Saved By The Firefighter
Chapter 23

Kathline's Point of View.

Walking up the steps into my office, I swear I can still feel my lips still tingling from the most amazing kiss I have ever received. After that mind blowing encounter in the kitchen, we had eaten breakfast, then when just before I set off with Andy to get him to breakfast club, Davey snatched another, distracting my child by 'forgetting' his wallet, and sending him to get it. I felt like a teenager hiding my boyfriend from my parents. Both kisses caused sparks to ignite around my body, it was ... Wow, ... just wow. I walk in to find Tracey sitting behind her desk applying her trademark pink lipstick.

"How is Andy?" she kindly asks.

T

"He is good now thanks, back at school, spots are all scabbed over or disappearing." I grin at her.

"Woah, you are glowing!" she tells me, looking wide eyed at me.

A smile begins to expand on her face, as she c***s an eyebrow at me.

"So, please tell me that glow is a result of a man." She giggles, more like a schoolgirl than the forever-remaining-39-year-old she is.

I feel the heat burn on my cheeks from embarrassment, as Tracey opens her mouth wide at me.

"Tell me everything!" she demands.

I smirk at her, shaking my head.

"No time, I have so much work to catch up on," I say, waving as I make a beeline to my office, to escape the barrage of questions I know will come my way.

Tracey, though, is not put off and quickly follows me, she wants answers, and I know her well enough that she will be relentless in her pursuit of them.

"Not as much as you might think, Daniel stepped up and got some of the searches sent off for your new clients. So, you have a few moments, now spill." She grins at me.

I sit behind my desk turning on my computer, then look up at her, unable to contain my excitement.

"So, yes, I have met a man. No, we have not had intimate relations, but yes, we kissed, and yes, I really like him, and so does Andy," I give her the brief highlights.

"Interesting, so when did you meet this man who is giving you this glow?" she asks, straining her neck forward, her eyes wide as she waits for my reply.

"He is a firefighter," I mumble.

"What, as in you pulled one that rescued Andy?" she asked, her face breaking into a broad smile.

"Yeah, kind of. He was my first boyfriend when I was at school, he has been really sweet." I blush.

"Oh, first love is always the strongest love. So how is he being sweet?" Tracey now asks, plonking her bottom on my receiving chair, and swinging back and forth on it.

I proceed to explain about him turning up with the Calamine Lotion and Calpol for Andy, and him bringing breakfast for the past two mornings when he finished work. Tracey listens intently, nodding her head.

"I approve." She grins, then stands up to go back to her desk.

"Oh, I got all up-to-date with your the letters and transcriptions, along with the reports. You have four clients to complete before tomorrow when they pick up their keys. I sent you an email outlining who is coming in when," she tells me over her shoulder. "Thank you." I smile, she really is wonder woman.

"I just need your client billing hours before tomorrow please," she reminds me. I smile and nod at her, and she leaves me to it.

With a sigh, I begin to work my way through the backlog of emails that have not yet been resolved. Today is going to be a long day.

My stomach begins to rumble. Looking up at the clock I see that it is way past my lunch time and let out a groan. I need to eat, but seriously, I have no time to go get a sandwich. I hate to ask one of the assistants to run and get me something. It is such a cliché move. Plus, they are employed to do work not run around for me, grabbing sandwiches. However, as my stomach now feels like it is going to eat itself, and I still have so much to do in the remaining hour-and-a-half I have in the office, I guess I have no choice. Picking up the internal telephone, I call Tracey.

"Hey, sorry, I am so busy I missed lunch, and still have mountains to do. Any chance you could spare one of the interns to grab me a sandwich? I hate to ask, but my stomach is growling louder than a guard dog at a burglar." I sigh.

"Yeah, of course, I know you never normally ask, unless you are desperate. Unlike some I could mention, but I won't." Tracey laughs.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it." I sigh with relief.

There is no doubting who Tracey is referring to. Christian, one of our other associates, likes to think he is important, swans around the place ordering the back-office staff to do his bidding, including picking up his dry cleaning. Thankfully Daniel stepped in, and put a stop to that, he was taking the proverbial piss, thinking he was living on some American law TV soap opera, and not the reality of working in Sunderland as a solicitor.

Sighing, I continue to get on with work; a knock at the door disturbs me.

"Come in, that was quick thank you, my belly thinks my throats been cut," I say, then look up to find Tracey standing a big assed grin on her face.

"You have a visitor." She smiles.

I frown, I have no clients booked in until tomorrow when they drop off the keys and exchange the contracts.

"Who is it?" I asked, confused.

"A silver fox, who goes by the name of Davey." She winked.

I blink my eyes in surprise, surely, he should be in bed sleeping. I glance back up at the clock and see it is just past three, damn the day has gone quickly. "Erm, yeah, send him in." I smile a blush on my cheeks.

Davey walks into the office, looking a little unsure of himself, which is unusual, and kind of cute.

"Hey, what brings you here?" I smile up at him, my heart pounding in my chest.

"Yeah, sorry, but I was in town. I did message you, but I guess you are busy." Davey half smiles.

I look down at my phone to see three text messages that I have missed.

"I am, I have not even eaten yet, take a seat." I smile at him.

Davey sits down, placing his ankle over his opposite knee, his foot bouncing slightly.

"So, the reason I text you, I was looking forward to seeing you in the morning, but I will not be able to come over. My sister called, remember Liv?" he asks.

I nod my head, she was in the year below me at school, always hanging around us, much to Davey's annoyance at the time.

"Yeah, is she okay?" I asked.

"Not really. She lives in north Yorkshire, with her husband. Who is now soon to be her ex-husband. They have split up today." Davey states an unmistakeable look of anger all over his face.

"I am sorry to hear that," I say, not sure if he wants to tell me the ins-and-outs of everything going on with his little sister.

"Liv is in a bad way. He has taken all of the money from her joint bank account and emptied the savings. Apparently, he has been gambling, and she never told us. She finally had enough when all her cards were rejected for her food shopping. She asked if I could go down and stay with her, to help pack up his stuff on my days off. I have some holiday time owed, and the Station Officer has agreed for me to take Friday night's shift off, I will be heading down tomorrow as soon as I finish work, coming back on Tuesday." Davey sighed, clearly concerned for his little sister.

"That is awful, I hope she can work this out, and get some of the money back." I sigh.

Davey shrugs, shaking his head.

"If I get my hands on him, I will do some damage, she has also found documents that he has forged her signature on, with secured loans on the house, which he never paid back. She has nothing left, and these loan companies are now going after the house," Davey growled out.

I blink, that is bad. It will mean they will lose the house, and she will be legally required to pay half of all the dept, unless they can prove he forged her signature in court. That is a very long and lengthy process, not to mention expensive.

Another knock at the door, disturbs us, and Lorraine pops her head around the door, passing me a ham and cheese baguette from Greggs, with a bag of crisps and a bottle of diet coke.

"So, I was going to ask that we take Andy to the beach on Sunday, but I guess that is off now." Davey huffs slightly.

"Yeah, but family first Davey, Liv needs you, so do not worry about it." I smile through the disappointment.

"I best get going, I will text you when I can, and pop over when I get back on Tuesday if that is still okay with you." Davey looks at me expectantly.

"Of course it is, and hey, if Liv needs any legal advice to help get things sorted, let me know, I will do what I can for her. Free of course," I add.

Davey stands up, and I go to let him out of the office, he takes hold of me by the waist, and stares into my eyes.

"I am going to miss you, I know that sounds lame, but honestly, it is the truth." He sighs.

"Hey, absence makes the heart grow fonder." I smile up at him, trying to cheer his mood slightly.

Bending his head down, Davey's lips find mine, unlike the kiss this morning that was fuelled by l**t, this one is soft, his tongue just grazing against mine. Breaking the kiss, he plants another on my forehead.

"I will text you later tonight. I will also give you a call when I get to Boroughbridge. I promise I will see you on Tuesday when you finish work, maybe we can all go out for food somewhere."

"That would be nice, but for now, concentrate on trying to help Liv, I am not going anywhere." I give him a soft smile.

"I am sorry, see you Tuesday." Davey sighs, planting another quick kiss on my lips.

I smile and nod, then watch as he walks out the office.

Sitting at my desk, I cannot deny just how disappointed I really am. I mean, I did not know he planned to take me and Andy to the beach on Sunday, so in reality I am not missing out, but it damn well feels like I am. Letting out a sigh, I throw myself back into my work, after all, there is nothing I can do about the situation right now. With Andy's chicken pox, now this, I cannot help but feel that someone somewhere is trying to stop us spending quality time together. I shake my head at myself, for being ridiculous, after all, this is just life, it never goes how you want it to.

One thing I will do when I finish tonight, and have Andy tucked up in bed, I will definitely be engaging in some research along with checking up on the law regarding Liv's situation, to see if there is any way I can help stop her from losing her home.