Nina dressed in a business suit, she wore a tight black pencil skirt, which had a small slit at the back. On top, a white linen shirt and over the shirt, a black blazer. She tied part of her hair back, leaving part loose, just to highlight her face. She wore light makeup, with black mascara and nude lipstick.
She was very nervous, but she really needed that job. The salary would be good and she could pay the bills and at that moment she was drowning in debt.
The day was strangely cloudy and she got out of the app car. She looked up at the sky and saw heavy, gray clouds approaching. A thought about not having brought an umbrella, but even if she walked out of there and got all wet, but left with her job, she wouldn't care. She was determined to get that opportunity.
With confidence, he walked to the building's hall. Her thin heels hit the floor firmly, sounding a symphony of drums, as if to increase the suspense.
Nina went to the building's reception and introduced herself saying that she had an interview on the forty-ninth floor. The receptionist seemed surprised at first, then she looked him up and down. She couldn't hide that Nina was different, she had a strong presence.
Despite the receptionist's less than discreet look, Nina ignored her and just waited for her to give her a badge. With her visitor badge in hand, she headed towards the elevators. She wasn't late, in fact she arrived half an hour before the interview time. She really wanted that job, so that night she didn't even sleep properly, she just waited for the hands of the clock to turn enough times for her to get up in the morning.
As he walked, he looked around, the building was huge and had a panel with several numbers indicating which elevators were arriving, and which reached certain floors. Some only stopped on even-numbered floors, others on odd-numbered floors and few reached the forty-ninth floor.
It was all very technological, the panels looked like those airport panels, changing all the time, making the girl feel lost, trying to understand the signs.
While she was distracted, looking for the best elevator to get into, Nina heard a voice behind her. The voice was far away, and it was a man talking to another. The place had many people circulating and the voices of women and men echoed everywhere, but that voice she would never forget.
Nina was startled, her body instantly stiffened. Even though she recognized it, she had to prove it, to know if it wasn't all in her head, so she slowly turned back to check if really was that person.
Yes, it was him, Samuel. For a second, she couldn't move. Her throat went dry and her body started to shake. She was very afraid of him seeing her and ending up disturbing her interview, he was her past, the personification of what she wasn't proud of, even though she was the victim of his lies, she thought she didn't deserve forgiveness, for having had a relationship with someone committed.
The second of numbness passed, and desperate, Nina began to get in among the people who were waiting for the elevator. Walking with long strides, almost running, ignoring the complaints, she pushed whoever was in front of her, as if she were running away from the devil himself. The only thing she thought was that she wanted to stay as far away from Samuel as possible.
Suddenly the door of an elevator opened in front of her, she didn't even look to see if there was a sign she just ran and got in. It was her opportunity to hide. No one else entered, just her, in fact people were separated from that area of the elevator and she observed this for a few seconds, but Samuel's silhouette approached. He wasn't looking ahead, he was busy talking to the man next to her, but if her gaze wavered a little, he would see her.
The doors were slowly closing, her heart raced and her eyes widened, she quickly saw the door close button on the panel and started pressing it repeatedly, she was praying to God that he wouldn't look ahead and realize that she was inside that elevator.
Finally the doors closed and she placed her hand on her chest, breathing in relief, she took steps back and suddenly hit something hard. Nina knew it wasn't in the elevator mirror.
She slowly turned her head back and at that moment, realized that she was not alone in the elevator.
There was a man and he was looking at him with furrowed eyebrows. The man had black hair and was approximately six feet tall. He was wearing a well-tailored suit and smelled of some expensive perfume… For a few seconds she felt a feeling of dejavu. It was as if she had lived through it before, or something similar.
The perfume had citrus and floral notes but it wasn't sweet, it was a totally different smell, which enveloped her. The man remains silent with his eyebrows drawn together, looking at her.
Nina was completely embarrassed and to hide it, she looked away and walked away, hugging her own torso.
She looked at the panel and realized that he hadn't pressed the button for his floor, so she immediately clicked the button for the forty-ninth. She breathed a sigh of relief that the elevator reached that floor.
She realized that the forty-eighth floor was pressed and smiled in relief, realizing that they would not get off on the same floor.
Unintentionally, she turned to the man and to hide it, she gave him a slight nod, greeting him.
Reaching the forty-ninth took some time, so she started looking around. The elevator was different from the other elevators, which she managed to get a brief look inside, when the doors were open, when she was on the first floor..
The walls were made of marble, cream, very light, almost white. The mirrors were framed, with some kind of metal, dark, almost black.
It looked a little minimalist, but very tasteful. She was thoughtful about that decoration, but suddenly a thought came to her mind, she thought that in the building that belongs to a billionaire of course she could have different elevators, with some luxurious decoration.
The elevator stopped on the forty-eighth floor, but the doors did not open and the man did not get out. She looked at him, her eyebrows raised and he didn't react. He put one hand in his pocket, and looked down at her.
Soon the elevator went up again and stopped at forty-ninth.
She waited, but the doors did not open. Nina started to think it was strange and pressed the button to open the doors, but nothing happened.
— Is it defective? — she asks, perhaps thinking too loudly.
He looked at the man and he took a step forward and said dryly:
-I can help…
- I don't think so! — she says with revolt in her voice — It's definitely a defect.
She examines the panel and says:
— What kind of elevator is this that doesn't even have an intercom and an emergency button?
Nina begins to brutally press the button to open the door repeatedly.
— Such a big building, and the owner is a billionaire. The man can't even arrange maintenance on the elevators. Tell me why a beautiful, decorated elevator that leaves people trapped inside?
She kicks the doors angrily and then says:
— That's why you didn't come down to your floor, right? It's because it's defective. And I thought you was some crazy, stalker... I'm sorry. — she gives a smile, embarrassed and continues — It's just that sometimes I think too loudly. Let's get along, okay? We might get stuck here, so we better have a good relationship.
He looked at her in silence, wondering if she really didn't realize what was happening or was doing some kind of theater.
— My name is Nina Moon. — She extends her hand to greet him — From now on I'll be your prison companion, in the stingy billionaire's elevator.
Dominic snorts, then grabs her shoulders and moves her away, taking her away from the panel.
Afterwards, he says:
— I didn't get off at forty-eighth, because I thought you would need help getting out of here.
She looks at him suspiciously and says:
— What do you mean you need help?
The man looks at her, then turns to the panel. He places his fingerprint on a small square of glass, which was in the place where the emergency button should be located. As soon as he puts his thumb in, a blue light turns on and within a second, the elevator door opens.