AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And yet, I’m headed to your apartment, I presume.”
Dammit, yes, he is. Am I going to be able to maintain this resolve upstairs? “Chester will take you to the airport, or wherever you want to go.”
A flicker of disappointment and defeat fills his eyes. But he nods, and the car comes to a stop. He makes no move to get out. He moves his legs to allow me to exit.
“Sorry you wasted a trip.”
He smiles. “Hearing you play in person could never be a waste. You’re amazing and I loved it.”
I nod a thank you. I appreciate the compliment. Appreciate even more the sincere look in his eyes. He means it.
“Please take TJ to the airport,” I instruct Chester, but he immediately shakes his head.
“Sir, they shut down the airport. The entire city is shutting down. They are going to make people get off the roads entirely within the hour. I’ll be lucky to get home as it is.”
Which also means I can’t allow him to risk not getting home to his family driving TJ around to find a hotel room.
I nod and when I look at TJ, expecting to find a look of triumph, he actually looks concerned…panicked even. But he schools his features quickly.
“Okay,” I nod.
TJ steps out into the frigid air and hugs his coat tight to his body. I bid Chester good night and to be safe. I even ask him to text me when he is home safe. Although I can already tell cell service is getting dodgy in this weather. I watch him return to the driver’s side of the car and then head through the glass doors of my building. The warm glow emanating from behind them a welcome sight in contrast to the air and eeriness of this angry storm taking over the city and turning it into some apocalyptic nightmare.
“Mr. Reyes,” Kennedy says, and I roll my eyes at him. He smirks. He refuses to call me Nandy or even Fernando…it’s always been, and always will be, Mr. Reyes. And I will always give him a hard time about it. And he always continues with his professionalism. It’s our thing. It makes me happy. It makes him happy, and that’s what matters. He reaches behind the desk at the entry to the building and hands me a violin case. I smile. My baby is home.
“Thank you.”
“Crazy night out there,” he says as he eyes TJ, who has remained silent since we exited the car.
“Never seen it like this, have you?”
“No, sir.”
“Have a good night. Stay safe and warm in here.”
He smiles again. “Same to you, sir.”
I shake my head again…sir.
Chapter eight
The world goes quiet. The soft red glow of the emergency lights give the stalled elevator an almost romantic feel.
Romance, well, sex may be why I came here. But the reason I’m on this elevator now, the reason my heart rate is skyrocketing, and my breathing is about to become rapid and shallow. The reason the panic attack is about to set in has nothing to do with the gorgeous man next to me.
The elevator may be quiet. Nandy is quiet. The voices in my head are screaming. And those voices sound remarkably like my father.
“How long?” I ask. A complete sentence already out of reach. Does this happen often? Has he been stuck in here before? Will they need to come pull us out of the top like they do in the movies? I look up at the tiles in the ceiling in the elevator. No way either of us will fit through the tiny square. I look back at Nandy. Nandy shrugs. His eyes never leave me. There is sympathy there.
Does he know what this is? How bad this could get? Of course not. He probably thinks I’m claustrophobic and I’m okay with that.
Nobody has ever witnessed one of these attacks before. Nobody knows they happen. Nobody knows the frequency is increasing. But I can usually tamp them down quickly. But I’m usually alone, or able to get to a place where I can be alone. This isn’t exactly a moment I’d like to share with anyone.
I’m not alone now, though.
I’m with a man I ran to Chicago to see. A man who isn’t super fond of me and my actions. I came here to play with him. To experiment, see what a man feels like. I came here despite his insistence that he never intends to give in to me.
Now I’m stuck in an elevator with that man and sex is the last thing on my mind.
