“He’s too young to be working so much. He needs a woman to make him put down some roots.” April lets out a laugh. “A man like him ought to make about a dozen babies.”
Rosabelle coughs and then April laughs. “Is there someone we can call? Boyfriend, husband?”
“Rosa!” I hear shouted from nearby and a woman with dark curly hair comes running over. “Oh my God, are you okay? What happened?”
“And you are?” I ask, holding out my arm so she can’t get into the ambulance.
“Rie, her best friend,” she says, shoving my arm away. “Rosa, dear sweet drama llama, what have you done?”
“Oh nothing, just the tail you pinned on me exploded!” Rosabelle shouts.
Rie’s eyes widen for a second and then suddenly she bursts into laughter. I step forward thinking I’m going to have to stop her when I hear Rosabelle laughing from inside too, and then a roll of gauze comes flying out to hit Rie in the face.
“You could have killed me!”
I hear some rustling and think she must be about to come out but just as I’m about to see her, Chief walks up and slaps me on the arm. “Gotta go, Blaze,” he says before he takes off running toward the truck.
“Shit,” I say as I look down and realize I turned off my radio after we got here. I hesitate for a second, but I hear the siren on the truck and I can’t wait. I take off running as fast as I can, and every step I put between us is a space that makes my chest pound.
I don’t know how but I’m going to find her again.
Chapter Five
Rosabelle
“I’m quitting,” I tell Rie as I drop down into the sofa. I cannot go back to that office. I had to wash my hair five times to get the smell of smoke out of it. “Also, are you sure this hair dye washes out?”
I look down at my hair that still has shades of blue and teal in it. After spending over an hour in the shower it should have washed out, but it didn’t and now my towels are ruined.
Rie picks up one of the discarded boxes out of the trash can and I know before she opens her mouth it’s not the kind that washes out.
“We can run out and get something to cover it up,” she offers before dropping the box back into the trash can. “But I think it looks cute like it is.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not going back to that place tomorrow.” I have no idea if there is even a work policy against blue hair or not but it can stay that way for now.
“So you’re quitting? You’re going to let those bitches win?” Rie leans against the wall in the kitchen.
“They didn’t even care that I was on fire! Why would I want to work with those people? They all stood there watching me as my life flashed before my eyes.” A life that was boring to say the least. I haven’t done much in life and the experience made me wonder what more I could be doing. This job is not it.
“There are always going to be people like them in life. It is what it is.” Rie pushes off the wall and comes over to sit with me on the sofa. “They’re lucky I got there late. All of these bitches would have needed new nose jobs if I hadn’t been so focused on making sure you were okay.”
Rie might be tiny but she can throw a punch. I saw her do it in the boxing classes she takes. She calls it “working out” but I call it hell unless you get to just watch. Her father hates that she does it, especially when she shows up with bruises on her face.
“They aren’t worth the jail time.” I let out a long sigh as I drop back onto the sofa. “I won’t be seeing them again so it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, you will.” She hops up from the sofa and grabs us a couple of sodas. “This is part of being an adult; we don’t run from bullies. Hell, you don’t have to fight them, but you don’t let them push you out.”
I know she’s right but God, it’s hard when no one likes you. “I just don’t see what they have against me.” I open my soda and take a long drink.
I know I have to go back tomorrow and at least give my two weeks’ notice. And I have to start looking for a new job too. I don’t want to flake out on the company, but it’s telling since they haven’t reached out to make sure I was okay.
I feel so aimless and unsure what I want to do for work. Every time I think about what I want in life nothing ever sparks inside of me. Well, I did find some excitement for the fireman I threw myself at. Although I’m pretty sure crushing on a mystery man isn’t a profession. I’ll probably never see him again, but even with everything that happened I can’t stop thinking about him.
“What’s got that dreamy look in your eyes?” Rie asks, breaking into my thoughts. My cheeks burn from being busted. “It’s the fireman, isn't it?” I knew she’d know. Rie can always read me so well. “I heard someone call him Blaze. His name sounds pretty badass,” she teases.
“I’m not into badasses,” I remind her. Those types of men have never been my thing, but Rie wants them as bad as they come. I’m not sure if that’s really what she’s into or if it’s another way to try and dig at her father.
“They might have been calling him Blaze but he didn’t look like a bad boy.”
No, in the moment he’d been my guardian angel. He saved my life and held me close while I wept in his arms. He was sweet and handsome. Probably the most handsome man I’ve ever seen.
