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Dating Edmundo Diaz should have been a dream. He was handsome, brave, strong, and smart. The perfect father who selflessly was raising his disabled child all by himself. He treated her like a princess, with the respect she deserved.
Everything was wonderful between them. They would go out on dates at least once a week, having a marvelous time exploring the different arts of Los Angeles as the city continued to open up. And at least once a week she’d join them for movie night.
After their relationship hit the six month mark, Ana decided that it was time for her to meet the 118 in a more relationship-official capacity. The only problem was that Edmundo didn’t think it was a good idea to have that meeting at the firehouse, instead waiting for one of his captain’s family dinners. That was not what Ana wanted. She just needed to introduce herself and be on her way. Attending a dinner with coworkers and their significant others was not something she needed to be a part of. There was no need for her to meet anyone but those Edmundo worked with.
And so, on a random Saturday, Ana made her way to the 118, holding a box of homemade pastries. She walked into the station, glancing around, noticing that it seemed like no one was around.
“Hello?” she called, not moving more than a few steps inside. She expected to see someone, so that they could get Edmundo and he could take the pastry box. It was rather cumbersome. “Excuse me? Edmundo? Are you here?”
The sound of muffled cursing met her ears. Annoyed at hearing such language, she decided to go investigate. Walking around one of the fire trucks, she finally saw her boyfriend and his coworkers, in some sort of work out area.
Edmundo was kneeling in a tight sleeveless shirt, she noticed immediately. It showed off his impressive physique, something that she didn’t see enough of yet, but that would soon change after today, when she could politely convince his coworkers to look after Christopher more often.
It was then she finally noticed exactly why all of his coworkers were in the same spot. Edmundo was kneeling over someone. And that someone was Evan Buckley.
Now, not that she was trying to be petty, but she did not like Evan Buckley. The man insisted on going by a childish nickname (a habit that she had broken with Edmundo, she was proud to say). He was too close to Edmundo, always crashing their movie nights and distracting Christopher with reading material that was well above his reading level, let alone completely inappropriate for his age. And the man took too many risks, which meant Edmundo needed to put himself in danger to save him.
He was not a good influence on the Diaz family, and she was working to get Edmundo to notice that. Already, he’d cut the man from their movie nights, and was not letting him watch Christopher alone. He didn’t even call the man by his stupid nickname. Soon, he’d just be another faceless coworker that she could acknowledge in a crowd and go about her day. She’d just have to encourage Christopher that he was a dangerous man, and he’d be out of their lives.
As she stood there watching, Edmundo leaned down further over Evan. It looked beyond inappropriate for him to be that close to a coworker, let alone one of the same gender. She took a few more steps forward, making sure her heels click loudly against the concrete, but no one took any time to notice her. At least now she could hear what was happening.
“Hey, Buck, you okay?” Ana pursed her lips. She’d been sure Edmundo had stopped calling Evan that name.
“Yeah, yeah, just a cramp in my leg. Thanks for the save, Eds.” Her eyes rolled around. She’d heard about his “accident”. If he had been that badly hurt, she was sure he would not currently have a job as a firefighter. A cramp? Hilarious.
“Let’s get you upstairs, Buckaroo. You're the man behind for the rest of the shift,” another man said with authority. That must be Edmundo’s captain, Robert Nash. He helped Edmundo lift Evan to his feet. Or rather, to stand before Edmundo swung one of Evan’s arms over his shoulder.
“Thanks Pops. Haven’t been this bad in a while. Probably just walked too much at the zoo yesterday.” A grown man at the zoo?
A bald woman laughed. “We still owe you for taking the boys. Did Chris enjoy it?”
Edmundo nodded, shifting Evan’s weight a bit. “Absolutely. He couldn’t stop talking about it. He said it was the best trip he’s ever been on.”
“And he refuses to go back unless it’s just his Dad and I supervising. And I am totally fine with that.”
Ana froze. Edmundo went to the zoo with Christopher and Evan? They were planning on going the next weekend. There was no reason for them to have gone beforehand. It was supposed to be a special trip. A family trip.
She took a good long look at the people in front of her. Edmundo and his coworkers. Standing together, helping get Evan upstairs, laughing at something an Asian man said.
Ana turned to leave. It was clear that what she wanted and what Edmundo wanted were two different things. They were far too different. She didn’t want to be close to people that thought running into danger was a smart idea. But it was obvious that Edmundo had continued his friendship with Evan, even after their long talks. If he wouldn’t listen to her, he didn’t deserve her. She would just have to call him later and end things before it got too much further.
She walked out of the station and, after tossing the pastries in a nearby dumpster, out of their lives.