Elevator Blackout

By Sara Coxin

Chris is an average worker, ready for a new adventure after learning that he's about to be let go. He goes through a fast pace of hard hitting questions and comes out feeling exhausted, and his gut is telling him that he didn't get the job. As he boards and elevator with two black men he ran into earlier, they lift his spirits.

The three idly converse about Chris' chances when the building's power goes out. Only the dim orange emergency lights give the three vision in the small elevator. They begin to joke around to try to clear any tension when one of them brings up that fact that he was turned down because he's too big. The other jokes that he deals with too many size queens.

When Chris learns that they're gay, he waves them off, telling them that it's not about size. If anything, all men have an average size with not much deviation. The two black men disagree and tell Chris that he's most definitely wrong. In the small, dimly lit elevator, things start to get hot and Chris gets to learn what size really means during the Elevator Blackout...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Coxin
• Release date: Jan 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524201890

Book preview

Chris looked around nervously as he waited for the elevator.  This was his first interview in quite a while.  He had a stable job at a German based automobile company for the past ten years, but due to some recent scandalous activity, his company’s CEO left, and after some massive restructuring, his group, along with others was set to be cut.

Lots of people were angry over the situation as most of the groups had nothing to do with the scandalous problem.  The exiting CEO admitted to nothing and stated that he was leaving to give the company a fresh start.  Nobody within the company believed him.  He was the one who constantly pressured everyone to achieve literally impossible goals while also asking for updates daily.

The elevator chimed as it reached the ground floor, the doors slowly opening to reveal a flood of people as they headed out.  Most of them were busy staring at their phones as they walked out, some just walking right into Chris as if he didn’t exist.  Once the elevator emptied out, he stepped in and pressed the button for the floor he was supposed to go to.

Chris moved to the corner of the elevator as the doors slowly closed in.  It began its upward ascent, the digital numbers gliding upwards.  He watched, surprised by how fast the elevator was moving.  It actually made his body clench up for a moment.

He yelped as the elevator briefly stopped and shook in the air.  His palms grew sweaty as he gripped onto the railing and looked around.  After a brief jolt, it continued on its way up, letting Chris let out a sigh in relief.  He was never a big fan of elevators.

The elevator chimed again to let him know that it had reached its destination.  The doors opened up and he quickly hopped out, slightly afraid that the elevator would suddenly drop.  It was an absurd thought, but after the brief scare, it was better to be safe than sorry. 

He looked to the left and saw tall glass double doors for the company he was interviewing with.  Chris gripped tightly onto his folder with copies of his resume in it and walked towards the doors.  A secretary behind the doors saw him and nodded, a small clinking sound emitting to let Chris know that the door had unlocked.

Chris took a deep breath and opened the door, his heart racing as he smiled at the secretary who glanced over at him and then looked back at her monitor.  She typed something and then looked up at Chris again.  He could tell that she was annoyed by his presence for some reason.

Are you here for an interview?  She asked.

Yes, I’m Chris Hartman.

Sit over there please.  I’ll call up the hiring manager, the secretary replied with an obviously fake smile.

He nodded and sat on the seat the secretary had pointed at.  Chris looked around the office, staring at the various pictures hanging on the wall.  There were a few people rushing by, their heads down as they