Remember when you were a kid and a fire engine passed by, your mother encouraging you, along with herself, to give them a wave as they drove by as they waved back?

Ah, those were the days! That was what my mother used to do when me and my sister were kids. “Wave to the firemen, girls!” she’d smile, as they were driving past (sirens not on, of course. Just driving normally).

I have so many fond memories of mini-me doing that as they waved back. So much so that whenever I see a fire engine driving normally to wherever, those memories come flooding back and I have to stop myself from waving!

It’s adorable when you’re a kid, not so much when you’re a 24-year-old woman! Also, I feel very humbled and thank all the ladies and gents in the fire service for being the badasses that they are.

Anyway, I digress.

I was 19, walking home in the spring after another day at university. It was a gorgeous day. The sun was shining, lovely breeze, you get the idea. I was in this chiffon long sleeved white shirt that I absolutely loved and my go-to pair of jeans, just minding my own business.

Then in amongst the traffic on the main road, a fire engine was pulling up behind the cars on the way to their fire station. The childhood memories came back to me as per, making me smile, when I saw something out of my peripheral.

I looked up and there was a firefighter, a passenger in the backseat of the truck looking my way.

He’s looking around, it’s a nice day. Who wouldn’t? I thought. He’s not looking at just little old me. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but I definitely blushed with a double take because this guy was absolutely, no word of a lie, gorgeous!

My 19-year-old self had never seen anyone so pretty! Strong, handsome, short dark hair and very bright eyes, mid-twenties at a guess.

So there I was, eyes down, trying to conceal the raging blush in my cheeks with this feeling you get like you’re being watched. My spidey senses were a-tinglin’, so I looked back up to see if my gut was actually right.

Firefighter man was staring straight at me. 

My heart leaped in to my throat and I think he could tell I was turning the perfect shade of chiffon-wearing tomato. I wasn’t in the slightest bit uncomfortable though. It wasn’t creepy. It was a flirty exchange and the feeling was very much mutual on my part!

If anything I was feeling super flattered by this attention (think similar to Joel Kinnaman in Altered Carbon but dark haired. Oh Lord! *fans*) The energy between me and him felt magnetic and if he wasn’t at work in a moving vehicle, I wouldn’t have thought twice to give him my number and ask him out.

Honestly, I was quite tempted to scrawl my number and rush over before the lights changed!

Then the light went green and the engine drove away, his eyes following me until he couldn’t . I remember grinning like a Cheshire Cat all the way home, inwardly shaking my fist to the heavens that this man had to be a road away. Once the initial being gutted had passed, it’s since gone down as one of the funnier memories of my then-single life!

Since then that day’s been the subject of many “fireman” jokes by my mother. The fact she’s a staunch Chicago Fire fan doesn’t help either! 😂

All my love,

Violet xx

*Picture – Pinterest