and i never saw you coming and i’ll never be the same...
“Hold the doors!”
The shout nearly scared Fiona half to death, and she almost jumped out of her skin as she looked up and reacted to hold open the elevator doors.
She’d been flying for hours tonight, and desperately wanted to get to her hotel room to sleep off the long day she’d had. Despite her initial excitement on making it to Canada, the length of the flight and the two layovers thanks to snowstorms had her wanting to kick herself or keel over or some weird combination of the two.
“Thanks,” the guy said rearranging his suitcase in front of him before pressing the button to his floor.
“Sure,” she nodded, leaning back against the wall with a yawn. She rubbed her eyes under the frames of her glasses. She picked up her phone and shot her dad, Waverly, and Andi each a text, letting him know she’d finally checked into the hotel for the night.
Fiona was probably the weirdest person in the world for taking a winter vacation by herself. However, in her defense, she hadn’t actively planned to take this trip alone. She’d planned to take it with Tyler, the guy she thought she might be with forever.
They were supposed to come here, celebrate their anniversary and winter break. They’d learn to ski, and probably fall on her ass a couple of times, and then they’d end up in the hot tub late at night, and it’d be the perfect vacation.
And then he dumped her, spewing some ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ bullshit, and then ghosted her.
Charmer, this ‘forever’ guy, thus, pronouncing the last year of her life a goddamn waste.
Lovely.
She was tired, both from flying and from being blindsided by the breakup. She could’ve canceled the trip altogether, gotten her share of the money back and just stayed home. But if she was being completely honest, part of her really didn’t want to explain to her family that she’d just been dumped.
Her dad and stepmom would try and hover, and Waverly would probably offer to threaten Tyler. She’s lucky Andi’s out of town with Sophie and her family, otherwise she’d be another worry.
Fiona figured she could fill them all in come the new year.
“Did the lights just flicker?” the guy beside her asked, drawing her away from her thoughts and her laser focus on her exhaustion. She tilted her head upward, glancing up at the lights which do, in fact, flicker once more.
“It’s probably nothing,” she commented, hoping she was right. She looked to the numbers on the panel to make sure they were still moving, and just as she did, the elevator came to an abrupt stop, the sudden shake nearly knocking her off her feet.
“Oh, fuck…”
The guy set his own bag down in the corner before walking over to the elevator buttons near the door. “Uh… I think it stopped?” He pushed the bell button and waited for some sort of response.
“Crap,” Fiona whined, walking up behind him to see the stopped screen. She noticed the whirring mechanical sounds had stopped, too. “This is the last thing I needed tonight.”
“Hello?” A voice came through the speaker.
“Yeah, hi, uh, the elevator just stopped? It seems to be stuck on the third floor,” he said.
“Sorry about that, sir. Are you alone?”
“No, there’s a woman in here, too,” he said, looking back at her. Fiona pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and folded her arms.
“I’m seeing in my system that there seems to be an electrical problem. We’ve lost power in some areas of the resort. I’m getting a technician to check out the controls and we should get you moving in just a bit. I am so sorry for the inconvenience!”
A crackling sound came through the microphone before the sound died, and soon after, the lights.
Fuck.
“And the power’s out. Great.”
Fiona sighed heavily, reaching for her phone in her pocket and turning on the flashlight. “And a phenomenal week continues. Jesus fucking Christ,” she scoffed, and made her way toward the back wall.
Thankfully, the elevator was spacious enough they wouldn’t completely on top of one another, but stuck in a confined space with a stranger wasn’t exactly the start to her vacation she was expecting.
The room got significantly brighter a second later, and she realized he turned on his own flashlight. “Hopefully it isn’t off for long,” he told her, opting to sit on the floor next to his suitcase.
“Yeah. Hopefully.”
“Eli, by the way.”
“Hm?” She looked up from her phone and over at him.
“If we’re gonna sit in here in the dark for however long, you should at least know my name,” he told her. “Eli.”
“Oh. I’m Fiona,” she motioned to herself, deciding to take a seat on the floor, too.
____
See the thing was, Fiona would never tell this story beyond that beginning. She’ll talk about the time she got stuck in an elevator in Canada for a solid four, and leave out all the details.
It was mostly because what happened that day and that week would forever feel sacred to her somehow and touching it or tainting it felt like the worst thing she could ever do. Plus, she’d thought she’d never see him again.
Funny how fate had a way of working.
“So, Fiona…” Eli said a few minutes of silence later. “Where are you from?” He’d put his phone down on the floor beside him, bottom up so the light could shine the space between them. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
She looked up from her phone and opted to put hers down as well. It’d be useless to her if it was dead after all. And who knew how long they’d be in there. “You’re a perfect stranger; You really think I’m gonna tell a random guy in an elevator where I’m from?” she asked, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.
Eli smiled, and Fiona couldn’t help but notice how nice it was. Boyish almost, with a hint of mischief she couldn’t quite place. He was cute, that she couldn’t deny. “That’s fair,” he nodded. “I could be a murderer after all.”
“Exactly. Would you tell me, also a stranger, where you’re from?” she asked, brow raised almost defiantly.
“San Francisco,” he said easily, shifting some and leaning back against the wall. “Bay Area, specifically.”
“See, now I think you’re just trying to get me to trust you. Offering me a piece of yourself so I get comfortable, and then tomorrow I’m in the news.”
He laughed. “Yeah, that’s exactly my angle, straight up murder.”
“I knew it!” Fiona grinned and shook her head. She mulled it over another second and figured if anything was wrong, it would’ve gone wrong by now, and she probably wouldn’t see him again once they got out of there. “New York.”
“The city that never sleeps, huh?”
“The very same,” she answered, stretching out her legs and crossing them at the ankles.
“My sister’s living there now. She goes to NYU. Art student.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Scout’s honor. Though not a boy scout. My dad was against it,” he chuckled.
“Who’s against the boy scouts? They’re like… cute?”
“My dad, apparently.”
She snorted. Honest to god snorted. “See, maybe if he hadn’t been against it, you wouldn’t be trying to murder girls in Canadian elevators.”
“Yeah, maybe. But see, since he was against it, I now get to be a documentary someday. That’s my legacy. The dude who murdered girls in elevators. Planned snowstorms and power outages and everything.”
Fiona through her head back, laughter bubbling out of her. “Oh my god. This is so morbid, why are we having this conversation?”
He was a stranger, a perfect stranger, and yet? Talking to him felt so easy. That was what struck her. They’d been talking for all of maybe five minutes, and though it should feel strange, it felt… fine. Right, almost?
“You’re the one talking about murder, I just asked where you were from,” Eli chuckled.
“Hey,” Fiona held her hands up in surrender. “It’s a wild world the one we live in. Can’t take my chances. And you were the one who brought up murder, thank you very much.”
“Fair point, fair point.”
She yawned, reaching up to rub her eyes under her glasses. The exhaustion was getting her almost to the point of delusion, and if the stupid elevator techs didn’t get here soon, she was probably gonna sue. Or well, she wouldn’t, but Waverly or Quincy would probably want to try.
Picking up her phone again, she glanced at the time. Pushing midnight. She could die right here on this elevator. God.
“Are you here by yourself?” She set her phone back down a little farther away to give them more light.
Eli reached for the zipper of the coat he was wearing, tugging it down some. “Yeah, for now. My sister’s coming up later in the week, actually. She’s supposed to meet me for New Year’s Eve,” he told her. “I opted to come earlier because the holidays were such an adventure this year,” he added dryly.
“Bad Christmas?”
“Not exactly, just… a breakup thrown into the mix.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re stalking me.”
He furrowed his brow. “What?”
“This is like the cliché of clichés.”
“What are you talking about, you weirdo?”
“I just got dumped. Literally, like yesterday,” Fiona said.
“Dumped? Ouch…”
She sat up a little taller to compose herself. “Well, not dumped, per se, but…”
Eli smirked. “Dumped.”
Fiona sighed. “Dumped. ‘It’s not you, it’s me’ and all.”
His grin turned more into a sad smile, and her heart did a weird skip, one she shouldn’t have felt this quickly into a breakup. “I’m sorry to hear that. You seem kinda great.”
“Oh, don’t butter me up,” she pouted, before adding quietly, “Thanks.” She tugged off a small piece of lint. “I get to have this whole trip to myself so…” she shrugged. “Did you get dumped?”
He laughed, catching her slightly off guard. “Will that make you feel better?”
“…yes.”
“Well, I did. Except she kinda met someone new.”
“That’s shitty.”
“Tell me about it.”
The beat of silence that followed was slightly heavier than the one before, this time carrying the weight of two people who were clearly blindsided by the ends of their relationships. At least they had that to share inside these four walls with no sign of going anywhere.
“What are the odds that we have both gotten dumped in the last few days, we’re both on a trip to Canada, we’re both stuck in the same elevator, during the same storm at the exact same time?” Fiona asked, because seriously, what were the fucking odds? This was like something out of a movie.
“I failed stats before I decided math wasn’t for me,” Eli said. “So I can’t tell you the exact odds, but I can tell you that it’s probably more likely to be struck by lightning. Maybe twice.”
“One in a billion, we’ll say.”
“For argument’s sake.”
“You have dimples.” Hour two of being stuck in the elevator had them both coatless, and a very exhausted Fiona had lost her shoes.
(“My feet don’t usually stink, but if they do, I’m sorry. I’m just in pain.”
To which he just said, “It’s fine, I’ll just mock you mercilessly,” before pulling her feet onto his lap.
“Ew, wait, are you a feet guy?”
“I can assure you we’d be having a very different conversation right now if I were.”)
They were both exhausted, and bordering delirium, and apparently, while his travel hadn’t been as tumultuous as hers, he’d spent most of the day running around on very little sleep and it was all trying to catch up with him.
Hence the unexpected closeness with a stranger.
“Are you just now noticing that I have dimples?” Fiona practically side eyed him. “We’ve been in here like two hours, dude. They’re like holes in my face.”
“First of all, calm down,” Eli tugged at the bottom of her jeans. “Second, it’s like pitch black in here.”
She held up their phones. “Flashlights!”
“The real reason is you probably would’ve accused me of trying to murder and/or stalk you if I brought it up too soon.”
“Ah, so you were just biding your time.”
“Of course.”
“I do have dimples,” she said finally, lip quirking just enough to show them off.
“They’re cute.”
By hour three, Eli’s phone had given up on them, and Fiona’s was hanging on by a thread. They were both lying side by side on the floor now, using their coats for support. Eli had lost his shoes, too, (“Okay, your feet totally stink.”) and Fiona had opted to play some soft music on her phone above their heads. Screw the last bit of light at this point.
“Eli!” she gasped loudly, sitting up so quickly her head spun.
“What? What is it?” He’d dozed off and startled at being awoken so suddenly.
“I have chocolate!” She reached for her backpack, forgotten at their feet with the suitcases, and grabbed the lone Snickers bar she’d purchased when she got off the plane. Thank goodness.
He exhaled, settling some after that. “Did you have to give me a heart attack?”
“Yes, because you’re not falling asleep and leaving me here alone.” She opened up the wrapper and tore the bar in half, holding it out to him.
“Thanks, dimples,” he said, sitting up beside her. “And you could’ve just napped, too.”
“No, I’m too tired which just makes me wired.”
He snorted before taking a bite. “That rhymed.”
She laughed. “I’m a poet.”
“Are you though?”
“Not even a little bit.” She took a bite of her own half and they chewed in silence, before she reached into her bag for a water bottle. “Are you a germophobe?”
“I’m lying on the floor of an elevator, what do you think?”
“I think we’re a little past that.” She took a sip and then handed the bottle to him. “If you give me mono, I’ll hunt you down.”
“If you knock me out right now, I’d probably kiss you in gratitude.” He took a sip.
“Don’t tempt me; I’ve got a mean right hook.”
He smirked again, and her heart fluttered. Delirium was no goddamn joke. “Tell me a secret.”
“What?”
“A secret. Tell me something you’ve never told anyone,” he said, setting down the water bottle between them.
Fiona glanced over at him, and for the first time that night, it struck her just how blue his eyes were. They’d lost the light from his phone, and hers was dimmer thanks to the loss of battery life from the music they were playing. They were bright, but also soft… almost perfect.
“I love this song,” she commented, looking at her phone. Yellow – Coldplay
Eli followed her line of sight and nodded. “It’s an amazing song,” he looked to her. “But I’m pretty sure I’m not the first person you’ve told that to.”
She smiled. “Yeah,” she huffed, tugging off her glasses and slipping the leg into the scooped neckline of her shirt. “Fine, you go first.”
He seemed to think about it for a beat, mulling over a bunch of things. She could see it in his face when he settled on one thing.
“I know for a fact I’d still want kiss you even if you didn’t knock me out,” he said simply, taking another bite of his chocolate.
By hour four, Fiona’s phone had died completely, and they were both fast asleep. Her head had found home on his chest, and Eli’s arm had wrapped tightly around her shoulder, and it felt as though they’d been doing it forever. That was the feeling she’d be shoved back to four years later when she saw him again.
But she didn’t know that then. Had no idea, in fact.
The lights of the elevator came on first, startling them both half to death, and drawing them slightly closer because of it.
“Folks, we are incredibly sorry for the inconvenience. Your elevator was stuck in between floors three and four, and we were unable to get in there to get you out. But thankfully the power has returned and we’ll be shooting you up to your designated floors. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience. Please be sure to head down to the front desk concierge in the morning. We will issue a voucher for the rest of your stay and a refund for two nights.”
“Lucky us.” Fiona yawned, slowly scooting away from him and sitting up. She rubbed her very tired eyes and stretched, bones cracking almost a little too loudly.
“You got rocks in there?” Eli asked as he sat up, reaching for his shoes.
“After tonight? Probably,” she snorted, grabbing her glasses from her shirt and putting them back on. “These lights are so fucking bright.”
Eli stood and held his hand out to her, helping her up off the floor. She grabbed both their coats and they moved seamlessly about the elevator, grabbing their things and closing their bags. Just as she went to lean against the wall, the car finally started moving back upward.
“I’ve never been happier to be in a moving elevator? I feel like I could cry?”
“Tomorrow we’re taking the stairs.”
Fiona nodded absently, completely ignoring the implications of that we and accepting it as truth. They made it to her floor first, both severely running on empty and he opted to walk her to her room. “It’s the least I could do after the night we’ve had. And I’m just the next floor up,” he told her.
She didn’t have it in her to argue, instead slipping her arm through his as they stepped off the elevator, and tilting her head onto her shoulder. “Wherever 525 is,” she said, dragging her feet.
They stumbled some on their way down the hall, and to anyone looking, they appeared more drunk than anything else. The window at the end of it showed the sky getting slightly lighter as hints of morning began to peak through. It hit her that they were really in an elevator for four hours.
“Thank you for walking me,” she said, leaning back against her door as she reached for her keycard in her coat pocket.
Eli smiled, and in proper light, it really was gorgeous. God, she was fucked. “Thanks for a good time in the elevator.”
She snorted. “Now it sounds like we were having sex in an elevator. Please don’t say that in front of people.”
He laughed out loud. “There’s nobody here!”
“Shh.”
He grinned again and shook his head. “Listen, one more thing before I go.”
“What’s up?”
“You never told me your secret.”
“What?”
“Your secret. Come on, humor me, dimples, I’m dead on my feet.”
And maybe it was the over exhaustion, maybe it was the ache in her neck and back, maybe it was a combination of the insane night she’d just had, but without even thinking about it, she stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her lips to his. Her hand came up to lightly cup his cheek before she pulled away.
“Good enough secret?” she asked, thumb running over his cheek.
“The best, by far,” he said, bowing his head, lips meeting hers a second later.
The best indeed, considering she never told anyone. She wasn’t trying to lie, but it was the whole sacred thing. This thing felt… like lightning striking once, sacred, a miracle. It sounded dramatic, and at the time she had no idea, but it changed something in her.
“Stay,” she whispered sleepily, nose still pressed against his. “We’ll figure out the rest tomorrow.”
He nodded slowly and she swiped the keycard, both of them spilling into her room.
