"Oh my gosh, you're so right! How silly of me!" she laughed as she pulled out a pen and wrote her number on my hand. I breathed deeply as I felt her hands cupping mine and smelled the fresh scent of her hair inches away from my nose. I fought the urge to grab her and kiss her again. When she was done, she looked up at me for a moment before leaning in and quickly kissing my lips, and then she was gone.
I watched her walk to the door and let herself in. She turned and waved before disappearing into the building. Only when the light went on in the second floor apartment she'd pointed out did I start the truck and drive away.
The whole ride home, I wondered how long I needed to wait until I called her for a second date.
#
When I reported for duty the next morning, the overnight crew ribbed me about my new role as station tour guide.
"So, you've decided to pick up a second job, have you, Connor?" Mike Kelly laughed as he and Victor cooked breakfast.
"Who told you that?" I asked as I poured a cup of coffee and sat down to read the paper ignoring the wolf whistles coming from the couch on the other side of the room.
"The guys going off duty said you were pretty hot and heavy up in the bunk room with some little blonde you'd offered to give a tour to," Mike said as he flipped pancakes on the griddle.
"Yeah, they said the only thing that stopped the action was the alarm," Victor added as he moved the sizzling bacon from the pan to the plate on the counter. "You take her home and get some?"
"Jesus, Vangel," I said shaking my head. "It's always about the score with you, isn't it?"
"What else is there?" he asked looking mystified by my disgust. “We’re young, red-blooded, American males, and women love guys in uniforms.”
“You’re a dick, Vangel,” I said. “I happen to view women as human beings, not a means to an end.”
"Ooooh, it's love!" Newsome said in a singsong voice that made even me laugh. "Conner's in love!"
"Dude, I just met her, it's not likely," I said waving them all off as I tried to focus on the Tribune's headlines. It wasn’t love, but I certainly liked Alex more than any woman I’d dated in the past few years.
"So, why'd you bring her here?" Kelly asked.
"We went to O'Neil's for dinner and got to talking about our jobs and I offered to show her where I work since I'd already seen where she works," I shrugged. "Nothing terribly complicated."
"You've seen where she works?" Victor said. "I didn't know you were attracted to strippers, Connor!"
"Vangel, shut the hell up," Newsome said without a smile. “No one wants to hear any more of the offensive shit you have running around in that little brain of yours.”
"What did I say now?" Victor asked as he looked back and forth between me and Newsome. “I’m just talking about getting very real needs met.”
"Why do you always have to take it a step too far, Vangel?" Mike asked as he flipped the last batch of pancakes onto the platter and yelled, "Breakfast is served! Come and get it!"
Victor shot me a smug look that told me he knew exactly what he was doing. I let it go, knowing that pursuing it would not end well, and asked Newsome if he'd heard anything about promotions.
"Nah, nothing yet," he said cutting up a stack of pancakes and drenching them in syrup. "But Chief Riley told me that they'd be making announcements about new positions in the next week or so. Damn, I want to make Lieutenant."
"I hear you," I said biting into a crispy slice of bacon and chewing slowly. "You think any of us have a real chance?"
"Some of us more than others," Victor muttered at his plate.
"What does that mean, Vangel?" Mike asked as he helped himself to another stack of pancakes.
"Nothing," Victor shrugged. "It just means that some of us are better suited for promotion than others."
"Why do you always have to be such a condescending asshole, Vangel?" Newsome said in an irritated tone.
"I don't, I'm just right," Victor said as he focused on his breakfast and ignored the mumbled curse words aimed at plates. We all had formed an intense dislike of Victor from the moment he entered the station. He hadn’
t done anything to make it any easier, either. He had a reputation as a dangerous firefighter and as an arrogant know-it-all who had no problem lording his knowledge over the rest of the guys. He hadn't been popular when he'd first joined the force, and his popularity level had declined every year. I tried to avoid him as much as possible because every time he opened his mouth, he made my blood boil.
"You hear about that fire on the North Side last night?" I asked trying to change the subject. "Preliminary investigation says it was arson and that it's linked to the fire we were at last week. Says it's a landlord who is trying to evict tenants by bypassing the proper legal channels."