Chapter VIII
“Mr. Beckett, your four o’clock has arrived.”
My response is delayed. I don’t think I’ll ever be used to people calling me that. Mr. Beckett is my dad. Even he would snort at the formality.
“Send them in, Gomez.”
After a moment, two women roll a cart into my office.
On it, is a television displaying their presentation.
I’m not sure which I’ve had more of in the last twenty-four hours, coffee or presentations.
Probably an unhealthy amount of both. As they set up, I glance at their application splayed in front of me on my desk.
Tori and Anna. Twin sisters who engineered a device that can be attached to space rovers.
The device is supposedly capable of capturing rock fragments from the ground and running an analysis on them with eighty-two percent accuracy.
This could be what we’ve been looking for.
A new project for Comet XI to advance and then gain new insights from.
Or it could be a total miss and end up crushed by the atmospheric pressure of whichever planet we send it to.
“Ladies, my name is Knox Beckett, Senior Chairman of Innovative Engineering. The supervisor is out sick today so I will be conducting interviews myself. The floor is yours.”
They begin presenting with toothy smiles and exaggerated body language. Their cheeks are flushed, but they bury away their nerves expertly as they speak. This is a big shot for them, so they put on their best show. After all, I’m a man who many have become eager to impress.
I was headlining countless magazines for climbing the corporate ladder faster than anyone in the astronomy industry. I may have passed my courses and exams with flying colors, but it’s the people and networks that really matter. I learned that early on.
So, naturally, the twins are pulling anything they’ve got to earn my interest. I’m tempted to tell them I accept the partnership just to be done for the day.
If I don’t find a project for my department to take on and successfully innovate soon, the CEO will have my neck.
This one has potential but so have nearly all the presentations today.
I’m looking for something with a little bit more.
Once the day has ended, I put my lab coat on and head into my private observatory attached to my office.
It’s equipped with all the latest technology and some beta products for testing.
On the far wall are floor to ceiling windows, lined with a few models from my telescope collection.
Before I begin fidgeting with them, I wipe the lenses and windows.
Something my childhood friend Arius taught me.
I wonder how he’s doing.
I’ll never forget how we left off on bad terms all those years ago. He must’ve been so upset over the fact that he couldn’t come with me to BOW camp that he left. By the time I came home in autumn, he had already gone early for Omega studies. So much for waiting.
“I believe that’s my job, Mr. Beckett.”
I blink a few times until I’m out of my thoughts and centered back in reality. Jaimie, my Omega assistant hovers in the threshold.
“It’s the least I can do. Come on in, help yourself to some coffee. I’ve also snagged us some of those sugar cookies from the executive cafeteria if you want some.”
I know he won’t because he’s too professional, but I’ll always offer. He chuckles and instead gets to work dusting and tidying the space, expertly careful of the intricate technology. He’s no Arius but he’s the closest I’ll probably get to having an Omega friend again.
I know it’s strange. I should be more interested in dating the Omegas, not being their friend.
Jaimie is gorgeous with his neatly crafted hair, bright hazel eyes, and perfect lithe physique.
I should be drooling over someone like that, but every time I try to get close to an Omega, I’m reminded of Ari and how he left me.
It took a lot of waiting before I finally accepted that he wasn’t coming back. Not even for breaks or holidays. He just randomly decided to never visit me again.
I don’t have the patience to do that all over.
Shaking the grim thoughts, I return my attention to one of my telescopes.
Through the main tube, I struggle to replace the objective mirror with a new one my engineers have been working on.
My fingers are too large to get a grip on it, and I don’t have a tool nearby to help me.
Before I can shatter it out of frustration, Jaimie pops up beside me.
His much smaller hands delicately replace mine and remove the mirror in one swift motion.
“Thanks,” I nod at him.
He smiles up at me sweetly and helps me insert the new mirror. A look of disappointment crosses his features when I step away from him to place the old mirror in its designated drawer.
“What’s wrong?” I ask when I return to see him still standing by the telescope deep in his thoughts.
“Nothing,” he shakes his head and continues tidying the already neat room. They must really emphasize cleanliness in Omega studies. That, or Jaimie has OCD.
“You confuse me sometimes, is all. I can’t figure you out, Mr. Beckett.”
My eyebrows shoot up at his confession. Due to the nature of our professional relationship, I’m surprised at his bluntness. Jaimie isn’t the most open Omega.
“How so?” I urge him, unsure what he means.
“Well, for example, remember last week when you asked me on a date?”
I’m stunned by that, thinking hard about it.
Did I? I search my memory, but he must be confused.
I usually provide food for Jaimie since we’re on the top floor of the North wing and the cleaners’ cafeteria is all the way on the bottom floor toward the West end.
His entire lunch break would be spent walking there and back.
It’s never been anything more than a kind gesture.
“You mean when I invited you to have dinner with me? That wasn’t a date,” I clarify.
“Oh.” His face goes red and his eyes go wide in embarrassment. Shit, was I too straight-forward? I didn’t mean to make him feel bad.
“Well, what about when you gave me a raise?” he counters.
“You deserved it. You’re a hard worker.”
He lets out a frustrated huff. I can read an Alpha like a book, but an Omega? That’s a whole other genre I’ve never gotten the hang of. Jaimie steps closer looking flustered.
“You’re telling me that you don’t expect me to, y’know, actually earn my raise?”
When I catch on to what he’s insinuating, my face starts to heat as much as his. I would never cross that boundary with an employee of mine. Especially with my growing fame in the media, a scandal is the last thing I need. I open my mouth to explain as much, but he continues.
“I don’t know what you want from me, or why you keep leading me on,” he’s pacing the room now. “Whenever I try to give you what you undoubtedly want, what any Alpha wants from me, you pull back. Why do you do that?”
“Jaimie, I– “
“And the fact that you’re about to apologize to me right now is just the cherry on top of the confusion cake. What kind of Alpha apologizes to an Omega who interrupts them?”
My brows furrow. I’m clearly not understanding the fit he’s having. Maybe he’s close to his heat which is totally understandable. Even on suppressants, Omegas still experience minor and more manageable heat symptoms. But I have a feeling he won’t want to discuss such a personal thing with me.
“So, you don’t want me to apologize for leading you on, correct?” I ask for clarity.
He places his hands on his hips.
“I’m just saying, Mr. Beckett, that if I spoke to anyone else in this company the way you let me speak to you, they’d slap me silly and no one would look twice because they’d all do the same.”
I wince at how truthful his words are. The rich assholes I work with come from wealthy families.
They expect obedient Omegas to fall in their laps the same way money does.
They weren’t taught to treat Omegas, or anyone they didn’t care about for that matter, with respect.
Poor Jaimie must come from that world too.
With a sigh, I scratch my chin and face him. He’s been honest with me, maybe I should do the same.
“Look, Jaimie. I was always taught to protect Omegas, not use them.” He straightens and looks up at me curiously.
“The truth is…you remind me of someone. Someone I used to protect. I guess I’ve been acting strange around you because I’ve been trying to fill the void that Omega left.
So, in a way, I have been using you and leading you on. And for that, I’m sorry.”
Jaimie’s expression softens from frustrated to pitiful.
“What happened to the Omega?” he asks cautiously.
“I don’t know. His name was Arius. Life got between us as an Alpha and Omega.” I shrug, but the feeling of despair inside is anything but casual.
“Did you love him?”
Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have prepared me for that whiplash of a question. I have to clear my throat before I choke on my own bubbling emotions. Did I love Ari?
“Yeah, I mean, uh. We were close friends, but we were pretty young, so. I, uh, guess I loved him in a way.”
I cringe at myself.
Real smooth, Knox.
What I should’ve said was yes. Yes, I loved him obsessively, but I didn’t fucking know that.
As a growing Alpha, I didn’t have my feelings sorted out yet. Every day, for years after he left, I regretted never asking him out and making him mine. By now, he’s most certainly mated off to some other Alpha, probably has a few kids too, and he’ll forever be the one that got away.
I can’t read Jaimie’s expression, but he nods in understanding and resumes cleaning, avoiding me for the duration of his shift.