Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher [Ira]

[rosie]

26th April, 2009

It was the day after she had spoken to Cameron about the whole baby thing. Maybe the conversation with Cameron hadn't gone as well as she had hoped, but she was a little bit clearer about things in her own head. When she felt she could approach Ira about it, and speak to him about it she would. Today however wasn't the day to be speaking to Ira about the baby situation, today was a day for an interview for Rosie.

She figured if she was going to start a family, if Ira agreed of course, she should maybe get a job and help to earn some much needed money for the situation. She had asked Ira to accompany her for moral support and he had agreed. She told him she would meet him at the building, so they could arrive to the office together. When Rosie got to the address she realised it was a particularly high building. Of course a lot of buildings in the States were high, but this one looked really high.

Her interview was to be held in a company which was on the twenty ninth floor. Rosie began to hope and pray that if she did get the job there would never be a fire, what chance did you ever have of getting out of a burning building from the twenty ninth floor? Today Rosie was dressed in satin pink blouse, and a light gray trouser suit, she also had a resumé. Not that there was much on it, Rosie really hadn't done very much since leaving school. She went to college, and then had a couple of secretarial jobs, but they had never really lasted.

Then since she had met Ira she hadn't worked at all, but most of that was due to the bank heist, and the injury she had sustained while there. Now she was standing outside the building waiting for Ira to arrive. There was plenty of time, she was at least forty five minutes early for her interview.

[Ira Grey]

Ira made his way along the busy New York street, heading from work to the office building where he was meeting Rosie. She had a job interview at some business there, and she had asked him to come along for moral support. Ira had, of course, agreed, and he was heading there now to meet her. As he walked, he tied his tie around his neck - he had worn clothes other than jeans and a t-shirt to work today for that purpose - and it took him a couple tries, as he rarely wore ties.

Ira found the building without too much difficulty and went through the front door. He saw Rosie standing across the lobby and he waved, making his way towards her. As he had approached the building, he had noticed that it was a particularly tall office building, and he hoped that the interview wasn't too far up.

But as he approached Rosie, he saw that she was standing by the elevators, and he remembered with a slightly sick feeling that she had mentioned the interview was on the twenty-ninth floor. He hadn't been listening intently at the time and had just waved it off, but now he remembered. He stopped dead in his tracks, his jaw tensing. They would have to take the elevator.

[rosie]

Rosie had been standing outside the building, but as time got nearer to her interview and Ira hadn't arrived yet, not that he would be late, she knew he wouldn't, but as it was still relatively cool outside, she decided to go inside and wait indoors instead. She stood by the elevators, as she was going to have to use it to get to the correct floor, it was simply too high to use the stairs. Well, she could use the stairs, but it would probably take a long time and completely exhaust her, not a good look for an interview.

She saw Ira arrive across the lobby and he waved, she smiled and waved back and then he was soon beside her. She immediately without hesitation gave him a hug and a quick kiss. "Thanks for doing this Ira, you know, supporting me." She said, and then pressed the call button for the elevator. She turned to look at him once she did so and could tell Ira was feeling tense. "What's wrong Ira?" She asked giving him a weak smile, she couldn't figure out what the problem could be.

Rosie was pretty certain she knew just about everything there was to know about Ira, but the way he just seemed to stop looking at the elevator, Rosie began to wonder if he had a problem with them or something.

[Ira Grey]

Ira watched Rosie press the call button for the elevator, and heard her ask him what was wrong, but he couldn't make his mouth form the words. He hated, hated elevators, more than anything else in the entire world. Of all the tiny enclosed spaces that he had encountered, elevators were the absolute worst. The tight confined space, hanging in an empty shaft hundreds of feet above the ground...the mere thought of it could make Ira break out into a cold sweat.

He finally made himself answer Rosie's question. "I just...don't like elevators very much," he said quickly. There's the understatement of the century, he said sardonically to himself.

The elevator arrived and Ira forced himself to follow Rosie in - he had told her he would come with her, and he was coming. Still, he was relieved that no one else got on - it made it less cramped. Come on, he told himself. Two minutes. That's all. He pressed the button for the the right floor and backed up, wiping his sweaty palms on his pants and gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white. The doors slid shut with a swish and he leaned back, squeezing his eyes shut as the elevator lurched upward, never releasing his death grip on the railing.

[rosie]

Rosie kept watching Ira carefully, the look of discomfort very obvious on his face and it was worrying Rosie, she didn't like to see him upset or in discomfort. Then he spoke and Rosie soon found out what the problem was. She put her hand to her heart and gave him a worried look, "Oh Ira, if I'd known that, I'd never have asked you to come along for support." She felt terrible, but then they wouldn't be in the elevator for too long, so hopefully they would be fine.

However, when the lift came Rosie watched as Ira followed her in, but she kept a close eye on him, and could see the clear obvious discomfort in him. She watched as he gripped the railing tightly, and saw his knuckles more or less go white. Once the doors closed and the elevator pulled upward, Rosie immediately put her hand on his arm and squeezed it gently in a reassuring way.

"We'll be fine Ira, only a couple of minutes." She said, if it even would be that length of time. Elevators were normally very quick, or at least any she had been in were always quick. Already it felt as if it must have been almost at the floor her interview was on. She turned to him, and smiled, "Not long to go now." She assured him, as she squeezed his arm again, and that's when it happened.

A slight screech and then a thump, as the elevator came to a stop. Rosie looked around her, and then realised what had happened, it had broken down. Oh dear god she thought, not now, not with Ira here. Rosie wasn't too happy about the elevator breaking down herself, but she knew she would cope with a lot easier than Ira would.

"Don't panic Ira." Rosie said, even though she knew it would probably be useless, she immediately pressed the alarm button, so someone would help them as soon as possible. "I've pressed the help button, someone will come soon." She added, and then looked at her watch and realised that it was getting near to her appointment time. She took out her cell phone so she could call the person who was interviewing her, but there was no reception on her phone.

[Ira Grey]

Ira felt Rosie's hand on his arm, her voice filtering through his wildly racing thoughts. He couldn't focus on what she was saying, although he could tell she was trying to reassure him - it must have been blatantly obvious how panicked he was right now. Yeah, he had said only that he didn't like elevators, he hadn't said how much they freaked him out, but he was pretty sure she could tell.

He was trying to think about anything else, trying to focus on anything but the present situation, but not having much luck, when the elevator jolted to a halt with a thump and a sickening grinding noise. Ira opened his eyes, his eyes flicking to the screen that showed which floor they were at. The floor number wasn't showing, which meant they were stuck. Trapped. Between floors.

Ira sucked in his breath sharply, desperately trying to stay calm - or, at least, calmer. He heard Rosie's calm voice telling him not to panic, but it felt like the walls were closing in, he couldn't escape... He slid down the wall so he was sitting on the floor, backed into the corner. "We're trapped," he said hoarsely, his voice barely a whisper. He heard Rosie saying that she had pressed the help button, but it didn't register. "We're trapped..." he kept repeating, trying to stop from hyperventilating.

[rosie]

Rosie knew in her heart it would have been a waste of time telling Ira not to panic, it had taken him long enough to feel completely comfortable around her as it was. This was just something else to freak out Ira and she knew nothing she said or would likely do in this event would make Ira feel any less freaked out or any more comfortable. In truth, Rosie was hardly comfortable about the situation either, but she knew in her heart she would cope with it much better than Ira would.

She could only watch on with a heavy heart as Ira slid down the wall and backed into the corner, muttering that they were trapped. They were indeed trapped, but hopefully they wouldn't be trapped for long. Just then a voice came through some speaker thing in the elevator.

Please do not panic - we are working on a solution - and we plan to either have you out of there - or the elevator working again within the hour.

Rosie knew that was hopeless, at least it would be for Ira. She could probably cope with being stuck in the elevator for an hour or even longer, but she knew Ira wouldn't cope with it very well. She did the only thing she felt she could do, she sat down beside him and wrapped her arms around him. "Shh Ira, it's fine, at least you aren't alone?" She said in a calm soothing voice. Hopefully they would work their asses off and get them out in the next five minutes, never mind within the hour she thought to herself.

[Ira Grey]

Ira sat in the corner, his knees pulled up to his chest, trying to take slow deep breaths. He heard the voice come through into the elevator, telling them not to panic, they would have them out of the elevator within the hour. An hour...that was like a lifetime...

Seven-year-old Ira cowered in his room, just hoping that his dad wouldn't come up here and find him. He was terrified, and there wasn't anyone else home to stop Dad now - Mom and Matty wouldn't be home for another few hours. He hadn't done it on purpose. Honest. He had just been running through the kitchen and his elbow just accidentally happened to knock the pitcher of juice off the counter and now Dad was furious - drunk again, as usual.

Then Ira heard him stumbling up the stairs. "Boy!" he bellowed. "Where are you, boy?" Ira's eyes went wide with fear and he scooted across his floor, retreating into the darkness of his closet. But then Dad was right there, looming over him, scowling. Ira could smell the whiskey on his breath. "You like hiding in your closet so much? I guess now you're gonna stay there." Before Ira could say anything, the door of his closet was closed and he heard the lock click.

Ira scrambled towards the door, trying frantically to open it, to no avail. After almost an hour of banging on the door, yelling until he was hoarse and almost crying, the door stayed locked and no one came. The darkness was closing in around him, the walls seeming to grow closer...When his mom and brother came home, several hours later, his dad was gone, off somewhere. Ira could hear them calling for him but he couldn't make himself speak.

By the time his mom and brother realized where he was and got the closet door open, Ira was white and shaking like a leaf, retreated into the furthest corner of the tiny closet, hugging his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth. It was almost a full day before he even said a word. And now, over twenty years later...

Ira felt Rosie's arms around him and he jumped slightly, coming back to the present. Her soft voice was at least a little reassuring, and she was right. At least she was there. He nodded slowly, taking a deep, shaky breath.

[rosie]

This was terrible thought Rosie, not because she was going to miss her interview, she really didn't care very much for that, but more because she could sense Ira's pain and fear with being trapped in the elevator. She couldn't begin to imagine what he was going through, because she didn't have a fear of enclosed spaces like Ira obviously had.

However, as she quietly hugged Ira and tried to soothe him, it made her think back to the bank heist, and how she had got caught up in it, how they both had got caught up in it, and how her life had almost ended that day. She hadn't thought about that day in a long time, but the quietness was making her think and that was all she could think about.

Which was strange in a way, as the bank heist was full of noise, from the guns blasting and the robbers loud voices and in here, it was now deathly silence. All Rosie could do was pray that they would get out of here soon. They had now been trapped for almost forty five minutes when Rosie had looked at her watch, and she was beginning to feel very warm indeed. There was no air conditioning in the enclosed space and Rosie was beginning to feel the pressure, and she could feel the perspiration coming through her blouse.

She unwrapped her arms from Ira, and shifted slowly, "Ira, I'm getting so hot." She said, as she pulled out a scrunchy from her pocket and pulled back her hair and then after putting her hair into a pony tail, she wound it round and round and then wound the scrunchy around it a few times to keep it in place, so it was like a make shift bun on the back of her head.

It still hadn't made much difference, so she took off her jacket and her shoes, and unbuttoned her blouse, well the first two or three buttons anyway and picked up her resumé and began to waft it in front of her face. "Are you alright Ira?" She decided to ask him, because he had been scarily quiet for way too long. She somehow, didn't think it was just a fear of elevators which was making him so scared and shaky.

[Ira Grey]

Ira had lost track of time, but it felt like they had been trapped in the elevator for a lifetime. He felt Rosie's arms wrapped around him and he leaned into her, resting his head on her shoulder and keeping his eyes closed. When he closed his eyes, he couldn't see how tiny the damn elevator was.

But the fact still remained - they were firmly trapped in the elevator with no way of getting out right now, and to make matters worse, it was getting unbearably warm in the elevator. The heat only added to the feeling that they were suffocating - the walls pressing in on them, the feeling that the air was being sucked out of the room, and now the heat starting to become stifling.

Ira fumbled with his tie, yanking it loose and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt in a desperate attempt to feel like they weren't suffocating in the tiny, tiny space. Again, he tried to take deep breaths so he wouldn't hyperventilate, but he could feel himself shaking, felt himself go pale, the sweat trickling down the back of his neck.

He heard Rosie ask him if he was all right and he inclined his head slightly to let her know he had heard her, but he couldn't make himself say anything, and hugged his arms closer to his chest.

[rosie]

As Rosie cuddled into Ira, she felt him lean into her, resting his head on her shoulder. Every so often, she would bend her head down and kiss him on the forehead or the cheek. Alright, so maybe that was something a guy did to a girl more when comforting, but hell, she loved Ira and he was obviously struggling to cope with the situation.

This was terrible thought Rosie. They must have been in the elevator for coming on an hour now. She looked at her watch, but it had only been thirty minutes. God, she thought, how can time go in so god damned slow. Then she realised the reason why, because they were trapped in a small elevator with nowhere to go but stand or sit and wait until the elevator was moving again or they got out.

Of course she had kept her arms around Ira, trying to keep him calm, but she had got too hot, so once she had taken her jacket and shoes off and unbuttoned the top buttons of her blouse and tied her back she went back into cuddling Ira. After she asked if he was alright, he moved his head in her direction, but he didn't speak to her.

It was obvious to Rosie that this was getting to him in a very bad way. Come on, she thought to herself, get us out of here. God dammit. Just then, a voice came through the speaker thing again.

We hope to have you out within the next ten minutes. The elevator is going to take some time to repair, lucky you are almost at floor nineteen. Once we are able to prise the elevator doors open, we can get you out. Sorry for the delay.

Alright, so it wasn't the best, they were going to be stuck here for another ten minutes, which to Ira probably felt like a lifetime away. She just hugged him again. "Don't worry Ira, we'll be out soon, ten minutes, that's not too long." She said in a soft and soothing voice. When they got out here, Rosie was going to ask Ira why he got so scared, because, like she had thought earlier, there was more to it, than just a fear of elevators.

[Ira Grey]

Ira could feel himself shaking as he tried desperately to take deep breaths, tried to put his mind anywhere but here, but it wasn't working. He clenched his fists tighter, hugging himself tighter to try to stop himself from trembling so Rosie wouldn't be able to tell. He hated making her see him like this.

Having her there helped somewhat, though - her arms wrapped around him, her soft, soothing voice speaking occasionally - Ira was sure he would be panicking even more - if that was even possible - if Rosie wasn't there. He turned his head towards Rosie. "S-sorry," he finally mumbled quietly, his voice barely a whisper, feeling like he should apologize.

Then finally the voice over the intercom spoke up again, saying they should be out of there in ten minutes or so. Ten minutes...that seemed like forever. How long had they already been in here? It seemed like hours, but Ira knew it probably wasn't that long. But still. More time to wait...

[rosie]

Rosie hated seeing Ira like this, but in a way she was glad she was there for him. She began to wonder what he might have been like if she hadn't been there. She might not be in a position to do much to help the situation, but at least she could do what she could to keep him calm, and that's what she was trying to do, although she could sense he was far from calm.

They had to get out of there. Rosie might not be in the state Ira was, but she was hot, finding it stuff and difficult to breathe and she was feeling somewhat dehydrated now, with the intense heat the elevator was now giving off.

She felt Ira turn to her and mutter an apology, Rosie just looked at him with kind eyes and a smile, "It's alright Ira, really." She then leaned in and gave him a soft and tender kiss, and just hugged him even closer to her. Soon after the voice had come over the intercom saying they'd have them out in ten minutes, Rosie knew that wasn't long, but she guessed to Ira that was going to feel like a lifetime.

So she just hugged him to her again, and stayed like that rocking with him slightly, hoping that the ten minutes would go in as fast as they could. She even started singing softly, not that she had a great voice, but she figured anything was better than the complete silence.

**** Ten Minutes Later ****

Rosie glanced at her watch, they had now been in the elevator just over forty minutes, which wasn't such a long time, but looking at Ira, she knew it would have been a killer for him. Just then the voice came over the intercom again.

We're about to open the doors, you are stuck just under a floor, so we can pull you up. The elevator is going to take longer to fix than we thought.

Rosie, wondered how easy it would be to get them hauled out of the elevator, she figured they couldn't be that much below a floor if they were going to attempt that. She looked at Ira again then, "Looks like we're getting out soon then." As she said that the elevators doors were prised open and they were met with kind eyes of a couple of engineers and firemen. They were quite a bit below the floor, but Rosie could see there was a big enough gap for them both to be pulled out. One of the firemen immediately grabbed for Rosie's hand.

She shook her head, "No, can you please get Ira out first." She looked to his direction. The fireman looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Very well madam." She then tried to help Ira up onto his feet, and kept her hand in his own tightly as she guided him toward the entrance of the open doors.

[Ira Grey]

It seemed like hours and hours and hours later that anything else happened. Ira was still hunched in the corner, trying as hard as he could to breathe evenly, feeling Rosie's arms wrapped comfortingly around him. Even still, his jaw was clenched so tightly that his teeth were starting to ache.

When the voice finally crackled over the intercom again, Ira jumped, and by this point he almost didn't register what the voice had said. It was only when Rosie repeated it that it sunk in. They were finally going to get out of here.

When the doors were finally pried open and Ira looked up to see the firemen and others standing there, he wasn't sure if he could even make himself stand, he had been frozen for so long. He heard Rosie ask them to get him out first and used her hand to help pull himself up on trembling legs, letting the firefighter help pull him up out of the elevator.

Air. Ira sucked in a deep breath of cool, fresh air, leaning again the wall and closing his eyes, reveling in the wide open hallway of the building that they were now in. God, finally they were out.

[rosie]

Rosie was glad they were about to get out of the elevator, more for Ira's sake than her own. So when the fireman reached for Rosie's hand, she refused it, making sure Ira got out first. She let him use her hand to help him up, and once she was on her feet herself, she made sure that Ira kept himself steady, until she was sure that he was safely out of the elevator. She could see the relief on his face, even though he was backed up against the wall.

When the fireman came to take Rosie's hand however, she heard a loud cracking noise, and the elevator began to dip a little. "Oh god!" She screamed out, as she wondered what was happening, then she heard another noise, and the elevator dipped again. "What the hell is happening?" She shouted out to anybody who would hear or listen to her.

She heard some quick muffled voices as the engineers seemed to talk with the firemen. Then the fireman who had her hand, bent down and held out both of his hands to her. "You're going to have to grab both my hands now." Of course Rosie did that, but she was still wondering what the hell was happening with the elevator.

As the fireman was grabbing at her, she felt the elevator dip again, and another cracking noise. "What the hell is happening?" She asked in a very worried voice, the fireman then grabbed her one last time, and she was on her knees on the floor, her knees grazed against the edge of the floor, and as soon as she was clear of the elevator, she heard a swooshing sound. She scrambled to her feet and turned and then watched as she saw the elevator and all its wires go speeding down the elevator shaft.

"Oh my god!" She exclaimed, as she made her way over to Ira and clung to him, "Oh my god, we could have been in there." She screamed out to the firemen. The engineers were nowhere to be find, but there was one thing for sure, Rosie wasn't about to take a job at this building, not after what she had just seen happen.

"How the hell are we going to get out? Isn't that going to have damaged the ground floor or something?" She asked one of the firemen.

"It's possible it will have done some damage, of course. We'll go and check for the damage and be back as soon as we can, we may have to get you out via the window and the hydraulic platform on the fire engine Mam."

With that, they left Rosie and Ira, and all she could do was cling to him with tears in her eyes, how close they had come to being flat packed.