By
six o'clock everyone in the office had gone home but her. Again, she was late.
Packing her small briefcase she glanced around to note that no one was left,
but her.
She
sighed, picked up her purse and walked to the elevator.
She
stood there in the hall, alone, and punched the elevator button. The aloneness
surrounded her. She heard the ding of the elevator button. Saw the signs of it
coming up, very slowly. She tapped her foot.
All
she could think about was going home to her cat and her lonely apartment to
rest this weekend. Perhaps that wasn't reason enough to not offer to help her
boss out, but he never seemed to appreciate how much time and labor she put
into the job.
The
elevator door swung open and she stepped inside. A man was in it. He wasn't an
office worker, but she knew she'd seen him somewhere. He wore jeans, and
t-shirt that emphasized his mass of muscles and brawn She had to assume he was
probably a janitor or something of the sort. He looked as tired as she. He had
short cropped hair and a slight shadow on his cheek. He was oddly handsome.
He
glanced at her and smiled, but didn't say anything. His smile transformed his
face into something she thought ruggedly handsome.
She
smiled back, only because she was too tired to do anything else.
Then
suddenly it happened.
The
elevator came to a crawl and finally stopped between floors. It sort of bounced
and she nearly fell the man's arms.
The
man's head jerked about, then the lights went out.
"Good
grief, I wonder what is wrong?" She hollered, pulling herself together.
The
man was just inches away from her now when he spoke. "We're stuck between
floors." He nudged her, "Excuse me, let me call the emergency
number."
"Oh,
of course," she moved away.
He
lit his lighter and picked up the phone.
"Yeah,
we're stuck between floors. How long before you can fix it?" He asked
gruffly. "What?" he hollered into the phone. "Yeah, yeah. Well,
don't forget us. Say, does this thing have an emergency light somewhere. Oh,
yeah, I see it. Thanks."
He
hung up.
He
also flipped something and a dim light came on in the elevator. She saw him and
looked questioningly at him. "Backup generator."
"What
did they say?" She asked curiously.
"We
got a blackout outside, there's a massive storm out there right now. They'll
get to us when they can."
"Oh,
you've got to be kidding," she cried. "Funny, I never even glanced
out the window this afternoon. I just assumed the weather was fine." She
shook her head and rummaged through her purse. She found her cell phone but
quickly realized it wasn't getting a signal. She sighed again, this time a little
louder.
He
glanced at her, "Got a big date or something?"
"No,
no date, just a date with my couch and my cat." She replied.
He
grinned despite himself.
"You
work upstairs don't you?"
"Yeah,
for the insurance corporate office. I'm an insurance adjuster." She
explained.
"Oh
yeah, I was just in there a few minutes ago, fixing your bathroom door."
He explained.
"Oh,
you're the maintenance man?" She smiled wondering why she didn't recognize
him. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere. I just couldn't place
you."
"Yeah,
I spoke to you, but you didn't hear me, I guess." He added, his eyes going
up and down her now with interest.
"I'm
sorry, I'm a little preoccupied today." She told him. But the way he was
looking at her made her squirm a bit. She gave him a quick once over. She hoped
he was a decent man. After all, they
were trapped.
"Yeah,
I sort of noticed." He added.
"So
how long you think we'll be here?" She asked him when he dropped his gaze
to the floor.
"Heaven
only knows." He answered. After a moment, he stared at her. "You're
pretty preoccupied most of the time, aren't you?" His tone was indulgent
but the slightest bit sarcastic.
"I
beg your pardon?" She firmed her lips to keep from barking at him.
"Well,
I've been in your office several times this week and you didn't acknowledge I
was even there. So, I'd say you are preoccupied most of the time. Wouldn't
you?"
Flustered,
she groped for an apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't speak. It wasn't
intentional." She tried to excuse herself. "I'm not usually a rude
person. I've had a very heavy workload this week and I'm exhausted if you want
to know the truth. I need a vacation…" She blinked hard, and put her cell
phone away.
"Yeah,
I'm just the hired help, right?" He made a snarl, "That's okay most
of you office people don't speak to us common workers anyway. Too snooty."
"I
beg your pardon." She took exception to his remark. "That's totally
uncalled for. Look, we are stuck in an elevator and no telling for how long,
let's don't be biting each other's heads off. Okay?" She nearly shouted at
him.
He
almost laughed, "Well, at least I got a rise out of you. That's more than
I usually get."
He
sat down on the floor. Then looked up at her.
"You
might as well get as comfortable as you can, lady, we're going to be stuck a
while."
"How
long?" Her eyes widened.
"I
don't know, but they got a lot of other problems more important to tend to
right now. So, don't look for them to come flying in here to rescue us. There's
only so many back up lights in the building. Some people will be trapped in
total darkness."
She
slid down the wall of the elevator to the floor. And a tear lodged in her eye.
"I just wanted to go home and get some much-needed rest…" She
complained. "Nothing ever works out that way, though does it?"
"No
ma'am, it doesn't." He sighed almost as heavily.
She
looked at him. "You're tired too?"
He
made a strange sound in his throat. "Yeah lady, I'm tired. I been on my
feet all day, going up and down this freaking elevator to almost every office
in the building fixing one little thing after another and I’m beat." He
griped.
She
almost chuckled, "I guess we both have reason to gripe then." She
admitted.
He
glanced at her and grinned suddenly. His grin lent him an appeal she hadn't
expected. After all, he looked rough with the shadow on his cheek. His hair was
close cut, giving him even a rougher appearance. And now that she looked, he
was quite good looking, clean, and magnificently built. No one in her office
was built like him.
"I'm
sorry, maybe we should start all over. I’m Megan Cartwright." She extended
her hand.
He
took it after wiping his hands on his pants. "Joe Poole."
"Joe."
She nodded. "Wish there was a water fountain, restroom and restaurant in
here."
"Hungry?"
He asked.
"Yeah,
a little. I didn't have a chance to eat lunch today. You might know."
"You
were busy, huh?" He stared at her. "I gotta a candy bar in here, want
it?"
"Oh,
I couldn't take your food. I mean, you may get hungry before they get us out of
here."
"Okay,
we'll share it," he said. He took the Hershey bar out of his shirt pocket.
He broke it into squares and offered her some.
She
stared at it a minute and then she reached for a piece. "I love
Hershey's." She smiled.
"Me
too. Guess we have something in common after all." He smiled.
His
teeth were so white, she was amazed. Who would have thought a maintenance man
would have white teeth? Or be built like an Adonis?
"Do
you have a cat?" She asked out of the blue.
"A
cat? No, I got a bird, been trying to teach it to talk. It's one of those
cockatiel's."
"Oh
yes, those are very pretty. So have you taught him to talk yet?" She asked
out of boredom.
"No,
not yet, but he can whistle. You know that tune from the Andy Griffith
show?"
She
laughed. "Your joking…"
"No,
I'm not," he laughed. "I taught him to whistle."
"I
guess you are better than me, I can't teach my cat to do anything but come
eat." She put the chocolate in her mouth and savored it.
He
chuckled.
"So,
how long have you worked here?" She asked.
"Seven
years. Took this job right after I got out of the service. This is my day time
job. I got a night time job too, three days a week."
"Oh,
what kind of job?"
"I'm
a courier."
"Really.
That's quite a contrast isn't it?"
"Yeah,
it is."
"Well,
I gotta hand it to you, you are industrious." She complimented him.
She
bent her knee and took her shoes off.
"Better?"
He asked.
"Yeah,
much." She smiled, as she rubbed her foot. "I've wanted to chuck
these shoes all day."
"Want
some more candy?" He asked.
"No,
if I eat too much I'll be thirsty and there's no water in here." She told
him. "Surely they won't keep us waiting too long. I mean, there's no
bathroom in here either."
"That's
a thought, maybe they should install a water fountain and bathroom in here. For
when this kind of thing happens. I figure they'll get around to us sometime
around midnight." He told her.
"You
are kidding?" She shook her head. "That long?"
"Well,
they got a lot of work to do before they worry about elevators. But they'll be
around." He promised her.
"I
hope you are right." She wailed.
He
leaned against the back wall and stared at her. "So, why don't you tell me
about yourself. I mean I know you have a cat, and you are tired and you work
for that Hitler of a boss upstairs, but what else is there?"
"How'd
you know my boss is a Hitler?"
"Word
gets around."
She
shrugged. "Well, let's see. I was married a few years ago, it went sour.
Now I'm divorced."
"How
long ago were you divorced?" He asked.
"Five
years ago."
"You
must have married pretty young."
She
nodded, "Too young. I'm afraid I was ill prepared. I couldn't cook,
couldn't do a lot of things. After five years of reflection, I have to admit I
was just as at fault as he."
"Did
you leave him, or he leave you?" He asked out of curiosity.
"He
left me."
"Aw…a
pretty lady like you. The devil!" He smiled.
"What
about you, you married and got three kids or what?" She asked on a lighter
note.
"None
of the above. Never been married. Almost, once. But I didn't make enough money
to keep her in diamonds and furs."
"Now
that's sad."
"No
actually, it was her influence that had me finding a second job. And since
then, I've managed to save quite a bit of the money I've earned. With no
expenses hardly."
"That's
great." She stared at him. "But why don't you have expenses, everyone
has expenses. Or are you talking about credit card debt."
He
made a face then looked at her. "I live with my mother." He stared
now to watch her reaction to that statement. He knew instinctively what she
might think.
"Oh?"
Her head fell back and she nodded as though she understood him better now.
"There's
no Oh to it. My mother is an invalid and can't take care of herself. Well, not
fully anyway. So when I'm home, I help out. It's her house, I do pay the
utilities and groceries for her. She owns the house. So we both get off pretty
light."
She
stared at him now. A man that takes care of his mother. She didn't think those
kind of men existed any longer. She kept staring.
"What's
wrong. I got something on backwards, wrong side out or what?"
"Nothing
like that, I just didn't think men like you existed anymore."
"Men
like me?"
"A
man that helps his mother, it's rather noble."
The
lights blinked, then went out.
She
sat there for a second, then she called out to him. "Joe, are you
there?"
He
laughed, "Where would I go?"
"Good
question. It's awfully dark in here."
"Yeah,
come back here and lean against the wall, get close to me, so you don’t get
scared. I won't hurt you. We need to take a nap or something. This could be a
long night. And the more we're awake, the more we'll want all the comforts of
home, like a bathroom. I can put up with no food for a while, but no bathroom I
have to concentrate on not thinking about it."
"Oh
yes, I guess you are right." She slid back and as she did so she put her hand
on his.
He
grabbed it and held it. "Just relax. At least you aren't stuck in here
alone."
"That
would be insane, wouldn't it?" She leaned her head against the hard cold
steel of the wall. "I'm so tired." She murmured. "I'm actually a
little claustrophobics but I'm just too tired I guess to react."
"Me
too, tell you what, let's sort of cuddle up to each other and try to get some
rest. If we stay awake we'll just worry about how hungry, tired and thirsty we
are. Come here," he encouraged her.
A
little bashful, she moved toward the sound of his voice.
"That's
a girl. Now, you lean on my shoulder and I'll lean on yours and we'll hold
hands, so you know I'm here for you, okay."
"Your
terribly kind." She murmured.
"I'm
as tired as you honey, and it is going to be a long night." He told her.
"I
guess you are right. There is certainly not much we can do about it, is there."
she moved to lay her head on his shoulder. He laid his against hers and in no
time they went to sleep. Despite it all, it was comforting knowing he was
there.
But
toward the middle of the night they shifted and suddenly he was cuddling her in
his arms, and they were curled together on the floor, wrapped in each other's
arms.
When
she finally woke up she had no idea what time it was. She hadn't worn a watch
in years, and she wasn't sure where her purse was now. But she realized that
she was resting in his arms and as she moved herself, she came in contact with
his chin and he woke up too.
Her
lips accidentally brushed his cheek.
The
dim light told her she was in his arms, and she tried to move away, but his
arms tightened around her.
"W-what,
what's going on," He woke up.
She
raised her head and suddenly they were staring at each other. One arm was
curled around her waist and the other held him up at an angle from the floor.
Still when they looked at each other everything seemed to blot out.
In
one lithe movement, his lips were on hers, soft and warm and inviting. As for
another brief moment, she totally forgot who she was with and why she was here.
She just responded in kind to the inviting kiss he gave her.
When
they pulled apart it was as though someone woke them.
"Sorry,"
he murmured at her ear. "It was just an instinctive reaction to a
beautiful woman."
She
stared into his face. "Yeah, I guess we both lost our bearings
there." She seemed scattered.
"Sure
was nice though. Haven't had that kind of good morning in a long time." He
chuckled.
Coming soon to Smashwords.com
4 comments:
Love this sample....thank you and much success with this,,it deserves it.
Aw, thanks Tina, The cover inspired me, and I got to thinking about opposites attracting, it is a fun story to work with though. It should be out by July at least.
Blessings to all
Hey Jean, I didn't realize that was you. Sorry there kiddo. Glad you liked this one, I'm putting these two through a roller coaster of ups and downs. So much fun.
Blessings Hope your Mother's Day is wonderful.
Great excerpt, Rita! I love the cover too. :)
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