Chapter Sixteen

Lisa's POV

I quickly pushed him and managed to smile, he used the opportunity to kiss me.

"I'm Kim," Kim said and he shook her hands. "I'm a relationship expert." She said.

I smiled. "She's really good at it, you should refer couples to her." I suggested to Alex and he chuckled.

"So I'm inviting you to our house tomorrow" She said and I frowned. I looked at her and she winked at me, she didn't even ask me before taking such reckless discussion.

My mind cringed at the thought of having Alex visit us. "Why don't you guys come over to my house instead?" He asked as if he read my mind.

"Of course, that would be better." I answered quickly.

"You're cute, Mr Alex." She commended and I frowned.

"I wish Lisa told me that." He muttered and walked out of the office. I heaved a sigh of relief, he didn't seem to be interested in Kim.

"What was that for?" I asked her and mom laughed.

"You should be happy she's trying to help you get a husband." Mom answered and my eyes widened.

"A husband, I don't even have a boyfriend yet." I said.

"You said Alex's your boyfriend." Kim reminded.

"Yeah, I said so and it's quite true."

"What do you mean quite true?" She asked.

"We're not dating yet, we just like each other." I answered.

"Let's go home, we need to prepare for tomorrow's outing, tomorrow's valentine." She screamed.

I felt embarrassed. "Hey stop that, this is an organization not a store."

James walked in rudely, he didn't even greet my mom or anyone. "Lisa, I want to see you." He said.

"We're all workers here so we all have equal rights, you can't just barge into my office and tell me you want to see me." I said.

"Well, I did." He replied rudely.

"You're not my boss."

"I gave you this job, remember?" He ventured cautiously.

"How many times are you going to remind me?" I asked.

"Who's he?" Kim asked and stood in my front. "If he's giving you trouble, tell me, I can just discard him." She added and I smiled.

"It's nothing."

"I blame Alex for letting visitors into this organization." He replied angrily and walked out.

"What's his name?" Kim asked.

"James," I paused and she frowned. She wanted me to tell her his surname. "James Gerald." I answered.

"It's a nice name but I don't like his character."

"I'll just go and see him," I said. "I'll meet you guys at home, it's best you leave besides work time is over." I added and Kim nodded.

I walked out of my office and went straight to his office. "Good afternoon, Mr James." I greeted avoiding his gaze.

"You don't have to greet me, we've seen each other today and don't bother adding mister, you don't do that to Alex, you call him by his name even though he's your boss."

He was right, I didn't even notice that until now that he made mention of it, the familiarity between I and Alex had deepened and I felt myself yearning for him.

"Lost in your thoughts?" He asked and I shook my head.

"Are you really jealous of Alex?" I asked.

"Of course, you love him, don't you?" He asked and I kept quiet. "Just answer the damn question." He added angrily slamming his laptop. He stood up and walked towards me, I shifted back.

"I don't love him." I replied.

"Why do you keep lying to yourself?" I asked. "I love you Lisa, I want to marry you, will you marry me?" He asked and knelt down.

I didn't even know when I lost my temper. "I'm never going to marry a beast, I'm never going to marry you, I won't marry you." I answered and he stood up.

"But why?" He asked.

"Because I love him." I answered almost crying, the words popped out of my mouth before I could even stop myself. "I love Alex, I've tried to control my emotions but I can't, my heart truly belongs to Alex, I shouldn't have lead you on." I added and he frowned.

"Leave my office." He ordered and I walked towards the door. "This is not over Lisa, it's not." I heard him say before I walked out of the door.

I walked back to my office, I took my bag and came out, I hurriedly locked the door and wanted to climb the stairs down, I've heard too many stories of faulty elevators and I was scared to even use one.

"Don't climb the stairs when there's an elevator." I heard Alex's voice behind me and I stopped.

"I'm not used to using elevators." I confessed and he laughed.

"You should probably use one today, I'm going home, I could also give you a ride." He said.

"Thanks." I replied.

We waited patiently for the lift door to open and we walked into the lift. I watched him press a number and the lift door close. "I didn't know it was that easy." I said and he chuckled.

"You're not only cute, you're really fun to be with." He commended and I blushed.

Suddenly, the lift jerked into an abrupt halt. The lift was enveloped in darkness. I could hardly see anything.

"What's wrong?" I asked with fear.

The lights came back on and I could see him a little bit. "The elevator's not moving." He answered.

"What do you mean the elevator is not moving?" I asked confused. "Does it move before?" I asked again and he rolled his eyes shocked.

"Of course, how are we supposed to reach the down floor if it doesn't?" He asked.

"You can call someone to push it for us, for example if a car stops moving on the road, someone can push the car and it will move." I suggested and he laughed.

"Stop already, you're so funny."

"I'm just suggesting an idea."

"A car is different from a lift, theyare two different things." He explained.

"Okay, so how many minutes will take for it to move?" I asked.

"Look, my phone is switched off, what about your phone?" He asked.

"It's actually dead, my battery doesn't last."

"Shit, we're stuck in here." He muttered and I frowned.

"Stuck in here?" I asked. "I'm not stuck here, I'm going to shout for help, I can't be stuck in this container."

I pounded incessantly on the stubborn lift’s doors, fear gnawing at me.

"It's not a container or a box, you can't pus...."

I sat on the floor and started to cry. "Why does it feel like I can't breathe?" I asked.

"I'm sure someone would attend to us soon." He reassured.

Fear ripped through my throat, robbing my of all oxygen.

"Alex, I'm scared."