walked out of the door. Irene shrugged her thoughts away, thinking they're probably some visitors of one of her neghbours and smiled as she pressed the button to her stick. It might be the best feeling for her in the elevator to know that she'll be home in any second.