Chapter 17: More close to you
Fiorella gets back to her senses and runs into the elevator before it closes. She looks nervously at Tito and he had already worn his suit.
“Why are you entering the same elevator with me?” Tito asks with a huge frown on his face.
“I’m sorry boss, I will leave now” Fiorella apologises and starts pressing the buttons.
“What the h*ck are you doing?!” Tito yells.
“I’m trying to leave” Fiorella retorts and tries tapping the button again but suddenly the elevator shakes.
“F**k!” Tito curses when he lost balance.
“Ah!” Fiorella yells and falls flat on the floor, the light in the elevator begin to shake, it looks pretty scary.
“What’s happening?” Fiorella asks and closes her eyes, being in an enclosed place scares her.
She wonders if it’s her boss that has planned this to scare her, Fiorella feels scared about it, though she uses an elevator just to overcome her anxiety of being locked up but she isn’t sure if she has overcame being claustrophobic yet, it has been her childhood challenge since her father died.
The light becomes stable, Fiorella stands up and starts pressing the buttons, but they refuse to work.
“The buttons aren’t working” Fiorella mutters anxiously.
Tito stands straight and walks to her side, he starts trying each of the buttons but none of them are functioning.
“This is bad” Tito mumbles and starts banging hard on the elevator door.
“Are we locked up?” Fiorella inquires and coughs.
“Someone open this elevator!” Tito yelled still hitting the door hard, but it seems like no one could hear him.
“Is anyone outside!” Tito yells.
“Help us, we’re stuck here!” Fiorella shouts but starts shaking all of a sudden, she leaves Tito’s side and walks to the end of the elevator.
Tito is still pressing the buttons .
Fiorella is already shivering and her breaths are seizing and getting heavier by the second.
“Open this darn elevator !” Tito screams but there is no response from outside.
The papers slip from Fiorella’s hands, she hold onto the elevator’s wall for support.
“I can’t breathe” Fiorella gasps, she’s having real difficulty breathing properly.
Tito, who was busy shouting, didn’t pay any attention to her.
“I can’t breathe,” Fiorella mutters, gasping more.
Tito turns to her. “Are you alright?” Tito asked not that he cared but she looks odd.
Fiorella’s gasping became worse, her body becomes filled with sweat.
“Hey” He calls and rushes to hold her before she falls to the ground. He doesn’t even remember the name of his secretary.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tito asks in confusion.
Fiorella starts struggling to tear her dress open, she isn’t feeling comfortable at all, it’s like she would die at any minute. It was almost impossible to tear it open.
“You are claustrophobic” Tito realises what’s wrong with her.
It’s a bit dangerous for her not to get air. He grasps her dress and tears the upper part into two, that didn’t help too much but she feels more free. Her visible pink laced bra and cleavages entices him but he releases her instead.
Tito looks up to the roof of the elevator and sees an escape hatch up in the ceiling. Tito starts jumping up and punching it, luckily it’s made of soft wood and didn’t hurt his fist much but it starts bleeding as the woods completely shattered, light penetrated into the elevator and so did air.
He looked back and Fiorella was still gasping and crying, he goes to help her up and moves her close to the middle of the opened ceiling.
“I… can’t,” Fiorella sobs.
“Take deep breaths, breathe in “Tito instructs and demonstrates, she imitates him nervously.
“Breath out”
She exhales as he instructed.
“Continue” Tito mutters and she continues breathing in and out.
Tito cups her face in his hands, he has seen those eyes before but he can’t remember where exactly.
Fiorella feels much better, as more air passes into the elevator.
“How do you feel now?” Tito asks but instead of replying, she hugs him tightly.
“I feel… scared”Fiorella sobs, she’s not able to pull herself together.
Anytime she has this attack, she feels scared that someone is going to kill her just like they kill her father. She doesn’t know what caused it because she lost her memories after her father’s death but according to Signora Ginvera since her father’s death., she became claustrophobic.
Her hands tightens around his stomach, her fingers gripping his shirt tightly.
“I’m so scared” Fiorella cries like a little child.
She has practically forgotten who she’s holding right now. Tito doesn’t know what to do for the first time in his life, he wants to push her away but he doesn’t want to, her tears are really wetting his shirt.
Tito suddenly stiffens his face. “Let go of me,” Tito said sternly.
Fiorella wipes her watery nose on his shirt. Her eyes widens when she realises who she’s hugging.
“Oh no”
Fiorella moves away from him, she can breathe more properly now.
“I-I’m sorry” Fiorella stutters, holding her torn dress together to cover her b**bs.
“Sir we are here”
“Open this elevator!” Tito yells.
“We are on it sir” A man yells from outside.
After a few minutes the elevator opens. “Are you alright sir?” another one asks.
Fiorella runs out of the elevator first and Tito walks out after.
“We are sorry sir” the three men apologise.
“All those in the technical team, you are all fired” Tioor yells angrily.
“No sir, we are sorry”
“It wasn’t our fault”
Their pleadings are not going to change his mind.
“Fiorella!!!” Enzo calls with widened eyes, he can’t believe its really her.
Tito and Fiorella look in this direction. Fiorella squints and adjusts her glasses, she becomes shocked and overwhelmed. when she realizes it’s Enzo.
“Guardian angel!” Fiorella manages to smile and runs to him.
Enzo spreads his arms and she runs into it and hugs him tightly.
“My heartbeat” Enzo mutters with a broad smile.
Fiorella smiles and hugs him tighter. Tito who is watching them clenches his bleeding fist angrily. First she hugs him and now she’s hugging another man.
“I shouldn’t care” Tito frowns and walks away from there.