I could not believe it. The elevator had just broken down, stuck somewhere between the third and fourth floors of the building, and the man standing on the other side was none other than Alan Cumming. As I looked at him in awe, he smiled, showing off his luscious dimples and nearly making me faint from delight.
"Are you all right?" he asked.
Nodding, I shivered as his voice washed over me. Ooh, that voice. I'd had dreams about it, though none would ever be able to compare to this. I smiled shyly at him as he removed his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. I, of course, was not cold at all but I stayed silent as I watched him straighten his shirt.
An awkward silence filled the small enclosure and I took a moment to pinch myself discretely. It hurt, so I was definitely not dreaming.
"You aren't dreaming," he assured me, seeming to guess what I was thinking.
"N-no, I guess not," I stammered, blushing deeply as he chuckled softly.
"You sure you're all right, miss...?" he trailed off, realizing he didn't know my name (though I sure knew his).
I took a deep, steadying breath. "Sarah. My name is Sarah."
He smiled again, and I got a nice view of his dimples as he came to stand next to me. "Nice to meet you, Sarah."
It was my turn to smile as I handed him his jacket, but he waved my hand away. "We might be stuck here awhile, you know, and I was roasting anyway."
"Thank you, Mr. Cumming," I whispered. "I think I owe you one."
But he just laughed gently and said, "Mr. Cumming is my father, love. You can call me Alan."
My eyes went wide and I sat down on the elevator's carpeted floor, leaning my head against the wall. He followed suit, crossing his legs elegantly and sighing with a slow smile of contentment. I looked at him carefully, opening and closing my mouth a few times.
"Alan?" I asked. "How long do you think it'll be till we're rescued?"
He shrugged. "I'm not sure. You might as well get comfortable."
I nodded, carefully re-adjusting my borrowed jacket around my shoulders. "Mm."
Secretly, I wanted nothing more than to snuggle up to him, but we'd only just met and I didn't want to spook him, so I just sat there in silence as the minutes ticked by. Then...
"Sarah?" he asked. "You all right? You look uncomfortable or something."
At the sudden sound of his voice, I jumped because I had gotten lost in my thoughts. I blushed, blinking a few times, and looked into his warm brown eyes.
"I...yes, I'm okay," I assured him. "It's just that I never thought I'd meet you in an elevator of all places."
He chuckled softly, smiling reassuringly as I blushed a deep red, and patted the carpet next to him softly. I stood shakily and crossed the short distance to where he sat, settling my body next to his. He smiled again, and gently readjusted his jacket around me as I got comfortable and sniffed it curiously. It smelled like vanilla and something that was uniquely Alan - mint perhaps - and shivered as the smell invaded my nostrils.
I blushed yet again and hid my face in my hands as I realized he had probably figured out my secret. God, I was mortified: here I was in a broken-down elevator with the one person I loved more than my boyfriend and I had probably made a complete fool of myself.
However, he just smiled that smile again and allowed me to lean my head on his shoulder. We sat in comfortable silence for a time as my small hands absently played with his elegant fingers. He watched as one of my hands twined perfectly around three of his fingers, and gave me a light squeeze around the shoulders. I twitched in surprised delight as he started to retract his arm but before he could, my free hand came up to stop him, and he readjusted his arm as I looked into his eyes.
Just then, my stomach gave a noise of complaint, breaking through our quiet contentment. I blushed for what must have been the millionth time, but Alan just smiled comfortingly and tightened his hold on me.
"When we get out of here, I'll buy us dinner," he said, his honeyed-velvet purr of a voice resonating against my ears deliciously. "And then, if you'd like, we can find a phone and call your family."
"Thank you," I murmured softly. "I'd always suspected you were a gentleman, but now I can say so for sure."
It was his turn to blush then, a pink tinge spreading across his face and giving a nice color to his luscious dimples. "I like to think so."
Suddenly, there was a grating sound, and the elevator started moving. I twitched from the sudden noise, clinging tightly to his waist as we rode out the trip. When the doors opened he stood first, holding out an elegant hand to help me up, which I accepted gratefully. We exited our prison, glaring back at the closing doors with similar looks of disgust, and stepped into the night.
It was then that I realized I was still holding his hand, but he just gave mine a squeeze of reassurance as we walked on.
"Come on, we'll go back to my hotel," he said. "We can order in and then you can call your family if you like."
I could only nod in surprised delight but he could sense the hint of nervousness in my response. After all, we'd just escaped one elevator and now we'd have to face another. Joy.
"It will be okay, love," he soothed. "My room is not too far up, I promise."
I nodded again. "O-okay. I trust you."
He squeezed my hand again as we headed through the hotel's front doors, both of us thankful that nobody was in the lobby except the employees, and entered the elevator with a shared sense of unease. Taking a deep breath, he pressed the button and watched the doors close. Luck, however, seemed to be on our side and we made it in one piece.
We stepped out of the elevator with sighs of relief, my eyes meeting his briefly as he motioned for me to follow him. I smiled and followed him down the hallway, taking in the smell of cleaning supplies and mustiness that all hotels seem to have as we walked.
"Ah, here we are," he said, stopping in front of room 127 so suddenly that I walked right into him.
Despite his slender form, his body was warm and sturdy against my own, and I wrapped my arms around his waist for balance. He chuckled softly, giving me another one of those wide, heart-melting grins as he turned to face me.
"You all right?" he asked. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"You didn't," I assured him. "I'm just off-balance to begin with and your sudden stopping kind of messed with what little balance I have."
Alan chuckled softly, handing me his room key and motioning for me to do the honors. I smiled widely and unlocked the door, only pausing to turn the lights on and lay his jacket across a chair, then sat on the bed to watch him get settled.
He stretched gracefully, exchanging his dress shirt and pants for a pair of much-loved sweatpants and T shirt, then sat next to me on the bed. I looked into his eyes and blushed yet again as he squeezed my hand gently.
"I get the feeling that there's more to you than what you've told me," he said. "I won't laugh at you, love, I promise. I've heard it all; trust me."
I looked at him in surprise, taking a deep, steadying breath. I opened and closed my mouth a few times while I decided what to tell him, and he laughed gently (probably thinking of when I had responded the same way earlier).
