Open Flame (Alycia Debnam-CareyXyou)

2

I pulled the truck into the ambulance parking space, just outside the ER doors. We were bringing in, hopefully, our last patient of the day, being that we were technically off in 10 minutes. As soon as we unloaded the patient and got him to a bed, Joel stayed in to give report while I took the stretcher back to the truck. "Jenkins! I've been looking for your ass!" I heard a voice shout from the truck next to mine.

This motherfucker..

"What's up person... man.. I mean, Guy," I teased. Guy Ricketts, the douche bag from Cedar Creek fire department. It was a wealthy city that was home to a lot of rich folk. They made really good money, they were pampered with fancy, new trucks and shiny equipment. They thought there were the absolute shit, and on top of it, they hardly ever got calls. 

Unlike he thought, though, I wasn't jealous of his big money department. Sure, the pay was great for them, but I preferred the city of Elmwood. It had a variety of people from poverty to middle class, people were always reaching out to us for help. I loved it. It was why I came into the field in the first place, to help people.

The ER doors opened and a couple other crews came out, giving him an audience.

"Tell me Jenk-y, what's it like making under 40k a year? Scare the bitches away?" he fired at me. I rolled my eyes at the comment. 

"Say, who was in the white house during the last structure fire you ran on? Ronald Reagan?" I laughed. He stepped closer to me now, clearly pissed off. 

"I'll break your neck, Jenkins."

 "That would be ideal, Guy." I stood up straighter, folding my arms over my chest.

"Enough you two," a voice called out, catching both of our attention. Alycia stood at the doors, arms crossed while giving us a look. I shrugged it off and stepped away from him, back in the direction of our truck. 

I forgot to mention. Rickett-y dick-ity is her boyfriend. They started dating a couple months ago and it was terrible. He treated her poorly, and his selfish behavior caused a lot of trouble in their relationship. I tried to be respectful of her feelings, and she knows I'm always here if she needs me, but I worry. I know I would treat her better, but at the end of the day, even if she never liked me, I would always care for her.

She walked over to Guy, and they talked quietly for a second before he walked back to his truck, but not before slapping a hand to her ass causing me to roll my eyes. Alycia glanced over to me and I pointed a finger to my opened mouth, pretending to gag. She shook her head and laughed at me, waving goodbye to Guy and then walking over. 

"What time you off?" I nodded up to her. "3 o'clock and I'm gone, what time did you want me to come?" she asked me.

"Well, i'm gonna start prepping for dinner at like 4-ish, but you can come whenever. I won't start cooking 'till you're ready," I responded. She gave me a cute smile, clapping her hands together in excitement. "Okay! I'll bring the liquor!" she winked, giving me a nudge with her elbow.

"Oh, girl, you better. I'm gonna need it," I laughed and then stepped into the truck. She waved me goodbye while I finished cleaning up, but I couldn't seem to wipe the smile off my face. Dinner. At my home. Alone... I was over the moon.

Alycia, never ceases to amaze me.

----------------------------

I was cutting up few vegetables for dinner when I heard a knock on my apartment door, forcing me to pause what I was doing. I looked at my watch that read 16:01. Right on time.

I opened the door to be met with a smiling Alycia. She wore a blue flannel with her hair still tied up in a ponytail and was carrying a bottle tequila.