Fear in the Elevator: Chloe and Mark's 15th Century Struggle.

I was scared. I’d never been in such a small space with another person before, let alone someone so much bigger than me.

The elevator was tiny - just enough room for the two of us to fit in together. If I reached out my arm, I could almost touch the wall on either side of us. The walls were made of stainless steel panels, which reflected the light from Mark’s phone as it cast his face in ominous shadows. The only other source of light was the emergency button panel, which displayed one small red light and several buttons that were currently unlit.

Mark must have noticed the look on my face because he said “Don’t worry Chloe, this elevator works like a charm. We’ll be out of here as soon as somebody comes to fix it.” He smiled, and continued down the hall towards our apartments. A minute later, I heard him unlock his door.

I stood there staring at the elevator doors, wondering if I should go back to my apartment or wait right there until someone came to rescue us. Then my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a message from Mark: “Chloe! It’s dark in here! You have your phone don’t you? Hurry up and turn on your flashlight app!”

I tapped the flashlight icon on my home screen and held my phone up to illuminate the inside of the elevator car as best I could. To my surprise, Mark had already cleared away some of the clutter that usually filled each corner of the elevator and set up a few folding chairs facing each other across an empty space between them.

He waved me over to join him, then held his hand out for my phone as soon as I stepped into range. After examining it for a moment, he said “It looks like you have a pretty bright screen, but we need more light than that to see properly. Do you mind if we do something about that?”

I looked at him curiously, but shrugged and handed him back my phone. He took it from me and set it down on top of one of the folding chairs before picking up a large box cutter from where he had placed it near his chair and making his way between me and the exit door at the back end of the elevator car. As he passed me, he placed his hands on either side of my head and slowly moved them downwards until they were resting on my shoulders instead. My heart rate sped up slightly at his proximity and gentle touch; he smelled faintly like soap and something spicy, like cumin or cinnamon or cloves… whatever it was, it aroused me slightly despite the circumstances.

When his hands were on my shoulders, he stopped moving them - instead he looked straight into my eyes, still holding onto my shoulders lightly with his fingers even though he wasn’t actually touching any bare skin now - but somehow I knew that if I wanted him to let go, he would stop immediately without protest or question. My heartbeat sped up a little more as our eyes locked together for what felt like ages… then finally he spoke up again: “Relax Chloe… just relax and close your eyes…” His voice was low and soothing; almost hypnotic when combined with how close we were standing together in this small space… “Just close your eyes… everything will be okay… just close your eyes…”

I closed my eyes obediently and felt Mark step away from me - then heard him start talking softly again somewhere off to one side: “You know Chloe… if this were any regular night, I would offer you anything you wanted right now if you would agree to spend some time with me while we wait for help to arrive… things might not always be this way between us - but right now we don’t have anything else to do except talk… so why don’t we try spending that time doing something new?

Try something new with me? Just once in your life? What do you say? You know that nothing bad can happen between us while we are stuck here… so why don’t you learn a little something new about yourself tonight by doing something new with me? Not just talking this time either - but being free to explore your own sexuality… like you might if you were alone with someone who understood how scary it is for someone as young as you are to experiment with their body for real for the first time… who wouldn’t judge you for trying something different… who could help you understand yourself better instead by showing what things feel like when they are done by someone who knows how make sure no one gets hurt during sex? Someone who has had plenty of time to practice all sorts of different sexual activities on both men and women so they can tell you exactly how different experiences can feel before they happen? Someone whose only goal is to learn what feels good while they are doing those things too? No pressure - just two people exploring each other sexually without anyone getting hurt or left feeling ashamed afterwards because they did something they weren’t ready for yet? You know how many girls would kill to be able to spend their first time having sex without having it ruin their lives forever afterward or having anyone get angry at them afterwards either - so why not take advantage of this opportunity while we have it? You'll probably never get another chance like this again... why not give some thought about whether an experience like that might be worth giving up your virginity so that everyone involved can leave feeling good about themselves afterward instead?"