Rescue Me

"Yeah. Or at least I think I am, anyway. My captain gave me some good advice," he said not wanting to talk about the emotional side of how the pep talk had made him feel.

"Good. You have a very difficult job," Stephanie told him.

"Yours is no picnic, either," he told her.

"Well, I suppose it's all relative, right?"

"Yeah. I guess so," he said. "Say, what's your name? I don't think you told me last time."

"Shaun. I'm hurt!" she said playfully. "I did tell you. And you forgot? I'm crushed!"

He laughed then said, "Sorry. Can I blame it on having a lot on my mind that day?"

"Sure. I'll let you slide this one time."

She paused then said, "It's Stephanie."

"Stephanie. Right. Pretty name."

"Thank you. I like yours, too. It's very...strong."

"Stephanie? We're getting pretty close to the scene. I should probably let you go, okay?"

"Oh, sure. Of course. Um...good luck, Shaun."

"Thanks, Stephanie. And I promise I won't forget again."

He could tell she was smiling when she said, "That's okay. Oh, real quick. I saw you on TV, by the way. After the um...."

She didn't say 'jumper' but they both knew what she meant.

"Oh, yeah. A couple of the guys told me they saw my ugly mug, too," he joked as the engine slowed.

"Oh, it's not ugly. Trust me. You're a very good-looking guy," she told him.

"You're too kind," he said. "Look, we're on scene so I really gotta let you go. Maybe we can talk again sometime?"

"I'd like that," she said. "Take care. Bye, Shaun."

He 'hung up' just as the vehicle stopped. He hopped off and waited for Joe to give directions.

"Adams, Patterson. Blue sedan! Williams, Delaney. White pickup. I've got the third vehicle."

No one thought twice about the assignments. As team leader, Joe had every right to take the vehicle that wasn't too badly banged up and check out its driver as the other pairs took care of the two badly-vehicles and their occupants.

Shaun was relieved when Joe gave him and his partner the worst of the three knowing that meant he had confidence in them. Mike Adams had eight years on the job and was a great guy to learn from.

It took them nearly forty-five minutes to get the driver out, but shortly after they did, he came to on the gurney and wanted to thank the men who got him out.

Shaun shook the man's hand and told him he'd be okay. The man, who was about his father's age, thanked him profusely, and Shaun locked that moment, and the man's face, away in the back of his mind to use as a replacement or a 'blocker' anytime he started thinking about the man who jumped.

"Not bad, Rook," Joe told him once everything was cleared up and the wreckers had the vehicles ready to haul away the mangled vehicles.

"Thanks, boss," he told him. "Oh, I took your advice, by the way."

"Good. I saw you shake the guy's hand. Now you know what I'm talking about, so make it work for you."

"Will do," Shaun told him, suddenly feeling on top of the world.

"All right. Let's move out!" they heard Joe order as everyone loaded back up onto the two vehicles to head back to the station.

That evening, Stephanie was in a very good mood when she got home and realized it was because of her short talk with Shaun. She'd only caught a glimpse of him when a local reporter had her cameraman pan around, but she could see he was a very good-looking guy, even with the oxygen mask strapped over his face. He was also very young, but he was quite handsome.

Stephanie had been divorced for close to three years now, and she'd dated very little even before her mother became more seriously ill. Now, dating was all but out of the realm of possibility, but just having talked with a man who was as friendly as Shaun was had made her day. That she found him attractive was an added bonus.

"Wow. That's pretty pathetic," she told herself as she walked into the house thinking about her non-existent social life.

"Hey, there, Stephanie!" Claudia said cheerfully. "How was your day?"

"Pretty good, actually," she replied with a smile.

"Oh? Do tell?" her mom's nurse said, sensing there's was more going on than Stephanie was admitting.

"There's nothing much to tell," she said nonchalantly.

"Uh-huh. Now tell me what's really going on."

"Well, I had a very nice talk with someone today. That's all."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Claudia said. "And who might this 'someone' be? And please tell me he's handsome. Girl, I've been married for 20 years, and as much as I love my husband, he's not exactly Denzel Washington."

Stephanie laughed then said, "Just one of the fire-rescue guys. I've never even met him. He's just really friendly and upbeat."

"And?" Claudia said, her head tilted in an 'I'm waiting' kind of way.

"Okay, I have seen him. He was on TV after the hotel fire a couple of weeks ago, and yes, he's very handsome."

"Oh, I knew it!" she said as she brought her hands together in front of her body.

Claudia suddenly got quiet then said, "Wait. I saw that on TV around 10 o'clock that night. Is that the young man with the blond hair who had the oxygen mask on his face?"

"Yes. That's him. Why?" Stephanie asked.

"Ooooh, my! Lord, that boy is fine!" she said. "And when I say 'boy' I mean no disrespect. But he is awfully young. But he is mighty fine, too. That's for sure!"

Stephanie laughed as did Claudia.

"He is pretty cute, isn't he?" Stephanie said with a kind of coy smile.

"Oh, yeah. He's cute, all right."

"Does he know you like him?" Claudia asked.

"What? Me? Like him? Claudia. Come on. You saw him. You know how young he is."

"So?" she said as she picked up her purse.

"So? What do you mean 'so'?"

"I mean...so what? Who cares how old he is—or isn't? If you like him, let him know!"

"Why? Why would I even think about saying something like that?" Stephanie asked.

"Because he might just say he likes you, too. That's why."

The corner of one side of Stephanie's mouthed turned up as she said, "Yeah, right. He hasn't seen me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Claudia asked as she began heading for the door.

"It means I'm not exactly young or...cute. In fact, I'm...."

Claudia stopped walking then turned toward Stephanie and said, "Girl? Listen to you talkin' like that! You are a very attractive woman. You don't dress all fancy for work because there's no need to with you sitting in a call center all day. But put a nice dress on you with that long, beautiful hair of yours all fixed up, and no offense, but ditch those glasses, and mmm, mmm, mmmm. You can still turn some heads, Stephanie. So why not let him know?"

What Claudia said was true. Very true. Stephanie wore jeans and a sweatshirt to work most of the time because comfort mattered more than fashion, and she was often chilly in the call center. But she was still a very attractive woman with long, light-brown hair, hazel-colored eyes, and a great smile. She had contact lenses and didn't mind wearing them, but she couldn't think of a reason to do so at work. So she wore her old, outdated glasses with frames that were popular a decade ago because they were just more practical.

She'd also managed to keep her body reasonably fit although working out anymore was out of the question now due to a lack of time. Diet was mainly responsible for her still being able to wear a size 8 dress. And in all honestly, she knew her legs looked pretty good, too. And yet, she was almost 40 and he was...young. Really young. And freakin' gorgeous!

"That's very kind of you, Claudia, but we're just friends. And telephone friends, at that."

"Okay. So if you're phone buddies, then get out your phone and call him!" she said.

"Nah. I don't know. I don't think so."

"Okay. Suit yourself. But when it comes to age, none of us are gettin' any younger, you know what I'm sayin'?"

Stephanie smiled then said, "Unfortunately, I do. But now, with my mom needing me here all of the time, dating has been the last thing on my mind."

"Well, I tell you what. I'd be happy to come watch her for a few extra hours if you ever do decide to give dating a try."

Before Stephanie could thank her she said, "But I am gonna charge you for my time. Like I said, I'm no saint."

Stephanie laughed then reached out to hug this wonderful woman.

"No, but you are a godsend," she told her.

Claudia laughed, too, hugged her back, then said, "You got that right, girl!" causing them both to laugh again. "Oh, and I'm gonna want details. All of the juicy, romantic details!"

Both women laughed again before Claudia warned, "Don't wait too long, Stephanie. A handsome young man like that won't be on the market too long."

"Listen to you! You're planning my future wedding, and I'm too afraid to even call him."

"I remember someone once saying, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself'. That's true, you know. And if that boy can climb up inside a burning building in spite of his fear to rescue someone, you can dead sure pick up the phone and tell him you like him. I tell you what. I'd let that boy rescue me anytime, anyplace."

Both of them laughed again before Claudia said, "And now I really am goin' home!"

Stephanie sighed loudly then said, "Goodnight, Claudia. And thank you...for everything."

On her way to her mom's room, she looked at the phone in her purse then nearly picked it up.

"Are you crazy?" she said out loud to herself before passing it by and forgetting about calling him.

Three days passed before Claudia finally asked Stephanie if she'd called yet.

"Called? Call who?"

"Stephanie? Do not play me!" Claudia said. "You know exactly who I'm talking about."

Feeling embarrassed at having been caught in a lie, which was more an unwillingness to admit she'd thought about calling him many times a day since Claudia first mentioned it, Stephanie gave in.

"I know who you mean. And no, I haven't called him."

"Yet, right?"

"It just seems so pointless. I mean, I don't even know if he's married or engaged or seeing someone."

"And you never will if you don't call him."

Claudia was nodding at Stephanie's purse, knowing that's where she kept her phone.

"I can stay if you need moral support."

"He's probably still at work," Stephanie said as though that would cause Claudia to give up.

"Girl? Unless he's out saving lives, he's not that busy. Now go on. Pick up that phone and call him!"

Stephanie glanced at her purse then said, "He has no idea how old I am. What do you think he'll say when he finds out?"

"Again, if you don't call, you'll never know now, will you? Besides, it's not like it was when we were girls. You can do the asking and nobody really cares who you go out with. If you like this bo...man...then call him!"

"Really?" Stephanie asked, now almost convinced.

Too embarrassed to admit she'd memorized his number from the time he'd called back on his cell phone when his vehicle had communications problems, Stephanie reached for her phone.

"There you go! Now dial the number!" Claudia said.

"Okay. Okay. I will."

She was dialing, but she couldn't stand there and let Claudia listen in, so she walked toward the back of the house as it started ringing.

"Hello?" she heard him say.

Stephanie nearly panicked and almost hung up.

"Stephanie? Is that you?" he asked.

She knew he'd seen her name on his phone so she did her best to try and play it cool.

"Shaun! Hey. How are you?" she said, regretting saying something so childish.

"I'm good. How are you? Is everything okay?"

"Yes. Yes, everything is just fine. Great even," she said as she realized how nervous she was. She'd only called a boy—or guy—or whatever—once before in her life, and that call hadn't gone well.

"So what's up? To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" she heard him ask in a very upbeat vice.

"Oh, well, I was just, you know, thinking about our conversations. Such as they are and all."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, it was nice talking with you. I mean, you get it, you know? You say you've never been out on the 'business end' of a call, but even so, you really do get it."

"I've always been good at empathizing with people," she said before wincing at having said that, too.

"I can see that," he told her. "So...did you want to talk about something specific?"

"Me? Oh, no. Not really," she said wondering if she was 38 or 13.

"No? Then what's going on? If you just wanna talk, that's cool. I like talking with you, so we can do that."

"Really? You like talking to me?" she said just like she was 13.

"Yeah. I do."

Somehow, Stephanie managed to settle down and actually talk to him for the next two or three minutes before he said, "Hey. Joe's giving me the 'high sign'. We've got a meeting, and I need to go."

"Oh, okay. No, you go right ahead."

"Great. Listen, maybe we can do this again sometime."

"Yeah. Sure. That'd be great, Shaun. Really great."

"Cool. Talk to you then, okay?" he said before the line went dead.

It took a minute to collect her thoughts as she realized her heart was pounding in her chest. She walked back to the kitchen where Claudia was waiting for her and smiling.

"So? Did he say 'yes'?"

"I...I kinda didn't ask him," Stephanie said as she made an 'I'm a big chicken' kind of face.

"But you did call him, right?"

"I did."

"And? Was he friendly? Did he want to talk with you?"

"Yes and yes. It was very nice, actually," she said omitting the part about saying things only a teenager would say.

"Okay. Then you've set the stage. You've laid down a marker. Next time, you ask him."

"Well, he did say he enjoyed talking with me. And he kind of hinted about talking again, so...maybe I will," Stephanie said, more for her benefit than for Claudia's.

"There you go! Now follow through and call. Don't wait too long, though. I'm thinking tomorrow would good."

"That soon?"

"Yes. That soon. You gotta strike while the iron is hot, girl!"

"Right. Strike while the iron is hot. Okay. Sure."

"Listen, your momma had a rough day. She's very aware she can't remember things, and it made her angry a couple of times. She's sleeping right now. Just make sure she gets the new medication, okay?"

"I will, Claudia. And thank you so much—again."

"Just don't forget to call him—again," her friend said with a smile.

Back at the station, Joe had been waiting impatiently for Shaun to get off the phone with someone who was obviously female, and when he finally hung up, asked, "Who was that?"

"Just a friend," Shaun said.

"Oh, okay. You seem to have a lot of...friends."

"What can I say? I do okay with the ladies, you know?"

Joe was still a good-looking guy for someone over 50, and 'back in the day' he'd been very popular with the ladies himself. His wife had left him when his drinking was at its worst, and now the only family he had left was an estranged son serving in the Navy and those with whom he worked. But when he was Shaun's age, Joe had been a very happy young man, and made quite a few women very happy, as well.

"Believe it or not, I do. There was a time not that long ago when I experienced the dream you're currently living. But that was then and this is now," he said with a smile. "Come on. We've got some things to take of around here."

As they walked together, Shaun was thinking how his short talks with Stephanie had been more beneficial than the week he'd spent seeing the department shrink. He also smiled when he realized that although he really was quite popular with the ladies, it was kind of fun having a woman to talk to who actually enjoyed talking to him, and who didn't just want to screw his brains out then walk away. Okay, it was mostly him doing the walking away, but he'd had more than a few women do that to him, as well. And that was fine since he still hadn't had his fill of meaningless hookups. And yet he was getting to the point where meaningless sex just wasn't cutting it anymore. So maybe one day....

The last thought he had before Joe got their next meeting started was that he was getting pretty darned close to being sick of it all. Even at his age, there'd been so many women in and out of his revolving bed, it was almost impossible to remember anything but a blur of tits and ass and a lot of grunting and moaning. So, yeah, talking to someone like Stephanie was a very pleasant change of pace for him.

It was more likely than not she was twice his age, a foot shorter, and fifty pounds heavier than him, but for now, he was having fun imagining her being this hot 'MILF' who had a thing for younger guys like himself.

Two days passed before Stephanie got up the courage to call him again, and even then, she wasn't sure what to say. And were it not for Claudia, she wouldn't have called him at all. Claudia was a formidable woman, and after getting the 'look' from her, Stephanie dialed his number—again.

"Hey, there, you," Shaun said immediately.

"Oh, hi. Am I bothering you?"

"No. Not at all. In fact, I just left work. What's up?"

"Well, actually, I...wanted to ask you something."

"Oh, okay. Sounds serious," he said lightheartedly.

"No. Nothing serious. Well, it's important. Okay, to me anyway. But it's not...serious."

She hesitated then said, "I was just wondering if...."

"How old are you anyway?" he asked, cutting her off in mid-sentence.

"What?" Stephanie said as she recoiled from the directness of his question.

"Well, no one my age calls on the phone. We text, we Snapchat, and if it's really serious we maybe video chat, but we never, ever call."

"Oh. Sure. I never thought of that, but that makes sense," she said, her confidence waning fast. "Um, well, um...I am older than you, so...."

"I'm just kidding, Stephanie," he said in his confident voice. "What was it you wanted to ask me?"

"Right. Yes. Well, I called—like we old people do—because, well, I was wondering if you might like to, you know, maybe...go out sometime. With...me?"

Shaun couldn't see the raised eyebrows or the 'wincing look' on her face as she asked, and she was grateful he couldn't.

Shaun laughed, further causing her to lose any remaining confidence before saying, "Stephanie? Are you asking me out as in 'on a date' out?"

"I...I guess maybe I am?" she said, making it sound more like a question than a statement.

"Let me start by saying I love talking to you. But let's be honest with each other. I don't even know who you are. Shouldn't we at least meet each other first? You know, before go on a...date?"

Stephanie both envied and resented his confidence. He was clearly in control while she just wanted to end the call and crawl into bed, pull the covers over her head, and make the world go away. Just getting up the nerve to call had been hard enough.

"No, you're right," she said very quickly. "I don't know what I was even thinking. It was pretty silly. I'll uh, I'll let you go now."

"Hmmm. I didn't expect you to give up that easily, but okay. I guess I'll talk to you again one of these days?"

Rather than be encouraged by what he'd just said, Stephanie couldn't wait to end the call.

"Yes. I'm sure we will. Um, well...goodbye, Shaun."

She didn't even wait for him to reply before hitting 'end call'. As she walked back into the kitchen, Claudia was sitting there with that 'tell me everything' look.

"Did you ask him?"

"I did," Stephanie told her dejectedly.

"Okay. That look and the way you said that just answered my next question. I'm sorry, girl. I really am."

"No. Don't be," she said as something occurred to her.

"You know what? At least I called. You have no idea how hard that was for me. So while he said 'no', I'm going to give myself credit for trying."

"You see! There you go! Good for you, Stephanie."

"He did kind of leave the door open, though, I guess."

"How so?"

"Well, he said we should meet before we go out. Or at least that's how I took it. He does have a point, right? I mean, I saw him on TV, but he's never even seen me."