Fire Meet Gasoline

Chapter Four

Staring out at the blank faces of everyone gathered in the meeting room was probably the most uncomfortable experience in my life, however, that's not how it felt.

All eyes were on me as I stood at the front of the room, the chief had asked me to say a few words about myself.

What exactly was I meant to tell them?
That My father was a drug dealer whilst my mother was a prostitute?

Oh, I got pregnant by a guy who turned out to be someone I detest.

Also, I'm from one of the roughest districts in all of London.

And I ended up giving birth to a baby girl, who I adore and here we are six years later in Chicago.

I take a deep breath before I begin.

"Hi, I'm Eleanor, however, no one calls me that. I prefer Len, or Lenny, whatever floats your boat. If you couldn't already tell, I'm from Britain, London to be precise. I previously worked at a very small but very busy Ambulance station."

I pause for a minute, looking up to scan the crowd for faces. I recognise Herrmann who is sat beside an older man. I notice Kelly and Matt stood side by side, their eyes focused on me.

"Budget cuts. They were something that made my life very difficult. So, Chicago should be a breeze." I say with a smile.

I lift my head, and look back at the Chief.

"Everybody, please make her welcome." The Chief says.

They all begin to clap, the attempt was weak. No enthusiasm. No effort.

The guy I'm replacing must have been great, or they just didn't like newbies.

The chief tells me that I should check in with Connie, to make sure all the paperwork is in order.
But I knew he was hinting at me to leave, the atmosphere in the room said it all.

"Thank you for this opportunity Chief." I fix a smile on my face as I head to the door.

"We're lucky to have you Len." The chief replied.

I shut the door behind me, and admire the layout of the firehouse.

I decide to take up the Chief's advice and check in with Connie, and as I sign the last few documents, you can hear the chief bellowing at my colleagues.

"Are they always like this? Towards new people at the fire house." I ask Connie and she shrugs.

"As you probably already know, we are family here at fifty one. Was your family ever constantly happy?" Connie asks me.

I chuckle a little as I pass her back the paperwork.

"I never really had a family, so that's probably so desperate to fit into this one."

I turn on my heel, and head to the locker room. As I arrive at my locker, I slowly slide my finger across the piece of tape that's labelled with my name.

I open it, using the six letter combination code that spelled out my daughters name, obvious I know, but I'll never forget it.

I sighed as I reached up for my bag, and I pulled it out, and placed on the bench in the middle of the locker room.

"What's up? Can't find your teabags?" A familiar voice calls out.

A smile appears on my face, and I shake my head slowly.

I continue to search through my bag and finally find what I was looking for.

"No, I couldn't find my marmite actually." I state, placing it down on the bench gently before I zip up my bag, and sling it back inside my locker.
I slam my locker shut and find that the jar I pulled out of my bag, that I had placed on the bench was now in Kelly's hand.