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Ugh. Let it go, Olivia.
Eli gazed down at me as he stood on the other side of the elevator, his eyes staring at the floor.
So, this is how we’re going to do this—just not talk.
The doors closed and I let out a sigh, reminding myself that it was only a short ride. It was only awkward because I made myself feel like it was. He hadn’t really spoken directly to me, but I had just forced myself to ignore it. It was what it was.
“You know, what you did today at the meeting was completely inappropriate,” Eli suddenly said.
I looked up from my feet, shocked. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I furrowed my brow as I met his eyes, which were suddenly boring into me.
“You heard me loud and clear, Olivia. That was some fucking stunt you pulled,” Eli seethed, his jaw tense under his stubble. “You know at brunch I said that this project wasn’t for you—so you just decided to undermine me and weasel your way into it.”
My mouth dropped open. “That’s some accusation.”
“It’s not an accusation if it’s the truth.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the truth,” I countered, my voice growing cold. “And it’s really low of you to assume something like that. I would never undermine you. I was just being friendly with her—”
“With inappropriately dorky jokes,” he cut me off, his tone like a razor.
I reared back with hurt. “Excuse me? There’s nothing inappropriate about my jokes. They’re more than professional. That’s totally rude of you to say to me.”
“No one said that I had to be nice to you.”
I shook my head, hardly able to handle his level of just pure...asshole. “Just fire me then, Eli.”
“Ha, yeah right.” He tipped his head back, laughing. “Your brother would kill me if I tried to fire you.”
“Then just find me a job somewhere else. I’d rather barely get by working in a bar or something than deal with someone who clearly hates me.” My words sent Eli into total silence, and I stared at the screen above the doors, wondering why the hell it had gone black.
And then the elevator went dark.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Eli groaned. “Not again.”
“Again?” I echoed, trying not to let the pitch-black unsettle me. “What do you mean again?”
“This stupid elevator has been having electrical issues forever. The last time it went dark like this, Brittany was stuck in it for nearly six hours.”
“Six hours?”
“Yeah,” he snorted. “Hope you’re not afraid of the dark.”
I ignored the comment, reaching for my phone. There was a text from Owen.
Congrats! All three of us should go out to celebrate.
Shaking my head, I locked the screen and shoved it into my bag. I was hoping that by three, he meant his longtime girlfriend, Katie, but I was pretty sure that he actually meant Eli.
And there was no way I was going out with him.
I leaned back against the wall, taking a deep breath to settle my heart rate. “It’s not going to just...fall, right?”
“Hell if I know.”
“So informative,” I grumbled, sinking down to the floor. Don’t get me wrong, I knew that the elevator floor was more than likely contaminated with germs of all kinds, but it couldn’t be worse than the fucking germ I was having to share it with.
Okay, that was a little mean.
