"Control, this is Unit 5A, station officer Good speaking. The location has been cleared. We're heading back to base now, over."

"Control speaking. Noted. Unit 5A may proceed, over."

Jonathan put the transceiver back into his holder as he leaned back into his seat. The ride from their location back to the fire station wasn't very long but he had been on a 24-hour shift and any small breaks were not taken for granted.

Just as he was about to close his eyes for a while, he felt someone tap him. He turned his head slightly to see the face of his best friend and co-worker by the corner of his seat.

"Hey. Wanna have a few drinks with us?" He asked, grinning.

Jonathan shook his head, "No thanks. I wanna head home for a good, long sleep."

"Aww… Come on, Jon! It's just a few drinks!" His best friend said
"As if. A few drinks with you, Colby, means a dozen till I'm wasted." Jonathan said

He turned back to face the front, "And even if I do have a day off tomorrow, I'm not wasting it on you."

Colby put his hands up in defeat, "Fine. I'll just ask Joe then."

Jonathan shook his head at his best friend before sitting upright as the fire truck made a turn to the station. As soon as the truck parked in place, they got out to clean up and get everything ready to hand over the truck to the next shift.

As Jonathan was about to re-arrange the stuff they had used in their previous assignment, he felt someone's hand on his shoulder.

"I'll take over. You should go home and get some rest."

Jonathan turned around to see Joe, his other best friend and fellow officer from his team.

"No, I can manage." Jonathan said, carrying on.
"Dude. You've been awake for 24 hours straight. Just go home. The rest of the team and I can handle it." Joe said
"Yeah. Unlike you, we have only been on a 15 hour shift." Colby said

Seeing his two friends persuade him so, he reluctantly let go of the hose he was rolling up and passed it to Joe.

"You're going to make sure everything's good before Heath gets here, right?" Jonathan said
"What do you think? We're not going to let him and his goons have the time of day." Colby said

He nodded, "Fine. Then I'll leave this to you then."

"No worries. Just go." Joe said

Knowing that everything was in good hands, Jonathan left for the locker room to change out of his uniform and grab his things before heading home.

As Jonathan walked his usual route home, he would always pass a bookstore that was situated next to a cafe. Looking at the time, it was well pass 9pm and the cafe was closing up.

Jonathan sighed.

It wasn't because the cafe was closing up but because the bookstore next door was already closed. Jonathan had hoped of bumping into the owner who would always give him a smile as he passed. Being on the 24-hour shift, he had missed seeing her for one day.

Jonathan knew her though. They weren't exactly friends but they spoke all the time when he bumped into her at the cafe. Okay… Maybe not speaking since the two words he had managed to get out were just 'hello' and 'bye'.

Jonathan Good was never a shy guy. In fact, he was the opposite. Throughout his life, he had been a pretty outspoken kind of guy and had been with girls before. But when it came to chatting up this girl who owned a bookstore, he became the shy guy that he never knew.

Just as he was about to walk pass the cafe, she came out - wearing her green beanie and her black trench coat with her brown satchel slung around her body and a cup of coffee in her hand.

She smiled as soon as she saw him.

"Hey!" She said, pushing her glasses up.

Jonathan managed a smile, "Hey."

"Did you just get off work?" She asked

Jonathan was a little lost. This was going to be a more than two words conversation.

"Uh… Yeah…" Jonathan said
"Wow… You've been at work for a long time?" She asked
"24 hours." Jonathan replied

Seeing the slightly confused look on her face, he added, "I'm a firefighter."

"Oh!" She said, "Wow! That's so cool!"

"Thanks." Jonathan said

Hearing his response made her chuckle. It was the first time she's met a guy who doesn't try to paint a wondrous egotistical picture of himself after she says something like that.

"Well, I shouldn't hold you up then." She said, "You look pretty tired."

She re-adjusted the position of her satchel before saying, "See you around!"

Just as she walked a few steps away from him, Jonathan found his voice again.

"Uh! Wait!" He called out

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him, "Yeah?"

He cleared his throat a little and said, "I-I'm Jonathan… What's your name?"

She smiled, "I'm Jasmine. It's nice to finally meet you, Jonathan."

He looked at her a little confused before she continued, "Have a good night!"

With that, she turned around and walked further down the street.

Jonathan stood there for a good minute, trying to wrap his head around what just happened. When he finally found an interpretation of what she might have meant, he cracked a smile to himself before continuing on his path home.