Her eyes glistened with gratitude; she followed him with a lingering look, whilst he began elbowing his way as fast as possible towards his department.
City people always appear to be hurrying to get where they are going, restlessly seeking attention in a store, or elbowing others as they try to complete their shopping.
The strong pushing aside the weak, the cunning creeping past the foolish; those behind elbowing those before; those in front kicking, as they run, at those behind.
But very few love-affairs had been known in the establishment amidst the various hostilities and friendships between the men and the women, the constant elbowing from department to department.
This is not the first English-language history of the city, but in a curiously thin field, it is the most ambitious chronicle of a city elbowing its way to Europe's front rank.
As their new president rode horseback to the White House, the crowd followed, sweeping down the avenue, bursting past startled doormen into the executive mansion, fighting, scrambling, elbowing, scratching all the while.