Chapter 6 Elevator Emergency

"You can put me down, Mr. Ward, I'll be fine." Christine said, hardly daring to look into his eyes, so close to her.

"Don't be ridiculous, you could hardly stand on your foot." Chase huffed, "Besides, you basically weigh nothing." He said, frowning. Why was it so damn hot? He was breathing faster and told himself that the softness of her breast against his chest had nothing to with it. Absolutely nothing.

The elevator made a weird sound. Chase and Christine looked at one another. Chase chuckled amused at the worried look on her face. Her hold on his shoulder tightened.

"Morrison, don't look so alarmed, the elevator has recently been maintained, nothing will happen." He tried to allay her fears.

The words had scarcely left his mouth or the elevator stopped with a lurch. He had to step back to keep his balance with the girl in his arms. Christine let out a high-pitched yelp. She pressed her head against his shoulder.

"Fucking Murphy." He breathed through clenched teeth. This was just his damn tough luck. He felt Christine's body shiver in his arms. "Listen, Morrison. I'm going to put you down. Sit on the floor, okay?"

She nodded and slid out of his arms onto the elevator's floor. Then the lights went out.

"Perfect! Just fucking perfect." Chase pressed the alarm button. Nothing. He rested his head against the wall. Christine sat still as a stone at his feet. "Are you okay, Morrison?"

She didn't answer. Cursing inwardly, Chase bent down to find her in the dark. He touched her head. Like a blind man he traced her face with his fingers and finding her cheeks to be wet from tears.

"Hey, Morrison. Please, don't cry. We'll be fine. I'll call the emergency services and they'll have us out in no time." he spoke softly to her, cupping her face in his hands. Then he realized his cell phone lay on his desk.

"M-m-my bag's still in the office with my phone and everything." She sobbed, uncontrollably.

"Yeah, well..." he plopped himself down next to her. "Looks like we're stuck here for the night, Morrison." Could this day get any worse?

"I - I need the toilet." Christine said in a tiny voice.

"Jeez, please Morrison, think of something else." He chuckled, feeling hysterical laughter building up inside.

"I hate closed spaces." She said eventually, sniffing.

"Makes two of us." He agreed. "How's your ankle?"

"Sore." She sighed, "This is all my fault."

He laughed, "How did you get to that equation?" Chase blamed himself for it a little bit. Had he not asked her to stay, she could have been home safe and sound instead of stuck with him.

"I should have watched where I was going."

"Yeah, I agree. Then you killed the AC just to get me all worked up, sabotaged the elevator so you could spend more time with me. What is your Mens Rea, Morrison?"

He received a slap on the arm from Christine. "Arrogant much?" she clicked her tongue at him.

He laughed loudly, feeling his eyes tear up. "This is just one those days, Morrison. But I would rather spend it in an elevator with you than anyone else." He surprised himself in saying that and found he really meant it.

"Why me?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Why not you? Or would you rather be with Mason Pritchard?" he couldn't help the bite in his voice.

"Why would you think that though?" she asked crossly. "There's nothing between Mr. Pritchard and I."

Chase huffed through his nose. "Didn't look like it this afternoon." He knew he was crossing the line he swore he wouldn't, but what the hell...

"Excuse me, Mr. Ward. My private life is exactly that." Christine's voice turned cold. "And for your information, I don't do office romances."

Although he couldn't see her, he felt her folding her arms together, so hard the elevator moved. She uttered a shriek, grabbing hold of him. He pulled her closer. His heart beat out of his chest.

"Oh my God..." she held onto him for dear life.

"It's okay, it's okay, nothing's going to happen." He said to convince both of them.

"You said that the last time." she cried, pressing herself closer to him. He stroked her back absentmindedly.

"Hush. Try not to panic."

"Nobody knows we're here." Her breathing was fast.

"Yes, I'm aware of that. Don't breathe so much."

"Oh my God, we're going to suffocate in here." She tried to pull away from him, but he held her close.

"Christine, calm down." It was the first time he called her by her name. It shocked her into silence.

His face was so close. His hand on her cheek, he pulled her face towards him. It happened so naturally he didn't even think about it. Their lips met, softly at first, then he deepened the kiss, searching for entrance. Her mouth surrendered to his, she tasted so sweet. Her hands were in his hair, locking their faces together.

The thought he could die here in this elevator in her arms, and it would be just fine, ran through his mind. That sobered him up. What the fuck was he doing?

He pulled away from Christine, removing her arms from his neck. He closed his eyes, his face turned away.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, Morrison. I wasn't thinking." He said when he finally trusted his voice.

"It's okay, we'll forget this ever happened." Christine held her hand to her chest, trying to calm her catapulting heart. How the hell was she supposed to do that, she wondered. Would their professional relationship ever be the same after this night? Or maybe it was just this easy for him, she thought and a pang of hurt made its way to her insides.

"Yeah, guess we got carried away. Try and get some sleep." He sniggered, "The firm is going to have field day with this. Can you imagine their faces when they let us out of here? The scandal!" he laughed so much it brought a smile to her face.

"We look a sight, I'm sure." She giggled.

A whirring sound and then the lights went on. The elevator moved.

"Thank goodness." Christine sighed.

Chase got up and gave her his hand to pull her up. The elevator lurched to a stop, making Christine lose her balance and she fell against him. Her hand slipped in between the opening of his shirt landing on his sweat slicked pecs.

Their eyes locked for a moment before she pulled away from those dark depths. He didn't let her go.

"I guess we should head back up for your bag, Morrison." He said and pressed the button to go back to the twelfth floor.

"Sorry." She removed her hand from his chest. He still had his arm around her shoulders keeping her close to his side.

When the elevator door opened on their floor, they were met by none other than Mason Pritchard.

"Now that's a sight! What have you two been up to?" He smirked, taking in the way Chase held Christine, both of them looking disheveled.

"Fuck off, Mason." Chase snarled at him. "None of your goddamn business." He lifted Christine in his arms and strode to the office.

Mason's mocking laughter followed them all the way inside.

***

The drive to Christine's apartment occurred in silence. Mostly. Chase's stony face made Christine anxious. Usually, she would be concerned with the speed they were moving at. She observed his slender fingers strangling the steering wheel.

Was he angry at her? Or was it because Mason saw them? Did he regret kissing her? She wasn't even certain how she felt about what happened. But she kissed him back and it felt good.

"Mr. Ward?" she almost whispered.

He just grunted in reply, his teeth locked together.

"I'm really sorry about this. There really was no need for you to -"

"Just shut up, Morrison."

Christine looked away from him, balling her fists to stop herself from crying. How can he be kind the one moment and a bastard the next? She is not going to give him the satisfaction of seeing how much he upset her.

After a while he said: "Is this where you live?" The tone in his voice made heat go to her cheeks.

The neighborhood was less than ideal, but when you're on a tight budget, you take what you can get. Chase's red Ferrari will stick out like a sore thumb. He shouldn't even leave it here. It might get stolen or worse. A single streetlight lit the rubbish littered street. Further down there were dark shadows lurking on the corner.

Christine turned to him. "It will be best if you just dropped me here."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" he growled. "And how will you walk? On which floor is your apartment?"

She cringed inwardly. This is a problem. He didn't say anything more, just pulled the car as close to the sidewalk as possible and got out. He flung open the passenger door, unbuckled her seatbelt and waited. She shifted to the side in her seat and swung her legs out of the car. Chase held out his hand for her to take. Her hand shook when she placed it in his. He yanked her toward him and lifted her in his arms.