The elevator doors opened, and Sofia started to step into it. The two women already standing in it glared at her, as if she had just slapped them in the face. As if she had violated some inner sanctum of theirs, just by needing to get to the thirty-fourth floor.

Sofia didn’t speak English; usually she found she didn’t need to. This was one of those situations – it was enough for her to just pull out her phone, unwrap the earbuds, and put them in her ears. She didn’t even have to turn the music on; once they were in, the women resumed their conversation, thankful to have their comfortable illusion of privacy returned to them. They rode the rest of the way to the building’s top floor in peace.