Firelighter

by Jackie Wang

  So I made a snap decision. One that was probably foolish, but at least I made my choice. I bolted back into the school through the front doors, dove for my classroom and scrambled around looking for Nate’s backpack. The hallways had filled up with grey smoke, and I coughed. My eyes stung, as if I’d been pepper-sprayed. I’d been stupid to come back inside. Visibility was already getting worse in the hallways, and I had no means of protecting my lungs from the smoke damage.

  Nate had been wearing a CARS backpack. A tiny little thing with one strap longer than the other. At the end of the row of cubby holes, I finally found the small pack and unzipped it. Success. Grabbing the inhaler, I launched out the door like a rocket and didn’t even inhale again until I was outside. I thrust the inhaler into Nate’s arms, and the panicky boy took a hard pull.

  He was going to be all right.

  I sucked in a few hard, deep breaths, filling my lungs with much-needed fresh air. As oxygen re-entered my bloodstream, I felt my body functions normalize. Straightening up again, I stretched my arms and legs and gave myself a mental pat on the back.

  Within moments, Nate’s face became softer and he lowered his inhaler. “Thank you Ms. Williams. You were so brave.” He looked at me with round, worshipful eyes.

  “Just doing my job,” I replied. I checked my bright pink watch, the one my little cousin gave me for my birthday two weeks ago. I’d made it out in approximately two minutes, fifty-eight seconds. A definite win.

  Despite the rough start to our day, the kids and I ended on a high note. I managed to learn most of their names, which impressed quite a few of them. I’d always had a great memory, especially for names. The key was mnemonics. Like ‘Nervous Nate’, because he always seemed a little jumpy when I came around, and he didn’t seem very sociable in group activities. Or Messy Molly, the girl who loved spreading paint all over her arms and watching it dry on her skin. Then there was Vivacious Vivan, a pony-tail-clad blonde who’d just lost her front teeth and couldn’t stop smiling.

  After the final school bell rang, my students flew into the arms of their parents and guardians, who were both worried and relieved that the fire hadn’t traumatized them. I could tell right away a few of them would worry about the general safety of Walnut Hill, and perhaps go as far as to file a complaint or even switch schools. I reassured the parents that safety was of paramount importance at this school, and that despite the terrible accident, no one was harmed. They seemed skeptical anyway.

  Amidst the crowd, I saw a familiar face.

  “Dominic,” I greeted, surprised to see him so soon. “Off work already?”

  “Hey. No, I uh, left early. Asked for a day off so I could spend some time with my son.”

  “Nate’s fine. He had me worried for a little bit, but he seems better now,” I reported.

  “Did he have an asthma attack?”

  I nodded. “But we got his inhaler, and after that, he was right as rain again.”

  Nate ran up to his father and hugged him tight, squeezing Dominic’s biceps so hard his entire little body shook. It was then that I noticed Dominic’s built frame. Out of his firefighter gear and now wearing a t-shirt and jeans, I couldn’t help but notice how huge his biceps were, and how powerful-looking his entire stature seemed. His brown hair was cropped close to the scalp, and carved around his ears. He had romantic gray-green eyes and straight teeth. A jaw that looked sharp enough to cut diamonds. He was a swoon-worthy specimen of the opposite sex who would definitely look good posing shirtless for one of those firemen calendars.

  I snapped out of my daydream when I realized Dominic was saying something to me.

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.” Because I was fantasizing about you naked. My cheeks flamed, my body betraying my mind.

  “I just wanted to thank you for helping my son out.”

  “It’s my job to look after my students,” I said proudly, tucking a stray curl behind my ear. “But you’re welcome.”

  “Nate says you went back for his inhaler. That wasn’t in your job description. And as a firefighter, I have to warn you against doing something like that in the future. You could’ve gotten hurt.” Was that…worry spreading all over his face? I was reading too much into this situation. He was a firefighter: he cared about everyone. It was in his blood.

  “Yes, sir,” I said playfully. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  How old was Nate’s dad? I wondered. Thirty-six? Forty? He didn’t look too old, but the wrinkles that framed his mouth and lined his forehead told me he’d seen a lot more stress than I had. And that probably meant more years, too. Still, none of those lines made him any less of a smoking hot daddy. A smoking hot, off-limits daddy, I reminded myself.

  As if it was an afterthought, but I could tell it wasn’t, Dominic suggested, “If it isn’t too weird, I’d like to thank you properly by taking you out to dinner. Nothing fancy. And of course Nate will be there, too.”

  I knew he added that last bit to assure me the dinner was not a date. I looked behind him to see if anyone else had overheard our conversations. I didn’t see anyone paying attention though. They were all too concerned with the wellbeing of their own children.

  So I nodded. “It’s a non-date.”

  “How’s tomorrow at six sound?”

  “You like to eat early, huh?”

  “Not usually, but Nate’s bedtime is at nine, and his tub and story time routine starts at eight so…”

  “Six is perfect.”

  Dominic let out a small sigh of relief, as if he was worried I’d say no. “See you tomorrow then.”

  “Where are we going? Should I meet you there?”

  “Oh. Right. It’s um, The Burger Shack on 55th.”

  “Got it.” I was glad he hadn’t suggested picking me up from my house. That would’ve made it too date-like, and the last thing I wanted was for this to turn into a date. It wasn’t against the law or anything to date a kid’s parent, but it was severely frowned upon. For good reason, too. Principal McCormack had told me that five years back, he’d caught one of the grade three teachers screwing a kid’s dad in the janitor’s closet. Of course he didn’t want to cause a scandal, so he didn’t make it public, but he did fire her later for terrible job performance. And by that, he meant he’d caught her trying to sell weed to a few twelve-year-olds in the school parking lot. The teacher was later arrested and sent to prison.

  Of course I wasn’t that kind of person. I mean, who did that? Sell drugs on school property? To kids? Disgusting.

  But, long story short, that entire debacle made Principal McCormack extra vigilant about keeping parent-teacher relations platonic. And since I’d been dreaming about this placement for years now, and I had to fight tooth and nail to get it, I wouldn’t risk my job for anything. Not even a sexy firefighter stud whose presence made me a little faint, a little breathless and a little screwed.

  Chapter 3

  Dominic

  “Dad, are you nervous?” Nate asked, watching me as I got dressed for dinner.

  “No, why would I be?” I replied, adjusting my shirt collar.

  Nate gave me a look, as if to say he didn’t believe me. I stared right back at him. “This isn’t a date. I swear. I honestly just want to thank Winnie for saving your life. You know you could’ve been in big trouble if she hadn’t gone back for your inhaler.”

  “I know. But you’re getting pretty dressed up for something that’s not a date.”

  When did my six-year-old start acting like a teenager? A nosy teenager at that.

  “I just don’t want her to think I’m a sloppy dresser.”

  “Why do you care what she thinks?” Nate interrogated, grinning. When he smiled, he looked just like his mother.

  I sighed, weary of his questions. “Because I’ll have to see her for the rest of the year, so I’d like to make a good impression. Is that a good enough answer, mister?”

  “You like her, don’t you?” he teased, hitting the nail right on its head.

  �
�Nate,” I warned. “Don’t be telling lies, especially when we get to the restaurant. I don’t like your teacher.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. I lied to protect him and Winnie, not myself. It would be just awful for them if anyone found out about my innocent little crush.

  “I think she’s very pretty, and if you like her, then I’m okay with that. She’s really nice, too.”

  Gee, thanks for your approval, buddy.

  “Yes, she’s pretty and nice. But she’s not my type and she’s way too young for me,” I reasoned.

  “You’re only thirty-nine, Dad. Not that old.”

  “Too old for her. Besides, it doesn’t matter. Go downstairs and put on your coat. I’ll be down in a minute,” I told Nate.

  He nodded and skipped downstairs, clattering on the landing.

  “Be careful!” I called out. Helicopter parent. I really needed to stop that.

  After Nate left, I checked my appearance one last time. I looked presentable. Freshly shaved. Hair gelled back. I was wearing a casual black dress shirt with jeans. Nothing fancy. Not something I’d usually wear to a dinner with my buddies, but Winnie wasn’t one of the guys. Far from it.

  “You look handsome,” Nate complimented me as I buckled him in. “Ms. Williams is so gonna swoon.”

  “You don’t even know what swoon means.”

  “Yeah I do. It means when a girl falls over from liking a boy too much. I saw it on TV. This girl swooned when her crush walked past her.”

  “I’m sure Winnie isn’t the type of woman who swoons,” I said.

  “But since you’re so good-looking she won’t be able to help herself,” Nate reasoned.

  I pinched his ruddy cheeks. “You better be keeping those opinions to yourself tonight.”

  We arrived at the restaurant at ten to six and grabbed a booth by the window facing the parking lot. That way I could see her as soon as she stepped out of her car. The server brought us two ice waters and gave Nate a coloring sheet and a pack of three crayons. While he was busy filling in his pirate’s hat (staying perfectly inside the bold lines), I saw Winnie step off the bus and walk over. It’d been a long time since I met someone who still took public transportation. If I’d known that she didn’t have a car, I would’ve offered her a ride. I hoped it wasn’t a long journey for her.

  She didn’t see me, so I ducked down a little and turned away from the window so I didn’t look like a creep watching her. Moments later, she walked through the door, and I waved her over. When Nate saw her, his face lit up. He dropped his crayon. “Miss Williams!”

  “Hi Nate,” Winnie greeted. “Dominic.”

  “Hey,” I said, trying to stay as casual as possible. I bent down to pick up Nate’s crayon and placed it back on the table.

  Winnie slid into the padded leather seat across from us and picked up her laminated menu. “I’m surprisingly hungry.”

  I looked at Nate. His stomach grumbled, as if on cue. “So are we.”

  “I’m famished,” Nate said.

  “Where’d you learn that word from?” I asked. My kid was just full of surprises these days. I noticed especially his vocabulary had been expanding exponentially.

  “A book.”

  “Nate’s very intelligent,” Winnie said. “Reads at a grade three level. You should really encourage him to read every night and take him to the library often.”

  “Hear that?” I said to Nate. “Teach thinks you’re smart. I’m not so sure though…”

  “If Ms. Williams says I’m smart then I’m definitely smart.”

  “Oh yeah? What’s another word for smart, then?”

  Nate chewed his lower lip and thought for a second. “Bright. Clever. Umm…resourceful.”

  I raised my brows. “Impressive.”

  I watched Winnie as she studied the menu, her tiny pink tongue flicking over her bottom lip once in a while. God she looked adorable when she was thinking. She glanced up from her menu after a minute. “You boys ready to order?”

  We nodded. Every time we came to The Burger Shack we always got the same thing. Deluxe burger for me, with yam fries, and chicken strips with crinkly fries and an orange juice for Nate. I made sure to tell the server that Nate’s chicken and fries needed to be served on separate plates. He didn’t like his meat touching his veggies.

  Winnie waved over the server. She let us order first. Then she ordered a crispy chicken burger with fries and a coke.

  After the server left with our orders, I turned to Winnie and studied her. She’d swept her auburn curls to one side and pinned it up with a glittery hair clip. Two shiny golden studs graced her earlobes. Winnie wore a white cable knit sweater and skinny jeans, and carried a canvas tote bag. An effortless outfit, but nevertheless she looked like a goddess in it. She was the type of confident, upbeat woman who looked radiant in anything. She could probably make a trash bag look like high fashion.

  “Dad, you’re staring,” Nate whispered loudly.

  Winnie giggled at Nate’s observation. Music to my ears. “Is there something on my teeth?”

  I shook my head. “No. I was just thinking about how to compliment you without coming off as flirtatious.”

  “Did you come up with anything?” Winnie grinned.

  “Still working on it.” I swallowed a gulp of ice water and turned to Nate, ruffling his hair. “Nate, what did you want to say to Ms. Williams?”

  “Please, call me Winnie,” Winnie insisted.

  “Ms. Williams…Winnie,” Nate began, fidgeting with his thumbs. “I just wanted to thank you for all your help. And from now on I’ll carry my inhaler in my pocket so you won’t have to go look for it.”

  “You’re welcome, Nate. It was my pleasure, really.” Winnie dabbed at a few grains of spilled sugar with her index finger, then sucked them off.

  The germaphobe inside me winced a little. Did she know how filthy that table was? Did she really trust she wouldn’t get salmonella poisoning from doing that?

  “You’re my hero,” Nate continued. He wiggled in his seat and pulled something out of his jacket pocket. “I made this for you earlier.” He handed over the crumpled sheet of lined paper with a huge smile.

  Winnie unfolded it, saw Nate’s drawing and burst out laughing. “Well, I don’t think I deserve a cape, but thank you.”

  I’d already seen the drawing, but Winnie showed me again. It was a crude crayon depiction of a stick figure Winnie clad in a red superhero cape, holding a small square object in her hand. Stick figure Winnie towered over a rectangular building (presumably Walnut Hill Elementary), and was twice its size.

  “You’ve got a gift for drawing,” Winnie complimented. “Thank you for this. I’ll keep it in my special folder.” She tucked it carefully inside her purse.

  After our food came, Nate wolfed down his meal like a starved bear cub. I was pretty hungry myself, but ate more slowly and deliberately because I wanted to take the extra time to admire my son’s teacher. I never did give her the non-flirtatious compliment I originally intended, because it was so damn hard not to be flirtatious around someone I clearly found irresistible. The woman was like a drug.

  There were so many things I wanted to tell Winnie Williams.

  I wanted to tell her that I was captivated by her scent—she smelled like an English rose on a warm summer day.

  Her hair was silky perfection, a vibrant mane I wanted to twist in my fist and stroke through with my fingers.

  Her hands were delicate, like china, long and slender, like that of a pianist. Did she play?

  I wanted to tell her that she had the cutest dimples, and the nicest chestnut eyes.

  An infectious smile, and a vibrant personality I wanted to explore further, like a diver uncovering pearls.

  But I said none of those things. I didn’t even dare compliment her on her clothes. Because I was afraid if I did, I’d end up crossing some invisible boundary and things would never be the same again. It was easy to play hero at work, but when it came to women, I was much more shy, especially af
ter the way Lisa had burned me. What was that saying? Once burned…twice shy?

  At the end of the night, after I’d paid the bill, I offered Winnie a ride home, but she refused. “It’s not that bad of a commute. Just thirty minutes on the bus. Besides, you already treated me to dinner.”

  “It’s late. Let me drive you home,” I insisted. “You’d be doing me a favor. It’ll make me feel better knowing you arrived back safely.”

  “This is a safe neighborhood. You have nothing to worry about, honestly.” Winnie readjusted the straps of her cross body bag.

  I hadn’t noticed earlier, but colorful print read: ‘Don’t give up! Be strong. Be tough. Be a rock!’ I chuckled out loud. “I like your bag.”

  “I laughed out loud too when I saw it at the thrift store. Just had to snag it.” Winnie fidgeted with her pink watch. “Thanks again for dinner.” She crouched down and gave Nate a light hug. “And you, little mister, I’ll see you Monday.”