Page 3 of The Shapeshifter’s Secretary (Charmed Away Temp Agency #3)
CHAPTER THREE
Tony may have woken up several hours earlier than he needed to in anticipation of the job he was starting today. He’d never done any work as an assistant, but if it was a desk job, he was sure he could figure it out. How hard was it to answer phones and make copies? There was the comment about not chasing the guy he’d be working for around, which concerned him a little, but otherwise, he was looking forward to it. He prayed to every god and goddess he could think of that this would go well. Morana didn’t say how long the job was for, but hopefully, since he’d finally have experience, there would be more office work for him in the future, too.
He spent some time rubbing the too-expensive pain cream onto his leg so he’d be able to function at least semi-normally today. He was still sore from yesterday, but he wasn’t about to call out sick and miss this opportunity. He’d be fine as long as he stayed off his feet. Strapping his prosthetic back in place, he finished getting dressed and headed out. He needed time to get to the station to catch the subway, more time than usual because of the pain.
Thankfully, he never had any trouble getting the handicapped seating on the subway. People only had to take one look at him to realize he needed it. He hated that his injury was so obvious, but at least things like this were easier to manage. Not even the ones who looked at him disdainfully for being human ever questioned his need to be there. They got up and grumbled insults under their breath as they passed by.
A lot of supes didn’t like humans. There was a history there. Humans used to be the majority and weren’t kind to the supes. Even after the dynamic flipped and hundreds of years passed, that strain hadn’t gone away. It didn’t help that supes’ lifespans vastly outmatched humans. While the humans were several generations removed, there were plenty of supes still alive who remembered the unequal status quo. They didn’t trust humans and that would probably never change.
Tony tried not to let that bother him. He’d met supes during his time in the military that were nice, and he didn’t hold any grudges himself. He mostly just went about his day and did his best to treat everyone how he wanted to be treated. That was what his grandma used to tell him, anyway.
“Next stop, Spellbound station,” the canned voice called out. Tony readjusted the backpack on his left shoulder and gripped his cane tightly. It was kind of insane that a company was so large and important that it had its own subway stop. It would spit him out right underneath the building, making the commute that much easier on him.
The subway was crowded with Spellbound employees, so he waited to stand until the bigger rush had already exited before pushing to his feet. He waited for a second elevator, since the first one was stuffed to the gills, and the group of gnomes who joined him gave him a polite berth so he didn’t trip when he got off on the main lobby floor. Morana told him to stop at the front desk to get his badge and that someone named Avery would be waiting for him.
The lobby itself was insanely busy, with people coming and going in every direction. He’d done his research on Spellbound the night before. It was a massive company, with one main tower and four smaller ones surrounding it in each cardinal direction. The main building was mostly dedicated to research and the offices that were required to run such a large corporation. The others handled the different sectors their inventions resided in. Tech. Health. Dimension-based products. Entertainment. It was an enormous company that dabbled in a little bit of everything, so it didn’t surprise Tony that they needed so many people to handle it.
After carefully making his way through the crowds to the front desk, he waited politely for the hydra at the front desk to turn one of her heads in his direction.
“Welcome to Spellbound. Can I help you?”
“Yeah, hi. I’m Tony Decker. I’m a temp from Charmed Away. I’m supposed to be meeting someone named Avery?”
She hummed, flicking her gaze to her screen and nodding. “Yes, I have you on my list. Unfortunately, Avery hasn’t arrived yet. He usually gets here within the next twenty minutes.” After handing him a temporary badge, she narrowed his eyes, studying him for a moment, before jabbing her tail over his shoulder. “Have a seat over there. I’ll let him know you’re here once he arrives.”
Taking a minute to loop the lanyard over his neck, he nodded politely and headed for the seats she’d directed him to. He wasn’t going to say no to taking a break. There weren’t that many open spots, plenty of people were enjoying their coffee on the comfortable-looking white couches near the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, but one of them noticed him coming closer and gestured with a friendly smile for him to sit in the empty seat beside him.
“You’re new,” the man commented, studying him curiously. “Are you interviewing for something?”
Slowly lowering himself onto the couch, Tony shook his head. “No. I’m a temp. The guy I’m supposed to be meeting isn’t here yet.”
Once settled, he took a better look at the man. He was… pretty. Like unusually so. At first glance, he looked human, with golden brown skin, curly hair that he styled neatly, and a wide smile. What made him stand out, though, was his icy blue eyes and the way his skin seemed to almost glow. Definitely a supe, though Tony couldn’t tell what kind. But something made this guy special.
It took him a second to realize he was staring. He grimaced, forcing himself to look away. He hated it when people stared at him. It wasn’t right for him to do the same thing to others.
The man chuckled, seemingly unbothered by Tony’s staring. “Who did they say you were meeting?”
Tony glanced back at him, forcing himself to maintain eye contact and not check the guy out again. He really was pretty.
“Um… Someone named Avery?”
The supe perked up a little. “Avery Hawksley?”
Frowning, he looked down at his phone, where he had the email Morana had sent him pulled up, just in case. He scanned it again and nodded slowly.
“Yeah. That’s right. Do you know him?”
Something calculative crossed over the man’s face before he masked it and smiled brightly. “I do. Most people around here do. He’s the CEO’s mate.”
Tony’s stomach dropped out. He didn’t realize he’d be meeting someone so important. He thought he’d just meet someone from HR or something. Maybe someone in charge of training? He’d never met a CEO on the job before. Or their mates. His brows snapped together.
“Wait. The CEO’s mate works here too?”
The man shook his head, amused. “No. He’s an author. But he lends a helping hand to his friends every once in a while. He used to work here as a temp before switching gears.”
Pursing his lips, he thought about it. “So he met his mate on the job?”
“Yep,” the man grinned again. “The CEO seduced the pants off him if you know what I mean.”
“Taron!” someone squeaked indignantly.
Tony turned and looked over his shoulder to the little blonde who stood a few feet away, his face bright red. He looked horrified. Which meant that was probably Avery. Tony would be embarrassed too if someone were talking so casually about his sex life in the middle of the lobby.
“Good morning, Avery. You’re looking a little flushed. Interesting ride over?” the man next to Tony teased.
Tony frowned at him. He couldn’t tell if it was just friendly banter or if he was being cruel. If it was the second one, he’d feel obligated to say something, and he really hoped he didn’t have to. He didn't like confrontation.
Luckily, the little blonde wasn’t a pushover. He stomped over to them and whacked the pretty man with his messenger bag. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough to make a statement.
“Just for that, you don’t get your teaser for the next book.” He spun on his heel, ignoring the man’s loud whine as he offered his hand to Tony. “You must be Tony. I’m Avery. I’ll be showing you around today. I hope he wasn’t too much trouble.” He tipped his head over his shoulder toward the pretty man. “You’ll get used to him after a while.”
“I will?”
Avery’s brows furrowed a little, and he glanced over his shoulder again. “You didn’t tell him who you were?”
The man didn’t seem interested in talking about that. He was still pouting about Avery’s earlier statement. “You were joking about the teaser thing, right? I earned my spoilers! I was good all day yesterday!”
Their dynamic was weird. Like siblings, but with a little more hostility on Avery’s side. He was still mad about the earlier comment. He turned his back on the man, giving Tony his full attention.
“Sorry. He doesn’t know the definition of manners. Let’s start again. I’m Avery Hawksley, and the drama queen behind me is Taron Cunningham. You’ll be his assistant for the foreseeable future, at least until we can find him a permanent replacement. Please don’t let his behavior turn you away from the job. He’s gone through three assistants in the last ten days.”
Startled, Tony jerked to look at the man again. This was his new boss? He didn’t seem mature enough to handle a job that needed an assistant. He flashed Tony a mischievous wink before continuing to pester Avery about spoilers, whining like a little kid. Avery didn’t even bat an eye.
“If you’re ready, I can show you upstairs to your desk. There’s a handover report from his original assistant that you’ll need to read from front to back. She wrote down every trick she had, and it’ll make your life vastly easier. And I’ve got a few suggestions of my own too.”
“Avery…” Taron whined.
“Taron, you aren’t pestering my mate again, are you?” a deep and somewhat threatening voice growled. A man with long platinum blonde hair and blood-red eyes stepped up beside Avery, glaring down at Taron.
“He’s being mean!” Taron complained. That only made Avery roll his eyes.
“Come on, Tony. Ozen can handle this.” He waited patiently for Tony to stand and matched his stride without complaint, smiling pleasantly at a few people who waved and said hello.
“You’re like a celebrity,” Tony pointed out, grateful when they skipped past the turnstiles and went through the gate at the end that was guarded by a bored golem. Turnstiles weren’t his friends.
Avery snickered, pressing the button for a gold elevator at the end of the bank of elevators. “I mean, technically? I’m Ozen’s mate, so I’m around a lot. People recognize me.”
Ah. That made sense. Mates tended to stick together. He didn’t have much experience with them, humans didn’t have mates like supes did. Not unless you mated a supe. But he knew the basics, like how territorial mates could be and to never interrupt a mating if you wanted to live through the night.
“So… About Taron…” Avery interrupted his thoughts, his voice tense enough to make Tony look up with a frown. “Um… How patient are you?”