Flash Fire Ch. 01

Leaning in she asked the assistant, "May I have a word with you?"

A little perplexed and not wanting to intrude, Matt returned his gaze to Java who was almost done making the drinks. He was amazed how smoothly the little man worked. His movements were as skilled as an artist's as he mixed coffee with different flavors.

The assistant was back at the register punching in different things, he looked up at Matt and said, "I'm sorry about that. It's $24.12."

Matt's brow furrowed in confusion. He slowly handed the assistant money, unsure what just happened or why the price just changed. Secured in three cup trays, Java placed the drinks in front of Matt. How was he supposed to carry these back to the firehouse in the rain?

Elaine came up beside him and looked at the drinks. "Need any help?" Her question was a low silent mumble. It was the same mumble she used to speak with him that morning.

It was a significant change from the confident woman who walked into the bar area like she owned the place. Even though she didn't remember who he was, did she like him? Matt smiled at the thought. It would certainly be a switch. When they were kids, she used to be infatuated with his twin brother.

"Yes I do, but I wouldn't want you to get soaked helping me," he answered.

She bit her lip thinking about his dilemma. Matt's eyes were attracted by the sexy action. He knew a bulge was growing in his pants and angled his body more towards the bar in an attempt to hide it. What he wouldn't give to suck on the invitingly plump morsel of her lip, taste the faint hint of coffee lingering on her tongue.

"Wait here," she said and walked away.

He was thankful he had a few minutes to control his body. Matt wasn't surprised by his reaction to Elaine. Even as a boy he had been fascinated by her, it was only logically he would desire her as a woman. He just never expected to want any woman with the lustful power of a freight train.

For the past two months, every time he walked into the library, he knew she was watching him. A few times he caught a glimpse of her ducking down an isle of shelves to find a strategic place to spy on him. Sometimes he would spot the flash of her unique tiger-eyes between the spaces she made with the books.

At first, he thought she had mistaken him for his brother. It wasn't until their morning conversation he realized she had no clue who he was. Maybe that was a good thing.

He eyed Elaine as she spoke with the bar tender serving alcoholic beverages. She had grown into a beautiful woman with curves in all the right places. Matt had planned to give up on women after his last disaster. It's why he found himself in the library. He had decided to take up reading as a healthier hobby rather than kill himself trying to find "the one." Maybe Fate was finally pointing him in the right direction.

Elaine came back with an umbrella in hand and a triumphant smile. "I knew someone would have an umbrella we could borrow."

Matt handed her the cup tray holding two drinks, and he picked up the other two trays. "Shall we?" he asked and jerked his chin as a signal for her to precede him.

She smiled shyly and headed toward the exit giving him a perfect view of her ass. Elaine pushed the door open using her hip and snapped open the umbrella in one graceful move. They walked down Main Street huddled close together.

"You don't remember me," he finally said.

She frowned as she peeked up at him. Her eyes ran over every inch of his face at least three times. They always stopped at his eyes as if a spark of remembrance struggled to become a burning flame.

"I've known there was something familiar about you," shaking her head in frustration she huffed out a sigh. "My memory's been shot ever since I reached twenty-four. Anything before that is hazy."

Matt chuckled as he looked at her profile. As children, she had been taller than him. Now he was about an inch taller than her. Since he started dating his sophomore year of high school, he had never been attracted to tall women – the shorter the better. What made Elaine special?

"You've taken plenty of good looks at me for the past two months. You've even been able to overhear snippets of my whispered conversations in the library, enough to know my first name," he chided. "This is the first time you've ever been close enough to look into my eyes."

He watched her blush as he remembered what she once told him. The eyes were windows into a person's soul; they told a person's darkest secrets. He never doubted her. She had the power to judge a good person from a bad person just by looking into their eyes when they were in junior high.

She fidgeted a little at the thought of being caught. He took mercy on her.

"Does the name 'Danvers' ring a bell?" he asked.

Abruptly, she stopped walking. Matt stopped with her. Elaine's mysterious tiger-eyes widened as she looked at him again.

"Matthew!" she said breathlessly. "You're Allen's twin brother. How have you been? How has he been?"

"I've been good. Allen's been good. He's a lawyer now."

"So he went into the family business...but you're a fireman?"

Matt nodded his head as they continued walking. It wasn't a subjected he wanted to get into, at least not at the beginning when he was trying to get reacquainted with his childhood crush. If he had his way, it would be more than mere acquaintance, even more than friends. "Lovers and nothing else," something inside him whispered.

He pushed the thought away for later. Elaine was worth the time and effort he would put towards a meaningful relationship. Now, he had to find an excuse to see her again outside the library.

"Long story," he sidestepped her uncomfortable question. "How about you? Why aren't you married with a few kids?"

Elaine's happy mood withered and her features returned to the cold untouchable woman she had been before. Matt was too busy thinking of a suitable spot for a first date to notice.

"Marriage and divorce are expensive and lengthy processes just for the sake of procreating," she said.

It was his turn to stop. "If there's genuine love and affection between the couple, there would be no divorce," he said slowly. They continued walking again.

"It wouldn't matter. Men are programmed to spread their seed. They might love their wives and girlfriends. They might even have their best intentions in mind, but inevitably they will cheat."

Matt knew where this was coming from. Elaine's parents divorced when she was five because her father cheated on her mother. He had also been abusive to both his daughter and his wife. Matt remembered a conversation between their grandmothers. The bastard would have gotten away with his transgressions, would have even continued abusing both Elaine and her mother, if he had not impregnated his mistress, Elaine's mother's best friend. Elaine's grandmother expressed relief at his mistake. If the abuse had continued, the father would have eventually killed both mother and child.

Elaine's mother had trust issues after that. Before Matt lost touch with Elaine in eighth grade, he started to see the mother's bitterness slowly clawing its way into Elaine's heart. He hoped the damage was reversible.

They reached the door to the firehouse. Matt moved in front of it blocking the entrance. The unexpected move seemed to snap Elaine out of her acrid musings.

"I would like you to join me at the Firemen's Picnic this weekend." He held his breath.

She blinked at him a few times. "You mean the 'by invitation only' Firemen's Picnic? Something people in this town would kill to go to?"

"Yes, that one."

"Of course I'll go with you!"

He scrutinized her glowing eyes. She acted like her diatribe against men never happened. The picnic would be the perfect opportunity for her to see what a healthy marriage was like. There were only two bachelor firemen in the firehouse and he was one of them. The rest were happily married and deliriously in love. In fact, the Fireman's Picnic this year would be extra special since it'll double as a wedding reception.

Smiling he said, "Good. Where should I send the invitation?"

"Put the name 'Bishop' on the envelope and deliver it to Joe's. I'll get it."

Matt thought her response odd, but didn't argue with her. Before the hot drinks they carried grew cold, he moved from the door and let Elaine awkwardly open it.

--~~--

Rain ran into his eyes from his soaking hair blurring his vision. With an impatient hand, he swiped it away in time to see Elaine walk into the firehouse. He punched the ancient brick of the building he was hiding behind. The pain coursing through his hand meant nothing compared to the anger brewing within him. She was his, had been his ever since that day in the restaurant.

He had been scoping out the next sinner – a housewife – sitting a few tables away and flirting with a busty red head. Not only did she defile the sanctity of marriage, she further humiliated her husband by having sex with other women.

His anger was steadily growing and he felt the fire inside him rage for release. Trying to calm the beast inside, he turned away from his next target towards the fireplace. A woman was sitting at a table in front of it. Elaine was alone, her best friend had been out of town and she was picking at her food while staring intently at the flames.

She seemed transfixed by the beauty of the crackling fire. That look, that pose was familiar to him because he did it every time he lit a house on fire. She recognized the beast within and was awed by it. It called to something primitive within her.

For three months he had followed her around, the more he watched her the more he realized she was his soul mate. They would be together soon. He was almost done with his list of sinners, or he thought he was. One more name would be added, a meddlesome fireman trying to take his woman. The fireman didn't understand she was made for another; a gift from a Higher Power to His most loyal servant.