She was in such a rush, so she just dashed into the elevator oblivious to anything but punching the button for her floor. It was only after she settled in for the ride that she noticed she was not alone. It took her moment but finally she realized it was that actor, David Duchovny. He was standing in the corner, sort of propped up against the handrail, totally absorbed in a book. She thought ..he isn't even aware that I'm here! So she kept quiet, she had never been one to bother strangers, certainly not celebrities. So they rode the elevator together in silence until there was a horrendous noise of screeching metal on metal. The car came to a sudden, shuddering stop.
They both just stood there for a moment. David finally realized he had company and looked at her and shrugged. They said nothing. A few minutes went by and there was still no movement. Then suddenly a siren sounded, a deafening whine, the car shuddered once again, then absolute silence. David moved quickly over to the control panel on the wall and picked up the emergency phone. She just stood against the opposing wall and watched while he spoke briefly and then he was listening. She grew ever more concerned as his expression went from one of annoyance to disappointment.
He replaced the handset and turned to her and spoke. He said that the building maintenance man was aware of the problem, it had happened earlier in the day and he thought someone had placed an out of service sign on the elevator. Which they both knew no one had done. David continued by saying the man had said the problem was being worked on and the estimated time of correcting it was at least four hours and no, there was no other exit from the car than through the entry doors. So they were stuck.
She thought she could have been stuck for hours in an elevator car with worse company, so she simply thanked him for the quick action to the phone and sat down on the floor. Then he sat down opposite her, looked at her again and just chuckled. She grinned back at him and then started to laugh. So what had she been in such a hurry for in the first place to now be stuck in an elevator with a gorgeous man for hours, never mind that appointment!
He went back to his book and she pulled out her cell phone. She made a call to cancel and reschedule her appointment, put her cell phone away and got her laptop out, intending to at least get some work done. It was obvious he was not interested in conversation and she had never been good at social chitchat. She was just the slightest bit intimidated by his celebrity and handsome looks, so getting some work done seemed to be the thing to do.
They were both absorbed in what they were doing, when the car shuddered again and this time hard enough to jolt the car sideways. It was as if it were off its track somehow and now the floor was no longer level. She had to fight to maintain her position. Finally she had to give in into gravity and she rolled down and into the corner. David had already been sitting on the floor in the other corner, so he was unaffected by the sudden change in the angle of the car. So now they were both seated on the floor in opposing corners on the back wall of the car away from the control panel.
David volunteered to make the attempt to reach the phone. It was far more difficult than anticipated but after several tries he made it to the phone. He was only able to speak with the maintenance man on the other end for a moment, long enough to understand they were not in any real danger but remaining still and in one spot would be a good idea. Then there was another shuddering jolt that knocked him back and rolling down to where she sat on the floor. There was nowhere for her to go so fast, so David wound up falling on top of her. There was yet another shift in position so that the angle of the car had them positioned in a tangle almost up the back wall.
David attempted to pull himself up and off of her, but found that he could not move without feeling the car shift beneath them. She begged him to stop, now terrified that any further movement would somehow dislodge the car off its moorings even more and send the car plummeting down the shaft. She asked David what the maintenance man had said. He told her the man had recommended they stay still and in one spot. They both began to laugh at that comment. She did feel as though her laughter, if she let it continue, would result in hysteria, so she stopped. She concentrated instead on finding some way of being more comfortable with this man on top of her. By using tiny little movements she finally situated herself in such a way that he was more to her side than directly on top of her. Apparently David had found this whole process to be quite amusing because he continued to laugh. Or she thought maybe he's just ticklish.
Then the whole car started to vibrate and there was a low humming noise. Now she was really terrified and she could tell by the look on David's face he was more than just concerned. Almost instinctively they grabbed hold of each other and hugged close. The low humming noise grew louder and more metallic, finally culminating into a screeching shriek. Then it abruptly stopped. there was no more vibration and no more noise. Out of nowhere, they heard a man's voice screaming to remain perfectly still and that help was on the way but it would be a few hours yet. Neither one of them saw any point in even attempting to respond, so they remained silent in their embrace.
