BURNED - A Chicago Fire Fanfiction

Chapter Forty One

"Zahra?" I looked over my shoulder and sighed. I was hoping to be alone to my thoughts on the roof, but Otis had found me. Not that I don't mind being around him, but I just don't want my mood to bring him down. "The guys said I should talk to you," Otis gave me a wink.

"Oh, now you wanna talk to me?" I snapped, going along with the act.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" Otis walked over to me. "I was being an ass, you can date whoever you want."

"Your damn right I can. I can date whoever I want whenever I want. And, newsflash, I'm not dating anyone and I am perfectly content with that."

"I just want what's best for you."

"Then stop being an ass!"

"Okay okay, I'm sorry." Otis sat next to me. "You okay?"

"Yeah," quietly I sighed. "That shit with Harris is still bugging me."

"Mouch said he's looking into any legal action you can take, he's also seeing if there's a way to file a harassment report from different states." Otis took my hand into his, intertwining our fingers. "We'll get through this."

"We?"

"You didn't expect me to let you go through this alone, did you?"

"I wasn't sure. After what happened...I was worried I scared you off."

"Trust me, if some asshole sold my pictures to some magazine like that, I'd be pissed too. Sure, smashing your phone was a bit crazy, but I get it."

"I was due for a new phone anyway," I chuckled.

"K'eon still bringing it over?"

"Yeah, he said sometime after dinner," I nodded.

"So that gives us..." Otis looked down at his watch. "A couple hours of alone time." Otis leaned in to kiss me, but I turned my head away. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just—we need to tell Boden."

"What? No way!"

"Brian—"

"You do realize that he will send you to first watch or another firehouse, right? We can't..." Otis looked around for a moment before lowering his voice. "We can't date coworkers."

"Actually, I looked into it, we just can't date each other if one of us is a higher status. Like if I was a regular firefighter and you were a lieutenant."

"Zahra, you're a candidate, we are on different levels."

"Still, I feel like if we tell him now, it'll be better than if he finds out on his own. He's our chief, we can't hide things from him."

"I don't think it's a good idea," Otis sighed. "But if you think it's for the best, I won't stop you."

"Stop me? Shouldn't you be there too?"

"And deal with his wrath? Hell no."

"Chicken shit," I shook my head.

"You're goddamn right I am," Otis laughed.

"Think we got the others fooled?"

"For now, yeah," Otis nodded and fell silent.

"What?"

"You called me Otis...I didn't like it."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean, when everyone else does it doesn't bother me, but you? It just made me feel different." Otis looked to me. "Don't call me Otis."