Her life was always in the dark. From not knowing how her father had died, to her friends always telling her last about big life moments. Danielle never caught a break from being in the dark. Her hair was long, wavy and such a dark brown that it looked black. The apartment building she lives in in downtown Chicago has dark shutters and small windows. No one ever wants to be left in the dark their whole life. The elevator stopped and the lights went out. She hadn’t seen his face. Once again, Danielle was in the dark.
Danielle always got herself in these types of situations and thought that eventually things like this would stop happening to her. Everyone always told her that things would work out for her in the end. She used optimism and a big smile to cover up her loneliness and wanting for a different life. Yet again, this is a moment no person ever wants to have. Being in a small enclosed space with someone you don’t know and have no clue if he is dangerous or not. She was concerned at first. Who is he? What does he look like? What is he like? Danielle thought of the worst at first and held her breath in, almost like pretending she was invisible. Her concern became curiosity. They could be stuck for awhile, so Danielle decided to introduce herself.
She quickly and nervously sputtered her name. Knowing she sounded out of sorts, she said, “Sorry, I’m so nervous in here!” A deep but friendly sounding chuckle came from the other corner of the elevator. It sounded warm and inviting. His name was Dave and he was moving in upstairs. He had come by to look at the place one more time and didn’t know it would be so difficult! Danielle became more relaxed and intrigued by her future neighbor. Danielle couldn’t get her hopes up though; she barely knew this guy and she never got this lucky to meet someone nice, especially in a stuck elevator.
The lights in the elevator still hadn’t come on. Dave and Danielle both sat down on the old walked over carpeting of the elevator. Danielle never did things like this; she never really took hold of the horns of her life and made sure that things went in the way she wanted. This time for some reason, was different. They started talking about what they do for work, what their hobbies are and general things about themselves like how Danielle loves the Cubs and how dave works with children. Danielle was surprised by how talkative she was being. She wanted to know all about this guy, every detail and thread.
Danielle knew that Dave was talking to her because they were stuck, but felt that Dave was pretty sincere and caring. The dark got rid of Danielle’s nerves. There was no worrying about looks or other superficial things. For once in her life, Danielle felt pretty good about being in the dark.
Danielle and Dave discussed pets, living in the city, family, and little habits they had. They slowly moved closer and closer to each other in the tight elevator. They had been stuck for a very long time and were taking quite the liking to each other. Danielle could feel the warmth of Dave’s body getting even closer to her. His scent was a mix of juniper and pepper, an unusually good combination. Danielle wondered if Dave was feeling as into her as she was into him. Danielle never had this good of luck. For something that seemed to start out so wrong (much like the rest of her life) it had been seemingly turning out very right. Danielle wondered how lucky she could get in one day. How long would the lights stay off? How long would they be stuck together? She pondered numerous questions while curling the ends of her dark hair with one of her fingers (a calming habit she has had since she was young.)
There was a very important question that Danielle wanted to know about. Was Dave even single? It was an important one because why would she waste her time and let herself like him in this short amount of time if it would end up being something less than a friendship. Danielle remembered she was going to take control of this situation. She shyly asked Dave if he was seeing someone. And to her surprise (because he seems like such a great catch) he said no! Danielle had a huge, shining smile plastered onto her face even though Dave could not see it.
Dave has chestnut brown hair and warm brown eyes. He was about six feet tall and looked pretty built, at least from what Danielle could see. He was from a small town out east and wanted to try life in the good old “Windy City.” He was always too busy in the past with work to focus on settling down. For once, he felt like he met someone he could actually connect with. Who would’ve thought he would meet his dream girl in a dark, wedged elevator. He wondered if his future apartment was near Danielle’s. He didn’t want this girl to get away. She was special and Dave had a really good feeling about her. She has everything that he was looking for, from the wonderful optimistic personality to her bright eyes that he could barely see in the dark.
Danielle wondered what her next move should be. They had been stuck for a fairly long while and Danielle was pretty proud of herself for taking the reins this whole time. She rarely stepped up or was this gregarious. She always played it safe because risks were just too risky for her. She was feeling confident again and decided to move even closer to Dave. She slowly inched her small, delicate hand onto his knee. It doesn’t sound like a big deal but to Danielle it was.
Dave quickly smiled and placed his hand over Danielle’s. They sat there close to each other for the rest of the time they were stuck. They played twenty questions like they were kids again and quizzed each other about their favorite things. A round of rock, paper, scissors even occurred.
Danielle never wanted this surprisingly good elevator ride to end. Her whole life she got the short end of the stick. She felt her luck in this elevator was soon to run out. When the repairmen finally reached the elevator, Danielle was gently sleeping on Dave’s shoulder.
They were perfectly content with each other. They felt like they had known each other forever. Dave let Danielle continue to sleep on his shoulder while the repairmen worked to let them out. Dave and Danielle were in no rush though. They had just discovered something really special between them and didn’t want to part ways. They wanted to stay stuck to each other closely in this little elevator where the world has stopped, time was frozen, and the only thing that mattered was them.
Danielle felt like she was in the middle of a romantic movie when she awoke next to Dave with the repairman staring at them. The elevator was finally open and able to move. Dave and Danielle stepped out of the elevator and walked over to the skinny staircase that led up to the 7th floor where Danielle lived. They didn’t want to take any more chances on the elevator since they had already gotten lucky meeting each other. Neither of them wanted this day to end. Who knew they would end up this happy and attached to each other already. They held hands as Danielle told Dave a little more about the building and about the soft yellow walls of her apartment. She so badly wanted to take him around Chicago to all her favorite city spots. She had already been so outgoing that day she was scared that she would take a step too far and scare Dave off.
Danielle fumbled in her purse to get the key to her apartment. Dave stood next to her smiling in disbelief that he met someone like her in a stuck elevator. Danielle invited Dave in and told him that she would whip up a snack if he had enough time to stick around. Dave though had another idea. He said he wanted to take her out to dinner for a real first date that night. Danielle said yes with a huge smile and warm hug. For once in her life, something good started out in the dark. Finally the day had come where her bad luck and difficult life paid off in a wonderful way: meeting Dave.