Beth knocked on Jake’s door. Initially, her knocks were intermittent, with pauses long enough to hold flares of frustration, but then the speed of the knocking increased. Frustration combusted into anger and now Jake’s door rattled in response to Beth’s possessed hand incessantly banging out a command that demanded acknowledgment.
Just when Beth was about to enlist her foot in the effort the dead bolt clicked and the door creaked open, but it did so slowly. Jake couldn’t muster the energy to open the door, but he could find the wherewithal to allow it to open, to no longer impose against the force being applied on the other side.