Expensive Coffee

[Deleted]

Eric had just finished a very long shift at firehouse 23, one that saw his crew have to fight two structure fires and assist with multiple motor vehicle collisions. He hadn't even bothered to change out of his work clothes before leaving this morning, which served as testament to exactly how tired he really was. Apparently the fine people of Chicago had forgotten to drive in the snow and ice, since they hadn't seen much of it this year. Yeah they'd had an unseasonably warm winter this year, but they were paying for it now with this late season cold and snow.

He was simply at the coffee shop trying to get enough pick me up to get his tired self home so he could shower and climb in his bed so that he could sleep off the lasting effects of the shift. He had just ordered his expresso when he heard the door chime, seeing who had just walked in the door he turned to the man behind the counter asking, "Could you add an iced caramel latte to my order please?"

He quickly swiped his debit card and grabbed the drinks before slowly walking over to Jamie, "One iced caramel latte...just the way you like it." He said with a grin as he handed her the cup and gestured towards a table, "Feels like I haven't seen you in forever, care to join me for a few minutes? After the night I just had I need to drink this expresso and let the caffeine soak in before I attempt to drive home."

He knew Jamie had been going through a lot recently, which is why he really hadn't pushed that hard to spend any time with her lately. He figured she needed to be spending more time with her family and less with an ex-boyfriend turned best friend so he had foolishly decided let it go with just a few text messages. He had really missed his best friend though, he wished she would have let him be there for her more...she'd been there for him more times than he could count, and she had always been there for him whenever he needed her.

@jamie

[Deleted]

all the kids cried out please stop you're scaring me

I can't help this awful energy

god damn right you should be scared of me

who is in control?

Jamie was not the biggest fan of Chicago's windy icy winters; but they weren't as bad as Boston. So she handled it relatively well; though she had walked down the street from the precinct. She was getting off shift herself. Putting herself back on patrol meant playing by the rules. How could she expect anyone else to work the overnights if she didn't. Yawning she had almost as busy of a night as he did. Every time some genius hit a light post there had been a patrol call. It was busy.

The last year and half had been not so nice to Jamie. There had been the fire that she had been trapped in. Then while she was in recovery from that someone had tried to bomb the hospital. Somewhere in there add a shooting, a hostage situation, and the death of her mother and you had one hell of a cocktail. No wonder her drinking had gotten out of hand. The vodka intake was high but thankful not this early in the morning.

Still in uniform she shook her head. "If your night was anything like mine you aren't driving home. I'll drop you off" she offered as she took the latte from him with a small thanks. She could use the caffeine. Jamie was still in uniform and hadn't changed out into her street clothes yet. That required going home. Jamie slid into the seat across from him and sighed. Jamie had some real winners in her past between the time she had broken up with Bobby and before meeting him again. Eric was the only ex with whom she still spoke. "Hey at least you aren't blowing my phone up like Debra" she called her sister out on exactly that. Then again Debra had been pulling Jamie out of a lot of bars.

Jamie had the kids to think about at home. Oh right Colin had soccer practice and Sophie the tap recital this weekend. Randomly going over all the things going on. Bobby staying home was helpful but at the same time,she missed having things the way they had been before. Tuckinga stray piece of hair that fell down behind her ear she took a sip of the latte and tried to process everything.

@eric

► kaigra ◄

[Deleted]

Eric eyed her uniform, and the exhaustion on her face before chuckling, “Well Jamie if your night was like mine, and to be honest your’s was probably worse…how is it safe for you to drive and not me? You need that caffeine,” He said pointing to her cup of latte, “as much as I do, if not more. Once I mainline some of this Expresso I’m going to be just fine I promise…I appreciate the concern, and the offer, but I really can’t leave my truck sitting anywhere. I may or may not have plans tonight, the kind where I need to drive and it’s too cold to ride the bike.” He said smirking.

“I think you have a pretty good idea how my night went…I saw you more than a couple times. You’d think that people around here would know how to drive in this mess by now, I mean it is practically Antarctica for half of the year.” Coming from North Carolina Eric felt like he would never get used to the bone chilling cold and horrid winters that he had to endure since coming to Chicago, but it was a small price to pay to keep his distance from his family.

He knew everything that Jamie had been through in the past eighteen months, he’d physically been there on scene for the fire and the hospital bombing and had tried to be there to support her through the rest of it. However, she had become so distant afterwards; that he figured that she’d been using the time to work through things with her family at her side so he had backed off, but the recent grumblings he’d been hearing from her family indicated otherwise. “Debra’s just worried about you Jamie, cut her a little slack.” Defending Debra was new to him, but he understood how she felt so he thought he’d at least give her the benefit of the doubt. “I am too, but I know better than to blow up your phone…I just have to trust that you know that I’m always gonna be there for you…if and when you decide you need me, no matter what.” He quickly changed the subject to something a little safer when he asked “So how have the kids and Bobby been doing?”

@jamie,

[Deleted]

all the kids cried out please stop you're scaring me

I can't help this awful energy

god damn right you should be scared of me

who is in control?

Jamie shook her head. "That's the difference between a 24 hour shift and a 12 hour shift. I'm not budging." She stated as she took a sip of the latte. She offered her hand face up. "Keys. I've got plenty of others who can take my car home." She pointed out. She decided that fishing him out of his pocket was probably crossing the line. She rolled the latte around in her hand as she looked at the cup with the other. Expectant that keys would be in her hand. Jamie could be stubborn, and she would go as far as sitting in his way until he gave in.

“Southern Wuss” She pointed out. Being from Boston and France, this weather was welcoming. Anything south of the Mason-Dixon line was foreign to her. Her family mostly lived back in Boston. Though she didn't put much other thought into their surroundings.

The fire all she could remember was Kelly taking her out and showing up at the hospital and the conversation about Ninja turtles. Whoever else was there, she was truly unaware of. Then when the hospital had been bombed that same weekend she'd gotten out of bed to help rescuers dig for through the rubble. She hadn't been full strength but no one had been able to stop her. Not until she'd passed out from over exerting herself. Bobby hadn't been pleased but she didn't regret it. But then after the hostage situation at IA.. she'd become distant from everyone.

Everyone was worried about her. She was fine. Well at least that is what she wanted everyone to believe was the case. The reality was quite a different story. "Bobby's doing better. The kids like having him home." After his injury a few years back he had been the one staying at home and Jamie was the only one really out working. He was still on medical leave. She knew Debra was worried about her. Ric was the oldest but Deb was the middle child mother hen of the group. Even more so now with their mother gone, Debra was the matriarch of the family here in Chicago. It wasn't like she could talk about what happened. Blue wall of silence type thing.

@eric

► kaigra ◄

[Deleted]

Eric smirked at her when she demanded his keys, if she thought he was voluntarily handing over the keys to his brand new truck she was crazy. He shook his head, "I promise I'm fine." Eric could be just as stubborn as she was when he wanted to be, and he had plans this afternoon. "Seriously Jamie I'm good... besides I have plans with Jesse this afternoon and I'll need my truck... her seat is already in it. But you know if you really want to ride in my new truck, I can give you a ride home." He chuckled a bit before taking another sip of his hot expresso.

"I might be a Southern Wuss, but... well ok I'm just a wuss, but it's freaking cold out there. You'd think people would be smart enough to stay inside and stay warm. I know if I had my way I'd spend all winter inside. I would move somewhere warmer... but I couldn't do that now if I wanted to. I've got too much keeping me here in this frigid city."

Oh he remembered the fire and the hospital bombing perfectly well, he remembered being scared to death for her and the struggle to keep his distance when he saw that she was ok when all he wanted to do was wrap her up in a hug and hold her tight enough to reassure himself that she truly was in one piece. He knew that things were truly over between the two of them and he accepted the fact that they were much better friends than anything else, but that hadn't stopped him from being terrified of losing his best friend.

He smiled at her when she answered his question with as few words as possible. "Your kids are lucky to have two parents who love them as much as the two of you do. Every kid should be that lucky. I'm glad that Bobby is doing better, how's he like staying home?" Stupid question, Eric knew how he'd feel if he had to stay home.

"I know you feel like you can't talk to anyone, but you can. I'm here, whenever you need me and I'm almost as good at listening as I am talking." He chuckled and sent her a lopsided grin before he continued, "I'm also fairly good at keeping things quiet when I need to, so I wouldn't go around blabbing anything you told me. Just saying that the offer stands if and when you ever decide you want to talk."

Tag: @jamie