Hold The Elevator {Saw/Detective Mark Hoffman}

Chapter 9

Mark's POV: Alessia needs me right now. No way in hell I'm leaving her alone tonight. If she wants me to stay, I'm staying. Even if that means letting her curl into a ball up against me.

Once the apartment finally cleared out, her sobs got quieter. I could tell she's getting tired. So I scooted onto the bed more, my back against the headboard, allowing Alessia to curl into my chest. She did, and I kept my arm around her, making sure she knew I was still here. Eventually, I heard soft, nasally snores come from her. Soon enough, I dozed off too.

•

Alessia's POV: I woke up the next morning completely sore and in pain. But I realized Mark was still here. He's holding me. Yet, after what happened last night, I don't feel scared. Usually, when someone grabs me, my first reaction is to jump away. But I froze. Not in a bad fight-flight-freeze way, more just a familiar feeling. It felt—right.

"You stayed?" I asked him, looking up at his face. He glanced down.

"You asked me to." He groggily replied, "I wasn't gonna leave you alone after what happened." I was shocked. I didn't think he'd actually stay.

"Thank you." I said.

•

It's been a few days since the attack, and I'm finally able to go back to work. And by able to go back to work, I mean it no longer hurts to move and I can cover up my remaining bruises with makeup. I need to make some money after all, got to pay rent and buy food. Plus, I kind of like my job. It has its good days, and the work environment is great. It's calming.

Thankfully, Mark has been taking care of all the police stuff involving my ex. Aside from an initial report at the hospital the day after the attack, I haven't been involved. Thank goodness for that, because I'm not sure if I could look at that man again.

"Alessia, your next client is ready, want me to send him in?" Jeanie, the receptionist, asked as she popped in the room.

"Yeah, I'm free." I replied, finishing my table setup. Jeanie left, and I finished my prep work. The door gently opened, then closed again. "Hi," I put my "soothing" masseuse voice on, "welcome to—" I trailed off as I turned around and saw Mark in the complementary robe we provide our clients. He's definitely not here for work. "Oh, hey."

"Alessia, I forgot you said you worked here." He seemed startled to see me, "I can uh, I can go?"

"No, it's fine, this is my job anyways." I replied, "Besides, nice to know I'll have a client who won't try to grab my ass as I'm working." He chuckled.

"I just had a rough day at work. Figured I'd do something like this for a change instead of drinking." He explained, "Mainly because Fisk and the others steered me towards this."

"Good choice."

"Should I uh—do I have to—" He stumbled over his words.

"The robe?" I smirked, an eyebrow raised.

"Can you tell I've never done this before?" He chuckled.

"There's a towel on the hook there." I pointed behind him, "I'll step out for a moment, you wrap the towel around your waist and hop on the table. Sound ok?"

"You sure you're ok with this?" He asked, clearly not wanting to overstep my boundaries.

"Mark, it's work." I said, "Like I said, don't grab my ass and we'll be fine." I heard him chuckled as I stepped outside to give him privacy.

•

"You got a lot of knots between your shoulder blades Mark." I remarked as I continued to massage his muscles.

"Like I said, tough day." He replied.

"This is more like years worth of stress. I think you need to find better coping mechanisms so this doesn't happen."

"Can you maybe get my lower back? It's been bothering me for a while." He asked.

"Yeah sure." I moved down and pressed the base of my palms into his back. Mark's entire body relaxed immediately as he exhaled in relief.

"Whatever you did just fucking relieved it." He mumbled, "That feels so much better, I can feel my spine again." I giggled.

"Mark I hope you didn't do anything else when I did that." I joked.

"No! No, nothing!" He snapped, holding back a laugh like I did.

After what only felt like a few seconds, the timer went off.

"What that's it?" He asked, poking his head up, "That was a short hour."

"An hour is an hour Mark, can't be shorter or longer." I chuckled.

He sat up, making sure not to let go of the towel preserving his modesty.

"Damn, I really fucking needed that." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Hey Mark," I said, walking over and sitting next to him on the table. He looked at me to let me know he was listening. "Thank you for helping me."

"I wasn't gonna let that fucker kill you right down the hall from me." He replied, "Besides, my gut told me to go home that night to drink. Obviously it knew something was up."

"I'm not just talking about that." I explained, "Although yes, thank you for literally saving my life." He looked at me puzzled. "I mean everything. You were the only person to help me when I moved here. You helped me take my boxes up to my place, talked to me, and you've shown me that I can trust some people. You really are the nicest guy I've ever met."

"I was just lending a hand." He meekly smiled, "I know the feeling of being alone. You don't deserve it."

We just looked at each other in silence, a mutual understanding of how grateful we were for each other. But then, as if something was pulling us together, I had an urge to kiss him. Mark obviously had the same feeling too, as we both leaned in and our lips met. I felt something different. Even when I thought my ex was Prince Charming, before he became abusive, I never felt a true spark. This was new. As Mark's hand grazed my cheek, I felt as if my heart was swelling. Kind of like the grinch but in a good way. My stomach felt empty except for butterflies. Even when the kiss ended and we just looked into each others eyes, the feeling lingered.

Is this what safety feels like? True romance?

"Uh, Mark." I choked, barely able to speak.

"Huh?" He asked in the same fashion.

"Your towel." I pointed to his uh—ahem—region. He looked down and quickly wrapped the towel back around himself, crossing his legs for extra protection. I giggled at his reaction.

"This is why I don't do this shit." He grumbled, trying to hide his smile. He pulled me close and I rested my head on his shoulder...