Smoke
Eight
“You alright mate?”
George asked as he walked in to the mess room, the early hours of the morning had crept up on him faster than he imagined they would and, in the dim glow his age was starting to show,
“Yeah mate”
“Can’t sleep?”
“Nah, got a lot to think about”
He sighed
“Whats up?”
George asked pulling a chair out opposite him, Bayleaf took a breath, debating whether he should tell George or not, he knew it wasn’t his place to say and he didn’t want George getting in trouble should he fly off the handle and try to thump Kevin,
“Nothing mate honestly, it’ll all sort itself out eventually!” he paused thoughtfully “might be some fireworks first though”
She rolled over pulling the duvet closer to her body, a heavy silence surrounded her, she sniffed, reaching out in to the darkness for her hand only to be met with the cold, the flat felt strange without him there. In an ideal world, she would have told him openly and freely, he would have swept her off of her feet in excitement, instead she found her self alone in the dark, aching to tell him but not wanting to risk gaining a reputation.
She swung her legs from the bed, padding through to the front room, she picked up the phone, punching in the stations number, she waited with baited breath, the dial tone making her stomach lurch, until a familiar voice came through,
“Black wall fire station, Bert Quigley speaking”
“Sicknote!”
She gasped almost relieved
“Dolly? Why are you calling? You’re meant to be resting?”
“I need to speak to Kevin please, it’s urgent”
“Well he’s asleep” she rolled her eyes “is it urgent enough to warrant waking him up?”
“Yes it bloody is!”
“Alright give me a minute!”
The line fell silent for a few minutes, she sat twirling the phone line between her fingers, her heart skipping as she heard muffled voices and footsteps grow louder,
“Hello? Dolly? Is that you? Are you okay?”
“Kevin” she sighed almost happy to hear him, his voice was quiet, raspy as it usually was when he first woke up “I need to speak to you, face to face, it’s really important”
He perched on the edge of the desk, shooing sick note away with his hand, he rubbed his eyes trying to gage her voice,
“I’ll pop over in the morning, is everything okay?”
She sighed,
“Maybe, I don’t know yet”
“If it’s that important you must have some idea?”
“Just make sure you’re here in the morning” she paused biting her lip, another wave of nausea crashing through her stomach, “I’ll see you then”
She didn’t give him chance to say goodbye before she hung up, she flopped back on to the sofa, feeling her throat tighten and her eyes burn. She waited.
He took a breath before knocking on her door, he hadn’t been able to sleep since her phone call, the door opened slightly, she peered out, half smiling as she locked eyes with him,
“come in”
Her voice was almost a whisper, he kicked his boots off by the door and followed her in to the lounge, wrapped in her dressing gown, with her long hair loose there was an innocence to her, a vulnerability, he sat next to her unbuttoning the top of his shirt and extending his arm out beckoning her in to him, she slumped, wrapping her fist in a handful of fabric, she sobbed,
“Dolly? Whats the matter?” his stomach dropped as panic set in “Scarlett?” he begged “Talk to me!”
He sat her up looking at the tear marks on her flushed cheeks, he furrowed his brow, watching as she tried to form a sentence,
“You can’t be angry Kevin!” she began to panic “And you can’t leave! I can’t do this by myself!”
“Scarlett!” he demanded “What the fuck has got you talking that way, like I’d ever leave!”
“Kev! You’re getting married! Of course, you’d have to leave!” reality stung, feeling like a knife was twisting in her chest she took both of his hands in hers, he held her gently, his face still marred with concern, she drew a deep breath “Kevin, I’m pregnant!”
“No you’re not” He said quietly suddenly able to hear his pulse, he couldn’t look at her, his mind rushing to piece everything together his wedding day was less than 11 months away, he shook his hands away from hers, “What about work?”
“Well I can still work, It will be a few months before I start to show and then I can go on to light duties!”
“No” he stood up beginning to pace “What if you get hurt”
“I won’t get hurt!”
“You don’t know that!” he put his hands on his head “Fuck! What about Marnie?”
She frowned staring up at him,
“Marnie isn’t my problem Kevin!”
“You knew I was engaged! You knew we were planning a wedding!”
“Hold on a fucking minute!” she shouted standing quickly “so did you! I didn’t do this myself!”
He shook his head,
“I’ve got to go!” he rushed from the room with her following, she reached for his hand “Look stay away from me, stay away from Marnie! Let me know when it’s born, I’ll send you so money each month!”
He felt his chest heave and his heart ache, he wanted nothing more to be a dad but not under these circumstances,
“Kev please!” she begged “We can get through this! It’s going to be difficult but we have to get through this!”
He slammed the door, she watched as his car sped away.
HE crept back on to the houseboat, he climbed in to bed attempting to make it seem as though he had been there for a while, his head ached with all the possibilities for the future, his breath caught as Marnie moved, rolling over she cuddled in to him,
“Morning” She muttered without opening her eyes, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah” he replied “Everything is fine”
He felt his chest heave and his heart ache, he wanted nothing more to be a dad but not under these circumstances.
He rolled his eyes, continuing to button his shirt as she barged in to the sleeping quarters the next evening, George looked over at him raising his eyebrow, confused at the secret couple’s sudden lack of affection towards each other,
“Alright dolly?” he greeted nice to have you back love”
“Cheers Georgie boy” she responded, “I wish I could say its nice to be back, but ya know it’s Monday evening and I can think of a million and one better places to be than here with certain members of this crew!”
She winked at him and left the room quickly, leaving the rest of them looking at each other confused, Kevin shook his head, he had warned her not to come back, but here she was in a foul mood and already making cutting comments.
She stood next to him for roll call, a subtle grimace fixed on her face, they continued to ignore each other as the evening rolled on.
Bayleaf caught her out the back, she scrambled to get rid of the cigarette in her hand as he came closer,
“shouldn’t be doing that in your condition”
He said quietly,
“Shouldn’t be in this line of work either but here we are”
She sighed her eyes fixed on the clouds floating over the moon casting strange shadows across the drill yard,
“I assume you’ve told him then?”
“Yeah” she nodded clearing her throat abruptly to stop her voice cracking with emotion “He didn’t take it well, told me to stay away and when the baby is born he’ll give me money each month”
Bayleaf sighed, pulling the young girl in to a small squeeze.
Georgiadis walked in to the mess room, watching the crew, Recall reading a magazine, Billy playing cards with George Bayleaf in the kitchen and Scarlett sat looking out of the window, Kevin looked over at her, he wanted to stand and hold her, reassure her that everything was going to be fine, he wanted to apologise and be there for her and the baby, instead he glanced at Georgiadis and nodded, he cleared his throat,
“Firewoman Drummond?” her head snapped in the direction of the voice almost looking startled “A word please?”
Bayleaf watched as Kevin’s eyes followed her across the room, he looked down sadly. Bayleaf’s heart sank, he knew it was game over.
George asked as he walked in to the mess room, the early hours of the morning had crept up on him faster than he imagined they would and, in the dim glow his age was starting to show,
“Yeah mate”
“Can’t sleep?”
“Nah, got a lot to think about”
He sighed
“Whats up?”
George asked pulling a chair out opposite him, Bayleaf took a breath, debating whether he should tell George or not, he knew it wasn’t his place to say and he didn’t want George getting in trouble should he fly off the handle and try to thump Kevin,
“Nothing mate honestly, it’ll all sort itself out eventually!” he paused thoughtfully “might be some fireworks first though”
She rolled over pulling the duvet closer to her body, a heavy silence surrounded her, she sniffed, reaching out in to the darkness for her hand only to be met with the cold, the flat felt strange without him there. In an ideal world, she would have told him openly and freely, he would have swept her off of her feet in excitement, instead she found her self alone in the dark, aching to tell him but not wanting to risk gaining a reputation.
She swung her legs from the bed, padding through to the front room, she picked up the phone, punching in the stations number, she waited with baited breath, the dial tone making her stomach lurch, until a familiar voice came through,
“Black wall fire station, Bert Quigley speaking”
“Sicknote!”
She gasped almost relieved
“Dolly? Why are you calling? You’re meant to be resting?”
“I need to speak to Kevin please, it’s urgent”
“Well he’s asleep” she rolled her eyes “is it urgent enough to warrant waking him up?”
“Yes it bloody is!”
“Alright give me a minute!”
The line fell silent for a few minutes, she sat twirling the phone line between her fingers, her heart skipping as she heard muffled voices and footsteps grow louder,
“Hello? Dolly? Is that you? Are you okay?”
“Kevin” she sighed almost happy to hear him, his voice was quiet, raspy as it usually was when he first woke up “I need to speak to you, face to face, it’s really important”
He perched on the edge of the desk, shooing sick note away with his hand, he rubbed his eyes trying to gage her voice,
“I’ll pop over in the morning, is everything okay?”
She sighed,
“Maybe, I don’t know yet”
“If it’s that important you must have some idea?”
“Just make sure you’re here in the morning” she paused biting her lip, another wave of nausea crashing through her stomach, “I’ll see you then”
She didn’t give him chance to say goodbye before she hung up, she flopped back on to the sofa, feeling her throat tighten and her eyes burn. She waited.
He took a breath before knocking on her door, he hadn’t been able to sleep since her phone call, the door opened slightly, she peered out, half smiling as she locked eyes with him,
“come in”
Her voice was almost a whisper, he kicked his boots off by the door and followed her in to the lounge, wrapped in her dressing gown, with her long hair loose there was an innocence to her, a vulnerability, he sat next to her unbuttoning the top of his shirt and extending his arm out beckoning her in to him, she slumped, wrapping her fist in a handful of fabric, she sobbed,
“Dolly? Whats the matter?” his stomach dropped as panic set in “Scarlett?” he begged “Talk to me!”
He sat her up looking at the tear marks on her flushed cheeks, he furrowed his brow, watching as she tried to form a sentence,
“You can’t be angry Kevin!” she began to panic “And you can’t leave! I can’t do this by myself!”
“Scarlett!” he demanded “What the fuck has got you talking that way, like I’d ever leave!”
“Kev! You’re getting married! Of course, you’d have to leave!” reality stung, feeling like a knife was twisting in her chest she took both of his hands in hers, he held her gently, his face still marred with concern, she drew a deep breath “Kevin, I’m pregnant!”
“No you’re not” He said quietly suddenly able to hear his pulse, he couldn’t look at her, his mind rushing to piece everything together his wedding day was less than 11 months away, he shook his hands away from hers, “What about work?”
“Well I can still work, It will be a few months before I start to show and then I can go on to light duties!”
“No” he stood up beginning to pace “What if you get hurt”
“I won’t get hurt!”
“You don’t know that!” he put his hands on his head “Fuck! What about Marnie?”
She frowned staring up at him,
“Marnie isn’t my problem Kevin!”
“You knew I was engaged! You knew we were planning a wedding!”
“Hold on a fucking minute!” she shouted standing quickly “so did you! I didn’t do this myself!”
He shook his head,
“I’ve got to go!” he rushed from the room with her following, she reached for his hand “Look stay away from me, stay away from Marnie! Let me know when it’s born, I’ll send you so money each month!”
He felt his chest heave and his heart ache, he wanted nothing more to be a dad but not under these circumstances,
“Kev please!” she begged “We can get through this! It’s going to be difficult but we have to get through this!”
He slammed the door, she watched as his car sped away.
HE crept back on to the houseboat, he climbed in to bed attempting to make it seem as though he had been there for a while, his head ached with all the possibilities for the future, his breath caught as Marnie moved, rolling over she cuddled in to him,
“Morning” She muttered without opening her eyes, “Everything okay?”
“Yeah” he replied “Everything is fine”
He felt his chest heave and his heart ache, he wanted nothing more to be a dad but not under these circumstances.
He rolled his eyes, continuing to button his shirt as she barged in to the sleeping quarters the next evening, George looked over at him raising his eyebrow, confused at the secret couple’s sudden lack of affection towards each other,
“Alright dolly?” he greeted nice to have you back love”
“Cheers Georgie boy” she responded, “I wish I could say its nice to be back, but ya know it’s Monday evening and I can think of a million and one better places to be than here with certain members of this crew!”
She winked at him and left the room quickly, leaving the rest of them looking at each other confused, Kevin shook his head, he had warned her not to come back, but here she was in a foul mood and already making cutting comments.
She stood next to him for roll call, a subtle grimace fixed on her face, they continued to ignore each other as the evening rolled on.
Bayleaf caught her out the back, she scrambled to get rid of the cigarette in her hand as he came closer,
“shouldn’t be doing that in your condition”
He said quietly,
“Shouldn’t be in this line of work either but here we are”
She sighed her eyes fixed on the clouds floating over the moon casting strange shadows across the drill yard,
“I assume you’ve told him then?”
“Yeah” she nodded clearing her throat abruptly to stop her voice cracking with emotion “He didn’t take it well, told me to stay away and when the baby is born he’ll give me money each month”
Bayleaf sighed, pulling the young girl in to a small squeeze.
Georgiadis walked in to the mess room, watching the crew, Recall reading a magazine, Billy playing cards with George Bayleaf in the kitchen and Scarlett sat looking out of the window, Kevin looked over at her, he wanted to stand and hold her, reassure her that everything was going to be fine, he wanted to apologise and be there for her and the baby, instead he glanced at Georgiadis and nodded, he cleared his throat,
“Firewoman Drummond?” her head snapped in the direction of the voice almost looking startled “A word please?”
Bayleaf watched as Kevin’s eyes followed her across the room, he looked down sadly. Bayleaf’s heart sank, he knew it was game over.