Avoidance Is Hard in the Same Building
1215 Words
Ralisa
After my conversation with Linah, I made a decision.
A very mature decision.
I was going to avoid Darius.
Not because he had done anything wrong.
Actually, that was the problem.
He hadn’t.
He had been respectful.
Kind.
Patient.
He hadn’t flirted with me shamelessly.
He hadn’t asked for my number.
He hadn’t made me uncomfortable.
Which somehow made him even more dangerous.
Because nice men had fooled me before.
I refused to be fooled again.
“Good,” I told myself that Friday morning as I adjusted my bag over my shoulder. “You’ll be professional. You’ll go to work. You’ll do your job. If you see him, you’ll simply nod and keep walking.”
Simple.
Or so I thought.
The first obstacle appeared before I even reached the elevators.
“Morning, Ralisa!”
I turned to see Esther from accounting waving enthusiastically.
“Morning!”
She hurried over and linked her arm through mine.
“Come on. I’m already late.”
We walked toward the elevators together, talking about an upcoming audit and complaining about how quickly the week had disappeared.
The elevator doors opened.
My heart sank.
Darius was inside.
Of course he was.
He looked up briefly.
His expression remained calm, but I noticed the faint smile in his eyes.
“Good morning.”
I gave the quickest nod in history.
“Morning.”
Then I fixed my attention on the glowing floor numbers above the doors as if they were the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen.
Beside me, Esther continued talking.
“…and then my manager says we have another meeting. Another meeting! As if meetings have ever solved anything.”
I laughed politely.
But I was painfully aware of someone standing a few feet away.
The elevator stopped.
Esther stepped out.
“See you later!”
“See you.”
I followed her immediately, even though my office was two floors higher.
“Ralisa?”
Esther looked confused.
“Isn’t your floor upstairs?”
“I…” I glanced back at the closing elevator. “…I remembered I need to print something.”
She shrugged.
“If you say so.”
As soon as the elevator disappeared, I let out a slow breath.
That was close.
Unfortunately, the universe seemed to find my efforts hilarious.
An hour later, I went downstairs to collect some documents from reception.
As I rounded the corner—
There he was.
Talking to one of the security guards.
The older guard was laughing so hard he had to wipe tears from his eyes.
I stopped before they noticed me.
What on earth had Darius said?
The guard clapped him on the shoulder.
“You’re welcome here anytime, son.”
Son?
Interesting.
Darius thanked him with the same quiet smile I had seen him give the cleaner a few days earlier.
No arrogance.
No impatience.
Just respect.
I quickly turned around before he could see me.
Mission accomplished.
Or so I thought.
“Running away?”
I froze.
His voice came from directly behind me.
Slowly, I turned.
He stood there with one eyebrow raised.
“I wasn’t running.”
“No?”
“No.”
“You walked away very quickly.”
“I suddenly remembered something.”
“What was it?”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
He waited.
I sighed.
“I forgot.”
His smile grew.
“I thought so.”
“I have work.”
“So do I.”
“Then… goodbye.”
I walked away before he could answer.
I could feel his eyes on my back.
Not in an uncomfortable way.
Just… watching.
Why did that make me nervous?
Darius
She was avoiding me.
It wasn’t difficult to notice.
She suddenly found fascinating reasons to leave elevators early.
She changed direction in hallways.
She became very interested in the floor whenever we crossed paths.
At first, I wondered if I had offended her.
I replayed every conversation in my head.
The ride.
The rain.
The jokes.
Nothing.
Then I remembered something.
Linah.
The day after I drove Ralisa home, I’d seen the two of them disappear into the break room together.
When Ralisa came out, she’d looked thoughtful.
Since then…
Avoidance.
I almost smiled.
So.
Her best friend had noticed.
That explained a lot.
I wasn’t offended.
If anything, I understood.
People who have been hurt don’t run from danger.
They run from possibilities.
And Ralisa had every reason to protect her heart.
The question was…
How could I convince her I wasn’t asking for it?
Ralisa
By lunchtime, I was feeling rather proud of myself.
Only two awkward encounters.
That wasn’t bad.
I collected my lunch from the café and looked around for an empty table.
There.
Near the window.
Perfect.
I sat down with a relieved sigh.
Peace at last.
“Is this seat taken?”
I looked up.
My fork stopped halfway to my mouth.
Darius.
Holding a tray.
Looking entirely too calm.
I glanced around.
The café was almost full.
Only a handful of seats remained.
One of them…
Unfortunately…
Was across from me.
I considered lying.
“It’s reserved.”
He looked at the three empty chairs around me.
“For someone invisible?”
I pressed my lips together.
“You’re very persistent.”
“So I’ve been told.”
Mostly by me.
I sighed dramatically.
“No. Go ahead.”
“Thank you.”
He sat down.
For a few moments, neither of us spoke.
He focused on his lunch.
I focused on mine.
It was surprisingly… comfortable.
No pressure.
No forced conversation.
Just two people eating.
Finally, he looked up.
“Can I ask you something?”
I became suspicious immediately.
“Depends.”
“Why are you avoiding me?”
Straight to the point.
I nearly dropped my fork.
“I am not.”
“You got off the elevator on the wrong floor this morning.”
“…”
“You walked away from reception.”
“…”
“And just now, you looked disappointed when you saw me.”
I stared at him.
Had he really noticed all of that?
“I…” I searched for an excuse.
Nothing sounded believable.
So I settled for the truth.
“A little.”
He nodded thoughtfully.
“I appreciate your honesty.”
That wasn’t the reaction I expected.
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” he said quietly, “whatever your reason is… you’ve earned the right to have it.”
I blinked.
He returned to his lunch as if he hadn’t just said something that completely disarmed me.
For the rest of the meal, I couldn’t stop thinking about those words.
He wasn’t demanding an explanation.
He wasn’t offended.
He wasn’t trying to convince me to like him.
He had simply… respected my boundaries.
And somehow, that unsettled me far more than if he’d argued.
As we stood to leave, he picked up his tray.
“I hope one day,” he said with a small smile, “I won’t make you want to escape an elevator.”
Then he walked away.
Leaving me standing there.
Wondering why the man who respected my distance…
Was slowly becoming impossible to keep at one.
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