Page 49 of Feeling the Heat: Part One
The door creaks open, and thank god it’s a soft voice instead of my boss’ deep, cold one. “Camille? Are you okay?”
Forcing on a weak smile, I turn and face the door, to see my coworker Lauren standing there. There’s a deep furrow on the petite omega’s brow as she takes in the pathetic sight of me, and she wrinkles her nose when she steps into the room.
“I’m okay. Just a little lightheaded.” My vision gets a little blurry again, and I blink to try to bring Lauren’s face back into focus, but all that does is make her look even more like a vague brown and pink blob. My eyeballs ache at the effort of focusing on her instead of shutting my eyes.
“Who knew your eyeballs could hurt?” I mutter, the words coming out slightly slurred.
“Shit, I heard you’d been really sick, and I wanted to come check on you earlier, but I was swamped with meetings.” There’s a rustling sound and Lauren curses again. “Do you have any food in here? I usually keep something in my purse, but I must’ve forgotten to replenish my stash.”
The thought of eating something right now makes my stomach roil, but I recognize that at least part of the problem is how little I’ve eaten today. I nod, regretting the motion when itmakes the room spin. “In my purse,” I croak, gesturing to where it’s hung on a hook on the side of my desk.
There’s more rustling as she digs around inside my purse, followed by the crinkle of a plastic wrapper being torn. Lauren hands the protein bar over, and I bring it to my lips, praying that I’m able to keep it down. Chewing and swallowing feel like such an effort, especially when all I want to do is curl up into a ball on the office floor.
“There you go. Eat a little more if you can. I’ll go get you some water. If you think you’re going to pass out, lie down on the floor on your side so you don’t hit your head on the desk.”
My omega appreciates her instructions. Fortunately, I don’t end up needing to follow them, managing to stay upright as my blood sugar starts to stabilize and the black spots in my vision fade.
Lauren returns and hands me a cup of water. I take it gratefully and give her a pathetic half-smile. “Thank you. I didn’t realize I was feeling so bad until I let myself stop working.”
“God, you sound as stubborn as my partner.” Lauren chuckles and shakes her head at me, her short corkscrew curls bouncing with the motion. “She’ll work herself to the bone rather than admit she needs a break.”
She’s brought a small fan in with her that she must’ve taken from her own office. She turns it on and tilts it so it blows across the back of my clammy neck. The cool air is a blessed relief and after a minute, I realize that Rick’s oppressive floral scent is gone.
“That better?” Lauren asks with a gentle smile. “It smelled like my grandma’s bathroom in here. Hasn’t Rick ever heard of using a scent neutralizer?”
“I guess not,” I say, shrugging. I’m sure he assumed he didn’t need it since I’m a beta and have never cared about his scent in the past. “But yeah, that’s much better. Thank youagain. You don’t have to stay here with me. I’m sure you want to get home to your partner.” A partner that I’m realizing I know nothing about. It must be a fairly recent development, because I don’t remember Lauren having someone with her at the holiday party last year.
Lauren waves me off with a perfectly manicured hand, her hot pink acrylics a perfect match for the blouse she has under her pantsuit. “She’ll understand.” She pulls out Rick’s chair and rolls it over to sit in front of me.
A moment of silence passes, and I can tell she wants to ask me something. Probably what made me so sick. I open my mouth to give the vague illness explanation that I’ve practiced, but she speaks first.
“How did I not know you’re an omega?” Lauren asks, sounding like it’s a personal failing on her part that she didn’t know.
“W-what? I’m not—” My lie cuts off abruptly as I notice the stuff she took out of my purse to get to the protein bar sitting on the desk. My max strength-scent neutralizer and a backup pair of omega panties.
Panic threatens to choke me. “Please don’t tell anyone,” I croak.
Lauren’s hazel eyes widen. “Oh! No, it’s not my place.”
It’s both reassuring and depressing that she doesn’t ask me why I’ve kept being an omega a secret.
“Thanks,” I murmur.
She gives me an assessing look, then shakes her head with a smile. “You’ve been hiding it really well until now. I thought for sure you were a beta this whole time.”
“That’s because I was.”
Her brows knit together. “Huh?”
A few seconds pass before understanding flashes across her face and her mouth falls open. “Wait. You were youout sick from work because you had your first heat? But… but… How old are you?”
The blunt question makes me snort.
Lauren winces. “Sorry, that’s rude to ask.”
“No, it’s fine. I’m forty. Revealing as an omega was an unexpected birthday present.”
“That’s…wow.” Lauren’s shock shifts to horror. “And they made you come back to work today? What the fuck? That’s not right.”
