Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Raf
There’s a swift moment of disorientation. The cab only falls a few feet at most before the safety system kicks in, and we come to a halt. All the lights go off, and a second later the emergency lights come on.
The man—Elias—has stumbled against the wall of the elevator and is looking around with wide eyes, eyeing all the walls, the ceiling, and the floor before his gaze finally lands on me.
His Adam’s apple moves when he swallows. “What’s happening?”
There’s an edge to his voice. I’d say it’s strictly about getting stuck in an elevator, but there’s always a chance it’s me. It wouldn’t be the first time somebody took one look at me and made snap judgments based on my size and the tattoos and piercings.
I adjust the paper bag full of my dinner that’s hanging from my fingers.
I know I’m a big guy. At nearly six foot eight, I’m at least a head taller than most people, and to some I’m sure I look intimidating.
I have the distinct feeling that’s what’s happening here, too. This guy took one look at me in the restaurant, and I could feel the resentment gather around him like a storm cloud.
It was somewhat obvious from the way his eyes widened the second they landed on me.
I look around. The elevator is completely still, and the emergency lights are on.
“I think we’re stuck,” Elias says.
I grunt in reply, and after a second I add, “Seems that way.”
“Should we… should we try and call for help?” he asks tightly.
“Most likely would be a good idea.”
He presses his thumb down on the emergency button. Absolutely nothing happens. He tries again. And again. Still nothing.
He glances toward me reluctantly. “Umm. Am I doing this wrong somehow?”
I step closer and inspect the rows of buttons.
There’s only one that could conceivably be for emergencies, so I press my own finger down on it.
Elias is still standing right next to me, and I’m hit with a whiff of his shampoo mixed with his aftershave.
It’s some kind of fresh, woodsy scent that tickles my nostrils and makes me inhale involuntarily while my chest jolts.
The sensation is unwelcome. He doesn’t like me, so I want to return the favor and not have my body betray me by harboring lust toward him.
“This is strange,” I murmur.
“Shouldn’t somebody pick it up? You know, from the other side?” Elias asks in a hushed voice, like he thinks there actually is somebody on the other end of the line and they’re just playing a prank on us.
It’s cute. I admit that reluctantly and only to myself.
“They should,” I say.
“Well, then why aren’t they?”
“I’m not sure.” I look at him more carefully. He’s looking sort of pale. “Are you claustrophobic?”
He sends me another one of those wide-eyed looks that makes him look like he’s constantly startled.
“Not that I’m aware of,” he says. There’s a bit of silence while I inspect our surroundings.
“Of course, I haven’t been stuck in a small, confined space before.
Not to say that I’m battling a number of phobias, but I am not a fan of flying.
Then again, I do fly, so I don’t think that can be counted as a phobia.
Just mild discomfort about being stuck in a metal can, hurtling through the air at five hundred miles per hour, thirty thousand feet off the ground. ”
I stare at him, and he flushes and snaps his mouth shut.
Just in case, I press the emergency button once more. Finally, there’s a signal and somebody picks up. I quickly tell them the problem.
“We’ll send somebody to help as soon as we can,” the woman on the other end of the line says.
Once the call disconnects, there’s nothing else to do but wait, so after a few minutes of awkwardly standing around, I give up and unceremoniously sit down on the floor. I’ve been on my feet all day, so it’s a relief not having to stand.
Elias hovers on his side of the elevator for a little while longer before he gingerly sits down, too.
We’re both silent, but where I’m sitting perfectly still, my elevator companion keeps fidgeting and sending me looks out of the corner of his eye, clearly uncomfortable.
He meets my gaze and then rolls his eyes.
It’s the strangest fucking mix of awkwardness and disdain.
I can’t help it. I’m intrigued. And I know I shouldn’t be because it will only ever lead to disappointment, seeing as he’s clearly taken a dislike to me. But I still am.
“How about this,” I say. “Let’s pretend we’re two strangers. Whatever we’ve talked about or said anywhere out of this elevator hasn’t happened. We’re just a pair of unlucky guys stuck here for now.”
He stares at me for a long moment, furrowing his brow like he can’t seem to figure out what I’m playing at, which I didn’t think was anything at all, but with each one of those weirded-out looks he keeps sending me, I’m starting to wonder if I actually have done something terrible to him and have just recently developed amnesia?
He looks away once more before he meets my gaze again and pointedly crosses his arms over his chest.
“Okay?” he says slowly. He narrows his eyes for a moment before he fixes his expression back to indifference. “Let’s.”
I smile.
He keeps true to himself with the wide-eyed look.
“Hi, there,” I say. “I’m Raf.”
He clears his throat. “Eli.”
He practically throws the name at me like I’m supposed to understand something from it. Seriously, should I know this guy?
“Nice to meet you, Eli.”
“Nice to meet you, too.” He delivers the words like they’re meant to be an insult. We fall silent again.
Eventually, Eli breathes out slowly and meets my gaze again.
“How long do you think they’ll be?” he asks.
I shrug. “Depends what else they have on their plate, I suppose. Emergency services tend to be overworked and underfunded, so there’s usually more demand than responders.”
He tilts his head to the side. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I’m a firefighter. I’m pretty sure I told you that.” I shake my head. “Ah, shit. I’ve broken the character.” I send him an apologetic smile.
He bites his lower lip.
“It wasn’t me,” he blurts.
“What do you mean?”
He sighs and drags his palm over his face. “On the app. It wasn’t me. It was my sister. And my mom, apparently.”
I groan out loud. “Please tell me you’re shitting me.”
His hand goes to his hair, and he scrubs at the already messy strands. “I wish. They’re insane. I’m… sorry.” The reluctance is still there, mixed with the apologetic tone.
That explains at least a little of this. He got roped into meeting up with me, apparently. In that case, his obvious reluctance to be here makes more sense. It feels unfair that he’s taking it out on me, but I don’t necessarily have to take it personally.
“So they were pretending to be you, and you had no idea any of this was happening?”
He taps the side of his nose and nods.
I’m frantically going through the chat history in my head to figure out exactly what I said. Eventually, I let out a wary sigh. “That’s… cool. So cool.”
He studies me, this time more with curiosity than anything else. “Why? What’d you do?” He tilts his head to the side. “Did you send me a dick pic?”
“Oh shit. That would be something.” I start to laugh, then shake my head again. “No, I didn’t send your mom a dick pic.”
He blinks at me and then slowly flushes bright red.
I raise my brows at him. “What?”
“What?”
“You’re blushing.”
“I am not.”
I let it go.
“I really am sorry. My family is nosy and inappropriate and can’t help but stick their noses where they don’t belong.” There’s annoyance in his tone, but it’s overshadowed by the fond smile on his face.
“You love them,” I say.
“That’s debatable.”
He seems to forget his dislike for me for a bit, and I find myself grinning at him.
“Big family?” I ask.
I don’t know if it’s the question or the smile or what, but he catches himself right before answering, and his expression closes off, effectively locking me out.
He nods.
And then we sit in silence.