"Something sure smells good. Hope we get time to eat whatever is cooking," Cheryl stated to one of her coworkers.

 

"You and me both," replied a guy named Ted. "It's Tony and Mike's turn to cook and they're making a big pot of chili.

 

Cheryl was a firefighter, and she was already pretty exhausted not even midway into her shift as her engine company has been responding to back-to-back emergency calls all morning. While many people think that firefighters just sit around in the fire station, just basically waiting around for an emergency, it's really an almost non-stop working job. In addition to responding to calls, you had to keep equipment and supplies constantly stocked, there is the transporting of patients to the emergency rooms, and then there was also the constant meetings and training in-between all of that. Being a firefighter is a very mentally and physically demanding vocation, and more often than not, your shifts were in constant work mode with very little time to relax. Therefore, you ate when you were able to, and grabbed a quick shower whenever you were able to during a shift. Additionally, every crew had station duties, including rotating kitchen duty. Today it apparently was Tony and Mike's turn on kitchen duty, and both were quite skilled in culinary creation.

 

Cheryl was glad that there was a pause in the constant stream of emergency calls, and while her stomach grumbled with intense hunger, her body itched for a quick hot shower to wash away the several layers of soot and sweat from the mornings calls. Cheryl grabbed her bag and headed toward the women's locker room for a shower. On her way, she passed through the kitchen area where Tony gave her a brotherly slap on the shoulder. "Hey, you're not boycotting my famous chili are you?" he said laughing.

 

Cheryl lightly punched Tony in the arm, "Hell no. Can't wait to dig in. Just need a quick shower before chow."

 

As Cheryl showered, she thought back on how far she has come with her relationship with her coworkers. She has been with the New York Fire Department for ten years now, and the first few years were admittedly rough. Cheryl has a beautiful tomboy look about her, naturally blond hair, and a tight, toned body. The guys in the firehouse initially would give her a hard time, as well as hit on her, every single shift when she just started working. This was partly because they were testing her, just like they would any other new rookie on the department, and partly because they were.....well, guys. Cheryl was extremely nervous about how much to reveal about her life at first, because you can't be part of a firehouse crew and be elusive. A firehouse crew is your family. Cheryl spent the first couple years proving her capabilities as a firefighter, and talked about her family just as any other guy would. However, she masterfully managed to skirt around the dating and relationship questions by answering them ambiguously, while at the same time finally making it clear that she wasn't about to date one of her fellow male firefighters. It was during her third year that she finally felt comfortable enough to disclose to her shift coworkers that she was a lesbian, and when she did, it went much smoother than she could have hoped for. They kidded her, of course, but nobody stopped respecting her, nor did anybody start harassing her. In fact, Cheryl's relationship with the guys has progressed so well over the years that they treat her like a sister, and they even try to set her up with other women. A gesture Cheryl finds endearing. They are all very much a family, close knit and happy together. No-one ever gets left behind, and work doesn't always feel like work when you work with people who you cared about and they cared in return.