Burning Flames ¦ Evan Buckley

Chapter 34 - Betrayal

El sat in the cold room, Buck sat across from her, her feelings being painfully clear that she wasn't happy about being put in this vulnerable position. "This is not a trial, I am not a judge. This arbitration will address Mr Buckley's claim against the Los Angeles Fire Department for wrongful termination." The man spoke at the head of the table.

"It has been brought to my attention that you and my client Mr Buckley have had relations in the past, is that correct?" Bucks lawyer asked.

"Is that relevant?" El raised a brow curiously, tilting her head.

"If you could just answer the question that would be greatly appreciated Miss Rhodes" He spoke.

"Fine, yes. Evan and I had relations of sorts" El nodded, her eyes darting to see the look of shame planted on Bucks features.

"Now Miss Rhodes, you unfortunately, like Mr Buckley were down at the pier at the time of the Tsunami correct?" He asked to which El nodded, "And you returned to work the following day with bruised and potentially broken ribs, correct?"

El shot Buck a look of severe distaste, "My ribs were bruised yes however as Firefighters we are trained to deal with worse things, a few bruised ribs did not and will not affect my work. You are likely to get hurt more in training than what I experienced surviving a Tsunami" El rebutted in a polite tone.

"I'm sure that the tsunami was very traumatic for you given your past" He spoke to which Buck even seemed surprised.

"I'm not quite sure what you're getting at" El spoke, cocking a brow.

"Well Miss Rhodes, I did some research on you, wanting to understand you better as if I'm honest, a girl moving 2500 miles away just to join the LAFD had my interest spiked. Let me ask you, does the department know about you being admitted to a psychiatric hospital for over 6 months?" The man spoke.

"I believe that would be on my medical records yes" El spoke, however she knew that it wasn't likely on them.

"Given your history and the tsunami, I can imagine that you were severely traumatised and triggered by such events, yet Captain Nash still allowed you to work" He continued.

"Captain Nash is not aware of my history. None of the 118 are aware of my history and I would prefer it was kept that way" El sassed politely.

"I would argue it is your captain's business and also your teams. It is clear to me, that you, Miss Rhodes, are hiding key information from your team while Mr Buckley here, is doing everything in his power to be honest and get back to work which is his right"

"I'm not saying it isn't his right. I helped him. Every step of the way, I was the one that was there, in hospital, at his apartment, at his disposal because that's how much I believed in Buck, so don't sit there and patronise me and talk to me about my own history which has been dealt with" El began to get heated, her emotions getting the better of her. The puppy dog looks from Buck only making things worse.

"Okay, why don't we just take a moment?" The lawyer suggested. "Clearly your past is a touchy subject, hence why I brought it up"

"Well you read it so I'm sure you're aware." E gave him a sarcastic smile. "Now, I believe we can move onto the next subject"

As much as to the lawyers dismay, they did in fact move on, talks about Bobby occurring however the rest of the conversation steered away from El and her traumatic past which was now starting to haunt her present and future.

El walked out of the room, tears wanting to escape her eyes however she didn't let them. She was the last one to be spoken to so when she returned everyone stood themselves up and headed for the elevator, everyone's mood angered and low. El went straight to Eddie and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly, needing some sort of comfort. Eddie was taken aback however wrapped his arms around El tightly, placing a platonic kiss on her head. "Come on, let's get outta here..." Eddie spoke and wrapped his arm around her, walking her to the elevator.