My Ex-Boyfriend is a Firefighter

My foot was stuck in the security bars.

The firefighter who came to the rescue was my ex-boyfriend.

If there was anything more mortifying than that, it would be what my ex-boyfriend said next...

"You've got looks, that's for sure. As for brains... well, you've got looks."

1

"The sparrows outside the window, chattering on the telephone pole..."

Seeing the scene outside my window, I felt inspired to post something artsy on my feed.

I never would have stuck my phone out past the security bars to take a picture of those birds. Then my phone wouldn't have fallen. And I certainly wouldn't have, while enduring excruciating pain, squeezed my foot through the bars to try and hook it back with my toes.

I regret everything.

When my ex-boyfriend walked through the door twenty minutes later, I regretted it even more.

I would rather be stuck here for the rest of my life than have my ex see me in such a pathetic state.

Ian Sheffield, on the other hand, didn't seem surprised to see me at all. He walked over, glanced at my leg, which had been scraped raw by the old security bars, and frowned.

Just when I thought that, even after being broken up for three years, my ex might still feel a little sorry for me...

Ian Sheffield spotted my phone on the ledge below. He chuckled, then said something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

"Chantal Chancellor, you've got looks, that's for sure. As for brains... well, you've got looks."

'Isn't he just straight-up calling me brainless?'

My pride flared up in an instant. I craned my neck stubbornly and yelled at him, "Go away! I don't need your help!"

Ian Sheffield ignored me and began his 'hero rescues the damsel' act.

I live in an old residential complex, and the security bars were ancient and solid. It took Ian Sheffield a great deal of effort to pry them open.

My foot was finally free, but the part of my leg scraped by the edges of the bars was now bright red and streaked with blood.

Ian Sheffield glanced at my injury again and said to his colleagues, "You guys get the phone. I'll take her to the hospital."

I mustered up my pride and quickly refused. "No need! An injury like this? It doesn't hurt at all."

Ian Sheffield stared at me for a moment. No matter how I looked at it, his expression was the kind you give a real genius.

"Fine. You're so tough. Even if you get tetanus..."

My resolve crumbled instantly. "I'll go!"

At the hospital, the doctor cleaned and dressed my wound, gave me a tetanus shot, and went over some things to keep in mind. Then he turned to Ian Sheffield and asked, "Got all that?"

I froze for a second, then turned to see Ian Sheffield standing behind me. He nodded.

A moment later, Ian Sheffield placed a pair of pink slippers on the floor in front of me.

The skin on my foot was broken too, and it was wrapped in gauze. Slippers would indeed be more convenient.

I put on the slippers and limped my way out.

Ian Sheffield, walking beside me, asked, "Still hurts?"

I rolled my eyes. "Why don't you try it and find out?"

Ian Sheffield laughed. "A normal person wouldn't try."

"..."

'That was the second time today he'd insinuated I wasn't normal. I was furious!'

Seeing the look on my face, Ian Sheffield didn't say anything else. He just hailed a taxi to take me home.

His colleagues had also retrieved my phone for me. The only casualty was the security bars.