I rushed down to breakfast, and to my surprise, both Hayley and Drew were at the table. I thought that maybe Drew was just keeping Hayley company until I showed up. But it seemed we were actually also waiting for Damon. I started to get a niggling feeling that I was not going to like what the couple had to say.
Damon was not as late as he usually was, and after ordering our breakfast, the couple dropped their bombshell on us. They wanted the night to start out as myself and Damon had planned—separate parties. Halfway through the night, they wanted to meet back at the hotel and have what they called a stag-hen party. I could see that Damon was just as surprised as I was.
Once again, my quiet day off was now going to be spent in the company of Damon. I could tell that news did not sit well with him either. I may have accepted his apology but I was still annoyed with him and I knew he felt the same irritation toward me. I was going to go and find a suit of armor to wear if I was going to once again spend time with him.
I had enjoyed a lot of my time being in Hawaii with my friend for the week running up to her wedding. But I was getting so tired of this on-again, off-again relationship with Daman where one minute we were getting along and the next minute sparks were flying, and not the good kind of sparks either. It was wearing on my nerves. Sunday could not arrive soon enough. I hated feeling like that because this was my friend’s big event and I was supposed to be enjoying it with her.
After breakfast, Hayley and Drew took off to go scout for wedding picture venues and spend a day together before their big night. Damon and I were left sitting together in awkward silence for a few minutes.
“I’m going to go and change,” I told Damon. “I’ll meet you in the lobby in thirty minutes?”
“Why don’t we meet in my room,” Damon suggests. “Then we can sit on the balcony, have some coffee, and we can relax a lot better than sitting in a public place.”
“Okay,” I said because that did sound more appealing to me. I just know that Damon and my discussion will end in some form of heated argument. So private would be a lot better. “I’ll see you in your room in half an hour.”
“I’ll go up with you,” Damon said as he signed the breakfast bill.
We got into the lift and pressed the ‘up’ button. The lift had no sooner started to rise when it jolted to a stop. The power went out and we were stuck.
Damon pushed the emergency help button and we were told that there was a power outage for three blocks because of some accident.
This was just great! Every time Damon came near me, bad luck struck. I had to keep thinking about what a jerk Damon was and keep myself feeling infuriated so I didn’t start to panic. Getting stuck in a small dark box that could plunge me to my death was not an ideal situation for me. I was extremely claustrophobic and could feel the panic start to claw at my throat.
“Are you okay?” Damon asked me, switching on his mobile phone light.
“I’m fine,” I said, “just all good here.” I added, trying not to freak out or think about the oxygen running out.
“Carla,” Damon said softly, “it’s okay not to be okay sometimes. I’m scared of horses,” he admitted. “That fear I can see you are experiencing right now is how I feel every time I get close to one.”
“Didn’t you play polo?” I asked him, part irritated at myself for being so transparent and part thankful he was trying to help me.
“I tried,” Damon grinned. “What I can tell you from the experience is that horses definitely can feel your fear.”
“That explains the broken collar bones,” I tried to smile back at him.
“No,” Damon’s grin got wider, “those were football injuries.”
“Oh,” I smiled and tried to remember to breathe.
“You’re going to be okay.” Damon reached over and stroked my arm companionably.
“What if we’re not?” I couldn’t help it. The panic was taking control. “What if the power doesn’t come back on for hours.”
My breathing became labored as all the worst-case scenarios about being stuck in a lift started to run through my mind. I didn’t even realize I was voicing them out loud until Damon grabbed both of my arms and gave me a gentle shake.
“Carla,” Damon held me close to him. “Listen to me. It’s going to be okay.”
“No,” I shook my head. “It’s not. We’re stuck in this lift and we have no idea when we are going to get out of it,” My voice rose hysterically.