awarded by ingridfnl

The elevator slowed, shuddered for a couple of seconds, stopped and was silent. The two occupants of the elevator looked at each other with shocked expressions, then the lights flickered, they heard a soft pop and it was dark.

“Holy mother of Christ,” the woman explained, “what on earth…”

“I think that there’s a black out,” the man replied.

“No shit Sherlock,” she replied. “Sorry, sorry… I’m a bit freaked out here.” She reached and grabbed his arm and then his hand. “Sorry, I just need to hold onto something.”

As she drew closer he smelled a mixture of cigarettes and sweet perfume. He heard her breathe in deeply and exhale three or four times. He felt awkward holding hands with someone he didn’t even know but thought it would be rude to pull away.

“In through the nose, out from the mouth,” she said. “I feel better now. You OK?” she asked. She let go of his hand.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s probably just the storm,” he said, remembering the blowing trees outside of his office and the horizontal rain. His hand felt empty.

“Yeah. I hope it isn’t long. I’m supposed to pick up my little brother. Although,” she said laughing a little, “I guess he isn’t going anywhere either.” He heard something unzip, some shuffling and then saw the light of a cell phone illuminate his companion.

“No connection,” she said, looking down on it, “but I guess that’s no surprise really.” In the cellphone light she looked a little scary with spikey mascaraed eyes and a large canine smile. She proffered a hand towards him, “Casey,” and shook his sweaty one with vigor.

“Oh, yes. I’m Sam,” he replied. He didn’t realize how scared he was until this moment. Even the act of shaking hands seemed like too much motion in his rigid body.

She turned the cellphone light towards him, illuminating his face. “Well, nice to meet you Sam.” She pressed all on the elevator buttons and then shrugged. “I suppose we should get comfortable here,” she said, removing her coat.

As her sleeve pulled over the hand that held the cellphone, the elevator went dark for a second, and Sam found himself breathing in sharply until the light reappeared. “Here, hold this,” she said handing him the cell phone.

Casey rolled up her coat into a long cushion shape and put it in the corner of the elevator, then sat down on it. She patted on the space next to her. “Come sit next to me. We might as well get to know each other. It’s not like we’re goin’ anywhere. Plus I wanna shut off my cell phone to save batteries.”

Sam didn’t really want to sit next to her, nor did he want her disembodied voice rising up to meet him. He slowly slid down next to her, attempting to avoid body contact. Casey responded by sliding closer to him.

“I just want to feel you there. Plus you’re cute.” She felt Sam stiffen beside her, “Don’t worry,” she clarified, “I won’t attack you, but what happens in the elevator stays in the elevator,” and she gave a great cackling laugh.

“I, um, I…” he replied, “that didn’t help me relax much.” He heard himself laugh that high-pitched laugh that came out whenever he was nervous.

“I’m joking,” she said, still giggling, “Jeeze, you’re stiff like my brother. You gotta loosen up a little when a woman’s flirting with you.” She laid her head on his shoulder and her hair tickled his neck.

Jon found himself sitting stiffly and uncomfortably and heard her breathe steadily next to him. “So,” he said, with a sharp intake of breath, “your brother attends this faculty?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “He’s a real math head so you probably know him. His name’s Jon. Jon Scapino.”

“Jon Scapino?” he replied.

“Yeah. That’s my little brother. He’s all I got in this world. He’s one smart kid. He’s had a hard life.”

Sam knew Jon’s story, and he was, as she said, one smart kid. Jon was a scholarship kid. Sam’s family’s scholarship in fact, “The Harkness Award for Exceptional Promise,” as initially started by Sam’s great grandfather.

Sam had heard about the lottery, and had admired Jon’s persistence. Instead of taking the easy road and living off of the winnings, he had worked hard and gotten 1st place in almost all of his final exams.

“You must be really proud of him,” said Sam. “I was Jon’s professor for a a couple of classes and he is a brilliant guy. I hope he continues.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “It feels good to hear nice things about my brother. I wanted him to go on a trip, but no way José. He wanted to finish those exams of his. So you taught him? What’s your last name? He’s talkin’ about his professors all the time.”

“Harkness,” Sam replied.

“You’re Doc-tor Harkness?” she said, incredulous. She snapped open her cell phone and shone it in his face.

He lifted his hands in front of his eyes, shielding them from the sudden light. Before he had a chance to respond, she threw her arms around him, dropping the cellphone, and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

She pulled back, and holding Sam’s face in her hands, she said, “You’re the one who believed in him all along. You’re the one.”

Just then the lights flickered on and the elevator started moving.

***

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