becoming strangers
Josephine jiggled her keys into the lock of her front door to unlock and open. Her eyes sparked from the fatigued state of working a 24 hour shift at the firehouse to her nostrils internally adoring to be met with the smell of a prepared meal. No need to pick up the phone for takeout. It was quite a surprise since Bryan hasn't been home often or the time she gets off from work recently. Needless to say, they've acknowledged their jobs would work them around the clock resulting in missing a couple dinners together at home.
His eyes flickered up from the utensil drawer when his fiancé made an appearance. "Hey, you're home just in time."
"You said you were working late at the office." She recalled in a bewildering tone.
Bryan dropped the utensils on the counter and took long strides to his fiancé with a sheepish grin. "I might've lied to prepare a meal for us tonight." He reached for her hand and kissed her knuckles. "And finalize the details for our wedding after."
She amusingly stared at him. "So, this is your way making up with me?"
He took her other hand into his grasp consciously rubbing her knuckles, and genuinely stared into her eyes. "I'm sorry if you felt I was not prioritizing our wedding the last few weeks. I've been too caught up with the company and everything going at a rapid pace. But that shouldn't excuse for dismissing our plans since you work one hell of a job too. If you think I have cold feet, I don't. You are the woman who I want to be with for the rest of my life, Josephine Santiago. I want to marry you so bad." He expressed, a ripple of chuckles slipped from his lips.
Josephine tilted her head, basking in the apology she waited to hear. She quirked her brow, "How bad?" Her hands slid from his grasp to wrap around his neck.
"So bad that I'll buy tickets to Vegas and get elope already."
Josephine bit her lip from laughing and leaned forward. "I would be so down except my sister and mom would have our heads."
"Same with my parents." Bryan nodded in agreement, inching closer in closing the gap between them. "I love you."
She rested her forehead against his, whispering. "I love you too." Their lips collided and moved in sync fulfilling the crave of lust for one another. She went to deepen the kiss until feeling her fiancé pulling away.
"How about we continue that later because I have dinner waiting for us in the other room? Also, we have wedding stuff to go over." He suggested, uttering a chuckle.
Josephine pecked his lips once more, humming out. "Mmm...all right. But I rather have dessert than the entrée at this moment." She smirked, receiving a smug grin from Bryan as he led her out of the kitchen.
After a satisfying dinner prepped by her fiancé followed by a few then too many glasses of wine and checking off the vendors for their wedding, the couple soon found themselves in the midst of laughter and melting in each other's bare skin underneath the sheets of their bedroom. One of those nights leaving Josephine in a complete daze. Bryan exited out of the master bathroom to immediately see Josephine laying on her side in utter admiration of her engagement ring. From time to time he'll see that exact scenery of his fiancé since the night he proposed- always made him etch a grin.
Once again he did while slipping back into bed. His arms already sliding around her bare torso. She hummed in delight and felt him nestling into the crook of her neck. "Soon it'll be your wedding ring that you'll be admiring." He murmured out.
She bit down her lip then turned to lay on her back as Bryan hovered her. "With those few months coming fast, I'll be Mrs. Josephine Santiago-Bennett. Who would've thought?"
"I did," He gushed, bringing his hand to brush her hair back. "Since the first time I laid eyes on you."
"You must've manifested so hard, considering we met when we were four years old."
The couple erupted in laughter before situating themselves on the bed, where his fiancé rested upon his chest. What depicted to be a happily engaged couple ending the night in each other's arm took a sharp turn of quite the opposite. Ending with one half storming out while the other registering in disbelief.
When dealing with any problem that ranges from personal to love life, Josephine intended to turn to her older sister. Considering given the title within the moment Diego and Isabel announced another addition to their family, Vanessa likely became the first person Josephine would run to for advice since she could remember. "So, you two haven't talked since last night?" Josephine finished entailing Vanessa about Bryan's sudden outburst which still left her disarray with her thoughts. She sat on the stool in the kitchen of her older sister's house, watching her clean up the dishes.
The younger Santiago sibling raked her fingers into her brown locks in frustration. "By the time I woke up to find him, he's gone. Probably woke up early to get away from running into me." She muttered, bringing the coffee she brought for herself and Vanessa to her lips.
Last night's argument if Josephine would even call it- abruptly centered about children in the future. In previous conversations, she and Bryan have gone in depth and mutually agreed the possibility of not having children. Due to Josephine admitting the idea amid terrified of his response. A lot of relationships would usually come to downfall or shift for the worse upon the topic.
Thankfully, Bryan understood a surface level of her reasoning in which relieved Josephine. She wasn't ready to bring in another life into the world. It's a huge responsibility. For Josephine, the thought of having kids was left in the back of her head.
However, Bryan confronted her with the topic last night though in a pressuring matter. Which confused Josephine specifically presuming they were on the same page.
"Seeing him get annoyed that I couldn't give him a specific time frame when we would try in the future- makes me think he really wants kids." Josephine blew through her lips, drumming her fingers onto the cup out of internal nerves riling.
Vanessa was fixated on her younger sister shifting in her seat as she shut the faucet to the sink. "I'm guessing that you've already decided what you wanted. You don't want kids at all, huh?"
Josephine toyed with her engagement ring while finally expressing her truth out loud in which made feel restraint inside her chest for a while. "Yeah, I came to terms with it a couple of months ago." She closed her eyes, somewhat feeling ashamed.
"Maybe...it's a sign that you and Bryan shouldn't get married." Those were the words that Josephine hated to hear at this moment. "Kind of ironic because this clarifies my intuition about him and with the way you've been saying that he's acting off-"
"Wait, what intuition?" Josephine furrowed to her older sister's last remark.
The older Santiago sibling pressed her lips and wiped her hands with the dish towel. "I-I don't think you'll want to hear it." She stammered out, averting from her sister's strong gaze.
"No, just say it Vanessa."
Vanessa returned her gaze to her sister's and deeply exhaled. "I don't see you two lasting in the long run."
If Josephine could- she would want to rewind the last 24 hours of her life, right now. Taken back, her hand covered her mouth momentarily then shortly nodded. "And you've been feeling this way since he proposed? Or...." She humorlessly laughed, "Did Bryan do something to you? I mean, we've known him for almost our whole lives and all he's done was be good to me. He's been my rock and suddenly there's a problem with him?"
"He didn't do anything nor hate him. It's just my intuition, Josie." Vanessa calmly explained.
"You've been by my side to organize this wedding, a marriage that you clearly don't see lasting. I don't understand." Josephine snapped, facing reality that her engagement could be falling apart.
"I helped because you're my sister." Vanessa reasoned. There was a brief silence between the sisters until Vanessa spoke up, "Look, you should take advantage of this time to step back and analyze your relationship before making a mistake. A mistake that could take a toll on you and Bryan in the future. You two should talk it out."
Josephine rose from her seat, letting out a huff. "Well, thanks Vanessa. Good to know that my relationship could possibly be falling apart and that my own sister is supporting it. I gotta go get ready for my shift." She brushed her off to leave as her older sister tried calling her name.
Last thing Josephine wanted to think about were weddings during her shift. Unfortunately for her, a dispatch call involved a wedding where guests had fallen through the floor downtown. Bryan hadn't bothered to call or send a text throughout her shift which stung Josephine a bit. No doubt the couple ran into arguments in the course of their relationship- last night's made her begin to rethink about it.
Will her worst fear come true? Affirming that she didn't want any kids in the future would lead to breaking off the engagement yet lose Bryan forever?
Rather than wallowing into that scenario and her conversation with Vanessa that morning, Josephine proceeded to attend to the wounded on the scene. The victims fell only two stories though the scene seemed brutal.
Helping the paramedics gingerly place a victim onto a stretcher, she seen Bobby arriving through the entrance. Buck walked up to him, "16 DOA so far. Mostly blunt trauma to the head or crushed by falling debris or other bodies."
"And one victim impaled." Josephine added, joining the two men.
Bobby scanned the destruction of the establishment. "They fell through two stories. I won't be surprised if that number foes higher."
Hen approached them. "Captain, the groom is devastated...his bride hasn't been accounted for yet." Josephine let out a sigh and briefly looked back at the distraught wounded groom.
"We'll find her." Bobby said then flickered to the blond man. "Buck, I'm gonna need you to go up top. Access to the second floor is blocked. Josie, go with him. We're gonna have to tackle this thing from both ends."
The brunette nodded along, "Okay, Captain." She followed Buck to snatch up the ropes and harnesses before going up the staircase to the next level of the building.
"Probably not the appropriate time to ask this but did you look here as a wedding venue?" Buck questioned as the two raced up the staircase.
"No, the wedding venue we have rented is safe and fine." She brushed him off. "Less about wedding talk and more saving the victims, Evan." Gesturing to the man calling for their help, she began setting up the rope around one of the stabilized pillars.
Buck furrowed, thrown off by her cold tone. "Is everything okay? You've been quiet all day." He questioned her behavior throughout their shift as she remained to herself than conversing with him and Hen.
Josephine fixed the harness and clipped it to the rope, "It's been a long day, Evan. I'll be fine, okay? Now let's save this guy who is in an immense amount of pain." She jumped off with caution as Buck sighed and trailed after her.
"My leg...I think it's broken." The man cried out to them as they landed near him.
The brunette examined his leg while Buck comforted the man. "Okay, you hang tight." Eventually, they were able to pull the man up to safety and escort him down to the first level.
Bobby called Buck over to assist in getting the bride out which left Josephine to take the man to the paramedics herself. After carefully handing over the limping victim into one of the buses, she returned to the establishment to see the newly weds reunited in each other's arms crying.
Josephine couldn't help to watch the couple melting by their touch from a life threatening matter. A part of her was sad due to now carrying the uncertainty of the state of their relationship. She merely hoped that once she and Bryan will come around to talk- they'll be okay. That she'll prove Vanessa wrong at the end.
"Bobby!" She heard Hen's voice, maneuvering her gaze from the newly weds to Bobby lunging at the owner. Luckily, Hen managed to pull their captain away from the man. She slowly walked over keeping her eyes intact on Hen and Bobby as the conversation seemed intense. Specifically, Bobby storming away from Hen.
Josephine's eyes followed Bobby's exit when she headed towards Hen. "So, this wedding...it's an arranged marriage. That's a trip, right?" Buck spoke up, coming up to the two women. "Can you imagine committing to someone you don't even know?"
"Does anyone really know anybody?" Hen retorted, stalking off from the duo.
The brunette agreed, "I second that."
"So, how long they gonna have you chained to that desk?" Hen asked Athena. The duo and Josephine were gathered at a table in a restaurant for drinks. Both women regularly go out for drinks since coming across on a dispatch call a few years back. Eventually, they formed a friendship able to confide in each other as Hen didn't have any other woman in the 118, at the time the environment being infiltrated with toxic masculinity. So, having Athena tremendously helped Hen pushing through shifts at the start of her career as a firefighter.
Last year, Athena had introduced Josephine to Hen as she was joining the 118. Hen knew of Josephine from the brief mentions from Athena which brought a relief that there'll be another woman working by her side. While Josephine was happy enough to befriend someone, calming the restless nerves for her first shift.
Now all three women go out together to catch up from work to personal lives. And, Josephine is lucky enough to have gain wisdom from either woman. She had Vanessa her entire life except her sister couldn't understand what she witness on a daily basis with her job. Sometimes having people who is in the career field that can relate is nice to confide in.
"You know, so long as the department drops the charges on their daughter." Athena sipped her drink.
Hen quirked her brow. "Are you okay with that?"
Athena huffed in response, "Not even a little bit. That girl is wicked."
"I can call in my grandfather for a favor, you know?" Josephine simply offered, bringing her leg the other and cup to her lips.
The older woman braced a small smile and waved her off. "Don't bother. I've been in the department long enough to fend my own battles."
"How's May doing?" Hen wondered about the teenage girl as Athena and Michael have been cleared from the CPS investigation for their daughter to return home.
"She's at home. I mean, it feels like we're back on solid ground." A scoff left Athena's lips at the thought where her relationship stands with her daughter. She still fear like any mother and hoped it wouldn't be a repeat of it in spite of May's assurance. "If we ever were. I swear, it's like I don't know these people I'm supposed to be the closest to."
Hen hummed, "There's a lot of that going around."
Josephine nodded in agreement, letting out a small laugh. "Oh, definitely." The duo unintentionally drank their drinks simultaneously, leaving their cop friend bewildered.
"Trouble at home?"
Hen shook her head, "No, no, no. Not at home. At least, not yet, no."
"She's talking about Bobby." Josephine informed.
Athena leaned in, intrigued. "Clark Kent?"
"After the plane crash...he went on a bender. Didn't answer his phone for, like, two days." Hen roughly entailed how quite in shock she was to see her captain at his lowest. The man always maintained his emotions, so it was foreign to witness him in that state.
Josephine pressed her lips together, "The both of us and Buck went over there to make sure he was still alive. And can I tell you, there was not one single picture on the wall. Nothing, no sign of a family. Nothing. It was just, it was weird." She trailed off. Aside that her relationship felt off, scanning Bobby's seemingly vacant apartment a few days ago left her questioning about him.
"This guy's been our captain for, like, over a year, and in all that time, he's never really talked about his personal life. It's like he's got this invisible wall up." Hen continued to vent to Athena.
She tilted her head at the latter. "What, you think his wife left him, took everything?"
Hen shook her head, "See, it didn't look like somebody had come and cleared out. It was more like...nobody ever moved in."
"Like he's not even really there." Josephine added.
"Well, if you want, I'll do a background check. I got nothing else to do all day." Athena nonchalantly suggested, groaning at the thought of another day working at desk.
"Nah. Bobby already got trust issues. I don't want those problems. And it's, you know...it's not like we're saying he's a bad captain." Hen declined the offer after recalling what occurred in the last dispatch call. "Hell...I think he's the best captain I've ever worked under. But I'm starting to worry about him."
Josephine shrugged, "He's my first captain but I wouldn't trade him for anyone else, honestly."
Athena nodded then redirected the conversation to Hen. "So...what'd you mean by "not yet"?" She received a perplexed expression from the woman. "Before, when I asked if there was trouble at home, you said "not yet". Oh, we're going to get to you after too, missy." She clarified then casted a pointed look at the brunette.
The brunette sighed before looming at Hen to answer. "I got a call this morning from Palmar Women's Correctional Facility." She admitted.
"What does she want?" Athena furrowed.
"To see me." Hen deeply exhaled, sinking back into her seat. "She said it's urgent. I feel like I owe it to her."
Josephine scrunched her face in disagreement like Athena. "You don't owe her anything. In fact, you got credit in that account." She reminded.
"You're right. But she didn't fight us when we wanted to adopt Denny. I just don't want her making waves."
Athena and Josephine shared an uneasy look. "And what does your wife have to say about that..." The older woman hummed out, sipping from her glass. "You going to visit your ex at the pokey?"
"I haven't told her yet." Hen sighed, shutting her eyes shortly.
"Look like Bruce Wayne isn't the only one with a few secrets." Athena mused then turned to Josephine, she waved her hand. "Okay, you're up. What's going on with you being moody?"
Taken back by the comment, Josephine argued. "I'm not moody-"
Hen interjected, "During the entire shift, you've been quiet and cold. Also, you've been ignoring the texts and calls on your phone this entire time." She lowered to the phone on table where she observed Josephine constantly rejecting calls from Vanessa earlier.
As both women stared at the young woman waiting for an answer, Josephine sharply inhaled. "Bryan's been acting weird and I feel we're on the tip of the iceberg of breaking off the engagement. And Vanessa told me that she doesn't see us lasting that long, despite being my right hand in orchestrating this wedding." She humorlessly laughed out, flailing her arms in distress.
"Damn..."
Athena furrowed at the young woman, immediately in protective mode over her. "Wait, what's going on with you and Bryan? Do you need me to straighten that boy out-"
Josephine waved her hand off to the woman, though fond of willing to go through lengths for her as always growing up. "No, no. These past few weeks, he's been less present. I want to say it's work and conducting these business deals for the company. It's this intuition, I guess. Then last night after thinking everything seemed okay, he asked about kids." She sighed, lowering her gaze at the almost empty glass. "Look, we've discussed in the past that we would be content of the idea to have kids or not. It seems that he really wants kids since the answer I tried to give him wasn't what he wanted."
"I can't deny that's rough, but you shouldn't feel at fault with your choice." Hen frowned slightly.
Athena hummed in agreement, "Men will be into the idea of not having kids to only pressure you later on."
"Bryan and I have been on the same page from our friendship to our relationship. Something about him is throwing me off."
"The thing about relationships, especially marriage- you're going to meet more layers of that person you never knew about. No matter how long you've known them." Athena softly spoke as she been in the exact position with her failed marriage.
Hen shared a small smile with a comforting hand upon Josephine's shoulder. "Try to talk to him. I'm sure you'll sort things out."
"I just hope it doesn't mean losing him."
Athena pursed her lips, understanding the obstacles of relationships. Seeing how much the man meant to Josephine from the sidelines, she tried to assure her. "If you know how much he's devoted to you then you won't. I can tell that he is."
"Didn't know you wanted to get away from me so bad?" Bryan spun around to meet Josephine standing in the doorway of their bedroom. His eyes casted back to his luggage on the bed where his fiancé laid upon.
He diverted back into her questioning gaze as they've not spoken a word since that night. "I have a business trip to New York. My flight is later this afternoon." He informed before shuffling his feet into their walk in closet for more clothes to pack.
Josephine folded her arms and furthered into the bedroom. "Wow. Thanks for the notice, babe." Her tone was laced with sarcasm with a bit of annoyance. "Are we not going to talk about the other night at least? Because the way you were acting was irrational and blown out of proportion."
Bryan stomped back into the room, carrying a few shirts in his hand. "Irrational? All I asked was a question that you couldn't answer me, Josie." He sneered and zipped up his luggage.
She followed him out of the bedroom after he passed by to the exit. "No, you started to raise your voice at me over a topic we've discussed many times. You tell me you're okay with the thought of not having kids. Then the other night I'm getting pressed about a timeframe to try for kids." She exasperated, feeling as she blew an internal fuse.
"Is it bad that I want to look into our future?" He flailed his arms. "Have an outlook of the next couple of years of our life? Yes, I agreed but could there be a possibility of having a family of own one day? That's what we also opted-"
Out of the nerves churning in her stomach, Josephine decided to rip that band aid off. "What if I don't want kids at all?" She blinked as her lips started to quiver anticipating for his reaction. He remained frozen in place as silence breezed in their home. She swallowed the lump down her throat, shaking her head slightly. "I-I don't want kids, Bryan."
The ringing from his phone interrupted having him pick it up, abandoning his gaze upon his fiancé's. He read the notification, "Um...the car is here. I have to go." He uttered out enough for Josephine to hear and left the front door.
Josephine covered her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut from breaking down. The way he blankly stared at her after confessing her truth resulted into her worst fear. While trying to process the moment her phone began to ring. She placed her hand onto the back of the couch where she sat on for stability. "Hello?" She composed herself to answer.
"Hey, Josie. It's Buck." He breathed out. "Um...I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but Abby's mother went missing. Do you think you can call your grandfather knowing he's the police commissioner of the city-"
She combed her fingers through her hair and sniffled, "Uh yeah, I'll call him to spread the word. Even let Athena know, I think she's working a shift."
"Thank you so much, Josie. I owe you."
"No problem, Buck." The second she ended the call, she choked out a sob releasing all the emotions bundled out in the lonesome penthouse.
-Unedited. Decided to have the leftover of this episode go into next chapter due to the au storyline playing in course. Not confident in the writing in this chapter but hope it's good enough read for you guys. More will be unveiled soon. How are you liking this book so far? Tell me what you think! Don't forget to comment and vote! Stay tuned!-
WRITTEN: 4/25/21
PUBLISHED: 4/26/21