“I’ll be out of my office all day.”
“Yeah, April, I know how your job goes.”
“All day. And I’ve got so much paperwork to file. It’s just sitting here on my desk.”
I straighten up as I realize what she’s trying to tell me.
“Who knows when I’ll be back here to take care of it? I guess it will just sit here until then.”
“That’s too bad,” I say as I walk over to my locker and grab my keys.
“Yep, we’re leaving now, so I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I owe you,” I say and she chuckles.
“Just don’t let me down.”
“Not this time.” I hear her laughing as I hang up the phone. “I’m out of here,” I call over my shoulder to Chief.
“You’re leaving?” He sounds like I’ve just told him I’m from another planet. “But you never leave during the day.”
He follows behind me as I get in my truck and crank it up.
“I’m not even on the schedule today.” I wink at him as I throw it in reverse.
“That never stopped you before. Where the hell are you going?”
“To find my unicorn.”
His eyes widen as I turn on the radio and blast the music.
I can’t remember the last time I felt this good, and as I drive across town, the excitement feels so damn good. I don’t want to get my hopes up, but I know April wouldn’t do me wrong.
When I get to the emergency services building I park my truck and walk in the back. It’s not unusual for firefighters to be here and I wave at a few people I know. I don’t take the time to stop and chat because I’m on a mission. April’s office is at the end of a long corridor so it provides a little bit of privacy. The door is closed and the light is off, but when I grab the handle it turns. I breathe a sigh of relief because I would have straight-up broken a damn window to get in there.
I walk in and silently close the door behind me as I go over to her desk. Right on top I see yesterday’s cases and I flip the folder open. I read through until I see the word “unicorn” and stop.
“There you are,” I say to myself as I pull out my phone and enter in her name and number.
At the bottom she lists a work address as her home address and I see it’s a call center in town. I check my phone to see where exactly it is, but Google says it’s closed today.
I debate texting her right now, but I need to see her. Those brown eyes have me all kinds of twisted up and I can’t get her out of my head. I can wait until tomorrow and then ask her out to lunch. But can I wait that long? An internal debate starts and then I hear voices on the other side of the door and I remember where I am.
I close the file and then go to the door and press my ear to the glass and wait for the voices to fade. When they do I slip out and try to walk as calmly as I can back out to my truck. I get behind the wheel and I sit there for all of three seconds before I give in and send her a text.
I was never one for patience.
Chapter Seven
Rosabelle
I take another screenshot and send it to Rie. I have no idea how to respond to Blaze’s last text. We have been texting back and forth since last night and I’m all aflutter.
Rie: He’s flirting with you! Chill out. He wants you bad.
She’s been saying that since he sent me the first text. I click back over to the text Blaze sent me that says he still has glitter on himself and he can’t get it off.
Me: Sorry! I had no idea how much my friend put in that tail and on me. I think I’m still wearing some myself. My hair might still be a little blue too.
I reach up, touching my hair and wanting him to have that small warning before he sees me. Rie said we could dye it back to my normal color but she thinks it looks good on me. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. It’s different and fun but it isn’t helping me fit in around the office, that’s for sure.
Blaze: I love the blue but I think you could pull any color off.
He even adds a winky face to the text, making me smile so big it almost hurts my face. I was so shocked when I got a text from him. I don’t know how he got my number but I don’t care. I was about to go down to the firehouse and try and find him myself with Rie’s encouragement. It made me feel good that he found me first. It turned my crappy, depressing night into all smiles.
“What are you smiling about?” Carrie asks as she stops in front of my cubicle.
I look up from my phone that I probably shouldn’t be on, although I see the others on theirs all the time. Besides, it’s almost lunchtime.
“Nothing.” I put the phone down on my desk and she rolls her eyes. I wait, wondering why she came over to begin with. It’s not like she ever wants to chat. It puts me on edge that she might be up to something and I don’t trust any of them after what they did to me at the picnic. I’m still upset with myself for being so gullible. Rie says it’s my heart and that I’m sweet to the core. Fuck these assholes for trying to mess with that.
“You leaving your hair like that?” She gives me a look that lets me know she doesn’t approve of it.
“Yep,” I chirp.
For the first time I don’t care what they think of me. I’m
