"It is."
"Be still my heart," she said, pretending to swoon. "Those Henchmen, they're worth holding onto," she told me, surprising me. "Yes, I know what they're into," she added, shrugging a shoulder. "But let me tell you something, the way those men look after their women? That's movie stuff. And it doesn't hurt that they make a good penny. You won't have to slave away here for forever. Hell, if I was twenty years younger, I'd go for one myself. Hang onto him."
"I am hoping to," I admitted, feeling a swirling in my stomach.
"Are you just having fun or..."
"Or," I said, letting the smile spread. "He was very clear about it being a relationship," I added.
"Lock that shit down," Zara said, waving utensils at me. "If you want to clear out, so you can get some fun time in, I can save the tips for you," she said, nodding toward my tables.
"You don't mind?"
"Not at all."
"You're the best. Keep the tips, though. I think they are going to park," I told her, already gathering my things.
I wasn't going to call Malcolm. He would be asleep. But I wanted to get some rest, so I could maybe call him early in the morning to come over. Shep would have therapy in the late morning, so we would have the house to ourselves for an hour and a half.
"Snap a picture for me," she demanded as I made my way out the front door, practically running toward my car.
It wasn't a normal night, but it felt... normal enough.
I got home.
I took a quick shower, so I didn't have to do it in the morning. I set an alarm. Then I passed the heck out.
If asked, I couldn't tell you what woke me up.
Because when my eyes opened, I'd been confused for a long moment.
It wasn't until a long moment or two passed that something first seemed off to me.
Just a faint smell.
Something I didn't recognize at first.
But as soon as I did, I was throwing off the sheets, scrambling for my phone as I got out of bed, making my way toward the door, touching the knob for heat.
That was smoke I smelled.
And at least some of my fire safety classes from elementary school stuck with me.
You never rushed out into the house without checking the doors for heat first.
And it was warm. But not hot.
Panic welling, but confusion mounting because the fire alarms weren't going off, I reached to turn the knob.
The fire alarms should have been going off if there was a fire. I had changed them all when I moved in because Shep couldn't remember the last time they'd been replaced. And I'd always been someone who erred on the side of caution ever since a friend of mine from middle school lost her whole home and her pet cat when their house caught fire one night.
But sometimes fire alarms malfunctioned, I guess.
I should have added extra ones just in case.
Taking a deep breath, I carefully pulled open my bedroom door.
A scream caught in my throat as sheer terror started to grip my system.
It wasn't just a little fire.
Oh, no.
It was huge, tearing through the living room, starting to char the walls in the hallway.
Shep.
I had to get Shep out.
I shot across the hallway, panic closing like a hand around my throat when, for reasons I couldn't understand because he never did so before for safety reasons, Shep's doorknob wouldn't turn in my hand.
"Shep!" I screamed, slamming on the door, trying to push it with my shoulders like they did in movies. But either the door was stronger than the ones in movies, or I was a lot weaker than the average hero, because the damn thing didn't even budge with my full weight slamming into it. "Shep!" I yelled, louder, more hysterical.
But I heard nothing from inside.
"Okay okay okay," I whimpered to myself, looking at the flames creeping up the hallway wall.
Okay.
I had to get out.
I had to get out and go around the house to his window. That was the only way.
Decision made, I flew back across the hall, slamming my door, and making my way to the window, shoving it open with one hand as I dialed with the other.
I was falling out of my window into an unruly boxwood when the 911 operator answered, asking about my emergency.
"There's a fire. A big fire," I added, rattling off the address. "My brother isn't answering," I added, running around the house. "His door was locked. He's... he can't get around well. And he's not answering," I said, looking at his window that was way too high for me to climb. "Please hurry," I demanded, rushing back toward the shed.
When I thought back on it, I didn't remember even going inside, or looking around.
All I knew was that one moment I was heading toward the shed, and the next I was standing by Shep's window on a step ladder, pushing at his window that refused to budge. Locked.