GABRIEL #2
"In any case, if you have preferences, write them down and send them to James," Blue says shortly, and James hands me his business card.
Wow. Even the staff here have business cards. That’s a whole different world.
"Sure," I mutter and start eating. The food is amazing, especially after forty minutes in that cold water.
Yeah, I know! Not that sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit is freezing, but it’s definitely not warm either.
As I finish my breakfast, I lift my head and ask, "So, is today’s schedule pretty similar to yesterday’s?"
"More or less. But we won’t be going outside, so it should be much calmer."
"You always work twelve or thirteen hours a day?" I ask carefully.
Blue nods. "Most days. Saturdays are different though. Six hours max."
For a moment, I hesitate, wondering if I should even bring it up.
"It also means I work just as long as you do."
"Yes," Blue replies absently, still focused on his transparent tablet.
A sudden wave of unease hits me. Those hours are insane.
Then the words slip out recklessly.
"That basically means I don’t get a private life during the week. No dating, no chance to build a relationship. That only leaves weekends."
Blue slowly lifts his gaze from the tablet.
Our eyes meet, and a rush of stress goes through me. Did I say too much? Was that an inappropriate remark for my second day at work?
"Thirty minutes is enough for a hookup."
I stare at him in disbelief, then quickly recover enough to blurt out, "What?!"
Silence.
Blue narrows his eyes slightly.
"Maybe that’s how you do things! Not me. And if you really want to know, I’ve never… I mean, I’ve never had sex before. I want my first time to actually mean something. A random hookup isn’t exactly my dream scenario."
That finally gets a real reaction out of him. One eyebrow lifts slightly, and for the first time I catch genuine surprise on his face.
"I can see that look. You think I’m pathetic," I say bitterly.
Blue lets out a sharp breath, somewhere between impatience and disbelief.
"On the contrary, Gabriel. I’m surprised someone like you hasn’t had the opportunity yet."
I stare at him, completely caught off guard.
"Someone like me? People always say I don’t have the kind of confidence and charisma that turns omegas on."
"Oh, do they?" he says dryly. "And yet I know what I saw yesterday. If others paid closer attention, they’d notice your strengths."
"My strengths?" I chuckle. "Marcel surely missed that."
Blue glances back at his tablet for a second, like he’s checking a notification, and goes quiet for a moment.
"You shouldn’t think so little of yourself.
That mindset sends a signal, and the world reflects it back at you.
You’re twenty-one. You’re still growing into yourself.
People mature at different speeds, but that doesn’t mean you’ll miss the point where you become comfortable with who you are. So keep your head up."
I just stare at him, stunned, my mouth slightly open. I never expected someone as formal and aloof as him to say something so encouraging. My throat tightens with something dangerously close to gratitude.
"Thank you. That… um… actually means a lot," I admit quietly, my voice cracking a little.
"And as for your concerns about relationships, you’ve only been working here for one day. For now, focus on your responsibilities instead of worrying about the future before it even happens."
The stern, controlled tone is back in his voice.
Then he stands and heads toward the hallway, and I follow after him, unsure what to think anymore.
The moment we step into the elevator, he’s already back to being himself again, distant, absorbed in his tablet, completely unreadable.
That brief glimpse of warmth disappears like it never happened.
But something inside me has shifted.
Yesterday I was asking myself whether I had stopped disliking him, hesitating over whether I was starting to like him even a little, and now I might actually be starting to actually like him, just like that?
Which is kind of insane.
All it took was a few kind words from him.
Am I really that pathetic, latching onto another strong omega the second he shows me basic kindness?
Or is this… something else?
◆◆◆
The next few hours pass much like yesterday.
A long stretch of meetings for Blue, while I sit with my headphones on, logged into my college classes.
It’s super boring. Everything is quiet until around 10 pm, when Blue suddenly glances at his phone, his brows furrowing, and says he has to head down to the lobby to check something out.
We step into the elevator and ride down, Blue still staring at his phone while I stare at him because… well, I have no idea why. But I do. I find it strangely pleasant to study his face, every line of it, the soft curve of his lips, the elegant shape of his nose.
Why do I care enough to keep observing him so closely? Don’t ask me. It just gives me these small bursts of joy, like tiny surges of endorphins.
I really want to start some kind of conversation with him, so I desperately search my brain for possible topics, but the only things that come to mind are work-related.
"Mr. Lowen, do I have any reason to be worried about your safety down in the lobby?"
"I don’t think so. Nobody knows I’ll be there, so it would be difficult for anyone to prepare something in advance. I’m meeting briefly with someone who prefers not to go through my assistants or security officially."
"I see, so you’re not expecting any danger."
"I always expect danger, but this time we may avoid it. Though with these things, you never really know," he says, and there’s a bitter little smile at the corner of his mouth.
The elevator dings, the doors slide open, and I step out first, scanning the area carefully.
The lobby is fairly crowded. People constantly move past the information desk where a line has already started curling around the corner. Other elevators keep opening and closing while people stream in and out, voices blending into a constant buzz of noise.
Blue steps out behind me, and his attention immediately locks onto someone standing alone near the far side of the lobby beside a massive glass wall and several palm trees planted in oversized concrete pots.
It’s pretty much the only quiet spot in the entire lobby. Through the thick glass I can see the parking lot and the street outside, but the man standing there isn’t looking out the window.
He’s staring directly at Blue.
He’s a middle-aged beta dressed in such an ordinary way that he almost disappears into the background.
I scan five seconds ahead with my ability, but nothing looks suspicious. As we approach, Blue says to me,
"Please keep enough distance so you can’t overhear the conversation."
I get the feeling he’s only saying it because the beta looks super nervous.
I raise an eyebrow, but fine. I move back far enough that, to most people, especially betas, it would look like I’m giving them complete privacy, while in reality I’m still standing right at the edge of hearing range.
"Mr. Gomez, is this level of secrecy really necessary? I doubt Sidorov would cause you any trouble. He isn’t your direct superior."
The beta answers in a fretful whisper.
"Considering the situation, I’d rather not risk being connected to the leak of this information because the whole issue itself revolves around anonymous disclosure.
Early this morning a certain video leaked from inside the facility, and if nobody acts quickly, the Beta Activation program is going to take a massive reputational hit… "
I see Gomez showing something on his phone’s screen while Blue watches silently for a moment.
"That large man in the footage is Fenn Drax, a purple alpha illegally employed by Sidorov. Sidorov basically uses him as… well, a breeding stud, except with a vasectomy."
"I’m sorry, what?"
"Yes, I know how insane it sounds, but recently the facility has started reporting significantly improved fertility awakening rates among betas, and Drax is the direct reason why. His pheromones are so abnormally strong that he can trigger fertility in betas who don’t even possess omega characteristics.
He’s a mutant, a freak. More importantly, the way he’s being used there is deeply unethical, especially because Sidorov pressures betas into having sex with him.
If they want to remain in the program, they have to agree, so it’s essentially coercion.
Some of them came through the Second Chance program and already have criminal records, which means many of them don’t really have another option. They’re being cornered into it."
I have to admit, hearing all this makes my eyebrows rise slightly in surprise. It sounds like a genuine scandal, one that could seriously damage the Beta Activation program.
Some old part of me even feels a flicker of excitement because, back when I was still on Marcel’s leash, information like this would’ve been absolute gold to me.
This could’ve been the kind of thing that drove a nail straight into the coffin of the entire reproductive program, especially if its unethical side came to light, with public opinion probably turning against it overnight.
But now I’m just Blue’s bodyguard, so I stand there quietly listening.
Gomez keeps talking to Blue, explaining details, clarifying things, but at that point something else catches my attention even more than their conversation.
About sixty-five feet away from Blue there’s a small group of employees, and several of them keep glancing over after clearly realizing that Blue Lowen himself is standing in the lobby, somewhere he probably never appears under normal circumstances.
I carefully shift a little closer while pretending to look casually out the window so they won’t think I noticed anything.
That’s when I catch a short sentence drifting over.
"Come on, he won’t even notice. Just do it."
Immediately my whole body tenses with alertness, even though my ability still hasn’t triggered.