Page 41 of Feeling the Heat: Part One
God, I’m so lucky to have her. And not only because she helps haul my weak ass back out of the tub, changes my sweaty sheets, and then commands me to go back to bed while she goes out and gets me all the omega “essentials”. I’m too tired to ask what she means, my eyelids drooping as soon as my head hits the pillow.
Thankfully, there aren’t any heat dreams this time, and when I wake up, I’m feeling significantly better. Still sore as hell, but not like I want to pass out at any moment.
Astrid is unpacking her purchases when I exit my bedroom, and I rub my eyes, thinking I’m seeing things because it lookslike she bought at least one of everything from the omega department of a big box store.
She looks up and smiles at me. “Hey kitty. Feeling any better?”
“Yeah, a lot better.” My omega threatens to make me purr again with delight at all these presents, but my practical side knows that there’s no way I can accept all this. “This is too much. I appreciate it, but it’s too much.”
Astrid waves a hand dismissively. “Nonsense.”
I move over to look at the stuff piled on the coffee table, and point at the not one, not two, or even three, butfourdifferent bottles of scent neutralizer. “I don’t know if I could use this much in a year.”
“Yes, but you don’t know which one works best. This way, you have a bunch of options. Not that I don’t love feeling like I’m in a coffee shop when we hang out now, but your scent can bepotent.” She waggles her eyebrows. “Don’t want all the sleep-deprived alphas at work swarming you each morning looking for a taste of your latte.”
My stomach lurches violently at the mention of work and alphas. My alpha coworker Holden is an annoying creep, and I’m sure it’ll be even worse once he finds out I’m an omega. My alpha boss already doesn’t like me, and now that I’m an omega, I’m sure he’ll find even more reasons to be an ass to me. I can only imagine how some of my alpha clients will react to my new designation.
This is a nightmare.
“I’m joking!” Astrid’s brow raises at my reaction. “You’ll be fine. Most office buildings these days have high-powered scent filtration anyway, so I doubt anyone will even notice.”
“It’s not that… Tomorrow is Monday.” I slump down onto the couch. “Fuck, how am I supposed to go back to work and look anyone in the eye? They’re all going to know why I was out. They’re going to know what I am.” Frustrated tears well in my eyes. “I’ve worked so hard to get where I am. To get the respect I deserve for my skills and experience. All of that will be gone.”
“I don’t think that’ll happen…” The way Astrid trails off gives me zero confidence in her weak reassurance.
I shake my head, wiping away the moisture from my eyes. “There’s only one omega in my department, and she busts her ass, but only ever gets assigned smaller, ‘lower stress’ clients.”
I hadn’t paid much attention to that before. If I’m being honest with myself, there was a part of me that thought it made sense. Lauren is my best work friend, and yet I assumed she was too delicate to handle more.
I’m such an asshole. I pretend like I’m a big supporter of omega rights, but what the hell have I done to actually stand up for them other than repost things on social media?
Astrid frowns, and there’s a long moment of silence before she speaks again. “Do you have to tell them?”
“Uh, yeah? I’ve been out from work for a week. The clinic told me they’d contact them and inform them about my new designation and need for heat leave so I wouldn’t get fired.”
“Damn. Well, if they know, then it shouldn’t be an issue to take a few more wellness days to regroup and figure out how to approach things when you go back.”
I sigh, dreading asking for more time off and seeming even weaker to my boss. But Astrid is right. I’m in no condition to go back tomorrow. I’m tired again even thinking about it. “Yeah. I’ll figure it out.”
Astrid’s smile is sympathetic as she nods. “Hell yeah you will. You could handle five days of getting dicked down. Handling a few jerks at work when you go back is nothing.”
I roll my eyes and laugh, but the dread remains as we sort through the rest of the stuff she picked up at the store. By thetime Astrid heads home to relieve Jeff from kid duty, I’m barely able to keep my head up.
I crack open my work laptop to message about needing to take a few more days of sick leave, and cringe when I see all the missed notifications and backlog of emails.
Great. Not only will I have to contend with my new designation, but I have a mountain of work to catch up on when I go back. That is if they don’t decide I can’t handle my clients now that I’m an omega.
I freeze, pulse spiking as I realize most of the emails are from my boss and HR. I open one labeled “urgent” and bile rises in my throat as I scan the message.
If we don’t hear back from you by Monday, we’ll have to assume you’ve resigned from your position…
Multiple absences with no notice or explanation are grounds for termination…
Fuck.Fuck!
I read through a few more emails as a cold sweat breaks out across my skin. The clinic must not have sent over info about my heat, because they’re acting like I vanished with no explanation.
It’s a miracle they didn’t already fire me. Unless they’re waiting for me to come back into the office so they can take back my laptop.
