“Wait – Inez?”
She turns to you and blinks. “Yes?”
“I thought I recognized you. How have you been?”
She joins you against the wall, but her face is wary. “Do we know each other?”
“I used to date a girl who lives down the hall from you.”
“Who?”
“Oh, let’s not talk about her,” you say, putting a little swagger into your voice. “She wasn’t right for me anyway. I'd much rather spend time with you.”
Inez pauses for a long moment, her eyes studying your face. Then with a sputter she breaks out laughing.
"What…?" you ask. "I –"
With a shake of her head, she turns around and walks away, her chuckles floating back to you down the hallway.
Well that went about as badly as it could, you think. The fact of the matter is that it's been so long since you've asked anyone out that you have no idea how to do it anymore. But you've got all the time in the world, of course – literally – so there's no reason to stop trying. You jump back sixty seconds into the hallway full of people, half of them already texting someone on their phones.
Inez appears. You decide to
Or you can think better of it, deciding instead to