Fire of Your Soul

Chapter Six

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Chapter Six

Splashing down the sidewalk in the light mist of Seattle, dressed in her bright yellow rain jacket and paisley wellies, Bella was on a life or death mission. She would just die if she didn't get a grande cup of coffee. As soon as possible. She had been working for the past month without a day off and even though she didn't have any patients today, she had a mountain high stack of charts to complete. FUCKING CHARTING!! There were so many other things she would love to be doing, but she couldn't put it off any longer.

And being caffeinated was an absolute must.

When she got up this morning, Seattle was once again encased in grey, heavy clouds and it was raining. Hell, it had been raining every day for a week. Damn, it would be nice to have just one day, or even a few hours, of sunshine. She was glad she had invested in several pairs of good, yet stylish pair of rain boots and a London Fog rain jacket. Her favorite pair of boots were colorful paisley knee boots. Even though it was a dreary day, the brightly colored boots made her smile. They would be something that Angela would have loved to wear.

Walking down the sidewalk towards the cafe, La Marzocco, she tried her best to avoid the large water puddles, not wanting to splash the unexpected person who happened to be walking by at the same time as she hit the puddle. She had been hit many times before and it really did make a gloomy day, even gloomier, and her socks wetter. Finally, getting to the door of the cafe, she pulled it open and walked in, removing the hood from her head.

She loved the cafe and came here almost every morning for a grande cup of coffee, with a dash of vanilla and a slight topping of foam. Of course, she could make it in her condo, but she didn't think it tasted the same. The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee assaulted her senses and her heart began to race over the thought of a rich, dark brew, flavored with the rich vanilla hazelnut creme, passing over her tongue and down her throat. Fuck, it was better than sex or at least a very close second.

Damn, she needed to find someone to scratch her itch because she hadn't had anyone in her bed since moving back to Seattle. Working seven days a week didn't make it easy to find a guy to suit her needs.

The line was shorter than usual, which made her smile brightly. While waiting for the line to move, she pulled out her phone and checked her email. Most of it was junk, but a few were important and she flagged them to view later on. There was an email from Alice, who wanted to get together tonight for a girl's night. Rose, one of the fire investigators under her father, had news and wanted to share with them.

Oh, please don't let it be about Royce, Bella thought, wrinkling her nose at the prospect.

Rose had a troublesome relationship with Royce King, a local land developer. He was known around the city for being a know-it-all asshole and quite controlling. He did not want Rose working. At all. He wanted her to be his 'arm candy' for any social events, acting subservient and submissive. That was not Rosalie Hale. She liked to take charge and refused to have a man make decisions for her. She tried to make it work, but when Royce interfered with Rose's job at the fire department, she ended everything with him.

Royce was talking with another captain, sabotaging Rose's reputation, and spreading rumors that she was sleeping her way to the top. Those rumors spread like wildfire until they finally reached Charlie Swan. He didn't believe them and went back to the captain who had spoken with Royce. Suffice it to say, Charlie fired the captain and told Rosalie about what Royce had done. It was a messy breakup, with Rosalie's reputation tarnished and she was working her ass off to prove that she wasn't some opportunistic whore, sleeping her way up the career ladder. Charlie took Rose under his wing and she was growing as an arson investigator, seeing things that Charlie hadn't.