Ward jerked an arm in between the closing elevator doors in the hope of stopping them. But it was too late and he pulled his hand back just in time to save it from getting smashed as they sealed themselves shut. That was all he needed, exit busted knee, enter broken hand.

Tapping his foot, he willed the elevator to go faster so he could ride it back down again and try to catch up with her. He needed to hear her voice and see her – more than he felt like he needed oxygen. But something else was wriggling its way around his brain like an invasive worm. And then it dawned on him.

How did she know where he lived?

Yes, he had a few real estate investments in the city, places he rented out, places that made him money – but she’d never visited him here. They’d always met somewhere else, taken separate cabs, left in different Ubers. Could it be just a coincidence then that she’d been there? Maybe she knew someone else in the building? And hadn’t come to see him at all, he thought despondently.

But regardless, he had to see her.

Reaching his floor as he impatiently pressed the button to go straight back down, when he heard a noise that hadn’t touched his ears for several days.

A meow.

Ward had come to understand her various vocalisms and immediately recognized it as Pretzel saying, So where the hell have you been? I need feeding.

He’d since thrown out the untouched days-old food in her bowl and now he felt torn. Who knew where she’d been or the last time she had the opportunity to eat something? She was his responsibility after all.

‘Now of all times, you show up,’ he grunted, looking for something to hold the elevator doors open since he’d already pushed the down button. He grabbed a nearby console table and positioned it in place between them. ‘OK, hold on, but we need to be quick.’

Then dashing to the cupboard for a bag of Meow Mix, he quickly dumped some kibble into her food dish, realizing that with each passing second, he was losing the chance to catch up with Hannah. He dropped the bag of food on the floor resolving to deal with it when he got back.

But as he moved the console table out of the way and back alongside the internal door to the hallway, something else caught his attention, a piece of paper beneath it.

A note.