The Elevator

"Don't tell me that you're sorry, tell me how long it'll take to get me out of this god-forsaken elevator!"

Paul on the other side of the video call winced and flipped the camera, showing Olivia the fire department trying to pry the elevator doors open. "Er, nothing they're using is working, Mrs. Parr. It's really stuck."

"I will sue everyone in their department," Olivia hissed, "if I have to stay here for the night. Get them to move quicker." Hanging up on Paul's anxious expression, she sighed.

All in all, it wasn't the worst place or time to get stuck. The heating wasn't broken, she didn't have any prior commitments today, and--Olivia glanced over to the side--the company wasn't terrible. Benjamin, also stuck, was probably the only person at the company (other than Paul, but don't tell him) whom Olivia did not hate. They were good at their job and didn't vocalize bad ideas, unlike all her other employees.

But since the elevator stopped, Benjamin had stayed huddled in the corner, staring at the floor and mumbling something to themself. Better than them trying to 'mingle', Olivia supposed.

Her phone buzzed. Olivia sighed and picked up the call. "Please tell me they found a solution."

"Well, actually Mrs. Parr..." Paul bit his lip and looked at something off the camera. "A fire broke out across town, at the Ivy Vine building, so--"

"The Ivy Vine?!" Oliva groaned. "God. Ivy Vienna's such a pain--even when I'm in a crisis she has to be better than me!"

Paul was silent.

Olivia sighed again. "And I'm guessing the firemen will have to come back in the morning, and all the employees are going home anyway in 15 minutes, so this is you telling me I'm staying here for the night?"

Paul nodded sadly. "I can stay here, if you want me to."

"And do what? Just go home. Make sure to lock up my office first."

"Mkay. Bye, Mrs. Parr."

As Paul's video cut out, Olivia turned to Benjamin. "I bet you heard, but we're not getting out until morning. I'll get some work done for now."

Benjamin didn't respond.

Being stuck in an elevator was...surprisingly not as bad as Olivia expected. She was lucky enough to have both her laptop and her phone and easily finished in two hours what would've taken her three days in the distracting office.

All work done, she was going to move on to responding to clearing out junk mail when Benjamin finally stopped mumbling and looked up from the floor. They made eye contact with Olivia for two seconds before the elevator started creaking upwards.

"Oh my god." Olivia quickly gathered her things just in time for the doors to open. She stepped out first, quickly dumping her belongings on Paul's desk. "We can still get home! It's not even that late!"

"Ms. Parr--behind you," Benjamin said, with a peculiar tone to their voice.

Olivia's face scrunched up in confusion. She glanced behind her--

And.

Oh.

There lay a body.

Rachel Clover from HR.

Inside her office.

Olivia looked to Benjamin as they started to mumble something under their breath again. It didn't sound English, so they probably weren't talking to her.

"Okay. Okay." Olivia started to pace. "Okay. Rachel from HR is bleeding out in my office. First things first: check if she's okay." She grabbed her keys--

Her keys--

Her keys, which she lent Paul for the day as she went on an errand run, as she got stuck in the elevator. She was locked out of her own office.

"Okay, step 1 failed. Uh, call Paul?" No, because Paul was the last one to lock up. She cursed. Maybe call the authorities?

She plugged 9-1-1 into her phone. When she hit "Call", it rang for a moment before picking up. "911, what's your emergency?"

"Hi, yes, um, there's someone knocked out, maybe dead in my office? And I can't get to her but I know she needs medical attention."

When prompted, Olivia gave Rachel's name and the building's address.

"Okay, well, we don't have any cars I can send your way, considering all of our forces are around the Ivy Vine fire, but I promise that in the morning I'll send someone to check out the problem."

Olivia couldn't believe what she heard. "Excuse me? There's a woman dying here and you want to wait until morning?"

"Yes, well, there are many emergencies today. I'm sorry for your loss." With that, the voice hung up.

Olivia turned to Benjamin. "Are you hearing this?"

They nodded at her through their mumblings.

Okay, back to Paul then...but Paul was the most suspicious, having locked up. If only there were a way to tell what happened...

Wait--the security cameras!

Olivia raced back to Paul's desk and flipped open his laptop, logging in as him easily.

She had some cameras installed directly outside her office to scare off interns. She'd at least be able to see when Rachel Clover of all people entered her office, and who left after her. Ah--there were the files.

She opened the files and scrubbed through.

Three hours ago, Paul went in, looking calm.

Then Rachel went in, looking panicked.

Then Paul left, again calm.

Cold dread set into Olivia's stomach. Paul had to be a good guy--he was on her 'don't hate' list. "Hey, Benjamin, check this out--"

She cut herself off as she watched someone glide across the screen.

Ivy freaking Vienna.

Holding a knife.

The temperature dropped. Olivia watched as Ivy entered Olivia's office with a smug grin and exited with a frustrated snarl.

That could've been her. Ivy probably wanted to be the best for once and for all.

And worse?

Ivy could still be in the building.

Olivia backed her swiveling chair against the wall. She instinctively sought out Benjamin--over there, near the stairwell, still mumbling.

Then they stopped mumbling, and made eye contact with her for two seconds.

And the elevator doors chimed open.