It had been a long, long day of frustrations. Dead-ends in her research, a new department head who seemed to hate all the PhD candidates, especially her, and teaching a summer class that seemed to be trying to kill her with their obtuseness. After spending the semester studying at Cambridge with one of the most brilliant social psychologists she'd ever worked with, her eyes seemed to cross at being back in SoCal. She almost hadn't wanted to come home, but exactly two things provided her some solace: Adam and her piano.
As she parked her car and saw every light in the building suspiciously off, she groaned silently to herself. When she saw beams of light flashing around the foyer, she sighed. The only thing to do was to go inside and try to find out what happened. It was difficult to make out anything, even in the darkened lobby. Adam was still on his shift, she thought, and so she wandered toward a dark corner illuminated by the glow of someone's laptop.
It was difficult. She couldn't quite tell who anyone was, but she thought she recognized the young man whose face the laptop was lighting up; though she'd only just moved back in a few weeks ago, she was certain he was her new neighbor. Feeling a bit awkward, she approached and said, "Hi..."
She cleared her throat and hefted her messenger bag, adjusting its weight on her shoulder.