Elevator

The feeling of his callused hands carrying my fragile body is a memory I will never forget. 

1.....2.....3.....open. The old elevator door slowly splits and reveals busy bodies walking around with coffee and papers. The wrong floor, I say to myself frustrated. I look at the buttons and realize I pressed the wrong button. I sigh and push the right button aggressively. The elevator door is about to close and I go to shut my eyes when the door is intercepted by a golden-skinned hand. The doors open back up and a young man wearing a suit and messy hair walks in. He stands next to me with papers in his hand, he is wearing an expensive watch on his wrist that makes the veins in his arm pop out. 

"Sorry about that ma'am. Just heading over to the gym," He says with respect. I don't reply, I just purse my lips and watch as the numbers go down. I glance over and examine him for a second, my pursed lips turn into a smirk. 

“Is there an issue?” The man asks me not to realize he caught me smirking. 

“No issue, just for someone who is going to a gym in the basement of this building you have quite an expensive taste,” I speak with elegance and let my words flow out. 

“I like this gym, why waste money on another,” he is now smirking back. The lights go off and then flicker back on the elevator jolts and stops. All the buttons flash red. 

“What just happened?” I ask urgently. His smirk turns to an angry frown, he hits the emergency call button. He talks with the guy down the lobby for a while keeping his voice low so I can’t hear. The last part I do hear though. 

“Do you know who this is? This is Mathew Trivon the owner of this hotel,” He screams into the phone that hangs from the wall. A few more words were exchanged before he angrily puts the phone back and sits down on the elevator floor. 

“Well we are gonna be here for a while,” He mumbles not making eye contact with me. I sit down across from him laying my head on the elevator wall. 

“Now I know why you like this gym better,” I smirk as I talk and look in his direction to see a smile appear on his lips. “I am Liliana,” I add. 

“Liliana? Very professional. Do you go by Lily?” He asks now, completely looking at me. 

“No, Lily isn’t very mature. Everyone calls me Liliana,” I say staring at him back. 

“I think I will just have to call you Lily because Liliana is too businessy,” He chuckles. I roll my eyes and cross my arms. 

“If you call me Lily I won’t respond,” I look away as I say this trying to hide a slight smile. 

“You are a stubborn one,” He says, trying to look at me in the eyes with my head turned. I don’t speak, I stay turned around. 

“Wow, no words? No comebacks? Hmmm… what if I let you call me Matt,” his smile extends, and our feet touch. 

“Do you like being called Matt?” I ask.

“Not really,” He replies. 

“Then I will call you Mathew. But you act as if we will ever speak after this encounter,” I say now looking at him. He looks hurt, he looks me up and down. 

“Lily… I am going to make sure I see you again,” He leans over and puts his hand on my hand. I brush it off and he sits back chuckling to himself. 

“Hey Lily,” He says looking in another direction. 

“What Mathew?” I am a little annoyed. A big bright smile appears across his lips. 

“I thought you weren’t going to reply when I called you Lily,” Still smiling he rolls his head so he is looking straight at me. I roll my eyes and smile looking the other way. Conversations glide through our lips like we have known each other for years. I found out that he is single with no kids, and he finds out I am single with a little boy. I tell him about Lucas and how he was from my previous relationship, Lucas is only 6 months old but his father left way before he was born. He is 22 and I am 19, and we both live here in Miami, Florida. I tell him all my hopes and dreams and he tells me all about what he hopes he builds with his mother's hotel. Mathew wants to make this hotel great to honor his Mother since she made it such a loving place. 

The elevator doors open up when we're in the middle of our conversation about our pasts. He gets up and then immediately helps me up before talking to anyone he asks if I am okay. I nod. Mathew talks to a few people and disappears, I never got to say bye. 

Every day, for weeks I come to the gym at the same time sometimes coming twice a day trying to find him again. After a month I decide maybe he doesn’t want to find me, so I go back to my every other day gym schedule. I still always look for him but I never see him. His smooth quiet voice, and his perfect dimples when he smiles fill my head every second of every day. Not paying attention one day I got in the elevator as normal but this time I hit the wrong floor on purpose. For some reason, I told myself that if I repeat exactly what I did I would see him again. So I go to the busy floor that clearly I shouldn’t be on and then press the button again for the gym. I close my eyes early this time but am quickly disappointed when I feel the elevator start moving. I slunk my shoulders and frown, I thought--- ugh.

  “Rough day huh?” A smooth quiet voice says. I slowly open my eyes and look over and see his smile with his perfect dimples. 

“Mathew!” I shout in excitement. 

“Oh don’t say that so happy you’re gonna make me stop this elevator again,” His eyes smile to match the rest of his face. 

“Honestly it was nice, I had an excuse to get away from the world, and I met you,” I say smiling back at him. He rolls his eyes and sighs. 

“Fine but only to do this,” He says as he presses the elevator stop button. He walks over to me and rests his hand on my lower back. He takes his other hand to hold my face and leans in, with not a lot of pressure, and kisses me slowly before pulling away. He stands professionally and stays there still in the same position, stunned. That had to be the best kiss of my life. He pushes a button and the elevator starts back up. 

“See you soon Lily,” The elevator doors open when he talks and he steps out. I follow behind going towards the gym. 

“That’s it, you kiss me and then say see you soon,” I excuse him walking behind him abruptly. 

“You are right, here,” He hands me a card. “That’s my business number and on the back is my personal number.” He says this just before he goes inside a room. I look down at the tiny piece of paper, the words ‘I hope we meet again Lily (xxx)-xxx-xxxx’ are written on the plain white. I stare at it for a while. Was he waiting to see me too? I look up and notice all the walls have small little white cards hung up on all the walls. I walk up to everyone seeing his name appear and appear over and over again, on the back the same thing is written. My heart flutters, he was trying to see me again too. 

The next month or so Mathew and I spend a lot of time together mainly in the elevator when he uses his high up power at the hotel to stop it for a while. I start telling Lucas about him, Lucas is just a baby but I don’t want to rush anything. That is until he drops me off at my small apartment one night and just before he usually kisses me he whispers, “I love you.” My heart stopped, everything stopped. I whisper it back before pressing his lips against mine and falling onto my door. I risk it all. I know Lucas is inside with the babysitter but I don’t care. I open the door and scoop Lucas off the floor. My two favorite people are finally meeting. 

To tell you things were too good to be true would be an understatement. Finding time for just the two of us was getting harder and harder. He had a hotel to run and I had a baby and job to keep up with. When we talk on the phone there was lots of arguing, but when we would meet in the elevator everything would fall into place and it would be like the time we met. 

Just like every other Friday night when I would get off, I went to the hotel to wait for him in the elevator, people thought I was crazy when I would be sitting there for like 30 minutes, but if they only knew. IF they only knew what I was waiting for. I was waiting for his eyes to smile when he saw me, I was waiting for him to rest his hand on my lower back as he looked at me, I was waiting for him to call me Lily. After an hour I called him, no pickup. I called again. Same thing. I call one more time and it goes straight to voicemail. With no hesitation, I go to walk out of the elevator. I tap my foot impatiently waiting for the doors to open. I send nasty texts to his phone. The doors slowly open and staring down at my phone I go to walk out. 

When people describe near-death experiences they always talk about how fast it all happened, and how your life flashes before your eyes. For me there were only two faces that showed up in my mind, I mean they were the only two faces I cared for. When the doors open a guy wearing a black mask throws a cigarette into the elevator and makes the elevator doors close, he stops the elevator. No one can get in and no one can get out. My heartbeat quickens, I try to step on it but he just keeps throwing them, adding matches to the mix. 

“Why are you doing this!” I scream as the elevator fills with smoke. I can hear screaming and urgent voices outside the elevator. 

“Mathew Trivon doesn’t deserve you,” He pulls down his mask and Lucas's dad is standing there. He pulls a flask out of his pocket and starts pouring it which increases the flames, they fly up in our faces. I fall to the ground in pain just as the elevator door opens. Water is sprayed and I feel the cool water against me.

 It's too late I think, memories flash in my mind but those two faces block any views I have of them. I feel my heartbeat slow down and my lungs wheeze trying to catch my breath. Unable to open my eyes I can still feel the heat burning my skin, why isn’t the water putting them out. I couldn’t make out the words exchanged but there were a bunch of shudders and screams. Another body enters the elevator and I hear him shriek with pain. Hands slide under my limp body and I am lifted up, my head falling back. I couldn’t control any part of me, I could not feel any part of my body. I was carried for a while and set on a cushion. I thought it would feel good but I screamed in pain. My body is lifted up again and this time my head lays against his chest. I hear his smooth quiet voice. 

“Stay with me Lily, you can’t leave me now!” The urgency scares me. I must be dying. Another voice from behind scares me even more. 

“Trivon! Get away from her!” I realize it's Lucas’s dad again, how is he not dead. I flashback to right before the flames get out of control and realize he was wearing what firemen wear. Screams are exchanged and as much as I try I can’t listen or do anything I am in and out of conscious. Mathew puts me down on this hard bed and people all start talking to me and messing with my eyelid. Everything is too loud and too many things are going on. I am being wheeled away but everyone shrieks and screams. 

“Trivon, you have taken everything from me. My house, my hotel, my money, my girlfriend, and now you are going to take my son. I can’t let that happen,” I hear Mathew scream no don’t stop as Lucas’s dad speaks. A loud snap and crack blow in the hotel and I hear gasp and cries. I feel my body slide away quickly. 

Although I may never see him again, I will never forget him. I forgive him for all he did. I know he only did it to protect me and Lucas. Who knew I would fall for Lucas’s uncle Mathew Trivon. I will never forget that Friday night on the 17th of April. The feeling of his callused hands carrying my fragile body is a memory I will never forget.