retreating to the opposite sides of the car in our normal manner. There was still insatiable electricity between us, regardless of the cool, polite exchanges we had.
The only variation from our typical pattern was that the elevator was going very slowly today. I wondered if it was my imagination, since being in such close proximity to Rick, made me hot and damp all over. However, when the elevator jolted mid-floors before coming to a complete stop, I knew it wasn’t in my head. I gaped at him, blinking rapidly. We were stuck in the elevator! Rick took control of the situation and contacted facilities who contacted the elevator maintenance company. After several calls, Rick stared at me with some trepidation of his own.
“It will be at least an hour until the guy can get here.”
The realisation caused me to lean against my corner of the elevator for support. This can’t be happening, can it? The thought of an hour, alone with him, in a closed-off space sounded like an absurd exercise in self-control. The situation might have been comical if the intensity wasn’t so palpable.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked him when I found my voice again.
“No, it’s Friday night and the guy is coming out from Gurney,” Rick replied, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.
“What are you doing?” Damn, my voice croaked .
“Getting comfortable, we’ll be here for a while. Why don’t we sit?” He sat in his corner of the carpeted elevator, grinning reassuringly, but I remained standing.
“I bet you’re enjoying this. It’s pretty convenient, don’t you think?” I narrowed my eyes, letting the unspoken accusation hang in the air between us, which felt heavier with each passing second.
He cocked his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, let’s see, we’re stuck here alone for at least an hour on a Friday night, when no one is around to help us.”
He shot straight up from his sitting position. “What? You think I devised this? You think I planned you would be ready to leave at seven, so I made the elevator stop working? To what end, Marley? To take advantage of you?” He sounded enraged.
I knew he wouldn’t take advantage of me. Despite his past flirtations, I knew Rick would never hurt me…physically, but there was no denying how odd this was. “No, but it’s a little too coincidental.”
He laughed sarcastically, gesturing wildly. “You’re right. I planned this whole thing. In fact, guess what? The company you think you work for? It’s all a fraud perpetrated by yours truly. I created it, so we could have this intimate moment together. The city of Chicago ? It doesn’t exist. It’s part of my master plan to fuck you, Marley.” He’d said ‘fuck’. I should have been freaked out, but I found my perverted self completely titillated by the way the word rolled off his sexy lips.
Still, he was berating me and that only pissed me off. He held out his hands towards me, demanding an answer. I flinched at his words and slouched in my corner, but he was too outraged by my accusation to stop his tirade.
“Is that what you want to hear?” He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator, cupping his hands over his mouth like a megaphone. “Bill, Jim, if you can hear me, start the elevator, she’s on to me. This one’s too smart to fall for my Machiavellian plan.”
I shrunk back trying to find my voice. It came out as a raspy shriek, “Shut up, shut up, shut up! I know I’m just a stupid blonde in a skirt to you, but shut the hell up, right now.” I felt a lump rise to my throat, but I swallowed it back. I wilted down to the floor, splaying my legs in a zigzag underneath me. I was tired, starving and emotional. A sure-fire recipe for disaster. I whispered my only coherent thought, “Hell is other people.”
I heard Rick shuffle over to me and he placed his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t look at him, but when he spoke, his voice was remorseful and concerned. “Hey, I’m
The only variation from our typical pattern was that the elevator was going very slowly today. I wondered if it was my imagination, since being in such close proximity to Rick, made me hot and damp all over. However, when the elevator jolted mid-floors before coming to a complete stop, I knew it wasn’t in my head. I gaped at him, blinking rapidly. We were stuck in the elevator! Rick took control of the situation and contacted facilities who contacted the elevator maintenance company. After several calls, Rick stared at me with some trepidation of his own.
“It will be at least an hour until the guy can get here.”
The realisation caused me to lean against my corner of the elevator for support. This can’t be happening, can it? The thought of an hour, alone with him, in a closed-off space sounded like an absurd exercise in self-control. The situation might have been comical if the intensity wasn’t so palpable.
“You’re kidding, right?” I asked him when I found my voice again.
“No, it’s Friday night and the guy is coming out from Gurney,” Rick replied, taking off his jacket and loosening his tie.
“What are you doing?” Damn, my voice croaked .
“Getting comfortable, we’ll be here for a while. Why don’t we sit?” He sat in his corner of the carpeted elevator, grinning reassuringly, but I remained standing.
“I bet you’re enjoying this. It’s pretty convenient, don’t you think?” I narrowed my eyes, letting the unspoken accusation hang in the air between us, which felt heavier with each passing second.
He cocked his eyebrows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, let’s see, we’re stuck here alone for at least an hour on a Friday night, when no one is around to help us.”
He shot straight up from his sitting position. “What? You think I devised this? You think I planned you would be ready to leave at seven, so I made the elevator stop working? To what end, Marley? To take advantage of you?” He sounded enraged.
I knew he wouldn’t take advantage of me. Despite his past flirtations, I knew Rick would never hurt me…physically, but there was no denying how odd this was. “No, but it’s a little too coincidental.”
He laughed sarcastically, gesturing wildly. “You’re right. I planned this whole thing. In fact, guess what? The company you think you work for? It’s all a fraud perpetrated by yours truly. I created it, so we could have this intimate moment together. The city of Chicago ? It doesn’t exist. It’s part of my master plan to fuck you, Marley.” He’d said ‘fuck’. I should have been freaked out, but I found my perverted self completely titillated by the way the word rolled off his sexy lips.
Still, he was berating me and that only pissed me off. He held out his hands towards me, demanding an answer. I flinched at his words and slouched in my corner, but he was too outraged by my accusation to stop his tirade.
“Is that what you want to hear?” He looked up at the ceiling of the elevator, cupping his hands over his mouth like a megaphone. “Bill, Jim, if you can hear me, start the elevator, she’s on to me. This one’s too smart to fall for my Machiavellian plan.”
I shrunk back trying to find my voice. It came out as a raspy shriek, “Shut up, shut up, shut up! I know I’m just a stupid blonde in a skirt to you, but shut the hell up, right now.” I felt a lump rise to my throat, but I swallowed it back. I wilted down to the floor, splaying my legs in a zigzag underneath me. I was tired, starving and emotional. A sure-fire recipe for disaster. I whispered my only coherent thought, “Hell is other people.”
I heard Rick shuffle over to me and he placed his hand on my shoulder. I didn’t look at him, but when he spoke, his voice was remorseful and concerned. “Hey, I’m
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