Shafted [ONC 2022]

Good Company

"Holy shit, dude." Rukiya turned another page in his portfolio. "These are incredible. How do you even draw like this?"

Heat crept up Kadin's cheeks at the compliment. "A lot of practice. There's not really much to write home about in there. Just a lot of character studies and a few digital portraits."

Once they'd gotten to talking about his art, she'd demanded to see some of it, and luckily he'd brought his physical portfolio to the interview just in case. The thick binder lay across Rukiya's lap, opened to a few character studies he'd prepared specifically for his application.

"I don't know what you're talking about. These are super impressive." She shut the binder and handed it back. "Did you go to art school?"

"Uh, no I studied engineering and..." He trailed off. This was getting too personal. Part of him felt stupid for coming out here on a whim. People would kill for a stable job, liveable wage and a house bought and paid for these days, and he'd just thrown it all away. It felt selfish, ungrateful.

"You know, I used to draw too," Rukiya said with a rueful look. "Kind of stopped after high school."

Kadin tucked the portfolio back into his bag behind his iPad. "Yeah? What made you stop?"

"After graduating high school, it kind of fell to the bottom of my priority list, and when I enrolled in University, I was hyper-focused on my studies. There really wasn't much time for hobbies." She shrugged a shoulder. "There hasn't been much time since."

Ah, a workaholic. Kadin could relate to that. If he stopped and taken a moment to put his life into perspective, he would've worked himself into an early grave. And died alone and unhappy at that. "Have you ever thought of getting back into it?"

She shook her head. "This is the first time I've thought about it since..." A faraway look settled on her face. "It's been a while."

"It's never too late to get back into it," Kadin said with a smile. He'd just gotten back into it a year ago, and he wished he'd come to his senses sooner. Sure, he was unemployed and burning through his savings. But he'd take that over being overworked and burning through his life.

She gave a small smile. "I guess not."

They lapsed into silence—the kind of comfortable silence that he expected from spending time with a friend and not a stranger. Rukiya had a very chill aura about her. Sitting beside her was like lounging by a still lake on a crisp summer day.

Kadin checked the time before dialling 911 again. The busy signal came through after half a second, and he resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. They'd been stuck for well over an hour now with no end in sight. Part of him had hoped the elevator would fix itself, but he looked up the model number on google and it was pretty old. He looked over at Rukiya, who was frowning down at her phone as she tapped away at the keyboard with both thumbs.

She'd shifted her braids to one side, exposing the lines of her jaw and the smooth skin on her neck. He silently wondered if it felt as soft as it looked. She has a boyfriend, he reminded himself with an internal kick. And even if she didn't, his mother taught him better than to creepily lust after a stranger.

"Everything alright?" he asked when she set her phone aside.

"Yeah, it's fine. Everything's fine." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself and not him. Her shoulders sagged as she shrunk in on herself. "Anyone waiting for you besides a roommate?"

Kadin snorted. "No. I haven't had much time for dating these days." Or ever.

"Don't. It's a fucking nightmare out there, I swear to god." She took her empty cup and chucked it in the bag with way more force than necessary.

"Is that why you're staying with someone who irritates you so much?" He didn't realise he'd asked the question out loud until it was already out of his mouth. His sister always warned him that his lack of a filter would get him in trouble. "Sorry. I..."

Rukiya put her hands up. "It's fine. I guess it's pretty obvious. If you can glean that much from one side of a phone call."

"It's still none of my business. I apologise, really. That was a shitty thing to say." He couldn't even look at her after that. How embarrassing.

"Well, if you're taking it that seriously. I also heard you blatantly lie to your mom. Your phone receiver's pretty dang loud. Or my hearing is really good. Either way, shame on you." Despite what she was saying, her voice carried a light, playful tone that intensified the heat in his cheeks.

He exhaled a sigh through his nose. "I have my reasons alright."

"Don't we all." She raised her phone. "Also, it's my turn to call." She dialed 911 and threw it on speaker.

And it rang.

Kadin was convinced he was hallucinating until he saw Rukiya mirroring his shock. His heart slammed against his ribs. It rang again, and he leaned in, silently pleading for someone to pick up. The line went busy, its beep beep beep shooting his hopes from the sky.

"At least that's progress," Rukiya said.

He couldn't think of any hopeful words to say. All signs were pointing towards them being stuck in this elevator all night, during a snowstorm, no less. The upside was he had his iPad.

And good company.