LOVE THY ENEMY - REECE WALSH.

𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑻𝑾𝑶

Reece stirred from his sleep earlier than usual, as he was required to attend training. He prepared himself, barely finding time to have breakfast before heading out of his apartment. Reece reached the elevator and pressed the button, stepping into the lift. To his surprise, he found Tatiana standing alone inside, her presence causing him to do a double take.

"What are you doing here?" Tatiana asked, keeping her distance from him, eyeing him up and down with a frown. "I live here, what are you doing here?"Reece let out a small laugh at her reaction before pressing the button to shut the elevator doors.

Reece repeated his question to Tatiana, inquiring about her presence in his apartment building. Tatiana glanced downward for a moment before responding in a soft tone that nearly went unheard. "I was visiting a friend." Reece's eyes widened in surprise when he heard her answer. He had initially assumed Tatiana was getting cozy with Selwyn Cobbo. "Oh? You're not into Cobbo?" Reece asked her, noticing her slight shake of the head in response.

"I think Selwyn is a good guy.." Tatiana spoke highly of the male. "But.." Reece leaned against the elevator wall, listening to Tatiana speak admiringly of Selwyn, a small smile appearing on her lips. Her words initially made Reece's eyebrow twitch, but her unfinished sentence piqued his intrigue. "But..?" Reece prompted, his gaze fixed on her, awaiting her next words.

"Dating one of you Broncos? No thanks." Tatiana told him as she looked around awkwardly, she wasn't sure if it was Reece or the fact that she had a fear of small spaces but something was making her feel lightheaded. Reece chuckled at Tatiana's response, a smirk forming on his face. He leaned even closer to her, as the elevator continued its descent towards the lobby. "Oh, come on! We're not all that bad." He teased, a hint of playful mockery in his voice.

The elevator came to an abrupt halt, causing Tatiana to panic as the lights began flickering before dimming completely. Reece calmly assessed the situation and stated, "I think it's stopped." He looked at Tatiana, noticing the worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, this happens sometimes. They'll fix it." Reece reassured her, although he was secretly relishing the fact that they were currently trapped together.

Tatiana rolled her eyes at Reece's statement, clearly unimpressed with his attempt to reassure her with the obvious. Reece pressed on the emergency call button to contact help, speaking into the intercom. "Hey, uh... My name is Reece Walsh. I live in the building, but I'm currently stuck in the elevator..." Reece waited for a moment, listening for a response as the emergency call connected to the building maintenance team.

Reece continued to communicate with the maintenance team through the speaker, receiving the unfortunate news that it was a maintenance issue and that they would have to wait for it to be resolved. The estimated time for repair was between half an hour to an hour. Now, Reece and Tatiana were left with no choice but to wait, trapped in the elevator together with no escape in sight.

Tatiana let out a frustrated sigh and muttered, "Well, this is great..." She ran her fingers through her hair, clearly upset about the situation. Reece began hopping up and down in his spot, which prompted Tatiana to yell at him. "What the hell are you doing? Stop it!" Reece stopped and explained his reasoning to her. "Trying to see if it would restart the lift."

"It's a maintenance issue, you idiot. It won't work like that," Tatiana snapped, her patience wearing thin. Reece observed Tatiana as she began to hyperventilate, her panic evident. "What are you doing?" he asked, sighing quietly. "I'm panicking," Tatiana admitted, looking around desperately for an escape route. Reece chuckled softly at Tatiana's panicked state, attempting to reassure her by saying, "Yeah? Well, don't panic."

However, Reece hadn't fully grasped the extent of Tatiana's distress until she suddenly dropped to her knees, tears streaming down her face. "Shit..." Reece muttered, feeling a pang of guilt as he saw Tatiana crying next to him.