Trapped Between Floors
1902 Words
Darkness swallowed the elevator completely.
For one horrifying second, I forgot how to breathe.
The air suddenly felt smaller.
Warmer.
Too close.
“Oh my God.”
My voice came out weaker than I wanted.
Somewhere beside me, Nathan stayed completely calm.
“It’s backup power,” he said quietly. “The lights will return.”
“How do you sound relaxed right now?”
A soft mechanical hum echoed faintly above us.
Then silence again.
Nathan’s voice stayed low.
Controlled.
“That usually helps during stressful situations.”
“Well unfortunately I’m committed to panicking.”
To my horror—
another quiet laugh escaped him.
Small.
Barely there.
But real.
The darkness made it worse somehow.
Because without seeing him clearly, all I could focus on was his voice.
That same soft nighttime voice.
The one that stayed awake talking to me after midnight like loneliness was a living thing sitting beside him.
The emergency lights flickered on suddenly.
Dim.
Golden.
Soft enough to change everything inside the elevator.
Nathan looked different in low light.
Less sharp.
Less untouchable.
Still intimidating.
Still beautiful.
But softer around the edges somehow.
And that scared me more.
I leaned back carefully against the elevator wall while exhaling slowly.
Bad idea.
The confined space immediately pressed against my chest again.
Nathan noticed instantly.
“You’re claustrophobic,” he said quietly.
“I told you already. I’m dramatic.”
“That wasn’t a joke.”
I looked away.
Because unfortunately…
it wasn’t.
The elevator suddenly felt hotter.
The air thicker.
My heartbeat louder.
Nathan studied me for a second too long.
Then—
“Talk to me.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“You panic less when you’re distracted.”
“You analyzed that from phone calls?”
“Yes.”
The answer came too easily.
Too honestly.
That did something weird to my chest.
I laughed nervously once.
“That’s slightly terrifying.”
“Hm.”
Again with that hum.
That stupid soft sound that somehow affected me every single time.
Nathan loosened the sleeves of his shirt slightly before speaking again.
“What were you like as a child?”
I stared at him.
“…That’s your distraction technique?”
“You stopped panicking.”
Oh.
Annoyingly…
he was right.
I folded my arms tighter.
“You first.”
Nathan leaned back against the elevator wall beside me.
Calm.
Quiet.
Like being trapped inside elevators with emotionally unstable women happened regularly for him.
“I asked first.”
“That’s rude.”
“Avoiding questions is rude too.”
I narrowed my eyes slightly.
“You sound very different right now.”
A pause.
Then—
“So do you.”
God.
This man answered questions like he was placing traps carefully inside conversations.
I looked down at my hands.
“You already know I worked in a café. There’s nothing interesting about me.”
Nathan’s gaze stayed on me steadily.
“That isn’t true.”
The way he said it made my stomach tighten unexpectedly.
I cleared my throat quickly.
“Well… when I was younger, I talked too much.”
“You still do.”
I gasped softly.
“That was disrespectful.”
Another tiny almost-smile touched his mouth.
Dangerous.
Very dangerous.
“My brother says my brain moves faster than my mouth,” I admitted quietly.
“The teenager who called me emotionally unavailable?”
I froze immediately.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God.”
Nathan looked genuinely amused now.
Tiny traces of warmth slipping through the cold mask again.
Heat rushed into my face instantly.
“I forgot the phone was still connected.”
“Hm.”
“He’s seventeen. He insults everyone equally.”
“He called me Batman.”
I covered my face briefly.
“I’m going to throw myself into traffic.”
“That seems excessive.”
“You don’t understand humiliation.”
“No,” Nathan said calmly. “I understand it very well.”
Something about the way he said that felt heavier than the conversation itself.
Like there was something underneath it.
Something tired.
The silence afterward softened strangely.
Not awkward anymore.
Just quiet.
Then the elevator gave another violent shake.
The lights flickered hard.
Before I could stop myself—
I grabbed Nathan’s arm instantly.
My fingers curled tightly around his sleeve.
Warm muscle beneath expensive fabric.
Everything froze.
Again.
Nathan looked down slowly at my hand gripping his arm.
Then up at me.
Neither of us moved away immediately.
My heartbeat turned completely unstable.
The emergency light cast soft gold across his face.
Close enough now that I could notice every tiny detail.
The faint shadow of stubble along his jaw.
The tiredness hidden beneath those cold eyes.
The way he looked at me like he was trying not to.
“I hate this elevator,” I whispered.
Nathan’s voice dropped quieter.
“I know.”
And somehow—
that sounded dangerously intimate.
Like he understood more than I actually said.
I slowly realized I was still holding his arm.
But letting go suddenly felt weirdly harder than grabbing him in the first place.
Nathan still hadn’t moved away either.
The air between us felt too warm now.
Too aware.
I finally loosened my grip slightly.
“Sorry.”
Nathan’s eyes stayed on mine.
“You apologize often.”
“I’m trapped in a metal box with my CEO. Obviously I’m apologizing.”
“You only do it when you feel exposed.”
That hit harder than it should have.
I looked away quickly.
“You analyze people too much.”
“You notice more than you admit.”
The tension inside the elevator thickened quietly after that.
Not uncomfortable.
Worse.
The kind that made every small movement feel important.
Nathan suddenly removed his blazer.
I blinked immediately.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re overheating.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re flushed.”
“That’s because this elevator is satanic.”
Nathan ignored me calmly before stepping closer.
Too close.
My entire nervous system panicked immediately.
Then—
he placed the blazer gently beside me.
Not touching me.
Just close enough.
“You’ll feel less trapped if you stop focusing on the heat,” he said quietly.
The problem was—
I wasn’t focusing on the heat anymore.
I was focusing on him.
On the way his voice softened in private spaces.
On the way his cold daytime mask kept slipping every time we were alone.
On the fact that Night Nathan still existed underneath all that distance.
And somehow…
that realization felt more dangerous than the darkness.
“You don’t act like this upstairs,” I said softly.
Nathan leaned back against the wall again.
Expression unreadable.
“Like what?”
“Human.”
A pause.
Then—
“You don’t act like yourself upstairs either.”
I frowned slightly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“At night,” he said quietly, “you say whatever you’re thinking.”
“And during the day?”
“You hide behind jokes.”
That irritated me mostly because it was true.
I crossed my arms tighter.
“You’re annoyingly observant.”
“You’re easy to read.”
“Rude.”
Nathan’s eyes lowered briefly toward my mouth before lifting again.
Fast.
Almost invisible.
But enough to completely destroy my emotional stability.
The elevator lights flickered again.
This time the darkness lasted longer.
Instinctively, I moved closer without even realizing it.
Nathan noticed immediately.
Of course he did.
“You’re okay,” he said quietly.
And there it was again.
That voice.
That exact soft nighttime voice that stayed on the line even after silence.
My chest tightened painfully.
Before I could answer—
the elevator suddenly jolted back to life.
The lights flashed fully on.
The elevator moved sharply upward again.
Both of us stepped apart immediately.
Too quickly.
Like we both realized something at the exact same time.
A loud mechanical ding echoed overhead.
Then the doors slid open.
And my soul nearly left my body.
Three employees stood outside the elevator.
Frozen.
Staring directly at us.
At me standing way too close to Nathan Vale.
At his blazer beside me.
At my hand still lightly touching his arm.
Even Elena looked surprised for the first time since I met her.
Vincent slowly blinked.
Then grinned like Christmas arrived early.
“Oh,” he said carefully.
“Oh this is interesting ".
- Writer
