Page 27 of It's Only Make Believe

I’m humming to myself as I work on the latest tweaks for Karl. We have had a meeting and everything we have done so far has been analysed and any required changes have been noted down, and making those changes fell to me. It means going through thousands of lines of code, often just to change one or two characters and make changes on the page that to the untrained eye might seem pointless, but to a techie makes a big difference. The tweaks I have to make will likely take at least a week, but I decided to work late tonight and at least make a decent start on them.

I suppose it’s fair to say it is quite a come down from having my designs accepted as the template for the app’s pages, but realistically, what I’m doing now is more of an intern’s job and me happening to do a design that I had the confidence to show Karl and that he and everyone else loved is the anomaly. A good anomaly. Brilliant in fact. But an anomaly all the same.

I find the character on the line I’m looking for and change it to the new agreed upon character and I tick it off my list and move on to the next one. I work steadily away and after a few hours, I have made a decent start on the work, and I don’t feel so bad about the thought of coming in to it first thing in the morning now that I have already found my rhythm.

I save my work and come out of the program and then I start to close down the laptop. It’s only then that it occurs to me how creepy it is here. I can work anywhere with my laptop, and I decided to just stay in the meeting room rather than go back down to the web development room because everyone else on the team was going home for the day anyway, so it made no difference to me where I sat. It sort of does now though. I’m sure if I’d gone back to the team room, there would be other people somewhere on the floor, but the fourth floor where I am is deserted except for me because it’s no one’s permanent place of work.

I tell myself to stop being ridiculous. If there is no one here but me, then what the hell am I afraid of? It’s not like I’m going to go mental and attack myself. I don’t feel one hundred percent better for that thought, but I do feel a bit better, and I even smile to myself at the thought of me attacking myself on the otherwise empty floor.

I’m still pleased when my laptop is shut down though and I slip it into its carry case. I stand up quickly and retrieve my purse from beside my chair and my jacket from the back of it. I put the jacket on, put my purse on my shoulder and pick up the laptop bag and I head for the door.

I slip out of the room into the now dimly lit corridor. The main lights have gone off and it is lit only by the emergency light which casts an eerie green glow over the walls and floor. I close the door quietly behind me and head towards the elevator. I’m a little over halfway there when I hear what sounds like footstepsbehind me. I feel my heart start to race, and my mouth goes dry. I walk faster.

As I walk, I tell myself I’m being ridiculous. There is no one up here but me and I haven’t heard anything except the echoes of my own paranoia. Even as I tell myself this, I’m still aware of the sound and I risk a glance over my shoulder, ready to see another member of staff also working late and then laughing to myself about it, but the hallway behind me is empty for as far as I can see.

I reach the elevator and press the call button. I stand, shifting from foot to foot, as I watch the red numbers go up as the elevator car comes to my call. It seems slower than usual, and I swear I can hear laughter, but I know that’s just my own imagination. It has to be. I’m considering making a dash for the stairs when I hear the footsteps behind me again, this time loud enough that I can’t pretend I’m being paranoid. I want to look back, but I just can’t do it. I’m too afraid of what I might see, or worse, what I don’t see but can still hear them creeping closer and closer to me.

Before I have decided if it’s best to remain here or run for the stairs, the elevator car arrives, and the doors open with a ping. I practically jump into the car, and I jab the ground floor button. The doors start to close behind me, and I will them to close faster as the footsteps become faster.

“Louisa. Hold the door,” a voice says, and I dare to look up and I see that it’s Luke.

I press the hold button, and the doors reopen and stay that way as Luke hurries towards me. I feel my panic floating away, leaving behind a sense of relief that makes me feel like laughing. Luke reaches the elevator car and gets in and I release the hold button.

“The lobby?” I ask and he nods his head, and I jab the button again and the doors start to close.

“You gave me quite a scare there,” I say. “I thought I was alone on this floor, and I heard your footsteps.”

I laugh as I say it and Luke grins.

“Sorry,” he says. “I had a meeting down here earlier and I left my jacket behind. I came to collect it on the way out.”

“That’s …” I start to say.

I’m going to say something about the timing, that he came for his jacket at the moment I was leaving, but the elevator screeching to a stop and the lights going off stop me dead in my tracks. It is pitch black and another screech makes me think we are falling, and I can’t help but let out a small scream.

I feel a warm hand on the small of my back and I scream again and try to bat the hand away. It stays in place and another hand appears on my back and I’m wrapped in Luke’s arms, pressed against his chest.

“It’s ok,” he says. “Don’t panic. The elevator broke down, that’s all.”

His words soothe me for the most part. My heart still races but I’m not entirely sure that’s from fear now. I concentrate on breathing normally, taking in Luke’s scent and the calmer I become, the more I relax into Luke until I have my arms around him too.

Unexpectedly, there is a pinging sound, and the emergency lights in the elevator car switch on. Again, I find myself in a place bathed in that sickly green light, but this time, I feel no fear. In Luke’s arms, I feel safe and even though the lights are back on now, I make no effort to move away from him and he seems equally happy to remain holding me.

Luke reaches up with one hand and gently strokes my cheek. I tilt my head back to look up at him and his face comes down towards mine, and my whole body comes to life. I am no longer afraid, but my body is still thrumming with adrenaline and when Luke kisses me, I feel like his lips are somehow touching everypart of me at once, making that adrenaline flood my body with the most amazing tingling sensation.

Chapter

Twenty

LUKE

Louisa looks up at me, her lips parted slightly and her eyes wide open. I don’t mean to kiss her, I just find myself moving closer and before I know it, my lips are on hers. She kisses me back as hungrily as I kiss her, and our hands roam over each other’s bodies. I want to strip Louisa and slowly tease her, making her come with my fingers and my tongue before I fuck her, but this isn’t the time or the place for that and instead, I reach down and pull her dress up over her hips.

At the same time, she fumbles my pants open and pushes them down along with my boxer shorts. She takes hold of my cock and moans into my mouth as she runs her hand along it and feels how hard it is. Her touch on my cock feels amazing, and I would happily stand here all night and have her touch me like that, but again, I’m aware that the elevator could start moving again at any time and so I gently move her hand away and then I cup her ass and lift her up.

Louisa wraps her legs around my waist and pushes her hands into my hair, her tongue delving deeper into my mouth and swirling around. I push her panties to one side and push my cock against her opening. I push inside of her in one sure stroke, and she moves her lips from mine and gasps as I enter her, stretching her and claiming her.

I move to the side of the elevator car and press her up against the wall and then I fuck her like I have been unleashed. I slam into her and pull almost all of the way out of her, and then I slam in again. I repeat the motion as Louisa matches my movements with her hips. I watch her as she comes undone. She closes her eyes, and her mouth opens in a silent O.

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