Elmira's Embers

Five

The clock was flashing the numbers 12:27AM when Elena had finally gotten home from her bartending job. Setting down her keys and shedding her shoes at the door, Elena trudged to the kitchen to make herself a bowl of cereal. "Oh! God, Brooke what the hell!" Elena had jumped upon seeing her roommate fast asleep at the table. The eerie lighting made Brooke look unlike herself.

"Huh?" Brooke said groggily, squinting at the bright lights that Elena had turned on.

"You scared me half to death. Why aren't you in bed?" Elena scolded while choosing her cereal.

"I was waiting for you," Brooke looked up at Elena who was offering her a box of her favorite cereal, "no thanks."

"So how was your date?"

"Didn't happen," Brooke explained. Elena's eyebrows lifted and she nodded her head in understanding. "Yeah, we, uh. We had reservations at Augusto's, y'know on Third Street...he never showed."

"God, what a dick. You should've come to Sandy's. I would've poured you as many drinks as you wanted."

"Nah, it's fine. I'm alright," Brooke's lips slowly curled into a kind smile. "I used one of those bath bombs. You didn't have to do that."

"I know. I wanted to. I like bath bombs too, you know."

Brooke laughed light-heartedly, "Yeah, yeah." The pair let silence fill the air, the only sound being the crunching of the cereal in Elena's mouth. "I think I'm gonna go to bed. Wash your bowl when you're done, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Elena sat and watched Brooke shuffle to her bedroom slowly. "Hey, Howard?"

"Yeah?" Brooke called back, hoping Elena would make some kind of move.

"Do you need a ride to the house in the morning?"

Brooke inwardly sighed. Not the kind of ride you're thinking of, Brooke thought daringly. "No, I think I'm gonna try to get there early. First shift always stocks the rig weird and I wanna fix it before we get any calls."

"Okay, yeah, good thinking. Night Brooke."

"G'night Elena, sweet dreams."

Elena was awoken by her screeching alarm at 6AM. She moseyed about through her usual routine, only without Brooke roaming around the open apartment. On her way out, she slung her backpack over the side of her favorite armchair and searched the coffee maker to see if Brooke had brewed anything caffeinated. Slightly disappointed, Elena trudged outside, folded herself into her car, and stopped in the bakery down the street.

"Is she carrying a pink box?" Jamie Steinbrenner asked hopefully. He and a few of his fellow Rescue Squad members were playing basketball in the driveway.

"From Maisy's?" Knox turned his attention to the woman walking into the house, getting hit in the side of the head with a basketball.

The men followed Elena inside, excited to see what treats she had bought for them. Just as expected, Elena distributed donuts to the gratuitous men and left the box on the kitchen counter.

Elena sauntered off to the locker room to change into her gray Elmira Fire Department t-shirt and navy blue slacks. Upon entering, she found Brooke sitting on the bench with her foot propped up on her locker, tying her boot. Brooke and Tasha's uniform only slightly differed from the firefighters', with a navy blue shirt replacing the gray and black slacks replacing navy blues. "There's a chocolate frosted donut in the kitchen with your name on it."

Brooke looked up from her boot and asked, "With sprinkles?"

"Of course. Jeez, get to know me already," Elena smiled and moved to her locker to open it.