Page 50 of Collateral Omega

And Holi was tired of it. He longed to sleep for more than a few hours. To stop looking over his shoulder. And most of all, he longed to stay in one place, make friends, fall in love. He couldn’t do that because Xaine was always a step behind.

I hate him.

“Holi, get back to work,” Master Gab hissed.

Holi grumbled, but he went back to scrubbing the wall.

“There shouldn’t be any scent of food lingering in the air after you’re done.” He wheeled in place as he inspected their work. His body jiggled with every motion. “Sinna, make sure those serving bots are sparkling. Last time you did a shoddy job and the company complained. They docked my deposit because I sent back dirty serving bots. You do a shitty job this time, it’s coming out of your pay, all of you. Do you hear me?”

“Damn, he’s cheap,” Blaine mumbled next to him. “There are few of us and too much work to get done in one day. He should have hired more omegas.”

Holi looked over his shoulder to see if Master Gab had heard Blaine.

“Blaine?” he snapped at him. The omega said he shouldn’t speak to him, but insulting their employer was the last thing he should be doing. Holi knew the omega needed this job desperately. Blaine’s life was as pitiful as his. They were from the same background. Though Blaine still had his family, he wasn’t alone in the world, like Holi. But his family was Blaine’s problem. Even though the omega lived in a commune, he still supported his family financially. His family’s survival rested on his shoulders. And Holi heard that Blaine had a lot of siblings who came after him. Holi kind of counted himself lucky. He didn’t have to take care of anyone but himself.

He was lonely, though. From the moment he entered the system and started living in the commune house, he envied the other omegas when they took turns connecting with their families. If it wasn’t for Xaine searching for him, no one would care if he was alive or dead. It was really sad that his only source of human contact was an alpha stalking him.

“You don’t want him to hear you,” Holi cautioned. Where Holi could tolerate many things, Blaine couldn’t. His temper will get the omega in trouble one day.

“What? Am I wrong? We worked our asses off to prepare for the inauguration and served those snobs the whole night. You’d think we’d get a thank you for our hard work. No.”

“Stop,” Holi said tiredly. “Let’s get this done and go home.”

“Home? You call that ugly thing a home. We would have been better off living in the commune house. Larny was perfect, and you had to mess it up for me. I hate you for that.”

“Hate me while you’re working. I don’t want to spend another second here,” Holi said tiredly. He’d never been this tired in his whole life.

“Fine,” Blaine said grudgingly, going back to work. They worked for a couple more hours, leaving the room smelling fresh and clean. They helped Sinna load the serving bots on a moving bot for the company to pick up, and then they were done. Master Gab wheeled back into the room, crumbs on his ample chest.

Holi’s stomach growled at the sight. He cringed, disgusted but still hungry. They’d been working since sundown without any food or rest. Holi hoped there was food at the house, and they didn’t have to cook.

Master Gap slowly inspected the area – running his fingers over tables and sniffing the air. When he found nothing, he turned to them with a smile, pleased with himself.

“Let’s go home,” he said.

Holi and the other omegas walked out of the room, down the hallway and out the back door to the parking dome. They got into the shuttle. Holi sighed as his body sank into the seat, grateful to finally sit down. He leaned his head on the headrest and closed his eyes. They drifted in silence all the way home. And when they got there, they all got out of the pod and just stood there, staring at the house.

“Did we leave the door open?” Blaine asked as he stared at the askew door as light spilled out to pool on the front porch.

“I don’t think so,” Sinna said, taking a step towards the house, but Blaine gripped his arm to stop him.

“Don’t go in there. We’re not sure what’s going on,” he said, holding the omega back. Master Gab was the last one to get out of the pod with the help of the pod operator. He wheeled to a stop beside them, looking as stunned as they were.

“I locked it. I’m sure I did,” Maine said from the back. An intense silence ensued as everyone held their breath as if that would change the fact that their door was open, and they could see what looked like someone’s pants in the doorway.

“I saw him do it,” added Ozi, breaking the silence. “He locked the door.” The others nodded as if they bore witness to the event.

“If you saw Maine lock the door, then…” Sinna said.

“We’ve been robbed,” Blaine announced in a strained voice. They stood there gawking at the door as if they were trying to make sense of Blaine’s words. And when his words finally made sense, Holi’s knees buckled as if something hard and heavy slammed into him, pulverizing his bones. He gasped, his body crumbling towards the ground.

“Holi,” Blaine shouted, catching him before he hit the ground.

“No…no…no…no,” he said, running into the house, heedless of the shouting that followed his mad dash through the house to his room. The house was a mess.

Holi took the stairs two at a time, already thinking the worst. His credit was gone.

He stopped at the open bedroom door and nearly fainted. The entire room was turned upside down. His clothes were strewn everywhere. And his case – the very place he’d hidden his credit account chip was ripped apart.

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