Chapter Six - Bittersweet

Taking out the last cigarette he had, Rob passed it to Seren. She lit it up and took a drag before passing it back to him. There was a haze of cigarette smoke hanging above them, but neither of them cared. The clutch bag was ruined, but it didn't seem to matter anymore. They shared the last cigarette, passing it back and forth, talking about everything from the first time Rob set foot on a film set, to the Christmas Seren had spent on a Greenpeace boat in the Antarctic. She fascinated him in a way he couldn't describe. She held his attention so effortlessly, and he found himself being drawn to her. Soon his body was next to hers, side by side. But she didn't mind. She noticed the way he ran his fingers through his hair when he got nervous, and seemed to think hard about what he wanted to say before he said it. The more he watched her, the more he noticed. The blonde strands of hair which sat on her shoulders underneath the dark new colour betrayed her. The dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. Time had almost stopped inside their tiny space. Seren stopped thinking about India, wondering if she knew where she was . Or if she had gone home without her. She no longer cared. They spoke until their eyes grew heavy, the quiet din from downstairs faded and tiredness took over. How long had it been?

"Wait...do you hear that?" Rob whispered, holding his hand out in a quiet gesture.

Seren held her breath. Underneath the din coming from downstairs there was a sound building up beneath them.

"You think it's help?" She asked, but Rob hushed her again.

"That's not a person...."

The elevator began to tremble. The lights flickered. Instinctually she flung herself against the wall. The emergency light went out. And the elevator began to move. Rob looked at her, his face a mixture of relief and dread. He didn't need to say it. She felt it too.

They came to a stop and the doors opened onto an empty floor. The bathrooms faced them, and Seren remembered the reason she had got into the elevator in the first place. Rob stepped out first, checking the door before he gestured for Seren to step out. The floor was silent. Not even the din from the lobby penetrated the silence. An awkwardness hung in the air.

"I guess...well...." Rob said, his hands pulling wildly through his hair.

She noticed his jaw flex, and that warm feeling between her chest and stomach began to gnaw at her.

"Thanks for being stuck with me." She said, almost kicking herself afterwards for saying something so lame.

But Rob smiled. And it devastated her more.

"Thanks." He replied, putting his hands in his pockets to save his hair.

"I owe you a pack of cigarettes." Seren told him, wondering if he would take her offer seriously. Part of her was joking, but part of her hoped that he would.

"It's fine." He said, and her heart sank.

He noticed the way her eyes fell as he spoke. He wanted to say something, do something to change it but he was faltering at every turn. Here was a girl he could hang out with all day and never get sick of. And the right words to say it evaded him.

"I mean...I don't mind about the cigarettes." He sighed.

It occured to Seren that they had been speaking so freely she hadn't thought about what she would say when it came time to part.

"Well...thanks." She said again.

A door at the bottom of the corridor swung open. Footsteps sounded towards them.

"Listen..." Rob said, checking they were still alone, "I'm filming in Central Park on tuesday. I'll tell the crew your name. You won't be turned away. Will you come?"

India appeared at the elevator foyer, and Rob's phone began to vibrate.

"Seren! Oh my god....I've been worried sick!" She proclaimed, wrapping her arms tightly around her.

The hotel manager appeared behind her, his face turning a shade of pale as he saw Rob's phone. He turned away to answer his phone, the hotel manager mouthing words of apology.

"We've been trying to get you out for hours, the electrics went out, the whole hotel went down." India explained, fussing over Seren.

She subtley pushed her cousin away. "I'm fine. How long was I in there?"

India looked at her peculiarly. "Two hours."

She noticed where Seren's eyes were looking and who the hotel manager was talking to.

"Holy shit! You do know who that is, don't you?!" She whispered excitedly.

But she didn't care. She wanted the man she'd shared captivity with to turn and face her so she could give him her answer. But he seemed locked in a deep conversation not even the hotel manager could penetrate.

"Yeah, I know who he is." She said.

There was no way to avoid the way they parted. Even though his eyes burned into her, spoke to her without saying a word they parted as strangers. Finishing his phone call, he turned to face the hotel manager and accepted his apologies. More members of staff were beginning to arrive in the corridor. There was no way to say it, without being heard. She watched him make his polite departure and felt a chord of herself go with him. He wanted to know if she would come. But he wouldn't let anyone else know where he would be. There was no other way than to walk off and hope that she would come.