Part III - The Finale
“Paul, wait! Damn it. The line’s dead.” He grabbed the guard’s arm before he could leave even as powdery pebbles of debris fell from the ceiling. “Which elevator is she trapped in?”
“I don’t know, man. There are four in the building.” Paul looked nervously at the ceiling. “We’re exposed here.”
“Okay. Look, is there some way I can call the line from outside?”
“Naw, man. But she’s probably got her cell.”
“You know the number?”
“Sure. It’s in there.” He stabbed at a book. A bit more debris fell like ominous rain on the guard’s desk.
“Constance…” Jared demanded as he opened the book and began to scan the employee and tenant directory.
“Constance Meriwether. Dude, we need to go.”
“We need to get everyone out first,” he snapped, both stunned and somewhat angered over the guard’s statement. “Everyone.”
He’d known a Constance Meriwether back… Damn, how long had it been?
Another rumble had the guard backing away. “Won’t be able to help if we’re crushed.”
Jared let the man run. He didn’t have time to debate. “Send the fire fighters in soon as they arrive!” he shouted as Paul followed what seemed to be the last of those to flee the building. He found the number and dialed it while he backed into a doorway which, he hoped, provided a bit more structural integrity. That last aftershock had him worried. If another struck before…
* * * * *
Connie’s terrified scream echoed back to her in the small confines of the elevator, which had dropped with a jarring thud during the last tremor. Thank God she hadn’t fallen far, perhaps one floor. If she’d been on the fifth floor where her office was… No, she didn’t want to think of that.
She just wanted out!
Unfortunately, she’d injured her hip in the fall, jarred her elbow, and would have a good-sized goose egg on her head by morning. If she lived that long…
She frantically tried to reconnect with the man or anyone on the phone, while the darkness that seemed to close in around her left her with a total lack of coordination.
The phone rang.
But it wasn’t the emergency phone. It was her cell. Yanking it from her purse, she said, “Hello! Oh, God. I’m stuck in an elevator. You’ve got to help me. Who is this?”
“Connie, calm down.”
She realized two things in that instant. The caller was the stranger on the phone with the nice, soothing voice. And she was sobbing.
“Please, help me.”
“Fire fighters are on their way.”
“What’s taking so long?” she all but shouted.
“They’ll be here. I’m here. Listen, Connie. I need to know what elevator you’re in.”
“The one in the south corner of the building. The car fell. I think I’m on the ground floor now, but it’s dark. I can’t see a thing.”
“Are you hurt?”
“I’ll live if I can just get out of here.”
He gave a soft laugh, and she wondered how he could remain so calm. “Really want to head for that beach, huh?”
She knew what he was doing, trying to keep her mind off her circumstances so the terror didn’t build. Still, she answered, “Actually I had other plans, but that fell through thanks to Mother Nature. She hates me, you know.”
Another chuckle, soft and deep. She liked the sound of his amusement.
“No, she doesn’t.”
“She does! I was all set to go to my high school reunion this weekend with a friend, but he’s stuck in Chicago.”
“So, you can still go.”
She snorted. “Right. Go back after ten years, no husband, no date. Way to make an impression. I think I’d rather go to the beach.”
When he didn’t respond, she hesitated, then asked, “Are you still there?”
“I’m here, Con. So are the firefighters. I have to show them where you are.”
“Wait! Please don’t hang up.”
“I’m not. Just stay with me. Give me a sec.”
She could hear the murmur of conversation and strained to make out some of it, but couldn’t.
“What’s happening? Hello?”
“I’m here. There’s been a partial collapse. They’re going to move some debris before they can get to the door to free you.”
She leaned against the wall behind her and closed her eyes, not that doing so changed one iota of her view. “It’s so dark in here,” she whispered.
“We’ll have you out and in the sunshine soon, Con. Just stay with me.”
Con. Strange to think this man could truncate her name in a way that reminded her of high school. She’d even answered to the nickname until she went away to college, where she decided a grown-up moniker was more appropriate.
“What’s your name?”
He answered after a brief pause. “Jared.”
“You have a soothing voice, Jared.”
“Thanks.”
The sounds being made on the other side of the elevator doors were also soothing. Help was here. She wasn’t alone.
She smiled. “I knew a Jared once.”
“Yeah? Is that your boyfriend stuck in the snow?”
“No. He’s not my boyfriend. I mean, he is a guy and a friend, but he’s really just my hairdresser.”
“Hairdresser?”
“Yeah.” She laughed. “The Jared I knew, though… He and I went to the same school.”
“Ah. You think you’ll see him at the reunion?”
“Unlikely. He graduated a year before me.” Hmm, I wonder what he’s doing now.
A loud grating sound interrupted their chat, startling her from her reverie. “What’s that?”
“Do me a favor, Con. You need to move to the back wall of the elevator. Okay? They’re breaching the door. It’s been damaged.”
She huddled in a back corner as the men outside worked to pry open the doors. It took several more minutes, but Jared stayed on the phone with her throughout the whole ordeal. When the fire fighters finally made it in, two of them, dressed in complete fire fighter uniforms, helped her limp out of the elevator and through the rubble.
“Hey,” Jared said, his voice sounding in person as well as through the phone.
She looked up and smiled, then blinked and studied his face. He grinned and hung up his phone.
Oh my God! “Jared? Jared Majors.”
“Constance Meriwether,” he said with a grin. “It’s been a long time.”
Heat warmed her cheeks as she realized she’d spoken of him…to him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged, that adorable smile she remembered from so long ago curling his lips. “You had enough on your mind.”
“Miss?” a fire fighter said, gesturing for them to continue outside. “The ambulance is outside.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
Jared gently took her by the arm. “Come on, Con.”
She let him lead her out to the ambulance, where she sat on a gurney. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
“Just let the EMTs check you out.”
The diagnosis was a bruised hip and elbow and a bump on the noggin, but no concussion or broken bones. No need to transport.
“See?” Jared asked as she slid off the gurney and waved bye to the EMTs. “All’s well that ends well. And now you’ve plenty of time to make it to your reunion.”
“I don’t think I’m going to go.”
He looked into her eyes. “But then who’s gonna be my date?”
“Wha…what? I-I don’t, umm…”
“Why don’t we discuss it over dinner tonight?” He took her hand.
Staring into his deep blue gaze, she smiled. “I’d like that.”
The End
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Thank you again to Seriously Reviewed for hosting us this past week.
I hope you all enjoyed our little vignette, and please join us at www.LayleKeaton.com
Signing off,
~ Madison Layle
~ Anna Leigh Keaton
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