3. Niam
3
NIAM
I stared at the jumble of papers spread across my desk and held my head in my hands. I had no idea what I was doing. Invoices, receipts, and tax forms were all staring up at me as if they made any kind of sense. But they didn’t, no matter how I arranged or piled or cursed them. Even with the chaos, I could see it was bad. Real bad.
After a week of trying to sort out the finances for Walker and Sons Plumbing, I was more lost than ever on how to put everything back together again.
"This is hopeless." I pushed back from the desk and spun my chair toward the small window that overlooked the alley.
I rubbed my temples trying to ward off the headache building behind my eyes. When I'd arrived in Oak Grove to help with the family business, I'd had no idea what I was getting myself into, not really. I figured I’d hire a few more plumbers, bring in an office manager, maybe pay off the back taxes. Easy stuff to hire out. And when it came to fixing leaky pipes and unclogging drains, I could hold my own well enough to help with the smaller jobs.
But I hated math and didn’t even know how to balance my own bank accounts, much less manage business accounts. If it had all been in a decent program, I could figure it out. But nope. It was a mix of hand-filled-in books, spreadsheets, scribbled notes, and invoices done multiple ways. There was no way I’d be able to make heads or tails of the finances without some professional guidance. Maybe some software could eliminate all the scribbled notebooks and bills that needed to be dealt with, but which one, and how would I know what went where? It was a disaster.
Bill collectors were calling, and I had no idea if we had enough money to cover them all, if they had already been paid and the paperwork hadn’t caught up yet, or if they were even legit or if some were phishing scam calls. The thought of Dad being forced to sell or close up because his son couldn’t step up when he needed them made my stomach churn.
I couldn't keep pretending I knew how to fix this mess.
There was an ancient computer on the desk, but I was fairly certain it was the same one from when I was in middle school, so I bypassed it all together and grabbed my phone. As I often did during quiet moments, I found myself absentmindedly rubbing my lower belly. It was a habit I'd picked up when just about everyone in my office got pregnant last year. They all did it, and I couldn’t help imagining growing a family of my own some day.
Being an unmated omega was stressful enough without worrying about my biological clock. I still had plenty of time to find an alpha. At least, that’s what I told myself.
Remembering what I was about to do, I typed "accountant Oak Grove" into the search bar, and hoped to find someone local who could start immediately. The top result was both intriguing and exciting.
Shifter for Hire - Fast Response Accounting Services
I blinked, sure I must have misread that. There were shifters in Oak Grove? I'd heard rumors, of course, whispers about wolves and otters and such, but I'd never actually met one. At least, not that I knew of.
With my curiosity piqued, I clicked on the link. The website was sleek and professional, and most importantly, there was a rush-service button that promised same-day services and discretion. Two things I was in desperate need of for a mess like ours. If our vendors or competitors knew how bad things were, they might not be so flexible with our payment terms.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I dialed the number. It rang twice before a warm, deep voice answered. "Shifter for Hire. How may I help you?"
I swallowed hard, hoping I was making the right decision. "Hi, um, I saw your ad for accountants in Oak Grove, and I need help as soon as possible. Is anyone available today or tomorrow?"
"We do have a few accountants available for evening and weekend jobs. May I get your name and the nature of the job?"
"Niam Walker. It's for my family's plumbing business. The books are…well, they're a disaster, to be honest. I’m stepping in for my brother and need some help sorting everything out." I left out the part that we could be on the brink of bankruptcy or rolling in cash. I had no way of knowing either way.
There was a pause, and I could hear the sound of typing. "Alright, Niam. I’m gonna check with a few of our consultants to see who will be coming by. Can I get back to you in about an hour?"
I glanced at the clock and nodded, even though no one could see me over the phone. It was just past noon, so if all went well, maybe we’d be back on track before dinner. "That would be perfect. Thank you."
"Excellent. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
I almost asked if they had any plumbers looking for work, but that was jumping the gun. Until I knew what the money situation was, I couldn’t hire more people. "No, that's all. Thank you."
After I hung up, I started the arduous process of organizing the mess on my desk, heart racing. If someone was going to come and help get the books in line, the least I could do was make sure all the paperwork was in neat piles of like objects. After a quick glance at the top layer, I groaned out loud. “Okay, I guess the first pile will be bills.”
As I dug out bills, receipts, pay stubs, and business cards, I thought about the fact that a real animal shifter was coming to my office to look at our private financial records. Oak Grove was turning out to be a lot more interesting that I remembered.
For the next hour, I frantically tried to tame the chaos on my desk and in the filing cabinets. I’d barely made a dent in the mess but staying busy helped me keep my mind off the shifter I’d be working with. Would he be alpha or omega? Probably an omega like me. They couldn’t just send alphas out to work with strangers who could be unmated omegas.
Unless he was a mated alpha.
That thought made me feel both relieved and disappointed. If an omega showed up, maybe I could make a friend, but if an alpha showed up, he’d probably be mated and completely uninterested in me. Did shifters even mate humans? Why did I know so little about them if they were here in Oak Grove?
Probably because I’d been so busy working hard to get out of here to pay attention. And look where that got me?
But what if he wasn’t? What he was unmated and hot? I chuckled as I reminded myself that he was an accountant. He would probably be exactly like me—skinny, nerdy, and pale. The exact opposite of the kind of guy I was usually attracted to.
So why did the thought of meeting him make my pulse quicken and my palms sweat?