He's trapped in an elevator with debris, darkness, and a trembling human female. This wasn't exactly how he imagined meeting his soulmate, but he'd be damned before he let this be their goodbye.
Sam cried himself to sleep, and she contemplated joining the pity party.
He had fucked himself through-and-through, and she didn't know if there was anything she could do for him other than buying tissues. She didn't have the connections that Lana Miller had. As an employee at a pet shop, she knew more animals than people.
She looked over the sea of sorrow that her cousin had made. Spotting a broom in the kitchen, she stood up and got to work. Her massive dog lodged by a pile of pizza boxes as she cleaned up.
Once Sam's apartment no longer looked like a health hazard, she threw a look at his slumped figure. While he had fucked up, there had to be some other way to make him pay for his mistakes. Sam was a stupid twenty-year-old who still didn't know how to properly wash his socks. He didn't make a habit out of screwing people over.
She healed injured animals for a living, and Sam was very much like an injured puppy. Even if he deserved getting hit by a car for running into the road, she couldn't let the knucklehead bleed out. The least she could do was try to plea on his behalf and hope that Lana Miller didn't toss her ass out in the street.
"Come on, baby, let's go home."
– • –
Once she was showered and mopping on her bed, she grabbed her phone and texted her best friend.
Let's chill this weekend. I need W I N E
Say no more, Zya replied.
After registering the time, Eva tossed her phone away and dove under her covers. Sleep evaded her like common knowledge evaded Sam, her mind too busy scripting her speech for tomorrow.
In the morning, no amount of makeup could tame her swollen eyes. She walked out of her apartment looking like a zombie searching for brains instead of forgiveness.
Tensions rise after a terrorist group...
She changed the radio station, being too worried about the millionaire terrorists that sued her cousin to hear about any more.
She settled with a station that was blasting the top billboard hits, wishing that her speech for Lana was as fluent as the lyrics of the songs.
She found a local parking lot and paid for a three-hour session. Once she walked to Miller headquarters, she found herself looking up and up. She had no idea what business these people ran, but their building was tall enough to put her neck at risk of snapping.
She passed the revolving doors of the building and was instantly overwhelmed by the fluttering of activity. Spotting a reception desk to the far left, she tried to weave through the stampede of employees.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please exit the building immediately. Again, everyone– including employees, must make their way out of this building. Please follow the exit signs. For your security, elevators have been disabled."
You've got to be fucking kidding me. I just got here!
She stood aside as the confused crowd reversed.
"Is this another drill?" someone asked.
Security waved people out of the building while she stood by a corner, wondering where to go from there. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe she could find Lana.
Thirty minutes later, the stream of people was reduced to trickles and she had yet to find Lana.
"Ma'am, please exit the building."
She sighed, knowing that her time had run out.
"I will. I'm sorry."
She turned around, raising her head once a grey blob clouded her peripheral vision.
Her lips parted to accommodate surprise. A man stared back. He was so broad, tall, and thick that he provided plenty of competition for the skyscraper they were in.
Those eyes of his contained so much lightning that she swore the sky thundered.
Confusion swelled when she noticed her observations weren't figurative. The world was literally trembling.
Screams shattered her haze.
Debris rained from the heavens, bringing catastrophe all around her. She ducked her head, hunting a way out. The explosion of glass intimidated her away from the entrance, and she found herself walking backward into an open elevator.
Shock bullied her down to the metal floor. With both hands covering her head, she waited for the earthquake to stop its tantrum.
The elevator was on the first floor, so it wasn't like it could fall down, right?
Shit! The basement!
She screamed once the elevator tilted, threatening to flick her down to a bloodthirsty abyss. Pounding footsteps joined the symphony of chaos.
"Hold on," a raspy voice demanded. The owner wrapped himself around her, covering her terror with his strength.
She clutched onto whatever part of him was available. The electricity she had seen in his irises became a living, breathing thing. She couldn't tell where the source of the sparks was coming from. For all she knew, it could be coming from disconnected wires that were electrocuting her.
She clutched onto the stranger's chest, a mix of lovely cologne and dirty dust confusing her nostrils.
The elevator tipped again, but the hands that were clutching onto her waist made sure to keep her in place. Their metal coffin sunk down many feet, barely stringing on.
The moaning of metal, booming of concrete, and screams of glass continued until she forgot what silence sounded like.
"Are you okay?"
She didn't reply, afraid that any movement would send the elevator down.
"Are you hurt?" he repeated.
She pulled her head away from his chest, coughing out the dust particles that rained from her hair.
"It's dark. Oh my god, it's so dark."
"It's alright. Just breathe."
"We need to get out of here," she blurted, her hands skimming his chest as if he owned the button that would open a magic door.
He gripped both of her hands, stilling them against his pectoral muscles.
"Oh, fuck. I didn't mean to feel you up. I'm sorry."
"Breathe with me," he instructed, inflating his impressive chest before exhaling.
She followed his rhythm until the threat of passing out released her from its clutches.
Noticing that he had begun to slide away from her, she threw herself forward. "Where are you going?" she panicked, clutching onto the biceps that were thicker than the slabs of concrete that surrounded them.
"I'm just taking my jacket off to place it over you, okay?"
"Okay..." she hesitated.
As promised, he threw his jacket over her head to protect her face from the dust. He then sat beside her and tucked her against his side, spanning his arms around her.
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