Hero Next Door (Next Door Romance Book 2)

by Mia Ford

  This is it, I can’t take it any longer, I am going to have to do something that I never thought I would. I drag my hand back, I curl up my first by my side, trying to use all of the adrenaline that is currently coursing through me to do something positive. I am so desperate now that I will try absolutely anything, anything to make my escape.

  I scream, I squeeze my eyes shut because I can’t stand that it has come to this, and I punch…

  I wince, expecting there to be a sickening crunch as I connect with his face, hopefully his nose because at least there is a good chance of that hurting, but I don’t quite make it. I don’t connect with anything because he uses my stupid action to grab me. He claims me and spins me around until it’s me back against the door, but he’s slammed me hard against the wood, winding me so I can hardly breathe, never mind think straight. I can hear him saying something to me, something about making me see, forcing me to understand, but his words mean nothing to me. I want to wriggle away just enough to get my hand on that door knob. If I can do that then I can wrench it open. Then I will need to run like my life depends on it, because let’s be honest, it just might…

  But then Mr. Jones has his mouth on mine. He’s kissing me so hard that it hurts. He has me pinned in place so I can’t even move my head to get away from him. He’s blocking my escape, blocking my airways, taking the breath from my lungs. Not only I won’t be able escape him, but I might lose my ability to keep on living.

  Is this really happening? Am I in some kind of nightmare? I don’t understand how I’m living in a world where Mr. Jones is talking about losing his business, while kissing me, and also trying to kill me. This is hell.

  Chapter 10 – Theo

  “Theo?” Frankie grabs me, just as I am about to chuck my coat on and get the hell out of here. My body is already sensing fresh air, looking forward to having some rest and a good sleep, hopefully for real this time, so that I can start again tomorrow and possibly work out what’s going in my head when it comes to Esme. She is still on my mind a lot and I honestly haven’t quite fathomed if it’s even worth for me to go and speak to her about things. “The boss has called for you. He wants to see you before you make your escape. But if you aren’t in the mood I can say that I missed you.”

  “Nah, I’ll go.” Joe is a good guy. I like our boss. If he wants to see me then it’s for a good reason. “Is he in the office?” Frankie nods in my direction. “Right I will see him now, then I can finally be free.”

  Frankie tosses his head back and laughs. “Sure, I bet you can’t wait as well. See you later on then, Theo.”

  I watch jealously as Frankie makes his way out of the building, finally getting his own freedom, but I know that it won’t be long until I join him, so I spin on my heels and head up the stairs until I find Joe hunched over paper work. Poor guy, I know that he prefers to be on the front line with the rest of us, but ever since he got promoted he’s more embroiled in paper work than fires. I don’t think that he realized that was going to happen. It confirms to me that I wouldn’t want the promotion myself. I’m much happier right where I am, thank you very much.

  “Hey, Joe.” I lean my head in while I knock on the door. “Frankie said that you wanted to see me.”

  “Yes, come in, Theo.” He stares at me with slightly blurry eyes. He really must have tons to do. “Take a seat. Would you like a coffee or anything? I can pop out to the drinks machine if you do…”

  “Nah, I’m good thank you.” I smile thinly. Now I’m a little worried. If Joe is offering me coffee that means it might not be a quick chat after all. “What’s going on, boss? Anything that I need to be worried about?”

  “Just checking in on you, that’s all.” His eyes run all over my face searching for something. I hope that he doesn’t find it because I don’t need anyone panicking about me. “I know that you have been through a rough patch recently. All the drama with your ex-wife and moving house. It must be taking its toll a bit. I just wanted to see you.”

  This is why we all respect Joe so much. He isn’t asking this in a work capacity, to check and see if I am capable of doing my job properly, he lets my work do that. Instead, he is simply wants to see how I’m doing. He cares about all of us and respects that we have lives outside of our jobs. Not everyone has a boss like that, Esme included.

  “Yeah, it’s been a lot,” I tell him honestly. “And Jane has already worked out that I have moved house which has pissed her off, so I don’t think that she’s finished yet with all her drama. I don’t much look forward to the next installment, but I do feel like moving was a good plan. Even if it’s more of a commute to work, it’s worth it.”

  “Good… I mean, not good that she is still calling you up and giving you grief, that should have ended a long time ago.” I roll my eyes and nod in agreement. We all think that much. “But good that you have moved home and you’re moving on with your life. When you have hit rock bottom, the only way is up. You look like someone who is on the way up. You aren’t as weighed down as you were before. You don’t seem to have the weight of the world on your shoulders like you did before which is good because none of us liked seeing you that way.”

  “Yeah I know.” It seems that however hard I tried to hide my struggles away from everyone, laughing and making jokes about it all, I didn’t succeed. Joe, if no one else, can see right through it. “But it’s better now.”

  “Good, and is there… you know, anyone else on the scene? Just between you and me…”

  As he winks playfully at me, I can’t help but laugh. Joe is probably the one person that I would tell about Esme because he won’t make jokes about it, but I don’t know if I should. Then again, I don’t know if I can keep it inside any longer. I have to admit that I am dying to talk to someone about it and this feels like my chance to do so…

  “There is a stunning girl next door to me…” Oh okay, I guess my voice box is letting everything out whether I am ready to do so or not. “She’s a sweet red head who makes me feel amazing. Like I haven’t done in years.”

  “Woah, quick worker,” Joe laughs, which strikes me and gives me pause for thought for a second. He’s right, we have moved a little fast actually. I have only been in the house mere days. Maybe that’s why she freaked out.

  “Yeah, actually that’s true. I mean, we did have dinner and one thing led to another…” Joe’s eyes nearly pop out of his head with shock. “But there was just that powerful overwhelming connection there. You know what I mean?”

  “Oh, I do.” All of a sudden, he’s bobbing his head like a nodding dog. “When I met my wife, I knew right away. She whipped the world out from underneath me and just left me floating. I knew. So, if you know, then nothing should hold you back. You should just go for it and forget about everything else.”

  His words inspire me. They make me want to leap from my seat to just go and get her already but I can’t act on that instinct because I don’t know if she feels the same way about me. I have to stay where I am.

  “What’s the matter?” Joe cocks his head and stares at me. “You look like you are pondering something. Actually, you look like you are having a self-doubt which isn’t like you at all. You are always confident with women…”

  “This one is different,” I feel compelled to admit. “I don’t know what it is about her, but she is.”

  “Sounds to me like she is the one for you then.” He smiles looking all happy for me. “Now, you just need to get her. And before you argue, I know that you have been saying you don’t want anyone, but clearly you do.”

  I part my lips a couple of times, trying to find a decent response to that but I don’t have anything. Maybe I do want someone after all. Or not just anyone, but Esme. I can’t imagine watching her being with someone else which is usually a sign. I mean, I would be more than happy for Jane to move on with someone else…

  “I don’t know.” I eventually offer my boss a one shouldered shrug. “We’ll see what happens.”

  Just as I consider standing
up to leave, we are interrupted by the fire bell ringing out with an emergency. Immediately, I feel my body snap to action, ready to get involved with whatever is happening. It doesn’t matter that I am off the clock now, it’s just a natural instinct to want to help and I can’t help myself.

  “Fuck,” Joe curses. “The Williams sisters aren’t in yet. They are running late, which means…”

  “I will head out with the crew,” I declare eagerly. “If you need someone. I don’t want you to be short staffed.”

  “No, you are done here. I don’t want you working longer hours than you need to.” Joe shakes his head immediately, but I don’t intend to take that for an answer. “You go home, I will sort it out…”

  “Just let me go.” He’s stressed, I can see it rolling off of his shoulders. If there is something that I can do to make his time better, then I will. “Please, let me help. You know what I am like. I always want to be out there.”

  Joe huffs sadly. I can tell that he doesn’t want to agree but I’m pretty sure that he’s also well aware that he doesn’t have a choice. I am right here, ready and able to offer help, willing as well. This is an emergency situation, life and death in a lot of cases, and he doesn’t have time to get himself anyone else to work for him. “Fine yes.”

  I leap up instantly and run down the stairs two at a time. In a heartbeat, my uniform is on and ready to go. Knowing how to dress ourselves instantly is a big part of the job because with fire and other dangerous situations, you never know how much time you have. The last thing that you want is for someone to lose their life because you were the one not quite dressed and holding everyone up. Luckily, that hasn’t ever been me and it won’t be.

  “I thought that you were done for the day.” Tamara grabs me as I leap on to the truck. “We aren’t supposed to be on the same shift so what the hell are you doing? Does Joe know that you are here?”

  “Who do you think sent me?” I give her a shit eating grin. “Come on, you know you love working with me.”

  She does, she’s just being bossy right now because she is in charge of this mission and she doesn’t want any dead weight. I know Tamara well and she is a perfectionist who needs everything to go well all the time, which isn’t exactly possible in this line of work, but she will always try. She doesn’t need to worry about me though.

  “I do, I just don’t want to work with someone who isn’t refreshed and ready to go.”

  “I am, so don’t worry about me anymore. Let’s just get out there, shall we? Anyone know where we’re going?”

  The quicker that I talk, the sooner we will get out of here, and the less likely Tamara will be able to kick me off. Not that she can do so if Joe has agreed it anyway and it isn’t like we have time for a row…

  As one of the other guys reads out the address to me, I make a mental note of it being in the business district. That means it isn’t a house fire but one within a company building. It’s gone past the end of the day which means there might not be anyone inside of the building, fingers crossed, but that isn’t ever a guarantee. It doesn’t matter whether I am supposed to be on this mission or not, I don’t want there to be any fatalities on my watch.

  What will we find? Hopefully a small fire which doesn’t hurt anyone or cause much damage to the building, one that we can locate its source immediately and save a full blown investigation. But knowing my luck at the moment it will be a place absolutely engulfed in flames, covering everything else in smoke and a hospital visit or two will be involved. It doesn’t matter how much a person can train for that, there is never any preparation for what it will be like in reality. Someone hurt, someone suffering with burns, it’s the worst thing in the world.

  Chapter 11 – Esme

  What the fuck? I cover my mouth while coughing up what feels like a part of my lung. What the hell is happening here? One minute I was in a battle for my life with my boss. Mr. Jones was trying to rip my clothing off my body as I tried to run away and it’s honestly all a blur. I can’t remember what happened, if my clothing managed to stay on or not, and where Mr. Jones is now. All I know is that flames are surrounding me, smoke is engulfing me, I can’t move for the heat. The building is on fire. How the fuck that happened I have no idea, but I am screwed.

  How did it happen so quickly? How will I get out if there’s nowhere left to turn? Why is this happening?

  I fall to the floor, half because my legs can’t keep me upright any longer, and half because I’m sure I read or heard somewhere that you need to stay low to the ground to avoid too much of the heat because the flames rise, or maybe it’s so you don’t inhale too much smoke, I’m not sure, but here I am anyway, trying to crawl with no idea where I am.

  “Esme?” Is that Mr. Jones calling me? I don’t know if I want to follow the sound of his voice or not. He’s the reason that all of this is happening, he seems to want me dead. Naked and dead. But I also don’t like being alone. “Esme?” He’s coughing, hacking up his lungs just as much as I am. “Esme, where are you?”

  I freeze where I am, trying to make a decision about which way to go. My brain is too full of fog, too consumed with fear to think about anything sensible. It’s blurry, I’m dizzy, everything is starting to ache.

  Don’t give up. There’s a voice inside my brain screaming at me, and I want to listen I really do. But how can I make my body do what my mind wants? It’s practically impossible. Don’t give up. Giving up means dying. Don’t let him win. Mr. Jones and his angry face fills my mind, building up my spirits once more. Don’t be defeated.

  He might have fought me and pushed me down the entire time that I have worked for him, he might have belittled me and stripped away my self-confidence, he might have done everything that he can to try and destroy me, but he won’t kill me. I don’t want him to have my life as well as everything else. If only I knew where to go. If only I didn’t toss my bag down on my chair so now I have no cell phone to call anyone. If only I stood up to him sooner…

  Just keep going. I shove my body along the ground, ignoring the sharp pain in my knees. Don’t stop moving.

  Staying still is guaranteed death. I guess I must have some kind of survival instinct in there somewhere. Thank God. I can get through any blaze, even if it’s stinging my skin, seriously hurting me in every single way. That’s how I can somehow keep on breathing even though the smoke is killing me, trying to stop me from getting even the slightest of oxygen. I think about all of the people in my life that will be disappointed if I go, if I die. There might not be many, but they will be sad. My parents, for one. I can see now that my life might be coming to an end, they were only over bearing because they care so much about me and want the best for my life. I bet I hurt them so much when I left like that. And it isn’t like I have kept in touch a lot. I’m really bad at that, with being busy all the time. And Delia as well. She will be weeping at my funeral as well. I don’t want to hurt her feelings. And Theo…

  I mean, not Theo really because he doesn’t know me and we just kind of fell in to bed together, but still… I wonder what he will think of all this. I’m sure that he will be mostly annoyed that I died in a fire, what with him being a fire fighter and everything. If I knew where my cell phone was, I could call him. I could ask him to save me.

  Stairs. I take a tumble down the first few, but for some reason I don’t feel it. Maybe my body is so full of pain that it can’t feel anything anymore. I’m numb, being held together by the fibers of smoke. But stairs aren’t necessarily a bad thing as long as I don’t tumble and fall all the way down. Stairs will take me further away from him and closer to the exit. I can’t think where the main door is from the stairs, I have my head everywhere, all buildings that I have ever been inside are merging together, but it’s a step closer. It’ll take me to freedom as long as I slip down them slowly, under the bright orange and yellow flickering of the flames, under the billowing black smoke. It’s tense, I can hear every weak beat of my pathetic heart which is doing its best to keep me alive, but
finding it very hard…

  Shit, noises clamp my stomach tight. It’s him, Mr. Jones, it has to be. He’s the only other person in the building with me. He planned this, he’s super human, somehow able to work his way through the flames, he has a fire suit or something. He isn’t struggling like me. He’s going to get me and hold me down in the flames, make me breathe it all in, cause me to burn and fry. Mr. Jones wants me dead and he will stop at nothing. Revenge for not being who he wants me to be, murder for his company, for the rejection, for not giving him everything that he wants.

  I want to keep on going, I really do, but something has paralyzed me. Maybe it’s the fear, the knowledge that he is coming for me, that he wants to kill me and there isn’t really much that I can do to stop him. I might be giving up without meaning to, I might be losing my will to survive after all. I have fought my last breath…

  Theo. He’s like an angel above me, a vision come to life right in front of my very eyes. I must be dead, or at the very least dying. And he is the last face that I’m going to see. Rather him than Mr. Jones, I suppose. I reach upwards to touch his cheek, to feel his beautiful face one last time but unfortunately I can’t get to him through his mask. This is supposed to be my imagination, a little comfort at the end of my life, and I can’t even touch Theo. If that doesn’t express the sadness of my life in one dumb ass moment, then I don’t know what does.

  Theo. I want to say his name aloud but my mouth is too thick and clogged up. I can only think his name over and over again like it’s a prayer. The only thing keeping me alive. Theo… Theo… oh, my hot, sweet Theo…

  I’m raised up from the ground, lifted like I weigh nothing, my spirit leaving my body at long last. I never thought much about death before but I don’t think I ever would have assumed that it’s like this. This is magical, it feels heroic, like I am the princess, the damsel in distress being rescued by the hero. There is something about it which makes me happy. Happier than I have been in a very long time and I’m sure that’s because of Theo.