Chapter 7
Victor could not remember the last time he was genuinely happy to have someone in his life. Someone that he could actually picture his future with without cringing. There was something very different, very special, about Macy. Something that he could not quite understand. Maybe it was the fact that he was her first relationship attempt. The fact that she was not tainted by the failed relationships of her past. This was her first shot and maybe his first real one at being truly happy with a woman who was not after what he could do for her but with her because she actually really wanted to.
Ever since that night he made them dinner, he had been longing for the day he was going to have her all to himself, but ever since she went back to work it had been harder and harder to get some time alone with her. As it turned out holding down two jobs was much harder than he thought.
“Have you ever thought of just dropping the whole volunteer thing?” he asked and she shook her head.
“I love doing it,” she said in a soft voice. “And my bus driving job is just as important. I mean, I do have bills to take care of.”
“I know…but I hardly get to see my girlfriend,” he said smiling.
She raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Is that what I am now? Your girlfriend?” she asked and he shrugged.
“Well, we sure hang out a lot and I have gotten used to the stolen moments with you in the locker room. But…” He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “I need more of you. More time with you.”
She smiled as he kissed her softly on the cheek.
“You know we could just sneak off and get naughty in the captain’s office again,” he whispered against her lips and she held the back of his head.
“That sounds like fun, but didn’t the SFFD get a new security system installed in every room including the captain’s office?” she asked in a whisper.
“We could always ignore that little fact and just go crazy.”
She laughed and leaned in to kiss him again.
“We have drinks with Randy. Remember? And Leo is supposed to join us and meet everyone today.”
He was looking into her eyes as he lowered his hand to her plump ass. A small gasp escaped her lips when she squeezed her gently.
“Don’t start something you can’t finish,” she said in a warning tone.
*****
When they got to the bar, Macy looked around trying to see if Leo was already there, but she couldn’t see him. She was a little worried given that he was usually meticulous when it came to time keeping but as soon as they sat down, she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out and smiled when she saw the text was from Leo.
Rain check. Potential investor meeting taking longer than I expected.
“Sorry guys. Leo’s not going to make it,” Macy announced and Randy frowned.
“That sucks…I was really looking forward to meet him,” she said.
“Don’t worry…we can always reschedule,” Macy said and Victor nodded.
“I’m down for whatever really.”
“Good. Then, just to cover this mishap, first round’s on me,” Macy said and Randy nodded. “You guys have your beers, but I’ll have a chardonnay.”
Randy nodded and gave Macy a high five.
“Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”
The drinks had hardly arrived when Macy heard Victor’s phone ringing.
“Maybe we should all switch off our phones or something,” Randy said in a soft voice but Macy didn’t have any time to respond to the statement because when she looked at Victor, he seemed shocked.
“What?” she asked.
“It’s my dad,” he said in a soft voice.
“Wait…I thought you and your parents are on the outs,” Randy pointed out and Macy shrugged.
“They are,” she said in a soft voice.
“I’m sorry, guys…I have to get this,” Victor said before he walked away leaving the two girls at the bar quietly sipping on their drinks.
“Is he going to be okay?” Randy asked and Macy shook her head.
“I’m not very sure,” she said as she sipped on her wine.
Macy had expected Victor to be away from the bar for maybe a few minutes, but half an hour later, he was still not back. And she and Randy got to talking. After a long conversation, Macy raised an eyebrow. She was not sure if it was the wine kicking in or if Randy was giving her a strange look at that moment.
“What?” she asked and Randy smiled, shrugging. It was one of those smiles that made Macy think twice about her answer. And almost immediately, Macy could guess she was up to something.
“Why do I feel like you are about to tell me something I might not like?” she asked and Randy shook her head.
“On the contrary, it is something that I know you are going to like.” She opened the envelope and pulled out some forms. “This is all the paperwork you will need for your application to officially join the San Francisco Fire Department.”
Macy reached for the papers and shook her head.
“This…this is amazing,” she said in a soft voice. “But…with my job and everything…”
“You mean the bus driving job?” Randy asked and Macy nodded.
“I really want this…I mean truly, but I have all these bills and everything.”
“I know that and we can definitely work something out where you don’t have to choose one or the other,” Randy started and Macy raised an eyebrow over the other. “You can get night classes.”
Macy forced out a laugh.
“That sounds amazing,” she said, shaking her head. “And you can make this happen? Really?”
“A lot of people made it happen this way. You are looking at one of them.”
Macy shook her head.
“I don’t understand,” she said in a soft voice.
“Remember that first day we had drinks, I told you that I was a volunteer fire fighter when I first started?” she asked and Macy nodded. “I had a day job too, and it was terribly hard trying to get into the whole twenty four hours a day firefighting gig, but I did it eventually.”
Macy nodded.
“Yeah. This might actually work.”