This Is Inevitable | #ONC2022

Chapter 5 | This Is Warm

"Sure, if you say so. Thanks for calling me hot, by the way."

Groaning, I shake my head and move away from him. He laughs again. Just as he's about to say something else, the intercom crackles to life with a sharp crinkling static noise, making me jump. I don't think Tate saw me; his eyes are glued to the microphone. Thank fuck for that.

"Hello? Is this Tate or Kian?" the voice said. It sounded familiar. Feminine. Tate presses and holds the button on the intercom with more force than necessary, a giant grin plastered on his face.

"Hi! Yes! This is Tate. Kian is nearby. Who is this? When are we getting out?"

"Tate, this is Ayisha. The fire department are here and they're actively trying to get you guys out, but because of the high floor you're on and because of the recent renovations on the elevator, it's going to be a while. Sorry, I wish I had good news."

"I'm just glad to hear an outside voice," Tate said. Am I supposed to be offended by that? What's wrong with my voice? I find my voice sexy. Sure, maybe a little gravelly, but nothing to turn your nose up at it.

Ugh. I take a breath. Focus, Kian. 

"Can I talk to Kian?"

Tate nods, then says 'yes' when he realises that Ayisha can't see him. He gestures for me to come closer.

"Kian here. Good to hear your voice, Ayisha." I wipe a trail of sweat away from the back of my neck. Good God, I really hope I don't smell. Tate's starting to smell; it was nice at first, his body odour absoutely invigorating like fresh pine needles, but now I feel like I'm trapped in a Lynx commercial. 

"Glad to see you're not dead. By the way, you owe me ten bucks."

"What? Why?" I say. I picture Ayisha shrugging, or giving me a confused face with way too much innocence. She's probably doing neither, multitasking on her phone while she talks to us.

"Didn't we make a bet on who would get stuck in the elevator?"

Tate laughs. "I would have."

I shake my head. "No, we just talked about potentially getting stuck. No money bets were made, we are professionals at work doing work stuff. Duh? "

"Right, you square. Remind me to make more bets with you when you're out, provided you don't neck yourself in there from all the stress.

"I'm not stressed! Can you and Tate stop telling me what I'm meant to be feeling? Jeez," I say, earing a chuckle from Ayisha. She chuckles to herself before she begins speaking again.

"You really gotta get a grip. Your high-strungness is dialed up to an eleven right now."

I shake my head. NO point in arguing; I'm wasting precious oxygen. Huh; is the elevator airtight? Do we need to conserve oxygen? How would I even do that?"

"Listen, I can't stay on the line forever. From here on out, I'll be messaging you guys. Text me if you begin to feel stir-crazy. The authorities are going to be your main point of contact now. Amir is demanding we all get back to work so aside from the odd fireman coming in and out of the building, it appears its business as usual out here."

"Great. Sounds like Amir really gives a shit about us," Tate says, a little venom in his tone. He crosses his arms and looks away, leaning against the wall of the elevator. I give him a quizzical look, before turning back to the intercom.

"Is he personally involved in our escape from here?" I ask.

The air is silent for a second, before Tate and Ayisha burst out laughing. I feel like an idiot as the two laugh for practically a whole minute, the former on the verge of laughter tears. Ugh. So freaking lame.

"You're kidding? This is Amir you're talking about," Ayisha says, giggling. "He wouldn't save his wife from a burning building unless she had his work laptop in her arms. Even then, he'd grab his laptop if she was trapped in any way. As far as I can tell, he's only mad because he's had to reschedule your meeting with him."

Tate fans himself with the envelope, and I worry for a second he was going to take his shirt off. He has an irritated look on his face. The heat must be getting to him; my skin is starting to crawl.

"Any chance you have an ETA on us getting out? Or, if you could get the emergency workers to get some airflow in here?"

There's a second of static, then silence, before Ayisha continues talking. 

"Maybe a couple hours. You'll definitley be out by the end of the day at the very latest, but you'd better get comfy. I've asked an emergency worker if the airflow is possible, and he gave me a funny look before walking away. Safe to say the aircon is the least of their priorities."

I sigh, sitting on the floor. Defeated. Tate moves to press the intercom, leaning past me.

"We'll be fine. Text us if anything changes. Hopefully the firefighters can give us more information when they can, and get us out of here soon."

"Me too. Stay sane, you two."

The intercom crackles again, and we're left in silence, sans the gentle hum of background machinery in the air. Tate's still leaning infront of me, propping himself up on an elbow as he looks at me. His face is less than a foot from me.

"I hope you like dad jokes, because you're going to hear a lot of them soon when I get bored."

I force a smile. "Sounds delightful."

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AN: And with this update, I've reached the 8000 word mark to be eligible to pass round 2 of the #ONC2022 contest. Here's hoping I haven't stupidly miscounted and am disqualified :') *touches a piece of wood so I don't jinx myself*

What do you guys think of this so far? Tate is certainly getting more comfortable, while the opposite is happening with Kian. Was that portrayed effectively?

Let me know if you guys spot any grammar/spelling mistakes. I've been working and going to uni literally every day for two weeks and, on top of settling into a new house with my partner, I haven't got the time to proofread/edit as extensively as I normally do. (pls be more forgiving of me if you guys do spot several mistakes, I'm the shell of a human at this point)

All my love,
Jacob x