Kidnapped, Unfortunately

Chapter Seventy

Jacob scrambled back up to his feet in a panic, looking at me with wide, terrified eyes.

"We're stuck?!" he cried out in horror. "WE'RE GOING TO DIE!"

"No we aren't, it's fine," I told him, but he wouldn't listen.

Jacob began hyperventilating and yelling things like, "I'M TOO YOUNG!" and "LIFE IS SO CRUEL!" and "I NEVER SHOULD HAVE STOLEN CARSON'S CREDIT CARD!"

I rolled my eyes at the drama queen. "We are not going to- wait, what? You stole Carson's credit card?"

He nodded mutely.

I held up a hand with a wide grin, "High Five!"

"This is not the time!" he yelled, and I awkwardly dropped my hand.

I hated being left hanging.

"Well, What do you think we should do then?" I challenged, putting my hands on my hips.

He paused, taking a moment to think. "Press the help button?"

I blinked. "Oh. That's actually pretty smart."

Jacob reached over me and pressed on the red button for help, hitting it several times.

A weird noise occurred, and a moment later,  a voice was speaking to us.

"Hey, what's up?" A guy asked over the little speaker near the button.

I scowled. "You operate the elevator's help button, what do you think is up?"

"I don't know, sometimes people are just lonely and want to talk."

I tried not to punch anything out of frustration.

"Well, we are not lonely," I forced out through gritted teeth. "The elevator is stuck and my very claustrophobic friend here is having a panic attack."

"Help me!" Jacob cried out helpfully.

The operator paused for a bit, thinking over our situation.

"Well," he began, "I can't really do anything for you. I'm just supposed to call the fire department."

I narrowed my eyes. "Ok, so call them."

"Here's the problem," he said, and I began silently screaming. "Sometimes I also get lonely, and I call the fire department for a chat, but now they're mad I keep calling them so they don't answer me anymore."

I closed my eyes and took a few, calming breaths. "Use a different phone."

"I only have one."

Oh my God, I was going to kill this man.

"So what you're telling me," I spoke, "Is that you can't do anything to get us out of here."

The operator thought. "I mean, I guess I could call someone else to tell them to call the fire department, but it may be a while before I find someone who will actually pick up when they see it's me calling."

"I hate you," I told him, and pressed the button again to end the call.

Then I turned to Jacob, who was now huddled into a ball in the corner with his face buried in his arms.

"Well, Jacob," I began, looking down at the dramatic disaster, "It looks like we'll be in here for a while."

He didn't respond, just kept his head buried.

I sighed and leaned against the opposite side, sliding down until I was also seated on the floor.

I wondered what Hayley was doing. Hopefully she could manage until Carson got there to help. Hopefully they could manage without the real thugs.

"Poor Hayley," I said softly, looking down at the tiled ground. "I hope she's ok."

Jacob whipped his head up to glare at me, "Poor Hayley?? What about ME! I can't last much longer!"

For probably the billionth time since I'd met him, I rolled my eyes.

Then, I decided to just let my mind wander.

Jacob wasn't going be much conversation, so I began to reflect on the previous weeks. On Hayley, Carson, and Jacob. And finally, on myself.

"You want to hear a secret, Jacob," I asked, leaning my head back against the wall and looking up at the ceiling.

"I'm sweating like the Niagara Falls!" he said by way of response.

"I pretend to be a tough, rugged, uncaring thug, but I'm not," I continued, sighing and closing my eyes. "I'm just a regular one."

"Are the walls closing in? Is that just me?"

"I know I pretend like I don't care about anything and I just do what I want, but I do care." I ran a tired hand through my thick brown curls and then dropped it. "I'm just afraid of caring."

"I think I may feint."

"And I've never really told anyone this, but I have trust issues. So I think that if I act tough and uncaring, I can't get hurt. But life doesn't work that way."

Surprisingly, Jacob then said, "You're right, life doesn't work that way."

I opened my eyes and looked over at him.

He had lifted his head up to look at me, the rest of his body still curled into a ball.

I raised an eyebrow, and he continued.

"You can't just go through life pretending be untouchable in hopes that no one does touch you," he said sincerely. "It's better to love without holding back and get hurt a couple times then to never love at all."

"Point taken," I nodded.

He flashed me a smile, despite the circumstances, "Besides, I always knew you were just a softie. Under all the insults and threats, there's a sweet Irish girl who just wants love."

I screwed up my nose. "I wouldn't go that far."

He laughed lightly, and I took the time to look at him, really look at him.

He acted ditzy, and made a lot of dumb decisions, and was afraid of pretty much everything in existence, but he was also one of the kindest people I had ever met. And was oddly wise at times.

"Thanks, Jacob," I said, looking at him evenly.

I don't know what he read in my expression, but he flushed and muttered, "S'ok."

Maybe being trapped in here wouldn't be so bad after all.