Page 1 of Out of Order
CHAPTER ONE
Luca
The office was empty. Everyone else had headed home hours ago, which was where I was heading–finally, or so I thought. Most of the time I enjoyed my job, then there were moments then I wondered if there was more to life than work. Ugh, I did that thing again, where I stayed on later and later at work to avoid going home to an empty apartment. Maybe I should get a cat? But then how would they get outside, hmm maybe a goldfish would be better, anyway a pet of some kind. So that the place didn’t feel so empty. Otherwise, it was me and my Alexa. How sad was it that I didn’t really have friends to talk to? Not really a surprise when I think about it. I know most people didn’t know how to react to me. I’m gay, I’m femme, I’m small, I wear make-up. Men don’t know how to react toward me and women, well, they either hate me or want to make me their pet. My brother is unlike me in every way. He’s straight, popular, outgoing, and big. And like most big brothers, a pain in the ass. Sometimes I wonder if there was a mix-up and I’m actually the older brother. Our parents doted on him. Me well, I was a complication that didn’t fit into the stereo-typical Italian format. For all my fabulousness and style, I was quiet and reserved. Controlled. And a contradiction. People expected me to be flamboyant and extroverted, bouncing around and farting glitter out of my ass. Ugh, no, so not me, actually I was the opposite. The bouncing bit, not the glitter. I liked a bit of that. I just didn’t want to be… Actually, I’m not sure what I wanted to be? Me. I wanted to be me. Not what others thought I should be? Thus, the avoiding, and no friends’ thing, and having awkward conversations with my Alexa. Really, my Amazon list was huge. I had so many product notifications; it was a wonder that I wasn’t quoting alternative prices for every product I passed in a store window.
The report I’d been working on was taking longer to finish than I’d thought, but I was in the ‘zone’. If I ignored my need to pee, my belly rumbling and the fact that everyone else had gone home an hour ago. I could get it done and out of the way. So, I stayed. By the time I hit save and shut my laptop down, all I wanted to do was get home and crash on the couch.
The overhead light blinked and then dimmed as I walked towards the elevators. The metal doors opened with a groan. For a moment I thought of the stairs, then decided the lift was quicker before pressing the button for the ground floor. It started suddenly. One minute I was standing waiting for the elevator lift to stop at the ground floor. The next I was gripping the handrail for all I was worth and praying that the grinding noise I could hear wasn’t the lift mechanism breaking apart.
“What the hell? What else have they ‘updated’ now?”
Being the last one in the office to leave, no one else would head down from this floor. The lift lurched and then felt like it was dropping in a freefall before juddering to a halt.
‘Oh Shit! I’m going to die… or be stuck in this thing all night.’
Sighing in irritation, I jammed my finger on the alarm button and counted for 10 seconds. The alarm sounded, then a ringtone started.
“Primus Securities, hello?” A dull voice said.
“Yes hello, urm, I need some help. I’m stuck!” I yelled toward the speaker.
“Sorry, did you say you’re stuck?” The guy on the other end repeated.
“Yes, I’m stuck in the elevator. It shuddered, then dropped past my floor and the doors won’t open.” Dropping my bag, I leaned in closer to the button panel.
“Which doors won’t open? What did you say your name was?”
Really…? Closing my eyes, I tried counting to 10. The guy at the end of the intercom telephone sounded like he was half asleep or half brain dead, possibly both.
Maybe he can’t hear me,I thought, looking at the button panel. The speaker section was level with the top of my head and I was wearing a boot with a Cuban heel boosting my normal 5 ‘2 up to almost ‘average height’. So, this time standing on tiptoes, I started again. This time explaining exactly what had just happened.
“My name is Luca Sabatini. I work for Abbott Technologies on the 4thfloor of New Canton House.”
“Canton House, you say, which one?”
Struggling to keep from yelling my head off about the fact that he was just repeating what I said like some annoying parrot. I spoke even louder, hoping that the night guard was just having trouble hearing me.
“New Canton House, formally Victoria House!” Luca spoke slower, trying not to show just how frustrated he was becoming.
“So, you’re in Victoria House then?” The security guy said, repeating my words again–maybe he really was a parrot?
Trying to talk through gritted teeth, I growled out. “Yes! I’m in the elevator on the right-hand side of reception.”
“Stuck you say?”
Only the pain from mashing my finger harder into the button stopped me from wanting to scream. If this guy was struggling to grasp which darn building, I’m in. How in the hell is he going to call out an engineer to get me out of here?
My inner voice was really struggling to keep quiet, as he really wanted to say what he was thinking, and that was.
This guy is a fecking idiot. He has absolutely no clue what to do. How the hell did a fuckwit like him get to be in security? I suppose I should be grateful that he’s not the engineer–he’d probably electrocute himself.
I choked back my frustration and willed myself to be calm. The silly man will get it in the end… Maybe, hopefully.
“I’m stuck in an elevator in what was called Victoria House, which was renamed Canton House when it was renovated. We moved here just before Christmas, when they closed the old Canton building down.” Really, there was no way I could have explained it any clearer without drawing the idiot a diagram.
“Ohhh, right, the new one you say–not the old Victoria building?” He said, sounding more than a little bemused.
Grrrr …. Oh, for fuck’s sake!!!!There and then I swore if I ever met this man in person, I was going to give him a piece of my mind. Actually, it would be more than just a piece.
