Sweetener || HS AU (COMPLETED)

🍭 𝕠𝕟𝕖 🍭

Jailen

I stared at my phone, the screen displaying yet another eviction notice that was taped to my front door. My neighbor sent me a picture of the bright red paper, with nothing but a sad face emoji to go along with it. The fact that anyone even saw it only added to my embarrassment. I sent her a quick reply, thanking her for letting me know before I shoved my phone into my pocket and frowned.

I looked up at the ETA for the buses and my frown only deepened when I saw that my bus had been delayed another twenty minutes. I suppose I could walk... it's not that far but it would save me the trouble of possibly being chewed out by my boss again.

I pulled my dress pants up on my hips before I stepped around the sleeping homeless man and set off down the street. I walked as fast as I could, pacing myself so that I wouldn't trip over my heels, and by the time I made it to the office, I was fifteen minutes late and severely out of breath.

"Morning," I mumbled to the security guard, who just tipped his hat down in response.

The line for the elevator was long, only adding to the minutes I was late and subtracting the numbers on my paycheck. I chewed my lip as I looked up and watched the numbers decline slowly. I glanced over at the door that led to the stairwell before I grimaced and shook my head. I could always use the cardio, but I wasn't walking up fifty floors.

When it was finally my turn to board the elevator, I slipped into the corner, attempting to not make contact with anyone as I tilted my head down and closed my eyes. I exhaled through my nostrils slowly while I tried to count down the floors I had until I was faced with another lecture. No doubt my boss was probably waiting for me the moment I stepped out of these doors, so I needed to prepare myself now.

"34th floor," the animatronic voice announced as the doors opened again and the rest of the bodies exited the elevator. All except one.

I looked at him through the reflection of the elevator doors but quickly looked back down at my feet when I realized he was also staring at the reflection. I don't even know if he noticed my not-so-subtle staring but I wasn't gonna look again to find out.

He cleared his throat, and from the corner of my eye, I could see him cross his ankles over each other as he leaned back against the wall.

"34th floor,"

What? My head snapped up to look at the numbers just above the door. They flickered between multiple floors as the voice sounded again, "34th floor, 35th floor, 36th, 34th floor, 37th-"

"No, no, no, fuck!" I groaned as I stepped to the control panel and hit the number 50 again. I could feel the panic starting to rise up my spine as I pressed for the doors to open. When they didn't, I swallowed harshly and pulled the emergency stop lever.

The elevator jerked to a halt and the lights went off. They were on within the second, thankfully, but that did nothing to stop the burning in my eyes as tears pricked at my waterline. My finger jabbed into the red button that was labeled with a small phone, cursing under my breath when nothing happened.

Defeated, I stepped back into my corner and brought my hands up to my face. I was fired. I knew it. My boss didn't have sympathy for "unprofessionalism", even when it was something that was completely out of my hands. I was fucked.

"I don't fucking know, somewhere between the thirtieth floor and the fortieth..." The man who I'd completely forgotten about until now spoke. I looked over at him, my eyes immediately zoning in on the cellphone he had trapped between his ear and his shoulder as he brought his arm up and tapped away at his apple watch, "Just fucking fix it!" He yelled and I flinched, which didn't go unnoticed as he flicked his eyes over to me.