Sunday, November 24, 2019

As I approach the office lobby from the outside, a little girl tries to push the door open from within. I stand just out of view and slowly pull on the handle so that the girl thinks that she is opening the door herself. Her mother, pushing an empty stroller, nods at me and smiles. Slices of chocolate cake with white frosting crowd the edge of the guard’s desk, lined up on paper plates with plastic forks. The slices and forks all point in exactly the same direction. One of the people standing around the desk is singing “And I Love Her.” The lyrics are only approximate. I hum along as the elevator doors close and I rise toward the office.