Page 55 of When Love Is Lost and Found

"Are you sure?"

"If I can go up to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building, I can go up to the seventh floor. No sweat."

"Okay," I say.

We step into the elevator, and I press the button to the seventh floor. Jon looks at me as if all his concentration is centered on my gaze.

"Your face is already doing a great job at distracting me."

I laugh and look up, watching the numbers above the elevator doors light up one by one, signaling our ascent. After the fifth floor, there's a screeching sound and a jerking motion before the elevator stops.

"What happened?" I ask, looking at the lit number five that's not flipping to six.

Jon presses the button to the seventh floor, but nothing happens. He presses the first, the second, and the rest of the buttons to no avail.

"The elevator is stuck between floors," I say, using a calm tone but feeling a little frantic.

Jon takes a deep breath and tries the buttons again. When nothing works, he puts the palms of his hands on the elevator doors and looks down, studying the floor. His muscular arms and toned back are tense under his T-shirt as he leans into the doors as if wanting to push them open.

I press the call button and wait but get no response. I press the emergency button several times until I hear someone's voice.

I look at Jon, whose face has taken on a ghostly pallor.

"Hi," I say. "We're stuck in the elevator and need help."

"Which elevator, Miss?" comes a woman's voice at the other end.

"The one nearest the staircase."

"That's elevator number two, which is closed for repairs."

"What?!" I ask. "Why wasn't there a sign on the doors?"

"Hey, Frankie!" I hear the woman's voice calling. "Did you put the Out of Order sign on elevator two?"

"I thought you said to put the Temporarily Closed sign on the stairs."

"Geez, Louise, Frank! Now we have people stuck in the elevator."

"You said the stairs," Frank says, followed by a long pause. "I'm sorry, Diane. Please don't look at me like that."

"This is what happens when you don't listen," Diane sounds annoyed.

"Excuse me," I say. "How long will it take to get us out of here?"

I glance at Jon, who's taking deep, cleansing breaths in an attempt to remain calm.

"Give us twenty minutes, Miss. We'll send help as soon as possible. Just hang tight."

"What choice do we have?" I say under my breath.

"I heard that," comes the voice. "No need to get testy, ma'am. We'll get you out of there shortly."

"I'll be okay," Jon says. "I just need to sit for a minute."

"Okay," I say. "I'll sit with you."

I take his hand, and we slide down to the floor and sit side by side against the wall while we wait for help to arrive.

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