She sat in a familiar shabby desk chair someone had recently tucked next to the door. It squeaked as she twisted this way and that. He turned away before she could see his smile widen.
Ryan read over the list. “I don’t remember these on the original list. It may take me a few minutes.”
“No worries—it must’ve been confusing getting this stuff ready while also learning everything you could from Val.”
“Yeah, and I was tired. I’d been covering a couple of Saturday shifts at Nopalitos, too, so this is my fault.” He waved the paper in her general direction before finding the first filing cabinet.
“These things happen.” She spun in the chair again, and it squeaked. Why was the sound so familiar? “Hey, your friend Iz…”
Ryan steeled himself. There were often lots of questions about Iz. His own family bombarded him when Iz was finally comfortable coming out more broadly. He didn’t know how Mateo handled it, but the questions always made him doubt the integrity of others. He thought she’d handled Iz’s appearance Thursday night well, but maybe she disguised her prejudices.
“I didn’t get a chance to ask before I left. What are their pronouns?”
The tension left his body so quickly he almost slumped on the floor.
“They/them.” Ryan clutched the first file tightly. “Iz uses gender neutral pronouns. How did you know?”
“I’m trying to be a better ally and educate myself. I would’ve asked Iz, but Leo called.”
Squeak, squeak, squeak.
Oh, oh no. Now he remembered why the chair was so familiar. It had been his grandmother’s, and it had a nasty habit of?—
Before he could warn her, the arm of the chair fell off and Elissa tumbled out, knocking into the file room door. It slammed shut. With his keys on the outside. Fuck.
“Are you okay?” He rushed over. Whether they were trapped in the file room was less important than if Elissa had been hurt.
Her face was bright red, but she rose to her feet and brushed off her skirt.
“Nothing hurt but my ego. That was embarrassing.”
She pulled on the handle, but the door wouldn’t open. She pulled again more forcefully.
“I think we’re stuck,” he said. “My keys were still in the lock.”
Elissa beat at the door. Wham, wham, wham. Pause. Wham, wham, wham.
Ryan walked up behind her and placed his hand over hers, stopping them mid-wham. “Stop.”
She whirled around and lifted her hands to his chest, her small fists curled as though she would soon pummel him the way she had the door.
The color drained from her face, and for a second, Ryan was certain she was going to faint. He slid in next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist so he could catch her if she did. He led her to a much more reliable chair on the other side of the file room.
“Put your head between your knees.”
She looked up with wide eyes before she did as he said. Ryan kneeled in front of her, holding her hands and rubbing slow, soothing circles with his thumbs.
“What’s wrong, Elissa?”
Elissa took a few deep breaths before answering. “I don’t do well when I think things are out of my control. Being locked in a room I can’t get out of sets me off. It’s not claustrophobia, exactly. If the door hadn’t been locked, I would’ve been fine.”
“Control freak. Cool.”
She sat up straight and pulled her hands away.
“I am not?—”
“A joke. A bad one.”
