"But, abuela—"
She shakes her head disapprovingly, "No pero yo, mi flor. Your parents and I have raised you to be a respectful person."
[Don't but me, my flower]
"But he's an rude asshole." I huff washing the dishes.
She seats my arm walking behind to the cabinet, "No uses ese lenguaje conmigo." She scolds me, "And if your going to curse do it in Spanish, mija."
[Dont use that language with me]
"You're suppose to be on my side. You're making me not want to tell you anything." I grumble like a child, dropping the wet sponge in the sink and drying off my hands.
"You're the one who came here telling me all your problems. Necesitas una terapeuta?"
[Do you need a therapist]
I couldn't help but chuckle, "No, I do not need a therapist. Can't you listen and tell me I'm right?" I lean against the counter turning towards her.
She shakes her head, "It's difficult doing the first thing." She mutters.
I love my abuela, she's my biological father's mom, and taught me half the things I know, including Spanish; though I mostly speak the language with her or sometimes unconsciously.
My mom and father were together she had gotten pregnant and he wanted nothing to do with me, even told her to abort.
My mom being the strong women she is decided she could do it on her own, and even told my abuela about the situation, which she was clueless about.
When my abuela told me the story to say she was livid would be understatement. She couldn't understand how her son could be irresponsible and not take accountability, so she stopped speaking to him.
I know she loves her son very much and would do almost anything for him, but she couldn't understand his lack of empathy.
She visited and help my mom take care of me, and was even there in the labor room with her to support her while she cried and my heart was failing.
Soon enough my mom met my sister's biological dad, Bryce, they fell deeply in love and after three and a half years they had gotten married.
Months after the wedding my baby sister was born, Delani, and Bryce adopted me and treated me like his own.
I'm happy with the family I have and feel sorry for the one who didn't want to be a part of it.
"Ha ha. Hilarious." I deadpanned.
She waves me off, "Como esta mi pequeña artista?"
[How is my little artist]
"Delani's fine. She said college was a little hard to adjust to the change, but I think she has handled."
She was in her second semester of college freshman year, still in Texas.
Abuela smiles dropping strawberries into the fruit salad, "Eso es bueno."
[That's good]
"Yeah, she decided to major in marketing with art as a minor." I add.
"Tell her to visit when she can. I miss her." She eats a raspberry.
"Is my company not good enough?" I tease.
She shrugs her brows furrowed, "It's okay."
"Abuela!" I gasp.
She shakes her head, "Don't ask the question if you're not going to like the answer, mija."
I couldn't help but chuckle glancing towards the clock in the stove, "I actually have to go, abuela. I'm suppose to be having lunch with Astryd in thirty minutes."
"Tell Lani to visit." She saids as I grab my tote bag.
"Okay. I'll see you next week." I kiss her cheek before leaving the house.
•••••••
"I thought I was picking you up from your place." I said confused as I drive down the street.
"I know, but I had to get something from Leo's office." Astryd explains on speaker.
"Do you want me to meet you at the office?" I ask talking a right.
"Please? I'll probably be up in Lee's office."
"What? Getting another orgasm?" I taunt.
"Unfortunately, no." I can hear disappointment through the phone based on her words and tone.
I shake my head in amusement at her openness, "Well you better be quick cause I'm a few minutes away."
"Thanks, babes. I love you."
"Love you too." I said as I stop at a red light, and I hang up the phone.
I park in the parking lot near the front of the company building, and locking the door before I step out of my car.
A strong breeze flies through my loose curls that fell down my back and I have to tie my hair into a ponytail to keep out of my face.
I tried to dress accustomed to the windy weather, dark low waisted jeans, a plain, tight-fitted, white, and blue long sleeve ringer tee, my Spider-Man socks, with white sneakers. My outfit was also accessorized with gold chains and rings.
After I get pass the front desk I head towards the elevator, and press the up button.
"Mr. Moretti, I assume you're here to meet with Mr. Perez, yes?" I hear the receptionist, and I glance behind me to see Carter standing at the desk.
"Come on." I mutter pressing the the elevator buttons repeatedly.
"Don't do this to me." I whisper annoyed at the closed at the elevator door.
Glancing at the numbers above the silver door, the elevator was on the second floor.
I glance behind me seeing Carter starting to leave the receptionist desk, and I perk up when the elevator dings the doors open.
I silently urge everyone out the small lift, and when it was empty I rush inside glancing at the hazel eyed man, who's getting closer to the elevator, I impatiently push the 'close door' button.
The doors began to close and I let out a breath of relief.
That was before a hand stops the doors just as they were inches from closing.
"Damnit." I curse, dropping my head.
It was like the universe was against me as he stepped into the closed space, his cologne filling the air even when we're standing as far away from each other as possible.
It subtle and nice.
"Don't look too disappointed Ivy. If you really don't want to be in the elevator with me you can just get out. Pick a number and I can push off."
My lips curl into a scowl, "Your cologne will probably suffocate me before we even get to the next floor." I fake a cough as if I was choking.
"My plan must be working then."
"You made a plan surrounding my death? How sweet." I deadpanned.
He shrugs leaning against the silver steel wall of the lift, "I have to be considerate considering you only have a few seconds to live."
"Consider me unimpressed."
He tilts his head, "You'll be dead in a few seconds due to suffocation, so what you think is irrelevant."
"And what if my last words are life changing?" I raise an eyebrow.
"I like my life the way it is." He shrugs.
My words got stuck in my throat as the elevator jerks and it stops moving. A yelp escaped from my lips and I clutch onto the railing along the wall beside me.
"What the hell?" Carter mutters pushing himself off the wall and going to the panel of buttons.
I take in deep breaths my hand rubbing over my chest as I try to calm my heart rate that was going through the roof.
He presses the emergency button repeatedly muttering curse words.
I slap his hand away from the button glaring at him, "Would you stop! You'll break it or something."
"Do you have better idea?" He snaps.
I roll my eyes.
I pull my phone out of my tote bag calling Astryd, "For a businessman I'd thought you be smarter."
"You think I'm smart?" He raises an eyebrow crossing his arms.
"Ain't nobody say that." I roll my eyes before taking a deep breath.
"Hello?" Astryd answers the phone out of breath.
"Where y'all really having sex?" I ask in a whisper, but I don't miss the questioning look Carter sends my way.
"No." She pause before whispering lowly, I could already tell she was wearing a pout on her face.
"That sucks and all, but I'm stuck in the building's elevator." I sigh.
"We." Carter corrects.
I ignore him, "Can you tell Leo to call someone to get me out of here? I'm on the twelfth floor."
"We're."
I hear shuffling as she spoke, "Yeah, Are you okay?" She ask, worry etched in her voice.
"Yeah, I'm fine." A small smile crawls to my lips.
"We're."
"What was that?" Astryd ask, "Are you alone?"
I wave Carter off, "Nothing, girl, I think Leo got rats."
"Okay, we'll be there as soon as possible." She rushes before we say our goodbyes and end the call.
"You do know we're both stuck in here?" Carter voices.
"I thought you were a ghost here to torture me, that's what it feels like." I mutter putting my phone into my pocket sitting on the floor leaning back against the cool, metal wall.
"Ha ha ha. Has anyone told you how hilarious you are?"
"Ye—"
"Don't trust them. They're liars." He cuts me off and once again I throw him a glare.
I was joking a first but now I think I might actually suffocate, not because of his cologne but because of the awkward silence that we slowly wrapping around my neck with a vice grip.
I sigh taking out a small, red cardboard box shuffling them, and lay down most of the deck, and a single card next to it, before taking fourteen cards.
"What're you doing?" Carter ask looking down at me with his brows furrowed.
"Setting up Uno." I state holding out his seven cards for him.
"You're playing by yourself?" We make short eye contact when he glances at me then at the cards in my hands.
"No, stupid, we're playing." I said jutting out my hand further towards him.
"I'm not stupid." He narrows his eyes at me.
"I don't care, just take the damn cards." I insist.
He raises one eyebrow at me when he hears the demand, but grudgingly takes the cards from my hand.
He hesitantly sits across from me on the floor with a look of disgust as he grimaces.
"You know how to play Uno?" I ask looking at my cards.
"Yeah." He glances at me from his cards.
"Doubles or no doubles?"
"No doubles."
"Okay. You wanna go first or I go?" I ask ready to flip the card over,
"Me." He swats my hand away from the card before flipping it himself.
Red seven.
I roll my eyes at the action watching him analyze his cards before setting down a red two.
I scan my cards before setting down a blue two, changing the color, and by Carter's furrowed brows and look of displeasure he has no blue cards.
He draws from the deck, then again, and again, and I have to suppress my smile when he pulls for a fourth.
On the fifth pull he finally had a card to put down, and his signature look of disdain painted across his features.
He huffs in annoyance, "Are you cheating?"
I let out a small laugh, "No." I said putting down the cards.
"It's barely been three minutes and I already have ten cards." He complains putting down a wild.
"Maybe luck isn't on your side." I shrug, "Color?"
"Red." He said and I put down a red card, "Or maybe you're just cheating."
"How are you a sore loser before you can even lose?" I laugh.
The edge of his lips tip downwards, "I'm not being a sore loser, I'm just addressing some concerns I have about the way the game is set up."
"Because you don't like your plays." I finish his explanation for him and laugh when he mocks me. "Seems like sore loser behavior to me."
"I didn't ask for your opinion."
"Don't get mad at me because you're not showing the characteristics of good opponent." I chastise, ignoring the look he sends my way.
"Shut up. When you lose I don't want to hear you say shit, because you're getting on my nerves.
•••••••
He lost. Twelve times.
"Carver?"
"Shut the fuck up." He snaps as he sits in the far corner of the enclosed space glaring between me and the deck of cards in my hands.
"Stop being a child. It's just a game."
"I want another rematch." He demands.
We've been in this elevator for and hour and played twelve games of Uno, all of which his lost, while the mechanics started working on the elevator for about forty five minutes.
"You like dessert?" I ignore his demand shuffling the cards in my hand.
When he doesn't reply I glance at him to see him still glaring, and roll my eyes.
"How'd you cheat?" He ask, scrutiny etched on his face with brows furrowed and his eyes trained on me.
He has pretty eyes when he's not always glaring at me.
"I didn't." I shrug, my eyes connect with his and it was like he was trying to interrogate me.
"Hmm." He hums lowly, unconvinced, not straying his eyes from mine.
We were only six feet apart, and silence blanketed over the mechanic tools from the other side of the elevator door. It was just me and him.
I draw my eyes away from his and to the cards in my hand when a weird feeling flutters in my stomach. We didn't say anything to each other for the next ten minutes, just occasionally glances.
I snap my head up when I hear the creaking sound of the elevator doors opening. Carter and I push ourselves up to our feet as the door widens.
I gather my things letting out a breath of relief, "Thank goodness." I mutter.
Instead of walking out of the elevator I tripped, over expensive looking black dress shoes.
I slowly drag my gaze to Carter who looked at me cockily before he gently grabs my bicep and pulls me back in the elevators, and then walking out himself.
I roll my eyes walking out the elevator and I was immediately wrapped in the arms of best friend.
"Are you okay? I called the elevator person soon after I ended the call with you." She cups my face.
I laugh grabbing her wrist, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
I nod.
"Good, so um, was Carter the 'rat' in the elevator?" She ask teasingly.
I glance towards Carter who was looking at me over Leo's shoulder as they converse, "They looked alike. I really couldn't tell the difference." I shrug.
She grabs my chin gently shaking my head, "You're so adorable when you lie." She coos teasingly, and swat her hand away rolling my eyes.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
<3 🐀🛗