42nd & Lex Read Free Page B

to that voice. I take a
couple of deep breaths to steady myself. 
    “30 th Floor, going up.” The
elevator voice announces our arrival and I ready myself to shove forward out
the door. Maybe I’ll get a good knock in on the coffee woman on my way out. Lindsey
shakes her head and grabs my arm to pull me out. 
    “It is so sad that you are afraid of
elevators and in New York City of all places. I hope your new place isn’t on
the top floor.”
    I scoff. “Like I could afford a penthouse
with what they pay here.”
    “True,” she agrees. “Abri you really should
have taken a look at that man in the elevator. He was beautiful. Godlike even.”
    “Godlike? Really Linds?” I dismiss her. “I
was already hyperventilating, like I needed another reason to freak out.”
    Lindsey just shakes her head at me again and
turns to make her way back to her office. My last comment stops me dead in my
tracks. I am hyperventilating. That means I wasn’t holding my breath. I can
find no logical explanation other than the distraction of that man’s voice.
    Max is waiting for me with several new files
to review so I force myself to dismiss it as random chance. The remainder of
the day flies by full of emails, voicemails, and drafting Sarah’s divorce
petition. I head home around seven thirty happy my Monday has turned out to be
at least serviceable in spite of its rocky start.

CHAPTER THREE
    Tuesday starts out much like Monday with me
not wanting to get out of bed. Only this time I am not hungover. This time I was
up until damn near four o’clock in the morning thinking about the man in the
elevator, replaying the sound of his voice over and over again in my head. Something
long neglected began to unfurl itself inside me.
    Lindsey had come into my office on her way home
to gush again about how cute he was and how disappointed in me she was for not
turning around to look. “It was like he was staring into your soul,” she’d said.
“Like he was lost until you.” Those were strong words to describe someone who
only saw the back of my head. It’s more likely he was staring at the moron
who’d nailed his foot with her heel. Leave it to lovelorn Lindsey to confuse
serendipity with a sore toe. 
    It is going to be a long day on three hours
of sleep and tonight is the monthly associate’s happy hour. The partners sponsor
it each month in a feeble attempt to keep the natives from getting too restless.
It’s going to take the largest coffee at Chen's to get me going this morning. I
quickly decide against the train and opt for a cab instead. I am too tired to even
walk to the subway station. I hail a cab outside of Chen’s Deli and try not to
doze off as we lurch through the morning traffic. My mind starts wandering back
to my elevator guy. I can already tell this is going to eat up a large portion
of my day. My soul is restless again.  
    The ride takes longer than I planned. As
soon as my beloved building comes into sight, I flip the fare and a decent tip
though the open vent and bail out. Maybe the shocking cold of the block-long
walk will calm the stirring in my chest. 
    Lucky for me my delayed cab ride causes me
to miss the morning rush for the elevators. I will get to freak out alone
during my ride up. Maybe I should start budgeting to take a cab every morning. The
door begins to close and is forced back open by a hand.
    “Thanks for holding the car.”
    I don’t even bother to look up from my coffee
lid; I am too busy distracting myself from the ride by repeating my elevator
mantra of “Don’t fall. Don’t crash.” As if he can sense my apprehension, my
elevator companion moves to stand against the far side of the car. He probably thinks
I am afraid of being alone with him. I feel bad about that, he probably doesn’t
look the least bit like a serial killer. Amazingly, worrying about this
stranger’s feelings has distracted me enough that I’m actually thinking rather
than mindlessly placating my irrational fear. In