Tia
"It's stuck," he repeated, pressing a few buttons on the panel. Nothing happened.
I blinked, trying to process it. "Stuck? Like… not moving stuck?"
He nodded, then glanced up at the ceiling as if expecting it to start descending any second. "Yeah. The doors won't close, and it's not responding to the floor commands."
I leaned against the wall, trying to stay calm. "Maybe it's just a glitch. Elevators reset themselves sometimes, right?"
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he crouched down and opened the small emergency panel below the buttons. "I'll try the manual override," he said, though his voice didn't sound confident.
He tried fixing it, suddenly we heard a click and the lights snapped off. The sound of the elevator died, and everything plunged into darkness.
I gasped and instinctively jumped toward him, my heart hammering in my chest. My hand brushed his arm, and for a moment, I clung onto him without realizing.
"What the heck just happened?" I blurted out, my voice trembling.
I could barely make out his silhouette in the faint emergency glow from the panel. I took a small step back, trying to compose myself, as a strange silence settled between us.
I stepped back, suddenly aware of how small the elevator felt now. "So… what do we do?"
He pulled out his phone, but the signal bar was empty. "No service," he muttered and I quickly checked my phone and there was no signal either.
"Damn it!" I muttered in frustration.
He sighed, defeated, and leaned back against the elevator wall. "There's nothing I can do," he said quietly. "It's stuck from the outside. The system isn't responding, and my phone has no service."
I stared at him, waiting for the part where he'd say he was joking. But he didn't.
"We might have to spend the night here," he added calmly.
I blinked rapidly, stunned. "Absolutely not," I said, my voice rising. "I'm not spending the night in an elevator." "And certainly not with you!"
He looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed, as if surprised by my reaction. "I get it," he said. "But unless someone notices we're missing or the system resets, we don't have much choice."
"No," I said again, firmer this time. "There has to be another way. A hatch, a manual release. Something!"
He hesitated, then gestured toward the ceiling. "There's an emergency hatch, but it's locked from the outside too. And climbing out without knowing what's above us could be dangerous." He explained and I groaned in defeat.
"You have no choice but to spend the night with me," he said, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
I rolled my eyes. "Don't get ahead of yourself," I warned.
He chuckled, raising his hands in mock surrender. "Yes ma'am."
I leaned back against the wall and let my eyes drift shut, trying to relax. But I couldn't fall asleep and the awkwardness of being stuck here with him made it impossible to settle. I couldn't help but wonder, was he watching me? Stealing glances while he thought I wasn't looking?
Still uneasy, I shuffled to the far corner of the elevator, wanting a little space to breathe. I needed distance, just enough to clear my head.
I dropped my bag on the floor as I tried to find a spot to lay on, but the moment my foot shifted, I felt it, something slick beneath my shoe. And before I could hold myself, my balance gave way in an instant, my foot sliding away from the floor.
"Ah!" I screamed, my eyes squeezing shut as I braced for the hard smack of the floor.
But it never came.
Instead, I felt a strong arm wrap around my waist, halting my fall midair. My breath caught as I opened my eyes to find myself suspended just inches from the ground, held firmly in place by his muscular grip.
He held me steady, his arm still wrapped around my waist, and asked softly, "Are you okay?"
But I barely heard the words. I was too caught in the way his eyes looked at me, It felt like the moonlight reflecting in the dark.
My breath hitched, as we stared at each other, neither of us moving or speaking. The silence between us felt electric.
Then, slowly, his hands moved towards my face and he pushed back a strand of my hair, then his face began to lean in. His lips inched closer to mine, and I felt the warmth of his breath, the tension of the moment pulling us together like magnet.
My heart thudded in my chest. His lips brushed mine, just barely and time seemed to pause.
But then, like a jolt, reality surged back.
Jade.
Even if we were divorced, that didn't mean the feelings had vanished. They were still there, tucked away in corners I hadn't dared to revisit. And this…this wasn't right.
I quickly pulled back, breaking the moment. My lips parted, not for a kiss, but for a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I cleared my throat, awkwardly stepping away from his grasp.
"I'm fine," I said, forcing a small, polite smile.
He gave a small smile, his voice gentle. "I'm glad you're okay."
I nodded, barely able to meet his eyes. "Yeah… thanks," I murmured, wishing I could just disappear into thin air. The tension, the almost-kiss, the mess, it was all too much. I leaned against the wall, silently praying for an escape.
And then, as if the universe had heard me, the lights flickered back on with a soft buzz. The elevator jolted slightly, and with a mechanical sound, the elevator slid open.
"Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed, my voice bursting with relief and joy.
Quickly I tried to leave, and that's when I saw it, the pinkish puddle spreading across the floor near my bag.
"Your smoothie," he said, nodding toward the mess. "Guess it didn't survive the ride."
I groaned, brushing my hair out of my face. "Great. Trapped in an elevator and I nearly break my neck."
He chuckled. "Well, at least I caught you. That's gotta count for something."
I swallowed hard and without a word, I walked out immediately, and followed behind.
The moment I stepped out, a cool breeze swept across my face, brushing my skin. I inhaled deeply, grateful to be free from the elevator's suffocating grip. But as I looked around, my relief turned into confusion.
We weren't in the lobby.
We were on the rooftop.
I blinked, stunned. The open sky stretched above us, the city lights flickered below like scattered stars, and the faint hum of traffic from far beneath.
"This… isn't the ground floor," I said slowly, turning to him.
He stepped out beside me, his eyes scanning the familiar surroundings. "No," he murmured. "It's the rooftop."
And then it hit me.
This was the rooftop. The one where we first met. The one where I had nearly slipped off and he'd caught me just in time.
I turned to him, and he was already watching me, a quiet smile playing on his lips.
"Déjà vu?" he asked.
I sighed, my heart thudding. "More like fate playing tricks."
He chuckled softly, stepping closer. "Or maybe fate's just reminding us where it all started."
"Oh my goodness, what's he up to now," I mentally groaned, wondering how long I could resist him.