The Seat Beside Him

The preparations for the shoot took longer than I expected.

More than an hour passed just setting up the lights and adjusting the smoke machine.

‘Did I come too early for nothing?’

It wasn’t that I minded waiting or anything.

With me sitting there, everyone just seemed to be moving faster for some reason.

The lighting crew practically ran as they carried cables, and the props team kept glancing over this way.

I wanted to tell them to take their time, but I worried that saying so would only make them feel more pressured, so I just stayed seated.

“You’ve been working hard.”

Someone sat down beside me.

The firefighter had been brought in as a consultant for the shoot. They looked to be in their mid-forties...