The first time Eric had met Elisabeth Sorensen, it was when he applied for a position at the advertising company known as Epstein and Martin. He remembered her well when she interviewed him - she was tall and had red hair. But despite her height, she was rather genial, and took a liking to Eric and his resume of work right away, and a month later, Eric was a junior executive on his first day of the job on her recommendation.
When he first got into the elevator, he found it was occupied by a pretty woman with red hair, a pinstripe suit, lavender blouse, and high heels that made her tower over him by six inches. He looked up, and recognised the face of Elisabeth Sorensen.
“Going up?”, Eric asked.
“Fourth floor, thanks.”
Eric pushed the button, and the lift started moving.
“What a stroke of luck,” he said. “I’m going that way too.”
“Well, as your supervisor, I just want to wish you good luck,” she said.
Eric adjusted his tie.
“So, should I address you as Elisabeth or Ms. Sorensen?”, he asked.
“Call me Lisa. It’s less of a mouthful.”
Eric was now anticipating his new job all the more. His boss was friendly and forthcoming, and even though she was bigger than him, she wasn’t domineering. But little did he know what he was in for.
Suddenly, the lift stopped at the third floor. Eric was confused, but Lisa remained nonchalant. She knew what he was in for.
As the lift doors opened, Eric saw a pair of identical twins, who entered the lift with him and Lisa. They were identically dressed - pinstripe suits, lavender blouses, high heels; what’s more, they were about the same height as Lisa, and had the same hairstyle. It took a long time for him to process what was going on, but he quickly realised that the women who entered weren’t identical twins, but Lisa’s identical triplet sisters.
Eric did his best to make room for them, but he felt more uncomfortable. He wasn’t accustomed to crowded elevators, and now it was occupied by three of the same person.
Suddenly, he heard running footsteps, and another woman entered, with an “Excuse me!”. Eric recognised that voice, and more importantly, was surprised by the presence of a fourth Lisa going up with him. He did his best to accomodate them, but the fact that his supervisor had identical quadruplets was enough to strike him dumb.
“Oh, have you met my other mes? This is Lisa, Lisa, and Lisa,” the original Lisa said. Well, as far as Eric could tell, she was the original, because she was the one who had accompanied him from the beginning.