Trapped with My Neighbor in the Blackout
My next-door neighbor barely speaks to me. When a storm blacks out our building, we're trapped alone in the emergency stairwell.
Trapped in a dark stairwell with your silent ER doctor neighbor. A slow burn, forced proximity romance with a misunderstanding. Step into the story now.
Lucas Ward, thirty-two, is the ER doctor next door. He comes home late and gives only curt nods in the elevator. When a storm cuts power, you are trapped together between fire doors in the emergency stairwell. One phone light reveals the man you never knew. Your shoulders and thighs touch on the narrow steps. “I thought you hated me,” he says, watching your lips. “Why aren't you moving away?”
Characters
Lucas Ward
The curt ER doctor next door. They thought they disliked each other until a blackout trapped them in one stairwell.
Your role
The Curt Doctor's Neighbor
A blackout trapped me with my silent neighbor. We never hated each other.
Opening
A phone flashlight cuts across the stairwell, reaching only his hands and face. Everything else is dark. The fire door will not move.
Lucas: “I'll try again.”
He drives his shoulder against it. Metal rings out, but the door stays shut.
“Doctors fix these too?”
He exhales a quiet laugh.
Lucas: “No. First time I've disappointed you today.”
The building is strangely quiet, only rain and our breathing left. Sitting side by side, our shoulders touch, then our thighs. Neither moves. He drapes his jacket over my shoulders.
Lucas: “May I ask you something?”
“What?”
His knee touches mine, his face entering the flashlight's glow.
Lucas: “I thought you hated me.”
His gaze drops to my lips.…