The Falling Angel of Fire - Part 1

“What's up, Girl? How come a beautiful woman like you look so sad?"

 

" C'mon, beautiful! Don't be sad! Cheer up and smile! I love it when you smile."

"Oh, you want me to make you smile again? You can bet on it. You will be smiling again in no time."

"Ugh, at second thought, I think this is not going to work between us."

"I'm sorry, Cleo."

 

"According to the book you should have a melancholic face." 


He gripped the hammer and swung it like a pro. He had been practicing his sculpture skill by then, and he hadn't gone insane yet or in desperate loneliness. He was only getting excited in completing the project, especially on his day offs. It was a very enjoyable thing to do, particularly to release his stress from doing his duties as a fireman besides hanging out with his team and, of course, being with his wife.  He started doing this new hobby when he and Lila took a short trip to an exotic island. Since then, he fell in love with this new hobby.


Despite the fact that his sculpting skill has been progressing so well, and he could easily make a statue,  would he be able to make a beautiful masterpiece, the one which would be appreciated for all time? He still had not able to make one with high standard of quality, even after he had finished making a head sculpture of the Egyptian princess which had a very high complexity. 


Yet, he smiled a lot in the process, running his fingers into the clay, feeling the shape he had pictured inside his head and carefully formed the muddy soil into a work of art. He decided to make a small one. Maybe, by putting all of his effort  to a smaller size, he could display the artwork at The Louvre and get the attentions of Art Critics. 


"Honey!" a  voice of a woman soon meddled in his mind, right in the middle of it. His open palms quickly clenched and, by doing so, his nails made a scratch on the clay. He stood up, walking to source of the sound, greeting her with a soft kiss upon her lips.

"You're home,  angel."

Theme Song: "Just The Way You Are" by Bruno Mars

***

In the morning, noises in the kitchen disrupted him from his amazing dream. He got up from the bed and stared straight to the kitchen which was a few feet away from the bed. He and his wife were still living in modesty. Most people would find it not nice or comfortable, but, he and his wife loved the place. They called it simplicity, simply practical, and they simply didn't need anything else at that time. Not, when there were only two of them around, and they spent most of their time at the firehouse. Still, he took a note to re-paint the walls on the weekend.

He smiled, seeing her -- the woman of his dreams-- standing behind the counters with a knife in her right hand and fresh vegetables in her left hand. Undeniably, she was the greatest gift from heaven,  the one that  made him fell to sleep at 2 a.m beside of fire. 


*** 

"What are you making, love?"
"Autumn Salad."
"Are those organic cranberries that you've bought from the market yesterday?" He opened the refrigerator and  grabbed a bottle of milk.
"Yes. I got a discount. Fifty percents." Her eyes twinkled, as  it was a small victory.
By that time, he had finished drinking the milk and his mouth had already begun to chew a stolen carrot from the cutting board. He tried to take another one, but her hands stopped him from reaching it. "You may eat after it served."

Being unsuccessful, he waited, staring at her while smiling, but after the minute hand ticked for the forty  times, he could not stand it anymore.

"Come here!" He pulled her body onto his chest - -so fast that she wasn't aware of it. Of course after she put down the knife, or it might have already stabbed him in the stomach.

"...I haven't finished cooking." 

"It can wait. I'm not that hungry. Even if I were  hungry,  this would make me forget about it."  

"Oh right? Like you can stand not to eat the whole day? And what about me?" She rolled her  eyes, still hasn't tried to freed herself from him either.

"I will cook for you as the replacement. I love you, gorgeous. Until now, how many times I've said it? I love you..." He kissed her on her forehead.

"I need you." He kissed her lips.

"I want you." Then down to her neck.

***

She still could remember the first night they were together, after their clothes fell onto the floor and there was nothing left on their skin. It was an unforgettable moment. She noticed his eyes were on  the scar on her waist. It was a burnt scar, not big, but noticeable. She got it from the day she must fight the fire at their first supposed to be wedding day. She was a little embarrassed by that scar, but no matter what, it represented her at some parts. It represented  her line of duties and became a mark that declared her determination to risk her own life to safe others. Even though, after she had been wrapped in his arms, she wanted to live forever and be selfish for once.

  

"It's horrible, huh?" She bit her lips. 
"Of course not, love." 

Actually, it was usual for a firefighter to have scars, but her woman nature wanted her skin to be perfect for her husband on their first night. Even though in the end, she would have stretch marks without the scar, either. 

She realized it. What she didn't realize was that, behind his gaze, he didn't care about the appearance of the scar, and it actually reminded him of something. She would have probably gotten killed  that night, and he would have seen her being wrapped in the body bag, instead of the blond woman. And the most important thing was he loved her with the whole package, every piece of her. So... he kissed her, "I love you.", and then  kissed her scar. "Lila, my angel, you're so beautiful."

  

***

They both knew that each moment they walked out of the front door, it would probably be the last time they're together in the house. 

So, while they're still could, they wanted to cherish those times together, to be wrapped in each other's arms and warmth.  He ended their closeness with a soft kiss on her cheek  and rested on her chest while she stroked his hair and kissed his forehead in return.

 ***
 

"I'm not going to hug you again if you don't take a bath soon, Mr. Johnston."

"And what would I get beside a hug?" 

"You will never know if you don't hurry up." She laughed. "Come on! Or we're going to be late for work."

 

It seemed everything was perfect. Almost too perfect to become a reality. Would it only be a dream that would end soon? To know that one of them would disappear after a call and might not come back again the morning after.

Yet, they have already prepared for the worst and were grateful for everything  they had. They only hoped that both of them would get through all of these until they retired and surrounded by their children at their old age.

Both of them wanted to have lots of children, five at least, but Lila decided to postpone it for a couple of years, and he agreed. He could wait, and it was probably for the best. They couldn't  possibly leave their youngsters at home with a nanny while they fought against fire. Lila wouldn't want that. If she has her babies, she would want to raise them by her own hands. Not like her mother did. 

 

She wouldn't have postponed having a baby, if she had not been  highly coped with her duties as a firefighter. She had just received her promotion and signed the contract.  Even though, she received it longer than Dave was and with harder effort than the other firefighters did, who were mostly men.

So, while she had the chance, she wanted to live her dream to become a firefighter. She even left the comfort and pleasure she once had, only to reach for that goal. 

"If you choose to become a volunteer rather than marrying the young man I chose for you and begin your own business, you should leave this place. I don't want every morning to look at your face during breakfast, worrying about the call or your chief coming over to say his grief." said Mrs. Katharina, her mother. 
 
"Don't worry mother, I will leave and...  you were rarely here for breakfast either."

Lila came from a rich family. Her mother invested so much money in different business segments and spent most of her time outside the country, leaving little Lila at home with only nannies and a driver, but before those fortunes came, they couldn't even afford to buy school books for Lila. Not until her mother began the palm oil business which changed their life drastically. If little Lila had a wish, she would wish for everything to go back as before, when her father was still around her. 

She must admit that her mother was only worried of her future. She also knew how hard her mother had tried, knuckling down to get her well educated and for her to have things which other girls would've been envy for. However, Mrs. Katharina forgot about something, something that's really important that little Lila often wished for, even after she had  grown up. 
 

She wished her mother was there to watch her play the soccer at the school tournament. She waited on the field until all the audience left, but  her mother didn't come. 

 

She waited, but the seat remained empty. Her mother didn't come either for  her next important days with excuses. Little Lila eventually learned to accept it day by day.

However, everything changed when her grandmother came. Her emptiness suddenly filled up. Her days were loaded with lecturing, nagging, and advices.



She learned everything from her grandmother -- things which a little girl should know. 
 

Things that her mother should have taught her instead --  of how it was supposed to be to become a young woman. 

Lila shared her secrets with her grandmother and confessed her naughtiness, no matter how foolish they were. 

Like the time she climbed trees inside Mrs. Angelica's garden and jumped from one branches  to the other until she fell down and broke her  flowerpot. 

 
Her grandmother was quite surprised to seeing her coming home with wounds on her knees and elbows, but then she laughed to seeing the look on the little girl's face and after she listened to her story. From that moment on, her grandmother called her ' My little tarzan girl'.


 


One day,  Lila made a boy cried and then the boy snitched to Mrs. Alice, their teacher.  Mrs. Alice came to their house  to lecture her, but she only found her grandmother there.  In the night, her mother phoned her  yet for another lecturing. Her mother knew that Lila made a fault by landing a kick on the boy's butt, so she thought Lila deserved a punishment for that.



 

What she didn't know was that little Lila only did it to stop him from annoying a girl who later on became her best friend.

Her grandmother knew all that stuff.   

 
The good times, foolish times, and   

even sad times. Like the time she had her first crush,

 

 but l found out later  that he chose her best friend over her. 

She came to her grandmother and cried.

Her grandmother calmly stopped her from crying. She gave her comforting words which brought her confident back.

"Let it burn and pass by!  Go to the deep ground while we're turning into lovely women. Don't come out  because we will never look back. We are precious and deserved to be loved.  We'll find another, better than them." 

It sounded like a witchcraft, but it wasn't. It wasn't a curse, either.  'Burn and pass by' means: burn the broken heart memory  and let it passes by over time. Let it be buried deep below their conscious mind so they would never remember about the hurt again. Her grandmother once had her broken heart too, so she knew how it felt. She said those words  with her and they ended it with  laughter.


Lila had beautiful moments with her. 

But after her grandmother died, everything went back as usual, and she felt that emptiness again. 

Not until she finally met him.

***
 

She felt that she had been given too much. Too perfect. But she wanted that perfection. 

 

Together they dealt with fire,  two in and two out. She  backed him up and so the otherwise. Even though, their togetherness brought  issues within the department.  

"Tim, you know she doesn't deserve this. She has done a pretty good job." 

"I know, Dave. I'm sorry. That's what it said. She must leave this department soon. If only I could help."

To be Continued 

Notes: From now on, I'm using the third person because the beginning of the story used it. I have to go back to Lila's past. I just wanted you to know her better. Lila's trait are: brave, Eco-friendly, over emotional, hopeless romantic, family oriented. Her Lifetime wish is the same with Dave: to become a firefighter super hero.