Behind The Scene

CHAPTER 23

Things began to settle over the following week. Ross and I fell into a new routine and matched our schedules as best as we could so that we were able to catch up on the time that we'd missed out on. I was still managing to keep the details of my job a secret, something which was making me feel increasingly guilty over time, but all in all, things were finally on the up between us, and I wanted to make sure that it stayed that way.
There was a light thud somewhere in the room. Rubbing at my tired eyes, I rolled over, stretching an arm out across the bed, feeling nothing but cool sheets beneath my arm. There was movement nearby and with a yawn, I opened my eyes and blinked away the sleep as a blurry shadow came into focus.
"What time is it?" I grumbled.
"Six-thirty," Ross said softly, coming closer to the bed and placing a gentle kiss on my head, "Sorry for waking you."
"It's okay," I smiled, "You know I like to see you before you head out."
"I also know that you like your sleep, and you need it with the hours you work. You never make it home 'til the early hours."
"At least it keeps me busy on days that you're not here," I replied with a smile, attempting to steer the conversation away from my work.
"Which I'm glad of. But you do need to make time to chill out. When you're not at that club, you're auditioning. It feels like you never stop," He threw some things into his bag, his back to me as I sat up and let the duvet fall to my hips, "I just wanna make sure you're looking after yourself."
Smiling to myself, I watched him pull a shirt over his head and comb his fingers through his hair, touched that he cared so much.
"I promise you, I am," I replied, slipping out of the bed and hastening to his side where I wrapped my arms around him from behind, resting my cheek against his shoulder, "Promise me you'll look after yourself too," I pleaded quietly, spreading my fingers across his chest as his hands closed over mine, fingers intertwining with my own.
"I promise," He breathed.
After a quick freshen up, I joined Ross in the kitchen, my stomach giving a low grumble at the smell of eggs and bacon that was wafting through the apartment.
"Extra crispy bacon and..." The toaster pinged, sending two perfectly browned slices of toast to the surface, which Ross plucked from the machine and dropped onto the plate, pushing it across the counter with a flourish, "Well cooked toast," He smiled at me, skidding the butter in my direction as I took a seat and looked longingly at the breakfast.
"Have I mentioned how good it is to have you here?" I asked sweetly.
He chuckled happily, quickly tidying up after himself and wiping over the cooker.
"Well it's about time you ate some actual food," He commented, holding up the stack of takeaway menus that sat beside the refrigerator.
"I agree wholeheartedly," I said merrily, digging into my breakfast and savouring the deliciousness of every bite.
Reaching for the nearby pitcher, I poured myself a glass of juice just as Ross stepped around the counter and scooped his bag from the back of a chair and stepped in close.
"I've gotta run," He said quickly, casting an eye at his watch.
"Okay," Turning toward him, I pulled him in close, stealing a kiss to get me through until the end of his shift, "I love you," I whispered as we separated.
"I love you too," He breathed, cupping my cheek and pressing another brief kiss against my lips. "I'll see you tomorrow."
I nodded, letting go of him and watching as he made his way to the door, the nauseating fear I was growing to expect, now beginning to stir up in the pit of my stomach once more.
"Stay safe," I called after him as the door closed behind him and my mouth became uncomfortably dry.
I'd now got twenty-four hours to go until I'd see him again. Until I'd know if he was safe, and had made it through the day without harm. It was so much worse now for me. I'd worried before, back home when he was out on calls, but at least he wasn't right in the thick of the action, walking through flames and treading the line between life and death each shift. Now, whenever I heard sirens, my heart stopped dead in my chest, my blood ran ice cold and I prayed that he'd be safe. With our initial fight now patched up, I'd kept my fear to myself as much as I could. I didn't want us to fight again, especially given that, whether I liked it or not, he had switched jobs to be with me. Instead, I was throwing myself into more work, spending as little time as I could, stuck in the apartment counting down the minutes until I could relax and breathe once more.
I'd been to so many auditions now that I couldn't help but second guess if I'd ever find that breakout role. I'd barely had a handful of call-backs, and when I did get them, I was quickly cut from the list leaving me even more crushed than before. I was feeling more like a failure each day, at both the acting and my relationship. In fact, the only place that I was feeling like I had it all figured out, was the club. Dancing was now my rock. Each night that I stepped out onto that stage, I had a plan, I nailed it, and I walked out of there better off than when I started. The only downside was the tension that I still felt around Charlie.
Looking back at my half-eaten breakfast, my appetite dwindled away further until eventually, I gave up, scraping the food into the trash and wandering back to the bedroom to change.
I'd just finished making the bed when I heard a steady buzzing sound coming from nearby. Pretty sure that my phone was in my pocket, I patted myself down, locating my phone in the back of my jeans and quickly checking the screen. When it continued, I began to look around me, checking under the covers before slowly walking around the room attempting to locate it. After a few more seconds, it fell silent. Having found no plausible source, I was about to leave the room, when I spotted a lead hanging down by Ross's side of the bed, drawing closer, I spotted the loose end and below it, just hidden by the duvet, was his phone. Relieved that we hadn't been infested with a gang of killer wasps, I rolled my eyes and picked it up, unplugging the charger and throwing it into his drawer. I pressed the home button to check for damage and saw the message on the screen alerting me to a missed call from someone named Tucker.
"Looks like I have another stop to make," I muttered to myself, tucking his phone into my other pocket.
The drive to the firehouse was shorter than I'd imagined, and it was with great relief that I noted all of the appliances were present when I parked up outside. I could see the outlines of several people moving around inside, but I was too far away to see if any of them were Ross.
The heads of two men inside, turned my way as I approached, and when I neared the entrance, the nearest one made his way toward me, a flirtatious smirk in place on his handsome face, his grey eyes glinting in the bright sun.
"How can I help you, Miss?" He asked.
I caught the echo of a nearby snigger, and saw a man and woman, both wearing the same uniform as this guy, watching with equal parts interest and amusement at the guy's obvious flirting.
"Is Ross around?" I asked with a smile.
He tilted his head in thought, the others now drawing closer, stepping out of the shadows looking curious.
"Wait, are you-?" He began, just as a door to the right burst open, and Ross stepped through, eyes glued to a clipboard as he spoke:
"JJ did you star-" He stopped as he looked up and caught sight of me standing there, "Lena? What are you doing here?" He asked in surprise.
"You left your phone at home," I answered, pulling it from my pocket and holding it out to him.
"So that's the mystery solved," The first guy commented, patting Ross on the shoulder.
"Thanks," Ross whispered, taking the phone and kissing me sweetly on the lips.
"You're welcome," I smiled against his lips.
With a chuckle, Ross tucked me under his arm and gestured to the group.
"Lena, this is Tucker," Ross informed me, introducing the flirtatious guy who'd greeted me.
"Grayson Tucker, but everyone calls me Tuck or Tucker," He replied with a broad grin.
"Pleasure to meet you, Tucker," I responded shaking his outstretched hand.
"And these guys are, JJ," He gestured to the beautiful, blonde woman in front of me who greeted me with a warm hug, "And Mike."
"Nice to meet you," The guy smiled in welcome.
"You too."
The door on the other side opened, and a few others walked out onto the floor, mid-conversation.
"And these are our EMT's, Mira and Tyler," Ross continued.
"Aww, we have guests!" Mira said excitedly, finishing securing her long, black hair in a clip and bounding forward excitedly.
"Mira, Tyler, this is my girlfriend, Selena."
After some brief conversation, the team invited me inside for a tour. They all seemed really nice and were clearly a tight-knit group here at this station. Ross fitted in well, it was as if he'd been here for years, and I was glad to see that they'd taken to him so quickly, not that I was overly surprised, he'd always been a loveable guy, but it was somewhat reassuring to see how well they treated him. All too soon, the moment came to an end as a loud bell rang through the station, and everyone jumped to their feet. There were hurried goodbyes and various friendly pats on the shoulder as each of them dove past me, leaving only Ross trailing a step behind as he paused to kiss my cheek.
"I'll see you at home."
And just like that, he disappeared from sight, hopping into the truck as it sped out, lights flashing and sirens blazing, leaving me sicker than I felt when he'd left me behind at home.
"Come back to me," I whispered to myself.