Elevated

It started on that elevator. That was the day I opened up to Alina and told her the truth about what I thought of her. I was pleasantly surprised when she accepted my request to go on a date two months later, and now, I could not be happier than I am now. It had been four months since that first date and last night, I asked her if we could be exclusive. She had agreed and now, a new romance has been gained. Sure, I had been mean to her, to the point of making a complete jerk of myself, but she was willing to forgive me for that.

Walking into work that day with a spring in my step, I smiled slightly, nodding to the security guard. Sure, I had gotten off on the wrong foot with the beauty, but I am glad we finally managed to correct that. If I were being honest, I had been attracted to her for a while. She had gorgeous red hair with sparkling green eyes and a fiery personality to match. I could appreciate her being shorter than me, too, and she was adorable when she focused on work. What I wanted, more than anything, was to be with her, but before the elevator incident, I did not know how to approach her.

“Good morning, William!” Another woman from our department said. “You seem to be in a good mood today.”

“Ah, yes. It took some time, but I finally won over someone.” I replied vaguely, eyes on the elevator. “Thanks to an elevator breaking down, that is.”

“Oh, you mean when you and Alina got stuck on it for three hours a few months ago?” She asked, her eyes speculative. “You two haven’t been arguing since then, so I suppose the two of you managed to come to an agreement on things?”

“Something like that.” William said, stepping into the elevator. “It gave us some time to talk things over, at least.”

Alina did not want to inform people that we were seeing each other just yet, since things could change quickly. While I understand her point, I did not like the idea. I did not feel we had anything to hide. Riding the elevator up one floor, she got on, her red hair down today, green eyes sparkling like normal. When her gaze landed on me, she smiled slightly, before turning to face the door, her grey pencil skirt and suit coat to match looking nice on her full figure. Part of me wanted to pull her into my arms right then, while another side wanted to find the nearest broom closet.

“Good morning, Alina!” The woman I had talked with earlier said. “We were just talking about you!”

“Oh really? I’ll bet that was enlightening.” Alina replied offhandedly, her eyes turning to look at the woman. “How are you today, Elisa?”

“I’m good, just ready to throw myself into another day of work.” Elisa smiled before she glanced at me with a smirk. “So, did you two manage to become ‘good’ friends when the elevator messed up, or what?”

“Ah! Um, we just talked through things and decided we worked better when we weren’t fighting.” She stated, waving the remark away with her free hand. “Neither of us wanted to drag out fighting for no reason. Especially when we’re partners. Right, William?”

“Yeah.” I smiled before looking away from her at the wall. “Seemed pointless to fight when we were both just trying our best to do what the client requested.”

I loved her. Once we really started to get to know each other, it became even more clear. Alina was determined, funny, beautiful, and hard-working, and there was so much about her that I have truly come to find myself glad for the broken elevator. As this settled within me, I thought about last night when she agreed to become my girlfriend. She had this way of making me feel like a nervous, excited teenager and the thought brought a smile to my lips. Next, the problem would be going public with our relationship. For some reason, she did not seem to believe that I was serious about her.

“Though,” Elisa started, wagging her eyebrows as though she knew something was up. “You two would make a pretty cute couple.”

Before either of us could deny it, the elevator doors opened on our floor and she walked out, making me shake my head. Some people were just good at picking up on things like that. It was time to focus on work, so he stepped out of the elevator as well. When I looked back at Alina, I frowned slightly at the expression on her face. It looked as though something was troubling her. When I cleared my throat, however, she startled and smiled, taking a step out of the elevator as well. Even though I did my best to focus on working for the day, occasionally my thoughts would drift to her expression.

“Will?” It was Mark calling me to attention, his eyes concerned. “What’s up with you? You look so…worried? Stressed?”

“Ah, just some private stuff.” I replied, smiling up at him slightly as I played with my pen. “Nothing to stress over.”

“Oh. I see. Well, have you heard the rumor that Alina is seeing someone?” He asked conspiratively. “I overheard Elisa saying she thinks it’s one of our bosses and it’s a secret relationship.”

“What?” I looked up at him in confusion. “I thought that was against company policy.”

“Well, it is, but that’s the rumor. Apparently, someone saw her meeting one of the bosses after work.” He countered, putting a finger to his chin. “To be honest, I think it’s Robert. You know those two got really close on the last project they worked on together.”

This was news to me. I did not think Alina was the type of woman to cheat, but we had only just started dating. Considering this information made me think of what Elisa said just that morning. Was it possible Elisa was asking about their recent closeness to confirm her theory about Alina and Robert? But that did not sound right either. Shaking my head, I glanced over at Alina who was looking at her computer. As if she felt my gaze, she turned to look at me and smiled gently. Not one to believe office gossip, I smiled back and turned towards my computer.

“I doubt that.” I replied, focusing on the company emails I needed to sift through. “You should probably get to work. Robert will get mad if he catches you playing around.”

A little while later, I was down at the cafeteria looking through the menu when I saw Robert and Alina come into the cafeteria together. That is odd, I thought, picking up my order and walking in their direction. When Robert noticed me, he nodded and motioned me over with a smile on his lips. When I arrived, Alina tossed me a secret smile before turning her attention back to Robert with a serious expression on her face. It was clear they were not meeting to have a secret lunch date, but I could feel the jealousy curling in my veins. She was mine, right?

“I was just talking to Alina about you. There’s a new major client coming our way and I want you two to work together on it.” He said, a smile curling his lips. “Since you two have stopped fighting, your product has gone up and clients have nothing but compliments for you.”

“Yes, sir.” I smiled back, but from the odd expression on Alina’s face, I could tell it did not reach my eyes. “Thank you, sir. The elevator incident really helped us clear the air.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Robert smiled before looking down at Alina. “Keep up the good work.”

With that said, Robert walked away, greeting some people as he went. If he sensed anything off in my smile, he ignored it and just kept going. What a good person, I thought, looking down at Alina whose eyebrow quirked up in that questioning manner of hers. But she did not ask, as if she did not want to talk about it here. After she got her lunch, we moved to the tables to discuss the new project we would be working on together. I wanted to focus on our job today, but my mind kept going back to seeing the two of them together so recently after having heard those rumors.

“I’m guessing you heard the rumors.” Alina’s voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke, causing my gaze to snap to her. “You’re the only person I’ve spent time with in this manner in over a year. There is nothing going on between Robert and I. He is my boss and someone I only respect.”

The expression in her eyes was ‘I love you.’ And I could feel that more the longer she looked into my eyes. So then, if there was nothing going on with her and Robert, what was up with those rumors? Where were those stemming from and why? It was then, I felt the gaze of someone on me, and when I turned to look, Elisa was sitting on the other side of the cafeteria, a confused expression on her face. It was clear that there was more to the entire situation than just a passing rumor. Turning my gaze about Alina, I tried to puzzle out any issues between the two women but could think of nothing.

“Is there some reason the rumors would have started then?” I asked, watching as shock spread across her features. “Maybe someone dislikes you?”

“I…maybe. But, regardless, rumors are all they are.” She replied with a firm nod, her eyes earnest. “So, no more worrying. I would never dream of cheating on you.”

I believed her. I could tell she was not lying or trying to trick me in the way she spoke. Ignoring the eyes of Elisa, I turned my attention back towards my meal. It was clear that someone disliked Alina herself or was just trying to cause her trouble with the higher-ups. Or maybe, someone knew about my relationship with her. If that was the case, was it an attempt to get us both in trouble? I would have to keep my eyes on this situation and see where things led. After our meal, I left for a meeting with a client and Alina returned to the office. This was something I would have to be careful about.

This is a part three to Elevator. You can check part one out here:

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