The Elevator
It's my birthday today I had a brilliant day with the family, relaxing evening now everyone's laid up and I thought I'd share my half sizzled rant with you guys, I'm seeing doubles so if I repeat myself in this sorry
Sam
"This is it" Sam huffed as he walked into the Taylor building the most important building in his life right now, he'd done what his parents wanted for him and was a reputable surgeon in the local hospital, not that he didn't enjoy it but it wasn't his calling. About two years ago there'd been a massive lock down of the hospital when someone went on a rampage with a gun and shot several professionals as well as some patients and everyone was shaken. His best friend Harry, had been one of the fatalities and Fiona; Harry's wife, had been heavily dependent on him for a while afterwards. One night while they were talking he'd revealed to her that being a Surgeon was his third choice of career and if he'd have been strong enough to stand up to his parents he'd have been an actor or a singer
"You should do it, life's too short" Fiona told him, he'd laughed and left it there
Four months later he got the opportunity to go to California to join a research team for one of his medical dreams, he'd have never thought that they'd have asked him, but they'd finally asked, he had no ties so he moved to California and joined the team of three men and two women at Berkeley, they were getting dangerously close to a positive responsive reaction to the new strain of the flu virus, and working ahead to catch the next strain.
He'd specialised in matters of the heart, so his day job was surgery, lots of them, while his spare time was taken up with the research program. It was a rainy evening in May the following year when David, the team lead had suggested they needed a blow out, after months worth of work had come up with nothing new and everyone was flat. Sam along with everyone else hadn't been out for months, they didn't really take notice of what was going on outside the hospital or even what outside looked like
"Okay" Sam finally agreed smiling at his colleagues who were standing waiting for him to make his mind up
"Call your partners lets make a night of it" David announced as they all left to go get ready
Sam's clothes were at the hospital, he lived maybe thirteen miles away and always kept a change of uniform and a fresh set of clothes at work just in case he needed to do a presentation of some sort, David sometimes threw them in at the deep end like that. He quickly got dressed and made his way to the bar they'd agreed shocked to see David, Anthony and Karen there already
"So we all keep clothes at work?" Sam asked laughing as he walked towards them
"Everyone does don't they?" Karen laughed "Oh Ben" she looked beyond them smiling as her husband came towards them "This is my better half, Ben everyone" she smiled before she kissed him and let him go to get familiar with everyone.
Lynn turned up with her husband Peter and David's wife, Paulette, came walking in much later, everyone was familiar with them they worked at the hospital
"Hi Everyone" she smiled across the team walking towards her husband, spinning when she heard the man on the microphone's announcement "Oh great, just my thing" she grabbed David's face saying "Karaoke" she laughed "I'll grab a song book" she ran off saying grabbing the book and coming back to the table for everyone to choose a song "I won't take no for an answer neither" she looked around at everyone telling them. Everyone started drinking faster, this was so out of their comfort zone but they dare not go against the bosses wife
One by one they made their way up on stage to make a fool of themselves, Anthony had been the worst trying out some girl song "Who were you trying to impress?" Sam asked as they crossed paths, laughing as he shrugged his shoulders, Sam was determined that wasn't him, they didn't know if he'd have had his way the stage would have been his second home. It was his turn and everyone smiled when they saw him grab the guitar sitting on its stand on the stage
"What the hells he going to do with that?" David laughed looking around the table as they watched him go centre stage
"I'm doing 'Brand New' by Craig David for you all" he announced with a smile before he started strumming and singing, everyone got up to dance to his rendition of the song Joining in with the chorus
Chorus
Señorita, know every time that I meet ya, just complimenting your features, cause you got a way of making it feel brand new
When I'm underneath ya, you know it ain't hard to read ya, playing out of those old tricks, but you seem to
Always have a way of making it feel brand new, yeah
"Sam Evans the dark horse" David clapped as Sam returned to the table "You missed your calling" he patted his back telling him
"So I've been told" Sam smiled "But I've also been told to keep it as a hobby"
"I think you should do something with it" Paulette told him seriously "Seriously sexy, a man that sings"
"I save lives" he replied
"You do, that's undeniable, but you have a gift" she replied, laughing at her husbands face "You make me sing babe" she tapped his chest telling him as everyone laughed, Paulette had definitely had too much to drink
Two months later, thanks to an anonymous application form, he later learned was put in by David, he was on a call back for a part in a musical drama, which threatened to be some fun. He'd tried out with this girl Valerie she was good too and they'd said if they got the part they'd have dinner together as a thank you, he'd left hoping they didn't get it, she was way too forward for him, kept offering to put her tongue down his throat, it wasn't even a kissing scene.
Mercy
Mercy sat in the foyer of the Taylor building wondering what the hell she was doing there, smiling as she saw Kate and Maureen looking more excited than she was about this damn thing.
Mercy was a magazine editor, her 45 page monthly magazine called Cedes was hitting the shelves running. She had a team of around 25 staff all very committed to ensuring that the best accurate news hit the racks on the 3rd Saturday of every month without fail, she hadn't missed a deadline yet. She'd had a good 4 year run with Prada straight out of University and after her third Show she felt confident enough to make her own way in life, on the route she's chosen instead of becoming, what she thought was stagnant, in the fashion world. So as well as dealing with up and coming fashion designers she also took some hot topics, recipes and four page spreads from up and coming actors, singer, dancers anyone or thing she had a feeling needed to be highlighted
She'd had a bit of a bad time of it lately having been burgled eight months ago, she'd felt like she wasn't safe in her own home, luckily she hadn't been accosted or anything like that but the feeling of being violated was overwhelming. She went to go stay with her friend Whitney for a while but after about a month of that she realised she had to face this animal that had violated her and went back home. She called her brother and they went about installing a new alarm system, changing every internal and external lock in the house and finally she brought three dogs
That first night at home alone was pure torture, she paced around the house with a bat waiting for an intruder, had the dogs up watching her all night and slept the whole of the next day. On waking up she decided that she was going to take authoritative action on her hot mess and joined up with a self defence class, she couldn't be a leader and not have control of her own life.
She got a bit nervous when the actual instructor took a liking to her and ran for the hills, she'd asked her team to do some research and get a spread in her Magazine, highlighting places women could go to learn from other women about self defence and feel safe about doing that, surprised when her researchers found there was a serious gap in the market.
She'd got talking with Whitney, who introduced her to one of her Police Officer friends and the three of them found a safe, free space and then she advertised her own classes, by women for women. It soon became popular and within the month they had a healthy 10 strong group everyone focused on learning vital skills to protect themselves in any scenario. Mercy went through the official training program as fast as she could, releasing Whitney from having to be there for the session to legitimately happen. Six weeks and she had three groups running 7am till 8am two sessions per week for each group kept her busy six days a week
"Thank you ladies well done, next week" she waved as they came to the end of their hour long session in the park with group one
"Cedes I heard it's your birthday today?" Kate one of the group asked as they wiped sweat and drunk water before departing
"Yeah it is but it's not a milestone or anything I intend on flaking out after work"
"It's basically four hours to lunch time, and you're the boss, technically you could call time and we could take you for a drink" Kate told her persistently as everyone stood around nodding, she felt like she was being pushed into a corner "No pressure" Kate quickly added
"No it's fine I'd love to, what do you guys say to Kenny's over there in four hours?" she pointed across the park at the bar
"Yes" Kate replied for everyone smiling
Four hours later they were standing asking for a table for eight "Front show or in the back?" the waitress asked, looking into the main room
"Front" Maureen snapped before anyone else got a chance to respond, they all stood watching the waitress walk off before they realised they needed to follow her and took chase
"There must be something going on" Kate announced as they sat to the left of a rather large stage "Music at Lunch time" she said impressed "Good choice Cedes"
"Actually" she swallowed saying "I've never been here before"
"Drinks?" the waitress stood asking
"I'll have a glass of white wine, house special please" Mercy told her, looking around the table "Actually we'll have a couple of bottles and eight glasses please" she smiled as everyone busied themselves with the menu to make their orders
Six bottles of wine and lunch later, they were laughing, crying, shouting and laughing again "Music" Nancy shouted, that might have been the first time she'd shouted ever
"Shit" Mercy looked up saying as she saw the TV come on and she knew it was karaoke
"Karaoke" Kate jumped up saying, running to grab the song book, as Mercy rolled her eyes
The last time she'd actually sang in company was just after she left home, she'd come to California in search of something new, she had sung in the church all her life and as far as everyone said she had something special. She believed them and couldn't for the life of her understand why they'd want her to strip down to her bra to sing a damn song, more frightening was the thought of everyone in the world who knew her seeing her that way. She wasn't willing to do that so she got a job in a cafe waiting tables, and worked like a hound to get something to rub together, within a year she was working in Prada and life was looking good all ideas of singing had gone.
"It's your turn" Beth said bringing her back into Kenny's bar and stake house
"What to sing?" she asked shocked "Am I first? I didn't pick anything"
"Yeah you got the long straw, we know you like Ella we picked something for you, otherwise you wouldn't go up would you?" Kath laughed as everyone joined in
"You're right" she got on stage smiling at everyone "I'm going to try and sing.." she looked at the DJ nodding when he told her the song "Oh Boo'd Up by Ella Mai I haven't sung for a while so forgive me for hurting your ears" she laughed, everyone smiling at her comment before she started singing
"Ohh girl, that's my jam" Maureen yelled out as they all joined in singing the chorus as they swayed along
Chorus
Ooh, don't ever get over you until I find something new, that get me high like you do
Ooh, don't ever get over you until I find something new, that get me high like you do
Listen my to heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, boo'd up, ear my heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum it just won't stop, it go
Badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, boo'd up, hear my heart go badum, boo'd up, biddy-da-dum, it just won't stop, it go
"Cedes I did not know you could jam like that girl" Kate grabbed hold of her saying as she came down from the stage "No girl" she stopped everyone talking saying "Seriously you have to do something with that"
"Seriously" Mercy giggled holding her hand up so everyone was listening to her "That" she pointed at the stage "Was another life"
Over the following weeks the girls were very encouraging, every now and again they'd burst into song singing that song back at her, encouraging her to sing random songs for fun and she'd felt something, something that had always been there that she was just too scared to let out because of that first experience. So when Maureen and Kate came up to her telling her about this audition she almost expected it from them
"Okay guys" she finally rolled her eyes the day before audition day saying "I'll go" she announced as everyone clapped
She'd been teamed up with this guy called Clive and, if she told the truth, he was very nice about it, but she messed up big time, she was listening to him but she couldn't find a pitch in there and for her it sounded all wrong, he was getting hell of a familiar for an audition and she was like get away from me slime ball with every glance as they went through their staged part.
So when she actually got a call back her first reaction was 'It's a damn mistake or they didn't get very many good people' but her second one was "Fuck a call back" as she jumped about her apartment elated
The Audition
Friday Afternoon
So here he was back at the Taylor building, smiling on the one hand, they'd seen something in him enough to bring him back but, on the other hand to have to deal with Valerie for a few months was draining. He hadn't told anyone about the call back he didn't want to jinx it, there'd be time for celebration if and or when he got the part, he pulled the giant metal door open and stepped inside.
So here she was sitting on the couch in the Taylor building waiting to be called, in the back of her mind she still thought maybe they got it wrong, but for now she was on the call back list, with no intention of coming off it, the front door opened again and she looked up from her phone to see this tall, skinny guy with a short stubble and a bandanna wrapped around his windswept blond hair, black sweat top and black knee length shorts walk in
"Hi" she mouthed as their eyes met, a courteous smile on her face
"Hi" he smiled back, walking towards her "A friendly face" he said as he sat near them "It's a rare thing in places like this, I hear?"
"I wouldn't know this is a total fluke" she giggled, as her friends sat back smiling and raising eyebrows, Cedes hardly ever spoke to guys she didn't know
"I know" he smiled "I thought exactly the same" he sat forward saying "Either it's a really bad film or everyone else has said no"
"Or both" she laughed, noting the cute lines around his mouth as his whole face smiled back at her
"So we'll be waiting right here, drooling" Kate smiled
"No I'll be fine" Mercy smiled at her girls, ignoring the comment "You guys get off, I'll call as soon as I finish" she hugged them saying as she sat with this guy watching her friends
"Right" Someone clapped their hands shouting making everyone jump, they spun round to see what was happening "My names Terry and mine is the only voice you'll listen to right now, you've been paired up and here's the script, you've got an hour to work something out and then you'll be up" he pointed upwards indicating they were going upstairs "The recital will include a song so have something ready in that time too, whatever you think fits the script"
"Can we..." a man tried to ask but he was closed down and that was the end of that
"No questions, just instructions, you guys know what we're looking for" Terry told them "Who are the recalls?" he asked as his PA walked around allocating two of the guys with names and two women with scripts "You have different parts" he told them before counting down on his watch and walking away.
The room went into action as Sam stood while Mercy sat looking up at him sweating, then suddenly he was shouting her name "Mercedes Jones" he shouted looking at the girl across the room with the script "Sorry" he smiled as she shook her head "Merce...?" he looked at her still sitting, smiling at the realisation of getting to act with the girl he'd been talking to
"Yeah that's me" Mercy smiled back at him "And it's Mercy, I can't believe they put my whole damn name out there" she giggled
"It's a beautiful name" he looked down at her saying
"Thank you, so I have the script" she held it up smiling
"A bit of a tall order, an hour to learn words put our spin on it and find a song?" he laughed at the impossible task
"Do you want the part?" she asked sternly
"I didn't think I did, but yeah I do" he replied
"So let's get on with it" she flicked through the pages telling him
They sat reading their section of the script for a while before Sam talked "Should we actually do the kiss at the end?"
"We'll go till they tell us to stop I guess" she smiled, she really wouldn't have minded getting hooked up with this guy for real or acting "Let's do this run through" she added after a while of reading the script out trying to get the cues right
"Okay" he finally said "Let's run through standing up, acting it out" he told her getting up "So I've sent you a text yeah?"
"Yeah" she smiled "I'm making my way to the auditorium"
"Action" he shouted as the other couple looked round scared, making him laugh "You know why I like this weeks assignment so much? hands down without a doubt one of my favourite singers of all time is Michael Jackson" he looked at her saying
"Listen if I have to hock my weave on ebay, I'm going to see the immortal tour when it comes to Ohio"
"Speaking of immortal" he smiled looking at her until he caught her eyes "Seeing as we're going to see your name up in lights for the rest of our lives, I thought we might as well start today, I switch on the lights" he pretended to press a button saying
"Chord you are crazy" she giggled
"Crazy about you" he smiled coyly "You know we've never sang a duet together, I thought we could do TBC will you sing with me? After that you can go back to your boy I won't stop you"
"Chord, I can't, lets talk later, she walks off telling him, he starts playing the piano and they sing, ending with a kiss" she smiled for them ending without an itch "We make that believable and the kiss will come, what song should we sing?
"I don't know, and we have like twenty minutes" he looked at his phone telling her "This is a miserable fail" he huffed
"It will be like chemistry, it'll all come together because we've got this" she grabbed his hand telling him "Sometimes you can over think these things, the best way is spontaneous believe me"
"So we've got the words, we need a song and we're hoping they stop us before the kiss?" he asked for confirmation
"We'll think of a song" she assured him "Let's run through a couple more times at least get the words and cues right"
So they went about getting the timing right on their scene, talked some more about the songs and had a mini panic when the first couple were called up, realising they were the next couple, they sat quietly trying to scratch a song out of their heads and find that zone they needed to be in to focus.
"Sam, Mercedes" Terry shouted across the room nearly 30 minutes later, watching as they walked towards him "Elevator 2 to the top floor" he pointed in the direction of the elevators telling them, smiling as they walked past him and into this metal cage with rose shaped spirals on all four sides with an iron mesh ceiling and floor to march although covered in fibreglass, looking that delicate it had to move at a snails pace, they watched as the floor left them and it felt like they were being left to float in the air
"I've never been in anything so grand" Mercy smiled as she looked around at the brasserie, marvelled at the detail
"God there's like 50 floors?" Sam gasped as the door shut and he looked at the buttons "I can't do that, it's too high" he looked at her saying fright in his eyes
"Just... she looked round the elevator looking for something to attract his attention and found nothing, holding the rail would just highlight how far up they were actually going "What do you do outside of auditioning?"
"I'm a surgeon" he looked at her saying
"Surgeon?" she smiled impressed
"Yeah, but seriously, I can't stand heights, and this thing going so damn slow feels like it's going to break down any minute, and we'll spat on the ground"
"It's fine" she giggled
"We're expecting this to do 50 floors in what 30 minutes at this rate, it's cruel" he moaned she couldn't help but smile
"Okay" she giggled at how ridiculous the conversation was getting "What will getting this part mean for you?" she asked trying to change his focus
"I've not really thought past the experience of auditioning to be honest I mean I love what I do"
"Cutting people open?"
"Yeah but, I get to do research as well and that makes me feel good, I mean to get the cure for something that's going to save the world and stuff, you know?"
"I don't know actually, I'm an editor"
"Which newspaper?"
"I have my own magazine called Cedes, it's mainly for women"
"It would be" he smiled
"Why do you say that?"
"Don't take this wrong but you look like a whole lot of woman, I mean that in the nicest way"
"Is that some sort of Neanderthal way of letting me now you like me?"
"I guess it's my way" he smiled "God I don't know what's wrong with me I haven't flirted in, god knows how long" he laughed nervously rolling his eyes "I'm not scared of heights I live in a penthouse on the 25th floor of my building, I lied, I thought you'd grab me into your arms or something get that kiss sorted, dramatic heh?"
"I could tell" she laughed as she watched his face soften
"Sorry" he looked at her sheepishly saying "But we need to get past this kiss thing"
"We'll do it for the audition, if they take us that far I'm sure I've said that before" she slanted her head to the side telling him, his eyes caught the laugh in her eyes as she spoke to him bringing out his cheeky side
"You did, but you can never be too prepared in my book"
"Actually you can" she smiled, they stood in silence for a while until the elevator came to a halt "We're here, that wasn't too bad was it?" she asked as they stepped out
"We've still got to get down" he laughed, as they looked at the door marked auditions "I guess this is it, break a leg"
"Back at you" she replied as they took a breath and stepped forward walking until they reached the door before taking another breath as they looked at each other and opened the door to walk in, just as they'd expected there were five people sitting at the long desk all with paperwork in front of them, waiting for them to mess up. They gave the usual information before being told to take their places
"What song are you guys singing?" one of the panel asked as they looked at each other
"We decided Talk to Me Pt 2 by Craig David & Ella Mai maybe" Sam pipped up as Mercy smiled at him
"Perfect" she said before they got into part and did their piece
The recited their lines, perfectly cues on point, fatal attraction through the roof, shocking themselves at how comfortable they were with each other and moved into the song naturally, looking at each other, grabbing hands and making the whole thing look sweet
The end of the song came and they stood looking at each other for a few seconds, not hearing the cut command they moved towards each other, their eyes focused as they moved in, their eyes closed as their faces were about to inevitably touch, their lips met as his hand went up to cup her cheek, and they stayed there until they heard cut, pulling away Sam red faced with embarrassment for what he'd felt and Mercy guilty for what she was thinking
"Okay, we'll get back to you" a voice told them as they looked at the panel for a second before grabbing each others eyes again both wondering if the other had felt the same, Mercy smiled and grabbed his hand pulling him out the room, he realised just then his feet were stuck.
"That was a brilliant song" Mercy smiled up at him as they went towards the elevator
"That was a great kiss" he looked back at her saying with a smile on his face
"Why did you pick that song?"
"I guess because that's all we've done since we've met, and it just felt natural, plus Craig David's one of my favourite artists" he waved for her to step into the elevator as it opened in front of them
"And I know you're going to call bull shit, but Ella Mai's one of my favourite artists at the moment"
"Shut up" he laughed
"Seriously" she giggled "That kiss" she smiled up at him changing the mood "Lets try that again" she said when they got in the elevator, grabbing his face and pulling it towards her as the doors closed "Wow" she said when she let his lips go, smiling when she saw his eyes still shut "You alright?" she whispered in his face, smiling wider as his eyes shot open
"Fine" he smiled pulling her back into him "That song was hot"
"That kiss was ho..." she got out before he pulled her back in again this time his lips made a path down her neck, stopping on the fleshy part of her chest that was exposed. Mercy stood wondering when was the last time she'd let a man touch her body, it wasn't something she knew she was missing until now, but god was she needing it, she closed her eyes and grabbed his head sinking it into her breast
"Can I ..."
"Yes" she gasped unable to take the wait, smiling as she felt him spin her round, she grabbed hold of the metal bar on the side and pushed out at him as he forced her body back to the railing forcing her head to turn so he could grab her lips with his again, his hands invaded her body, kneading at her breasts and pinching her nipples just enough to make her want more, his right hand going down beneath her skirt waist and flicking her panties out the way as he moved fast to fill his hand with her.
"Warm" he smiled as he ventured further his fingers searching her insides "God you're so wet" he gasped she could tell the feel of her was sending him to his place from the husk in his voice, her legs opening willingly for the prize she was hoping to get
She felt his left hand let her go as his lips kept hers entertained and his right hand worked her making her wetter than she'd been in a very long time, her right hand went up to grab his head, tugging at his hair before she let it slip down his body and grab him to feel what he was offering "impressed" she smiled as she let him go, her body half turned to face him, realising she was naked on her lower half
"Turn around" he flung her back so her hands were grasping the railing, his impatience showing as his hand worked her, his manhood erect as he felt for her before inserting himself inside her with a hard thrust, she made noise and he smiled, happy she knew he was there "So fucking tight" he hissed as his fingers became gentle as they stroked her spot while his left hand held her waist in check as he bounced her back and forth off him while he watched "You like that?"
"Yeah" she got out as she moaned for both pain and pleasure "Yeah" she smiled as his hand left her waist and went up to squeeze her nipples harder this time, by now she really didn't care what he did to her as long as he rocked this explosion out of her, she was moving frantically, both aware that they were coming to the end of their journey
Mercy stood getting filled while she looked down wondering if there were people below them, forcing her to be satisfied before they hit ground "Mercy" she heard and she knew he was close, his hand almost seemed to go into 'this is my body' mode because each stroke he gave her meant something and brought something electrifying to her body "Mercy" he gasped
"Sam" she hissed as her body couldn't control itself any more it let out a clap of thunder, as she felt him pull out and then hot mess all over her back
"God" he gasped "We should be laying in a damn bed, I need more"
"And we've got 10 floors left to get dressed" she replied, grabbing her purse to get some tissue to clean up before pulling her clothes back on as she watched him do the same "I guess we'll leave that bit out the script" she smiled
"That was not scripted, that was pure me" he chuckled
"I felt that" she smiled "I don't usually do stuff like this I hope you don't think..."
"Neither do I, this is not who I am, actually I'm unusually attracted to you" he interrupted her saying, watching as she laughed nervously "What?"
"I don't know, I mean this kind of thing really never happens to me, and I guess I feel a bit ashamed of myself"
"Don't be" he pulled her to him saying "Maybe we're meant to be"
"Do you believe in that stuff?"
"I didn't but then I meet you and well... I think maybe I could" he quickly kissed her lips saying "Can we meet again, have a date maybe?"
"I don't know, I mean I'd like that but I'm going through some stuff at the moment"
"You have a partner?"
"No, god no I wouldn't have even contemplated that if I had, it's just that well... I've got some stuff to work through before I can make any sort of commitment about..."
"It's a date not a proposal" he smiled
"Sorry now you're offended, and I'm sorry" she rested her hand on his chest telling him, realising she was still in his arms "I know it sounds cliché but it really is me" she reached up and pecked his lips "Maybe I could get your number?"
"Numbers" he said grabbing his phone out of his back pocket excitedly "What is it" he asked tapping the numbers in as she spoke before ringing it "That's mine" he smiled before pulling her back to him "Please call me" he said as the elevator came to a halt. He smiled let her hand go and they stood like two strangers sharing a ride as the doors opened, Mercy smiling to see her friends waiting
"How did it go?" Kate asked looking between the two of them
"It was good we did a great song, Sam chose it and well... we'll see" Mercy looked up at him saying "Sam this is Kate and Maureen, ladies this is Sam" she smiled at him again
"Hi" they said almost in song grabbing Mercy's arm pulling her to walk with them
"Hold up" she pulled away from them to turn to Sam "Use that number"
"Oh I will" he smiled as he stood watching her walk away 'Always imagined the day, you'd have me felling this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk' he hummed in his head as he stood watching them walk, rubbing his hands together before making his way to the door, unable to get out of his head that he'd hoped he'd already won any part he'd ever wanted in finding Mercy
Mercy
Mercy sat in the back of Maureen's ride half listening to the questions they were firing at her, she'd never done anything like that before, if she could call herself anything right now she'd have said nasty sitting there with her sex smelling self, pretending that her whole life hadn't been rocked "So what song did you sing?" Kate's voice came at her saying
"Oh Craig David and Ella Mai, would you believe Craig David's his favourite artist right now?" she smiled
"You guys hit it off then?" Maureen asked smiling at Kate
"He's a nice guy, but you know me right now, I'm not ready for anything like that"
"I guess" Maureen looked in her mirror telling her
Mercy smiled but her mind was elsewhere she was back in that elevator 'Always imagined the day, you'd have me felling this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk' she hummed in her head satisfied with where she was right now "Badum, boo'd up" escaped her mouth before she could do anything about it
"I guess not" Kate looked at Maureen saying before they both laughed, Mercy didn't care she was in a zone
Mercy's phone buzzed and she smiled thinking it was Sam opening the phone she saw Jenny's name come up "What's up?" she asked before Jenny could say anything "I'll be there in 10" she told her flipping the call off "I need to get to the office"
"What's up?"
"The main machine's gone down, the day before lift off" she sat forward telling them "I can't believe this, it's never happened before, I'm screwed"
"Do you need help?"
"No I've got the best people on the job, I just need to be there just in case they need anything authorising, god, everyone will be stressed" she rolled her eyes as she spoke
Minutes later Mercy was saying bye to her friends and pushing the door to her printing business "Cedes" Jenny pounced "I don't know what to do this never happens, everyone's coming at me, I have no answers"
"I'll call Simon" she announced calmly "He'll check the whole thing in less than an hour" she patted Jenny's back telling her watching her as she rushed to go tell the others. Mercy made the call and went off to her office to discard of her purse and jacket, before she went back to the shop floor "Everyone go get something to eat, this is going to be a long night but we'll do it, call who you need to call" she announced as everyone scattered following orders
She walked around eating bits of what everyone had brought, her mind wasn't actually on food but she needed to get focused "Mercy" she heard her brother shout across the floor
"Simon" she smiled "I can't believe what this machinery's decided to do to us tonight of all nights" she hugged him saying
"I'll sort it" he walked towards the machine with his tool bag in hand
"We're already three hours over time" she walked behind him saying
"We'll get everything out for 6am, it'll be on time if it kills us" Simon laughed "Get everyone to set everything up behind it so we can start as soon as I get it moving
"Okay" she smiled patting his back as she walked back to jenny giving her instructions for the team, they sat around for about 50 minutes before the button was pressed and everything went into motion as everyone clapped for a few seconds before Simon reminded them that time was money and they forged on "Thanks Bro" she hugged him saying letting him go to clap everyone for their commitment "Thanks Team" she shouted as everyone cheered, before she left them to carry on doing what they did best
"Cedes" she heard two hours later as she stepped out the shower "It's Jenny, we did it, I thought you'd want to know" she giggled "Everything's ready for distribution"
"That's great I'll be right down" she shouted through the door, she almost felt sad about washing Sam off her, but needs must, she thought as she dried off and got dressed in some casual denims and made her way back to the shop floor "I just want to thank everyone for stopping over and helping through the crisis, and ask you all to thank whoever you had to let down tonight to be here, you will be rewarded, thank you and well done" she clapped as everyone stood round looking pleased with themselves "It's 6am time for those vans to roll" she waved at the waiting vans.
Sam
Sam made his way back to work smiling, he'd taken an early lunch break to attend the audition and hadn't planned for what he got but the smile on his face said he wasn't upset about it. He only had another four hours to do and then he was out of there, he'd got plans for this night no way was that going to be the last time that happened for him with that woman, there was something about her. He'd planned it all in his head on the way back; candle lit dinner, maybe a drink or two all tucked nicely in front of more of that ass and a wrecked bed and maybe some conversation in between.
His afternoon surgery was straight forward, just a few consultations, three ward to do rounds for, no emergencies and he was good to go, he got to the locker room and pulled his blues off ready to jump in the shower, put his beeper in his locker and walked away to grab a towel. Rolling his eyes as he took his phone out his back pocket and heard his beeper go off "Shit" he picked it up saying knowing the inevitable had happened
He'd just switched work mode off and already he'd got the picture of Mercy sitting in his bed, she'd got his mind focused already and he'd seen this woman for two hours maximum, what the hell was happening for him "You could love her dude" his face beaming
"Sam" Karen said waving her hand in front of his face "Where are you?"
"What?" he looked at her asking
"Focus, Triple bypass, emergency, all hands on deck"
"Has all the prep been done?"
"I've given instructions, get dressed" she tapped his naked chest telling him
"Yeah" he smiled looking down to see his chest was indeed naked "Shit 10pm" he said to himself flatly realising he wasn't going to see Mercy this evening he needed 7 clear hours for this procedure with no complications. He got dressed and made his way to where he was needed, taking charge of the situation and getting ready for the procedure. He took his phone out and tapped in 'Call me anytime around 7am, if your interested, in surgery' and sent it to Mercy before he went in to scrub up and get started, smiling for the fact that he still had her all over him.
Saturday
Mercy got back to her office around 6.30am exhausted, she was more than ready for bed, but that wasn't going to happen right now she had a self defence class to do at 7am for an hour with her group 3 and then maybe she could get a few hours, if the dogs allowed. She grabbed her purse and the bag with her clothes she'd changed out of and made for the door, taking her phone out to check her emails as she left, smiling when she saw a message from Sam, sad she hadn't got the opportunity to see him again last night 'Call me anytime around 7am, if your interested, in surgery' she read checking the time, which was 6.45am "Close enough" she smiled as she called his number
"Sam it's Mercy I guess you're still in surgery, still very interested, get back to me after 9am" she left her message saying clipping her phone off and leaving the office
Mercy got to her session, found a reserve of energy that pulled her through and finally got home at around 8.30am
Sam stood in surgery rolling his eyes, there had been a complication and he'd watched as 6.30 then 7am passad and now he was pissed that the little social life he had outside of his job was slipping out of his hands "Can I leave you guys to close up?" he asked as he stepped away from the table at 7.35am
"What's up with you today?" Karen asked as she watched him backing out
"Tired, I officially finished work like nearly 8 hours ago"
"That's not it" the wrinkles around her eyes telling him she was smiling
"Tomorrow" he smiled as he went off to have a shower and get changed, he took his phone out his locker to check what he'd hoped to find, laughing as he found a message from Mercy on it "9am" he smiled. He took his uniform off and threw his clothes on opting to have a bath at home seeing as he needed to kill 40 minutes once he got in, he grabbed his bag and left.
Sam got home and went straight in the bath, grabbing himself clean clothes before finding the kitchen to make himself something to eat and get some juice, before he sat time watching and eating "8.55" he gasped, he could wait no longer he grabbed his phone and dialled her number
"Mercy" he smiled down the phone when she answered sounding out of breath "You alright?"
"Yeah I'm fine, except for sleep or lack of it, just finished my class"
"Class?"
"Yeah I do a self defence class, I don't know that I should have told you that, I don't actually know you"
"There's only one part of your body that's under threat from me" he laughed
"I wouldn't have termed those intentions as threats more like promises" she laughed
"Now who's flirting"
"We both are" she giggled
"Listen I wanted to set that date up for later maybe, I'm at work till about 11pm but we could maybe go to a bar or something"
"I'm going in later today, so I could maybe do with food more than drink around that time, I was up all night at the press shop sorting stuff out, I literally haven't had any sleep yet"
"Snap, I've only got my rounds tonight at about 9pm, I had an emergency surgery last night that finished this morning I'm flagging I stayed up for this call"
"So 11pm?"
"Do you think you can trust me enough to come to my place tonight, I'll get something in, we can, cook, talk and whatever?"
"Was that an invitation to bed?"
"It might be you'll have to wait and see" he laughed
"I love desserts"
"Okay" he laughed at her play "I'll text you my address and the codes, you'll need the first one to get in the front door, at that time the concierge will have gone, use elevator C and punch in the second code, I'll see you about 11.15 yeah?"
"You will" she replied "Okay I need a bath and my damn bed, later"
"Later" he smiled as he listened for the click of her phone 'Always imagined the day, you'd have me felling this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk' humming around in his head, keeping him smiling as he crawled into his bed "I don't even want to sleep now" he banged his pillow saying his body telling him different as his eyes closed
Mercy sat smiling with the phone in her hand, why did her spirit take so to this man, he felt like someone she knew already, she surprised herself with how much she'd actually thought about him, even now when she was wrecked she was finding time. Her mind going back to their time in the elevator making her tremble with anticipation for their date as she made her way to bed 'Always imagined the day, you'd have me felling this way, didn't take much to get me going, ran out of words to say, think that its time to quit playing, all you got to do is talk talk talk talk talk' she hummed as she walked, she thought she would but she had no problem finding sleep when her head touched the pillow
They woke up and done what they needed throughout their day, Sam grabbing some shopping on his way home while Mercy freshened up at work, changed into something more befitting a date, checked herself and she was off. She got to his block a little early and thought she'd venture up rather than sit about in the secluded car park waiting. She got her phone out and followed his instructions quickly finding herself inside the building wondering around the rather large foyer looking for elevator C, she was almost ready to give up when she spotted some steps and ventured up to find four elevators lined up lettered A to D. She pressed the C button and it immediately opened, she walked into it impressed with it's leather bum rest on all three sides, a mirror on the back wall and lighting that lit the floor as she stepped on it. She stood waiting for the doors to shut before she realised she hadn't told it to do anything and checked her phone for the code, tapping it in and within seconds she was at her destination, shocked that she was actually standing in his apartment "Sam" she called out as she stepped out, knowing she was early "Sam" she shouted again to make sure before she walked further in, it wasn't as clinical as she'd expected with him being hopefully a single man, actually it was cosy, well looked after, and welcoming a light shade of grey with a mixture of green and splashes of deep purple she actually loved it. She found the couch and stayed there not willing to wonder around when he didn't even know she was there, she'd actually thought about going back down, but the fact that she was going to tell him she'd been up already made her change her mind
"Mercy" she heard some twenty minutes later as Sam came off the elevator
"How did you know I was here?" she asked as she watched him walking towards her
"I had to wait for the elevator" he laughed "It's mine and you didn't send it back down, but that's fine it's safer that way" he stopped in front of her, looking down at her sat on his couch, his mind was already wondering
"You have your own elevator?" she looked up at him asking a smile on her face for what his eyes were telling her just now
"Well the building provides an elevator with this apartment" he laughed "And it was a selling point when I brought it"
"Cool" she jumped up as she spoke grabbing his collar and pulling him down to grab his lips "Mmmm" she hummed as she took in the memory
"Are we getting food?" he asked when she let his lips go
"Order it in, I'll fetch it"
"I've brought stuff" he held the bag up telling her "I thought we could maybe talk get to know something about each other" he smiled "Wonder around, if you haven't already, get to know the place" he walked off towards the kitchen telling her. He quickly got the stakes seasoned, flipped some salad and broke some crusty bread for effect, grabbing the tableware as the stakes simmered to perfection "How do you like your stake?" he shouted through the house as he set the table
"Well done" she shouted back, he looked up knowing she was in the bathroom
Twenty minutes later they were sitting on opposite sides of the table, a candle between them as he waited for her comment on the meal he'd put in front of her "Is it alright?" he asked as he poured her some wine
"It's fine" she smiled taking her cutlery up "I guess I was waiting to see if you pray or something" she laughed
"Did you hear me praying in the elevator yesterday?"
"You mentioned God I think"
"Okay I'll give you that one, I did" he laughed "So who is Mercy Jones?"
"Well it's a snapshot really, I'm 28, moved here from Ohio when I was 19 in pursuit of a music career, but found I had to give up too much of myself for it. I had a boyfriend about 4 years ago for like 6 months and that's all I'm saying on that" she giggled "Got my big break at Prada and went out on my own 4 years ago created my own Magazine and today I have a staff team of 25 working with me. I got burgled eight months ago" she watched Sam's face break into angry "I didn't get hurt or anything" she held her hand up telling him "But it put fear into me I went to a self defence class and the guy there sort of come on to me I was thinking all sorts. I made contact with my friend Whitney and set up my own all women's defence classes we have a space in the park and I do that six mornings a week at 7am till 8am, I have three classes and that's me in a shell everything else you'd need to get to know me" she smiled
"Okay I'm 29, had no life really, I wanted to sing and act, but Dad said categorically no so I did what they wanted and went into medicine. My best friend Harry died at work nearly three years ago, some patient went on a rampage with a gun in the hospital, very disgruntled, and he got in the firing line I guess that was a bad time for me. I came here because there was a research opportunity at Berkeley it was something I'd always wanted to be involved in" he finally smiled telling her
"Girlfriend?"
"No time for one since I've been qualified, maybe that should be just haven't met anyone I wanted to find time for until now" he held her eyes telling her "I don't usually talk this much"
"So what do you usually do much of?" she asked a cheeky look on her face
"Stuff around an operating theatre, I don't generally do dating, it's not a girlfriend friendly job, most the team have wives or girlfriends somewhere in the ranks, it's almost inbred" he laughed
"Could you see yourself dating me?"
"I need to date you, can you not see me working my ass off at this?" he laughed "Eat up" he pointed to her plate saying. They sat silently eating for a while until Sam noticed her moving about on her chair "Do you need something?" he finally asked
"Yeah the erm..." she looked across the room at the elevator "The elevator" she laughed making him laugh, he got up and grabbed her hand heading for the elevator and putting his key in
"It's not moving" he assured her before grabbing her lips, soon after feeling her bare skin against that soft leather railing as he lifted her hands and removed her dress.
Sunday
They started in the elevator but ended up in the double queen sized bed, it was morning and they still hadn't managed to find sleep, as Mercy lay resting on his arm both looking up at the ceiling, too exhausted to move
"You have a thing about elevators" he commented
Mercy laughed "Well I thought it was the elevator but it's definitely you Mr Evans, you rock my world"
"You rock my universe, I feel like I could do a full days work on that shit"
"So what are you thinking, I know what I'm thinking?" she turned to look at him asking "I mean I know what I want to say but I'm scared to put myself out there, I don't know if I could take the rejection" she looked back at the ceiling telling him
"Rejection, are you kidding?" he looked at her asking
"So what are you saying?" she looked at him asking
"I've got the perfect song again" he smiled back at her as he jumped out of bed and grabbed his phone attaching it to his pod before getting back into bed "I guess we sing what we feel better, this is what I'm feeling, feel free to join in , if you feel it's appropriate" he told her laying back to sing his song as he pressed the button on the remote and the intro to 'Morning Light' by Justin Timberlake & Alicia Keys rang out
"I love this song, yes, again it's perfect" she smiled as she sat up and crossed her legs watching as he did the same as they sang looking into each others eyes
Sam (With Mercy)
Look
Every time there's a new sunrise, I open up my eyes, and I say to myself, "In the whole wide world of guys, I must be the luckiest alive"
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here, in a morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight, just one more night
Sam sang as Mercy smiled rubbing her hands up and down his thighs before he grabbed her hands
Mercy (With Sam)
Look,
I can't even get out of bed, with the thought you putting in my head, so I say to myself, I don't even wanna try, here, every part of me is paralysed
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here in the morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight just one more night
Kissing her palms as she sung her words to him, holding his heart when she told him she was in love with him
Sam (With Mercy)
Yes, I'm in love with (you) laying here in a morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight, just one more night
He pulled her to him, she turned and rested her head on his chest as they sang, him holding her crossed arms around her waist
Sam
I know I got somewhere to go, but I'm thinking we should lay here in love (Mercy: lay here in love)
Both: Ooh, cause baby, it's not lie, ooh, I could watch you till the day I die
Sam (With Mercy)
Cause I'm in love with (you) laying here in the morning light, and all I wanna (do) is hold you tight just one more night
Yes, I'm in love with (you) laying here in a morning light (Morning Light) and all I wanna (do, is hold you tight, just one more, one more night).
"Can we be official, I mean out of the bedroom and into the real world?" he asked when they finished
"Everything that happens in the bedroom or even the elevator is real for us, know that" she laughed
"But will you .. be my Lady that is?"
"I need you to be my Man so I guess that's a yes" they flopped onto the bed as she agreed, Sam grabbing her face to pull it to his kissing her nose before letting her go, both looking up at the ceiling again
"This is really going to be hard, and I guarantee there are going to be times when you wonder why you brought into this, my schedules are a pain sometimes, I may not even get home but, wherever I am and whatever the hell I'm doing I'll always be wishing I was doing something totally different with you" he pulled her to him telling her
"Dotto, I run a business and when edition day is coming I'm a different animal, I hope you can remember this woman laying here when I turn into that beast" she laughed
"When I'm missing a really important event because I've got someone's pumping heart in my hand, please don't send me fuck you text, I'm lose my concentration" he begged making her laugh harder "Trying to find someone to love is hard, I feel lucky"
"I know, I feel even luckier finding someone who actually loves me back, I'm 28 I don't really want to waste time with all that teenage stuff, I want real, honest commitment and if you're willing to give that, I'll work my ass off to make this happen"
"I want all those things, but I'm not in this to change you I love what I'm getting, and I'd hope there wasn't much you'd want to change about me, but I know I will change as I understand your expectations of me, I want to be serious about you, about us, I want more than just one more night"
"You've come along at a time in my life when I wasn't looking, blind sided me" she laughed "But as soon as we looked at each other I knew there was something and I want to see what that is"
"I meant what we sung, I love you already, I think I talked that out with myself when I left you on Friday" he lifted her chin up telling her
"I was boo'd up when I left you too, I'm shocked, but I love you too" she looked into his eyes telling him, as his lips found hers again and they found a new place, they were more comfortable this time, open about what they wanted, intense, passionate, if there were mistakes made they didn't notice as they lay making love until their bodies begged for rest,
Monday
Sunday went by without acknowledgement, on Monday morning Mercy went to do her class as usual and Sam went off to work
'It's going to be a late one tonight either 11.30 or tomorrow, pick' Sam wrote at around 7pm when he finally got a minute to himself
'Come to mine' she replied seconds later, giving him her address and the code for the gate 'Dogs in the house so call and wake me up'
'Will I need to take an elevator?' he replied with smiling faces
'I was thinking of getting one installed' she sent back with a smiling face
'I'll have one built in the corner of your bedroom' he replied laughing when she sent back laughing faces 'I'm serious'
'I want a pole in the middle of it'
'Elevated' he replied with sweating faces
'Now that I can do' she sent with kisses 'Later'
'Later'
The evening went quickly as they counted the minutes Sam was standing at Mercy's door excited, impressed by her two story dainty house, he got his phone out and called her smiling when she arrived at the door seconds later "Hi"
"Hi" she smiled back "I have news" she tilted her head that cute way that made him purr
"Good I hope?"
"Maybe" she smiled reaching up to kiss his lips, making noise when he pulled her in for more "You hungry?" she asked when he finally let her go
"No I ate already" he smirked "Dessert maybe" he cocked his right eyebrow smiling, as she grabbed his hand and went to her bedroom, where they stayed for the night
"We really need to get some conversation up in this relationship" Sam laughed when he woke up to Mercy watching him the next morning "What was your news?"
"I got offered the lead part" she looked at him saying
"That's brilliant, are you going to take it?"
"Am I?" she looked at him asking
"Totally your call" he waved his hand about telling her
"I want to but..."
"But?"
"kissing someone else is going to be strange, and what if we end up doing a love scene?"
"Come on your a good actress and singer what do you want to do?"
"I want the part" she smiled
"Good" he smiled "I already accepted the male lead"
"Sam" she picked the pillow up and hit him with it
"Hey" he grabbed her hands pinning her to the bed "Lets practice that kiss" his eyes laughing as he took her lips
The End