The Firefighter Who Rescues Me

Chapter 5 ♚ A Victim

"It's okay," I told Lena Lee and Luke, giving the boy a small smile. "Hair is not really as important as people make it to be."

That got him asking about his math teacher, who was bald. Lena Lee lectured him on why appearances weren't the most important while we were in the middle of the food court at the mall. Which was a draining experience, not just because they worked out their mouths about it for a solid hour, but also because a few of the people around us kept sneaking glances at our table. Specifically at me, the girl with the buzzcut and the full tattoo sleeve, who had more muscles than appeared anatomically possible for women.

Sadly, appearances did matter. They hinted at what kind of people we were, what kind of experiences we might have lived. I hoped that when people glanced at me they didn't see a victim. That they saw someone who would kick their ass if they kept staring.

It was what I banked on when I walked from Margaret's home and to my brand new workplace. Lena Lee's tops fit me well enough and I wore a grey t-shirt under a flannel shirt that hopefully hid my chest well enough. I was a bit curvier at the bottom and even my trusty old jeans, the ones I had on during the accident, weren't good enough at hiding the evidence of my femininity.

The good news was I was prepared. After using the weights that Margaret's athlete son had left behind, I'd got a couple of good workouts in on the weekend and I was fully stretched and ready to toss any catcallers over any bar if I had to.

The walk to the construction site was short. After all, the project was all about adding new housing on the outskirts of town. There was some activity already, despite it barely being half past six in the morning. I found the trailer with a sign that read office and knocked on the door.

After a few hard thumps, Lance opened the door. His portly face lit up like a Christmas tree. "Finally, you're here! Brian, come meet our new crew member."

A second guy popped his head next to Lance. This one was younger and definitely First Nation. "Oh, hi. I'm Brian Levesque."

"Brian is the foreman and he'll show you around."

The foreman walked out of the trailer with two hard hats and handed one over to me. It already had a tag with my name glued on the front above the bill.

"Follow me."

Lance went back into the trailer without further ado, at the same time that Brian veered towards the site. Neither appeared to be people who beat around the bush, which suited me just fine. I followed, careful of where I stepped even while wearing safety boots. I put on the hard hat and adjusted it so it held tight one my head. He headed deep into the construction site.

"Lance said you have no prior construction experience," the foreman said and I nodded. "That's okay, as long as you don't cause any accidents you can learn the rest."

"I was a mechanical engineering student in my home country," I offered, as though that gave me some cred. "And my dad owned a company that worked for the oil industry, so I tagged along with him to a few jobs and helped out when they were shorthanded. I know the basics of site safety."

"Any certs?" he asked and I cringed. "Well, I figured that would be the case. It'll take us a few days to get you certified to work on site but since I had more time to prepare after the, uh, accident, I was able to call up the trainer to start the lessons this afternoon."

"Lessons?" I asked.

"Yeah, the certification requires some classroom training and some hands on experience." Brian stopped in front of a house that looked finished to me. "For the hands-on portion, I figured that this week I'd have you working on this house with a few experienced guys who can keep an eye on you."