Chapter 5 - Finally

The whole second floor was empty except for the guy, who cleaned out the bins at the end of the day. Melanie’s phone vibrated. Again. She had promised to bring pastries for today’s office Christmas party. Some of the staff had decorated the showroom in the building next door. The party had started half an hour ago and they were probably wondering what took her so long.
The truth was that the thought of mixing and mingling with the other employees, amongst them Malcolm and very probably Mr. Pennington too, held absolutely no appeal to Melanie whatsoever. She sighed and checked her E-Mail Inbox again. Something she was constantly doing since the incident with the Forest River project. Empty.
Her thoughts wandered to Wesley. As promised, he had spent his lunch break with her, the day after he had stood up for her before Rupert Pennington. Their conversation had been funny and his remarks as witty as ever. Wesley had been all attentive and friendly, but Melanie had read hesitation in his light-blue eyes. There had been no casual brush of his hand over hers. Also, he had chosen a table amidst the cafeteria instead of the more hidden area in the back. All in all, it felt as if they lost their spark. She lost it, to be precise.
In the four weeks since, Wesley had for the first time taken his whole allowance of home office days. That left them with one or two lunch breaks per week spend in exactly the same way as the first one. Amicable. Melanie had started to hate the word.
The other thing Wesley had become hesitant with was food. She had noticed how he tried to eat smaller portions and to restrict himself of nibbling between meals. On two occasions, she had brought pastries and he had hardly eaten a whole piece of cake and only one muffin. His cutting back was not yet visible, but the intention seemed clear enough for her. Wesley wanted to erase whatever there had been between them for good.
»Here you are hiding. The others are waiting for you.«
Melanie flinched. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn’t notice Wesley approaching.
»Excuse me. I didn’t mean to startle you.«
He came closer. Today he wore a dark blue suit pant and a white shirt with a brown belt and brown shoes. The shirt was one of his older ones and stretched a little over the flab of his belly. All in all, he looked very handsome with his coat dangling over his forearm. And he smelled of aftershave and winter.
»Are you Ok, Melanie?«
She needed to express her affirmation. To tell him, that everything was alright. Certainly not how she really felt. Instead, she shrugged her shoulders.
»I guess the others are merely asking where the pastries are and not so much where I am.« That sounded bitter even to her ears.
She rose, but Wesley didn’t move and suddenly she found herself standing right in front of him. His presence at close added to her overall confusion.
»As I said, you are a sunshine in the grey. I am pretty sure, the others feel the same way.«
More bitterness. She wanted him to feel a certain way about her, not Malcolm or the others. She wanted to be his sunshine. »Then we shouldn’t let them wait. Not for me and not for the pastries.«
He gave her a thoughtful look but didn’t comment on her remark. Melanie concentrated on staring at the plastic containers with sugar-coated muffins, chocolate cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate cake with icing and lemon tartelettes and pondered over how to best carry them, when Wesley leaned down and took half of them, leaving her with the other half. Together they set off for the elevators.
Melanie walked right behind him and couldn’t else but stare at his love handles which were at open display now, that he wore no suit jacket. Even if he hadn’t been eating properly with her, he did not seem to have starved otherwise. With her elbow she pressed the button for the ground floor, wondering whether the icy rain had stopped in the meanwhile, because they had to change buildings. Wesley at the same time pressed for the basement.
»It’s still pretty icy out there. It will be better if we go through the garage.«
Of course, she should have thought of that.
The company building had at one time been a production site as well, therefore, there were huge freight elevators. In contrast to them, the passenger lift was rather small. When the elevator doors refused to close, Melanie made a step towards Wesley, feeling his soft waist against her arm. He recoiled from her touch, but there was nowhere to go. He settled with his back was pressed against the wood covered wall panel. Melanie stared at the closing doors, feeling a lump building in her throat. Did he despise her so much?
After only a few seconds, the elevator stopped suddenly with an odd jerk in the midst of its descent. She looked questioningly up to Wesley. He shrugged his shoulders. Then, he awkwardly tried to reach for the control panel, but loaded with all the plates and containers and the little space they had, that meant leaning in on her. He stopped in his movement.
»I am sorry. If we could switch positions?«
Melanie looked around the elevator. Then, she started to staple the containers in the corner next to the still closed doors and did the same with the ones Wesley carried. Carefully, she shifted in the other corner, thereby giving Wesley access to the buttons.
»I guess, this qualifies as emergency.«
He pushed the red one. Nothing happened.
»This is a bit disappointing.«
He shot her a worried look. »Are you Ok with enclosed spaces? Are you afraid?«
She must really look miserably. »I am fine. What are we going to do?«
Wesley fished his phone out of his coat pocket and started to dial the number on the little plate next to the control panel. Two calls and a few minutes later, he set the phone down again.
»There is another elevator emergency at the other end of the city and they only have one team available. Apparently, the elevator company chose today for their Christmas party as well. He said he can’t promise anything but told me they can be here in one, one and a half hours. I told Rupert and Giles, though I am not sure, Rupert was still in a state to be able to comprehend what I told him.«
Wesley held out his phone to her.
»Do you want to tell someone?«
Melanie just shook her head.
»Are you sure, you are Ok? I mean I can see that being stuck in an elevator instead of rocking the Christmas party must be a disappointment«, he sighed, »but you really look unhappy. Since some time now.«
Melanie didn’t trust her voice. Suddenly, she felt very weak. »I think I need to sit down.«
Wesley put his coat on the stained carpet of the little wooden box they were trapped in and Melanie sunk down immediately. Carefully, he sat down next to her causing the elevator to shake slightly. He was facing her, leaning against one of the walls, while she leaned against the opposite one. However, because her opposite corner was occupied by the containers, Melanie had to bend her knees.
»You should stretch your legs to facilitate blood circulation. You can rest your legs on mine, if that doesn’t make you feel uncomfortable.«
Melanie slipped out of her heels and did as told. Today she wore a bright red skirt that ended a little above her knee and a short-sleeved black turtleneck. Her legs were bare, because the office was heated so well, that she felt too hot if she wore stockings.
For the next few minutes, they sat together in uncomfortable silence. All the while, Wesley made a giddy impression on her, shifting several times. Was it her legs and the physical contact? She withdrew them again.
»You don’t have to ...«
He did seem to be at a loss of words.
»You seem giddy. Uncomfortable. I assume it’s because of me being too close.«
Wesley’s full lips curved into a sad smile and he shrugged his head slowly. »That’s not the case at all. I love being around you and you must know that for sure. As for why I am giddy, I didn’t have lunch and it is past six. I feel like I am starving.«
»You didn’t act at all as if you would appreciate my company lately.«
Again, the little sad smile. »Of course, you must think that. The truth is, I was intimidated. You are so nice and perfect and when I thought you would want to be with Malcolm, after I finally was about to tell you how I feel, it was very hard. But at the same time, I never wanted to force myself upon you. And I for sure don’t want your pity.«
»But that’s not how it is. Wesley ...«
The raise of his hand let her fall silent.
»I can’t talk about that with you on an empty stomach. This is too important to me.«
Suddenly, her heart fluttered like the wings of a little bird in her chest. She got to her knees, carefully placing the container with the peanut butter cookies on his legs. He looked up at her and Melanie meant to see the spark in his light-blue eyes again. A jolt ran through her body.
»Are you sure?«
His voice trembled. Melanie nodded fervently as he guided the first cookie to his eager mouth.