A Chance Meeting, Odessa McNiel [10 ebook reader .txt] 📗

I run towards the elevator, out of breath. I had to make it to my next meeting on time or my boss would kill me. Sure I didn’t want to listen to him drone on and on about how bad, fiscally, we were doing this year, but I couldn’t afford to lose my job.

I watch the elevator doors start to close. “Hold the doors!” I scream before I realize I’m attracting attention. Luckily for me, the guy in the elevator sticks his arm out and stops the doors just before they close. I come to a halt inside the elevator and catch my breath.

“What floor you going to?” asks the man.

“Ten,” I say, gasping. I hear him push the button in with a light click. The elevator lurches to life then suddenly stops. My first thought was that we’d reached the level he was getting off at, but the doors didn’t open. I look over at the control panel on the wall. The emergency light was blinking.

“NO! No-n-n-n-no!” I stammer.

The man realized what I was staring at. “It’s only a little jam. They’ll get it cleared it up in an hour or so.” He says it nonchalantly as if he had nothing better to do.

“You don’t understand,” I face the man, taking in his snazzy, navy blue suit. “I can’t miss my meeting. I’ve got less than five minutes!”

“Just look at it as an unexpected coffee break.” He smiles a sideways grin. Something flickers in the back of my mind, and my whole brain starts to spin at one hundred miles an hour. I completely forget about the meeting as I stare dumbfounded at the man before me. Everything hits my consciousness at the same time, flooding it with memories, and it all comes back: his tall, broad build, the way he stood, the northern accent, and his eyes. Those beautiful, chocolate brown eyes were still a dark abyss of wonder. His hair looked different than it did six years ago, but it was still the same dirty blonde color.

“Zach Johnson?” I say quietly. I’d know him anywhere. It had to be him; there was no one else like him.

He shot me a puzzled look. “I’m sorry, but do we know each other?”

My eyebrows furrow in confusion. How could he not remember me? “Ashley Harolds,” I wait for him to respond, but he only purses his lips. “We dated in high school and went to junior and senior prom together. Our first kiss was under the bleachers at the state championship football game.”

Finally, his face contorts into one of surprise, and he smiles brightly. “No way! Ash!?” He laughs in disbelief. His briefcase falls to the floor as he pulls me into a hug. In that moment, I get a whiff of his cologne and remember it’s the one that he’s always worn. It was my Zach.

“You dyed your hair.” He says as we pull away from each other. Zach gestures to the jet black curls that flow freely down my back. “When did that happen?” He must’ve remembered my annoying habit of constantly changing my hair color.

“Last year,” I say. “I tried sticking to the brown. It got boring, though.”

He chuckles, “You haven’t changed much, you know.” He draws in a shaky breath. “So, how’ve you been?” I try not to notice that he can’t take his eyes off me.

“I’m good, staying super busy and all that, but such is life. How about you? Any interesting stories?”

“Not really. The firm I was working for went bankrupt, and I was picked up by this company to work as their Director of Marketing.” He paused. “So, you obviously work here. What do you do?”

“I’m head of the accounting division. I’m supposedly one of the “important” people now.” I do the quotation marks with my fingers, and it makes him laugh. Who would’ve thought we’d be working for the same company? What were the chances?

He clears his throat. “So, are you… you know… married?” he rubs the back of his head and tries to casually lean against the metal railing.

“Nope,” I say blushing. “I’m still single. It’s been that way for three years or so. I tried dating in college, but it didn’t really work out.”

“Same here,” he says, moving my way slightly. “For some reason, I just couldn’t get over you.” Slowly, his fingers graze my cheek. He pulls me to him, and it reminds me instantly of that sweet, innocent first kiss under the bleachers back in high school. My heart beat just as fast then as it was now, and if he wasn’t holding me up, I’d probably faint, too.

He leans in towards me, looking in my eyes. I could feel his heart beating just as fast as mine beneath his shirt. I smile nervously up at him. His lips moved to mine, but they only briefly grazed before the doors pinged open. Gasps erupt from the crowd outside the elevator.

I push away from him in embarrassment when I realize that most of the people amongst the crowd were people who worked on the same floor as me. I run from the elevator and push my way through the onlookers, my face blazing hot. But before I can get too far, a hand grabs my arm.

I turn and am not at all surprised to see that Zach was the one who grabbed me. Thankfully, the crowd had dispersed, leaving us alone in the hallway between the bathrooms and the elevator. He lets go of my arm.

“I didn’t mean to spook you or anything. It’s just been forever since I last saw you.” I nod, and he continues. “I’d like to keep seeing you if that’s alright. We could get coffee after work.”

“Coffee? After work?” I question, raising my eyebrows. “Just coffee?”

“Yes,” He smiles again, “just coffee.”

Publication Date: 01-15-2015

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