The CEO approached the elevator.
A temporary security guard stopped him.
“Credential, please.”
The CEO smiled.
Perfect.
He handed it over.
The guard scanned.
Green.
“Thank you, sir.”
The CEO took the card.
“Thank you.”
Then entered.
The elevator doors began closing.
Just before they did, someone called:
“Hold it!”
The CEO pressed open.
A young intern ran toward him carrying three binders.
She entered breathlessly.
“Thank you.”
“No problem.”
She looked at him.
Then froze.
Recognition.
“Oh.”
The CEO smiled.
“Please don’t.”
“You’re…”
“I’m trying to get upstairs.”
She laughed nervously.
“Sorry.”
The elevator started moving.
The intern stared at the binders.
Then asked:
“Can I ask you something?”
“Apparently.”
“Is the story about the manager true?”
The CEO sighed.
“Which version?”
“The one where she shoved you into an elevator wall.”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“She put a hand against my chest.”
“That’s less dramatic.”
“Reality often disappoints.”
The intern laughed.
Then:
“Did you fire her on the spot?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
The CEO looked toward her.
“Would you want your worst workday judged by the angriest person involved?”
The intern thought.
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
The elevator reached her floor.
She stepped out.
Then turned.
“What happened to her?”
“She lost the job.”
The intern nodded.
“So she deserved it.”
The CEO looked at her.
“Careful.”
The doors started closing.
He pressed open again.
The intern waited.
“Consequences are not proof that a person deserves every bad thing that follows.”
The young woman frowned.
“Then what are they?”
The CEO considered.
“Sometimes they are simply the price of a choice.”
He released the button.
The doors closed.
The elevator rose.
Forty-three.
The top floor.
The CEO stepped out.
His office had already been half packed.
Boxes.
Photographs.
Books.
Awards he did not remember receiving.
His assistant stood beside a table.
“You’re late.”
“I got stopped by security.”
She froze.
He smiled.
“Properly.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Not funny.”
“It was to me.”
He walked to the window.