Chapter Fifteen
Thomas
“I absolutely hate administrative work.” I wanted to scream at the completely mundane task of entering data into one of the station’s laptops for several hours at a time.
“I miss going out on calls. Even the ones that turn out to not be a fire but a paranoid old lady who swears she smells smoke where we find nothing. At least I feel like I’m doing something. ”
“But you are doing something.” Trevor sat on the edge of the desk, a mug of chamomile in his grip. “You are actually doing something important.”
“Something no one else wants to do,” I snarled. “That’s the only reason you say it’s important. Because now, everyone else doesn’t need to take turns entering the information since I’m the dedicated admin support for now.”
“Yeah—” Trevor looked at me and must have realized I was not in a mood for jokes. “Why don’t I go grab you a few of those stuffed croissants that Oliver brought in this morning? I’ll grab you one of the spinach kind, one Swiss, and one of the chocolates. Sound good?”
“Yep.” My mood started to lighten with the mention of yummy food. “And some of the fruit punch that’s in the fridge. Okay?”
“Anything for you, buddy.” Trevor pushed himself off the desk and headed out of the office. “Be right back.”
My phone lit up with texts from Isaac.
Isaac: How’s your day going?
Isaac: Feeling okay?
Isaac: Need me to drop off some food?
Me: I’m fine. Relatively speaking.
Me: Physically I’m doing okay. But mentally/emotionally I am crying out in anguish over having to sit in front of a screen most of the day and do the tasks no one else wants to do.
Me: But at least they are keeping me well fed and hydrated. And making me take breaks every hour or so to take a short walk.
Isaac: Need me to do anything?
Me: Make sure I don’t have to do anything on the computer at home. You pay the bills online and let me cut the grass or something.
Isaac: How about you barbecue some steaks for us? Is that enough activity?
Me: Maybe.
Isaac: It won’t be too much longer before you’ll have to go on paternity leave, and the baby will be here. So just remind yourself that this is not permanently your job duty.
Me: A temporary sprint in hell is still a sprint in hell though.
Isaac: You can make it through to the other side. I believe in you.
Me: Yeah. Whatever. You need to get me some ice cream or something for this weekend when this shift ends.
Isaac: I’m on it. Love you.
Me: Love you too.
I put my phone back down on the desk and got back to data entry. When Trevor returned with my treats, I felt much better and just kept reminding myself, as my mate advised.
This is just temporary. I’ll be back to putting out fires soon. I can do this.
The station’s siren sounded and I almost stood to join my crew. Instead, I continued typing as the rest of the guys suited up and headed out on the call.
We’ll be back out there with them soon.
The station was too quiet while everyone was gone and the moment they returned, I joined Jamie and Trevor at the kitchen table. Jamie was on family leave to bond with his newborns but had stopped by to visit us.
“How was the call? Anything interesting?” I sat next to them and handed each a cold bottle of water. “Tell me everything because right now I’m suffering from FOMO.”
“Honestly, it was just a yard fire that got a bit too unruly.” Trevor took a huge gulp of his water.
“Some teens were trying to burn their exes’ things but didn’t know how to properly control something like that.
We put it out and gave them a warning to just trash it all next time or sell it and make money if they can. ”
“Honestly, that’s solid advice.” I nodded, playing with the cap of my water bottle. “I once made three hundred bucks after a breakup by selling some little things he had gifted me. Once it’s called quits, why hold on to the junk. And if someone else is willing to pay for it, then grab that bag.”
“Definitely what I would do.” Jamie looked at his phone screen, the picture of Charlie and the kids lit up. “Not that it applies to me anymore.”
“Nope.” I smacked my best friend on the shoulder. “Thank the goddess.”
“Did anything happen while we were gone?” Jason joined us at the table, a large tumbler in hand.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “Just got a few more files entered and wondered if there was a quicker way to make the weeks fly by.”
“Don’t worry.” Jason chuckled as he grabbed a cookie from the tin between us. “Your leave will be here before you know it. And then it will zoom by quicker than you want it to.”
“We’ll see.” I looked at my phone and stood. “It’s time for my walking break. The doctor said to keep active. Anyone wanna join me on my trip around the block.”
“Yeah.” Jamie stood and followed me to the bay doors. “I am trying to increase my steps anyway. Gotta make sure I can keep up with the kiddos.”
“So.” I headed left out of the station, toward the small park that had a walking path. “How’s it feel to be out on leave?”
“Honestly?” Jamie shrugged. “There is a part of me that absolutely hates being away from work and misses my crew. But—”
“There’s another part that just wants to stay home with your mate and kiddos for the rest of your life?” I guessed by the way he looked at the picture on his phone. I’d seen that wistful look before on friends after having babies.
“Exactly.” Jamie pulled me closer to him when a kid on a bike almost ran me over on the path.
“Honestly, I’ve been thinking if I wanted to step down and become a floater when I get back on the schedule.
Maybe see if someone wants to switch with me and go full-time and let me take their spot as a part-timer. ”
“Really?” I stopped and faced my best friend. This was big news for me. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
“Come on, no stopping now once we start the path.” Jamie pulled my arm to get me to start moving again. “I don’t know what I want. That’s just an option Charlie and I are tossing around lately. I still have a couple months left on my leave. I can take the time to decide.”
We finished our walk, chatting about a new anime that had been released and a preorder for the next release to our favorite zombie apocalypse book series.
But only half my mind was on our conversation.
The other half? Wondering if I would feel the same as Jamie once the baby was born.
Would I want to go part-time too? I guess we’d wait and see.