His Young Luna

Chapter One

Odess's POV

I hugged my best friend goodbye as she got on the bus to leave. Now that graduation was over she was going off to college. I was happy my parents had finally come around to the idea of me taking a year off before going to school again. I mean I'm twenty-two, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Yeah the first couple of years were all prerequisite classes but still. I got into my car and drove back home so I could be there when my parents got home.

I pulled up to the entrance to the gated community we lived in. I rolled my window down as the security guard came out. "Evening Dessa, and how are you today?" Josh asked. "I'm good how was your day today?" I asked him with a smile. "Oh you know same s**t different day" He said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulder. "You're parents coming home today?" He asked me. I nodded my head as my smile grew.

Ever since I was little I had grown up in the foster system. My mom had died while giving birth so my father blamed me for it. He would abuse me constantly but luckily I was pulled out of his home and placed into the foster care system. A majority of the families I had lived with were terrible but once I moved in with the Edward and Angela Gray everything changed. We were a real family and they adopted me shortly after. I loved my parents and they loved me. They worked as personal trainers and would travel a lot for work. Most of the time it was just one of the gone but occasionally they would both leave together.

"Well tell them I said hi" Josh said as he opened the gate for me. "I will have a good night!" I called out my window as I drove through. I pulled into my drive way  and noticed Theo's car in the driveway. I got out and walked inside my house where Theo was relaxing on the couch. "Hey squirt" He said sitting up as I went over and gave him a side hug. Theo was my dad's best friend and was over at our house a lot. "Hey you know my parents aren't home yet right" I asked jokingly as I went to the kitchen for a drink.

"Obviously but they should be here soon and I need to talk with Ed" He said. "Here I was hoping it would be a workless day" I said. "Hey it will be don't worry, we just have a stupid complaint that needs handled that's all" He said waving off my worry. Dad was the president of our communities home owners association and Theo was the vice president. "If you say so" I said and sat next to him on the couch. We turned on the tv and were watching a movie when the front door opened. "We're home!" I heard my mom yell out.

I jumped up and ran to her. I hugged her as hard as I could and she nuzzled her nose into my neck. Then I felt a heavy pressure around us as I realized Dad wrapped us in his arms. My parents were intimidating people. Dad had muscles the size of my freaking head and a full sleeve of tribal tattoos. His long black hair was pulled back away from his face today. Mom had a lot of muscle as well as some tattoos and her blonde hair accentuated her grey blue eyes. "How's our princess?" Dad asked when we broke apart. "Good how was your trip?" I asked. "Good we're just glad to be home" Mom said ruffling my hair while I groaned.

We heard Theo clear his throat behind us and we all turned around. "Welcome back guys" Theo said before giving them each a hug. "Once you guys are settled we need a mini HOA meeting" He added. "Oh you two go ahead. Dessa and I will just get started on dinner." Mom said. We started towards the kitchen before mom turned around "Oh will you be joining us Theo?" She asked. "Not tonight. Maureen is waiting at the house" He said and mom quickly nodded her head.

"So special girl what do you want for dinner tonight?" Mom asked as she looked in the refrigerator. "How about lasagna?" I asked her. "Oh perfect" She said and started pulling out the ingredients while I pulled out the pots and pans. Today was the anniversary of me adoption so we always did a special dinner and got each other a present.  Mom started cooking the meat and the sauce while I got the noodles started. I also pulled out vegetables so we could have salad as well. "Way to think healthy" Mom said as she drained the meat.

"Well it's kind of hard to be anything but I mean look at you and dad" I said with a light laugh. Mom smirked before mixing the meat in with the sauce. Once the noodles were cooked mom assembled the lasagna and put it in the oven to finish cooking. "Why don't you set the table while I go check on Dad and Theo" Mom suggested. "Okay" I replied before pulling out the plates and utensils. Once the place settings were done everyone filed into the dining room. "See you next time Theo!" I called out as he waved good bye from the front door.

The oven dinged just as I set the bowl of salad on the table and mom ran to get the food. Just as the lasagna touched the table my phone started ringing. I looked at it quick and saw it was my work calling. "Ugh let me take this real quick" I said and walked away from the table as my parents sat down. "Thank god you answered Odessa" My boss said relieved. "Hey Kayla what's up?" I asked her. "So I had three servers call out. I know you said you can't come in but is there any way please I'm begging you" She pleaded. I let out a huff while pinching the bridge of my nose. "What about Alyssa?" I asked her. "She quickly last night" Kayla said. "Please I'll give you time and a half" She quickly added. "Fine give me an hour" I said. "You are a life saver!" She said before hanging up the phone.

I walked back into the dining room and broke the news to my parents. "Oh sweetie" Mom said. "I know but Kayla sounded desperate" I said. "Okay well we'll put your plate away in the fridge and we can do the presents tomorrow" Dad said. I walked over and gave them each a hug and a kiss "Thank you for understanding" I said. "Of course sweetie. We're so proud of the responsible and strong woman you have become" Mom said. I ran upstairs and took a quick shower before changing into my work uniform. It was a long sleeve white shirt with black slacks. I pulled my hair up into a half pony tail and dusted on some light eye shadow and some lip gloss.

I ran down the stairs and quickly made my way to work. Once I clocked in I grabbed my apron that tied around my waist and put n my name tag. "Have I told you how much I love you?" I heard Kayla asked behind me. "Yeah yeah" I said with a smirk. I really did like my boss, she never called me in when I would ask her not to so that how I knew she was desperate. I walked over to the seating chart in the kitchen to check where my section was tonight then read tonight's specials. After a couple minutes of checking some orders the hostess came in.

"Dessa you have a table" She called out before disappearing. "Before you go to them can you help me carry out this tables food?" Kayla asked as she balanced a tray of food. "Sure thing" I said picking up the last couple of plates. I smiled as we walked out onto the restaurant floor. It was slammed, no wonder Kayla was so frantic. We reached the table and distributed the food before I made my way to my first table tonight.

When I walked up I could see there were five people total, two couples and one man. "Good evening I am so sorry about the wait. We're short staffed tonight" I explained. Everyone's attention turned to me and I offered a smile. However the man sitting at the head of the table caught my eye. He seemed familiar but I could figure out from where. Maybe I went to school with one of his kids? He had short brown hair with stubbing blue eyes. He had stubble on his face as if he didn't shave the past couple of days. He was built but not as muscular as my dad. I couldn't help but look him up and down as my stomach fluttered. Someone cleared their throat which broke me out of my trance.

"Oh lord I am so sorry" I apologized with a blush. "Uh my name is Odessa what can I get everyone to drink?" I asked clasping my hand together behind my back. The man at the head of the table choked on his glass of water a little bit. "Oh are you okay?" I asked him. He just coughed and motioned for me to continue. "Can we get a bottle of champagne for the table?" The woman closest to me asked with a nice smile. She was very pretty, she had pink hair and tan skin. "Absolutely would you like any appetizers while you look over the menu?" I asked the group. "Sure can we get an order of the stuffed mushroom, and fried mozzarella?" The other woman at the table asked. "Sure I'll go put those in and will be right back with the champagne" I said.

I went to a register and put in the appetizer order as well as the bottle of champagne. I went to the bar and grabbed an ice bucket and bottle from the giant refrigerator we had while grabbing five glasses with my other hand. I went back to the table and placed the ice bucket down on the table and distributed the glasses. When I reached the man at the head of the table he was bringing his cup of water back down just as I set his new glass down as well. Our hands brushed and I felt a warming shock which caused me to gasp. I tried not to look at his face as I blushed. What the hell was wrong with me right now?

I grabbed the bottle of champagne and poured everyone a glass before putting the bottle back in it's bucket. "Just so you know we have wagyu steak with a cabernet sauce also lobster tail with a lemon cream sauce on special tonight" I told them. "Sounds great thank you" The other woman at the table said. She had long brown hair with hypnotic brown eyes. I bowed my head a little bit and went to the kitchen to see if their appetizers were ready yet. I grabbed a tray so I could pile one the two dishes with their empty plates. I made my way back to the table and distributed everyone's appetizer plates before Kayla tapped my shoulder. "You have a new table and they aren't the friendliest" She said. I nodded my head and quickly took everyone's dinner order. I went to the register and put in the orders before heading to my new table.

"It's about time" The man said. He seemed a little drunk, great. "I'm so sorry sir. We're short staffed so I deeply apologize" I said. I quickly took his drink order and brought it back to him before getting his dinner order. I went back to the kitchen and grabbed the orders for my first table and brought them out. "I hope you all enjoy it" I said with a smile before going back to the kitchen to grab the other table's order. When I got there I set the plate down and the man immediately started complaining. "This isn't what I ordered" He said. "Yes it is sir you said you wanted the steak special tonight" I told him. "It was supposed to have the cream sauce and the other sauce on the mashed potatoes" He slurred out. "Sir you never told me that but I will go get it fixed for you" I said. "No I'll just eat this" He said with a sneer. I apologized again and left his table.

I went to the register so I could give him a discount on his bill figuring he was the type. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see the lady with the pink hair. "Hi do you need something at your table?" I asked her. "Oh no you've been excellent tonight. So the guy that's at the head of the table. It's actually his birthday so I was wondering if you had any sort of special dessert" She asked. "Of course I'll take care of it" I said and she clapped her hands. "Awesome thank you!" She said before going back to the table. I went to the kitchen and asked for our famous chocolate peanut butter souffle. Once it was ready I brought it out to the table and placed it in front of the man. I placed a candle in and lit it I don't know why but I just had the urge no the need to touch him again. I placed my hand on his shoulder and felt the same warmth as before. He snapped his eyes to mine and I got lost. "Happy birthday " I mumbled.