Excerpt 5 - Maggie Le Page, Writer of Romantic Comedy

Excerpt Five:

'Are we stuck?' I asked, not quite believing it.

'Hmm, looks a bit like it.' He randomly pushed a whole series of buttons then gave the doors a kick for good measure.

'What, stuck as in really stuck?' My heart started to thud loudly in my chest.

Hands on hips, he eyeballed the doors. 'Yep.'

I told myself everything was fine, but my body didn't agree. While I'd never classed my small-space nervousness as claustrophobia in the past, I'd also never been trapped in a lift before. This felt a whole lot different to jumping in at ground level and leaping out a few seconds later.

Maybe I needed to re-think my claustrophobia status. 'I could really do without this,' I warbled.

He gave a wry smile. 'I know how you feel.'

Actually, he didn't have a clue. Dry mouth, clammy hands, and my chest felt like it had been shrink-wrapped in plastic. It was an exercise in concentration just to keep each inhalation measured. Late-for-work panic is one thing, but mind-numbing, loss-of-bodily control panic is quite another. I'd never had a full-on attack of claustrophobia, but the odds were on that being stuck in a lift would bring one on.

'I've got to get out of here!' I said then, feeling his sharp glance, pulled myself together and scrabbled for an excuse. 'I need to prepare for my eight-thirty lecture, and I'm running out of time.'

He indicated the "Phone-Emergency Use Only" label engraved on a small hinged square on the wall. 'Hey, no panic. We've got a phone. A quick call to the technicians should sort it.' He sounded confident and not at all claustrophobic.

'What's the number?'

'I think we just pick up the phone and it goes straight through.' He opened the flap. 'Oh.' The bare wires stared out at us. 'That's a bit inconvenient.'

Inconvenient? It was a damn sight more than a bit bloody inconvenient! My chest constricted and I took several deep breaths, trying to stay calm.

'Don't worry, you'll still make your lecture.' He said, upbeat. 'We'll find a way out.'

'Super,' I said, but my heart wasn't in it. This lift looked well-nigh impossible to get out of.

'Hey!' I exclaimed, suddenly excited. 'I've got my mobile!'

'Great stuff, Becs!' He patted my back as I ta-dah'd it out of my bag. Our enthusiasm was short-lived, though-no reception.

'Damn!' I dropped my useless scrap of technology-thunk!-onto the floor, slumped against the wall, closed my eyes and tried to magic myself to a sandy beach in the Greek islands. Hell, whatever worked. Just get me out of here.

No genies came to the rescue. I opened my eyes and we were still in a metal box, stuck in limbo I-don't-know-how-many feet in the air.