The Baker's Man

Life on Earth

Odette chewed at her bottom lip as Aaliyah stared back at her. The awkward tension between them was becoming unbearable. Odette had no idea what caused the awkward aura, but she desperately wanted it to end.
"Dad suggested that you and I spent some time together since we are the same age," Aaliyah said breaking the silence. "I should probably make friends my own age, between Victoria and Adam I'm beginning to turn into an old lady."
"I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help. I'm a seventy-five-year-old woman on the inside." Odette said with a chuckle.
"I guess we should talk about the elephant in the room," Aaliyah said as she dug into her grilled romaine salad. Odette cocked her head to the side as she wondered where the conversation was leading to.
"It's no secret that I haven't been the most welcoming since you showed up at GRP. In fact, I straight up did not like you at first."
"Why?" Odette gasped as she tried to figure out what she could have possibly done for Aaliyah to not like her.
"It was nothing you did...for the most part. I was just a stupid insecure jerk." She said with a shrug.
"How so?"
"I thought that you were trying to go after Adam," Aaliyah confessed, just by taking one look at the shocked expression on Odette's let her know that it was all in her head.
"Huh? Adam? Oh ew no."
"Ew?"
"I don't mean it in a bad way I...." Odette trailed off as she tried to find the right words to say. "Adam is like a brother to me. The last thing on my mind when I arrived at GRP was trying to find a boyfriend. I ran away from Elijah for as long as I could."
"Which wasn't very long apparently," Aaliyah said with a laugh.

"Apparently," Odette said as her cheeks flushed as she thought about the first-time Elijah had made his feelings known.
"Anyway, I owe you an apology. I shouldn't have been such a jerk to you. I think you are a great person and I love how happy you make Elijah. I hope we can be friends."
"I know we can," Odette said confidently, knowing that they would become close friends.

****

Victoria walked into the house to a strange sound that assaulted her ears. Heather was barking from the living room as a baby screamed from the top of its lung. She walked into the living-room to find it turned into a daycare center. A teenage age girl rocked the screaming toddler, trying to comfort him, and a little boy sitting on the sofa watching television.

"Wha-who...Dante!" She yelled, and she could hear Dante running down the stairs. He ran into the living-room with a diaper and wipes in hand.

"Babe your home early." He said as he kissed her cheek before giving the items to the girl.

"I need to talk to you." He said pulling her into the kitchen.

"Dante, when did our home become a Daycare center?"

"About two hours ago," Dante said giving her a boyish grin. Victoria rolled her eyes as she folded her

arms across her chest. Her face clearly expressed her annoyance with having her space bombarded unexpectedly.

"Who's kids are they? Where did they come from?"

" Well, they are an old friend of Ma's grandchildren. Their grandmother had a heart attack, and Ma volunteered to keep the kids."

"Her apartment isn't big enough."

"Exactly, which is why they are here," Dante said as he wrapped his hands around Victoria's as she glared at him.

"We don't have any room for them either."

"Well, we have the guest bedroom and your office."

"Oh, so now you're just giving my room away, without even talking to me."

"Remember how much you love me," he said as Victoria jerked her hands away from him. "I know this is sudden but, they really have nowhere else to go. You know better than I do what would happen if the state steps in."