We Ended Up Together (2 page)

Brad had meant to text his friend Jason one day, but he unintentionally sent the message to the wrong person. They had only ever talked over text messages and email, but he was glad to have someone other than his friends and sister to talk to.

Brad felt like he could trust this person. They were both going through bad marriages and they were both there for each other, to give advice and receive advice. She was in a loveless marriage as well, but was too afraid to get out of it.

Before Brad walked out of Kathy's apartment, he took off his wedding band and placed it on a table.

Brad didn't know what to do as he left, he felt so alone.

Brad walked over to press the down button for the elevator. He waited a few moments before the elevator doors opened with a ding.

Brad stepped into the elevator and noticed a young woman standing against the back wall. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was, with her straight dark blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked like she was dressed up for a special occasion.

Chloe looked up as a man entered the doors of the elevator. His demeanor seemed to give off a troubled vibe. He had dark brown hair, which was messily styled with gel and he was wearing everyday clothes.

Brad pressed the button for the ground floor. Then he turned and leaned against the wall, a few feet away from her. He observed her again. In that instant, she just happened to steal a look at him. They locked gazes for a moment and Brad noticed her eyes held a shockingly sad expression. It made him sad to look at her.

Chloe couldn't help but stare at the man. His soft brown eyes focused on hers and she felt like she couldn't look away.

There was an energy that passed between them. Chloe felt drawn to this man. Brad felt like he knew her from somewhere, he had definitely seen those eyes before.

Suddenly the elevator came to a jolting stop. They both grabbed the horizontal bars, on the elevator walls, to gain their balance. They looked at each other once more, shock and fright was now clearly in their body language. The lights flickered and they immediately knew something was wrong. The doors did not open.

They were trapped in the elevator.

Brad and Chloe stood in place for a moment, frozen with fear. Brad walked the few steps across the elevator to press the button to open the doors. Nothing happened. He then pressed the button for another floor but the elevator did not move.

Brad held the button for the elevator's emergency phone. Again nothing happened. Brad took his finger off the button and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. He let out an agitated sigh.

Chloe was still frozen in place, just watching the man try and help their situation. Her breathing sped up and her heart began to pound faster in her chest. They definitely weren't getting out anytime soon.

Brad turned around to face Chloe. She stood against the back wall of the elevator with her arms wrapped around herself. She looked utterly terrified as she now stared at the floor. Chloe eventually met his gaze.

"What do we do?" Brad asked, his voice filled with fear. Chloe looked into his eyes, he looked panicked. They both were scared.

"I think I have my cell phone," Chloe said, almost inaudibly. Brad watched her with fear still written across his face. Chloe went digging through her purse. Her hand felt what she was looking for. She pulled the phone out and opened it. The screen read: No service.

"Crap!" Chloe cursed. She began to hold the phone up, trying to find a signal. "I don't have any service in this stupid elevator. Do you have a phone?"

Brad began patting his pockets, but he soon realized he hadn't grabbed his phone when he left his apartment that morning.

"I must have left it at home," Brad said, mentally kicking himself. "Maybe we should yell for help. Someone in the building might hear us."

Chloe nodded as she put her phone back in her purse. She put her bag on the floor and then they both walked over to the metal doors of the elevator. They shouted as loud as they could and banged on the sliding doors with their fists, hoping someone would hear them.

After quite a while Chloe gave up. She couldn't yell anymore and her arms were tired, her knuckles were throbbing. She just leaned against the door and let out an exhausted sigh. Brad continued to bang on the door but his pace was much slower.

Chloe eventually stepped away from the door and turned away from the man. She couldn't stop thinking about the fact that she had a birthday toast to make in a few minutes at a party that she didn't want to come to in the first place. Now she was trapped.

Brad got tired too. He closed his eyes in defeat leaning his head on the door trying to listen for signs of anyone coming to their rescue. After hearing nothing, he turned away from the door as well. He looked at Chloe, who had his back to him. He looked beyond her and noticed her reflection in the mirrored wall. He saw that there were tears falling down her face.

"Don't be scared. I'm sure we'll get out soon," Brad said, softly. Chloe wiped a tear from her eye and then turned around to face Brad.

"I have to make a toast at a party in a couple of minutes, I-I…" Chloe whispered, before her voice was too full of tears to continue.

"I'm sure they'll understand," Brad said kindly. Chloe started to smile a little. This man was so sweet, trying to calm her down. She couldn't look away from his eyes, again. He made her feel calm.

Chloe eventually backed up against the elevator wall again. She then slid her back down the wall to sit on the tiled elevator floor. Brad remained standing, he paced as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

After what felt like hours, the elevator still wasn't fixed. Brad got tired of standing so he joined Chloe on the floor. They sat against the back wall of the elevator, Brad with his legs out in front of him and Chloe with her arms wrapped around her bent knees. She rested her chin on her folded legs.

Brad took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Before speaking he cleared his throat.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Brad DeMarco," Brad said as he held a hand out for her to shake. Chloe smiled at him then she let go of her knees with one hand. She reached across the space between them, taking his hand in hers and shaking it.

"I'm Chloe Schwizter," Chloe said. Then she let go of his hand. Brad looked at the ground. An awkward silence filled the elevator.

Chloe focused on the wall opposite her as she thought to herself for a moment. This man's name sounded so familiar to her. She wracked her brain trying to remember where she had heard his name before. Then it hit her.

"You didn't by any chance grow up in Long Island did you?" Chloe asked. Brad turned his head to face her again.

"Uh, yeah, I did," Brad replied with a confused expression.

"Your name just sounds so familiar to me. Where did you go to school on Long Island?" Chloe asked.

"Riverside High School," Brad answered. Chloe's eyes widened as she finally realized where she knew him. She went to school with him and his sister, Vanessa. That's why she remembered his name.

"I went there too!" Chloe exclaimed. "You have a sister named Vanessa, right?"

"Yeah," Brad answered. When he remembered who she was his heart skipped a beat. She was Chloe, Vanessa's best friend. How could he forget the cheerleader who had never noticed him? She was the popular girl with a heart big enough to be friends with Vanessa. If anything she'd only gotten more beautiful.

"I can't believe this," Brad explained, excitedly. "You were friends with my sister, Vanessa. Now, like ten years later, here you are: stuck in an elevator with your high school friend's geeky brother."

"It's such a small world," Chloe said with a smile. She wanted to say more but she didn't know where to begin. She was lost for words.

The reunion was cut short when the elevator lights began to flicker once more. Brad and Chloe looked up at the ceiling their hearts pounding again.

Suddenly the whole car trembled and dropped by a foot or two. Brad and Chloe had no time to react or even process what was happening in the time it took the emergency brakes to work. They brought the elevator to a stop within milliseconds of dropping.

The elevator car shook with the force of the jolt, causing one of the giant mirrors on the wall to shake free. Brad acted quickly and reached over to grab Chloe. He quickly pulled her towards himself, out of the path of the falling glass. The mirror shattered on the floor sending shards flying.

Brad and Chloe were both breathing heavily as they took in what had just happened. They both didn't move a muscle as they tried to make sense of what had happened in the past few seconds.

After the shock of what had just transpired began to wear off, Chloe looked at where she had just been sitting moments ago. If Brad hadn't pulled her out of the way the mirror would have fallen on her.

"A-are you okay?" Brad whispered, his voice shaking. Then his question was answered when he looked down at Chloe's legs. Three pieces of the mirror had cut her calf and there was blood running down her calf.

Chloe was snapped out of her daze by his voice near her ear. She realized she was in some pain. She followed Brad’s gaze and looked at her leg.

"I'm okay, it could have been a lot worse," Chloe answered, referring to where she had been sitting mere minutes ago.

"We need something to stop the bleeding," Brad said. Chloe pulled herself off of him to sit next to him. Brad was able to move to look at her leg. He carefully stood up and crouched by her feet. He then took off his sweatshirt. "This will have to do," Brad said.

Brad looked at the wounds to make sure they had no glass in them before carefully wrapping his sweatshirt around her calf. Luckily, they didn't look too deep. Chloe winced a little but couldn't help slightly smiling at the way he gently took care of her.

"There," Brad said. Then he looked at Chloe's face, "We need to get you out of here. You need a doctor."

Brad stood up again. He decided to try the button for the phone again, but again there was no answer. He then pressed the button to try and get the door to open. To both Brad and Chloe's surprise and relief, the door opened about a foot.

The elevator car was stuck between two floors. The floor of one of the building’s many levels was a few feet up.

"Hello? Is anyone there? We're trapped in the elevator and we can't get out!" Brad yelled out of the opening between the doors, panicked.

"Yes. We're right here. How many are in there?" A man's voice called back.

"It's only me and one other. Listen, the elevator car dropped and a mirror fell and cut her leg. She needs medical attention," Brad explained.

"An ambulance is on its way," the man answered. "I can help you two but the opening is too narrow to fit through. If you can try and push the doors open from the inside I'll try from the outside," the man said.

"I can do that," Brad answered. He then placed his hands in the opening to push on the doors. The man also placed his hands between the doors.

"1, 2, 3," the man, counted. Brad pushed with all of his strength and the doors began to slide open a few more feet. Both the man and Brad stopped for a moment to catch their breath. "Can you climb out now?" the man asked breathlessly.

"I think so," Brad replied, panting. "I'm going to help Chloe out first. When I lift her up, help her out of the elevator. But be careful, her left calf is hurt," Brad explained.

"Okay, whenever you're ready," the man responded. Brad turned back to face Chloe.

"I'm going to help you out. Can you stand?" Brad asked.

"Yeah, help me up," Chloe responded. She was so pleased that Brad was being so caring and heroic. She felt safe with him. Brad bent down and grabbed both her hands pulling her onto her feet. As soon as she was upright he wrapped an arm around her waist. He helped her stand with most of her weight on her one good leg.

"Okay, I'm going to lift you up and that man will pull you up," Brad explained. Chloe nodded. Brad then wrapped one of her arms around the back of his neck and crouched a little bit. Chloe used his bent leg like a step and stood on his thigh. When she was standing Brad gripped her waist from behind and helped her balance so she could grab the floor above them.

The man helped them by grabbing Chloe's arms so she could climb out of the elevator. When she was safely out, Brad pulled himself up out the opening. The man helped Brad climb out as well.

Brad stood up and dusted himself off. He then shook the man's hand while saying thank you. Brad walked over to stand beside Chloe. He put one of Chloe's arms over his shoulders and supported her around the waist, helping her keep weight off her injured leg. A maintenance worker came to join them.

"Are you folks alright? The power went out and stopped all signals to the elevators," the worker explained.

"We yelled for help. Why couldn't you hear us?" Brad asked with irritation.

"We were rushing around trying to get the power on. We must not have been paying attention," the worker explained.

"You didn't think people could be in the elevator?" Brad argued, his temper rising.

"Brad it's okay," Chloe whispered, putting a hand on his chest to calm him down.

"Listen, I'm fine, but Chloe's hurt," Brad said gesturing to Chloe, who still had the sweatshirt wrapped around her leg.

"The paramedics will be here any minute," the worker explained.

After being brought down the stairs to the lobby, Chloe received a few sterile strips and bandages from the paramedics to cover her cuts. Her wounds were not serious enough to have to go to the hospital or get stitches, so Chloe gave James a call to pick her up.

"Hello?" answered James' voice in Chloe's ear.

"James, I need you to come pick me up from Oliva's. I got stuck in the elevator and I got cut by a falling mirror. Please just come and get me," Chloe pleaded. Chloe heard James impatiently sigh from the other side of the phone.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," James answered.

"Okay, bye," Chloe said.

"Bye," James replied before hanging up the phone.

A few of Chloe's friends came downstairs from the party after news of Chloe's injury had reached them. Brad just watched from the other side of the lobby as Chloe explained to them what happened. Brad couldn't stop observing them as they consoled Chloe. Her friends were so different. It seemed like they all said goodbye before they returned to the party.

Brad saw Chloe become quite relieved when they left. He walked over and sat on the bench beside her.

"Thank you for everything," Chloe said, when he sat down.

"Anytime, Chloe," Brad said sincerely, making Chloe feel warm inside. He looked down at her leg.

"I'm sorry I ruined your sweatshirt," Chloe said as she realized she still had it in her hands. She promptly handed him the blood-covered material.

"Chloe, don't apologize," Brad replied, as he took the sweater. He then tossed it into a nearby trash bin.

"Brad, how can I make this up to you?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe I don't want you to feel like you have to do something for me. The only thing I think you should do is give Vanessa a call. I'm sure she'd love to see you again," Brad answered.

"I'll try," Chloe replied. Brad told Chloe Vanessa's phone number and Chloe put it in her phone.