Page 11 of Obsession

I get to my feet, and as Cody flicks the switches for the lights in the store, the door to the back room closes.

“All done,” Cody replies and reaches for the door handle. He gives it a jiggle but it remains closed.

“Ah, shit. The door locked. Do you have your keys?” he asks, looking at me.

I pat down the outside of my pants pockets and my eyes widen, horrified, as I realize that my keys are outside, in the store, resting on the counter next to my phone.

“They’re outside on the counter,” I say.

He too pats down the outside of his pants pockets. And when his eyes meet mine, the seriousness of the situation hits us both.

“Please tell me your keys aren’t out in the store, too?”

He nods.

“What about your phone?”

“It’s on the counter too. I was just coming back here to get my jacket and then wait for you.”

Fuck!

With no way out, I begin banging on the door as hard as I can.

“Hello? Is anyone out there? We’re trapped in here!” I yell.

It’s after hours. The mall has been closed for over three hours now, and unless a security guard happens to be wandering around, no one can hear us screaming. I continue banging loudly on the door and shouting ‘help’ but my screams go unheard.

“Now what?” Cody asks.

“I have no fucking idea. The last thing I need is to be stuck in here with you.”

I say that last part a little too loudly, and it’s my frustration at the situation more than anything else.

“Yeah, well, I’m not exactly thrilled about the idea of being trapped in here with you either.”

Okay, I totally deserved that. And it’s not the ideal situation to be in. But with everything that’s just gone down with Kora, I really don’t like the idea of being in this compromising situation.

“Isn’t there like a security alarm or something to alert someone that we’re trapped in here?” Cody questions, looking around the tiny back room.

“No. The mall has its own alarm to evacuate the entire center, but none of the stores have their own individual alarm.”

“So, what you’re saying is, no one knows that we’re locked in here?”

“Nope,” I reply, as I continue to bang on the door.

“Well, that’s just fucking perfect, isn’t it?”

I stop slamming my fist on the door, then turn around so that I’m staring at Cody, and my eyes lock with his.

“Getting pissed off isn’t going to improve the situation,” I add.

“There’s got to be a way out of here,” Cody says, looking around the room before banging his fists on the door again. “Help!We’re in here. Can anyone hear us?”

It’s been over an hour since we’ve been locked in this tiny room, and it’s starting to get really hot in here. I unclip the last button on my polo shirt and run my hands through my hair. I think it’s safe to assume that the two of us are going to be stuck in here for some time, possibly even all night.

“Fuck. This is useless,” Cody blurts out.

“You’ve done nothing but bitch since we’ve been locked in here. Why don’t you just shut up and accept the fact that we’re probably going to be stuck here all night.”

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