Breathe (GirlxGirl)

Chapter 34 - Sparks Fly

Faith woke to her phone vibrating against the night stand. Looking at her phone and seeing a number she didn't recognize she slid the red dot across the screen to ignore the call. She rolled over, took a deep breath and began to fade back off to sleep. It was then she heard the vibrating once again. She let out a sigh and groaned as she rolled over. Recognizing the caller on the caller ID, she answered this call.

"Hey, what's up? Did you forget something when you left? It better be important, considering the time." She joked. Silence filled the loft as she listened intently to the voice on the line. Shooting up from bed and turning on the light she replied, "Oh my God ... "What? ... Shit! ... yeah ... OK! I'll meet you there ... thanks Mike."

Faith gathered some clothing, pulled her hair back into a ponytail, and slid on some shoes. As she hurried out the door she was still buttoning her jeans. The loft door flung open once again. She raced over to the dish that held her keys, snatched them up and was off.

As she drove down University, she could see flashing lights disappearing into the night's sky. Flashes of red, blue and white filled the once darkened street. Her heart pounded in her chest as her hands gripped tight against the steering wheel. A grey fog began to fill the air and filter out the bright lights. The smell began to burn in her nose. It wasn't the pleasant smell of a campfire left in your clothing the next morning. Rather, it was a damp, melted plastic and chemical smell mixed with the smell of ash.

The block around Cahoots was fenced with police cars, fire trucks, orange cones and yellow police tape. Faith parked on the street close to Mike's car. Down the street stood Mike talking to the fire chief. Faith raced over to where the two were standing.

"How bad is it? Did anyone get hurt? What happ..."

"Woah. Woah. Woah. Take a breath. Everyone had gone home by the time..." Mike motioned to the back of Cahoots where smoke was billowing from the building...

Faith breathed a sigh of relief upon knowing no one was hurt. "Wha... What happened?"

"We don't know yet. After the fire is out we'll do a full investigation. However, It appears to have started in the kitchen."

Faith shivered against the cool air. Mike took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. Her shoulders disappeared inside the garment twice her size. "OK. Thanks chief."

The two stood watching the scene unfold. Men and women darted back and forth dorn in uniforms, masks and helmets holding hoses, shovels and other equipment. A few bystanders stood watching behind the barricade as well, some taking shots with their phones. A local news crew joined in the entourage at the scene. Faith's arms wrapped around herself inside the jacket with Mike's arm around her. They watched as the smoke slowly turned from grey to black and finally to big puffs of light brown.

"Miss Matthews. We seem to have things well under control here. You're free to go. You may want to contact your insurer as soon as possible. Here is the contact information of our investigation supervisor. They'll want a report from us."

"Right! Thanks Ben." Faith took out her phone and began to scroll through her contacts.

Mike guided her away from the scene. "Come on. Let's do this somewhere more quiet. Let's head over to Jake's for coffee and you can call from there."

Faith stowed her phone back in her pocket with a shaky hand. "Shit Mike! This is my baby. What if...?"

"You're insured?"

"Yes."

"OK. Look, the insurance will take care of the damages, no one was inside the building at the time and it appears they contained it pretty well. We'll know more as they do." Mike took Faith gently by the shoulders and turn her to face him. "And... you're not in this alone. OK?"