Set Fire To The Rain

Tag-Along

Noe

Because I was running out of bricks to hold up my desk legs to offset the noticeable forward tilt, I borrowed the kitchen table in our firehouse, trying to keep my head in the game of catching up on some incident reports.

Anything to keep my mind from running back home to Cassie, and picking up the cordless phone someone left by the toaster.

I had to respect that she had wanted this space between us for a reason, no matter how tempting it was for me to call her up at work, just to hear her voice.

But in 2-10 House, the delusion of found peace and quiet is all smoke and mirrors when the universe is out to fuck with you.

"All that she wants is another baby, she's gone tomorrow, boy! All that she wants is another baby, he-ey!"

And I tried my damnedest to ignore the very badly timed song blasting over the radio, as Riley merengued with the kitchen mop behind my chair.

"Ah, ah, all that she wants is another baby, she's gone tomorrow, boy! All that she wants is another baby-"

--"What?" Riley quit macking the mop long enough to realize I was staring at him.

"Do you mind?" I asked him, indicating my unfinished work laid out on the table.

"Well, excuse me for feeling like we're working in a funeral home here," Riley remarked, cranking the volume down half a notch. "Lighten up, Shea."

"How about you lighten up off my desk next time, huh?"

"I'll bring you a whole goddamn bucket of bricks tomorrow, if you quit your bitching. You been on a rag ever since you walked through the door. What's eating you?" Riley asked me, as he joined me and slid a mug of hot black coffee across the table to me. "You look like you could use something stronger."

"I'm just trying to get some work done here. Can you and the mop take it some place private?"

"She's a helluva girl, isn't she?" Riley grinned at me.

"Eh, I tend to like my women on the curvier side, but as long as you two are happy."

"Speaking of women, I couldn't help but notice how much you look like me right now, a man who hasn't known the touch of a woman for many a day," he said. "What did you do to piss her off this time?"

"Do we have to talk about my wife every time we sit down?"

"I speak for the rest of the house when I say we were just wondering why we haven't heard your famous words of wisdom on a happy marriage lately. You know, so the rest of us can continue to feel like shit for having normal miserable marriages."

"My marriage, my business," I reminded him.

"Well, I'm not trying to be insensitive. I'll give you all the time you need...But when is a good time to say I told you so? I knew I'd won that bet."

"Do you need something specifically, Riley? Or have you run out of things to do?" I asked him. "Because I can find you something to do, if that's the problem."

"No, sir, lieutenant. I was just going to sweep out the bay," Riley nodded decidedly, standing up and grabbing a broom. "Just wanted to present you this sacrifice from the coffee maker in an attempt to appease your wrath. Especially since we got a ride-along coming in today."

"I heard," I replied, glancing at the admin report left over by the last shift. "He's with the explorer program. He was scheduled for a different house, but things shifted and he got dumped on us."