Page 3 of Best Thing I Never Had

“Fine.Iwill.I’mdoing it,”Itell him with a smug smile.Meanwhile,Iwhisper under my breath, “Thisis going to work.Thisis going to work.Thisis going to work.”

Iam going to manifest a way out of this elevator, even if it kills me.OrifIhave to killJacksonWaters.

Droppingmy oversized shoulder bag full of every necessity of my life to the ground,Imove towards the doors.SinceIbake for a living, my nails are short.ButIkeep them manicured with gel polish, so they always look nice.Myhands are short and chubby, like the rest of me, but a coat of nail polish and a bright pink lip do wonders.Atleast in my head, they do.Andthat’s all that matters.

Diggingmy fingers into the small divot where the stainless steel doors meet,Ipull them apart with all my strength.Andthose doors don’t move a single bit.Noteven a fraction of an inch.

“Damnit!”Ishout at the doors before kicking them with an open-toed sandal and stubbing my big toe. “Ouch!”

JacksonWaterslets out atsk-tsksound behind me. “Maybeyou should leave it to the professionals.Ifyou break an ankle trying to kick your way out of here, just know thatIhave zero first aid skills.”

“Helpful.”

“Itry.”

“Howlong could this possibly take?What, maybe thirty minutes?”

“Inrush hour traffic?Inthis city?Whoeverthey’re sending to get us out of here is going to be a while.Andthen they have to figure out what’s wrong with the doors and then figure out how to open them.”

Iglare at him across the elevator. “You’rejust a ray ofsunshine, aren’t you?”

“I’mtrying to be realistic.Thisis going to be a while.”

“Idon’t have a while,”Imutter before kicking the elevator doors again out of petty spite.Thistime,Imanage not to stub my toe, soIconsider that a win.

“Youhave somewhere important to be tonight?”

“Yes.”Ishould be with my three best friends watchingRoyallyArranged, our favorite reality show where women compete to have an arranged marriage with a prince of some ridiculously obscureEuropeanmonarchy that no one’s ever heard of.Butthe real reasonIdon’t have a while is that my bladder is going to burst long before eight o’clock.

I’mgoing to wet my pants—well, my dress—in front ofJacksonfreakingWaters.

“Weall have places to be.Thiskind of thing happens, and there’s no point in trying to do anything other than roll with it.Justgo with the flow,”Jacksonsays.

Flow?Gowith the flow?Thisman has the nerve to tell me to go with the flow?That’sthe entire problem!I’mgoing to be flowing all over the place right next to him in five minutes or less.

Thisis no time for beingZen.NotwhenI’mtrapped in a box barely bigger than a bathroom stall with no toilet in sight.Islide down to the floor, feeling hopeless.Andhoping the pressure on the floor will help me with my situation.

“Wehave a problem,”Imutter under my breath, defeated.

“Yeah,I’maware.We’retrapped in an elevator.”Jacksonlets out an enormous sigh and then runs his hand through his short brown hair. “Look, they’re going to come and get us out.It’sannoying, but it’s all going to be fine.”

Shakingmy head,Irefuse to be placated. “No, we have a more pressing problem than that.Urgent, actually.”

Jacksonglances around from side to side, looking for danger of some sort.Hehas no idea that the danger is inside me.Andit’s about to explode. “What?What’swrong?”

“Ihave to pee.”

chapterthree

selena

JacksonWaterslooks at me likeI’man idiot. “What’sthe big deal?”

“What?WhereamIsupposed to pee?I’mnot peeing in front ofJacksonfreakingWaters!”

“So, you do know whoIam.”Hislips tilt up at the corners.It’snot a smile.Butit’s smug as fuck.Hestares down at me.Reallystares into my eyes.Ifninety-nine percent of my brainpower wasn’t currently focused on not releasing a single drop of moisture from my body,Iwould probably blush at the fact thatJacksonWaterseven knows where my eyes are. “Iwas wondering.”

Myeyes fly open. “Ofcourse,Iknow who you are!Everyoneknows who you are.AndI’mnot peeing in front of you now.Orever.”

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