Chapter 12: Cleo on Fire

A vision of creating a long-lasting legacy brought our founder, Adam Slade, to Sunset Valley many years ago.  Now it is his only son, Brandon Slade who is continuing this vision.  Raising two fine children, Cleo and Carl, Brandon and his wife Qiana are feeling confident about passing their legacy on to the next generation.

In this chapter Cleo faces unexpected dangers in the heart of Sunset Valley  ...


Cleo was having a great week-end with Pascal.

He loved the film she had arranged at the local cinema and, as it was still light and warm, they enjoyed a picnic in Central Park. Just spending time together in the open air, talking about anything and everything, as the world went by around them, oblivious.

With the picnic exhausted, and as the air started to chill, they returned to Summer Hill Court, to the warmth of the Slade home and, in particular, to Cleo’s welcoming bed.

Snuggling up with Pascal, Cleo had never felt happier. He was warm and generous, kind and thoughtful. She mused, what a wonderful life they could have together.

As he gently stroked her arm, a frisson of excitement coursed through her body. Cleo pushed Pascal onto his back wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply, passionately, urgently.

Pascal broke the kiss and, gazing deeply into Cleo’s eyes as if to see her innermost desire, "Cleo, are your ready for this? Is this really what you want?"

"More than anything. I want to spend this night with you, here, to make love as if our lives depended on it!"

With that Cleo pushed his shirt up, kissing his exposed belly, while her hands roughly caressed the muscles of his broad, strong, back …

They did not, could not, count the times they made love that night. Whether it was a moment of carnal passion or gently tracing the contours of their bodies it was all one long, almost unbearable sensation of pleasure and joy from the centre of their very beings.

Inevitably, the night and, indeed, Pascal’s visit had to come to an end. As they lay in bed on that last morning of his time in Sunset Valley, they discussed their plans for the future. Pascal was going back to run the main bookstore in Champs Les Sims but Cleo was still a little undecided on what career path to follow.


Pascal tried to encourage her "You are brave and daring, ma chérie, you love helping people, and everyone loves you. You just need to find somewhere that will use your talents, and will satisfy you ..."


That was why Cleo loved Pascal, he 'got' her, he understand what she was all about. As they parted at the airport, she promised him that she would find the job that would make her happy, and him proud.

In fact, the very next week, Cleo went for an interview with Caren Valenzuela. It was quite tough. Not only did they test her aptitude for the job, they tested her ability to quickly fix damaged equipment, and also, a very important aspect of the job, her general level of fitness.

Her family wasn't particularly 'sporty' but from a very young age Cleo had always enjoyed keeping fit and healthy, and from the time she had spent with her father she had become quite handy around the house.

All this 'accidental' preparation paid off and at the end of a gruelling examination, Caren was delighted to tell Cleo that she was an ideal candidate for trainee fireman.

A week later Cleo was at the Sunset Valley Fire station for several days of induction and training. The station was really well equipped with exercise equipment, a kitchen, a relaxation and games room and a small dorm for those long night shifts.

One of the first things her team leader had her do, was practice the emergency deployment protocol – getting down the pole without getting in everyone else’s way or falling flat on your arse!

Cleo was pretty well organised so she had no problem getting into the swing of the “merge-and-drop” exit routine, but she took a while to get the hang of landing on her feet, and staying upright!

There was also a lot of theory to learn, the causes of fire, prevention techniques and, of course, how to extinguish the different types of fire.

At each stage of the training there would be a 'practical' session where she learnt how to deal with the typical scenarios that she could encounter in and around the Valley.

It was in these sessions that Cleo started to appreciate how well suited she was to this career choice. The drama, the danger and, most of all, the satisfaction of being able to save someone's property, or even their life.

When Cleo rang him to tell him all about her new job Pascal was, at once delighted that she had a worthwhile career but then also concerned about the dangers and risks she would face.

On balance, though, he knew it was exactly the right job for her. If nothing else, it complemented with his safe and gentle career in the bookshop!

Cleo was not the only one with job news.  Shortly after returning from his assignment in Egypt Brandon was invited to the Landgraab Institute.

He had, of course,  been to the Institute many times before, supplying minerals and insects, but after the Egyptian job he couldn't help but be nervous of of what they would ask of him this time.

It turned out that Dr Livsey had been true to his word in Al Simhara and wanted to offer Brandon a job as a Contraption Manipulator for the Institute.

Having gone about as far as he could with his workbench at home, Brandon jumped at the opportunity to work in a fully equipped laboratory alongside the scientists who had created the 'cybercroc'.

Although approaching middle age, Brandon's horizons were definitely expanding, what with his new role at the LIS but also his travels to France and Egypt had brought him into contact with the fascinating and extraordinary history of these foreign cultures.

As part of this new interest he had started to assemble a collection of relics and artefacts from across the world.

Not only were these treasures a great way to inspire an understanding of history for future Slade children, but they were also a valuable investment should they ever fall on hard times. 

In addition to the dry and dusty relics, Brandon's interest in the natural world was also aroused by the variety of exotic wildlife he had seen on his travels.

With the aid of his friends at the Landgraab Institute, he began collecting exotic birds and hoped, over time, to create a fully fledged aviary.

Fascinated as she was by Brandon's foreign collections, Qiana's concerns were more mundane and practical, such as making sure that Carl continued to study hard and get good grades at school.

Of course, that didn't mean she had no time to enjoy herself.

On the contrary, she loved spending time in the garden and also, occasionally, putting brush to canvas to express her creativity.

However, at the fire station, 'creativity' was not high on Cleo’s objectives.

Before she went out on her first response, she was part of the maintenance team that ensured all the critical equipment was always in good working order. This included all the alarms as well as the engine itself.

Then, the day arrived, her first call-out. It had the potential to be a serious incident; two people were apparently trapped inside their burning home! 

Having mastered the pole, Cleo was quickly onboard the fire engine and speeding across town to a blaze on Skyborough Boulevard. Nervous energy coursed through her, even as a junior member of the squad she would have an important part to play in controlling the fire and ensuring everyone on the site was safe.

When they arrived at the incident, the fire had already spread from inside the house to the garden which made it difficult to get to anyone trapped inside.

Cleo was immediately assigned to ensuring that the fires inside the front of the house did not spread any further. Quickly setting up the power hose, she began dousing the front of the property and the flames coming through the windows with water.

The flames were terrifying as they lapped up and out towards her and her colleagues but the most powerful sensation was the heat that radiated out in waves. Even the rigorous training she had gone through barely prepared Cleo for the intensity of the fire she was facing here.

Thankfully it was not too long before the fire was brought sufficiently under control to allow access into the house. Cleo was ahead of her team, taking an axe to what remained of the front door. Inside, the house was still full of acrid smoke which made it difficult to see where she was going but when she called out she managed to locate the two voices she heard crying out in response.

There, huddled in the kitchen, which they had managed to secure fairly well against the worst of the fire, were Alex Maddox and Dwayne Roe.  Although the fires were now out, the building was badly damaged so the risk of injury was still substantial and the two men were clearly traumatized by what had happened.  Having used her practical skills to put out the fires Cleo then had to exercise her considerable social skills to calm the men and guide them out to safety.

Although female fire-fighters were not new, Cleo was one of very few in Sunset Valley, and had certainly been thrown in at the deep end on her first job, so it was not surprising that the local newspaper made quite a story out of the incident.

"Summer Hill Woman Saves Two in Blaze Drama"

"Cleo Slade, 21, from the well-heeled Summer Hill area of Sunset Valley steps out of her expensive party frocks to don the unflattering uniform of the SVFD and lead a dramatic rescue in downtown Skyborough ..."


A few days after the article appeared, Cleo received an unexpected phone call ...

"Hi Cleo, this Garett, Garett Fisk.  Saw the article in the paper, really impressed, you did a great job saving those guys.  Umm, I was wondering, if you'd, y'know, like to meet up sometime?  Err, I was thinking there's a cool band on in Mayflower Glen tomorrow  ... if you like we could go see them?"

O. M. G!

Cleo was now a 'proper' adult, with a real job, a dangerous and serious job, but some things (some people) could still release the excitable teenager she thought she had left behind.  Garett was one of those people.

Every girl in her school (well, every girl she knew) had had a crush on "Gorgeous Garett", and just hearing his voice sent her right back to those days.

"Oh that sounds great Garett, I would love to!  See you there."

The following day, Cleo made her way to Mayflower, she wasn't too bothered about the band, but it would be great to see Garett again.

"Hi, Garett, great to see you."

"Yeah, glad you could make it Cleo.  Been meaning to call you for ages, and when I saw you in the paper I just had to."

"It has been a while ..."

"Must have been your birthday, last time we actually got to talk to each other."

It was a slightly awkward conversation, they had never been close; they'd see each other at parties and around town but mostly knew about each other through mutual friends.

The park was starting to fill up, and the stage was being set up for the band.

"Err, do you wanna get a spot, near the stage?" Garett asked.

"Yeah, we could, or we could hang here for a while, y'know, and just catch up?" Cleo suggested.

For some reason Garett seemed quite shy, rather surprisingly for someone who was always so 'cool' and popular, but Cleo loved talking and could manage well enough for two.

As she told him about her trip to France (though not in too much detail!) and what it was like being a 'famous fire fighter', Cleo also got to learn more about Garett.  One thing which Cleo didn't expect was discovering how much his family meant to him.

She had always assumed that guys like him would be too in love with themselves to care much for anyone else.  But the way he talked about his parents, how proud he was of them and the rest of his family was so unexpected and endearing.

To Cleo they seemed to be getting on great, he was actually a really nice guy and then Garett suddenly stopped, looked bashfully away.

"Umm, Cleo, there's something I've wanted to say to you ...

"I've fancied you for years ... that's why I came to your last party ... but, y'know, you being so smart and all, always knew what you were doing and I didn't think you even noticed me ..."

"What?"  Cleo could barely conceal her surprise, "I thought you were seeing Sandi, and you two were the couple everyone talked about?"

"Well, yeah, but, to be honest, we weren't a real couple, it was just what was expected, we were the 'hot kids', we kinda had to be together.  Yeah, I liked Sandi, but it was never 'love'. "

Cleo was so taken aback by what she was hearing that she just did the first thing that came to her mind.  She kissed him.

"Whoa!" Garett gasped, "what was that?"

"Garett, you idiot!" Cleo exclaimed, "do you realise how many of the girls at school fancied you? I would have given anything to have been your girlfriend ... and now you tell me!"

"I never realised ...", Garett blushed and stammered.

"Oh shut up!" and with that Cleo pulled him close for a passionate kiss, a kiss she had waited years for." 

The rest of the afternoon seemed to pass in a blur.  There was a band playing in the background somewhere, and the sun started to set, but it was as if they were a little bubble of their own, separate from the rest of the world.

This had been a day Cleo could never have expected.  One of the hottest and most popular guys in the Valley had declared his love for her and she couldn't deny she had feelings for him too.

But, as the day inevitably drew to an end, she was left wondering what on earth she was to do.  She loved Pascal, a kind, generous and loving man but now there was Garett.  In the space of this one afternoon she had learnt so much about him, she knew she could so easily fall very much in love with him ...

Chapter 13: Dealing with Danger