Page 32 of Her Paramedic
“I will be unprofessional any day of the week if it keeps from damaging that child’s hair. She doesn’t need a relaxer because you may be tired of dealing with it. You can give her plenty of styles on Sunday that will last her through the week. But as I stated, you’re welcome to leave because you will not receive that service here.”
Tasha glared at her. “It’s your loss. I will not be revisiting your salon.”
“Your choice. Have a good day,” Talia responded, walking away from the woman.
She sat in her chair and watched Tasha contemplate whether she was serious. She must have surmised that Talia was because she huffed before turning to leave, bumping into a delivery person on her way. Monique took the delivery, and once the man left, she approached Talia with the items, a teasing smile on her face as she handed her the bouquet of assorted purple flowers, her favorite color, in a clear vase and box with a purple ribbon.
“I wonder who these are from,” Monique teased.
She took them from Monique, bringing the flowers to her nose briefly, then looked for a card but didn’t see one. Talia placed them at her station. She untied the bow and opened the box. There was a card on top of parchment paper.
I hope this makes your week a little better. - Slate
She smiled at the card as she moved the parchment paper and found white chocolate-covered strawberries.
“Ooh, what’s the occasion?” Maya asked.
“I told him last night that the week already felt long, but other than that, there isn’t one.”
“Yeah, I need to know where that man was made because I want one,” Nesha said, and the salon laughed.
Talia took out her phone and texted him. She knew he was likely just waking up since he had worked last night. She would call him and thank him again when she left for the day.
Afew minutes after getting home, she had another reason to thank him when a knock came on her door. It was another delivery. When she opened the box, she found a bottle of wine, chocolate truffles, a mini chocolate swirl cake, candy-coated cherries, and another note.
In case today was like the others or worsened after my first delivery. Maybe wine will make it better. - Slate
Talia couldn’t help but smile to herself.What am I going to do with this man?
She’d just cut a slice of the cake and poured a glass of wine when a second knock came on her door. She thought it was another delivery and opened the door without looking through the peephole, but wished she had when she saw the person on the other side.
“Charlie, what are you doing here?” she asked, leaning against the door frame.
“I missed you, baby, and wanted to stop by.” He held up a bag. “I brought dinner and thought we could watch a movie and see where the rest of the night takes us,” he smiled.
She and Charlie had been dating when Slate originally asked for her number, but a couple weeks after that, they went their separate ways. Mainly because she found she’d fallen into that terrible habit she had, and they hadn’t wanted the same things.
“One, you know I never liked it when you showed up at my house unannounced when we dated, so I damn sure don’t like it now. Second, the night will take you home because I don’t want to have dinner with you or watch a movie.”
“You don’t have to be like that. You know we have fun together.”
“Fun, which was all you wanted. We weren’t on the same page then; now, we’re in different books. Get off my doorstep and go home.”
Talia closed and locked the door. Her cake and wine were now well deserved.
«-•-•-•-•-•-•-»
Slate wondered if Talia’s crazy week had rubbed off on himas they finished their seventh call of the night. It had to be some record for the first five hours of a shift. They were having a full moon type of night. Which they rarely had until after specific holidays or when shit got crazy at festivals. It was the first time they were getting a moment to breathe, and he pulled his phone out.
Talia had called him at the beginning of his shift, but he’d been on a call. After that, they were back-to-back. He’d text her to let her know he would call her back when he got a minute, but it was after midnight, and if she was sleeping, he didn’t want to wake her. He texted her to check.
Slate:Are you awake, baby?
Talia:I’m awake.
He grabbed his portable radio in case they got another call and stepped out of the ambulance to call Talia. Jonah was taking the downtime to play his Switch, and Slate knew from experience that if he got in the zone, it took him a few seconds to come back into focus if a call came in.
“Hey, babe,” she answered.
