Fiery Passions

Chapter 22 - The Clues start to speak

Chapter 22 - The Clues start to speak

2013@ Aerynsun All Rights Reserved

The week dragged on, time seemed to pass in slow motion around Sam.  She had cried her eyes out that night, laying on the floor rolled into a ball.  Her body shook with the intensity of her sobs. 

Morning had found her in that same spot in front of the door.  With bloodshot and puffy eyes, and a staggering headache, her body had lifted from the floor and made its way to her room by its own volition.  She just didn’t remember how she had made it to her room.  And now there were no more tears left in her, she knew she had dried up the well already.

Sam stood in front of her bathroom’s mirror looking into her reflection.  The woman she saw these past few days was one she was starting to get acquainted with, against all her wishes. 

She remembered the day she had stood in front of this same mirror but with the resolve to get her new lease on life and make it the best she could.  The reflection in the mirror that day was of a woman who had taken a gamble.  A gamble that today she felt slip away when she almost had it in her grasps.

Damn it!

She had worked hard, she had passed the fit tests and qualifiers, become part of the crew; had found a father figure in Quinn.  Her days had been filled with work and lots of laughter.  The men in the station always hung around her joking or playing practical jokes.  She had grown to care for them like big brothers to her. 

She had even found a new chance at love, with a man who had treasured and supported her.  And like the phoenix Scott had made her rise from their scorching love a stronger person. 

Boy did fate have a sick sense of humor!   It had to be the sickest joke it could play on her. While trying to protect those she loved, she had hurt Scott in the process.   His pain filled eyes haunted her at night, her sleep a restless one.

Sam loved him with all her heart and soul.  She knew there wouldn’t be any other man whom she could give her heart to.  Scott had left taking it with him on that fateful night. 

Today, she tried to get accustomed to the woman she saw in the mirror.  Strong willed to continue with her promise to do the best she could to protect her family.   She looked at herself one last time in the mirror.  She might as well accept her new fate.   With that last thread of resolve, she fixed herself and left the apartment en route to Quinn’s office to start her daily tasks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was mid-morning in the fire station and Quinn sat at his desk, a cup of coffee on his hand while he read the recent reports of the fire crew.  He was about to finish the last revisions on the report at hand when the phone rang.  He answered the phone, his monologue the only sound in the office.

“Quinn here”

“About time I heard from you. What have you found out?

Quinn listened intently to the speaker’s information, his head hung low while his fingers tapped the desk.  All motion stopped, his hand now moving to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Are you sure?” 

As the conversation continued, Quinn skirted his desk and quickly closed the office door.  The conversation had turned into a very sensitive one, he couldn’t allow for anyone to casually eavesdrop.  

He returned to his desk, taking another drink of his coffee, his solid attention still on the phone conversation.

“Since she has been here, my gut has been screaming to look into it.  It was just too much coincidence.  I just didn’t expect that we would meet his daughter this way.” Quinn answered.