Opportunities
1738 Words
A few days later, Cara was teaching the kids about respect and patience when she got interrupted by Noah and Athena.
"Stop it" she said, seeing them fight
They stopped and looked at her, knowing they'd have to explain their behaviour one by one.
Isla and Aaron sat next to Cara, facing the two kids.
"Isla, do you want to start?" Cara asked
Someone came in the classroom, or rather the living room turned into a classroom for the day, and watched them leaning on the wall.
"Athena what did you do?" Isla asked
Athena started shouting "I didn't do anything he started it" making Noah also defend himself.
Aaron stood up, walked towards them and said "no shouting please" before getting back to his chair, making Cara proud.
"Athena, answer Isla's question please. And Noah, don't forget, you'll get your turn to talk" Cara said
"I was listening to you when he hit me with his elbows so I hit him back" Athena said
"Noah?" Cara asked
"I didn't hit her! I was trying to write and I moved too close and she thinked I hit her"
"Thought" Cara corrected him "she thought."
"You should apologize" Isla said after a long pause
"No" Athena said
"Yes" Aaron and Isla replied
Noah apologized for hitting her by accident and Athena reluctantly apologized for hitting him back.
"Alright. All good ?" They nodded
"Good. Clean up your things" she added, standing up and walking towards the man who was standing by the wall. He looked a lot like Josh, but he was not Josh.
"Hi, I'm Cara" she said, reaching her hand.
"Nathan. Josh's brother" he said, shaking it.
"That explains the resemblance. Athena will be right… here" she said, seeing the latter standing up next to her uncle.
"It's impressive how they learn what you teach them"
"Thanks" she said
And a few minutes later, Noah's, Aaron's and Isla's parents arrived to pick them up, leaving Cara to put the couch back to its place before her roomates arrive and get mad.
While on shift, Cara was doing some pull ups on the moving bar when she found herself higher than at the start. She called for help and was assessing the height she'd have to jump and let go of the bar when her captain told her to. He caught her as soon as his arms reached her legs and she slid to the ground. And when she looked up, she saw the bar getting swallowed by the leveler.
"Damn imagine if you hadn't let go" captain Lewis said as she was straightening her top.
"Thanks" she said, tapping his shoulder.
"What happened?" Chief Douglas asked
"You need to fix the bar" Cara said
And right then, the alarm started. And when Cara heard the address, she rushed even more to the firetruck.
"It's Athena's house" she said
They went through the open gate and met Josh inside who told them Nathan and Athena were inside. He was trying to open Athena's door.
He stepped aside as they hit the door and got the girl out then Cara and Stuart walked around the huge house looking for Nathan.
And when they heard noise from the stairs, they looked and saw him crawling downstairs.
Cara gave him a mask and they helped him stand up and get out to be taken care of by the medics.
They swept the house one more time just to make sure and got out.
"Every staff is accounted for" Josh told the chief.
"Wait, where's your mom?" Cara asked
"Not here" he said, reassuring her.
Someone honk on the firetruck
"Hey Cara, hurry up" they called her
"Alright. Be careful" she told Josh before running towards the truck they already started driving to mess with her.
"Assholes" she said, getting inside without them stopping.
Some days later, as she'd just finished Athena's solo class, she ran into Nathan and for whatever reason, they started sleeping together. And there was no ambiguity : it was only about s*x.
A few weeks after that, on shift, Josh and Athena had come to the firehouse to thank the team and give them a check for the fire department emergency fund.
As they were thanking him and telling him they were just doing their job, a call started so they rushed to their vehicles and drove. But once all seated, they realised Athena was inside.
"What are you doing here?" Cara asked her
"I wanted to see the inside" she said
"You're not supposed to be here" she added, texting Josh that Athena was there.
"It's okay if she stays inside" captain Lewis said as they parked in front of a building.
"Alright Tina, you stay here and do not get out ok?"
She nodded before seeing Cara get out of the truck with her colleagues.
And as she was back to the truck to grab the drill, the engine started and it started moving. Without thinking, she grabbed the door handle to open it and got inside.
The man at the wheel pointed a g*n at her while driving.
"What are you doing?" She asked, quickly checking if Athena was hidden.
"You weren't supposed to be here" he said, still driving
"Well here I am, now what?"
She put her finger on her nose, telling Athena to stay silent, and video called Anakin Douglas, her chief. She made sure she had turned the volume down before handing the phone to Athena.
"I guess you could be useful" the driver said "you listen to me okay?"Cara nodded before sitting down and whispering to Athena to try and show everything but be safe first.
"Don't get in danger. You first okay?" She said
"Who are you talking to?" The driver asked
"None" Cara replied "I'm praying" she added
"Give me your talkie" he said
She unplugged it from her shoulder and threw it to the front seat.
"So… What's going on?"
"You weren't supposed to be here" he said "there's a fire in a house. I need to turn it off"
"You could've called us… it's kind of our job you know?" Cara said as he parked near an indeed house on fire.
"You turn it off"
"I'm gonna need help"
"There will be no help" he said, getting out and to her door to open it.
She quickly threw her jacket over Athena to hide her.
"I don't need it" she explained before stepping out and closing the door.
And she was hoping he never sees Athena.
She opened the hose door and plugged the truck to a fire hydrant before telling the man he should come with her to check if anyone was inside.
"None's inside" he said walking with her halfway and stopping
She was hoping he'd stay away long enough for Athena to film the location. So she stopped as well and turned towards him.
"Are you sure"
"Yes. Just turn off the damn fire"
"Alright alright." She said "what's in there anyway?"
"None of your business"
"Sorry. Do you at least know what happened ?"
"No. Just shut up and turn the damn thing off"
She finally fired the water while walking towards it and then inside of it. She didn't want to stay stuck so she'd only step forwards when the flames were off. After a good 20 minutes, somehow, she succeeded and turned it off.
She started pulling back the hose and stopped in the middle of the road.
"I need help" she called
The driver was talking to another guy who wasn't there before. They both walked towards her and she recognised Jesse, a cop. They grabbed the hose and got it out of the house and Cara told them she got it from there.
She took it back to the firetruck and looked for Athena who was recording everything.
A few minutes later, as she was taking as much time as possible folding the hose back in, a car passed by and stopped. And she knew it was the cops when they got out and walked towards the driver who was walking towards her and the truck.
"Tina get down!" She shouted as he grabbed his g*n and pointed it at the window. He saw her, but it was too late. He got smashed down by Jesse and handcuffed. Cara tried to open the truck door but it was locked. And a few seconds later, Athena unlocked it.
"That was very smart" she told the little girl, grabbing her to get her out and down on the floor. "Very smart" she repeated.
Athena just smiled and started folding the hose. Or at least trying.
Cara let her help her and Athena locked it in before Cara closed the door and turned towards Jesse.
"Damn you looked badass" Jesse said
"Same to you" she said "but we both know the real badass here is this queen" she added, rubbing Athena's shoulders.
"Badass enough to get ice cream?" Athena asked, making them laugh.
"You know what, yes. But you can't say the word badass okay?"
"Okay"
"Thanks Jesse" she said before getting in the truck after Athena and driving it back to the firehouse.
As she parked, Josh stood straight in front of the truck. Cara got out and went around to open the other door and get Athena down.
Josh ran towards her and hugged her while Cara just walked towards her team and smiled.
"Really? Did you have to get in right when he started driving?" Stuart asked mockingly
"Hey, you can't all be heroes" she replied, smiling "plus, I got the truck back"
"Oh come on" Douglas said, tapping her shoulder "We're glad you made it okay"
"And girl, you were on fire getting in and out of the house like a true superhero" Mary said, making her smile.
Josh and Athena joined them and the father stood in front of Cara and stared at her.
"Alright, I know, I should've checked the truck before departing, but she's your daughter you should've.." she didn't finished that he hugged her, a bit too tight.
She hugged him back anyway.
"What's going on?" Nathan, who'd just arrived, asked
They separated and smiled to him.
"Cara was a hero again" Athena said, making everyone smile.
They went back to their occupation after Captain Douglas put the other check from the Carloyl family in the department's fund.
- Writer
