No Hurry

Management saw a man holding the side door at the far end of the courtyard.

We raised a hand. He waited.

We walked faster.

He opened it a little wider.

We began to run. The briefcase struck our knee. We changed hands.

Before the steps, we slowed. We moved the case back, straightened our tie and took the last few paces.

“Thank you,” we had planned to say.

“Morning,” he said.

We nodded.

“All right?”

We raised a thumb.

The door stayed open.

We tried to draw a quiet breath through our nose. It made a noise.

“Very,” we said.

He waited.

“Well.”