There was a short pause and before I could say “Three”, her finger hit “Four”.  With that she tried to correct the situation by hitting “Two”.  My fingers tried to go for “Three” but hers were faster than mine.   Eye contact was out of the question.  The difference in altitude didn’t help matters that much.  There seemed to be some friction present.  Was she claustrophobic? Was it a case of instant dislike?  Could it have been mutual?  Was it a case of two ships meeting in the night and going on their separate ways, never to encounter ever again? 

The doors opened and there was total darkness to be seen outside of the box conveying us up.  I was one floor short and my travel companion was two floors short.   Her fingers went to press number “Three” but nothing happened.  The darkness was still there looking at us and still no eye contact was made.  The long wait for the doors to close seemed even longer and the sugar and milk I was carrying were getting heavier.  My hand carrying these things slowly inched forward towards the buttons and a finger protruded stroking “Three”.  Immediately the doors started to close and the box rose up by one floor.  It stopped once again and the doors opened wide.  This time there wasn’t darkness anymore, it was gone, it was left behind.  Instead there was a light showing a familiar door in front of me.  Relief was in the air.  I was leaving the 1m safe boundary and freedom was within my grasp.

“Thank you.”

“Ok.”