Unravelling the Middle

Chapter 6

"You missed line-up, Bishop!" I stop dead in my tracks at the booming voice of a man catching me in the act of sneaking into the station. "Jeez, Gibson! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" The cocky Lieutenant-in-Charge leans his elbows over the railing on the gallery above me. "Good! Because you are late!" I can't help rolling my eyes when he puffs out his chest like a rooster in the mornings before gracing the human race with its wakeup call.

"You know, I almost forgot how insufferable you are when you get a little more power than you are used to. I never should have recommended you for LIC. It went straight to your head." That makes him grin like I just gave him the nicest compliment in the world. "If I remember correctly, you also gave me praise with the higher ups when I had my brief captaincy at 19. You are just the best friend to have to enlarge one's ego."

I grind my teeth at the part I played in making him this annoying, especially when he starts laughing at my silence. He starts tapping his foot on the steel bridge, clearly waiting for my excuse as to why I'm late for shift. "I cleared it with Parks on Monday. I'm sorry, man. I forgot you were in charge today." My neck is already so tired from looking up at him, and honestly if he was anyone other than Gibson, I think my own ego wouldn't have survived being made to look so small down here.

He takes another minute to appraise me from his pedestal before he nods his head in acceptance of my answer. "Yeah, I know. Cap told me this morning. I just wanted to see how much I could make you sweat before you came up here to kick my ass." He barks on a laugh after I throw him the bird while jogging up the metal steps. "Just remember I am in charge of chores today, and if you throw a punch, I will happily have you rearrange the supply closet in alphabetical order."

Jack is waiting for me on the landing of the stairs, but his bravado is dwindling seeing how we both know his threat sounds like a dream job to me. "You are such a pain in my ass, Gibson." I growl it low in my throat and make sure he hears me cursing him in Italian under my breath, which only makes him smile like an annoying big brother. "Peace?" He holds a pastry out to me after I finally reach him, waving the sweet treat in front of my face like a dangling carrot.

"So, what were you up to?" I shake my head at him when he falls into step with me, on my way to the locker room. "Has it been a slow morning? Why are you fishing for gossip?" He shrugs his left shoulder in such a cocky manner, that I can't stop myself from punching his arm. "OW! Damn, can't your friend just be curious about your personal life?" I cock my head to the side and gawk at him in amazement, because he is acting like a schoolgirl who didn't get invited to sit at the popular table.

"Fine! Parks only mentioned that you had something personal going on and I felt kind of excluded when everyone realized, I didn't know anything about it." I roll my eyes at him, to which he only shrugs innocently again. "It wasn't life or death, Gibson. I just had marriage counselling with my wife, that's all. It's not headline news." He winces at the mention of therapy, and it makes me smile when it occurs to me that I no longer do that.

I steal his cup of coffee from his hand and take a sip to counteract the sweetness of the pastry. "Oh." He nods his head but doesn't seem too eager to change the subject like him and every other firefighter always seem to want to do. "How's that going by the way? Does it still freak you out or can you see some positive results coming from it?" He follows me into the locker room but keeps his eyes cast downwards when I stare at him in intrigue.

"Uhm, it's not that bad, actually. And it makes Carina happy, so... Happy wife, happy life, right?" I untie my shoelaces before kicking off my sneakers. "Oh, crap. Sorry." He quickly spins around to face the wall and give me some privacy to change out of my street clothes. "So, uhm... You don't regret going then?" I watch him curiously through the mirror in my locker door while jumping into my uniform trousers.