The Friend I Needed

Fourteen.

Fourteen.

“Unbelievable.”

Oddie stood out in the parking lot, her wheeled suitcase getting wet as well as part of her bag, her umbrella wasn’t that big to cover everything and herself. She stared at her car expressionless, even when she tried to make this day to be the best, it appeared fate had other plans.

After the disastrous situation in the morning, she thought nothing worse could happen, how terribly wrong she was. The first meeting was two and a half hours long and it was taking the best of her not to slap a few of the business partners there.

The second and third meeting were such a drag, too slow and pretty much useless as no one really had good ideas to add to the current projects they had at hand. The third and last meeting was the only one worth her time, it was the one thing she was waiting for the whole day.

The project with Greekreen co. was something quite important for A&D co., the projects that happened between both companies were such a wonderful investment and she couldn’t be happier to be part of it. What made it better, was the fact that she was assigned as team leader and chief designer on the outdoor designs for the upcoming construction plans.

Greekreen and A&D had been working for the past eleven months on the greatest business project they could work with, being the very first 100% ecological hotels in Canada.

Having the most advanced sustainable eco-friendly technology, all the facilities and services that the hotels occupy will operate on the basis of the three basic sources of natural energy; these being wind, hydraulic and solar.

Oddie couldn’t be happier when she was told she’d be in charge of the hydraulic designs that will be used on the gardens, patios, pools and balconies in every hotel. It was a lot of work for sure, but she had a wonderful team of designers and a few architects under her command and she was excited to work with professional engineers experienced in natural power plants and systems.

This was by far the greatest project she had to work with and the pay would help a lot as well. But this? Oh no, this was definitely the cherry on top of her completely terrible day.

She ignored her phone the whole day as she was running around gathering her team and lending them the plans and blue prints, she had an emergency meeting with the team and had to schedule an appointment with the engineering guys she was going to work with.

So, any message or call she received during the day came unnoticed by her. She kept staring at her car with now a dull expression, how could this be happening to her?

A low tire. Just what she needed on a rainy day. Don’t get her wrong, she was more than capable of fixing something as simple as that, but not in high heels and a tight pencil skirt with pretty silky stockings.

“Oh well, maybe I can drive to dad’s house. He can help me out, I’ll just have to be slow and careful.” She spoke to herself in a cheery mood, trying not to let her day get gloomier and keeping in her mind the lovely moments with Nathan.

Yeah, those thoughts did cheer her up a lot, and the fact that she’d be back home soon to see all the boys there. She was pretty sure Tommy was still there, she was definitely going to cook a delicious dinner to share with them.

Getting inside her car she sighed turning the engine on, or at least trying to turn the engine on. Her battery was dead.

“You got to be kidding me…” She hit her forehead on the steering wheel taking deep breaths, she couldn’t let rage take over, it wasn’t good for her health. “Come on, Oddie. Just call dad and he’ll come and help you.”

Grabbing her phone for the first time in the day she just noticed a terrible reality. Her phone was out of signal. The light rain of the morning turned into a full storm and her phone wasn’t getting any signal.

“Is this punishment for wanting to go back to my bed and cuddle a hot firefighter?” She mumbled frowning at the rectangle device on her hand. Taking deep breaths, she rested her head on the seat she just looked at the heavy rain in deep thought.

Now was a good time to laugh at the situation at hand. How couldn’t she laugh? It was indeed the funniest thing that had happened in a while.

“Maybe I can still catch the bus, I gotta hurry.”

Getting out of the car with her opened umbrella, she grabbed her stuff once more locking the car behind her and walked towards the bus stop a few yards away from the parking lot.

Standing under the little roof over the metallic seats she waited for a few minutes until a beautiful silver car stopped in front of her, paying no mind she tried turning on and off her phone trying to get her signal back but, it wasn’t really working.

“Odette?” The deep voice that called for her definitely caught her attention, looking up her eyes went wide at the sight of her boss, who gazed at her concerned. “What are you doing here? Are you alright?”

“I got a flat tire and the battery decided to die over a little rain.” She simple answered, not really changing the serene expression over her soft features.

“Get in, I’ll take you home.”

“There’s no need, sir. The bus won’t take long.” She smiled kindly at his nice gesture, but he wasn’t having it.

“Don’t make me beg, Odette.”

His gentle face was indeed handsome, she couldn’t deny it, and he was being very nice towards her, so she gratefully took his offer asking for him to pop the trunk to put her suitcase in and not wet the backseats of his pretty car.

“You could just set it in the back, I wouldn’t have mind.”

“It’s ok, the wheels are dirty and wet. I don’t want to ruin your seats.” She didn’t know what to do with the drenching umbrella when she sat herself on the passenger seat, so she let it rest on her skirt.

“Are you crazy? Give me that.” He took the dirty object putting it in the back, she was feeling way too tired to even argue more with him and she stayed quiet.

“Thank you, you really didn’t need to do this.”

“It’s ok, I don’t mind at all.” He threw a smile her way before driving towards her home.

The whole drive was neither too quiet nor loud, just a few words here and there, simple conversations mostly about the upcoming projects. Little did she know that Sebastian was having the time of his life, having the chance to drive his crush to her home on a rainy day because her car broke down.

He didn’t care how cliché that sounded, he loved every second of it. While he was in his little daydream smiling a stupid smile for himself, he ignored the fact that Oddie had gone silent. Absolutely silent.

Turning his gaze towards her at a red light, he lifted an eyebrow at her sour expression. The moment she frowned he flinched moving back, Sebastian had never seen such a face on her and it worried him. She was… well, she was pissed.

“How long till we get home?”

Her voice didn’t change much, but the way she spoke told him she was in a hurry to murder someone, she kept her eyes glued to her phone, which finally had one bar of signal. Enough to read certain messages from her best friend.

“Like five more minutes, we’re not that far. Are you ok?” He asked carefully, not wanting to spark her anger by being noisy.

“Good. I need to teach some kids a lesson.” He gulped at her sickening sweet smile. Who was she and what the hell had she done with shorty sweet Odette?

“Sure…”

When he finally parked by the sidewalk he frowned annoyed when he saw the truck parked in front of the garage. Why was that firefighter here? If the situation as any different, he would’ve asked Oddie about it. But her expression hadn’t changed that much and he didn’t want to be on the receiving end of her wrath attack.

Both getting out of the car, he helped her with her suitcase and held her umbrella high enough to cover them from the rain. He walked her up to the porch and smiled down sweetly at her.

“Do you need any help with your car? I can send a truck crane to get it for you and bring it here.” She turned to see him with a softer smile.

“Don’t worry, my dad can do that with his own truck. This is not the first time that poor old thing does that.” Sighing deeply, she forced a smile this time biting the insides of her cheeks. “Either way, thanks for taking me home. I hope I didn’t take much of your time.”

“I already told you it was no problem at all. If there’s anything you need and I can help you, I will.”

He was about to touch her face to caress her soft skin when a silent mean glare found its way towards his side. Turning to his left he found the long eared dog sitting by the living room window staring, no, glaring his way.

“Something tells me your dog doesn’t like me…” he barely whispered having a trouble expression takeover his blue eyes. “I’ll get going then. If you need a ride to work tomorrow morning, feel free to call me.”

“Don’t worry about that, I’ll find my way to work just fine.”

“Alright.” One last smile her way and he rushed to his car trying not to get drenched, Oddie smiled at his leaving car waving a little bit.

When Sebastian was far away, her smile faded in a second and turned into a sour grimace. Feeling her phone vibrate once more she unlocked it only to see another text that brought more fire to her anger.

Opening the door, she dropped her keys on the usual small bowl. Took her coat off set it aside so it could dry off, took off her shoes and set them gently on the floor alongside her suitcase so they could dry as well. She put her bag on the small table in the hall and turned to walk into the living room.

Finding Tommy and Gabriel silently playing with a jigsaw puzzle, Henry watching a football game and Nathan sitting by the window booth with Luca sprawled all over his legs, resting his huge head right next to Nathan’s strong abdomen.

“Welcome back, Oddie.” By Nathan’s words both Tommy and Gabriel panicked, taking deep ragged breaths they slowly turned to look at her face, instantly turning back down. Her face spoke more than any words could,

“Hey, Nate. Sorry I’m late, had a long day.” Her voice sound so sweet and gentle, that the boys cheered inside thinking that maybe she wouldn’t punish them for what had happened in the morning. “Hello to you too, Mr. Grumpy.”

“Good afternoon, sweetheart. Go get changed, you’re drenching.” He frowned at her from the sofa, she hadn’t realized her umbrella had little holes on the top and it didn’t really cover her enough from the cold rain.

“Right.” She turned to look back at the young ones sitting on the carpet next to the coffee table, without a word she turned towards the stairs walking as if nothing had happened. “I’ll take a quick shower, be right back.”

“Take your time.” Nathan answered her, still looking down at the lazy dog who was enjoying how the big guy massaged his head and played with his incredibly long ears. “She’s so pissed even I’m worried.”

“Ah, she’s more than pissed.” Gabriel complained dropping himself on his back on the carpeted floor. Covering his face with both hands he groaned, Tommy rested his back against the sofa also hiding his face with one hand, the other laying on his knee.

“What’s worse than her being pissed?” The old general asked this time, lowering the volume of the tv giving them a curious glance.

“She’s…” Gabriel’s voice broke a little trying to hide his tears behind his hands. “She’s disappointed… she didn’t even greet me, she’s not only mad at me, she’s upset that I wasn’t mature enough to get up by myself and get to school on time.”

Nathan shared a look with Henry, both thinking the same thing at the same time. Gabriel respected Oddie so much that the mere thought of her being disappointed him was enough to bring his mood down. Apparently, he rather see her completely enraged than disappointed.

He was trying hard not to cry too loud, no one was really bothering him or anything like that, not like they had any right to tell him anything to begin with. The bear man respected the feelings the little boy had swirling all over his mind.

Sniffling softly, he pouted his cheeks trying hard to contain the angry tears behind his eyes. Having the sensation that someone stood over him, he uncovered his eyes a little only for them to widen at the sight of Oddie crouching down behind his head, resting her hands on her knees looking at him silently.

With a deep red blush, he covered his eyes once more, not wanting her to see his red puffy face. He felt a gentle slender hand touch his forehead parting the messy hairs falling over it, caressing his hair she finally called out for him.

“Gabriel.”

“Yes?” His voice low and filled with sadness.

“Why weren’t you at school today?”

“I didn’t hear the alarm,” he started uncovering his mouth but never letting her see his upper face. “And when I finally woke up and rushed to get ready, the bus had left.”

“Is that so?” She sighed sitting on her knees, not really trying to say much.

Many would think she was being too soft on him, that she wasn’t giving him a lesson, she wasn’t grounding him nor yelling at him for being so irresponsible.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to, I swear.”

Still, she spoke no more, just stayed quiet not moving an inch from her place. The three older man in the living room stayed silent as well, not wanting to intervene in her ways to educate the child.

“I’ll do better next time; I didn’t want to anger you…”

“I’m more disappointed than angry to be honest.” He struggled to keep his sobs from escaping his mouth, that was exactly what he didn’t want to hear. “Also, I got worried.”

“What?” Now he was confused, why would she be worried? It was obvious he had stayed home, well he only got out to go pick up Henry, but other than that he was alright.

“I just received the texts from Sally and I got notified more than ten missed calls from her.”

“Just now?” Tommy dared to look at her still embarrassed by his mistake and irresponsible self. He tilted his head confused. “Sally called the house a little late asking where we were. When I told her she seemed comforted for some reason.”

“Ah, yeah I can tell you why.” Oddie sighed closing her eyes as she rubbed her temples. “The storm got worse at the company and the signal pretty much died everywhere around, I couldn’t get my phone to work. Besides, I was meetings the whole day, even if I wanted to answer her, I wasn’t able to.”

She looked down at Gabriel once more, finally reaching out to uncover his face with both her hands, he closed his eyes tightly not wanting to face her yet. With a small frown she poked his forehead, not letting go of his smaller hands.

“Look at me, Gabriel.” He did as he was told, he wasn’t even trying to give her the puppy eyes, but they came out naturally. “I thought something bad had happened to you. When I was on my way home I started receiving text after text from Sally asking where were you, and if you were alright as you didn’t show up at school.”

The sad look that covered her eyes were enough to make Gabriel finally free his tears, sobbing softly at first closing his eyes once more feeling his cheeks and ear get wet by the position he was in, the tears didn’t exactly fall down the way they should.

“Do you know how worried I was when I saw those texts? I felt like going crazy, until I saw the last ones that explained you were home with Tommy. Then I felt angry that neither of you had the decency to call me and tell me what was going on.”

“That was my mistake,” she stared at Tommy who scratched the back of his neck, shy and gloomy. “I was so worried myself about how you would react, I didn’t want you to hate me and not let me spend time with you guys anymore. I panicked, Oddie. The thought of being away from all of you is enough to bring my mood so low I couldn’t breathe, everything because of a stupid mistake of mine… I’m sorry.”

Gabriel nodded feeling the exact same way he did, both stayed silent not wanting to anger her any further. She stared at them in pure agonizing silence, before scoffing incredulous at the situation at hand.

Standing up she knocked her knuckles softly on each boys’ head, getting their attention in an instant; they sat down straight watching her walk towards the kitchen’s door frame where she stopped to look back at them.

“You just accidentaly skipped school, you didn’t murder nor kidn*pped anyone.” They smiled at each other before smiling at her overjoyed by her words, but her serene serious face froze their smiles. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed at you both. You should be more responsible about this, you’re not longer a little baby neither are you a teenager.”

She said looking at each one of them, giving them a bored glare they hid their faces one behind a pillow and the other under his navy blue cap.

“You’re grounded.” Gabriel lifted his face so fast he felt a little dizzy, gulping slowly he nodded his head. “Elliot won’t come visit for a week, and for two weeks you’ll wake up as early as I did today. Let’s see if you learn a little bit more about being on time.”

He gasped but kept quiet, he had no right fight back her order. Tommy gave him a saddened look before feeling the cold stare of Oddie, turning to see her he gulped, knowing it was his turn.

“You’re grounded as well, Thomas.” Ah, calling him by his real name was something that pained him more than her angry eyes. “I don’t care you’re only a year younger than me, you need to be more responsible. So I’ll call Nick tomorrow.”

“Nick? Why?” He shyly asked not really understanding what she was plotting.

“So I can ask him to give you two weeks off from the café.” He paled, that was the worst thing she could’ve said to him. He loved being a chef and making a living for it. “Don’t worry about your payment, you’ll get it but this time from me.”

“I’m not… really understanding what this is about, Oddie.”

“You’ll work for me as my assistant for the next two weeks. There’s this huge project coming and I got a lot of work to do, so I’m gonna need some extra hands on deck.”

“But I’m a chef, Oddie! I know nothing about designing unless its food related! I’ll be useless.” He stood up walking a little closer to her, trying to explain that he indeed, had no idea about her work field. She just rested her hands on her hips, the inexpressive face still over her features.

“That’s why you’ll be close to me, I’ll guide you through the job, so you don’t need to worry, just trust me.” He nodded with a heavy sigh. “What time shall I be here to go to work with you?”

“What are you talking about?” She fully turned to him with a frown. “You’re staying here; you know how much of a drag it’ll be to have to wait for you every day? No way am I having that, you’ll stay here and you’ll go to work with me.”

“What about my uniform?”

“Just dress formal or semiformal, and bring a coat. Early mornings are colder that you think and we need to catch the bus on time.” She turned back towards the kitchen finally leaving the other room full of men.

Tommy’s pout was so amusing Henry and Nathan couldn’t help but laugh a little, receiving a glare from the double colored eyed young boy. Not that the other two really cared about the glares.

“Oh, and boys?” Oddie’s head popped from the door’s frame with a sickly sweet smile decorating her lovely face. “Go and get changed.”

“Changed? For what?” Tommy gave her a weirded look while Gabriel gulped breathing defeated.

“This is not going to be good…”

“You’re running 15 laps around the house.”

“Right now?! But, it’s raining…” The young man tried to explain but she wasn’t having it.

“So? You rather wake up at 3:00am to run? Do it now and when you’re done, shower and come straight to eat dinner.”

“But…”

“Now!” She yelled from the kitchen, both boys groaning going upstairs.

Nathan laughed once more holding onto his stomach trying to catch his breath, Henry had walked towards the kitchen to help Oddie with dinner before he had to leave back to the nursery.

Looking down at the dog on his lap, he smiled wide playing with his whole face, not that Luca minded the attention. He was so into playing with the big boy, he didn’t feel the presence of the adorable short brunette he had spent the night with.

“Excuse me, Mr. Bear.” Clearing her throat, she got the attention of both him and Luca. She lifted an eyebrow at him crossing her arms under her chest. “May I know what’s bringing such amusement to your soul, to laugh in such a noisy way?”

“I apologize, doll. I couldn’t help it.” He smirked up at her; she had to say, it’s was hard not to smile back at him, but she needed to keep her mother authority.

“Sure, I should ground you as well.” Nathan’s amused look didn’t fade, making her eye twitch, she was breaking for him.

“And why should you? What have I done wrong?”

“You didn’t call me today.” She smirked in victory at the face he made. Giggling softly to herself she walked back towards the kitchen to help Henry out, leaving a speechless firefighter behind.

“Wait… you said your phone wasn’t working!”

“That’s not excuse, you could’ve at least tried.” She called back taking some meat from the fridge, Henry just smiling amused washing some vegetables.

“And what the hell is my punishment?” Nathan directed his gaze towards the window, trying to hide the slight blush dusting his cheeks, not wanting to have sinful thoughts through his mind.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” The tone she used to speak those words, that damned tone.

…

Tommy and Gabriel huffed as they finished the first three laps around the house, they knew the rules very well: don’t stop to take a breath unless you’ve ran five laps.

Running under the rain was pretty mean punishment, but no matter how mad Oddie could be, if they ever got sick because of her reprimands she’d take care of them with love.

“Good thing we have windbreakers to cover from the rain.” Tommy mumbled between heavy breaths, he needed to exercise more.

“Yeah…” The little boy answered, keeping the even pace of his feet surprising the older one a lot, Gabriel had a good pair of strong legs for sure. “I bet she’s gonna have warm food set for us so we don’t get sick. She always does that.”

“Isn’t that spoiling?”

“Oh, believe me,” Gabriel covered his face a little more with the hood of his jacket before talking again. “I’m everything but spoiled, don’t think my life is that easy.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Why do you think I’m a good kid with good grades and well behaved? I know I’ll face hell if I ever dare disrespect her authority or anything of the sorts.”

“Either way, I have a better question right now.” Gabriel gave the heterochromatic eyed man a curious glance, both running right beside each other.

“What?”

“Why the hell is Nathan running with us?”

“Uh?!”

The little boy turned to his right and in fact, Nathan was running alongside them with the grumpiest face he has ever seen on him, he was grumbling under his breath some incomprehensible words.

“What are you doing, man?”

“Shut up, Tommy. This is your fault. Ugh, she’s gonna pay for this.”

He sighed before laughing hard while running with them, looking back at the house he caught a glimpse of her happy face, she was cooking happily with Henry and the sight made his heart race, and not only because of the exercise she forced him to do.

“She’s lucky she’s adorable.”