Page 3 of The Vampire’s Receptionist (Charmed Away Temp Agency #4)
CHAPTER THREE
Exhaustion tugged at Dorian’s mind, urging him to either rest or feed.
He had time for neither. The situation with Aristeos creating a rival company went from bad to worse when he started stealing not only clients from Spellbound but also staff.
The once thriving medical innovations division of Spellbound was now bare bones and barely limping along.
They were struggling to fulfill promises to clients, and it was up to him to fix it.
It left him very little time for self-care.
His body moved on autopilot as he took the elevator up to the top floor.
He didn’t even have coffee that morning, as his machine at home was broken.
He was going to head straight to the breakroom once he arrived, since he didn't have a receptionist yet to replace the one who left last week to get something for him.
Ozen mentioned something about a temp being hired for the position, but he only half remembered the conversation.
He was too tired to function without caffeine.
He’d thought taking Ozen’s offer to switch positions in the company would bring some excitement into his life.
While he loved his position in the tech division and wouldn’t have thought to give it up himself, it was growing to be monotonous.
It felt like the strings of fate were at work when Ozen asked him to switch to the medical division.
He had no experience in that arena, and he liked learning about new things.
It was supposed to be exciting. Not this daunting headache that he faced each morning.
If he’d known this was what he’d end up dealing with, he would have been a lot more reluctant to accept.
Okay, he was lying to himself. Ozen and Taron, the CEOs of the company, were amongst his closest friends. If they asked for his help, he would always assist them. He just wasn’t happy about it right now.
His phone beeped with an alert, reminding him he had to call Ozen sometime soon. He bit back the urge to whimper. The coffee would need to wait.
Turning on his heel, he headed for his office instead, stopping just inside the doorway with a deep frown.
Zephyr pursed his lips in a sad attempt to hide his smile. “Autopilot to the wrong building again?”
He dropped his head forward in defeat. This was becoming a habit of his. Unless he focused entirely on getting to the right office, he always came here instead. Hundreds of years coming to the same place was a hard habit to break. Zephyr had been confused at first, but now he found it amusing.
“I swear, I’m not doing it on purpose,” Dorian grumbled.
“The first few weeks, I wouldn’t have believed you. I figured you cared about your people and wanted to make sure things were running smoothly. But this is the third time this week, and you look beat. Is everything okay?”
Rubbing his hands over his face, he tried to get his brain to work. He dropped them with a sigh. “It’s fine. I’m just busy, that's all. Losing Aristeos was going to be hard enough without losing half the staff as well.”
He grimaced and nodded. “I know. If it had been the tech division, I would’ve had an entire staff to bring in, but my company didn’t do medical innovation. None of my people had the experience or the interest.”
Guilt weighed heavily on his shoulders. He shouldn’t have been complaining to Zephyr.
Spellbound wasn’t the only company that was affected by Aristeos and his insane ambitions.
The vice president of Zephyr’s company also left them in the lurch to join up with Aristeos, stealing enough clients and money to bankrupt the company and force Zephyr to accept a buyout from Spellbound.
His connection with Taron got him Dorian’s old position, but not without a lot of sacrifice on his part.
“I apologize. I shouldn’t have complained–”
Putting up a hand to stall him, Zephyr offered him an understanding smile.
“It’s alright. I won’t say I’m over it, because I’m fully on board with Taron’s plans for revenge, but I’m not unhappy with where I ended up.
I’m closer to my mates, at least. I didn’t realize how much I needed that until I started working here. ”
Dorian relaxed a little and nodded. It didn’t surprise him that Taron would be clingy with his mates.
The fact that they responded much in the same way was probably fate’s doing.
Taron needed plenty of love and attention to make him behave.
There had been significantly less trouble on his end, thanks to his mates being close by to handle him.
“You look like you could use a coffee,” Zephyr said, coming around the desk to join him. When Dorian gave him a grateful look, he chuckled and gripped his shoulder supportively. “Come on. We’ll get you some coffee so you won’t get lost on your way to your office.”
His watch beeped again and his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I don’t have time. I need to get to my office. I’m already late for a phone call with Ozen.”
He said that, but he didn’t stop Zephyr from steering him towards the breakroom. He was too tired to fight.
“I’ll text Taron and tell him to stall. He’s good at that. You take a minute to caffeinate and wake up. You’ll burn out if you don’t start taking care of yourself.”
He couldn’t argue with that, but he didn’t admit out loud that he’d left burnout in the rearview mirror by now.
Perhaps he needed to call his feeder. He didn’t feel like he had the energy for the whole wine and dine portion the man expected from him, but maybe he could make an exception, and Dorian could make it up to him later.
He managed to make it to his office without distraction, and his phone call to Ozen wasn’t much later than he’d intended.
Thankfully, Zephyr had followed through on his promise to get Taron to distract their friend long enough for him to get back to his office.
Ozen was exasperated by the time Dorian called and too distracted to notice his tardiness.
It was during the phone call that Ozen told him about the crew of temps showing up today to help.
He’d mentioned it before, but now that Dorian’s brain was slightly more alert, he could take in the information and breathe a small sigh of relief.
While having half the division running on temp work alone wasn’t ideal, it was better than them drowning in work while they waited for SR to hire replacements.
At least this way, they could keep their heads above water.
He might just have a chance to get some rest this week.
The group was to be led by someone named Kian, who would be working as a receptionist on Dorian’s floor while handling his staff. Hopefully, that meant Kian would be handling the smaller issues so Dorian could focus on getting the division back under control.
It didn’t escape him that he was given no last name, but he dismissed the concern as unimportant. Maybe Ozen just forgot to mention it.
Reaching for his coffee, he brought it to his lips, then frowned when he realized the cup was empty. He didn't remember that happening. When had he finished it?
With a heavy dose of resignation, he stood to get more.
He wouldn’t get through the day without a steady stream of caffeine.
He’d request an IV drip of it if he could.
He was so focused on it, he didn’t notice the new arrival at the reception desk.
He bypassed it, got his coffee, and went back to his office, intent on getting some work done on reassuring clients and donors that they could handle the trouble Aristeos caused.
He was just sitting back down when someone knocked on his open door.
He usually left his door closed. He had a lot to do, and he didn't have time to encourage interruptions. It’d slipped his mind. He was too tired to think.
The man who stood just inside the doorway wasn’t familiar to him, but that wasn’t saying a lot.
He’d only been working in this division for a few months, and he’d been so busy, he never had a chance to introduce himself to the different members of staff.
He barely managed a division-wide email before he was tossed into the deep end.
The man was quite pretty, though. His honey blonde hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, a few strands framing his face.
His face was angular, with sharp cheekbones and a stubborn set to his jaw, but the look was softened by the most beautiful bicolored eyes Dorian had ever seen.
Lilac and sapphire blue. An interesting mix.
He’d never met a half blood fae before. The fae were amongst the few races that didn’t believe in interracial matings.
He was shorter than an average fae, but had the same lithe frame of most of the fae Dorian had met in the past. He didn’t wear a suit like most working at Spellbound, so Dorian wasn’t entirely sure why he was here.
“Can I help you with something?”
“I was going to introduce myself before, but you looked a little like you were about to start making love to your coffee.”
Dorian’s brows shot up. “Excuse me?”
The man smirked, shaking his head lightly.
“Nevermind. It’s always hit or miss if people enjoy my sense of humor.
I’m Kian. I’ll be your temporary receptionist, and I’m in charge of the temps at Spellbound during this transition period.
If you need anything or if you get any calls about them that need to be addressed, I’m your guy. ”
Dorian studied the man with a frown. He couldn’t quite decide if the joke was inappropriate enough to need a conversation or not. He was too tired to make any good judgment calls right now, and it was obvious the man was only teasing. He sighed.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Dorian Kuramori. I appreciate you and your people showing up for us during this difficult transition. I know better than to hope there won’t be any bumps along the way, so if you need anything from me, please let me know.”
He tipped his head, his dual colored eyes narrowed slightly. “Are you okay? You look like you haven’t fed in a while.”
A flush overtook his cheeks, and he blinked rapidly. Kian seemed to notice his overstep, and while he looked abashed, he didn't exactly look remorseful.
“Sorry, am I not supposed to ask? I used to work as a paramedic. Occupational hazard, I guess.”
That actually made him feel a little better. Paramedics needed to ask those kinds of questions to do their job well. And he knew all about hard broken habits. His trip to Zephyr’s office this morning was proof of that.
“Most vampires are private about their feeding habits. I would suggest curbing that urge, as some would be highly offended if you asked outright like that. Especially if they didn’t know you.”
“I’ll work on it,” he promised, though there was an air of mischief that said he wouldn’t try that hard. Dorian felt like he might need to keep an eye on this one. Fae were known for causing trouble. Being half-fae likely didn’t rid him of that particular urge.
Like he felt the need to prove Dorian correct, Kian raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Well?”
He frowned. “Well, what?”
He gave him a significant look that went right over Dorian’s head. He really was too tired to deal with this right now.
“You never answered the question.”