The courthouse was quiet. It was a cavern of echoing footsteps, clicking pens, and an old radiator that hummed in the distance. Elena Park adjusted the grip on her pen and let out a soft exhale, her eyes scanned the spread of documents across the polished conference table. In front of her lay an array of blueprints of financial records, witness statements, and redacted memos.
This case had dominated her entire week. And now, with one fluorescent bulb flickering overhead, the courthouse felt less like a workplace and more like a frozen tomb.
"You're making a mess of those notes," came a voice from across the table.
Elena looked up.
Adrian Cole sat with his hands in the pockets of his overcoat, his dark eyes unreadable. He looked calm, composed, as if the snowstorm gathering outside was a minor inconvenience.
Elena knew better.
It was a creeping, white fury she could see in the windows behind him.
"I call it thorough," Elena sneered with a steady voice. Although a flicker of irritation betrayed her. "Something you wouldn't understand."
She had to add that comment
He arched a brow, lips tugged at the corners threatening a faint smirk. "Thorough? Or messy? There's a fine line between diligence and chaos, Ms. Park."
"Ms. Park?" She tapped the edge of a paper sharply. "Are you intentionally trying to get under my skin?"
"I could never dream of it," Adrian said smoothly, as though he could see through her irritation. He took great pleasure in being an annoyance while she worked. "Though I find your little reactions entertaining."
Elena bit back a retort, aware of the ice breeze breathing through from the single window. It was slightly ajar, one that she hadn't opened, but the male sat across from her insisted on. Snow had already begun drifting.
Over the course of the night, she watched as small specks of white fell onto the pane.
She tried to focus on the case files, but her thoughts kept straying to him. His posture was effortless with a subtle charm. The thought made her scowl, he was never serious. Even in the courtroom: they face each other countless times a week.
It's always him. She's sure he takes on those cases just to get under her skin.
But the worst part was that he made everything look simple. This is the latest she'd seen him work. It was evident he never put any time into his cases outside of work yet in the courtroom, he was almost unstoppable.
The way he'd casually run a hand through his silky black hair and use the camera on his phone as a mirror instead of focusing on the case.
It pissed her off to no end.
Elena brushed her mocha hair from her eyes and checked the time: it was late. 10:33 PM to be exact.
She stood and grabbed her coat. "I think I'm going to head out. The storm's starting to..." she trailed off as she left the room and out of earshot of Adrian.
At the exit of the building, she pushed the door.
It refused to budge.
Adrian now stood in the doorway, watching her try to escape and had a smirk spread wide across his face. Another opportunity to be the bane of her existence, he thought to himself.
"You need to press the button to release the lock." His comments held a playful tone, but was closer to mocking.
She pushed harder. Nothing. Cold, motionless metal under her hands.
Adrian moved to help, testing the handle with careful strength.
"Ah." He tested it again with more strength. "Frozen," he finally declared. "It's the latch. Ice. You can't open it."
Elena stepped back, exhaling sharply. "Great. Just great." Her voice cracked slightly from frustration. She pressed a hand to her forehead, trying to think.
Her eyes scoured the room for any sign of escape and eventually rested on the windows, the ones nearby were closed and when trying to open them, they were also sealed shut from the ice.
She walked back into their previous office, the one with an open window... however bars guarded the exterior. Primarily to prevent theft due to it being a room with highly confidential documents.
She sighed again and watched as Adrian stood nonchalantly leaning against a desk. "I suppose we're stuck."
Adrian pulled out his phone and tapped a few times then shook his head in defeat. "No signal. You?"
She attempted the same.
"No signal."
He shrugged in response.
"Seems like we are definitely stuck," her taller rival confirmed, unflinching, as if the situation were trivial. His hands fell to his sides. "We'll have to wait for the ice to melt."
"I don't see that happening tonight." Elena's voice was a hushed mutter as she crossed her arms.
She glanced at the window again; the storm harsher than earlier. Snowflakes whipped sideways, carried by the heavy wind. The city streets disappeared under a thick, white blanket. Each gust of wind that hit the side of the building sent shivers down her spine as the temperature dropped.
The duo sat back down at their earlier conference table and took the same seats as before. Adrian pushed his chair further from the table.
"Well," he said, with a faint lift of his brow, "looks like we're stuck together."
Elena's heart rate quickened and she scoffed. "Don't sound so pleased." She tried to hide the tension rising in her throat. "The last person I want to get stuck with is you."
He took a fake bow in his chair and his grin still stained his face. "I am pleased that you enjoy my company."
"Enjoy?" Her eyes narrowed. They were a cruel hazel aiming to bore holes into Adrian's skull.
Silence fell between them for a moment. Squeaking and groaning from the building could be heard. Likely from the strain of the storm, it was an old building after all.
Elena perked up, trying to hide the fear on her face with each gust rattling the windows. But she couldn't hide how cold she was. The slight shivers and cursing under her breath. Pulling her coat tighter around her shoulders.
Adrian noticed it all.
"You're cold." It was a statement of fact, with some concern in his voice.
"I'm perfectly fine," she snapped, though her teeth clicked as she said it.
He didn't respond. At this point, the window had been closed. Not something he'd done, but likely something Elena had done when they realised they were stuck. He took a few strides over to the radiators.
They were cold.
He tried to fiddle with the the thermostat, but it was already up to as high as it could go. "I think the boiler's broken. No heating." He shrugged again and sighed as if it weren't an issue.
He had to be honest, he wasn't really that cold. He just thought he'd be nice for once and maybe not add to her panic.
Adrian had a brave facade on, hiding his own concerns in his jokes. He chuckled lightly. "Looks like you'll have to deal with me for a few hours."
Elena frowned, heart thudding. The reality of the situation came crashing down on her. Trapped here with Adrian Cole, no one to call, no way out, and it was very... very cold. She wanted to argue but the rational part of her knew he was right. They'd have to make the best of it.
The hours passed with an odd mesh of tension and reluctant cooperation. They'd found that the kitchen had at least some food, but it wasn't something they were concerned about just yet. The building still had running water, but only cold running water.
Elena needed a distraction. She unpacked files from her bag, and arranged them meticulously in her usual style. Adrian followed suit and also decided to continue working. The next hour was filled with silence, only broken by coughs, shuffles and the occasional tapping of pens.
They were rivals in the courtroom, she was on the attack while he was on the defence.
Adrian pushed his chair back further and put his legs on the table.
Elena raised an eyebrow. "Really? Don't you have some notes to look over? The hearing is on Monday. You've got less than a week to prepare."
She really hated that aspect of him. How calm he was, and how it seemed like he didn't care. She particularly despised the 'I don't care' attitude he showed as the date drew nearer.
"You're just mad because I'm going to shut down every case you had."
A slight smirk pulled at her lips, and a vein almost visible on her forehead. "There's no chance you have an impeccable defence this time. The evidence..." She picked up the large stack of papers and pat them in front of his eyes. "...Is quite literally stacked against your client."
"That's what you think-"
The lights flickered, plunging them into momentary darkness. Elena froze and a panicked gasp escaped her throat. Her eyes were wide with shock, and her fingers trembled with documents still wedged between her fingers.
It came back on, and just as it did, her body came back to life and she felt like she could almost relax. Her lips were slightly pursed as if to hide her gasp or any more noises that she'd make.
For a fleeting second, her world felt isolated.
Elena bit her lip and glanced at him, hoping to find some sort of shared panic in his eyes. But nothing. Her eyes closed for a brief moment while she tried to massage the seemingly permanent wrinkle from between her eyebrows.
"I'm going to find somewhere to get comfortable for the night."
He looked as the lady across from her stood up. "Agreed. If we flip the table up by the window, we'll have more space on the floor and it will protect us from the cold draft coming through."
Her pride bristled. She knew it was wiser to cooperate, but his words assumed they would be sleeping in the same room.
"I'm sleeping in the lounge. Not here. You can move the table yourself."
Elena walked off down the hall. He didn't follow, but instead packed his papers away then moved across the desk to pack her papers away. His eyes glanced at what she'd written. Normally, he wouldn't look at his rival's work, but he noted just how shaky her handwriting was that night.
"You've made a mess of this," he teased quietly.
For a moment, the storm outside seemed distant. Their world was reduced to the dim glow of the flickering fluorescent lights, the rustle of paper, and the shared tension of two rivals trapped together.
Elena closed her eyes briefly, too aware of the cold seeping in through the windows. She'd found shelter on a comfortable red couch in the lounge. Her legs were up and just barely touched the end of the couch. She thanked her genes for making her just short enough to fit properly on the couch and laughed quietly to herself when she realised Adrian wouldn't have the same luck.
He was far taller.
Eyes opened when the wind howled again and rattled the panes of glass once more.
She used her coat as a blanket for protection against the cold. The only thing that settled in her mind was how this was going to be a long, cold night.