Friend-4-Hire

Sacred Tuesdays

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Axel whistled to himself as he strolled along the familiar path to the bus stop. His bus stop, he liked to think of it. Especially since he was pretty sure he was the only upperclassman enrolled in the summer session that had to rely on the oh-so-unreliable public transportation system to commute to and from home.

But even that slight shot to his pride could not bring him down off of his cloud.

And so he whistled.

All in all it had been an eventful day. He had successfully finished making a whole batch of flyers, ran into that cute girl at lunch time, received his first job offer, met with the client, and then proceeded to plaster the entire downtown area with his advertising creations.

If there was even an inch of bare space on any light poles within walking distance, Axel swore he would eat his lucky boxers. Blue penguins and all.

As he approached the bus stop his whistling toned down to a light hum. No need to scare off any fellow public transportation riders. Particularly if they were potential clients.

There would be plenty of time for scaring and scaring off after the subject of payment had been discussed.

But fortunately – or unfortunately, if you were Axel – for all the unsuspecting potential patrons, Axel remained alone at the bus stop.

Although he did manage to freak the nice lady bus driver out. But that was only after he snuck in one of his flyers with his bus fare.

Nice lady bus drivers tend to not like such things.

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Caleb showed up slightly before eight as usual. For it was Tuesday, and Tuesdays beheld the sacred weekly ritual of Hang Out Time.

It was almost religious.

On most nights the boys got together and played poker or watched a movie. But every now and then, when one of the crew was in a rare joyous mood, they would partake in an activity never spoken of outside the revered Hang Out Time, especially not to members of the female species.

The activity of enjoyment, although most would never admit it short of death, was the edifying art of cooking.

Caleb, being the first to arrive, could already sense the cooking vibes in the air. Although it did help that there were pots and pans strewn all over the kitchen, not to mention the lime green apron his best bud wore, proudly proclaiming the words ‘My Spatula is Bigger Than Your Spatula’ across the front.

Undaunted by the sight, merely curious as to his friend’s good mood, Caleb retrieved his own apron from the pantry, a light blue number with ‘I’d Tell You the Recipe But Then I’d Have to Kill You’ embroidered in lavender thread.

“What’s the occasion, my friend?” Caleb inquired while washing his hands in the sink.

For he knew that it was very stupid not to when Axel was in charge, not to mention downright unsanitary.

“Oh, just a great day, that’s all,” Axel replied as he handed Caleb an onion to chop up.

“C’mon dude, you’ve got to give me more details than that,” Caleb half shouted over the running water he was cutting the onion under (it decreased the nasty side-effects of tearing up). “Spill. Where you productive for once this summer? Was it a girl? Did finally get an offer on that insane business of yours?”

“Oh, my friend, if only you knew how right you are,” Axel grinned. “But I can’t tell you anything until the rest of the gang gets here. Besides, I need to focus all my attention on this risotto.”

Caleb sighed and continued chopping in equally thin horizontal slices. He waited impatiently for the rest of the guys to arrive, knowing that he wouldn’t get a single word out of his bull-headed friend until then.

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Three additional ‘chefs’ and two Italian courses later, the group of now five males gathered in Axel’s living room, having recently shed their aprons after an intense war against stains and grease in the sink. The triumphant dish-washing warriors sprawled on the various mismatched couches and lounge chairs that filled the tiny living area. The only one who was not completely relaxed was the soldier Brian on timer duty, who would let his fellow comrades know exactly when two hours were up and they could all eat a victory batch of frozen amaretto truffles.

Upon relaxing, Caleb, who had been completely immersed in his cooking, remembered the good mood that had triggered this evening’s decadent menu and the man who had refused to share the origins of said mood.

Slightly annoyed at forgetting, he figured that now was a good a time as any to speak up about it.

So he did.

“Ax, what in hell made you so lobster-risotto-making happy?”

“Yeah, A-dude,” Derek, the lobster benefactor of the evening spoke up, “What’s got you all happy-go-lucky all of a sudden? Weren’t you just Mr. Woe-is-me-I-have-no-money-but-still-refuse-to-bum-off-my-insanely-rich-buddy-Derek two days ago?”

“Okay D-dude. One, you are not insanely rich. Your father just happens to own a lobster farm and you normally use it to your boost your chances on dinner with the ladies. Not that I’m complaining about tonight’s meal.”

Derek had the dignity to only look slightly hurt by Axel’s comments.

“And two, my money problems have been solved, so no more ‘woe-is-me’ attitude from this corner,” Axel pondered for a moment. “And three, I was not acting like that in the first place, as I can see no change in my demeanor from back then to now.”

The other four in the Alphabet Squad (can anyone guess friend number five’s name?) groaned.

“Enough with the dramatics, Ax,” Eran (hah!) rolled his eyes. “Just tell us what’s got you so damn slap-happy.”

“Well, I met this chick…” Axel began, but was cut short by a collective exasperated sigh that filled the room.

“It’s about time dude!”

“What, is that what this is all about? Because we definitely could have dealt with that over the chicken parmesan.”

“Hey! Give me a little credit,” Axel pretended to get mad. “It’s not like I want to be single forever. It just always never seems to work.”

While the rest of his friends, save Brian who was still intently watching the clock, muddled through the ‘always never’ paradigm, Axel continued to relate the events of his day.

“I also met with my first client today, and if all my jobs are as simple as this one, I don’t think I’ll have any problems making money this summer. Good money at that.”

“Wait,” Derek held up a hand. “Is this that same ‘hiring yourself out’ crap that Cal was telling me about? Because if we have to haul your ass out of one more weird situation…”

The group mentally shuddered at the memory of a much younger, less wiser Axel and his antics. Namely a certain situation involving a kool-aid stand and salt.

“Okay, so maybe I haven’t had the best ideas…”

“Ijit couldn’t even tell the difference between salt and sugar,” muttered Eran.

“…but this time I think it’s going to work!”

“Alright man,” Caleb, ever the friend, thoughtfully inquired, “Just who this ground-breaking first client of yours anyway?”

“Xavier Young.”

If life were a cartoon, four jaws would have become temporarily unhinged and collided with the floor. Even Brian had abandoned his post to let his eyes bug out shamelessly. As it was, Axel pretended not to notice the looks of sheer astonishment and unbelief on his friend’s faces.

“X-xavier…Young….?” Derek was the first to regain his power of speech.

Axel curtly nodded.

“Dude, are you serious? Because if you’re joshing us, man, I will tear you into pieces so small…”

“Whoa there, Eran. No need to finish that threat. Yes. I am being dead serious.”

“But do you know who that is?”

“Um, yes?”

“Xavier Young! Without him we wouldn’t even have an offense line, much less a football team!”

Unaffected by his friends’ outburst, Axel simply stared.

“And that’s supposed to affect me, how…?”

Four pairs of eyes looked at him as if he had just sprung another head and it was proclaiming undying, passionate love for each of their grandmothers (may they rest in peace).

“Xavier Young.”

“Yes, Der. That’s what I said.”

“Xavier. Young.”

“I thought we established that fact already, E-man.”

“Yes, but dude!”

“And, and…dude!”

“Yeah, A-dude…Dude!”

Rolling his eyes, Axel got up from his couch and walked into towards the kitchen.

The four sets of eyes followed his every movement.

“Hey, A-man, do you think you could get me an autograph?”

Axel paused for a second, his expression unreadable as he pushed Brian out of his way to the freezer.

“No.”

“No?”

“I said no, Bri.”

“Aw, c’mon man. Just get him to sign my football or something. Heck, I’ll even take a jersey!”

Axel’s eyes sharpened with seriousness.

“Rule Number One: Absolutely no exploitation of clients.”

“But Axel! I’m your best bud!”

“Actually, B-dude,” Caleb spoke up, “I think I fill that position. And I don’t think Axel’s joking this time.”

Brian, Eran and Derek looked back and forth amongst themselves and Axel, judging his look against their own.

“I…I guess you’re right, Cal.”

Caleb gave something of a dignified snort.

“’Course I am.”

Axel shot Caleb a brief look of gratitude before turning his attention back to the freezer.

“Okay. Now that that’s settled. Who wants some truffles?”

And then all was reduced to chocolaty chaos.

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A/N: Oh my. I feel ashamed and proud of myself all at the same time. Ashamed because I left this story for so long (14 months!) and proud because I finally got over my writer’s block. I haven’t had this much fun writing a chapter in such a long time.

I hope you guys really liked the boys because I had fun writing about them. They just sort of appeared in my head as I began writing, demanding to be a part of this story. Their names were a bit of a poor joke on my part; another random occurrence that happened in the midst of writing. I hope it doesn’t bug you too much. My subconscious corniness levels often surprise me.

I know I promised Axel’s first job in this chapter, but after writing and deleting it so many times, I decided that it needed more of a build up and its own separate chapter. Hopefully we’ll see Lin in the next one, too.

Cheers, and I promise to keep the lack of updates down to a month.

-Kera

Merry Fairie: Ah! I hope you somehow manage to read this chapter! A thousand apologies for the over-a-year delay. ::bows:: Hey…wait a minute. When’s the last time you updated? YOU MUST UPDATE! Unless, of course, you are physically unable to or are to stressed or have any other life affecting situations. Man, now I feel bad. Here, have a brownie ::hands brownie::

Van Pham: I’m guessing by your name that you’re Vietnamese? If so, that’s pretty cool. I knew a couple of Pham’s growing up; they were cool, too. Sorry for not having any of Lin in this chapter, but I promise you’ll get to see how she deals with everything in the next chapters. Thanks for reading!

Carina: I’m glad you are amused by my ramblings, also known as coherent thoughts expressed through fictional characters. ::grin:: Did you like Axel’s seriousness about his job here? I thought you might appreciate it. Thanks for the comment! It made my day. (Albeit, my day a year ago…heh.)

Jazzy Kitty: I love the fact that you really did pretty much paste my entire chapter into your review. ::grins:: I’m quite flattered. Glad that you were entertained, too. I hope this chapter meets your standard humor as well.

Grez: Thanks! I’m glad that it went by in a jiffy for you, too. This chapter is even longer, I think. I hope it goes by just as fast, though. Thanks for the compliment!

Empathic Life: Lookie! I updated past chapter two! ::does little victory dance:: Thanks for the motivation; I desperately needed it. Don’t be shy to prod me again for another update if need be! I tend to be rather forgetful…

Eclipsia Soulbird: Hey! I UPDATED! I do believe the world has ceased to spin on its axis. Mother-of-Pearl. I can hardly believe it myself. Thanks for you wonderfully wondiferious reviews. And all those names. I’ll keep them in mind for later chapters. (I like Ferdinand, aka Ferdi; he might show up one of these days). Horatio was pretty spiffy too; where’d you get that from? And about your comments of writing and organization and adding to fave author’s lists… ::blushes:: You are far too kind. Oh. And since I updated, does this mean I get that cookie…?