Burning Love

0.2

Returning to the Firehouse, Brett and I were laughing about a call she had gone on a few weeks ago.

"And when I arrived, the dad was hanging from the lamppost. Not injured, just hanging there from his boxer shorts!"

I laughed, covering my mouth with my sleeve-covered hand, "How did he get up there?"

"One of those giant trampolines they had in the front yard, and the dad was testing how high he could go, and I guess he lost his footing."

Shaking my head, I heard footsteps approaching, "Brett, who's this?"

I turned and paused at the man by our side. A firefighter with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He smiled at me, and I smiled back. 

He reminded me a lot of my ex. I was in trouble.

"This is my new partner and friend, Winslow. Rose, this is Captian Matt Casey. He's in charge of 81." She said, patting me on the shoulder, which brought my attention to her.

"Friend? That was a quick upgrade." I teased, and she playfully rolled her eyes.

"What can I say? You're easy to get along with."

I winked at her playfully and turned back to the Lieutenant, "It's nice to meet you, sir."

"Rose!" I heard my name being called, and I whipped my head to the source, seeing my neighbor, Ally holding up a bag that I asked her to bring from my apartment.

She was one of my first friends when I moved to Chicago and had been my rock through everything, so I trusted her with the key to my apartment in case of emergency.

I smiled and waved, holding a finger up for her to wait before turning back to the two, "Sorry. My neighbor is dropping something off for me." I apologized, and he nodded, so I turned and walked over to Ally.

She smiled at me as I approached and handed me the bag, "Here you go. I even double-checked to make sure everything that you said was in there was actually in there."

I sighed greatfully, "Ally, you're a lifesaver. How can I repay you?"

She smirked, "Just impress your coworkers, yeah? Let me know how it goes."

"I will. Thank you so much."

She winked and turned on her heels, walking away, and I peeked in the bag as I walked back into the firehouse.

"What's in there?" Otis asked as he stood by the truck, getting ready to clean it.

"Tonight's dinner." She smiled and started walking away, everyone's eyes following her before they followed her into the common room.

"And that is?" Kidd asked, leaning against the counter across from the stove.

"One of my mama's recipes. It's a southern dish called Mexican Corn Bread Cassarole. It's a delicacy that mama perfected and passed onto me when I was a little girl." I pulled out the ingredients and placed them on the counter one by one.

"You cook?" Herrmann asked from his chair, looking away from his newspaper.

"I love doin' it."

That's when I went into my own little world. Obviously, I was listening for any calls from the alarm, but prepping was my time to unwind.

I chose this dish because it was Mama's favorite and because it was easiest for me to make. It typically won over a crowd quickly. Luckily for me, the ambulance didn't get any calls while I was cooking, so the process went by quickly.

I set out a stack of plates and utensils.

"Alright, y'all! Come and get it if you're hungry."

One by one, everyone stood up and grabbed a plate, Mouch was the first one up, and as soon as a portion was on his plate, he scooped a piece into his mouth.