Something Very New

This is a short excerpt from something I'm working on. It is VERY new. No novel excerpt today. Can't be giving all of it away just yet. Hope you like this instead.

No one likes to hear that there is nothing waiting for them. It is especially bad when you’re expecting something. There is nothing like believing in something so wholeheartedly that you’re ashamed to look at the people who stand in line, clutching their individual hopes, so little different from yours. So you walk out the door and let it slam behind you. You leave them staring, wondering what it was that you were unable to claim, whatever it was that you thought was rightfully yours. That is, until their name is called and they refocus their attention on what’s important to them, you are forgotten, so the feeling of shame is useless really. They don’t actually care. That’s worse somehow.
At least that’s how I felt, leaving the bank, still clutching the safety deposit box key and a crumpled piece of paper. I had been so sure. I handed the attendant my father’s key and watched as she had smiled at me and put the other key in. The disappointment didn’t set in until she set the box on the table.
“There’s nothing here for you, sir.”