An Indecent Proposal(2)

I blinked in succession, blind in the pitch-black.

As my brain tried to make sense of the situation, countless thoughts began to race through my mind. How long would it take until people noticed there was a technical glitch and sent repairmen? How long were the interviews scheduled to take, and if I appeared late, would I get a second chance? And finally, how long would the oxygen last in such a confined space?

Just theoretically asking.

Not that we were going to be stuck for much longer. Or suffocate anytime soon, because that would be a worst-case scenario. But it would only be natural to know…just in case.

I wasn’t claustrophobic—actually, far from it. But dark, enclosed spaces weren’t exactly my favorite place to be. And particularly not those with no clear exit sign. The minutes continued to fly until I was sure we had been in there for at least twenty minutes. Or maybe it just felt that way.

I sighed impatiently.

“There must be an assistance button,” I said as I let my fingers brush over the cold steel wall. My hand touched his, and an electric jolt ran through me. I pulled back nervously.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“No problem.”

In the silence around us, I could hear his finger pressing buttons every other second, as if that would make someone hurry faster. At last, the stranger let out a frustrated sigh. Something rustled, followed by shuffling.

I narrowed my gaze to focus in the pitch darkness, but my vision didn’t sharpen to allow me to see contours.

Nothing stood out.

I groaned and braced myself against the feeling of helplessness growing inside me. Not seeing anything while knowing there was no window or door I could open was already scary. Combine that with the fact that I had no idea if help was on its way, and the entire situation was turning into a nightmare scenario.

The guy was probably just as frustrated as I was, because I heard him shifting.

“What are you doing?” I asked as more rustling sounds carried over from the floor.

“Trying to find my cell.” His voice came from beneath me, which made me figure at some point he must have kneeled down—or assumed a sitting position.

I wet my lips nervously.

A stranger was doing God only knew what at my feet. Now that made it hard to ignore him.

For a moment, I considered joining him, and then the word “cell” registered in my mind. Of course! A phone was the answer to my prayers.

“Shit. It’s not here. I must have left it in the car.” He exhaled another frustrated sigh. “Do you have yours?”

“Not on me.” Which was kind of the truth. The day before, my handbag, together with my purse and cell phone, had been stolen. Lucky for me, my credit cards were maxed out to the limit, and my pre-paid cell had both a lock and no minutes, so the loss was minimal.

“Okay.” His tone was surprisingly calm as he drew out the word. “Let’s see if the emergency phone’s working.”

I jumped back as his hand reached over my chest, almost touching the thin fabric of my top.

“Hello?” he asked. Silence fell. Holding my breath, I strained to listen. The line remained dead. No voice, no white noise, nothing to indicate anyone had been alerted to our situation.

My heart began to thump hard against my ribcage, and a thin rivulet of sweat rolled down my back as realization kicked in that it might take a while before someone was alerted.

“Can you try again?” My voice came so thin and raspy, I knew I was close to having a panic attack.

“No point. Phone’s not working. Reception’s gone. We’re stuck,” the guy said, almost bored. No panic. No whining. Just cool composure with a hint of an annoyance, as if the entire situation was a mere inconvenience he experienced on a regular basis. Unlike me, he seemed to breathe just fine.

He sighed. “Let’s hope they won’t close off the elevator area for the rest of the day,” he said to himself with…humor?

I swallowed hard.

If that was true, and we ended up stuck in there all day, we’d never last. We’d run out of oxygen and—

Come to think of it, didn’t I read somewhere that people could die within two hours when stuck in a confined space? And hadn’t we already been stuck for some time?

A sense of foreboding settled in the pit of my stomach.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. I could feel it in the oppressive silence and the fact that the stranger had stopped pressing buttons and rummaging through his pockets. The air was getting increasingly hot, making it hard to breathe. The rivulet turned into a layer of sweat covering my entire back as I tried to force oxygen into my lungs.

In that moment, a loud thud reverberated from the walls, followed by a short, faint shrill.