Water Under the Bridge || Evan Buckley [2]

chapter three

Talking about her experience merely cherishing her relationship soothed Hen's nerves. Her face relaxed to which the brunette caught on. "Denny is going to love his little sister or brother, regardless. They're going to scream and fight but will have each other's backs at the end of the day." Josephine insisted with a light smile. "Although, you and Karen should anticipate the sibling alliance against you two." 

Sharing a little heart to heart ended their conversation when Chimney and Eddie exited the locker room together. However, an incoming figure into the firehouse catching Hen's eye. "Careful guys, hall monitor is here." She warned, causing three pairs of eyes to find the new Fire Marshal walking up to them.

"You guys paint? Why does the place look smaller?" Buck scrunched his face, scanning at the inside of the firehouse.

Chimney snickered, "I think your head just got bigger."

Walking down the staircase that wrapped around the locker room, Bobby appeared baffled by his presence. "So, Fire Marshal Buck decides to drop off his report in person. Is that a sign of maturity? Or is it just revenge for all the times I've written you up?" He amused with brows raising.

"Actually, uh, you passed." Buck let out a light chuckle, pivoting to his former Fire Captain. "I bumped up the numbers, got fancy with the math."

"You don't know math." Eddie retorted, coming behind Bobby.

The Fire Marshal clicked his tongue, nodding slightly. "Which will be my excuse if anybody calls me out on it. Uh, speaking of, did any of you guys get a call from that lawyer?" He asked out of curiosity.

Hen quirked her eyebrow. "The ambulance chaser?"

"He wants to talk to me about the building violations. Think somebody might be suing them." He informed the group.

Chimney interjected, "Yeah, he was passing out cards like candy."

"Anything for the thrill of serving a lawsuit and a good check." Josephine added.

"Hey, Diaz, I need a spot over here."

Lena Bosko's voiced from the gym area, earning everyone's attention. Buck formed a perplexed expression at the unfamiliar firefighter. Eddie responded before waving off to his friend to assist the woman.

"Uh, who's that?" Buck questioned Bobby and then looked back at the three.

Neither of them answered, taking their cue to leave the conversation for their Fire Captain to lay the news to the blond about his "replacement" much to his dismay.

They continued to sit there letting the silence brew between them. Listening to the various sounds in the far distance of the city. Bryan chugged on his bottle, looming at the brunette remaining mute and rather absorbing the peaceful environment. 

Bryan went to open his mouth to speak but Josephine beat him to it. "You're probably wondering why I asked you here."

"You must've forgot that I wouldn't question it." Bryan jokingly replied, he saw the corner of her lips tug a little smile. "You don't owe me an explanation. We can just enjoy each other's company if you want. Like we've always had." He reminisced to times back in high school together. Now that they weren't close unlike before, he chose not to overstep the boundaries since this is the first time in several months seeing her.