It's been hours since I last had a hot dog. I'm beginning to hallucinate - if I don't leave now I may go completely insane. Time, I need the time. Christ, the store closes in fifteen minutes. Spreadsheets be damned, I've waited too long for this. My mouth is already watering; my stomach is clenching and growling angrily. My fingers shake on the mouse as I hit the save button. If I leave now there's a chance that my boss's pet secretary, Peter, will call me on it, but the urgency of the situation is gnawing at my resistance.

I hit the power button on my computer, grab my car keys, and push my glasses up my nose firmly, putting on my most resolute "don't fuck with me" face. I'm sure that as a scrawny little computer nerd I can't pull it off too well, but I don't care. A glance at my watch only gives me twelve minutes. I've made it there in five, speeding, so I'm not terribly worried. I pause to consider taking the stairs, but after fifteen floors I may be too tire to appreciate the delicious bursts of hot dog flavor when I bite into my favorite treat. Besides, the elevator is only one floor up and coming down.

The bell rings and the doors slide open. I step forward but as I date stock of the passenger I can't help but do a double take. The elevator is already occupied, and by the largest woman I've ever seen. She's probably four times my size, and I wonder briefly what the weight limit for the elevator is, but set that aside. There is nothing that is going to stand between me and my hot dog. Not the stairs, not a fat woman, not Peter the boss's lap dog, nothing.

I climbed in and with a cursory hello pressed the lobby button. The woman smiles a little and I notice that the second floor button was lighted. It is a small price to pay, and I hope it won't take her long to get off when we reach her intended destination. I glance at my watch again and see that I've still got ten minutes. I can do this.

A growling sound fills the air suddenly, and I'm jerked to the side as the lights go off in the elevator. I can't imagine what's going on, but as I regain my footing I realize that we're no longer moving down. My stomach lurches at the realization - what if this is a permanent thing? What if I can't get out of here in time? What if...no, the truth is too horrible to embrace, and so I busy myself with the open door button, pushing it franticly. The woman is staring at me, I can feel it. She has to be, there's nothing else in here for her to look at, and I'm sure I must look silly pressing a button this desperately.

"Is it really so bad being stuck on an elevator with me?" she asks and I shake my head.

"No, it's not you, lady." I begin to pound on the door with my fists, screaming to be let out of here, to be allowed to go to the store and get my precious hot dogs. God I need a hot dog right now, something to take my mind off of this horror movie that has suddenly become my life.

She stays silent for a while, watching me make a fool of myself as I throw my body against the doors. I slide down to the floor, staring blankly at my watch. Three minutes, now. Three minutes until the store closes. There's no way I could make it now. None at all. I can feel myself break into a cold sweat, and my hands are shaking uncontrollably. Tears are welling up in my eyes, threatening to spill over and erase every semblance of manhood.

"Oh, what's wrong?" The woman moves to sit down beside me, and I can feel her soft body pressing against my side. Something about her makes me want to open up, but I'm not sure I can without sobbing like a baby. I take a shuddering breath and glance at my watch.

"In one minute, the store closes. The store where I buy m-my Hebrew Nationals." I'm stuttering and I hide my face behind my hands as tears spill down my cheeks. She rests a pudgy hand on my shoulder, and I turn to look at her.

"Hebrew National Hot Dogs?" she asks, her voice soft. I nod mutely and she smiles. "I love those, I can't live without them."

"You do?"

She nods and leans past me to where her bag is resting. "I think I'd die if I went even a few hours without them." She pulls the bag towards her and I catch a whiff of something very familiar as she does. It's making my mouth water again. I can't help but look at my watch again. Twenty seconds.

She opens her bag and pulls out a package. "Here you go, sweetie." She hands it to me and I take it slowly, swallowing.

"You keep them with you?"

"At all times, hon. Never leave home without them."

I nod and unwrap the package and sigh softly as a hot dog is exposed. "My god," I whisper as the glory of the situation hits me. "This is amazing."

She smiles and pats my shoulder again. "Please. Take a bite. You need this more than me right now."

I look into her eyes and take a bite, sighing softly. "God, I love you," I say, and she smiles.

"I know."