BOOK NAME: YOU ARE MINE FOR KEEPS.

CHAPTER 1

"What time do you even plan on getting here. Are you sure you're still coming?" Daisy listened to Ugo whine over the phone.

"I'm all dressed up already. You'll see me soon, I promise. I just had a really stressful day at work and I had to make a quick stop at home to get into a more comfortable footwear." she tried explaining. Pushing the door of her walk-in closet close, she pulled a black leather jacket across her black singlet, sat on the bed and bent low to buckle her sandals when she heard Ugo's next words.

"You're changing footwear? Don't tell me you plan on wearing any of those boring flat sandals of yours."

"Something wrong my flats?"

"Really, you're going to ask me that." Ugo boiled.

"We're going out to celebrate for crying out loud. You have to look the part. Put on a pair of those gorgeous Louboutins you got there. Why do you splash so much money on exotic footwear when you don't wear them."

"Hello, are you forgetting something? You're forgetting that you make me buy these footwear, against my wish." Daisy complained.

"Yeah right. I steal your credit card from your purse and purchase them. Lie on me Ma'am, keep it up. It looks good on you." Ugo said sarcastically.

Letting out a soft laughter. Daisy stood up from the bed. She picked up the flats and headed back to her walk-in closet to swap it for a Louboutin pump.

"Going to swap the flats for a good pair of pumps right now. Let me know how much you like the sound of that."

"Well I like the sound of that, very much. Change those hideous clothes you have on, too." Ugo added to Daisy's surprise.

"How do you know what I'm wearing?"

"I don't. Just made a wild guess. Anyway, wear some hot shit babygirl. We're partying all night long and I'm not listening to your lame excuses. Tomorrow is a public holiday, you've got nothing planned."

Daisy heaved a sigh. She stared at her wardrobe, clueless as to what to wear. Indeed, she had lots of clothes hanging inside there, but they were mostly work outfits and just a few pieces of party dresses that she had no idea which part of the wardrobe she was going to look at, to find them.

"Ugo, this is tough, I don't know what to wear. I'm just..... Ahaa! there you are!" She exclaimed, picking up a black spaghetti strap gown with a slit that went up the thigh. "Finally a dress that can serve the purpose."

"Thank Goodness. Let me know when you arrive the hotel. I'll be waiting." Ugo said.

"I'll be leaving the house in minutes." She paused at the sound of murmurs from the other end of the line. "Ugo, you're with someone, who's with you?"

"No one you know." She chuckled. "You'll tell me when you get to the hotel, won't you?"

She cleared her throat. "Now that I know why you need that piece of information, you'll see me in front of your hotel room. I'm not giving you any prior notice."

"Daisy, come on......." Pause "Okay, it's just some guy I met at the bar yesterday. Remember I went out with a few colleagues. The guy just happened to be there. So, you know.... one thing led to the other and......"

"And you hit it?"

"I believe you have an image of the rest played out in your mind eye already." Ugo replied, giggling like a teenager.

"Damn girl! You need a permanent heartbreak cure. This ain't the Ugo I know."

Ugo shrugged. "This has always been me. Just cooled off a bit for that Jack ass and he took it for granted." She said. "Now enough of me. Get your ass down here and give me some celebratory hug, I just made partner, girlllll." She reminded Daisy.

"You bet! I'll be there in twenty."

Daisy Ledwig walked into the Royal Crest hotel in Fairview that Thursday night wearing a black Louboutin heels, feeling jittery from coffee, and carrying a bottle of champagne in a nice looking paper bag from the wine store across the street. She took out her phone to text Ugo of her presence. Getting on the elevator, she tapped on the send icon.

"Oh no, was just about to get in the shower."

Daisy got Ugo's reply just as she was about stepping into the elevator. She laughed out loud as she punched the number of the floor she was getting out. "You can't be serious." She murmured amid laughter.

She couldn’t wait to celebrate with her friend's success as Ugo had just made partner at her law firm. A dream she's been pursuing for the longest time.

The elevator glided in the air, in that smooth, noiseless way elevators do at expensive hotels, reminding Daisy that her friend was splashing a huge sum lodging in a hotel as big as this. She checked the paper bag she was carrying for the third time to make sure she’d tossed the fancy chocolates and crackers she got from her new friend at the office. They would need a pre-dinner snack to soak up all of that champagne, after all. She wished she’d found the time to make cup cakes the night before. Ugo loved her cakes. She spied the Chocolates and Crackers in the paper bag, tucked at the corner while the champagne bottle took most of the space.

Just then, the elevator stopped with a jerk. A second later, the lights went out. "What’s going on?" She said to herself, aloud. A dim light came on almost immediately, but the elevator stayed motionless.

She looked up and around, and jumped when she caught sight of a man with a suitcase in the opposite corner of the elevator.

"Jesus! Who are you?" She asked trying to make out the figure in the dim light. "Were you here this whole time?" She asked.

"Yes, I'm not some magician. I actually walked in before you." He replied.

Daisy stilled immediately. The voice..... it sounded too familiar. Like the voice of someone she used to know. Someone she struggled so hard to walk away from.....Brett fucking Lexington. She shook her head, pushing the possiblity of such occurrence away from her mind.

"I guess you don’t really like magicians." He said turning on his phone torchlight.

He was tall, tanned skin, good body, pretty great and expensive looking custom-made suit, he smelt nice and he was exactly the person Daisy was terrified to see, Brett Lexington.

How exactly had she missed seeing this man in the elevator with her all this while.

"Hello Daiz." He called, a knowing smile plastered across his face.

"Bre.. What do you think you're doing?"

"Taking an elevator to my hotel room." He replied. "What are you doing here?"

"Hmmm." She hummed, taking him in. He was acting all so innocent, like there was no beef between them. Like they were buddies or colleagues of some sort. Deciding against being on the defensive, she decided to play along. Hopefully, she'll have him on the edge pretty soon.

"I came to see a friend." She replied curtly, not giving him room to probe some more.

"Great." He moved to the front of the elevator and picked up the emergency phone. "Let’s see if they can give us an update on when we can possibly get out of here."

Daisy tried not to stare at him in the dim lighting, but she couldn’t miss the opportunity to check out his butt in his perfectly fitted trouser. It was as good as the rest of him. She tried to wipe the grin off her face in case he turned around. Stuff like this never happen to her.

Not the stuck-in-the-elevator thing, her life was full of minor crises like that. No, it was being stuck in an elevator with a hot guy who happens to be her ex! That was the unusual part. She had always been the one sitting on an airplane next to a messy toddler, or a knitting grandma, or a bored college student, never with a very hot and sexually appealing guy. The last time such luck shined on her was five years ago, when she met him. Ever since then, it's been from one jackass to another.

After about a minute of him saying, Okay . . . okay, in progressively tenser tones, he hung up the phone.

"Well....." He paused and smiled at her. "Dear Elevator buddy, These circumstances are not ideal and I know how uncomfortable this place might be making you feel." He said, like he knew her so well. "So, according to them, there is a power outage in the whole hotel."

***

CHAPTER 2

Daisy's phone lit up just then with a text from Ugo.

"My power went out.

Where are you?"

"Ahhh, yes, I just got alerted to that." Daisy told Brett as she held her phone up before she texted Ugo back.

"I guess it's the whole hotel,

I’m stuck in the elevator with

some dude that is providing

me with adequate company."

"At least that means they were telling the truth," Brett said, interrupting her. "The good news is, they have generators, so the elevators should start moving shortly."

"And you know this, how?"

"Oh!" He stepped away from the telephone. "They told me." he added.

Daisy slid down to the floor, placing her purse and paper bag gently beside her, careful not to break the champagne bottle. Since she already informed Ugo about it, she knew how much tragedy it would bring if it ends up broken. Ugo would report her to any body worth reporting to, including Daisy's parents.

Her black heels used to be relatively comfortable for at least an hour or two before the discomfort and pressure starts hitting in, but unfortunately she had started feeling the pain already, making her wonder what caused it all.

Brett shrugged off his suit jacket, gifting her a glimpse of his broad chest. She swallowed hard and turned her face to the opposite side.

"Are we going to act like we don't know each other more than superficially, Daiz?"

"Don't." She warned waving her hand in front of him, a definite warning for him to stop.

Brett nodded, understanding what she meant but not in the least ready to give up, just yet.

"But we can at least chat, while waiting for the elevator. For old times sake." He pushed a bit more.

Daisy shrugged. Obviously in need of things to talk about since she was claustrophobic, even though she denies it every now and then.

"So, are you a guest here, where are you coming from?" She asked him so she wouldn’t stare.

"Just relocated to Fairview a couple of months ago. And you?" He sat down next to her.

Daisy's head banged and swelled beyond comprehension. What the hell was he doing at Fairview. He had no business relocating here. This was her safe place, where she have built her whole life. She had lots of families and loved ones here and now he moved across cities to come settle here? At Fairview of all places! What are the odds.

"Oh, I live here, in Fairview I mean, not in the hotel." She chuckled awkwardly. "I’m just in the hotel visiting someone."

He glanced at her phone, her shoes, and back up at her. "A pretty special someone, with those shoes on, and all of that smiling you were doing when you didn’t even notice someone else was in the elevator with you."

"A very special someone," she said, and his grin got wider. "Wait, no, not that kind of special someone. My friend."

Yeah, this was how she usually acted around hot guys. Scared to make eye contact, and then they end up not noticing her at all.

"Ahhhh." He laughed. "Okay, yes, I did think it was that kind of special someone. Do you two have a hot night in the city planned?"

She crossed her legs and adjusted the slit of her black dress so she didn’t accidentally flash her underwear at Brett on top of everything else.

"Sort of. We’re celebrating. She just made partner at her law firm." Daisy smiled down at her paper bag full of treats before looking back up at him. She didn't realize how much she was now warming up to him, someone she had sworn she would strangle if she set eyes on him, ever again. Life! He looked far better than he used to. Five years ago, she used to say there was nobody as good looking as Brett Lexington in the whole world. And now, she could swear on it.

Not even a good slice of dark chocolate could possibly compete with him. He narrowed his eyes at her. Light grey eyes, with a really dark rim around them. His eyes were so pretty that she looked away again.

"Okay, I’m happy for your friend, but what is in that bag, I've caught you staring at it so many times. From the moment you stepped into the elevator."

She laughed. "Just champagne and a few snacks. The plan is to drink the champagne in her hotel room and then go out to party.... Well, that was the initial plan, but we’ll see how long we’re stuck in this elevator."

She caught him typing something in his phone before putting it away. Brett scooted closer to her and looked in the bag. Surprising even herself, Daisy pushed it toward him, so he could see better in the dim light. She was never the one to let people poke around in her bag, but here she was in such a weird situation with her ex.

"Well, we have something to sustain us if they decide to leave us here for hours. Thank God it's Champagne, we won't need a corkscrew to open it, and then we’ve got.... Oh, look at that, chocolates and crackers, the perfect stuck-in -an-elevator snack."

Daisy leaned back against the brass paneled wall of the elevator. "Have you been stuck in an elevator before?" She asked, curios on how calm he appeared.

"No, just keeping you entertained. I know you're claustrophobic. I remember." He tapped her gently on the arm, reassuringly. "Is it working?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Thank you so much. But you can't talk me into sharing Ugo's you-made-partner snacks with you, you know."

He stretched his legs out along the floor and took a slow gaze at her. "I was afraid you'll say that. Well, I can only hope we’ll be here so long that you’ll take pity on me."

She smiled and slipped her shoes halfway off, just enough to relieve the pressure on her toes. "No offense, Brett, but my goal is not to be stuck in this elevator with you all night. So, why did you choose to relocate to Fairview? What's in this town that made you fly across cities to settle here?" She asked, changing the topic immediately.

He made a face. "Business."

She made a face back at him. "Don’t say it like it is a prison sentence. Tell me more."

He slumped against the wall. "One of the arms of my company is working on a collaboration with the Mayor's office on securing adequate housing and skills acquisition for the less privilege. Mostly kids from impoverished families and orphanages." He replied.

"That's amazing. But, couldn't you just assign the project to someone else and have them report to you with updates on the project?"

He shook his head. "The project is quit personal to me. I wanted to see it through. Besides, I didn't fly across cities to come here. I've been living at Bronx before now..

"What? That's......so.."

"Close?"

"Yes." She nodded. "I thought you were living at Noxenburg."

"Oh, I see you listen to the news. Have you been keeping tabs on me?" He smiled, that very smile that touches his eyes and end up melting people's heart.

"Of course not." She said shuffling through her purse for her phone. When she found it, she started scrolling through it, just to distract herself from looking up at him.

"Daiz." She heard him call her in the silkiest voice ever. "You know the ugly things you hear about me in the news are not always true. Those are made up stories by bloggers and low budget journalists just for the traffic and funds."

"How is that even any business of mine." She shot at him.

"I know you enough to know that those things may bother you. Just like now, you seem angry and worked up. Daiz..... I'm...."

"Stop giving yourself too much accolades, I'm not angry. Your life is none of my fucking business. So, how and why would I be worked up because of you."

He tried grabbing her hand and she knocked him off. "I'm sorry, I messed up. I know this now. I'm sorry for hurting you."

"Hahaha!" She laughed dryly and turned to him sharply. "You know this, now? N.o.w? Are you being serious right now. It took you what? one, two, three, four, five." She counted her fingers. "Five years to realize that you messed up? Nah, you're a clown please."

"Daiz......" He murmured her name, tenderly and reach for her hand without interruptions.

"What Brett....... what do you want from me?" She sobered up and asked with an unsteady voice. "I just....I just need you to leave me alone. I don't know why you decided to show your face right now. But I need you to leave me the fuck alone! Is that so hard for you to do?"

He shook his head. "You know it is."