Lean on Me.

"You'll be late, and missed," Carter told Darcy, phoning her for the last time from the Tapas Bar. There the entire creative team were team bonding, sipping high class cocktails before heading to a paint and sip evening. Darcy, only a junior creative content member of this dynamic get ahead firm, was literally hiding at her desk, hunched over her laptop.

Every other work station was darkened and silent, as the shadows of dusk crept over the city skyline on Friday night. Darcy loathed socializing, but networking was supposed to be part of her career. So she continued, into the evening, sipping a fruit juice, munching on a snack bar. She personally thought team bonding was overrated. She worked with these people daily, online or in the office environment, and did not wish to get to know any of them any more than necessary. She was just not geared up for that style of glamorous airy fairy air kissies.

Finally, when she decided she could head off home, she closed down her office digital functions, went to the loo, and waited in the hushed corridor for the lift. It was being noisy that night, she seemed to hear a sort of groaning in the cables as the doors opened at her floor. But it was well lit, Darcy did not question such daily practices as taking an elevator to the ground floor.

The lift descended, as Darcy stared mindlessly as the floor numbers diminished. But just above the ground floor, all the floodlighting went dim, and the lift malfunctioned. Darcy pulled her phone from her waist bag, and turned on its light. Trying not to be totally flustered, she pressed the emergency button. There was no response, only a buzzing sound. She did not wish to push all the buttons, in case the lift rose again, then crashed. Here she was only metres away from her liberation on the ground floor.

She resolved to sit down for a minute, her knees were wobbling, as she realised she was probably the only human in the whole building. Plus her childhood fear of the dark was setting in, but she did could not imagine being stranded here in the lift all weekend. She tried ringing Carter, but her boss's phone went to its message bank. Darcy phoned her a couple of times, and left a more than panicked request for emergency services.

Darcy was sitting there in the gloomy, silent stalled lift, when she told herself to look in her large black shoulder bag. "Have I still got that card?" she asked herself, hoping for a sensible answer. "Must be in here somewhere, surely I still have that handyman's card." By the light of her phone, which she had thankfully recharged while she was at work, she tipped her entire handbag's contents on the floor of the lift.

"There it is, what is his name again? Please let him answer the phone!" Darcy rang and heard only another phone going to message bank. But she left a message. This guy's name was Reggie, he always seemed to be wandering around with a tool box and stepladder. Cheeky lad, he had always smiled and winked at Darcy. But again, there was no response.

Darcy had also found a packet of mints, so she chewed on them, staving off her hunger pangs. This looked like being a long weekend ahead, trapped here in the lift with no nutrition. Her phone jangled her into optimism, she responded to this unknown number.

"Reggie here, are you still in the office lift?"

"Yes, it's stuck right above the ground floor, please can you assist?"

Reggie was reassuring, "Don't worry, I was on my way to a fishing trip, but you got right before I was leaving. I'm on my way. I'll phone for back up. Are you Darcy with the lovely red hair and long boots, works on the seventh floor?"

"Yes," Darcy replied, wondering what that had to do with anything. Reggie said, "Good night to save a lady in distress. Take some deep breaths, we'll be there asap."

He clicked off his phone, and Darcy ate some more mints. She was trembling by now, as well as being shivery. She drew her jacket round her, and waited, silently. Finally, her phone rang again, as Reggie and fire brigade could be heard stomping nearby. A variety of disconcerting thuds sounded, the lift seemed to moan. Reggie talked her into standing up, as he somehow opened up a panel in the lift ceiling, and lowered himself into the elevator space.

Darcy's legs nearly collapsed when she stood up, so Reggie put his strong arms around her, saying, "Lean on me. I've got you." Darcy unexpectedly felt a surge of liquid melting as she practically collapsed in his arms. The fire brigade winched them both to safety, the lift was still a work in progress. Darcy had never felt so safe with any of the few males she had ever got so close and personal ever before.

Reggie and Darcy thanked the emergency response team, then he looked her in the eye, to say, "Why were you here so late? Chicks must beware of any hazard, keep yourself safe. How did you plan on getting home, the state you are in?" Darcy could only imagine her cosy bed, with a toasted cheese and a coffee. Reggie winked, and drove her home, even walked her to the front door, and unlocked it for her.

Somehow, by the time Darcy went to bed, she had agreed to go fishing the next day, just her and Reggie. She slept like a log, arose the next day, and wondered why she had volunteered to do this. But she put on her favourite blue jeans, a teal shirt, and a chunky sweater. When young, Darcy used to like fishing, she found it the most peaceful experience. Reggie knew a beautiful lake, in a happy valley. The sky was blue, reflected in the limpid still waters. There seemed to be sunlit scenery everywhere, dragonflies zoomed, insects buzzed, birds were chirping in the surrounding trees. It was so serene, Darcy could relax.

Even better, Reggie and Darcy caught a trout each, cleaned their catch, and sizzled them a frypan on a little campfire. They ate a simple salad mix straight from its bag, then rested. Darcy could not help herself, when Reggie sat down next to her, put his arm around her again, saying, "Lean on me." So she did, safe and secure. They were total opposites, but definitely attracted, with bonds forged in longlasting love. Darcy was a capable gal, Carter was definitely puzzled. But soon this tale concluded in a simple garden wedding, all smiles, as Darcy knew where her safe haven of peace lay. Reggie had only had to whisper, "Lean on me."