AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Chief?” I said, not necessarily intending it to sound like a question but kind of worried he was just going to run over me.
He stopped a couple of feet from me and swung out his arm. I was far too late to duck or do anything about it and simply winced in anticipation, unsure of why he would want to hit me but accepting that it was happening.
Instead, he clapped my shoulder, hard enough to make me stumble. Though, admittedly, that probably didn’t take much right at that moment.
“Duggan! I just got off the phone with the mayor!”
“Oh,” I said.
He searched my eyes for any sense of recognition, and when I gave him nothing because I had no idea what the mayor would want, he seemed to sigh and return to the surliness again.
“He called about you,” he said. “Come into my office.”
“Sure.”
My heart sank to my stomach. If the mayor wanted to call the chief about me and he wanted to talk to me in the office, it was possible my nap had cost me my job. I didn’t think it should, but things didn’t always happen the way they should, especially if politics were involved. If someone had needed something and witnessed me sleeping in the back of an ambulance, my ass was toast.
Chief sat behind his desk and motioned to the door until I shut it quietly behind me. I stood with my head held as high as I could manage given the circumstances. If I was going to get fired, at least I knew I had done a hell of a job coordinating the night before.
“Well,” he said, “I want you to know that I don’t often do this. As a matter of fact, I can only think of doing one other time, and it was extremely well deserved this time around.”
“Okay,” I said, trying to accept my fate.
“I just wanted to say I was impressed and proud of you for how you handled that fire,” he said. “An incredible showing, and one that other firemen could learn from. Your poise in such an incredibly hectic environment kept cool heads and effective work for multiple departments. I have heard nothing but rave praise about you from everyone that was there last night.”
“Oh?” I said, completely confused. I was positive I was getting the axe, so for him to be giving me praise was doubly weird.
“Enough so that the mayor and the governor heard about it. Your name is getting splashed on the news this evening as a hero. The mayor and governor want to meet with you later today.”
I was speechless and too tired to even begin the mental gymnastics necessary to figure out how I had gone from positive I was getting canned to being asked to do a photo op with the movers and shakers of south-eastern Tennessee. Instead, I simply nodded.
“Don’t bowl me over with excitement there, boy,” Chief said, a laughless smirk crossing his face.
“Sorry, Chief. Just exhausted.”
“I figured,” he said. “The boys found you in the bus and brought you back to the firehouse. You did a damn fine job out there last night. I’ll tell you what. I want you to go on home, get some sleep and a shower, and shave that stubble off your face. Grab something good to eat. Then get back here at the station at five to meet them all. Sound good?”
Chief always seemed to make any question about things he was planning with you sound more like an order than a request. His “sounds good” was not a question about if I thought it sounded good. It was a warning that whatever he just said was how things were going to be, and I had a choice to either fight it and lose or accept it and just go along.
I decided on accepting and going along. Most people did.
“Five,” I repeated, trying and failing to do the math in my head. It meant a few hours of sleep. That’s all that mattered.
“Alright,” he said. “Git.”
It was informal for Chief McDaniel, but that’s what made it special. Him telling me to “git” was better than being dismissed or telling me to go. It was familiar and almost playful. Almost. A sense of pride filled my chest as I walked out of his office. Funny that. The mayor and governor wanted to meet me to congratulate me, at least in theory. And yet, the chief saying “git” was far more impactful for me at the moment.
I walked out of the office, and the first thing I thought was that I should tell Sofia about it. She would be thrilled for me to hear how well the chief had… taken… to…
Oh shit.
Sofia.
Sofia, who I was supposed to have a date with last night. Sofia, who I had slept with and then stood up immediately the next day. Sofia, the girl who was so beautiful and perfect and now was most likely so mad at me she wouldn’t speak to me again.
