Page 5 of The Omega's Third Wish
Chapter Three
Zeph
Theo stared at me, eyes wide with alarm. I shifted my weight nervously and glanced at his bags again. Good gods, had he packed up to move in?! I hated to say it, but the interview wasn’t off to a good start. Among the many things I was looking for in a personal assistant, the ability to comprehend a simple email was one of them.
He dropped a large duffle bag and pulled out his phone. “No,” he fumbled with it for a moment. “Here!”
I looked at the screen and froze.
You’re hired! Does Monday at 10am work for you? I’ll have about an hour to talk things over. My address is below.
“I…” I stammered. “I didn’t type that…”
“What?!” Theo cried indignantly. I didn’t blame him.
“Here,” I pulled out my one phone and checked my email. “I’ll be damned…” I muttered. Ihadsent that. I clicked on his previous email, trying to figure out what happened. My ever-so-helpful email provider popped up a few choices to auto-fill a response. One of them wasYou’re hired!“Oh no…” I groaned.
“What is it?” Theo asked nervously.
I heaved a sigh. “It… it must have put an auto response when I was trying to invite you to an interview…”
“Of course it did,” he spat. “I’m cursed after all. I’ll go get my daughter… If you don’t mind…” He stood awkwardly in my foyer, looking so beaten down I wanted to hug the omega.
“You can still interview,” I offered. I owed him that much and hehadbeen on time after all.”
“It won’t matter. I’m cursed. But thank you.”
“I’m sure you aren’t cursed,” I said with a chuckle.
Theo smiled grimly and shook his head. “No, I am.” Before I could argue he added, “by the Fae King.”
I froze. That wasn’t something to joke about. “If that’s a joke…” I began.
“It’s not,” he said.
I swallowed nervously. I wasn’t sure if I wanted someone cursed by the Fae King himself in my house! “What um…”
Theo groaned and shrugged. “My great-grandfather saved the life of one of the Fae King’s daughters. In exchange, he told my great-grandfather that he owed him a favor.”
Well, that was an unexpected reason to be cursed. “He owed him a favor and… cursed you?”
Theo shook his head. “It’s just a family legend… but they say the Fae King declared that he would repay the favor “in his own time”. Well, my great-grandfather grew impatient and sought out the Fae King to demand his repayment. The King was insulted and instead of a favor, cursed my great-grandfather…” He paused and gestured to himself. “and his entire line with bad luck.”
I pursed my lips sympathetically. Although I had to admit, I was curious. Short of the wandering elf up the street, I had never met anyone actually cursed by the Fae King. “What sort of bad luck?”
“This,” Theo said with a bitter laugh. “Jobs thatneverpan out. I’ve never been fired for performance,” he said, somewhat proudly. “But I’ve never held a job for even a full year. There’s always a reorganization or the company fails or they merge my position or the other guy gets it…” He laughed darkly. “Or the guy interviewing me accidentally says he’s hiring me… More often than not I don’t even get the job; my interviews get cancelled, my applications get lost, there’s a hiring freeze… and…” Theo heaved a sigh. “Every time I get a decent apartment the rent goes up higher than I can afford or it gets sold and the new landlord kicks everyone out… Mindy was a… a one night stand. My alpha father met someone else and left my omega dad. My grandfather left my grandmother… My college closed its doors and nobody got a degree and I haven’t been able to afford school since…”
“Gods,” I moaned in sympathy. What an awful life. I looked at his bags again and thought about how happy he must have been to finally get a job offer. And no doubt how stressed he was wondering how it would fall through. Then I glared and clenched my fists in anger. Had the curse just dragged me into it? Did the hand of the Fae King make my finger slip and hit that damn autofill response?
“You’re hired,” I said.
“I know. I’ll just get Mindy and… what did you say?”
I squared my shoulders. “The Fae King isn’t going to run my life!” As I spoke, Rosie’s brand new kitten, Tau, meowed loudly. “You’re hired!”
Theo stared at me. “I uh… I…thank you! Thank you, Mr. Zephlyn! I won’t let you down!”
“You can call me Zeph,” I offered. “Let me show you around and tell you all about the job.”
