The January weather was bitter cold, and maybe that was why Andy was late for work. Well, that was his excuse. The real reason was he slept late, and he blamed that on the cold weather. The post-holiday season was always a depressing time. But there was something to cheer him up during this depressing season. Erin.

"Late too?" Andy huffed as he ran into the elevator, surprised to find her there.

"Yep." She smiled, whether at his presence or his coughing fit he couldn't tell.

"And your excuse...?"

"Corner Bakery." Erin smiled guiltily, shaking the bag, and now as Andy had caught his breath he could smell the aroma of delicious food.

"Ooh, lucky. I slept late, so I didn't have time to get lunch." Andy confessed.

"Oh, well you're welcome share with me." Erin offered.

"Nah, it's okay. I'll get something from the vending machine instead of mooching off fellow co-workers."

"I have a lemon bar!" Erin said in a sing-song voice.

Andy laughed. "You know I don't want to steal your dessert."

"You so do!" Erin giggled. "Remember last week, when you stole one of my chocolate chip cookies?!"

"I did no such thing!" Andy said in mock denial. "It was Creed."

"We were the only one's in the break room, you dooface." Erin said, nudging him playfully.

"Hey, well you got back at me!" Andy pointed out. "The next day, you switched our chips, remember?"

"Switch the chips...what?" Erin said slowly, concealing her smile.

"Yes you did!" Andy laughed. "You had a pack of chips that was all crumbled, so you switched it with my perfect bag!"

"Hmm...nope, I don't remember that." Erin teased.

"Erin Hannon, you are such a liar!" Andy joked, and they laughed, but it was short lived. Suddenly, there was a jolt.

Erin screamed, and immediately grabbed for Andy's hand. He took one last look at her before the lights flickered out.

"Andy?" Erin said timidly.

"It's been twenty minutes!" Andy said angrily. "If the elevator hasn't started up now, it never will!"

"Still no signal on your phone?" Erin said hopefully.

"Nope."

"Mine either." She sighed.

"What about Hank, you know, the security guard? Shouldn't he be watching the cameras to see if anyone ever gets stuck?" Andy suggested.

"Hank's not he today." Erin told him.

"What? Hank's always here!" Andy exclaimed.

"Funny how these things work out, isn't it?" Erin said with a twisted smile. If that was catergorized as funny. Andy always seemed to take Hank for granted, and on the day he really needed him, he wasn't here!

"Ugh, what are we going to do!?" Andy sighed angrily, sinking to the floor.

"Well," Erin said, sitting down next to him. "I guess we'll just have to...make the best of it."

"Make the best of it?" Andy scoffed. "Erin, we're stuck in an elevator with no signal, no power, and obviously no air circulation becuase it's really hot in here." He said, taking off his blazer. "How are we supposed to 'Make the best of it'?!"

"Well, we're missing work," Erin said thoughtfully. "And we're excused from it."
"Alright." Andy mumbled.

"We have food." She supplied.

"You have food." He corrected.

"Which I will gladly share with you." Erin said, and even in the darkness she could see Andy smile. "We also have each other, for company."

"That's always good." Andy replied. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"And," Erin said, rumaging in her bag, "We have...lipstick."

"Always need that when you're stuck in an elevator."

"Tissues."

"Oh, I needed those."

" And..oh, I have a book!" She exclaimed.

"But we can't read in this light." Andy pointed out.

"Never say never." Erin told him, propping open the book, and using her phone as a flashlight. "We're allowed to bring guests, said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet. And I...Oh, sorry, the phone light died, let me click it again. And I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it's that stupid I won't bother!" Erin read, imitating Hermione Granger in her best British accent. Although, she was having trouble reading because the amount of light was so limited. "Would you like to play Ron?" She said with a knowing smile.

"I'd be honored." Andy smiled, and Erin handed him the book. "You were going to ask me?" asked Ron, in a...." The light died again, and Andy pressed the middle button on Erin's phone to start it up again. "Asked Ron, in a completely different voice." Andy finished dramatically in a British accent, treating the simple line as if it was a cliffhanger in a play. Erin laughed as Andy handed her the book.

"Yes, said Hermione angrily, But obviously..." The light flickered off once more, and Erin sighed. "Okay, so I guess that's a little tricky, but you get the idea, we can have fun in here!"

"Yeah, I guess we can." Andy said cheerfully as he watched her delicately place the book back in the bag. It was a blessing in disguise, really, being stuck in an elevator with Erin. This way, he could spend some much needed time with her, nobody could inturrupt them, and neither one of them could leave. It was a blessing in disguise, just like Erin, he thought as she handed him a piece of gum. No, not like Erin. He thought as he thanked her. She was a blessing, but not in disguise.