January On Fire: A Firefighter Fake Marriage Romance

by Chase Jackson

  “I've had enough of this Cole, your antics, your lawlessness.”

  “What is this the Wild West? I made one mistake!”

  He raised an eyebrow at me and I watched as his arms crossed his chest. He was in the navy suit, like always. Navy suit, red tie. My father always wore navy suits and robin's egg blue tie.

  And then there was me, I hated suits. It was one of the reasons I joined the Army. So I could get away from all of this, from the life that they wanted to build for me. I guess that's what happens when you're sixteen and your parents die in a helicopter crash. Find ways to move on. People to move on with.

  “You act like it is! Listen this is the last chance I'm giving you. While you use some of that military background you invested so much time into. You gave them ten years Cole, why don’t you utilize some of your skills?”

  “What the hell does that mean? Is there somebody that you need shot?”

  Truth was, I was a good shot. But that wasn't what I was trained for.

  “No. I have a better idea. You use your medic skills. Aren’t you a doctor?”

  I sighed heavily. “You know that I am. I finished med school as part of my training. Why?”

  “Because that's what you're going to do. You have one month, one month that you will completely dedicate yourself to the children's hospital downtown. For free, and you have one month to get that girlfriend of yours to agree to marry you. If you don't, I’m cutting you off.”

  My mouth dropped open. Could he even do that? All that money was willed to me in my parents’ estate. Sure I had been spending a little bit since getting out of the service, but it wasn't his to take away. “What are you talking about?”

  “I'm going to put it in a trust. All of the money that was willed to you is shares within this pharmaceutical company. It was one of the reasons that your parents wanted you to become a doctor. At least that part of what they wished for you came true, even if you went about it in different means than they were planning.” He was referring to the fact that I didn't end up at some Ivy League school. Again, they died, I needed a new family. The military provided me that.

  “So you want me to donate my medical knowledge? That doesn't just happen. I'm not just going to get some random free job for a month at the Children's Hospital.”

  “Sure you are. I'm on the board, I can get you any job I want to. Maybe I should have you start as a nurse, clean bedpans for your indiscretions?”

  My blood was boiling underneath my skin. How dare he do this to me? “And my girlfriend? You think I can just make this happen out of thin air?”

  “According to you at our last dinner, it's quite serious. She may actually like it if you propose, show her and me that you’re ready to settle down and start acting like an adult.”

  Fuck. Not only did I just get assigned the job that I would never want, but now I had to find a girlfriend, hell a fiancé. And as I sat in that gray office as the rain slid down the window outside I looked over the city and thought how the hell was I going to make it through the next thirty days?

  Two

  Addison

  I curled my hair around my index finger just as I did every time I was nervous. It wasn't something I noticed in myself, but my sister, Elizabeth, always noticed and pointed it out.

  “What's wrong?”

  “What do you mean? Nothing is wrong.”

  “Well, you're sweating for one. Two you've got the curlyhaired thing going on, and three you are pounding on that keyboard so loud that I'm sure neighbors upstairs can hear you. So again, what's wrong?”

  Stupid big sisters, they always called you out on your shit. “Fine, you know the new security system for the law firm? I want to make sure that our client's files are as secure as possible. I mean without that why would they come to us? You know that discretion is our biggest attribute of the company. But I keep getting denied access to some of my codes. It doesn’t make any sense because I built the system, I have access to everything! I just don't understand why I'm getting locked out.”

  Elizabeth stood from the kitchen table and walked around behind me staring at the screen. Sure indiscretion was big of a law firm, but when you and your sister are both coders, you help each other out.

  “What about this line here?” She pointed at the screen. The line of code that she was referring to I hadn't written. “I've no idea. I didn’t put that in there.”

  She made a face and took the three tiny steps that she needed to take to be into the kitchen of our small apartment.

  “You made a face. Why did you make a face?”

  She shrugged as she poked her head into the refrigerator to grab a bottle of wine. “I mean it's probably nothing.”

  “What is nothing, Elizabeth?”

  “Well the last time I had one of my codes changed, it meant that I was getting the boot. Somebody was double checking my work and they didn't like what they saw. I'm really sorry Addison. But I think you're getting fired.”

  My mouth dropped open. I couldn't get fired. We were barely affording this apartment with the two of our incomes combined. Manhattan was expensive as hell. If I got fired, I don't know what we would do. I don't know how we would make it.

  “Are you sure? Elizabeth focus. Are you sure that's what happened?”

  She brought a glass of red over to me and sat down across us at the table and began seriously typing. She turned the laptop screen around so that I could see it and pointed to the screen. There was a picture of a guy younger than us, with black framed glasses and a big dopey smile. “See this kid? And he is a kid. He's fresh out of college, ten years younger than me. He does a great job. He can code faster than I could. Faster and cheaper is what a company is always looking for. That software is being recoded, it's because they consider you antiquated. So instead of trying to update their security system tonight, you should start looking for jobs.”

  I rolled my eyes at her. As much as I loved Elizabeth and our sisterly bond, sometimes she had a flair for the dramatic. So I shut my computer, but instead of looking for jobs I grabbed my laptop and my wine and headed to my bedroom. Watching a good rom com and drowning my sorrows in a glass of red would be the only thing I accomplished for the evening.

  Three

  Addison

  “Addison! Come in here!”

  I grabbed my tablet and my lukewarm cup of coffee and hustled into my boss's office. He was nearly twice as old as I was, and maybe three times the size of me. He sat in his ancient office chair that someone had gifted to him when he graduated college eons ago and flattened his tie over his exceedingly large stomach. The buttons were bulging underneath it.

  “Yes. Mr. James? You wanted to see me.”

  He smiled at me as he crossed his hands over his protruding belly. “Yes. Sit.”

  I sighed. The grand office Mr. James sat in had a way of making people feel like they were small, the guests’ office chairs were uncomfortable to say the least. I felt the scratchy material against my skin, a tank top was apparently not a good choice for this hot summer day. I set the tablet down in my lap but I clutched onto my coffee like a lifeline. Some peoples would say that I was a caffeine addict, I would say that I was a coder. I guess you would think same difference.

  “I noticed that you are working on the security protocols. How's that going?”

  I took a sip of my coffee before responding. “Quite well. I mean I noticed some discrepancies in the code, but I'm sure that I can iron out the details.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “I can tell you exactly why you saw discrepancies within the coding.”

  Here it was, Elizabeth was right. I was being replaced.

  “We’ve been hacked.” I nearly dropped my coffee all over my shiny tablet. Hacked? That was my job. To make sure we weren’t. Shit.

  “I'm sorry?”

  “You should be Addison. Since it's your job to make sure the security protocols are developed enough that no one can break in. You know our clients prefer their discretion. We’ve
violated that trust, we’ll lose at least two clients over it. You know how I like to work on retainer.”

  Did he ever. Mr. James hadn't stepped foot into a courtroom in probably fifteen years He lived off of clients’ previous settlements. Most of the time he never screwed up enough to have to actually work. It was rare that he had to do a settlement nowadays. Losing two clients on retainer was like telling Mr. James that doughnuts had gone extinct. I was in so much trouble.

  “I don't understand. I built that all myself, it's ironclad.”

  “Apparently it's not strong enough. So I thank you for your time but your services are no longer required here.”

  “You're firing me?”

  “It appears that way. We can't afford to have issues like this. So while I appreciate your position, and you've been good to this company for the past two years, it's time for you to move on. Maybe somewhere that doesn't need a security system built quite as strongly as we do. Pack your things and leave.”

  I sat there for a moment longer unsure of what to do with myself. I had never been fired before, hell I hadn't even quit anything. I was someone who always saw a project through. I could hardly understand where had I had gone wrong.

  “Addison, leave. Don't make me call security.”

  I nodded just as the tears prickled my eyes. I stood and exited his office as quickly as possible. After walking down the hall and into my shared office I grabbed my things and shoved them in my purse. The only thing I had to carry was my laptop and my coffee. None of the other software techs said anything to me, I doubt they even realized that I'd been fired. We all used to sit there with our headphones in jamming out to music while we wrote code or did research for the lawyers, hacking into companies and finding out things that no one was supposed to know. We weren't really friends, just warm bodies that filled the same room. No one's eyes even met mine as I tearfully walked out the door.

  What the hell was I going to do? Where would I go? As I walked out of the building and into the hot summer sun my heels clicked on the concrete and I began walking home. Sure I had usually taken the Metro but I didn't feel like I should just go home. I didn't feel like that was where I belonged. So instead I just kept walking until finally I rounded a corner and saw a pub in front of me with its doors wide open.

  Time to drown my sorrows, time to come up with a new plan.

  Four

  Cole

  I sat down at the bar of my favorite pub and ordered a whiskey.

  “On the rocks, as usual.”

  The bartender, an older man with graying hair nodded to me as he put down the glass that he was cleaning and picked up a short one to fill for me. The place was practically empty, it was the middle of the day. I was actually surprised that they would even serve me this early, I had never been in here at this time before. But after the discussion with my uncle yesterday I had a completely awful afternoon. I spent the entire day going through my phone book to see if there were any girls would even consider going on a date with me. And I had hundreds of girls in my book, and those were just the girls whose names I could remember. The ones I liked enough to get their phone number. Most of the numbers were disconnected, or some of those girls I hadn’t talked to since before I left the military. A couple had been the girls I would sleep with when I was home on leave but surprise surprise a few of them were married already.

  I was totally screwed.

  Just as the bartender set my drink down in front of me I noticed a girl at the end of the bar setting up a laptop. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and began typing furiously, she was pretty but not in a way that I usually was interested in.

  She looked smart, it wasn't that I didn't like smart girls, but that wasn't what I was looking for. No brilliant girl who brought a laptop computer to the bar was going to be my fiancé. That would never happen. She would never agree to it.

  I nursed my whiskey and continued to scroll through my phone to see if there was anyone I had missed. Any other calls I could make. But as the afternoon turned into evening and the bar got more popular I realized I had downed three whiskeys and made no phone calls. Occasionally I would sneak a glance at the girl at the end of the bar, but she seemed to be only drinking beer and typing away. I found myself wondering what she was working on.

  Suddenly she slammed her hands down on the bar and made me and four other guys have to grab our drinks so they didn’t escape the ledge.

  “God dammit!”

  She got off the barstool and began searching underneath the bar for an outlet. Apparently, her laptop had died. The other guys at the bar started murmuring about her wondering if something was wrong with her. I didn't know if there was something wrong with her or not but clearly, she wasn't having a good day.

  “What's the girl at the end of the bar drinking?”

  The bartender held up a bottle of some hard cider. A total girly drink. “Great put on my tab.” He cracked open the bottle and passed it to me. I grabbed my whiskey and sauntered past the mumbling men and set it next to her laptop.

  “You look like you could use a drink.” Then I survey the three empty bottles in front of her. “Another drink,” I remedied.

  She looked up at me from her spot on the floor and pushed her glasses up on her nose. “You're buying me a drink?”

  “Actually I think I already bought you a drink. You just have to accept it.”

  I set my drink down on the bar and offered her hand. She grasped it gently and stood up staring right into my eyes. Reflected back at me was a girl I hardly understood. Perfectly green pools with golden flex swimming around in them. Her skin was pale like she wasn't out in the sun very often and she had a bridge of freckles that went just across her nose. She was adorable. With a cute little body to match. Perfectly pouty lips and breasts that were just a little too full for the top that she was wearing. My eyes continued down to a black pencil skirt and matching black pumps. In between, she had perfectly sculpted legs. I thought she wasn't my type.

  I was wrong.

  “Thank you. It's been kind of a shit day.”

  She hopped back up on the barstool and took a long swig from the bottle. I perched on the stool next to her my body still facing hers. “Tell me about it.”

  “I was fired this morning. I got fired and I have been spending all day looking for new coding jobs and I can't find any! Which is total bullshit because I'm in a major metropolitan area. That was the whole reason I moved here so that I would never have to worry about a job again. But here I am looking for a job in a bar no less. And now I'm telling my entire life story to a complete stranger. I’m Addison by the way.” She stuck out her hand and I shook it, smiling at her my most charming way.

  “I'm Cole. Nice to meet you Addison, sorry about the job.”

  “Yeah me too. And now I am three beers in and I just feel like I need to burn off some steam. I'm in heels, not really ideal running footwear. And I don't feel like I can go home because my sister is going to have that “I told you so” face. And she'll be totally right. I can't believe I let the security software get hacked! That was my whole job. I only had one job! And I ruined it.”

  She took another swig from a bottle and chewed on her lower lip as her eyes grew wide like she suddenly realized I was sitting there hanging on every word. “Why the hell have you been in a bar most of the day? You don't look like the unemployed type.”

  “Yeah. And what type do I look like?”

  “Well, you have some type of military tattoo creeping out from underneath that tight shirt of yours. So I'm guessing your ex-military?”

  I nodded. “I spent some time in the army. And I actually do have a job, thinks my uncle.”

  “You think you can get me a job too?”

  I laughed. “Unless you want to be cleaning bedpans, I doubt it. Because I'm pretty sure that's all I'm going to be going.”

  Sure he said I was going to be donating my time at the Children's Hospital but he made it very clear that he could give me any job he wanted. J
ust because I was an MD didn't mean I was going to get some great position. Besides they may not even like my background, starting as a medic in the military wasn't as glamorous as people made it out to be. Amputating legs in the field when a bomb went off? Doesn't look so good on your resume.

  “Bedpans huh? You were a medic then. Good for you! We need more people saving lives in this world.”

  She was so brutally honest, there was no façade with her whatsoever. I found it refreshing, and intoxicating.

  “So Addison, if you don't want to go home, where are you going to go?”

  She shrugged. “Hopefully somewhere I can find an outlet. I guess I need to keep job searching. I at least need to have applied to fifteen jobs before I go back to Elizabeth. Because that's exactly what she's going to tell me I should've been doing instead of sitting here drinking all day. I have to admit that drinking was way more fun.”

  “I know we should go.”

  She cocked her head at me, looking both adorable and confused at the same time. “Where?”

  I took my fingertips and placed them on a laptop screen which was dark for the lack of power and shut it softly. “Come with me.”

  Her eyes grew wide. “I'm sorry?”

  “You, me, in my bed. One night, no strings. You can use any outlet you want to my house for a job search and I promise that if something comes available at the hospital I’ll help you get an interview.”

  “I'm not trading sex for an interview.”

  I leaned in close to her, my voice was barely above a whisper. “Darling, sex with me is worth way more than an interview. I promise, this is a winning combination.”

  She considered it for a second, those luscious lips pursing in concentration. She held up her hand and waved to the bartender, “He is gonna pay my tab. He has an outlet I can use.”