The Friend I Needed

Nine.

Nine.

“Come on, Oddie. Quit the frown, it’s Gabe’s party so don’t look so gloomy and try to have some fun.”

Jack spoke to his short friend who was sulking behind him, kids had started to arrive not long ago and every time a mother greeted her, they’d ask about Gabe’s father and how sad it was that he wasn’t there for him.

Oddie had an intense necessity to murder every woman standing on her porch who questioned her parenting, explaining that she was in desperate need to find a good man to help her out.

Who the hell told them she needed a man to be a good mother? And why did they care so much about her single life?

“The only ones keeping me sane at this point are you guys.” Her other friends had arrived a few hours earlier and helped her get everything ready; the food and cake were set, decorations and lights as well. “I’m gonna need a drink if I’m want to survive a house full of children and family.”

“What’s worse?” Jack lifted an eyebrow giving her a quizzical look.

“Ugh, both.” She groaned closing her eyes while resting her back on the wall, they were currently standing in the hallway besides the stairs, having a noisy backyard on her right and the front door on her left. “But I guess the kids are better, most of them are cool and chill.”

“Which makes your family…?”

“I can only take so much, Jack. My aunt is cool but worries about me being single and dying alone, my uncle only wants beer and the tv to watch his games, grandma Thea drives me crazy with her f*****g questions about how am I still single and how many times a week do I manage to get laid.”

Jack’s eyes almost left his face when he heard that, he looked so funny Oddie would’ve laughed if she wasn’t so stressed at the moment.

“She’s the craziest, horniest old woman you’ll ever find. She’s been a widow for many years and man did that made an intense revolution in her daily life.” She turned her head to the crystal opened door separating the kitchen and hall from the party.

“Revolution?” Jack turned his head in the direction she was staring and felt secondhand embarrassment.

There was amazing and sweet grandma Thea, flirting savagely with poor Nick whose face was as red as blood. She had whispered something into his ear that made him blush even more and both friends could see how his soul started to leave his body.

“Her s****l desire is a real struggle to us all.” Oddie stated simply, as Jack wasn’t sure if he should laugh at his younger friend’s current situation with a seventy something old lady or go and help him. “If I were you, I wouldn’t even try to.”

“Do you read minds now?” He frowned at her.

“I’ve seen that look of pity before, you want to both laugh and save my poor Nick, but it’ll be worse if you do.”

“Why?”

“You really want to know?” He nodded to her dismay, covering her blushing face she quietly answered him. “She’ll ask you both to have a threesome with her.”

“Don’t be so intense, girl.”

“You should tell her that, not me!” Her frustration was way too evident, even more when she saw that now Tommy was falling victim of her grandmother’s odds. “I so need to open a bottle of whiskey; it’s starting to become vital at this very moment.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad.” She gave him a nasty look puffing her cheeks.

“My father and uncle Roy tried murdering Nathan this morning and accused him of f*****g me,” she was about to keep going but got slightly interrupted by Jack.

“Which we all agreed hasn’t happened yet.”

“Yeah and then they questioned him on why haven’t he tried! The poor man was so disconcerted not knowing how to defend himself from their harassment.” Jack lifted his hands I surrender; the poor woman was having a mental breakdown at this point. “This is why I don’t let them know when I date anyone.”

“You dating Nathan?” He lifted his eyebrow again with a gigantic smirk on his face, Oddie’s mind went blank for a second.

“Wha… of course we’re not! Da hell? We’re barely getting to know each other.”

“And yet you guys go out with the children three times a week and when he doesn’t take you out, he comes over for movie nights, right?”

“Shut up.” Her fingers gently caressed her temples, taking deep long breaths. “At least my cousin is not really doing anything weird.”

“The guy who came over with the model looking wife?”

“Yeah, Jacob and Melissa.” She smiled at the thought of them, she loved them dearly as well as their beautiful and perfect daughters Nina and Jackie. “They’re the best people you could ever find in this rotten world.”

“See? Think of the pretty things in life, not the headaches some of the present people might give.”

“You’re right, Jack.” She turned up to look at him with a wide smile. “It’s Gabe’s party and everyone is super chill, he’s having the time of his life with friends and family, and I have no reason to be stressed at all; I have all of you guys here to help me.”

“Exactly, we’re not leaving our baby Oddie by herself.” He side hugged her resting his right arm over her shoulders, kissing her temple he decided to ask the worst question possible. “Besides, what could possibly go wrong?”

Ding~ Dong~

Oddie separated herself from him to go and open the door, most likely expecting a child who was late to the party, not a surprise there. But the real surprise was when she saw a small bouquet of roses right on her face and the expensive cologne of her boss reaching her nose.

Her boss.

“Mr. Grenier?!”

“I told you to call me Sebastian, didn’t I?” His smirk was too much for her to handle. “Hello, Oddie. I hope I’m not too late.”

“What… no! Of course not, I’m sorry. Please come in.” She moved aside letting him in, Jack had moved back a little feeling the need to die right there. “I’m sorry I got so surprised, I wasn’t really expecting you.”

“Oh? But you did invite me to Gabriel’s party.” His smirk only got worse as he leaned in a little closer to her astonished face, he couldn’t hold back a low chuckle. “My goodness, Ms. Odette. Anyone would think you saw a ghost.”

“I apologize, I just never thought you’d be the kind of person to come to this… kind of thing…” she barely mumbled the last part but he was able to hear it, chuckling again he handed her the flowers. “Umm… thank you, but it’s not my birthday, it’s Gabe’s.”

“Darling, a man does not need a special day to gift a flower to a lady.” She had to admit, that was smooth. “Please just take it, I also got something for the star of the day.”

“Right…” She turned to Jack for help but he was too impressed by what was happening. “Jack, you ok?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Good afternoon, Boss.”

“Don’t be so formal, Jackson. We’re not at work.”

“Of course…” Jack turned to Oddie worried, this was not something they expected.

“If you excuse me, I’d like to give this gift to the birthday boy.” He smirked at Oddie again with a hidden hint in his eyes that she couldn’t decipher.

“Please, make yourself at home.” Her voice a mere whisper at this point, barely holding the flowers on her trembling hands.

…

 “This is a nightmare. My boss is here, in my house, when the most dangerous family members are present.” Oddie was hyperventilating holding a hand to her chest. “This is too much. Children running around and a crazy horny grandma I can handle at the same time, but my boss? I can’t I swear, I can’t.”

Melissa and Sally tried calming her down, the three ladies were standing near the door and both Tommy and Maya had brought some water and snacks for them all.

“Easy, Oddie. You’re too young to be having a heart attack.” The eldest lady spoke with worry. “It’s not so bad to have the boss here, he seems to be mingling with everyone just fine.”

“Did you see the ugly eyes my dad and Roy are giving him? Or maybe the lustful ones of Grandma Thea?” That shut poor Maya down, Oddie had a point and a good one at that. “Everything because of that stupid question of Jack, he jinxed me!”

“Wait, what question?” Melissa asked curious, gently caressing her husband’s cousin’s hair, she loved Oddie with all her heart and saw her as a precious little sister.

“He asked what could go wrong.” The four adults almost face palmed, indeed that was a very bad question that shouldn’t even exist. “And then out of nowhere my boss appears at my door step with a gift for Gabriel and a bunch of roses for me.”

“I mean, that’s kinda cute.” Sally tried to cheer her up but the look her best friend gave her let her know it wasn’t working at all. “He’s a nice man and we know he’s single just like you…”

“Sally, I’m not, under any circumstances, dating my boss.”

“Why not?” Melissa took a hold of the younger’s hand and smiled softly. “Would it be so bad to date a coworker?”

“A coworker, no. My boss, yes.” She groaned closing her eyes. “I’m not stupid, he’s been hinting that he’s interested in me for a while and even though he doesn’t know whether I’m married or not, it doesn’t seem he’ll stop trying.”

“He doesn’t know about Oliver?” Tommy’s voice got her attention, he looked so cute with that curious expression. “Why haven’t you told him?”

“You know I don’t like venting over my life to anyone. He only know his name’s Oliver, but other than that, he has no idea of what happens with my personal life.”

“Makes sense, I guess.” He crossed his arms over his chest breathing out before smiling brightly at her. “Look at the bright side!”

“What bright side?”

“The wrong just happened, it was your boss’ arrival.” He walked up to her hugging her tight to his side and kissing her cheek lovingly. “Now there’s nothing to worry, the jinx is over and you can just relax and hope none of the man here who love you to death, notice that handsome boss of yours flirting with you.”

The girls looked at him with bright smiles, he was right, there was nothing that could go wrong now. The worst had happened and her baby boy was so happy playing with his friends and cousins, even Luca was having fun.

“Hey, doll.”

A deep rough voice took them all by surprise, even Tommy felt shivers run down his back, before they turned to see who was standing on the door, Gabriel and Elliot’s happy screams stopped them.

“Bear man!”

“Mr. Bear!”

“Oh please, for the love of God.” Oddie finally turned around, she paled and felt her knees give up, if it wasn’t for Tommy’s arms around her she’d be on the floor by now.

“Hey, little guys!” Nathan crouched with his arms wide open, letting both kids crash into his strong chest, laughing loudly he kissed their heads before pulling away. “Missed me?”

“Of course we did! Where were you? You’re late, you know?” Gabriel pouted at him.

“I’m sorry, buddy. I had to get changed and also, I had to pick someone up before coming back here.” He turned around and saw that Henry was looking around in silence, when his old eyes met with the boys, he smiled softly at them.

“Happy birthday, Gabriel.”

“General!” Both hugged his sides overjoyed.

“I’m so happy you’re here.” The boy’s eyes shone so brightly that Henry felt like crying. “Come on, I want to introduce you to everyone!”

Both children pulled the old man towards the curious children, all gathering around the trio whispering.

“Look everyone! This is General Henry.” At the word General everyone gasped and stared at him as if he was a superhero, Gabriel noticed Henry’s hesitance so he took a hold of his hand tightly in his small one before speaking again. “He’s my grandpa too.”

“Woah, your grandfathers are so cool, Gabe!”

“Yeah, one’s super strong and the other is a general! You’re so lucky.”

“Your family is so cool.”

The loud and excited voices were so overwhelming for Henry but at the same time he couldn’t feel happier, Gabriel had said the word he so wanted to hear in a long time. Ruffling both kids’ hair he pushed them forward with a small smirk.

“Go play, I’ll be over there with your grandpa Liam.” They both nodded and ran way, Henry then turned over to Liam and Roy who stood beside them. “You must be Odette’s father.”

“That I am,” Liam nodded proudly, stretching his hand over to the older man for a handshake. “Pleasure to meet you, General. Liam Beaulieu at your service, this is my best friend, Roy.”

“Pleasure and an honor to meet you, sir.” Henry greeted both before laughing amused.

“Oh, please. We’re almost the same age so don’t be so formal with me, just call me Henry.”

“I hope Oddie’s not giving you a hard time, she can be a little hardheaded sometimes.” Liam said earning another chuckle from both men. “She doesn’t take a no for an answer, at least not without a fight.”

“If she had enlisted in the army, she’d be a hell of a soldier.” The three went over to a table to chat, becoming friends in an instant. Even Jacob and Nora had joined the conversation.

On the other side, Oddie was smiling once more at the sight. She was happy Henry was talking to others without his unbearable snarls, that meant there was great progress with the companionship and she couldn’t be any prouder.

“Well, it appears Tommy was right after all.” Sally rested her hands on her hips sighing in relief alongside Melissa.

“See, Oddie? Nothing worse happened.” They looked at the mentioned one who seemed doing better now.

“I’m sorry I’m so late, doll.” Nathan stood beside her scratching the back of his neck smiling sheepishly at her, she turned to him smirking at his sweet worry. “I totally forgot that Henry couldn’t leave without someone signing for him, and like you had given my name in case of emergency, well I got him out of his cave of solitude.”

“And I can’t thank you enough, Nate.” They smiled to each other sweetly, completely ignoring the excited faces of the four people beside them. “Have you eaten yet?”

“Are you kidding? I’ve been holding my hunger back all day! I can’t wait to try your food, I bet is pure bliss for the mouth.” He winked with rosy cheeks, not like her face was any better. “So I hope you saved me a plate.”

“There’s plenty of food for you to eat and even if there weren’t, I’d cook something for you.”

“Aren’t you spoiling me a bit too much, doll?” He stood closer to her, putting on her bangs back on her ear, gently caressing her reddened face.

“Yeah, aren’t you spoiling him a bit too much, doll?” Sebastian stood before them with a frown decorating his handsome face, he stared down at the firefighter with a displeased look, feeling the muscles under his suit tense at the sight.

He was obviously judging the muscular man, he had compared the reaction Gabriel had with him with the one he had with Nathan, and he couldn’t help but feel jealousy take over him.

“I didn’t know there was someone else calling you that, Odd.” Nathan stared back at Sebastian crossing his massive tattooed arms over his broad chest, he didn’t like the way this suited man had repeated the sweet name he had been calling Oddie the past month.

“Uh… Mr. Grenier this is Nathan Roux, Captain of the Fire Department.” She looked between both men with worry taking over her features. “Nate, this is Sebastian Grenier my… boss.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Rouge.” Sebastian had his hand out to greet the firefighter with a smug look, Nathan could feel the anger rushing over.

“It’s Roux.” A small voice took the attention of both men having them looking down at Elliot, who smiled at the suited man when he stood beside Nathan hugging his jean covered leg. “It’s not that hard to pronounce.”

“Right? If it’s easy for a child, why wouldn’t it be for a man like you, Mr. Grenier?”

Nathan gave him the same smug face resting his huge tattooed hand over the boy’s head, stretching his hand taking a hold of his, both adding pressure as if trying to measure the strength of each.

“Go play with Gabe, little one.” He told Elliot without breaking eye contact with Sebastian.

“You’ll share cake with me, right?” His small voice asked with hope. “You promised this morning.”

“Of course, I’d never fail you.” With that the small kid ran over to his friends leaving the almost fighting men to do their own thing. “What? Not letting go of me? People will get the wrong idea.”

“I think the only one getting the wrong idea here is you, Roux. A real man wouldn’t be flirting so shamelessly with a lady who has a child and a deployed husband.”

“So, we dropping the manners and jumping to unrequired conclusions, uh? How rude of you, there are ladies and children around us so I’d suggest you be more respectful.”

Sebastian smirked dropping his hand rudely fixing his suit jacket a little, he didn’t like how Nathan seemed to be close to Oddie; who by now, was speechless as well as her friends, they had no idea of what the hell was happening but she needed to stop it and she had to do it now.

“You two,” Oddie’s voice caught their attention, looking down at her as she approached to stand almost in the middle. “This is my baby’s birthday party, so don’t start… whatever the hell this thing is.”

“I apologize, Odette.” Sebastian started quickly when he saw the stern look she had, he hadn’t meant any harm but even he was now aware he crossed a line he shouldn’t even be near to. “I didn’t mean to-”

“Both of you need a time out.”

Nathan pouted at her, he felt the arrogance from Sebastian and it bothered him, but he knew where he was and for who he was there, so he tried to restrain himself as much as possible. Sebastian stared at her as if she had grown a second head.

“What?”

“You heard me, so both of you.” She pointed at both with her thin finger with a frown. “Time out. Now.”

“Ah damn, I wanted to eat something first…” Nathan mumbled but smiled at her in understanding. “Can I take my plate to the time out corner?”

“Yes, you can.” At her response he smirked kissing her cheek making her blush once more, Sebastian plainly glared at him for his approach.

“When does my time out ends?”

“When I see you both have suffered enough.”

“Alright, call me when that happens.” He stood straight winking her way before walking over to a table in a corner. “I promised Elliot I’d share cake with him.”

“Just go already, Nate!”

“Yeah, yeah I heard you the first time, doll.”

Sebastian stood glaring at Nathan’s back still beside her, not really understanding the time out thing she had just said, but the look he was getting got his nerves up.

“You’re not actually expecting me to go sit in a corner with that firefighter, are you?”

“Does it look like I’m joking?” She rested her hands on her hips looking rather annoyed. “Go grab a plate and sit down.”

“And if I don’t?” He tried to get a little flirty thinking t himself, if the bad boy looking fighter could flirt with her then so could he; boy how wrong he was.

“I’ll sit you down myself.”

“You do realize I’m your boss, right?”

“And you do realize we’re not at work so let’s not be so formal,” she was definitely using his own words against him, that had been what he told Jack no long ago when he had arrived, he felt his eye twitch. “Besides, you’re in my house where the rules are stated by me, please respect my authority. I don’t mind you being here but don’t you dare start a fight with my guests.”

“Alright, alright. I get it, sorry I didn’t mean to insult your authority neither disrespect your home rules.” He raised his hands in surrender trying to ease things up a little bit with a small smile. “But do I really have to sit with him?”

“Believe me, that’s what you want to do.” By the seriousness of her face, he took a deep breath and did what he was told. He wasn’t going to admit it, but he felt a shiver run all over his body, that woman was not one to mess with when annoyed.

Her friends were completely shocked at what they had seen; they weren’t able to say a word neither move a muscle so they just stared at Oddie who was about to have a real heart attack.

“Tommy was wrong; it did get worse.” Sally spoke after a few minutes, having Melissa and Maya nodding in approval.

“Apparently so was Jack,” Tommy walked over to his longtime friend resting both hands on her shoulders. “We do need to open a bottle of whiskey to survive this party.”

“Make my day, Tommy.” She sighed resting her back on his chest, tilting her head back to see him upside down, smiling sheepishly at him. “Fruit punch?”

“You got it, baby.” He kissed her forehead before walking towards the kitchen with her still in between his arms and up against him.

Totally ignoring the annoyed looks they were receiving from the hottest firefighter ever and the most handsome ceo.