Chapter 14

Nate's POV:

Three weeks later, "Dude, I need a break. We have been at this for almost five hours." Ryan complained, sitting beside me.

"We have covered 70 percentage of the work, man. Just some more," I tried to convince him.

"No fucking way. I'm gonna head out for a smoke," he stood up, stretching his legs and I let out a huge sigh. He was right. We have been working our ass off to figure out this upgrade and it wasn't an easy task. I couldn't believe that Sam was good at this technology. She must be fucking smart.

Stop thinking about her for once, I chided myself.

"Alright, I'll go get us some lunch from that Chinese place." I stood up and locked my computer before heading towards the elevator. I didn't see or have any kind of communication with Sam for these past few weeks and I felt my heart doing a flip when I passed by her office. I missed her so much, but every time I thought about her leaving me, it made me furious.

I noticed that the elevator doors were about to close and rushed forward, placing my hand between them and entering only to find the devil herself, dressed in a wine red outfit that looked amazing on her skin tone. Our eyes locked for a split second before I pulled my gaze away.

Fuck, I was seeing her for the first time in weeks.

What were the odds?

I punched the button to the ground floor and noticed that the button to the seventh floor was also pressed by her. I shoved my hands in my pockets and stood like a statue, facing towards the door even though I desperately wanted to check her out.

How could I not when she was standing there, dressed like that?

I stole a quick glance at her from the corner of my eye and noticed her wiping her forehead with her free hand while her other hand was clutching a file so tightly. She looked nervous which was so unlike her.

"Is everything alright?" I couldn't help but ask and she looked up at me, swallowing hard.

"Yeah, sure. I have a board meeting with the investors and umm.." she quickly paused and cleared her throat, "I'm fine. Thank you." She gave me a tight smile and I nodded, not knowing what else to say.

God, I missed her like crazy.

I wish I could just grab her and push her up against the wall and kiss her. 

Suddenly the elevator came to a halt and the lights went out, interrupting my day dreaming. We both looked at each other in confusion. I tried to punch the buttons and call the emergency line but nothing was working.

"I think the power is out or something," I muttered under my breath and took out my phone to find that there was no signal inside the elevator.

Of course.

This was so usual.

"Oh god, I need to get to the meeting in like 5 minutes." She started to bang on the door in panic and I kept trying to get some signal on my phone.

"Do you have signal on your phone?" I asked and she shook her head. She looked like she was out of breath and dropped the file.

"Just relax for a second." I kept punching the buttons and cracking my head to find a solution. Even if there was a power cut, it should have been back since there were generators in our company.

What if something was wrong with the elevator?

"Oh my god, we are going to die. Nobody knows that we are here." She started to cry and my eyes went wide. I've never seen her cry before. She was always so bold and confident. My heart broke at the sight of her wiping away her tears and I don't know what came over me, I immediately pulled her towards me and hugged her tightly.

"Hey, stop crying. It's going to be fine." She hugged me back instantly and I could sense her entire body shivering.

"Nate...I...I...can't breathe..." I pulled her back and looked into her eyes, which were filled with tears. She was trying to breathe so hard and that's when I realized that she was having a panic attack. She collapsed in my arms, falling to the ground and I sat down in front of her immediately.

Holy fucking shit!

"Sam, look at me. Baby, can you hear me?" I caressed her cheeks, pushing her hair away from her face. I immediately turned on the torch light on my phone and tried to calm her down.

"Just follow my voice, baby. Take a deep breath." I tried to talk to her and she took a deep breath.

"Now exhale," I whispered, holding her delicate face with my trembling hands.

Fuck, she was scaring me and my heart was racing wildly. Tears were flowing down her cheeks and I was fucking helpless. I had no idea what to do and there was no signal on the phone. I've felt this kind of fear only once before in my life and it was when Rebecca met with an accident. This time I couldn't even call an ambulance.

Was she claustrophobic or something?

I had no fucking idea.

"Just inhale and exhale, baby. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. It's going to fine. Just listen to my voice," I whispered softly and felt her relax a bit.

"Yeah, just like that. Close your eyes and listen to my voice," I checked my phone again and there was still no signal.

I wiped away her tears while she clutched my shirt tightly. I pulled her closer towards me and no matter how hard I tried to control myself, I couldn't resist anymore. I took her lips between mine and kissed her softly. She froze for a second but wrapped her hands around my neck immediately and kissed me back while I pulled her on to my lap. I kissed her gently and felt her heart beat slowing down just like that in an instant.

"I'm here, baby girl. Relax," I whispered against her lips and suddenly we both felt the elevator coming back to life. I pulled back from her and let out a huge sigh, thanking all the Gods. I helped her stand up and took her file from the floor.

"You got me scared for a second there, baby girl. The elevator is working now. Don't worry," I smiled, kissing her cheeks. She finally opened her eyes and looked at me through her wet lashes, making my heart skip a beat.

Fuck, what was she doing to me?

"How are you feeling now?" I asked with a worried look on my face and she nodded, not meeting my gaze.

"I'm fine. Th-thank you," she stuttered and I realized that she was embarrassed. The elevator doors finally opened at the seventh floor and neither of us made a move to go outside.

"Are you not? Ummm, this is your floor, right?" I asked, scratching the back of my head.

"The meeting must be over," she replied and I looked down at my watch.

Fuck, we were stuck inside for almost an hour.

"Let me take you home," I blurted out immediately, without thinking and she lifted her gaze to look at me.

"Why are you doing this? I'm embarrassed enough already." Her voice broke a little and I wanted nothing but to take her in my arms again and comfort her.

"I don't care. Just let me, baby." I spoke and she remained silent. The elevator doors opened at the ground floor and we both walked outside. I took her hands, leading her towards the parking lot and she didn't protest.

"Wait here, I'll bring my car." I spoke and she gave me a slight nod.

We both got in the car and I drove towards her house. The entire ride was filled with complete silence. I sent a quick text to Ryan, telling him that I was taking the rest of the day off. I had a lot of questions that were circling in my head but I wasn't sure if I could ask her. She looked outside the window and seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"We are here." I stated as we reached her building and she remained seated. Fuck, she was killing me with her silence. I kept tapping on the steering wheel, waiting for her to respond and she finally did.

"Do you want to come upstairs?" she asked in almost a whisper and I turned towards her in shock. I wanted to decline, as we weren't on good terms, but the look in her eyes made me melt in an instant and my mind went blank. I forgot that I was mad at her in the first place. Everything went outside the window.

"Okay," I nodded, unbuckling my seat belt. We both made our way towards her apartment and I had no idea what was going on in her mind. I knew I could possibly get hurt again but I didn't care. All I wanted was to be there for her given what happened in the elevator today and that's when I realized something.

I was falling for this woman even though I knew nothing about her.

What the fuck was wrong with me?