Who: Seth and Odette
Where: Coffee shop!
When: Tomorrow. I'm just impatient.
What: Haa what you expect from these two.
Seth was enjoying a day off to himself when the letter arrived. He had just returned home from dropping Leanne off at daycare when the owl arrived with his mail. He was flicking through all the junk and fan mail so fast he almost missed the letter from the ministry. Oh merlin. What now? He hadn't done
anything. Seth scowled as he broke the wax and scanned the letter.
'Dear Mr. Wadcock,
This is a mere formality informing you that as of December thirty-first, nineteen eighty,
the restraining order filed by Odette MacFarlan has been dropped. Please -------Huh. December 31? That was like a week ago. Interesting. Well not being told really shouldn't be any surprise but Odette lifting it at all, now that was interesting. Something Seth just had to investigate. So he headed downtown towards a coffee shop that he knew Odette liked by the number of times she showed up to practice with one of their cups in hand. Hah, and luck seemed to be on his side today.
"Interesting fact I learned today," Seth said, trying to keep the mood light, as slid into the chair across from Odette. "It is no longer illegal for me to talk to you. Now the interesting part is, that the restraining order should be in tact for at least another five months. Odd isn't it."
As if today hadn't shitty enough. Odette stared blankly back at Seth through her sunglasses, refusing to acknowledge him for a few seconds. Yes, she had dropped the bloody order. And
yes, obviously she had no intentions of ever telling him, because why go and ruin what peaceful existence she had left when Seth still believed he was lawfully mandated to stay forty meters away from her at all times? But it had to be done if she was going to start her new image this year. Unfortunately, the past month hadn't exactly started off as she had desired. This blistering headache didn't help her mood either.
Putting a hand to her head, Odette sighed as she looked down at her untouched coffee. She did not want to start with him (not that she really could anyway), nor did she feel even able to deal with him at this point. But, as she glanced around, Odette could see people already beginning to whisper and stare. Wonderful.
That was the kind of reputation that followed them. And consequently her.
Them. There shouldn't even be a
them, yet here it was. Most likely calling a photographer right now to get over here and chronicle the next installment of the 'love affair of the century.'
"Odd, but true," Odette shrugged, leaning back in her chair to cross one leg over the other. Earlier, she had hoped that coming here would at least bring up her mood, if not her physical lag, but now it felt like she could never come here again if Seth was able to simply walk over here and find her where he expected her to be. Why couldn't Montrose be like London? You never found who you were looking for in London.
Seth eyed her carefully as she sipped her coffee, trying to figure out what exactly she was up to. "Don't go anywhere. Wait right here." he said before shuffling up to the counter to get himself a coffee and a danish. He went back to the seat taking a big bite and staring at Odette. Not in a creepy way but in a 'what are you up to' sort of way.
Seth just couldn't get around the whole
why part. Noah was certain that Seth had made her
cry the last time he was allowed near her, and although he didn't believe it was
solely his fault, if that were true then she would have probably renewed the order at the end rather than drop it five months early. He took another bite and chewed thoughtfully.
"But
why?" he asked finally giving up on figuring it out himself. He never claimed to be athletic, handsome,
and smart.
Did he honestly think she would ever tell him that? Or better yet, even a faucet of the truth? She would rather
die than let him know she had dropped the restraining order to make
her look better. And, somewhere in the process, make him look better also. Nope, she would rather go silent for the rest of her life than say that. Odette fingered the rim of her cup (which had now turned cold), imaging what sitting here by herself would have continued to be like if Seth hadn't shown up.
Ugh, neither of them were very appealing.
"Why do you care?" Odette sighed, her head tilting to rest slightly on her shoulder as she spoke. And she meant that in all honesty. What did it really matter to him, in the long run? All he knew was that he could resume normal life, say whatever he wanted to say to anyone now and not get in the slightest bit of trouble for it. What made him so interested in the reasonings behind what she decided to do with her life? She didn't answer her own question, not willing to attempt that mess.
Odette looked down at his danish for a second, pondering if she should get something to eat herself. The concept of food hadn't exactly been agreeing with her lately, so maybe it would be a good idea to eat something.... But the more Odette thought about putting something in her stomach, the more it responded with a sickly feeling of 'no way in hell.' Whatever, she was always allowed to say it was her job to stay light and thin.
"I thought you'd be happy about this."
"I care because, well, it makes no sense. I'm just worried about your health or what not. I mean, you're
allowing me to be able to talk to you. Don't get me wrong, its not like I'm not happy about it because, it makes things a whole lot easier." Seth said leaning back in his chair resting his hands behind his head.
He eyed her carefully then stood up and shrugged. "Eh, whatever, I'll see you at practice" he said heading towards the door. He practically made it out the door before turning around and heading back to the table.
"Seriously? You were going to let me just leave like that. Not wondering what my ulterior motive was? Are you ok? You're not pregnant or something are you? Because all of this is too weird."
Odette gripped her cup tightly, more than ready to stand up and dump her entire drink of once hot, now turned cold coffee all over Seth. What was his business just
asking inappropriate things like that? She knew that he would eventually make up for lost time, but did it have to start
now? Couldn't it at least wait until-- until--- a time when prompting something like that didn't make her want to start crying in the middle of the shop? Crying, she was actually ten seconds away from not only crying in a public place, but
crying in front of Seth Wadcock.
Oh, she wished he had just left. The strange taste of him leaving so unceremoniously would have been easier to deal with than fighting back tears.
"I don't---" Odette began shakily, trying desperately to control herself. This could not be happening, people were here--- how could he possibly know that this was exactly what she and Noah had gotten into a fight over! A very
important fight that still hadn't been resolved, which made everything look worser with each passing day that things stayed unresolved. And--- what if he
left because of it? Poof, gone, her life would go back to the way it was a year ago, like nothing had ever happened. Having children or not was a dealbreaker, everyone knew that, and she hadn't thought---
Despite her efforts, large tears began to form in her eyes. Odette knew she shouldn't make it look like she was upset, but the instinctual need to hide her tears overpowered her. Both hands went to her face as her head dropped to look down at the table. "I just--- can't-- deal with this right now-- okay?" Odette never thought the day would come when she'd actually give into Seth, but here it was. Embarrassing. This was what she got by holding in her feelings.
Seth's eyes widened as he stared at Odette. Oh merlin. She was
crying. He didn't even mean to make her cry. What the fuck did he say? He really couldn't handle anymore crying women this week. "Hey now, don't cry. I didn't mean it whatever I said." Merlin. Maybe she
was pregnant. He heard pregnant women cried all the time over nothing.
"Here" he said shoving his still hot coffee towards her, because her's couldn't be hot anymore, she hadn't taken a single sip while he'd been there and it wasn't even steaming. "I haven't touched it. Have some hot coffee. Just please don't cry. I'm sorry. Whatever I said. I just can't handle any more crying."
"I don't want your
coffee," she whimpered, looking up at him through her fingers. This was actually horrifying. Like-- beyond anything she could have ever imagined would happen in her life at this point. All Odette needed now was for a scene to just erupt into another out-of-this-world magazine article. She could see the headline now; another ridiculous accusation about how her and Wadcock were at it again despite nothing ever actually happening between them.
And like it ever
would, Odette would have to be pretty desperate to hit on her married
captain who enjoyed making her life harder than it already was.
"Just--- go home Seth," she said as she reached to wipe away her tears. Odette's tone was bitter, for reasons more than one. He had a home,
he had a family to go to in spite of how much of an---
ass he could be sometimes. How could he manage it and not her? What was so wrong with her that she couldn't even---
understand Noah sometimes, or think that he meant something else when it was something completely different?
With a swift swipe of her hand, Odette's sunglasses were back on her face as she steadily attempted to calm herself. But if one more person thought she was pregnant--- which she was
not--- she was fairly certain that a much larger and louder fit would over come her. "Go home to your wife and just--- stay away so people don't think we're secretly dating again or something."
Seth blanched at Odette's words. He didn't expect for them to sting like they did, it was his fault after all. It shouldn't hurt like this at all. Okay maybe this was how she was feeling. Maybe Seth hit just a bit too close to home for her liking without know it, just like she did. He cleared his throat and reached over to take back his cup of coffee. If she wasn't going to drink it.
"As lovely as that sounds, I can't. Savannah left me." He said calmly taking a drink of his coffee. "It's not like I blame her or anything, it's completely my fault one way or another, I'm sure. And I'm letting her have the house. The details really aren't important, what is, is that I can't, go home to my wife or otherwise." He chugged down the rest of his coffee really wishing there was some liquor in it, and let out a bitter laugh. "I suppose karma's a bitch, huh, MacFarlan. Everything I've done, to her, to you, has finally come back to bite me in the ass."
Seth stood up and glanced around the cafe. No one was staring more than the usual, and he was pretty positive that there hadn't taken any pictures. "Anyways, I guess I just wanted to thank you for lifting the order, even if it was an unconventional way of saying it. It makes the rest of this shit easier to sort through."
---
What? Odette did not attempt to hide the obvious shock on her face. Her mouth dropped open in such an unappealing way that her empty hand barely concealed it. His wife had left him? Just now? Like--
just now, or recently? Or---
Odette wasn't sure what shocked her more: the fact that it had actually happened, or the words coming out of Seth's mouth. It was completely his
fault, and he didn't
blame her?
Karma? Everything he had done to--- she blinked blankly at him, her tears drying quickly as this news sobered her awake. Of course, someone could only take so much abuse until they lost it. A prickle of guilt began to fill her as she thought about how all those rumors between her and Seth, despite nothing ever happening, most likely did not help Savannah Wadcock feel any better about her marriage.
The hair on her arms bristled on end as Odette realized something. Everyone must know that this had already happened (Odette had long ago stopped reading what people wrote about her, though she was fairly certain everyone saw her as a domestic whore desperate for attention). And now they were sitting together at a table. Alone. Where her tears of misery from before could have be conceived as tears of
joy, and anyone near them could
swear that they had heard something much differently than what was said. Odette looked up at Seth in a new way, trying her best to keep her face impassive.
The right thing to do would be to ask him to stay, and talk about what happened. But with everything that had been happening in the past year, and everything that was happening
now... it just wasn't a good idea. Besides, it wasn't exactly he had won her trust and compassion just yet. Most of the fights she had with Noah
were centered around Seth one way or another, direct or indirectly. "I think you should leave," Odette stated quietly, her gaze going back down to her hands.
"I--" Whatever Seth was expecting, it certainly wasn't that. He supposed if anything he really should have expected Odette to pissed about this too. He wasn't going to get ahead either way. He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "I was just on my way out." he said simply before heading towards the door not bothering to look back.
