Page 6 of Out of Order
“What, another one?”Stan looked down at his scrappily written note about a guy stuck in one of the building’s lifts, but he hadn’t noted which one.
“Another one?” Brian queried.
“Yeah, a guy said he was stuck in an elevator on site.”He mumbled; not sure he should have mentioned it to his colleague.
“Did he get out?” Brian asked, sounding concerned.
“Not sure. He’s not called again, so maybe?” Shit, shit, shit,Stan thought.He knew he should have mentioned it to Brian earlier. But he’d drifted off and forgotten about it. But it had been hours. If the guy had still been trapped, Stan was sure he would have been buzzing the intercom, shouting like crazy.
“Anyway, what’s the other emergency?” Stan couldn’t believe it. Usually, working the night shift meant a quiet night, doing very little and getting paid for it. But not tonight, it seemed.
“Ahh, those jokers from the water company broke the power line when they were fixing a burst water main down the street. The powers out all over the site.”Brian wasn’t sounding impressed at all.
Stan was alert now; this was a big problem. “Shit, have they been on to the power company to see about fixing it before tomorrow? The shits really gonna fly if the office nobs turn up and nothing works–especially that lot on the 2ndfloor.”
“I’m not sure, but we’d better get Andy down here and see what we can do. Facilities are going to go ape!”
Brian’s voice seemed to echo in the quiet room. Reluctantly, Stan reached for his desk phone and called his boss. Seemed he was going to actually have to work tonight.
Luca
“Did you find anything useful?” Came Niall’s deep, smooth voice.
“No, not really. The phone doesn’t work as it’s one of those network ones. Found some energy bars, but they’re out of date, and a few bottled drinks.”
Chancing a look up, I noticed him looking down at me with a relaxed expression, as if the whole shower thing earlier never happened.
“I was thinking…. Do you?” I stopped myself, suddenly full of doubt, and worried my lip between my teeth as I thought about the question. I could see that the action wasn’t lost on Niall, as his eyes were fixed on my lips. Did he want to feel my lips on him as much as I did? If his smoldering look was anything to go by, then yes. Did he know what I was thinking, what I wanted? Just what was going on in that beautiful head of his—was he picturing me naked? I really hope so.
“Um, do you, I mean… does your mobile phone work down here? As mine has a flat battery.” I pulled my wrecked senses back together enough to point at the desk phone.
“My phone? I’ll see if I have a signal, although down here it might not find one.” Niall searched his bag for his mobile. There was a signal, but it was only one bar, and it kept disappearing. A text might work, but it won’t be enough to make a phone call.
I watched Niall scrolling through his list of contacts, before settling on one name, Geoff.
Opening a new message, Niall quickly wrote:
STILL @ WORK, TRAPPED IN THE GYM WITH A GUY FROM ABBOTS. LIFT BROKEN, DOOR ACCESS OFF TOO, BUILDING LOST POWER. PLEASE SEND HELP.
I watched him hit send. Hopefully that would do the trick, and it was only a matter of time before help arrived.
Geoff was perched at the bar of his local watering hole, waiting for Kelly, a woman he had flirted with, while ordering his sandwich from the deli near the office. He was just about to have his second beer when Niall’s text came through. When he had gone through the text twice, Geoff put his phone away and grabbed his beer.
… So, his friend was locked in a building with a man? Hadn’t he said that was the only way Niall was going to meet someone? Oh, he’d help alright, he’d help by pretending that he never saw this message and leave Niall and this guy to their fate.
He couldn’t think of anything else he could do for his friend and if it worked out, Niall would probably thank him.
When his date came, Geoff tucked his phone away and silently wished his friend ‘good luck’ before flashing his date a dazzling smile.
Luca
“….. Did it send?” I tried not to look around Niall’s shoulder while he checked the delivery status.
“I think so, but I’m not sure if he’ll read it. He gets distracted a lot.” Another glance at the screen showed ‘no signal.’ “That’s it, I’m afraid, my network connections gone.”
“So, what do we do now?” I tried not to let the anxiety I felt seep into my voice. But the thought of spending the night holed up in a cold gym with nothing but energy bars wasn’t a great one. Even with a gorgeous man to look at.
“Well, I think we better prepare for a chilly night and hope that we’re wrong, and someone turns up.”
