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It was the day before Christmas. Benjamin and Julia had spent the past few hours out and about, going from store to store and buying what they still needed for the feast that they'd prepare together. They'd also stocked up on chocolate and bought some last minute presents for each other, making sure to keep them a surprise. No peeking was allowed. Both of them were quite tired after all the walking and standing around, but they were still in good spirits as they finally headed back home, staying side by side as they treaded on the snow-covered streets. Both of them were carrying shopping bags and keeping a lighthearted chatter going. It was again starting to snow.
Once they reached their apartment building, they headed straight to the elevator. Neither Julia or Benjamin felt like walking more than they absolutely had to. Once they both were in and Julia had pressed the button of their floor, both of them leaned back for a bit and closed their eyes, breathing a sigh of relief.
But that didn't last very long. After passing only two floors, the elevator suddenly came to a complete stop in-between floors. Neither on them panicked. Instead, Julia went straight to getting some help for them, but wasn't able to get a hold of anyone, no matter how much she tried. After a while they both had sat down on the floor, leaning against the back wall.
"So.. What do we do now?"
Benjamin wondered after a few seconds of almost stunned silence.
"Honestly? I have no idea, other than trying to get some help again in a bit,"
Julia sighed and started digging through one of the bags.
"In the meantime.. I guess we might as well get comfortable in case we end up being stuck for longer. Do you want chocolate?"
she asked as she opened one of the boxes of chocolates they'd bought. Benjamin nodded.
They then kept themselves busy and distracted by feeding chocolate to each other. A few minutes stuck eventually turned into one hour. That was when Julia got up once more. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, but certainly someone would have to be on stand-by in case some unfortunate souls were to get trapped in an elevator.
As even more time passed, they'd emptied an entire box of chocolate and had taken off their winter coats as they'd started to feel too warm. Three hours into their predicament it was already quite late and they'd fallen asleep sitting up, leaning against each other. Because of this both of them missed a vital cue; the elevator suddenly moving and stopping on the next possible floor. The elevator door was then opened and they were woken up by a repair man who had at long last come to rescue them. Benjamin and Julia then quickly scrambled back up on their feet and picked up the discarded shopping bags while thanking the kind soul who'd freed them. As they finally walked towards their apartment and returned back home, closing the door after them, both of them felt an intense sense of relief.
Now they'd at last get to properly calm down and enjoy each other's company.