Page 1 of The Bear, the Eagle, and their Wombat Omega (Omegas of Animals: SD #14)
Bruno
My job was great, a truth I reflected on often when considering the fact that I had gotten my first position with this company the day after college graduation.
Everyone, including the career department at my school, told me not to get too excited because the hiring market was bad.
But my sleuth had used so many of their resources to help me achieve my goals, I wasn’t about to sit around and take up space as a thank-you.
I needed to start earning to repay them.
So, six months before graduation, I filled out applications for everything and anything that looked like it would meet my needs and desires.
Many, I wasn’t at all qualified for, beyond the degree, but I was determined not to undersell myself.
I was going to have to not only support myself and, if I was lucky, an omega and family one day, but pay back the sleuth within a self-determined five years.
As I’d filled out the applications, I’d imagine what it would be like if I got the position in New York or Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia.
Seattle sounded amazing. But when I got the email asking me to schedule an interview, it was from a firm right back in Bear Run.
It was not only my hometown, but the one job I had known was miles over my head.
Fortunately, they had a three-month training program for all new managerial employees, and I was able to use that time and the access it gave me to company information to make myself worthy of the job.
Three promotions later, I found myself with a private office, an excellent salary, a debt to the sleuth fully repaid with a little extra as a thank-you because they refused any interest, and a huge problem seated at the desk outside my door.
Arkyn.
My assistant was an eagle shifter who’d also grown up locally and gotten his education at the local JC instead of the university I was privileged to attend.
If he’d gone there, he’d be my boss, because he was definitely talented and intelligent, just did not have the credentials the firm required for the managerial positions.
I did my part and got him all the raises I could and brought him to the attention of those above me as someone who contributed more than in a clerical role, but none of that was the problem.
The problem was my attraction to the eagle shifter who provided such excellent work.
We had a friendly work relationship, but I had a hard time not allowing that to become something more.
And I never wanted Arkyn to feel uncomfortable as a result of something I did.
No employee deserved that. Especially not one who was such a reliable worker.
After a while, I had to recognize that my feelings weren’t going to just go away, and I had to find out if they were reciprocated.
Our company had no rules against people dating one another, but they did want there to be a safe environment where no meant no and everyone could feel comfortable.
What that came down to was that I could ask Arkyn out, and then if he said yes, fine, but if he said no, then I couldn’t ask again.
And that idea made me very worried about doing it.
What if I blew my one chance? But, eventually, I began to think I was being ridiculous and maybe making it so that I would have zero chance.
A good-looking, smart, kind, funny shifter like him could date anyone they liked.
How long before someone else came along and snapped him up?
I’d never been interested in another alpha before.
I’d heard it happened but never knew anyone personally in a relationship with one.
But every day I spent working with Arkyn, I grew to like and respect him more.
So, one beautiful sunny day, I met him outside while he was taking a break and spilled the question.
“No pressure, but I wondered if you’d like to go to dinner sometime?”
He looked up from his bench and smiled. “That’s very flattering, Bruno, but I’m going to have to say no. Thanks for asking, though.”
He liked me. I could feel it. But I had to take him at his word. “Ah well, no harm, no foul. After you finish your coffee, I have some calls I need you to make.”
And I went back inside to lick my wounds and hope I hadn’t ruined what we had. If he wanted to work with someone else, if he felt like I’d overstepped in any way, I’d support his choice without a negative word.
It was never mentioned again, and after a week or two, I stopped feeling foolish. And over the next couple of years, we moved into a solid working/friend relationship that to any outsider would appear completely without any more than that.
I would prefer to spend each day with the man I adored, even if I couldn’t hold him, spoil him, and show him how much he meant to me. Way better than spending those days apart.