Several days had passed since I had successfully "taught" my young protƩgƩe the finer points of satisfying a woman.
Jake had proven to have quite an aptitude for pursuing this delicate art.
We had spoken several times since then, making a few references to that fateful evening, mostly speaking of it in animated tones, referring to it in a flirtatious manner.
He phoned me one evening with an invitation to a party to be held by some industry friends he had recently made. The party was being held in a Hollywood hotel, in one of the penthouse suites.
He mentioned that there were other friends he had invited when I commented that I didnāt want anyone to think we were "together".
"Itās cool" he explained.
"I told them I was inviting a few friends and neighbors" he added.
"You will be presented as one of my neighbors".
I agreed that it was a sound plan and he gave me the details of the date and time.
We drove to the hotel together the evening of the party and entered the hotel lobby. He greeted several other young men and women and began chatting with them casually.
"Good." I thought to myself.
"No one thinks anything of me being here with him".
Quite frankly, no one had even noticed me, and I was fine with that.
Jakesās friends quickly entered the elevators to head up to the hotel suite, while he stayed behind, using the hotel phone in the lobby. He mentioned that there was another friend he wanted to check in with, and that friend was staying in the hotel.
I waited for him as he tried to locate his friend, while the remainder of the guests arrived and went up to the hotel suite.
The lobby was empty by the time he got off of the phone and we proceeded to enter the hotel elevator, alone.
Jake immediately sensed my ambivalence and asked me what was wrong.
"What floor is this suite on?" I questioned nervously.
"the 15th" he replied.
He looked at me again, with interest.
"you okay?" he asked cautiously.
"Iāll be fine" I lied.
"Okay, whatās wrong?" he asked.
"Iām embarrassed to tell you" I started.
"Tell me" he insisted.
"I hate elevators" I blurted out quickly.
"Oh really?" he replied, his face full of interest.
"No, Jake, you donāt understand. I REALLY hate elevators".
My palms were sweating, and my heart was pounding as the elevator began to rise.
Jake laughed a little.
"Itās not funny, Jake" I shot back. "I have a severe elevator phobia".
He smiled, laughed and shook his head.
Just then, the elevator jerked. Then it stopped. My fear turned to panic very quickly.
Jake saw the panic on my face and tried to gather me into his arms to calm me.
It didnāt work.
I began to claw at the door, "open, oh my god, open"ā¦ā¦.I was totally freaked out by now.
Tears started to well up in my eyes, and I couldnāt breathe.
"Calm down, itās going to be okay" he chided.
"No its NOT!!!" I cried at him.
"Look, I know all about phobias" he continued.
"No you donāt, no you donāt, you donāt know about thisā¦.You donāt understandā¦..weāre gonna DIE in hereā¦.." I screamed incoherently, wailing like a preschooler.
I fell to the floor and sobbed like an idiot.
"Weāre never getting out of hereā¦the car will fall 800 feet and weāll be like bugs on a windshieldā¦" I moaned out of control.
I was deep in the throes of a full blown panic attack, brought on by my phobia, exacerbated by the elevatorās refusal to move.
Jake picked up the phone in the elevator and calmly called for help, while I ranted and raved in the background. When he was done, he sat down next to me, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.
"Listen to me" he began. "We are going to get out of here." He soothed.
"No we arenāt" I muttered between sobs, my words catching in my throat.
"I just spoke to the elevator folks" he told me. "the good news is that we WILL get out of here." "The bad news is that weāre gonna miss that party!" he looked at me calmly.
"Whā¦.what??" I barked.
"Theyāll be here in a few hours" he told me as I launched into another tirade in response to yet another panic attack.
"I canāt, I mean I canāt sit in here for that long, weāre gonna die, weāre doomed, oh my godā¦help me" I raged.
I tried to stand up, but my legs were so wobbly that I plopped back down on the floor. I was reduced to a heap on the floor of the elevator, sobbing uncontrollably, muttering things like "what if the car fallsā¦.what if the lights go outā¦ā¦what if thereās an earthquake".
I heard Jakeās voice amid all my ranting. It was firm and clear.
"Look at me" Jake said loudly and squarely.
I looked directly at him, tears streaming down my face, shaking like a leaf.