“I understand,” I said.

“Just me.”

Denise got up and held the heavy wooden door open for me.

“We need to go down to the main lobby,” she said.

We walked down the long hall toward the elevators.

The rubber soles of my shoes squeaked loudly on the polished linoleum with every step.

We stepped into the empty elevator, and Denise pressed the button for the ground floor.

The metal doors slid closed.