The Billionaire's One

1. Minute One of Knowing

I look at the wall behind him, which, as he says, is staying exactly where it is.

I turn and press the alarm button at the bottom of the panel, which fills the silence with the sound of a trilling alarm bell, much like the ones in school.

We both wait for something to happen, but nothing does.

I look at the number fifteen again.

It makes me smile.

It's the fifteenth of June and I'm stuck on an elevator on the fifteenth floor.

"It's not the walls closing in that really bothers me," I say. Out of the corner of my eye, I see him turn his head towards me. "It's the impending lack of oxygen."

It's only after I say it, that I turn to look at him again.

There's still a small smile on his face.

It's also then that I really notice him.

I'd be a terrible detective.

He wears a deep, beige suit, tailored immaculately to fit him. It's paired with a patterned brown tie, which matches the watch on his wrist. There's a pen in his front pocket with a muted gold clip, that perfectly matches the muted gold cufflinks. He's tall, even when he's leaning casually against the elevator wall.

His hair is dark and I would say that it was black if it weren't for the light hints of brown I see where the light touches it. It's styled in a sort of modern Clark Kent way. His eyes are light brown and if someone asked me to describe what sort of eyes he has, I would say that they are calming.

So calming that I don't really feel like hyperventilating over the looming loss of oxygen.

"Don't worry," he tells me, "Elevators aren't airtight, and there's only two of us. And the power is still on, so the air conditioning is working. If there was a toilet and a minifridge in here, we could be here for days."

I feel my smile coming on. "You wouldn't mind being stuck in an elevator for days if you had a toilet and minifridge?"

My very handsome, makes me think that I'm in some sort of cheesy Hallmark rom-com to be stuck in an elevator with a good looking stranger, elevator-mate gives me a one-shouldered shrug. "Beats being stuck in an elevator without those things."

My smile widens, despite my finger still tapping against the metal bar.

There is a beeping noise.

A crackling voice emanates from the speaker on the panel. "Hello. This is the Marriott Hotel maintenance. We are very sorry about the elevator malfunctioning. We are working to get you out in the next few minutes. Are you both okay in there?"

My eyes search and find the CCTV camera in the corner of the elevator. I hold down the call button and say, "Yes, we're fine."

"Great," says the voice. "Sit tight and we will have you moving in no time."

"Thank you," both of us say.

The crackling disappears and we plunge into silence.

Thankfully, that is the only thing we plunge into.

I look to the floor, wondering whether he and I can both lie flat on the ground if the elevator does, in fact, start free falling.

The immaculately dressed elevator buddy of mine follows my eye line.

"It's big enough for the both of us."

I press my lips together, because I know that, if I think long enough about it, I can come up with an innuendo for what he just said.