One floor below, Hank has just finished drying his hands. He drops a damp paper towel into the opening below the dispenser as he turns toward the door.

In all 5th and 6th floor bathrooms, sirens are whooping. The sound comes from a small red box high on the wall of each room. The same box starts to flash bright lights left and right. Before the voice comes over the PA system, Hank has left the 5th floor men’s and Erica has figured that she better get out of the 6th floor ladies.’ She’s about to enter her office when out of the door file Fran, Linda, and then Beth. Beth makes sure the door is locked behind her, announces that she’s the office fire warden, and directs the others to take the stairs to the 4th floor. Erica hears her ask Fran, “So you sent Evelyn home?”

Erica feels disoriented. She wants her coffee, but it’s locked in the place she’s leaving. She doesn’t understand what happened to Evelyn; is she ill or once again too stressed?

It’s slow going down the stairs. There’s an obese gentlemen with a cane below them, and the gap ahead of him grows as the tenants behind him clump together. Fran tries to lower her normally loud speaking voice. “What about him? What do we do about someone like him if there really is a fire?”

No one answers. As they emerge into the 4th floor hallway, Erica asks Fran about Evelyn, but only hears “…really upset about the talk yesterday” before they’re involved in the chaotic sign-in process, and the even more disorganized wait for an elevator. The stairs in the building are locked from the inside except on the ground. The locking is for fire safety but it means that if one enters the stairwell anywhere, one can only use it to get to the lobby. This situation creates obnoxiousness for tenants above 4, since floors 2, 3 and 4 are used by a large law firm whose employees are forever taking the elevator from one of those floors to another. Now it also means that all of floors 5 and 6 have to wait for elevators to stop on 4 and ferry them one or two stories. No elevator car can take more than 10 people; the aftermath of the fire drill is taking much more time than the drill itself.

In the press of people, Erica is separated from her employees. She gazes around a sea of somewhat familiar faces, and smiles when she spots Hank. At 6½ feet, he’s hard to miss. Erica likes large men and notices them. Hank seems strong, silent. Even though she’s been fooled twice before into mistaking silence for strength, she might have it in her to be foolish again.

Hank has just decided to continue down for his mocha when he sees Erica. He pauses.

Their acquaintance consists of miscellaneous lobby and elevator chats. Small incidents that are mutually gratifying. Each recognizes a spark of humor and personality in the other. They’re favorite strangers.

He smiles at her with his big face. They manage a couple of steps toward one other. When they’re close enough he says, “Fancy finding you here.”

“I had no idea ‘fire alarm test’ meant ‘fire drill!’ If I had, I would have brought my coffee. Hell, I would have brought the pound of See’s candy too. Here I am, caught without breakfast.”

“Maybe we should take an elevator down instead of up. Breakfast?”