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“Isn’t there some other type of punishment you could give me?” She licked her lips and bent forward with hands on her knees, treating me to a glimpse of her deep cleavage.. “I mean, if for some reason I didn’t have a plan.”
I was tiring of her games. She was an attractive woman, but I was on official business. Plus, her cavalier attitude towards fire safety was a huge turnoff. “Ma’am, do you have the paperwork or not?”
“You’re serious aren’t you?” she said sliding from the counter
“I’m afraid I am ma’am. I’ll be back in 30 days. If you don’t have a Plan by then, I’m going to have to issue a citation and fine.” All I wanted to do was go home and cook my steak.
She closed the distance between us. “Why don’t we go have drinks somewhere and discuss this further?”
Three loud shrieks came from my pants pocket. Fire. I pulled the phone out. A two-story structure on the other side of town. I would be needed on scene to complete an investigation. “Ms. Marsh, I will be back in 30 days. If you do not have a plan in place, I will cite and fine you. You should consider yourself lucky I’m not shutting you down right now.” I turned and hurried for the door. It would take me at least 15 minutes to get crosstown.
As I maneuvered through traffic, memories of the incident which had ended my career as a firefighter tried to break through. I pushed thoughts down. Aiden was a professional and too cautious to make the same mistake I had. Gripping the steering wheel, I shifted gears and stepped on the gas.
I flashed my credentials at the patrolman blocking the street, and he waved me through. As I rolled up on the scene, the fire was already out; it was obvious the fourplex was a total loss. Aiden was standing next to Unit 2, helping pack up. I breathed easier. Unit 3 was still dousing what remained of the building, making sure no hot embers remained that might flare up.
After checking in with the Chief, I went over to where Aiden was standing. He told me the building was fully engulfed by the time they arrived and all they could do was to contain the fire so it did not spread to the neighboring units.
“Was there anybody inside?” I asked.
“No. Most of them were just getting home from work when the fire broke out. The first one to arrive called 911. The only person not accounted for is a woman who lived in apartment 4. The other tenants said her car was gone and she usually was the last to arrive home.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Finding charred remains was the worst part of my job. I would need to interview all the tenants, but that could wait. They had been through enough for one day.
“From what I can tell, it looks like the fire started around back, which is why it took so long for the call to come in,” Aiden explained.
With their work done, the crew began packing up their hoses and were getting ready to head back to the firehouse. My job was just beginning. “Be careful in there.” Aiden told me, eying my knee.
“I will. See you in the morning,” I said, squeezing his shoulder. It was an hour before sunset when the last unit pulled away, but I wanted to get a look at the scene and do a preliminary inspection. I walked to the trunk of the Mustang and donned my PPE.
CHAPTER TWO
Ember
It was not even noon yet and already it was turning out to be a spectacularly shitty day. I had been up late the previous night, studying for finals, which began in just two weeks. As I crawled into bed, my phone started going off. The calls and texts were from an unknown number. It did not take a genius to know Reggie, my latest poor decision, had blocked his number in hopes I would answer. Fat chance of that after his stunt at the restaurant the other day.
Reggie is not the only bum I have dated. According to the psychology class I took last year, I was emulating my mother’s self-destructive behaviors by continually hooking up with losers. It could have been worse. My mother had other destructive behaviors that were far more dangerous than dating the wrong men.
While Reggie was not the only lowlife I had ever dated and broken up with, he was the only one that had become violent. He showed up where I work, wanting to talk. When I tried to avoid him, he grabbed my wrist. Not a big deal, but enough to convince me I was done with him. Hell, I was done with all men. In my experience, they were only after two things—sex and my paycheck.
Eventually, sleep overtook me—an hour before I had to get up for my shift at the diner. As a result, I overslept and was late for work. I knew Al would tear into me when I finally got there. But as soon as I arrived, even before I had time to change into my uniform, he calmly asked me to come into his office. “Ember, I hate to do this, but I’ve got to let you go.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m late one time and you fire me?”
“That’s not it. Your boyfriend —
“Ex-boyfriend.” I corrected him.
“Either way, he came in again this morning looking for you. When I told him you weren’t here, he took it out on the gum ball machines in the lobby. Who the hell does that? Those machines are there to raise money for orphans or something.”
“Don’t fire me. Please. Let me talk to him. I’ll get him to understand he can’t come here anymore.”
“It’s too late for that. We’ve been down this road more than once.” He slid an envelope containing my last paycheck across the desk. “You need to get a restraining order against this guy before he hurts you.”
“That would only make it worse,” I told him and took my check. When I walked out the door, I was wondering how I would pay next month’s rent. I also had a payment due at the bursar’s office. Despite taking out student loans for the last four years, it was not enough to cover all of my expenses.
Just as I was about to get into my car, Danny’s Ford Tempo pulled into the parking lot. He got out of the car and headed in my direction. On a normal day, I wouldn’t mind talking with him. But today was anything but normal. I just wanted to get home and look for another job. I considered pretending I didn’t see him and getting in my car, but he’s a nice guy and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “Hey Ember. Where you going? I thought we were working the lunch shift together.”
“Al fired me.”
