Six seconds
Chad was new in the building. So new that his swipe card wouldn't work at the entrance, and he had to call his supervisor to let him in. It was the only job he'd ever had that required him to wear a button-down shirt and tie, but any self-confidence he could have garnered by it was shattered after a couple of days by the realization that he just wasn't a people person. He had the college degree and the experience, but no promise was made regarding his ability to socialize with peers. It was always awkward. He vastly preferred steps to elevators, since at least while climbing stairs an uncomfortable silence could be avoided. He could always walk faster. In the elevator, he could only stare awkwardly at the other person, or stare awkwardly at the wall. He had suffered his daily humiliation earlier in the afternoon, when he attempted to use the stairs, only to find that they were for emergencies only. He tripped the alarm, and dozens of people ran from their cubicles to see what was happening. Chad awkwardly attempted to play it off by pretending he himself had run, like the rest of them, to see what was the matter.
Presently, he was suffering another humiliation. It was past 9:00 PM, and he felt even less like socializing than normal. He briskly walked down the longest hallway in the building, a hallway he normally tried to avoid. He cursed himself as he spotted his training supervisor walking in the opposite direction. In a couple of seconds, they'd walk by each other. Chad didn't know how to react or what to say. Depressingly, the supervisor was his only acquaintance thus far. He didn't really want to smile and say hi, for fear of being overly friendly toward someone whose friendship with him probably wasn't even genuine. He had to be nice, he was the training supervisor, it was his job. His small talk about where he grew up didn't mean shit, and Chad knew it. On the other hand, he didn't want to just drop his head and shuffle past. He didn't want him to think he was weird.
Chad felt a surge of boldness. He smiled and tried to say "Hey man", when he inexplicably stuttered. "Hey, m-ma--" Suddenly, the hallway was fourteen miles long.
He panicked, and tried to parlay it into a sneeze. The sneeze sounded fake, and he knew it. He was immediately incredulous. He couldn't believe he had actually said, "Atchoo." Somehow, he was left with enough time to say, "Sorry", to his supervisor, this time without stuttering.