Then at some point she stopped being alone, but life, the universe, and reality as it is simply wasn't kind enough to inform her of that.

Someone came down the stairwell. Someone was above on the stairwell.

That someone had stood there for a while. Saying nothing, doing nothing. This was achieved through a curious exercise in stealth: if you you try to hide your presence, people will look for you, because people look for hidden things. But if you make yourself, your presence, feel as unimportant as possible, tailor your body language, make your feet light like they carry unimportant, meaningless weight, and more importantly, if you surrender the burden of self and dreams, it'll be hard to notice you.

Until you smile.