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ENZO

A hot gush of milk broke through my shirt, so I slumped forward before anyone could see the dark spots blooming over my chest. Fuck!

The throbbing in my chest had been constant for hours, but leaking was a new and particularly annoying development. Even my damn suppliers in India were startled by the way I jerked out of the frame and pointed the camera up toward the ceiling. Continuing the call was torture, but I couldn’t just walk away. Three of our main ports had shipments under investigation, and our customers were starting to get pissed. We were the first supplier for several major manufacturers, but we weren’t their only option. If we couldn’t find a way to get parts to them, they would move on to their second or third supplies until they found one who could.

The clock in the corner of my monitor showed it was a quarter to nine. I’d been doing this for almost fourteen hours, and I couldn’t do it for much longer. “Get pricing for alternate options that are already in-country. It’ll be expensive, but it’ll be a lot more expensive to lose these accounts.”

“Yeah, agreed.” My procurement director heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We’ll do that and get back to you by morning. Go get some sleep.”

“Yeah.” I positioned my cursor over the ‘End Meeting’ button. “Talk to you later.”

This was the third meeting with the same issue I’d sat in over the past ten hours, and I couldn’t do one more. They needed to find a damn solution. That was what we paid them to do.

Besides, I needed to pump. My milk had never released unexpectedly, so I was on borrowed time before I was dealing with a full flood. I’d forgotten my portable pump at home, and I hadn’t had time to run out and buy a manual. I’d spent five frantic minutes in the bathroom after lunch, manually expressing enough to take the edge off, but it wasn’t enough.

My chest hurt, and I almost embarrassed myself because the leadership team had recently decided to make “back to the office” the theme of the year, and everyone was expected to work on-site three days a week. And with the random social holiday tomorrow, I had a three-day weekend ahead of me, assuming the port shit got resolved. At least those calls would be at home where I could deal with my predicament as needed.

The pressure I felt was intense, and I needed to get out of here. “Keep me posted. I gotta go. Sorry.” I slammed the laptop closed without even signing off.

I slipped on my jacket and then darted from my desk, hoping to Christ I was alone in the building. The lights were mostly out on my floor, and everyone else seemed to have gone home hours ago.

The hall was silent as I waited for the elevator doors to open. Despite not seeing anyone in any direction, I held my jacket tight to my chest as though hiding it would hold off the next bout of leakage. In just a few minutes, I would be in my car. Fifteen minutes after that, I would be home with my pump whirring and that deep sense of relief that came when I was finally empty. I never missed the rhythmic tug as badly as I did right now.

The elevator took forever, and when it finally opened, I was shocked to see a guy staring at me with startled eyes.

“Oh, hi.” He was crouched in the corner, balancing an armload of files on one knee with a laptop bag slumped at his feet. When he stood up, the files tumbled to the floor. “Shit.” His frame was narrow, and he looked one all-nighter away from disappearing completely.

“Hey, there.” I cocked my head, trying to remember his name. I’d seen the guy at the coffee machine a few times, but we didn’t work in the same department, so I didn’t run across him often. But the few times I’d seen him stuck with me. With a face like that, it was hard to forget. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, just surprised to see you. I didn’t think anyone else was still around.” He gathered up his files and slipped them into his bag. “I’m Lincoln.”

“Enzo.” I stepped around him and leaned against the wall, giving him as much space as possible so he didn’t feel threatened. Lincoln didn’t seem afraid, but he was distressed enough that I considered stepping out and waiting for the next car, but the doors closed before my brain caught up with my good intentions. “I guess we’re probably the last two chumps working late before a long weekend.” I adjusted my jacket against myself without putting any pressure on my chest that might stimulate another letdown.

“Probably.” He yawned as he collected all his paperwork and shoved it into his bag. “I’m just so glad the servers will be down, and I have an excuse to not work over the next few days.”

“Sounds nice.” I chuckled. “I’m just moving my work to my house so I can get a few hours of sleep before this all starts again.

“Wait, did you hit the button?” He turned to the panel then looked at me. “Cause I don’t think we’re moving.”

“Maybe not.” I reached past him and hit the button for the underground garage. “If you weren’t here, I’d probably be standing in place for a while before I realized we weren’t moving.” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to focus. “I need some sleep.”

“Me too.” He backed into the corner and made himself as small as possible. “And a cozy blanket and some warm milk and my remote.” He sighed. “Not necessarily in that order.”

The milk reference made me smile as I glanced up at the floor numbers while they ticked down. “Sounds like a perfect evening.” I fixed my gaze above the door and kept my breathing even. I didn’t dare look anywhere else.

And then, right as the elevator was about to hit the lobby, it stopped, and the lights flickered before going into a low-voltage mode. The red emergency light near the ceiling came on, and Lincoln gasped. “What happened?”

“Fuck.” I hit the Lobby button a few times, as if that might spark it back to life. “We’re stuck.” The emergency lights kicked on, casting us in a dim glow. “I really don’t have time for this.” I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes, praying for the ground to open and swallow me before I had to do something humiliating.

My chest throbbed as I considered my options. There was a phone number for emergencies, so I pulled out my phone.

A strange wheezing sound pulled my attention up from my phone, and I realized Lincoln was crouched on the floor with his head leaning against his knees.

“Shit.” I crouched down beside him. “Are you okay?”

He took a shuddering breath and rubbed his eyes on his knees before looking up at me. “Sorry, I’ve had a really long day, and I’m hungry and tired, and I fucking hate elevators to begin with, so this is basically my worst nightmare coming true.” He inhaled again and blew it out slowly. “No offence or anything. I’m grateful not to be alone here.”

“Please don’t cry.” I didn’t know how to handle emotions. Certainly not in extreme situations. “I’ll call maintenance. I’m sure we’ll be outta here in a few minutes.”

He gave me a single jerky nod and swallowed hard. “Yeah, okay. I’m fine. I just… I’ll be okay.”