What was left behind

5.New vehicle

He did as he promised. Shane kept an eye on me during my first few calls. There was a big fire, a gas stove fire, a gas leak and a road accident. There were a lot of impressions and emotions for my first few weeks, but I treated each shift primarily as an opportunity to learn something new. I had a lot of opportunities, and Shane allowed me to develop quite freely, although the rest of his colleagues were quite reluctant to accept his enthusiasm.

However, I didn't let myself get discouraged. Not since I've come this far. And not when I found out that the second, and only, candidate left from the test Shane told me about was Justin. Now I could also spend time with him at work and everything slowly returned to normal between us. It was hard to call us a typical couple because I was still quite reluctant and Justin kept his distance so as not to waste the second chance I had given him. But I couldn't deny that we had something in common, something much deeper than just friends from the Academy and now also from work.

My new team wasn't big. The youngest, both in terms of age and experience, was me, but I was immediately followed by Justin, who in mysterious circumstances was transferred to our unit. I couldn't say whether I was happy about it or not, but it certainly made me feel better just thinking that I wasn't the youngest and I didn't have to be afraid that one mistake would ruin all my chances. Next up was our Lieutenant Shane. It was like he told me, he wasn't in command for long, but every time there was an action or we had a training exercise, you could sense a strange confidence and leadership in his presence that no one could deny he had. Apart from me and Justin, under Shane's command there were two more senior firefighters who were quite indifferent, or even reluctant, towards my presence on the team. Sometimes I felt like they despised me. However, I didn't let that stop me from enjoying what fate had given me. I was working at my dream job and everything was returning to normal in my relationship with Justin.

Today seemed like any other day. I arrived at work early in the morning, before my shift officially started. Today I was on duty in the kitchen, which meant that preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner was the first task on my list of duties. Luckily for me, I didn't have to scrub the bathrooms today, and cooking for the entire firestation seemed downright pleasant.
While Justin disappeared somewhere in the firestation, as a senior candidate he had a little more freedom than I did, I was left alone in the kitchen and surrounded by nothing but silence, at least until it started to get closer to breakfast time. Then everyone rushed to the common room, and I could no longer control what I had to complete.

However, today was still quieter than usual, and I think that's why I managed to notice that a few members of our team were missing in the room. I looked around, but no one else seemed to be paying attention except me. So I shrugged and enjoyed the moment of peace that I could spend with Justin.

"We can go to whatever store you wanted today," he suggested to me, thus breaking the silence that had fallen between us since we sat down for breakfast.

"We can try," I agreed with a smile. I dreamed of a new bookshelf and for several weeks I had been trying to find a suitable copy in a store, but only I found something that captivated me in its simplicity in a small town.

"Have you thought about this idea with this little place I found?" he added gently, but the content of his question was enough to make me look away.

No matter how much I felt around Justin and how much I loved him, I thought he was a little too hasty to find a place to live together after I told him I needed to buy a new lamp. I mean, we were still together not long enough to decide to buy an apartment. Especially since even for one with a relatively small area and far from the city center, we would have to spend at least half, if not more, of our savings, and it could take us up to half a year to accumulate a safe reserve for future expenses from the candidate's salary.
I opened my mouth to explain to him the same thing I had been doing ever since he had this brilliant idea, but an unexpected person came to my aid.