Page 17 of The Marriage Bid
She shook her head. “I did not see any of that money.”
Interesting, but she had to be lying. Saffron’s father loved his daughter so much he had blackmailed her childhood crush into marrying her. “Is it? Daddy didn’t give you what you thought you deserved?”
“He did not give me any of it. And even if he had offered, I would not have taken any of your dirty money.”
The elevator jerked, and Saffron flung into my arms. I caught her before she could fall, our hard hats bumping into each other. The lightbulb above us blinked and then shut off. We were bathed in darkness, and for a moment I couldn’t see a thing. With one hand, while the other held Saffron, I searched my pockets for my phone. I fished out the little black gadget and turned the flashlight on. “Are you okay?” I said, raising the light to the ceiling so it wouldn’t torch her eyes. Worry scrounged her face, and her pupils danced back and forth. She clung onto me for dear life, as though my jacket would beam her out of this box. Her nod was small and unconvincing.
“It’s going to be alright. The power just went out.” Or at least that’s what I thought was the problem.
“But the jerking motion.” Her voice was shaking so hard, she almost sounded like a child. “Are we going to—”
“Fall forty floors down? No, the car probably lodged onto the floor we’re on so that doesn’t happen. It’s a failsafe.”
“Are you sure?”
“I mean, yeah, I built the damn thing.” She grimaced, unconvinced and genuinely scared. “Technically not this thing, but I hire the best people. It’s not going to crash into pieces. Trust me.”
Slowly, I drew us both down to the floor and placed my phone, flashlight side up, onto the floor and stretched my legs whilst Saffron clung to me still. She was shaking, I belatedly realized. Her hands rubbed my chest seemingly to comfortherself and less to arouse me, but that didn’t mean my body didn’t react.
“It’s going to be okay,” I said and held her against me. She pressed her body against me, making me fully aware of all her curves. She had always been skinny, but she must have gained some weight since she stopped modeling, and it all went to the right places. I embraced her, wrapping my arms around her body to calm her down. We were like that for minutes, and after a while, the trembling stopped. And as though she came out of a trance, she jerked away from me and settled a foot away.
“Feeling better?” I asked.
She didn’t respond but stared at me as though I had two heads. It was possible she was seeing double, with her reaction.
I checked my watch. “The service workers should be coming back soon if they had gone for lunch.”
She straightened her legs and reached for her bag. It was a stylish pale beige and white designer laptop bag that went well with her outfit, but curiously well-worn. The phone light was dim, but I could tell those creases were because of wear and tear and not a design choice. Saffron fumbled through it and took out a pill bottle. The little cylinder rattled as she took out two pills and popped them in her mouth.
“Doing drugs for lunch, are we?”
“It’s my anxiety medication,” she said.
“Sure. Sure. That’s what I call my ketamine. And my dealer is actually a doctor.”
She took a long, deep breath; the muscles in her jaw rippled. “Fuck you, Tyler.” She gave me her entire back, but not long before she could hide the tear that fell down to her cheek. What a giant oaf I am. Of course, this would be stressful for someone like her. I was used to being in situations like this, but she might be claustrophobic. Or just might not like not knowing what’s going to happen next after you’re trapped in an elevator. Teasingher felt too good not to do, and now that I had successfully made her cry, what even was the reason I did it? Bullying her as though I were a middle schooler.
“Listen, Saff, I am—”
“Hello? Anyone in elevator one?” A voice boomed through a speaker somewhere in the top right corner.
“Yes, it’s me, Tyler Hawthorne, and Saffron Channing. Where have you guys been?”
“Oh shit! Mr. Hawthorne. Uh… I’m sorry. L-let me get help straight away.” Shuffling sounds came through that sounded like someone rifling through papers on a desk and then, a few moments later, “Help is on the way, sir.”
We sat in silence for the next ten minutes, and then the light of the elevator blinked, then brightened, and the elevator jerked back and began moving again. Saffron got up and adjusted herself, staring straight ahead deliberately not looking at me. Sans some dust smudge on her pantsuit leg, she was immaculate as ever.
When the doors opened, I was still on the floor, leaning against the wall, my legs crossed. Five men, including the foreman, were standing by the entrance. “Took you guys long enough,” I said. “Where were you?”
The foreman reddened. “My mistake, sir. We didn’t know anyone was in there.”
As I got up, Saffron was already marching out, brushing past the men as she made her excuses. I wanted to follow her and apologize until I stopped myself. What would be the point? And besides, when it came to crimes, hers were bigger than mine. My gaze returned to the men as the elevator doors rattled shut behind me and spotted a white box with a red cross in the hands of the one furthest right. “Is that a first-aid kit? We’re both okay. Just late for our respective meetings. That’s why Miss Channing stormed off without saying goodbye.”
The foreman grimaced. “Once again, sir,” he placed his grime-coated hand to his chest. “I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to—”
“It’s okay, bro,” I tapped his shoulder. “Stuff like this happens all the time.”
He shuffled his feet. “Uh, there was also something else that needed your attention.”
