5 Minutes

5 Minutes

The elevator doors opened at exactly 8.32am. She was late. She was nervous. She stepped into the lift by herself and quickly turned to the mirror adjusting her hair, which was ruffled and untidy from yet another too late night and too early morning. She took a deep breath. The heavy doors were just about to close when someone stuck their hand in between them, which immediately made them spring open with force.

Adam came into the elevator and they looked at each other. He smiled politely.

She was the kind of girl that fell in love with a song straight away and then listened to it on repeat for as long as the love lasted. She listened to it loud. When boredom set in, she never listened again. Love is fleeting.

He was the kind of guy who, when he loved a song, rarely listened to it simply because he liked to think ‘it was too precious’. He wanted to keep its beauty preserved for as long as possible. He wanted to make it last forever. Love is everlasting.

Thoughts started shooting through her head. Irreverent thoughts. Adam found it too easy to read her. He could read her face and everything she was thinking. The lines around her eyes became slightly more prominent and her lip moved to the right by the most minuscule stretch. He knew she was his song. Probably the greatest song he ever listened to.

Thoughts started shooting through his head. Irreverent thoughts. What was he supposed to do? You can’t just talk to strangers in elevators. That was pretty clear. He could not NOT to talk to her though. That was pretty clear too.

Caught between a rock and a hard place. Caught in an elevator. Adam decided to press the stop button. He could see the shock in her face. Slightly terrified, but also slightly intrigued. He looked bewildered as she stepped closer, turned fully towards him and said “I was wondering if you had the guts to stop the lift”. He could feel his heart sink into his stomach. She stepped even closer. Close enough to smell his fear. Close enough to kiss him. 

As the doors opened she said “not only is it not all about me, it’s kinda not about me at all.”

5 minutes of his life. The best song he’d ever heard.