I sat fiddling with a biro as our station sergeant gave his usual pre shift pep talk.
And finally lads, he said.
It's that time of year again our annual firefighters calendar photo shoot.
He tapped a poster behind him.
All good fun , he said , last year we raised £ 6000 in sales to charity so let's see if we can do more this year , I for one will be doning my budgie smugglers ,he quiped
A wolf whistle sang out, from Stevens the station hottie, or so he thought, with your belly sergeant you'll be the centre spread he joked.
Okay coverboy, the sergeant retorted , this year's is larger to accommodate your ego , we all chuckled.
My crew mate turned to me.
Are you up for it finn?
I dont know, I replied.
C,mon give Stevens a run for his money, you'd knock spots off him!
We filed out to begin our shift , thankfully it was a quiet day nothing major, a toaster fire and an out of control bonfire but nothing life threatening. I finished just as the 2 photographers arrived some of the lads were waiting to go in the door opened and I glimpse Stevens showing off clad in his worktrousers red braces hanging loose his toned torso slick with oil.
You coming along finn? Asked my mate who stood in line.
Maybe next time I said, I was new to the station and had never done anything like that before.
One of the photographers a young guy around 20 brushed past me , sorry he said , our eyes met, are you joining in?, he said
Not today I replied
Shame we could do with more muscle, he eyed me approving and smiled.
I got to my car , I was almost home when I hit a traffic jam.
My mind wondered, was I missing out, was I the muscle they wanted.
The traffic nudged forward I did a quick u turn and headed back to the station.......
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