Johnny sat in the day room and listened to Chet's continuous chatter about his new girlfriend. According to him she was blonde, blue eyed and gorgeous. Perfect in every way, so perfect that Johnny wondered if she was a figment of his imagination.
"I'm telling you Roy...I've never tasted food like it...it was the best meal I have ever had...and desert, don't even get me started on desert."
"Good we won't," Johnny mumbled.
"What was that Gage...the green eyed monster making an appearance," Chet teased.
Johnny ignored Chet and tried to concentrate on the sports section of the paper. Roy was snickering at his partner. Johnny noticed "What?"
"Nothing!" he said still smirking.
"Well it must be something that's got you grinning like that," Johnny said shrugging his shoulders at his partner.
"I'll tell you what it is Gage...Roy here can see the jealously...For once it's not you ranting on about your latest."
"I don't rant about my lat...I mean dates," Johnny interrupted.
"Come on...you are kidding...its all you do after a date," Roy said with a touch of meanness in his statement Johnny thought. Is that what they think? He wondered.
"I'm going to check supplies and do the morning checks," Johnny said wounded, Roy had hurt his feelings. He hadn't realised that his best friend was not interested in what he did in his free time. After all, he had no one else to talk to about his dates.
"That's it Gage...can't take it when someone else has a beautiful girlfriend," Chet teased as Johnny left the day room.
The fact was Johnny was happy for Chet, if the 'Girlfriend' was real, but it was Roy's remark and the way he said it that had upset him. He decided to forget about it and get on with his work. Johnny finished up before roll call, so he decided to polish his boots till they were called. It had become a habit of his; whenever he was upset or had something to work out he would polish his boots. The mindless activity allowed him to think or just daydream.
He sat on the bench in front of his locker, Chet's voice floated out of the day room through the bay area into the locker room. He couldn't make out the words but the excitement in the voice told Johnny he was still talking about his girlfriend.
"Jealous!" Johnny said softly and laughed. The fact was that Johnny did have a girlfriend but she was a shy, sweet, plain looking girl.
It was different with her in comparison to his other dates; she didn't need expensive dinners to enjoy Johnny's company. He hadn't told Roy about her because she was nothing like his other dates, and he wasn't sure how his friends would react to her. On her face was a red birthmark and she was very self conscious of it. Johnny didn't care; he loved her smile and her sweet nature. He knew he wouldn't be able to say anything now or in the near future with Chet raving about his gorgeous girlfriend.
They lined up for Roll Call and were handed out their assignments. Johnny left to do his assigned task. Chet smirked at his back and said loud enough for him to hear "Yep jealous."
Johnny ignored the remark not wanting to get into an argument and say something he would regret out of anger. He walked away and visualised the sweet smile of Ellen in his mind.
The squad was called out for most of the morning, the most serious run being an elderly lady slipping and breaking her hip. Johnny accompanied her to the hospital and had her relaxed and happy by the time she arrived.
"You should start dating elderly ladies...you get on better with them," Roy told his partner. Johnny could see that Roy was joking but again heard the meanness in his comment. He ignored him and gave the nurse the supply list. Roy didn't notice that he had upset his partner with his remark. It didn't occur to him that he had been making only negative comments to his partner all morning. Roy lacked sensitivity when it came to his partner because Johnny rarely took offense.
When the squad got back for lunch Johnny found himself being targeted by not only Chet but Roy and Marco. His silence fuelled their taunting so he decided to make just the one comment before leaving the room. "I'm really pleased you have a girlfriend Chet...it's great. Cap I'm going to finish up the Dorm" and he left without having eaten most of his lunch.
"Yep...He's jealous!" announced Chet in a loud voice.
"Sure is," added Roy and then everyone laughed.
Johnny ignored them and again wondered if he had brought this on himself with the way he had raved about going out with the prettiest nurse. He had been questioning his character a lot since he had started going out with Ellen and wondered if it was her sweet honest nature that was making him question himself. 'They're just teasing' he thought and knew he was being over sensitive. He would let Chet have his fun; after all, he really was happy for his friend.
Apart from a house fire the rest of the shift was relatively quiet. Roy had noticed that his partner was very quiet and thought maybe the teasing had gone a bit too far. He didn't say anything to his partner because it hadn't affected their working relationship. Roy didn't like to talk about emotional things with other men; it was fine talking with his wife but not his partner.
When they were getting ready to leave Chet had one more dig at Johnny. "What are you doing on your days off John?" he asked.
Innocently Johnny answered "Oh I'm going on a picnic with a few friends and the same old stuff, laundry, shopping and cleaning."
Chet scoffed "Boring John, besides who goes on picnics these days?"
"Lots of people do!" Johnny answered indignantly, he loved picnics.
"Yeah if you're about a hundred years old with lots of kids running around," Chet claimed.
"Hey, I take offense to that remark!" Roy injected.
"Sorry Roy, no offense man, but you have kids so that's ok," Chet said apologetically. He turned to aim a barb at Johnny but he was gone. "Where did he go?" Chet asked surprised that Johnny had left without even saying goodbye.
When they made their way out to the parking lot, Johnny's Rover was gone. "Can't take what he gives out," Chet said to Roy. Roy chuckled but had a funny feeling in his gut. Thinking back Johnny didn't stir his friends about having pretty dates, he just talked about it. He thought maybe Chet had taken things a little too far and hoped that by next shift things would have settled down.
On his days off Roy asked Joanne if it would be alright to have a barbeque on their next Saturday off. He thought it would be nice to get together with his shift friends and everyone could meet Chet's girlfriend.
If everyone knew what she looked like then they wouldn't have to listen to him rave about her during shift and hopefully things would get back to normal. He called everyone to invite them. Johnny was the only one he couldn't contact but wasn't too worried thinking he wouldn't have any plans so wouldn't mind the short notice next shift.
Johnny was getting into his uniform when Roy walked into the locker room. "I tried to reach you on our days off...I wanted to invite you to a barbeque on Saturday," said Roy.
"Tomorrow you mean?" asked Johnny.
"Yeah, I didn't think the short notice would matter...the rest of the guys are coming," he told his partner. "Chet's even bringing his girlfriend," Roy added.
"I'm sorry Roy, I have other plans...maybe next time," he said matter-of-factly. Johnny left the locker room not noticing the frown on his partner's face. Johnny never misses a get together he thought. Roy wondered if his partner was jealous of Chet and his girlfriend and that that was the reason for declining the invite. He decided not to say anything to the others wanting to keep the peace around the station.
Cap was the first to notice that Johnny was quiet and that the atmosphere was strained between the paramedics. "Everything alright?...Anything I should know about?" he asked his paramedics.
Johnny looked up surprised at his Cap's questions "No Cap...Why?" he asked looking perplexed. Roy just looked at his partner as if he had grown two horns. It was clear to the Cap that Roy had a problem.
"Roy? Anything you want to tell me Pal?" he asked.
Johnny looked at Roy having not realised that he was frowning. He too wanted to know what was wrong so he sat up straighter and looked at his partner expectantly.
"Did I tell you that Johnny wasn't coming tomorrow?" Roy asked his Cap hinting to his partner that they did have a problem.
"I told you Roy I have plans...He only asked me this morning," he told his Cap.
"Well I guess that is pretty late notice. There'll be other barbeques," Cap stated. Chet chose that time to walk in.
"He's not coming because he can't stand being shown up," Chet stated "Because you're jealous John...Admit it!" he taunted.
"I'm not jealous Chet...I have other plans," Johnny told him sounding exasperated.
Roy rolled his eyes at the growing argument but was surprised when Johnny stood and said "Look Chet if I get a chance I'll call in just to see your girlfriend but other than that I can't make any other promises. I have a da...I mean I have other plans and I'm already committed to them. It has nothing to do with you bringing a girlfriend."
"Not just any girlfriend John," Chet interrupted.
"Yeah well I'll make that judgement myself when I see her," and with that statement Johnny left no longer wanting to be a part of the conversation. Roy was frowning, he was sure Johnny was about to say a date but changed it to other plans. If it was just a date he was annoyed that he wouldn't bring his date to the barbeque or was it that he didn't want to be shown up. Maybe his partner was jealous after all he thought.
Johnny was annoyed with himself, he had nearly blurted out that he had a date and he had been so careful the last few weeks not to let on that he was dating. "Don't listen to Chet John...Just trust your judgement with Ellen".
Johnny looked over at the engine and smiled at his friend "Thanks Mike!" he sighed. He knew they would all like Ellen but people were cruel and found it hard to look past her birthmark. "I would really love to bring her but this barbeque isn't the right time to introduce her into the fold," Johnny told his friend.
"You're right Johnny. It's not the right time...maybe next time...say Hello to her from me and Barb," Mike said as he patted Johnny's shoulder and walked into the day room.
Johnny sighed and placed his elbows on his knees and rested his chin in his hands. He decided he would try to call in and at least satisfy Chet by letting him introduce him to his girlfriend and then hopefully all the teasing and accusations of jealousy would stop.