Open House: For Sale

Elevator Down

At around 17.00, we call it a day and leave the office. When I'm about to use the stairs, Carlos stops me

"Come on now, the problem is fixed!"

"U don't know that!"

"Penny, please, it's 7 flights, it's dangerous with your shoes! I can't have that burden in my consciousness if something happens!"

"Why don't u come with?"

"Because I'm not suicidal! No me hagas esto, Penny... ¡Por favor! (Don't do this to me, penny... Please!)" he says indignantly, making me sigh

"Vale... (Fine)" I say and follow him in the elevator that just came.

About 2 floors down, the elevator stops abruptly.

"Carlos, it's not funny!" I yell grabbing him from his arm instinctively

"I didn't do it, I swear!"

"Then-then we're stuck! The power went out! Aiuto!! (Help!-In Italian)" I say and then start shouting, banging the doors with my fists

"Hey, hey, tranquila!" he says, pulling me back from the doors

"Tranquila? Ma come tranquila! Siamo chiusi in una scatola di metallo! (Chill? How chill? We're closed in a metal box!)"

"Penny, calm down, I don't understand u!"

"Well, scusi that I can't focus on my English right now!"

"Ok, ok, u're right, it's a stressful situation, but it's not the end of the world! Look *pushes bell* I'm sure someone heard that and they'll call for help!" he says, putting his hands on my arms

"Why did I listen to u? I knew it was gonna happen!"

"Yeah, ok, u were right and I was wrong. Please, let's calm down!" he says looking me in the eyes. When I focus on his eyes I immediately calm down and shake my head yes

"Ok, yeah..."

"Why don't we sit down?"

"It's dirty..." I answer and he puts his jacket down

"Better?" he asks and I shake my head yes again, sitting down, and he follows my lead

"I'm sorry I made u get in here. I really thought the problem was solved..."

"Well, u were just looking out for me like u always do. Truth is I almost slipped yesterday a couple of times..."

"Dios, Penny! If u fall from these stairs I'll be lucky to just break you legs!"

"I know... But I don't like feeling trapped, u know?"

"Oh, I know... But u're not alone!" he says smiling, opening his palm to me

"No... No, I'm not" I reply smiling, putting my hand on his palm, and he closes it around it

"So... How are things with Malcolm?"

"Nope. Don't do this..."

"Do what?"

"Make small talk to fill the awkward silence..."

"Can't help it, I don't like sitting in silence with my thoughts, but I genuinely want to know!"

"Do u?" I ask with a raised eyebrow

"Yes! I wanna know if u're happy!"

"I don't know about happy, but I'm definitely calm..."

"Come on, give me something more!"

"Why are u doing this to yourself, Carlos?"

"I'm not doing anything! Penny, I don't want our history to ruin our friendship. Because between work and sex, I want to believe that we were also friends... "

"Friends don't know the way u taste, Carlos..."

"Well, I considered u a friend... We were having fun together even when we weren't having sex. We were talking, laughing..."

"Ok, maybe we were friends! But how can we be friends when there are pent up feelings between us?"

"How do u know there are?"

"Please... I've seen how u look at me!"

"Well, that's my problem! I was the one that got afraid and I'm living with the consequences of my actions..."

"That doesn't mean that u're obligated to hear about my life with someone else. U don't have to punish yourself..."

"I'm not punishing myself! I just want to make sure that I gave u up to someone who is treating u right! To someone that has the guts to do what I was afraid to even try!"

"Carlos, u made a decision, I made another one. That's it! Let it go!"

"Ok, got the message! Just know that I'm here if u need anything that I can help u with... Whenever, wherever!"

"Easy there, Shakira!" I say jokingly to lighten the mood

For the next hour or so, we play 20 questions and a game where u have to think of as many words as u can from the first letter the other person tells u to, in order to pass the time. Apparently there were too many people trapped in elevators in the city, so it took time for a fire squad to come to us. When they got us out, we thanked each other for making this incident fun and we took our own ways. I actually run to the coffee shop to get a coffee because I had a lesson, and if I wanted to be alive for that after the night and day I had, I had to caffeinate myself. Malcolm was still there, so I told him what happened and he didn't quite like the fact I was trapped with Carlos. I don't know if he's jealous in general or just with Carlos, but I'm glad I haven't told him about our relationship...

~~~

Carlos' P.O.V

When I get home after the elevator incident, I'm all fired up to have mad sex with Matteo, but he's on his way to the gym, leaving me literally hanging, so I just have a cold shower and fall dead asleep until the next morning. Apparently my appetite wasn't lost, and since I had a little time before having to leave, I woke Matteo up...

On our weekend away, which made Matteo really happy, we relaxed a lot and tried to make up for the time lost. Well, obviously not for all the time lost, since we hadn't have a getaway since our summer vacation, but we still managed to cover some of it. I don't know, though, if my fuel was the fact that we were away from all the stress, even for 2 days, or that I saw on Penny's Instagram that she had gone on a weekend away with Malcolm too. I guess, thinking about them doing what new couples do, which didn't differ from what Matteo and I ended up doing, got my goat. I even caught myself wishing she'd get her period while they were there, but then I felt bad for wanting her to have a bad weekend, while I was having a blast. She deserves a break from the chaos too, after all, even if it's not with me.

On Monday, though, I was in a great mood, but she was in the worst mood I have ever seen her. I tried to learn what happened, but she made it pretty clear that she didn't want talk to about it. I hoped Malcolm didn't do something horrible to her and it was just a couple's spat that ruined her weekend. I tried to cheer her up a bit, but she was clearly not having it, since she kept telling me that she wasn't in the mood and that I should stop trying to take her mind off of it because she'd end up being mean to me for no reason. It's safe to say that her bad mood ruined mine too, to the point where I even started regretting going away on the first place...