Mr. Lawson's Assistant

Chapter 60

One hour into our two hour wait, Damon recieved a text from Greyson that said the maintenance guys had just extended the wait another hour. Everyone inside the elevator was sitting down now, the guys had taken off their suit jackets, and the other woman and I had taken off our shoes, because the air in the elevator was sickeningly warm. I'd started to sweat ages ago, and both my white cami and tan throw-over were drenched in sweat. The guys all had large spots of water around their collars and armpits. Everyone except Damon had powered off their phones to save battery in case of an emergency, and we could now hear faint sounds of construction below us.
Wiping the droplets of sweat off my forehead, I lay my head back against the elevator's metal wall that was no longer cool as it had been earlier. I'd changed my hair from a ponytail into a bun to try to help the air flow around my neck, but there was no air flow. It was miserably hot. So much so that no one even had the energy to talk to each other anymore. Damon was sitting beside me quietly, his eyes closed and his legs sprawled out across the elevator floor in front of him. It looked like he was melting, because of the amount of sweat that was soaking his white shirt. Slowly, I closed my eyes against the heat, welcoming the restless sleep.

I faded in and out of sleep for the next hour, too hot to be aware of much of what was happening in the elevator, but near the end of the hour I was shaken awake. The entire elevator started to vibrate, and I startled myself into a sitting position. Everyone else was stirring and looking around in bewilderment too. One of the men had already stood up and was steadying himself by grasping the rails around the elevator walls. I stood up with Damon and we both fastened ourselves to the railings as well. Momentarily, the elevator stopped shaking and a man started shouting from above the elevator. I wiped my forehead and glanced up as the sound of an electric drill filled the air and the vent in the ceiling shuddered. Seconds later, the vent opened and a man with a construction hat on appeared.
"Hey guys, the elevator is stuck and we're not going to be able to fix it for another week or so. To get you all out we're going to lift you guys out through this hatch." The man instructed, pausing to reach back and retrieve a cable with a looped belt on the end of it. He lowered the cable down into the elevator, and called back to whoever else was on top of the elevator with him to secure the opposite end. Then, the worker leaned back through the opening, "Ladies up first." He looked between the foreign affairs woman and I. Before I could say anything, the woman pushed off the wall and clicked her way over to the cable. Apparently, she'd already replaced her heels. With a very no-nonsense look on her face, she slid the cable's straps over her thighs and hiked up her skirt to situate the pieces just below her butt. Sending a sharp look in the direction of her colleagues, she waited until their gazes quickly scattered, before she motioned to the man above her to begin pulling her up. It took ten minutes before she was out of the straps and on top of the elevator. Then, the cable was lowered for me. I ignored the fact that I was also wearing a pencil skirt and stepped up to the cable. As I started to sort the straps and fit my ankles through the correct loopholes, I tripped and steadied myself against the elevator wall.
"Careful ma'am." The man above me called out, a concerned smile on his face as he spoke. I refrained from rolling my eyes. Tripping was so dangerous.
I leaned back down to adjust the straps again and I felt a tug on the waist strap that I'd set loosely up on my hips. When I glanced up, Damon was beside me, tightening the waist strap properly.
I pursed my lips and jerked the strap around my left leg tighter. "I don't need your help, Damon." I muttered, reaching to adjust the right leg strap.
Damon tightened the waist strap, "They were looking at you." He didn't look me in the eye, rather he kept working on the straps as though he hadn't said anything. I glanced over at the guys and now noticed that Damon was strategically positioned so that I couldn't see them and they couldn't see me.
"Ma'am, I'm going to start pulling you up here. Try to stay as still as possible." The man called down to me from above the elevator. I followed the instructions he had given the lady before me and crossed me legs, before I took ahold of the cable that was attached to my belt. Damon took a step back, his eyes firmly locked on my face as the cable started pulling me up towards the open vent. It was uncomfortable knowing that everyone below me could see more than half way up my skirt, but I decided to pretend that I didn't care.
Some random buisness guys just got blessed today.
I thought, sighing as I let go of the cable and reached to hoist myself up onto the elevator roof. The man who had helped pull me up and another female construction worker helped me to my feet before ushering me to where the doors to the sixth floor had been propped open. I shifted my skirt back up over my thighs so that I could climb up through the open doors. As I straightened my skirt and readjusted myself, I looked up to find no one but two other construction workers present in the hall. I turned back to peer into the elevator shaft to see the two other workers straining to pull someone else up, before another worker cautioned me away from the entrance. I waited in the hall for a moment, before I decided to take the stairs back up to my office. I wasn't missing work just because Damon said I could.
*
Back inside my office, I tucked my cell phone into my purse and set my purse beside my desk. Part of me knew that as soon as Damon got out of the elevator he was going to come find me, and if I was right, I didn't want to leave all my stuff again.
I settled back behind my desk and opened the contract that I had been editing. Not three paragraphs in, a knock sounded on the door that led to Mr. Lawson's office. The fact that he'd knocked meant that he'd known I had come back. I called for whoever was knocking to come in, and wasn't surprised when I saw Greyson step over the threshold.
He glanced over my desk and the corners of his lips twitched. "Oana," he started, pushing his hands into the pockets on either side of his khakis, "I thought you were done for the day?" He cocked an eyebrow, and I was reminded of how similar he looked to his brother when he did so.
I lifted my chin and shook my head once, "No, sir."
Greyson smiled this time. "Damon sent me in here to tell you that you're done for the day." He said, amused.
I faltered, before my temper flared. "Is that his call to make?" I frowned, crossing my arms.
"No, it is not."
I waited for Mr. Lawson to say something else, but he simply looked at me with his calm, blue eyes, leaning back against the wall patiently.
After waiting a moment, I sighed and uncrossed my arms. "You're siding with him, aren't you?"
Greyson nodded, straightening as I stood and shut off the computer. "I've learned that if Damon wants something, he's going to get it. Whether I side with him or not." He met my eyes when I paused to look at him.
When Damon wants something?
I pushed Greyson's words to the back of my mind and grabbed my purse. "I'll see you tomorrow." I shook my head as I came around to the front of my desk. Greyson's mouth inched up in the corners and he nodded at me. I left my office and headed down the hall in the opposite direction than usual. As I made my way down the stairs and out through the front lobby, I pulled out my phone when I heard my phone ringing. Kenya's phone number flashed across my screen and I realized that she'd promised to come in and say goodbye before she left. But Damon had come in and dragged me into the elevator and I'd forgotten all about Kenya.
"Kenya-" I answered the phone but she cut me off with an annoyed sigh.
"You let Damon drag you out of work before lunch?"
I frowned and pulled my phone away from my ear to check the time. She was right, it was nearly one o'clock now. 
"What-"
"Don't what me! I saw him practically haul you into that elevator earlier!" She cut me off, the tone of her voice completely contrasting with the words she was speaking. She sounded almost amused.
I stopped walking and lifted my purse onto my shoulder. "Damon did not take me out before lunch time, Kenya. He bought me something and he wanted to show it to me-"
Kenya chuckled. "Save it, honey."
Lifting my chin a notch, I raised my eyebrows and opened my mouth to respond, but before I could, she spoke again. "Joking! Sweetie, take a chill pill and look to your left."
I followed Kenya's instructions and turned to see her standing up from one of the lobby chairs. "Your face," Kenya started laughing as she approached, "was priceless."
I lowered my phone and crossed my arms. "Not funny."
Kenya's smile broadened, "Well, I'm laughing..."
"You do realize that the elevator-"
"Broke? Yeah, Greyson told me. By the way-"
I cut Kenya off, seeing how quickly she was about to change the subject. "By the way, I don't like being interrupted." I cocked and eyebrow.
Kenya smiled, "Me either." When I rolled my eyes, she winked at me. "Back on topic, David and I are going out tonight and I was hoping that you'd coerce Damon into a double date for me?"
My heart skipped a beat, before my lips pursed. "Absolutely not."
"Oh, come on! You guys went out last night, what's one more date?"
I shoved my phone into my purse. "One more date than I want to have with my boss's brother." I shook my head, starting towards the front door. Kenya kept pace beside me, pleading with the side of my face with her big, chocolate eyes.
"Oana, you're being-"
"Ridiculous?" I turned to Kenya with raised eyebrows, just as we stepped out onto the sidewalk.
She frowned, "Ok, that's enough of that sass." Kenya gave me a quick once-over.
My lips twitched, but I withheld the smile. "I'm busy tonight."
"Ok, what about tomorrow?"
I slipped my purse off my shoulder to look for my keys as we walked into the parking garage.
"I'm going to be busy whenever you plan on going." I murmured, frowning when I couldn't seem to find my keys.
"You need to let your hair down a little sometimes!" Kenya argued, as if what she'd just said made any relevant connection to our conversation. Going out with Damon on a double date would be the opposite of relaxing. I didn't respond. Pulling my purse open wider, I searched for my keys, but after emptying every pocket and zipper, I still couldn't find them. Kenya had stopped talking and was watching me curiously.
"What's wrong?"
I shoved my hands into the pockets on my skirt and searched for my keys. "My keys are gone." Kenya bit her lower lip and winced. I noticed and stopped searching my pockets, looking at her with raised eyebrows.
"You took them?"
She shook her head, "Technically, Greyson took them-"
"Why would Greyson take my keys?" I said, exasperated.
"Because I asked him to."
I turned to see Damon sitting on the hood of my car, holding my keys in his left hand and a bag with a shoe box inside it in his right hand.