To The Edge • •

[joey macey rayne carter]

Joey had stayed with Kaiden and Angel for another drink before deciding to back out for the evening, heavily encouraging the two of them to stay for one more – her treat. She didn’t typically think of herself as a vessel for cupid, but she really did think that her two friends would get along great. At the very least she hoped they could become friends, but she would be lying if she said her fingers weren’t crossed for something more. The world was a gritty place, especially in the city, and she didn’t think anyone should have to face it all alone. She could practically hear her mother’s voice asking when she’d do the same for herself; find someone worth settling down with. Joey was the only daughter, the eldest child, and her mother was growing impatient for grandchildren and fancy hats for wedding days. Scott was still in college, with no time for serious relationships, and Henry had said for years that he would only settle down once his career was steady. He worked in a bank, but was climbing the ladder to the position his college education had set him up for. That left Joey, and since she came out of the army her mom seemed to be waiting for her to say she was done with the dangerous life.

It would never happen, not unless something huge came along and forced her to change her mind. She loved helping people, and saving lives seemed to be a natural instinct for her. She joked that she wanted to collect the title of Captain at the fire station after achieving it in the army. It wasn’t outside of the realm of possibility, as her own Captain had told her, but Joey knew she had a long way to go before then. She wasn’t afraid of hard work and those who knew her well enough understood that. She was feisty and almost fearless, but that didn’t go far in the dating world. She had tried it with a doctor a short time ago, but his dedication to his job, along with his jaded opinion of people, didn’t pair at all well with her own time with the fire department. Joey didn’t think humans were the smartest creatures in the cosmos, but she gave them more credit than he did. Since then there hadn’t been anyone who did more than buy her a drink. She wasn’t sure if the dog tags she still wore were off putting, or if they were uneasy with her being a firefighter. Or maybe it was something else entirely. Maybe she had an annoying laugh, or her passion came across as being overly enthusiastic. It wasn’t something Joey lost sleep over or was in a rush to fix about herself. She was happy alone, and wasn’t desperate enough to join some online dating app.

Shuddering at the thought of some of the horror stories from there, Joey turned the corner and almost crashed into someone coming from the opposite direction. “I am so sor- Skylar? It was Skylar, right?” She recognised him immediately, a little surprised that someone who led her to caffeine when she was in a sleepy haze had been so memorable after the fact. “Crashing into you is going to become a bad habit.” She said with a smile, hoping she wasn’t interrupting his night or accosting the wrong man. Lookalikes existed, and it wouldn’t be the first time Joey had tried to talk to someone who wasn’t who she was expecting.

• • •

TAGGED! Skylar Dmitri Aaronovitch
WORDS! 593!
LYRICS! Brighter - - - Patent Pending
NOTES!