Page 40 of Koa's Little Girl
“Captain, you don’t sound good,” Tom said from her doorway.
“I’m fine,” she assured the firefighter who frequently wanted to hang out in her office.
“Maybe you should go to the doctor. I could take you,” he offered, coming in to sit in the chair in front of her desk.
“I’m busy, Tom. I can’t stop to talk,” she croaked. “Go check on the supplies in the medical cabinet.” She’d already asked him twice to do the inventory. The job would take several hours and keep the man out of her hair for the rest of her shift. He couldn’t be done.
“The other guys can do it. I’ve been trying to talk to you all day,” Tom said, appearing peeved.
“Emergency?” she snapped.
“Well, no. I thought we needed to get to know each other better. I’d love to take you…”
“I don’t date firefighters, Tom. I’ve told you this before. If you ask me one more time, I’m going to write you up for harassment. No means no.”
“Women change their minds all the time. I think we’d be a good match. You just have to give me a chance.”
Giana straightened her spine and shot him a stern look. “Get out of my office. Pack your things and report to station four within the hour. That will be your new home base effective immediately.”
“You can’t do that!”
She stared at him. When Tom didn’t leave, she glanced at her watch. “You’re down to fifty-seven minutes before you’re considered late for your shift at station four.”
Tom glared at her, holding her gaze to challenge her authority. Giana didn’t address him again. She turned to pick up her phone and called the fire captain at his new station.
“Good news, Robert. I’m permanently transferring an employee to station four.” Ignoring Tom, she listened to the other captain’s response. “I noticed this morning in the district meeting that you were down two firefighters while we had one extra. That should help balance out the numbers.”
After disconnecting, Giana focused back on the computer screen. She continued to fill out the state reports that tortured her every month as the worst part of her job and completely ignored the clueless firefighter who had just become someone else’s problem. The creak of his chair a few minutes later clued her in that he was still in her office.
Giana glanced at her wrist and then met his gaze. “Leave, Tom.”
“You’re making a big mistake.”
“Take advantage of this fresh start. Station four is your last chance,” she told him bluntly.
“You fuck…” Tom bit off his words. Smashing his hands down on the armrests of the chair, he rocketed toward her.
Giana didn’t flinch or move away. She said one word, “Camera.” That stopped him in his tracks.
“You’re recording me?”
“Yes. I don’t do the ‘he said, she said’ thing.” Giana looked past Tom to the older firefighter hovering outside her office. Mark had stopped immediately, shocked by Tom’s aggressive lean over her desk.
“Mark, Tom is going to station four. Could you help him collect his belongings? He will not be returning here,” Giana told him in a crisp, authoritarian tone.
“You got it, Captain,” Mark answered.
Tom whirled and swore under his breath to see that they had an audience. Turning back at Giana, he growled, “This is bullshit.”
“Watch where you step on the way out,” she told him evenly.
“Come on, Tom. You’re not accomplishing anything here,” Mark said.
Shaking with anger, Tom allowed himself to be ushered out of her space. As soon as he was out of sight, Giana accessed the camera feed she’d installed in her office. She copied it into Tom’s station file and saved it.
A few minutes later, Mark appeared at her door. “He’s gone. Are you okay?”
“Perfect. I appreciate your backup, Mark. Was there a reason you’d come to talk to me?”
