Bad, dirty Erin.
“There will be times where you have to rely on each other’s senses more than your own. Sometimes it’s going to be so loud, you might as well be deaf. Other times it will be so dark and smoky, you’ll feel blind. This is when you have to trust others. You have to know the strengths and weaknesses of your team, whether it be your regular teammate or a sub. We have to understand each other, even those you don’t know that well. You have to be able to adapt. Adapt, adapt, adapt.”
Erin had played this often enough at other team-building events in Seattle that she knew not to cross her arms. She carefully dissuaded Theo from doing the same by touching him since he was blindfolded.
It only took fifteen seconds for it to be apparent that some members of their knot were primarily interested in flapping their lips.
“Guys, focus on the goal,” Erin reminded them.
“The guy I’m holding hands with can’t even hear me,” one of them whined.
“But he can see you,” Erin stated the obvious.
“She’s right. I’m blind right now, and you guys are getting annoying,” Theo said.
“We need to have partners for anyone with a sense disabled. She quickly glanced over their name tags and began to make assignments. “Okay, I have Theo, Jim has Teddy, Kirk has Leo. Deaf teams are Joe and Mark, Benny and Jose, and Jerry and George.”
“And who do you think she is?” one of the original complainers, Joe, asked.
Theo had her back. “She’s the lieutenant in this knot. She’s the only one who was willing to make a plan, so she’s automatically the officer.”
“But she’s a—” Joe started.
“If you say anything about my tits or my vagina, you’re going to be very uncomfortable,” Erin warned before the guy could complete the statement. She went on, “I’m not a probie. I’m a fourth year. My first two years weren’t here. I was at a bigger and better run department than this.”
Someone coughed hard behind her. She glanced over her shoulder.
Chief Baker. Who else?
“She’s right,” he agreed to her surprise. “We have problems in the department which is why we’re all here today—to improve from fair to outstanding.”
“I feel outstanding, Chief,” Theo said, seizing the opportunity to kiss some ass and divert from the insult Erin had voiced.
“I’m surprised you recognize my voice, Jefferson,” Baker commented.
Erin wondered how anyone could fail to recognize the Chief’s voice. He spoke with such authority. He always knew what to do and say. He was practically invincible.
What would he sound like naked on his unmade bed?
Naughty, dirty Erin, she silently reprimanded herself.
“You were our captain for two weeks. Lieutenant Hudgens, can we begin to untie this knot?”
Under Erin’s direction, it took them less than ten minutes to unravel their knot. They beat the other teams by a mile. Erin took the opportunity to run to the bathroom. Upon returning to an empty room, she checked her phone to see a message from Theo.
Outside obstacle course.
Erin trotted to the location, discovering she was the last to arrive. The conference hotel was on a golf course, which was temporarily converted to a large obstacle course.
Taking note that everyone was paired up, she deduced the plan had to be a blind-folded, three-legged race. She caught sight of Theo tied to Joe, who was newly blindfolded.
The chiefs saw her and started consulting each other.
“Sorry,” Haskell said. “Odd numbers, Miss . . .”
“Hudgens, Firehouse 15,” Erin supplied. Did having odd numbers mean she wouldn’t have to participate in this three-legged race? One could only hope . . .
Haskell surveyed the group. Erin could imagine what was going through his mind. She was the only female firefighter present. Usually, it wouldn’t matter if she didn’t run the three-legged race, except she had been so visible during the human knot.
