| A Twist of Fate Emily walked through the front door of the Four Seasons, trading the chilling winds of the New York winter for the heavenly warmth of the hotel's plush lobby. She stepped to the right of the door, cradling her cell phone between her neck and her shoulder, as she both listened to the man on the other end of the line and searched for her credit card in the depths of her purse. Finding it, she headed to the front desk. She handed her credit card to the woman behind the desk with a sigh. "So you can't make it to dinner then?" She glanced over the document that was handed to her quickly, before signing her name to it and pushing it back across the desk. "No, it's okay�Sure. Yeah. I understand." Emily paused, listening. "Yeah. Mmhm. Love you too. Bye, daddy." The woman handed Emily her room key. "Happy Valentine's Day, miss! Enjoy your stay at the Four Seasons!" Emily plastered on a fake smile and wished her a good day as well. The smile fell as she turned away from the desk, and she mumbled bitterly to herself, "Yeah. Happy fucking Valentine's Day. I didn't think this year could possibly be as bad as last year. I should have known better." The elevator doors opened as she approached them, and a young man held them for her, as she stepped inside. She smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks." He nodded slightly, but kept his head bowed and leaned against the wall opposite from her, pulling his baseball cap down a little lower over his forehead. What the hell is wrong with him? I'm having a shitty day but at least I have the decency to be polite. Spoiled brat. He could have at least said hello for Christ's sake. Emily shook her head, clearing him from her thoughts. She wondered why she was still planning to stay in the city at this point. It hardly seemed worth it now. But anything is better than going back home for the whole semester. Why the hell did I agree to take a semester off from school? Fuck you, Ryan. Way to ruin my life. This is just what I need. Half a year of Mother breathing down my neck and dragging me to the country club to meet a fresh crop of eligible young men. I wonder how long I can evade her wrath by staying in the city? She rubbed a hand against her forehead, feeling a headache creeping up on her. She still couldn't believe how badly this day was going. Valentine's Day had always been some sort of jinx for her though. First Mother calling to check up on me. Then Daddy canceling dinner. No, it's okay, Daddy. Bury yourself in your work when you haven't seen your daughter in three months. And on top of all that, the whole ordeal with Ryan. That fucking asshole. Happy Valentine's Day to you, too, Ryan. Emily supported her weight against the elevator wall, dropping her purse to the floor and sighing. The man in the elevator glanced over at her, but quickly looked away when she caught his eye. Who is this guy? He looks so familiar. He probably belongs to Mother's country club. He probably�Wait. When did we stop moving? Moments after she noticed that the elevator had come to a stop, the lights flickered and went out abruptly, only to be replaced moments later with the emergency lights. She groaned and threw her head back against the wall. "Fuck. You have GOT to be kidding me." She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and clicked it on. "And naturally, no signal." The man across from her slid down against the wall until he was seated on the floor. "Could this day get any worse?" "Yeah. You could be me." He turned to look at her, smiling wryly. "I seriously doubt that your day was worse than mine." "You wanna bet?" "Yeah, why not?" She sat down on the floor, facing him. "Beat this. First off, my mother has been on my back all week about giving her grandchildren. Jesus Christ. She never gives up�" He snickered. "And you think that's bad?" "Hell no. I wasn't finished. Like I was saying�then I get a call from my father. Who I haven't seen in three months. And surprise, surprise, Daddy is going to bury himself in work tonight and ditch his daughter, just like he always does." "Ouch." "That's not even the bad part yet. The reason I'm in the city in the first place is for Ryan. My loving boyfriend Ryan. I got in a little earlier than expected this morning and went over to his apartment. I let myself in and walked into the bedroom, figuring he was asleep. Oh he was sleeping all right. Sleeping next to some whore. Happy Valentine's Day, Ryan. Love you, too." The man let out a low whistle. "Okay, so you win." "Yeah." "You okay?" She shrugged. "I will be." "Did you break it off with him?" "Hell yeah. I nudged him awake, and needless to say, he was a little surprised to see me standing there. He sat up and started pleading with me, but I just stared at him until he stopped talking and then told him it was over. Then I threw my fucking ring at him," She paused, rubbing her ring finger, "And I left." He inhaled sharply. "You were engaged?" "Yeah. Bastard." "Wow. I'm sorry." She looked up at him, cocking her head to the side and laughing softly. "I just realized that I don't even know your name. I just told you all of that�stuff. And I don't know anything about you." He sighed, taking his baseball cap off and tossing it onto the elevator floor. "Justin. I'm Justin." She wracked her brain trying to match his name and face with someone she should know. "Have we met before? Because you look so familiar�" He shook his head. "No. No, we haven't met. But have you�have you heard of NSYNC?" Her eyes widened. "Oh. Oh, wow. I didn't even realize." She took a deep breath, calming herself. "It's nice to meet you Justin." He looked a little surprised that she wasn't going to make a big deal out of who he was, but apparently he brushed it aside. "Nice to meet you, too�" She smiled. "Oh, right. Emily. I'm Emily." "It's nice to meet you Emily." The lights flickered a few times, and a few moments were passed in silence. "So," She asked. "How long do you think we're going to be stuck in here?" "No clue. They probably don't even know we're in here yet." "And the day gets even better�" Justin shifted so his back rested against the same wall as hers, stretching his legs out. "Let's not talk about being trapped. I've had enough of feeling trapped today." Emily nodded. She nudged him with her elbow. "Hey, I told you my sob story. I think it's your turn." He bit his lip, thinking, and stared at her hard, straight in the eye, as if trying to see through her. Her breath caught in her throat. Oh. Fuck. He�his eyes�wow. Just wow... Yes, Em, that's good. Now let's see if we can form some coherent thoughts. Finally, Justin relaxed noticeably, apparently satisfied with what he'd seen. "Yeah, I guess it is my turn." She looked at him curiously. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to�" He shook his head. "No, it's okay. I just. Being in the business I'm in, you learn to be careful. I just. I need to be careful. After awhile, you learn to read people pretty well by what you see in their eyes." "So I passed the eye test, huh? That's good to know." Justin smiled faintly and took a deep breath. "So�yeah. This morning Brit and I broke up. Again. It's really the end this time though. I know it is. We always have fights, but I never doubted that she loved me before. I, uh�I never doubted my feelings for her before. That was pretty scary." Emily smiled sympathetically. "So. Between the two of us, two relationships were killed today�Are you okay?" He shrugged. "You know. I thought I'd be devastated. But I'm actually kind of okay with it. I still love her. I'm just not in love with her anymore. That's going to take some getting used to." She nodded. "I know how that feels. I feel like I should still love Ryan, just out of habit. I don't remember what not loving him is like, really." "Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel about Brit." He paused, running a hand over some scratches on his arm. "Breaking up with her wasn't even the worst part of my day. It probably should have been, but...it wasn't as bad as�I, uh�I was attacked today. By�by some of our fans." She inhaled sharply. "Oh wow. Are you okay?" "Yeah�I guess so. It's just a little surreal. You would think a grown man would be able to fight off some little girls. But they have strength like you wouldn't believe�" He paused, running his fingertips over a small bruise on his cheek before continuing. "You're just walking along, minding your own business, and then you hear someone scream out your name. Before you know what's happening, they're everywhere. And Lonnie can't get there quick enough. They pull at you from all around. You can't get away. And by the time Lonnie finally gets there, you're crumpled on the ground, just trying to shield your face, hoping that you'll wake up soon, and it will have all been a dream. And when you finally get away from the screams and the fingers and the people, you don't even know what's going on. Your clothes are torn; your head hurts from them pulling at your hair; you feel so dirty�And even days and weeks later you can still feel their hands on you." His hands were shaking, and Emily swore she saw tears in his eyes. He flinched when she gently laid her hand on the small of his back, but relaxed noticeably as she began rubbing his back softly. After a few minutes she finally spoke up. "This has happened before today, hasn't it?" He nodded feebly, not meeting her eyes. They just sat there like that for awhile, Emily rubbing his back, not knowing what to say, and Justin trying not to cry in front of this girl he'd only met an hour or so ago. They fell asleep like that, curled up against one another on the floor of the elevator, and only woke up about an hour later when the elevator jolted harshly. Emily yawned and sat up, looking around her and slowly remembering where she was. She had just opened her mouth to speak when the lights went out altogether. She screamed. It was one thing to be trapped in an elevator. But to be trapped in an elevator in the dark? That was not something she could stand for too long. She couldn't see two inches in front of her face. "Justin?" He smiled. "I'm right here Emily. You scared?" "I�don't like the dark." "It's the same old elevator as before. Now we just won't be able to see when the cable snaps, and we plummet to our death." She reached out in the general direction of his voice and hit him. "Don't say that!" Justin laughed, rubbing his arm where she'd hit him. "Hey now, I was kidding�" He reached blindly for her hand and pulled her towards him when he found it. "Come here." She huddled up against him. "Fuck. I fucking hate the dark." His stomach growled in reply. "I'm more worried about food deprivation than the dark. Man. I'm starving. I could really go for a burger and fries right about now." Emily nodded in agreement against his chest. "I think I have some crackers or something in my purse. It's no burger and fries, but it's something." She found her purse in the corner and managed to locate a pack of crackers, a granola bar, a pack of Tic-Tacs, and some Juicy Fruit. Justin sighed. "I hope they don't take too long to find us. I'm so fucking hungry." "Me too. At least we have crackers?" He laughed. "Yeah. At least we have crackers. But when we get out of here, I'm treating you to a big gourmet dinner." "Just so you know, I plan on holding you to that." A few minutes later, they heard a pounding noise from somewhere above them and a muffled voice. Justin stood up, pulling Emily with him, and they yelled for help as loud as they could. After awhile they stopped screaming and listened. The muffled voices spoke faster for a few moments and then went away. Justin sighed. "Maybe they're going to get help?" "Yeah. I hope so." They settled themselves on the floor again. They listened and waited. And listened. And waited. And waited some more. Still, there was nothing. Emily sighed. "Oh god. I'm going insane. I'm going to die of boredom, trapped in a dark elevator." He laughed. "I think we'll make it out alive." "Maybe. Maybe not. At any rate, It's been fun. I'm glad I'm trapped in here with you and not some scary looking old man." "Well�thanks, I guess. I'm glad I'm trapped here with you and not some scary looking old man, too." She smiled. "So we're agreed then. Each other's company is definitely preferable to that of a scary looking old man." He nodded. "Right." Just then, the lights came back on unexpectedly, and Emily and Justin found themselves sitting surprisingly closely, their faces only inches apart. They sat there like that for a few seconds, not daring to move any closer, but not wanting to move away either. Emily would have sat there all night, just staring into his eyes, but Justin moved. He leaned in, brushing his lips over hers gently. Emily didn't respond at first, shocked, but eventually her brain caught up with her heart rate, and she realized that she should be kissing him back. So she did. The kiss started off slowly, but after a few moments, Justin increased the pressure, nudging her lips apart slightly. His hand searched for something solid to hold onto as the world spun around him and found her hip, pulling her closer to him. Emily's hand snaked up over his chest and shoulder, fingers tangling into the curls at the base of his neck, as she pulled his lips closer to her own. They were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice when the elevator started to move. They didn't notice when it came to a stop again. And they didn't notice when the elevator doors opened suddenly. Emily and Justin did notice, however, when the people standing outside the door began whistling and cheering, as they spotted the couple on the floor of the elevator. They pulled apart, blushing furiously, and Emily buried her face in Justin's neck. Eventually, he stood up, laughing and pulled Emily to her feet. They managed to gather their things and exit the elevator, amidst the catcalls and applause of the people who'd gathered there. The people slowly dispersed. The onlookers lost interest. The hotel personnel apologized profusely for the inconvenience before scampering back to their work. The electrician went to work on the elevator. Justin and Emily stood in the middle of the hallway, wondering what to do next. Justin spoke up. "Sorry your Valentine's Day didn't turn out exactly as you planned." She smiled. "Don't worry about it. Sometimes a change in plans turns out to be better than what you had planned in the first place." He laughed softly. "I'd have to agree with you there." She yawned. "I guess I should be going to bed." "Yeah. Me too." Emily looked up at him, grinning devilishly. "You still owe me a dinner. Don't think I'm going to forget that." He smiled. "Don't worry. I plan on paying that debt. Are you in town for awhile?" She nodded, pulling her room key from her purse. "Yep. Probably for a week or so. Room 224." "I'll call you tomorrow or the next day about dinner. I'm in 336." "Good to know. So. I guess I'll talk to you later?" "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Emily smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "Good-night, Justin. Happy Valentine's Day." "Happy Valentine's Day, Emily." |