Chapter 2 - I Won't Back Down

Earlier that morning

Izzy looked at the notes stuck to the brushed stainless steel fridge; one reminding her to pick up dry cleaning, the other reminding her to be at work for 8am instead of the usual 9am. She pulled the door open and looked at the contents of the fridge; mentally cursing herself for not restocking the previous day. A quick trip to the grocery store after work would definitely be needed. She picked up a carton of Tropicana and emptied the juice into a glass then glanced at the clock above the stove and smiled to herself - 5 minutes to spare. Sipping on the juice, she strolled across the tiled kitchen floor into the small but cosy living room. An L shaped brown and cream suede couch sat in one corner next to a vintage bookcase full of old and iconic Vogue magazines. She looked out of the large window that overlooked Central Park, the first spots of rain from the grey New York skyline hitting the glass.

Izzy took the last gulp of juice and walked back into the kitchen and set the glass down in the sink. She picked up her Burberry Prorsum trench coat, threaded her arms through the sleeves and tied the belt around her waist. Making sure she had everything in her handbag one last time, she grabbed her keys from the small glass bowl set on the counter and headed towards the door of her apartment. Strolling down the corridor towards the elevator that was situated in the middle of the apartment complex, Izzy's thoughts wandered to what was going to hopefully be a fun day at work. She pushed the small bronze 'down' button on the cream wall next to the elevator and waited for the elevator to reach the 8th floor. Her thoughts again floated to the day ahead of her, she had a feeling today was going to go well.

A loud 'ding' caused Izzy to step forward towards the bronze doors of the elevator as she waited expectantly. Quickly she adjusted the belt on her coat then looked up at the opening doors. Her breath was slightly faltered as she acknowledged the presence of another body in the elevator; she hadn't expected anyone else to be sharing the ride down to the lobby. Her eyes scanned over the man stood opposite her, arms crossed over his wide chest, strong jaw firmly set showing little to no emotion. Izzy's lips curved upwards to try and ease the tension as she stepped onto the elevator. Hearing the doors close behind her she attempted to move to the left of the tall man who was taking up the majority of the small space in the elevator. Her first move forward was brought to abrupt stop, her eyes darted to the door and widened in horror as she saw the bottom of her coat trapped in the elevator door. Her bag slipped from her shoulder onto the crook of her elbow as she reached down and wrapped both hands around the cotton material, tugging slightly whilst praying there would be no damage done to the coat.

The man stood closely watching her every move, debating whether or not to help her out. A lock of sun golden hair had fallen in front of her face as she struggled to release the coat from the clutches of the elevator door. His eyes drifted to her plump glossy lips, naturally pouting as her eyes focused on the task at hand. The furrow of her brow suggested she was getting more frustrated by the second; he mentally shook his head as he couldn't watch her fight with the coat anymore.

Izzy had momentarily forgotten about the red haired man who had remained like a statue throughout this event, so much for a perfect gentleman. Izzy braced her feet firmly on the floor, 'one final pull' she thought. Gripping the material tightly, she used all of her force to successfully release the coat. Her triumphing moment was short-lived as her elbow connected with the man who had proven his only skill so far was immaculate timing. She heard the rush of air leave his mouth and looked his way in time to see him edging closer to the floor clutching the most intimate part of his body.

"Oh my god!" Izzy gasped as she mindlessly threw her bag aside. So the guy hadn't come to her rescue, that didn't mean she wanted to assault him. The man groaned as Izzy fluttered around him thinking of something to do or say; subconsciously she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth trying to analyze what had just happened.

"I'm so sorry, I err..." Izzy stumbled on her words, unable to string together a sentence unless it contained less than 3 words. She placed a small hand on his broad shoulder in an attempt to console him but his grey eyes caught hers and her breath stopped in her throat. She stifled a small cough and stood up holding her hand out to him, he declined her invitation and grasped onto the gold polished railing pulling himself up in one swift movement.

Standing so close to him, she realised how much he towered over her small 5'10" frame. "I really am sorry, I had no clue you were stood so close" Izzy muttered not wanting to aggravate the man anymore. She grimaced as the next words left her mouth "Are you okay?" Of course he wasn't okay; he'd just been attacked by a crazy woman in an elevator. She knew she wasn't crazy, now she had to convince this man to think otherwise.

The man straightened himself out and forced a smile showing his perfect teeth; "Ah'll be fine." The doors of the elevator opened into the lobby and the man didn't hesitate to exit. Still feeling guilty and slightly embarrassed, Izzy picked up her discarded bag and set off after him.

"Wait!" she shouted, he stopped in his tracks and turned around to face her. He watched as she approached him, "Are you sure you're fine? I mean, maybe you should get checked out? Or, Ermm.." Izzy cringed again as the man opposite her raised his eyebrows and let out a low chuckle.

"Ah've suffered worse, ah'm sure ah'll survive." He turned again, ready to move towards the entrance of the lobby. Izzy reached out her arm and grabbed his elbow, unable to comprehend why she couldn't let this man walk away from her.

"Maybe we could start over." she held out her hand to him and flashed her best smile. "Izzy Reynolds, nice to meet you."

Izzy studied his every move and watched as his large hand engulfed hers. She felt the heat radiating off it soaking into her skin; it was a feeling that made her skin tingle with delight. "Stephen Farrelly, pleasure to meet yeh."

"Have you just moved into the building? I haven't seen you around before." She was unsure of why she why questioning him, but something about this man intrigued her.

"Just last week, finally have some time off to move things around and get settled in." He replied waiting for her response. As she was about to open her mouth, a middle aged man approached the couple. Izzy glanced at him, realising it was the buildings security officer.

"Is everything alright here folks?" He looked over at Izzy, a grin forming on his face. "The CCTV in the elevator picked up everything." Izzy felt the blush creeping up her cheeks, unable to stop another wash of embarrassment. She looked at his name tag; it read 'Tony'.

Before Stephen could get a word in Izzy quickly responded "Yes, Tony," with an emphasis on his name and narrowing of her eyes. "Everything is wonderful thank you." Tony looked at Stephen who had his eyes set firmly on Izzy; he turned to her and nodded, retreating to where he was stationed at the front of the lobby.

Izzy could feel Stephen's eyes burning into her skin; she slipped her bag onto her shoulder and looked up at him. "Well if you need anyone to guide you around the city, I'm your girl!"

"Thanks." Was his only reply and Izzy's smile faded a little. "Ah really have to get going." He announced "Maybe ah'll see yeh around." He sent her a lop-sided smile before turning on his heel and out onto the busy New York street.

Izzy watched him walk away from her; feeling disappointed, resentful and embarrassed all at the same time. She shook her head and reached into her bag for her blackberry; sighing as it was taking longer than usual to find the little device. Realising her phone must be sat on the kitchen counter still; she let out a small groan. She was sure she saw it nestled in her bag before she left. Turning back to where she had come from, Izzy headed towards the stairs to the far left of the elevator. She wasn't taking any chances this time. Marching up the first few flights of stairs at a steady pace was a breeze, getting to the 6th floor she realised it had been a while since she had jogged her worries away through Central Park. Maybe she should have taken a chance with the elevator; things couldn't get much worse than accidently attacking a very handsome stranger. Taking the last two flights of stairs slowly, Izzy reached her floor and strolled to her apartment. Once inside she saw her phone lying on the kitchen counter, she checked the time, it was now 8.20am and she was officially late to her meeting. 'That's just great' she thought. Izzy made sure her phone was in her bag and made her way out of the apartment for the second time that morning; again taking the stairs.

End Flashback

Cas could only stare as Izzy sat at her desk surrounded with papers and magazines, obviously busying herself to take her mind off the story she just told. She sent a sympathetic smile towards Izzy before chewing on her lip; trying to prevent the first ripple of laughter from leaving her lips. It couldn't be helped; Cas erupted into laughter and nearby co-workers looked at the pair through irritated eyes.

Izzy rolled her eyes at Cas "Yeah, yeah! Very funny, I swear I almost died."

Cas looked at Izzy in bewilderment, "You almost died? I just hope you didn't scar the poor man for life, if he moves out it's surely your fault!" Cas didn't wait for a reply and walked over to her desk leaving Izzy thinking about her last comment. What if he did think she was crazy? Maybe she should buy him a house warming gift to apologize, that would surely smooth things over.