Chapter 4 In the elevator

Ava wanted to believe she was dreaming. She, together with the son of the richest man in the city, was stuck in an elevator with no hope...

Oh! There had to be hope, certainly...

Calvin already had his phone out and was calling whatever unit was responsive for handling matters like this one and freeing her from this nasty situation. How was she going to cope with this? Fine, she was his secretary but somehow, the feeling of all the space around them never had to make her fully notice him, and she was sure it made him not to fully notice her either. Now, with two of them alone in the elevator, things were going to look even more awkward. They never had a normal conversation so what were they going to be talking about until help came? And if she decided to stay quiet, how would they remain in such awkward silence for how long?

Ava realized she was in a serious catch-22 situation. Still, all of these weren't even the problem yet.

Ava always had a fear of tight spaces! She wasn't particularly claustrophobic to such a large extent. She could do it in an elevator, but an elevator hanging all the way somewhere in the middle of the floors with someone within the little space and no movements, she was feeling sick already. Beads of sweat were already breaking out of her forehead and she needed to get away already.

"Are you okay?" She turned to him but on making eye contact, she looked away instantly.

"Yeah, I'm fine..."

"Are you claustrophobic?"

How in the world did he suddenly know? Ava shifted the balance between her feet uncomfortably as she figured she was perhaps saying too much with her body language. Was she looking too uncomfortable already?

"It takes being stuck in an elevator to get me reeling."

Ava wasn't sure of what her response meant. She just didn't want to look stupid, being scared of small spaces.

"The elevator will get moving in no time. You'd be fine." Calvin replied.

Ava wasn't sure. The fear still ran through her veins and she began counting down on when the elevator would suddenly start moving again.

"I used to be scared of elevators too, you know..." Calvin said suddenly. "...not just elevators, tight spaces generally."

Ava couldn't believe her ears. Was he having a proper conversation with her all of a sudden?

"No way..."

"Yes, I did..."

"How are you so comfortable right now..."

"I have you here with me..."

Ava felt her heart skip. She wasn't sure of what to read from that. Was she some bodyguard, or had he meant it some other way?

"It works differently for people, then. What if I tell you I'd rather be alone..."

"What if I instead came closer..."

Calvin was suddenly taking slower to her and Ava found herself slightly moving backward, not sure of what the man was about to do. "...What if I held you, and I held you tight enough..." He placed his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him. She was staring up into his eyes as they emanated a spellbinding confidence that she could not explain. She found herself trapped within his gaze.

"What if I did this..."

Suddenly, Ava's breath hung in her throat as he brought his face so close that she could smell every inch of him, his cologne. She shut her eyes as their lips touched. She wasn't sure if she was awake right now or dreaming. Whatever was happening, Ava couldn't define it for the first few moments of while it lasted. It was a tender touch as she could feel his lips against hers, soft, succulent...

She could hear his breath as they caressed her lips. When she tried to inhale, her lips parted, ready to take the kiss to the next level and just then, there was a rumble. It was like a wake-up call to reality. She tore away from him and looked away, not sure she could look into his eyes as the embarrassment of what just happened hit her. She realized the elevator was back to life and was lowering down. She was trying to catch her breath now, trying not to think of anything that had just happened and focus on getting down the elevator and out of this awkward scene. It looked like it was taking forever.

When the door dinged open, Ava couldn't be more relieved but waited until Calvin had made his way out first before following suit behind him. The day continued as usual. Calvin attended his meeting, called out some notes for her to jot down, and even proceeded over to their next appointment. All the while, Ava was trying not to think about what happened at the elevator but it was becoming harder with each time she looked at him speaking on a board meeting or when she heard his voice. She literally forced herself to focus all through the day until she finally made it home.

As she did everything she did that evening, the only thing that kept coming to her mind was Calvin Notre Dame.

"Come to your senses, Ava..." She knocked her head as she stared out through the window, trying to place her focus on something else but the image of him kept appearing over and over again. She could still feel the touch of his lips against her, the sound of his breath...

It was a good kiss...

Ava dreamed her way through the entire night, dawning on the experience. She woke up extremely exhausted the next day and struggled to get herself to work, hoping that on this day, they would get to talk about what happened the previous day.

Why would he even do that in the first place?

When Ava got to work, she found Calvin already at the office.

"Good morning, Calvin..."

He looked up at her. "Ava..." She realized he rarely used her name. They ran through the schedules for the day with Ava praying Calvin brought up the thing of yesterday himself because she didn't want to have to be the one to start it. Soon, they finished with the planning and Ava turned to take her leave.

"And Ava..." Calvin called out. She turned and looked at him.

"About yesterday, can we kindly pretend it didn't happen? If you don't mind..."

Ava wasn't sure about what she just heard. Pretend it didn't happen? So he just felt like playing a joke and then he spontaneously kissed her?

She nodded and walked out, believing she was already truly hating Calvin Notre Dame.