One Hot Secret by Sarah J. Brooks

Chapter 12

Grace

I can’t believe that Jack and I have been seeing each other for almost three weeks. Two glorious weeks, which feel like two days for the speed at which they’ve zipped by. We haven’t spoken about the future, but that doesn’t worry me. In our intimate moments, he expresses his feelings for me. Whatever we have is special, and we don’t want to let it go.

We’ve fallen into a routine where we have dinner together and hang out or make love. Jack more or less goes home every night, and I respect and understand his need to go to his own place, especially if we’re working the following day.

I see the commotion as soon as I take a turn and the fire station comes into sight. I slow down and stare at the crowd in front of the fire station. As I get closer, I see that they are men and women holding cameras directed at the fire station. Did I miss an announcement of some sort saying we had a function today? Even if that were the case, it can’t explain the number of photographers and cars blocking the station entrance.

I circle the building and park at the rear. I lock my car and walk around to the entrance. They don’t pay any attention to me, but a few of them shout questions at me.

“Have you worked with Kyle Bryce?”

I ignore them. By now, it’s clear they are not just photographers or news people. These are the paparazzi. Of course, I’ve heard of Kyle Bryce, but I wouldn’t recognize him if he fell in my lap. I’m not interested in celebrities, and I don’t follow their lives. I like to watch a nice movie every so often, but that’s about it. I’ve seen Kyle Bryce in a few movies, but that was a long time ago. These days I’m too busy to watch movies. Any free time I have is dedicated to my painting.

What I don’t understand is why the paparazzi think that Kyle Bryce is in the fire station. It’s not like the police station where there’re a lot of walk-ins with people going to report incidences. The people we serve don’t come to us. We go to them. So the chances of Kyle Bryce being in the building to report a fire is zilch.

Even more surprising, there’s no one at the reception desk. I make my way to the day room and find everyone crowded around the TV.

“What’s going on?” I ask loudly. On hearing my voice, everyone turns to look at me. I panic. Have I done something that I’m unaware of?

Perhaps recognizing the panic in my voice, Isla breaks away from everyone and comes to my side. She drapes an arm around me, and then Lucas, one of the guys, speaks.

“Turns out that your partner is none other than Kyle Bryce,” he says.

“I don’t understand.”

“Come and see,” he says, and like the red sea parting, a path forms for me to walk up to the TV.

That’s when I see it. Two pictures set side by side. One of Kyle Bryce and the other of Jack. My heart pounds so hard that I can hear it thrashing in my ears. I widen my eyes in an effort to see better.

Busted, the headline on the screen screams.

Someone near me is speaking. Explaining. It doesn’t make sense.

“He was here to research his next role as a firefighter. We didn’t recognize him because of his altered looks.”

“Yeah, they said he had major surgery after his accident last year,” someone else says.

I’m trying to keep up, but my mind refuses to reconcile the two. The Jack I know and the man they claim is him.

“Maybe it’s a mistake,” I murmur.

Isla hears it. “It’s not.”

“I knew it!” someone shouts. “I suspected he was an actor. He never talked about his previous job.”

As the voices whirl around me, I feel disengaged from reality.

I give my head a little shake. I feel an arm around my waist, supporting me just as my feet start to tremble. I try to form words to the questions I need to ask, but my mouth is too dry.

“Grace,” a loud voice booms from behind. It’s the chief. “Can I see you in my office?”

Isla, who has her arm around me, gives me a little shove, and I follow the chief. As I walk, the shock begins to wear off. I’m caught in a bad dream. There has to be a logical explanation for this madness.

Jack’s image fills my head. A smiling Jack. Jack during our intimate moments, holding my gaze without blinking or looking away. How can it be that he was lying to me all that time about who he is?

“Close the door and have a seat,” the chief says, his voice kind.

We’ve kept our romance a secret from our colleagues. Workplaces romances are uncomfortable for everyone, and now I’m glad that we kept it secret. I don’t think I could stand the pitying looks when I admit that I didn’t know.

“I guess you’ve already filled the gaps for yourself over what’s going on with Jack,” he says.

“Not really.” My lower lip trembles, and I bite down on it to keep it still. I’m starting to believe that it’s true. There’s no mistake. Jack is Kyle Bryce. I want to break down and allow the tears to come, but I won’t. I have to hold it together until I’m alone.

“The producers of the movie that Kyle is starring in reached out to me and requested that we allow him to shadow one of our best firefighters. I chose you.”

It’s a compliment, and I manage to murmur, “Thanks,” but it’s not genuine.

“Needless to say, that time has ended a bit prematurely, but I’ve no doubt he has learned a lot from you. Thank you, Grace. I’m sure he’ll thank you himself when this circus is over, and he can come back to say hello or whatever.”

I nod as he expects me to say something.

“Do you have any questions?” the chief asks.

I have so many questions. Didn’t Jack trust me enough to let me know who he really was? Why did he lead me on if he didn’t think we had a chance? He had to have known that we would be over as soon as I found out who he really was.

I manage a smile. “No.”

“Okay then. Have a good day, and Grace, kindly refrain from speaking to the press.”

As if I would, but the chief doesn’t know that. “Yes, sir.”

The air in the room has grown stifling, and I’m glad to escape. Isla is hanging around the hallway, and when she sees me, she takes my arm and takes me to the ladies’ changing room and closes the door firmly behind us. Not that it’s necessary. We’re the only female firefighters in the station, and the changing room is private.

I sit down on the bench, proud of myself for holding it together.

“How are you?” Isla asks.

My response? I burst into tears. Messy, ugly tears. I cry for my heart which was slowly falling in love. I cry for broken dreams. I thought I had finally found love. The man I was going to spend my life with.

“I’m sorry.”

“No!” Isla says. “You’ve had a massive shock. Don’t apologize for crying. It’s okay.” She holds me close, and fresh tears come to me.

“He lied to me!” I say harshly. The shock is gone. What I feel now is red hot anger. “He used me, knowing all along he would be out of my simple little life and back to his fancy one.”

“That’s a bit harsh, Grace,” Isla says.

“What do you call it when you let a man into your life in all the ways that a man can, and then you find out later that he lied to you?” My mouth tastes bitter. Pain ripples through me, and my skin burns with shame. Had he been laughing at me the whole time that I could imagine a big movie star like him would be interested in a simple girl like me?

It hurts. But I only have myself to blame. I ignored all the warning signs, some so big that they were practically sticking out of his forehead. How could I have thought it nothing that he had never taken me to his place? For almost three weeks of sleeping together he always found a way to divert my attention from wanting to go to his place.

I was such a trusting fool.

“He might have a good explanation for it,” Isla says. “Don’t condemn him before hearing him out.”

I shake my head. “I don’t want to hear his explanations. There’s no explanation for lying to someone.”

A knock comes on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Isla says and hurries to the door.

“There’s a call for Grace in the chief’s office,” someone says.

I do my best to wipe my face before going to the chief’s office. Thankfully, it’s empty, but the phone is out of its cradle. I pick it up, my heart pumping because I have an inkling who it is.

“Yes,” I bark rudely.

“Grace, it’s Jack. You’re not picking up your phone. I was worried.”

I really want to hear what lie he’ll come up with. Then maybe I can have a chance to laugh at him as well. “You found me.”

“I owe you an explanation. I’m really sorry it came out before I could tell you myself.”

He doesn’t even have a ready lie. I’ve wasted enough time. “Look, Jack, Kyle, or whatever the fuck your name is, I’m not interested in an explanation. What I want you to do is to get out of my life. I never want to see or hear from you ever again. Got it?”

I don’t wait for an answer. I bang the phone back to its cradle and experience a moment of satisfaction. Except that it’s short-lived and shallow. Two seconds later, my chest constricts, and I’m a breath away from bursting into tears in the chief’s office.

Then the bell goes off, and a dispatch goes off over the speakers. I’ve never been so pleased to hear that sound.