GOING UP?

Sometimes, love is just a few floors away.

The Runaway Orange

At forty-seven, Victoria Hayes considered herself a reasonably sophisticated woman.

She owned a successful marketing agency, maintained an impressive wardrobe, and could negotiate contracts worth millions without breaking a sweat.

Unfortunately, none of those accomplishments had prepared her for being attacked by an orange.

It happened on a Tuesday evening as she stepped into the elevator of her downtown apartment building.

A beautiful blonde woman was already inside, struggling with a large paper grocery bag.

"Seven, please," Victoria said pleasantly.

"Me too," the blonde replied, smiling as she pressed the button.

Then the bottom of her grocery bag split open.

An orange escaped first, bouncing across the polished elevator floor, followed by another orange, a red pepper, and a particularly determined head of lettuce.

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" the blonde exclaimed.

Victoria instinctively lunged after the first orange.

Unfortunately, catching runaway fruit while wearing a fitted emerald-green satin dress and towering heels was not among her professional skills.

The orange rolled between her feet.

She wobbled.

The blonde gasped.

And Victoria grabbed the handrail just in time to preserve what remained of her dignity.

"Well," she announced, "I suppose that's one way to make an entrance."

The blonde burst out laughing.

"I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be. I've had considerably worse first dates."

The woman stopped laughing.

"First dates?"

Victoria looked up and smiled.

"Unless you're married, in which case I meant elevator rides."

Twenty Minutes Between Floors

"My name is Sophie," the blonde said as they crouched to recover her groceries. "Sophie Miller. Thirty-six, single, and apparently a danger to anyone traveling vertically."

"Victoria Hayes. Forty-seven, also single, and willing to overlook the attempted murder."

Sophie laughed again.

"I really am sorry."

"Darling, if you'd wanted my attention, you could simply have said hello."

Sophie blushed.

Then, just as Victoria rescued the final orange, the elevator gave an unpleasant little shudder.

It stopped.

The lights flickered.

Both women looked up.

"Oh, no," Sophie whispered.

Victoria pressed the button for the seventh floor.

Nothing.

She tried another button.

Still nothing.

"Wonderful," Victoria said calmly. "We've been kidnapped by an elevator."

Sophie stared at her.

"You're joking?"

"Of course. I'm far too expensive to kidnap."

They pressed the emergency call button, and a reassuring voice informed them that maintenance was on its way.

Approximately twenty minutes, they were told.

"Twenty minutes?" Sophie groaned.

Victoria looked at her beautiful companion.

"Well, I can think of worse company."

Sophie gave her a curious smile.

"Can you?"

"Oh, absolutely. My accountant, for example."

An Unexpectedly Pleasant Emergency

After several minutes of standing awkwardly, Victoria suggested they sit down.

"These heels weren't designed for extended captivity."

Sophie settled beside her, folding her long legs beneath her.

"Do you always dress like you're attending a glamorous dinner party?"

"Actually, I was."

"Oh?"

"A charity dinner. Very dull. I escaped before the speeches."

"And now you're trapped in an elevator with a woman whose groceries are trying to kill you."

"Life has certainly improved."

Sophie laughed and rested her head against the stainless-steel wall.

"So, Victoria Hayes. Tell me something about yourself."

"Such as?"

"Are you always this charming?"

"Only when I'm nervous."

Sophie turned toward her.

"You're nervous?"

Victoria hesitated, then smiled.

"Well, I am sitting next to a very attractive woman who keeps smiling at me. I'm a little out of practice."

For a moment, Sophie said nothing.

Then she moved slightly closer.

"That's funny."

"Why?"

"Because I'm sitting next to a beautiful woman in an extremely expensive dress, wondering whether she's actually flirting with me."

Victoria tilted her head.

"And what conclusion have you reached?"

"That I certainly hope she is."

Their laughter filled the little elevator.

Outside, maintenance continued working.

Inside, neither woman was particularly concerned about the delay anymore.

The Dinner Invitation

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, Victoria knew that Sophie was a freelance graphic designer, loved cooking, had moved into the building three months earlier, and hadn't been on a proper date in almost a year.

Sophie had learned that Victoria loved jazz, hated olives, worked too much, and had spent several years convincing herself she was perfectly content being single.

"Are you?" Sophie asked.

"Am I what?"

"Perfectly content?"

Victoria looked at her.

"Until about fifteen minutes ago, I thought so."

Sophie smiled.

"That's a very interesting answer."

"I could give you an even more interesting one."

"Please do."

Victoria reached for Sophie's hand.

"Would you have dinner with me?"

Sophie glanced at the ruined grocery bag.

"Well, I was planning to cook tonight."

"Excellent. I can help."

"Can you cook?"

"Absolutely not."

"Then what would you do?"

"Pour wine. Offer encouragement. Tell you how beautiful you look."

Sophie pretended to consider the proposal.

"Hmm. Very limited qualifications."

"But considerable enthusiasm."

"That counts for something."

Victoria gently brushed a loose blonde strand away from Sophie's cheek.

"Is that a yes?"

Sophie leaned closer.

"That's a very definite yes."

For one wonderful moment, Victoria thought Sophie might kiss her.

Then the elevator suddenly moved.

"Oh, come on!" Sophie exclaimed.

Victoria burst out laughing.

"Apparently, someone has terrible timing."

Just Two Doors Apart

A moment later, the elevator doors opened on the seventh floor.

The two women stepped into the warmly lit hallway, laughing as they adjusted their clothes and collected Sophie's surviving groceries.

"Well," Victoria said, "this is where I reluctantly say goodbye."

"Where do you live?"

Victoria pointed down the hallway.

"Seven A."

Sophie stopped walking.

She looked at Victoria.

Then she looked at the apartment door beside it.

"You're joking."

"What?"

Sophie pulled a key from her handbag and held it up.

"Seven B."

Victoria stared.

Then both women burst into laughter.

"Three months!" Sophie exclaimed. "I've lived two doors away from you for three months!"

"And we needed a broken grocery bag and a malfunctioning elevator to meet?"

"Apparently!"

Victoria leaned against her apartment door, still smiling.

"Well, Miss Miller, this certainly makes dating more convenient."

Sophie stepped closer.

"Dating?"

"I believe we established that downstairs."

"We did, didn't we?"

"And there's something else."

"What's that?"

Victoria smiled mischievously.

"I never received that kiss the elevator so rudely interrupted."

Sophie set her groceries down beside her door.

"Oh, we can't have that."

She reached for Victoria's hand, gently pulled her closer, and kissed her.

There was no thunderstorm, no romantic music, and no spectacular city skyline.

Just two women standing in an ordinary apartment hallway, discovering that an unexpected meeting could turn into something quite extraordinary.

When they finally parted, Victoria smiled.

"Dinner at seven?"

Sophie nodded.

"My place. Seven B."

"I'll bring the wine."

"And Victoria?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Please use the stairs."

Victoria laughed.

"Why?"

Sophie slipped her arms around Victoria's waist.

"Because I don't intend to share you with another broken elevator."

Victoria kissed her again.

And for the first time in years, she realized she was looking forward to tomorrow, and the day after that, and perhaps a great many evenings spent just two doors away.

Sometimes, finding love isn't about going somewhere new.

Sometimes, it's simply about going up.