BEFORE SHE GOT OUT

‘I was glad when I saw you coming,’ she said as we stood waiting for the lift. ‘I saw that other man and I didn’t know him and I felt nervous, you know?’
‘I do,’ I said. ‘Sometimes I walk up to the top if i see someone I don’t like the look at the bottom. Hanging around, waiting to go in.’
A brief pause, I thought she might say more.
Then she did.
‘It’s miserable outside, isn’t it?’
‘I don’t like the rain.’
‘It would be okay if it wasn’t raining. It’s the rain makes it miserable.’
In the lift she said, ‘Is it noisy on your landing?’
‘No. Sometimes above me, and sometimes below me. It’s got a lot quieter recently, though.’
‘It has hasn’t it?’ she said before she got out.