Their Second Chance(4)

The ground shook. Hard. He tightened his hold on her. The lights flickered until they shut off completely. Emergency lights flared to life. She stepped into him, allowing him to pull her flush against him. Crack! The window imploded into the room. He shoved her face into his neck and turned, covering her from the glass flying inside. Her muscles seized up, keeping her from moving. The shaking continued to increase, until a loud groaning sounded all around them. She lifted her face from his shoulder, watching in awe.

She gasped, shocked at what she was seeing. “Oh, my God!”

“Don’t worry.” He tried to sound soothing, but she heard the tremble in his voice. “I’m sure it’s nothing—”

He pulled her away from the window. A second later a large piece of the building landed in front of the glassless frame, cutting off the view to the parking lot and shutting them in from that side. Her heart raced in her chest. Dust swooshed into the room, making her cough. Wide-eyed, she stared around the low-lit room. Pieces of plaster rained down on them from the ceiling.

They ran for the other side of the room, toward the door. When Nick turned the knob and jerked the handle, she shrieked. A wall of plaster and exposed electrical wires sat in the entrance, blocking them in. Her muscles pulled tight. Fear had a chokehold on her chest. It wasn’t letting up.

“Dear God!” The words rushed out of her mouth.

He stood there for a moment. Unmoving. Watching him stare at the blocked entrance let loose a wave of hysteria inside her. “Nick what do we do?”

He didn’t say anything. Oh God. Terror made her knees weak. She leaned on the wall to stay upright. They were going to die. “Nick?”

He continued to stare at the doorway. Almost as if he’d gone off to another place. She gripped his shirt. He turned to stare at her with a blank look. Her blood ran cold through her veins. Anxiety had slowed her ability to remain calm. She threw frantic glances all around, trying to figure out what to do. It was useless. Her focus returned to Nick.

“Nick!” She snapped, tugging on his shirt.

He blinked.

“Are you okay?” She asked, worried that something was wrong with him. She was yanked back to their plight by the plaster that knocked down a painting.

The walls shook hard. Hard enough she’d swear they were made of paper. Cold fear rooted her to the spot. Christ. What if they were buried alive?

He glanced down at her with glassy eyes. “I’m sorry.”

She nodded repeatedly. Nerves shook her to the core.

“Hello? Can anybody hear me out there?” He yelled, putting his ear to the slab of ceiling blocking their path.

“Kevin! Kevin!” She screamed and turned to Nick, her heart beating so hard it was hard to make sense of anything. “Do you think he and the others are okay?”

“I don’t know. I hope so.” He pushed at the plaster and sheet rock, grunting when it didn’t move. “Fucking hell!”

Another rumble and the lights flickered. She swayed with the movement of the ground. Plaster continued to rain down on them. Anxiety pulled her muscles tighter. She swallowed back the acid rushing up and down her throat. Her hands shook. She wanted to cry and throw up. Screeching noises came from all over, and she could hear alarms going off inside the building. Outside the car alarms were also creating all kinds of noises.

“We need to stay safe until we can get out of here,” he said and rushed away from the blocked door.

Shocked at the severity of what was happening, she stood there and stared. The ground shaking slowed until it stopped completely. She watched him start to haul the heavy conference table to the corner. It took her a moment to mentally slap herself out of her trance. She should be helping. Grabbing the other end, she pushed. Damn table weighed a ton. He continued to pull until they had the table at an angle in the corner of the room.

“Come on.” He tugged her hand and motioned for her to sit under the table.

Eyeing the space with skepticism, she said the first thing that came to mind. “Are you serious?”

“Yes, now get under the table.” His voice dripped with authority. It was something she’d never seen in him before. And it made her scoot her ass under the table much faster than she normally would have. Her heart still beating wildly, she clutched her bag in her grasp and sat on the gray, carpeted floor.





Nick crawled under the table and took a seat across from Ari, folding his legs to mimic her. The low light illuminated her features with a soft glow. Their gazes met and grief clenched around his heart with the force of a vise grip. Looking at her eyes hurt. Within them, he saw the constant reminder that love was not enough. He’d seen the pain before she’d turned away from him earlier.