El ascensor que no llega

The building's elevator had been broken for three days and the sign stuck on the lobby door said 'Soon to be repaired' in handwriting that someone had crossed out twice. It was eight o'clock on a humid Thursday evening in November. Paula, who lived on the sixth floor, was climbing the stairs with a backpack and a gym bag when she ran into Don Ricardo on the third-floor landing. Don Ricardo was eighty-two, lived on the fourth floor, and rarely went out. He too was returning home, with a bag of bread and an envelope in his hand. They looked at each other: neither had much energy left to keep climbing. 'Would you like me to help you?' Paula said, pointing at the bag. Don Ricardo hesitated. 'Well, if it's not too much trouble...' They continued climbing together. Paula walked slowly so Don Ricardo could keep pace. On the next flight, he stopped and said, 'Before I retired, I worked at a printing press. I've lived in this building for forty years.' Paula had never exchanged more than a 'good morning' with him. Now, in the silence of the stairwell, she listened as Don Ricardo described the Buenos Aires of the seventies with a precision that surprised her. 'You know how the city was before they put those grey containers everywhere,' he said, pointing at the street through the landing window. 'Everything was more human.' 'Sometimes I think I wish the city hadn't changed so much,' Paula said almost without thinking. Don Ricardo looked at her as if he had just discovered that the girl from the sixth floor had opinions. They reached the fourth floor. Don Ricardo opened his apartment door and, instead of saying goodbye, said, 'If the elevator isn't fixed soon, I'll wait for you downstairs tomorrow at six. That way you won't climb alone.' Paula smiled. 'I hope the elevator takes a little longer to get fixed,' she thought as she climbed the last flights. She couldn't remember the last time someone had waited for her at the bottom of the stairs. The next day, as Paula returned from work, she saw Don Ricardo sitting on the lobby bench with a book in his hand. When he saw her, he smiled and said, 'They still haven't fixed it. I was waiting for you.' They climbed together, and Don Ricardo told her that his granddaughter studied graphic design, almost the same field Paula worked in. When they reached the fourth floor, Paula said, 'Tomorrow I'll wait for you.'