Travis froze in the hallway, caught between two equally powerful gravitational forces: the smell of his favorite sausage, onion, and green pepper pizza drifting from inside the elevator, and the presence of the woman who had just stepped up beside him, radiant, calm, and, if he wasn’t imagining it, smiling at him. She had just stepped off the other elevator.
The elevator chimed. The doors began to slide shut.
Inside, on a small table someone had inexplicably left behind, sat the pizza box. His pizza box. One half of his order that he had waited forty minutes for and fantasized about during the entire elevator ride back down to the lobby, to ask the concierge where his wings were. When he accepted the order from the delivery guy, he was so hungry that he hadn’t noticed the wings were missing. The cheese still bubbled. The crust glistened. It was the kind of pizza that made grown men rethink their priorities.
But then there was her.
She stood just outside the elevator, dark hair put up for an evening out on the town, eyes warm and curious. She wasn’t just beautiful; she had that presence that made the world feel a little quieter, a little more intentional. She looked at him like she was about to say something. Maybe ask something. Maybe invite something.
The elevator doors narrowed to a slit.
Pizza.
Woman.
Pizza.
Woman.
His soul split cleanly in half.
In the final second, Travis made his choice.
He stepped forward, not into the elevator, but toward her.
The doors sealed shut behind him with a soft ding, carrying his beloved pizza away forever.
He exhaled, half‑heartbroken, half‑hopeful.
She tilted her head. “You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I think I just made the hardest decision of my life.”
She laughed, bright and musical. “Well… by the end of the night, I hope you will think it was worth it.”
Travis smiled, stomach growling in protest. “I really hope so, too.”
And as they walked through the lobby together, he realized something surprising. For the first time in his life, he didn’t miss pizza.
It happened again. The explosive temper from one I am supposed to love, and I do, but the pain. I left their presence, but I was a “walking wounded”. I kept rewinding the scene and playing it over and over in my mind. Why? This didn’t need to happen. I begin seeking comfort.