I had exactly seventeen minutes to get across Manhattan before my presentation to the board. Three months I’d spent preparing the architectural proposal for the Riverside Community Center, and I wasn’t about to let the subway’s incompetence ruin everything.

So when the train stalled between stations for the fifth time, I made an executive decision: I’d run.

The October air bit at my face as I burst from the subway station, my portfolio clutched against my chest. I rounded the corner of Fifth Avenue at full speed, my dress shoes slapping against the pavement, and that’s when it happened.

The impact sent my portfolio flying. Papers scattered like startled birds...