32. Chloe
CHAPTER 32
CHLOE
Miller Smile’s Dentistry was perfect beyond my wildest dreams. On the day of my interview, it was quiet. Patients sat silently in gray waiting chairs. The walls were an aesthetically pleasing beige, with clinical pictures of tooth decay and gum disease. They had an immediate opening. Dr. Miller told me that he thought I was perfect for the position.
It was going to be my first quiet desk job, and I was beyond ready to start. That morning, I brushed my teeth twice, which wasn’t a job requirement, but just felt like the right thing to do. I took the first bus of the day, which left while the sunrise still left a colorful mix of pinks and oranges painted across the sky.
I was going to demonstrate my competence. Quietly. Leaving all of the drama behind me. I was going to show everyone that I was capable, and I didn’t need this designation, hormones, and fancy omega scent in order to be a functional and contributing member of society.
In short, I was ready to kick ass at my desk job.
The dentist headed in, and I greeted him with a smile.
This was everything that I had ever wanted. I was finding my own way in the world.
“Good morning,” I said in an enthusiastic voice, as Dr. Miller stepped up to the reception desk.
“Coffee, black with two sugars.” He didn’t even look at me.
“What?” The word just slipped out at his brusk tone. I knew what a coffee was, obviously .
Dr. Miller sighed loudly, and then actually turned to look at me for the first time. Only, he was glaring at me like I was an idiot. “There’s a coffee mug down in the breakroom. Grab me a cup of coffee. Put two sugar packets in it. No milk or creamer. Bring it down to my office. Do you think you can manage that?” He said each word slowly, enunciating everything with contempt dripping from each syllable.
“Yeah, I got it.” Turning away before my new boss could see how red I was turning.
Was this normal? Was I so wrapped up in the proper behavior of omegas that I wasn’t able to fit into the real world anymore? I don’t know, I was getting pretty good at clocking people as assholes. But none of the alphas I’d spoken to had been so rude .
Were people only being nice to me because they wanted to get into my hot brother’s pants? Or my pants? Without the sex appeal, was I just not worthy of respect?
What was going on?
Alright. It was just my first day. Got off to a bad first impression with the boss man, but that wasn’t the end of everything. I wasn’t about to give up over one miscommunication over a little cup of coffee.
Walking down the hallways, coffee cup in hand, I heard my coworkers mutter to one another. They were whispering, but not quietly enough that I couldn’t make out their words.
“Poor little omega doesn’t know what she’s in for.”
Part of me wanted to stop walking. To just give them a frosty glare. If one sharp look was enough to make the hot-blooded alphas back at the Institute quiver in their boots, it was probably enough to get beta women to stop whispering about me in ear shot.
I forced myself to keep walking as if I’d never heard them. They didn’t think that I could handle this job because of my designation? Well, fuck them. I was Chloe Stryker. I’d put up with months of strenuous academic commitments to be here.
I wasn’t about to let some jaded coworkers take that away from me.
I brought the cup all the way back to the dentist’s office. Dr. Miller didn’t say a word to acknowledge my presence, just grabbed the coffee and took a sip. Blatantly ignoring me. I hurried away. It wasn’t like I was avoiding my new boss or anything. I, Chloe, the highest academic achiever in my cohort, did not cower in the face of rude dentists. It was just because of new job jitters. Or something.
It wouldn’t kill him to say thank you.
At least I thought it wouldn’t kill him. The weight of all that ego lodged in that big old skull might be killer. Especially since it seemed built like a jenga tower. Maybe one word of gratitude would be all that it took to make the whole thing come crumbling down and destroy him.
Maybe this was a common new-hire experience? Was it normal for employees to expect a little bit of hazing? That sounded like an excellent question for google once I got home.
Alright, now that the unpleasant coffee experience was over and done with, I was ready to work.
I returned to my post at the reception desk, armed with a smile and a killer shade of red lipstick.
My back straightened as the front door opened. Emma, the other secretary at the counter, was with another patient, so it was all up to me. The man walking in was a bit bedraggled, carrying himself with nervous energy. Could he be anxious to go to the dentist? I know that I had a hard time with the thoughts of needles in my mouth.
“I’m here for my eight thirty appointment.” The man slid over his identification that read Ronald Brown.
I didn’t need to look at my watch to know that it was long past eight-thirty.
“Let me confirm the availability with Dr. Miller.” Over the weekend, I made flashcards with all of the protocols listed in the manual. I had it down to a science.
“I’m only fifteen minutes late. There was traffic on the highway.”
Fifteen minutes my ass. Someone doesn’t know how to do basic fucking math. I kept the smile on my face, though inside it was strained. “I completely understand, Mr. Brown. The policy just states that I need to check Dr. Miller’s availability for late patients.”
“My tooth is fucking throbbing right now. I took off work for this.” Ronald clenched his bony hands into a fist. He reminded me of my baby brother when he was on the verge of a meltdown. Except that Rowan was a two-year-old. “I’m here for my appointment and you are just wasting time. Why can’t you go and do your damn job?”
“I understand sir, just give me a minute to—”
He didn’t even let me finish my sentence.
“What, are you stupid or something? If I didn’t have to wait for you, I’d already be seeing the dentist by now.”
My mouth was hanging open. The second I realized, I shut it with a snap.
“Sir, I need to confirm that Dr. Miller still has the availability to see you.”
“What, are you a parrot? Got to repeat everything? If you weren’t such a stupid fucking cunt , I’d be getting my teeth fixed right now.” Not only was Ronald raising his voice at me, he leaned in so close that tiny flecks of angry spit landed right on my face.
“Does there seem to be a problem? Sorry love, it’s Chloe’s first day.” Emma smiled at me with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Why don’t you take a seat in the waiting area and I’ll go let Dr. Miller know that you’re here.”
That was basically the exact same thing that I said. So why was this loser nodding and doing what Emma told him to?
When Ronald went in the back to his appointment, he flashed Emma a smile, before rolling his eyes at me. Ronald muttered, in a completely audible voice, that I was a stupid bitch.
Okay.
It wasn’t my fault that he came in late.
My self reassurances that things could only get better were getting really strained.
Why did I think that working in a dentist’s office would be a quiet position? Sounds carried perfectly all the way from the treatment room to the front desk. I could hear everything .
I tried not to flinch as one parent screamed at her kid and tried my best to tune out the sound of sobbing.
“Just stop crying. Stop it. It’s making you drool more.”
“It’s going to hurt.” The kid couldn’t be older than four. She had sweet little pigtails and sparkly sneakers.
“You better knock that off, you hear me? It doesn’t even hurt, he just needs to check you to fix your teeth.”
All day, the noise would not stop.
I attempted to tune out the sounds of drilling, and the muffled sounds of kids screaming at the top of their lungs for long enough to focus on the next patient who had gotten to my counter.
I had imagined that Mr. Brown would be the worst patient of the day. Which was fine. I’d just knocked the worst out right away. It didn’t take me long to realize that this was clearly not the case.
“What the hell do you mean that it costs one thousand, three hundred and sixteen dollars? That isn’t what I was told over the phone.” A little old lady with curly gray hair and her wrinkled mouth twisted into a snarl was currently glaring at me like I had lit a bag of kittens on fire in front of her.
“Well then I can give a call to your insurance and have a representative discuss your exact coverage.” I could feel a headache tight across my forehead, like this conversation was about to reach into my skull, pinching my brain.
“No!” Yet another patient thought it was okay to scream at me. “I need you to honor the price you told me over the phone.”
“All I can do is give a call to your insurance.” I wasn’t even the one who spoke to her on the phone and told her however much she thought this appointment was going to cost.
The little old lady glared at me like I was personally out to get her. She didn’t thank me when I got a hold of her insurance and fixed whatever financial miscommunication happened before I even started working at Miller Smile’s Dentistry.
“Told you so,” she snapped at me, giving me a death glare as if she was putting me in my place. As if I had a secret vendetta, with malicious plots to overcharge my poor and defenseless elderly patients.
Everyone was stressed out.
Everyone was anxious. About their teeth. About the crazy cost and weird insurance policies that made no logical sense.
And the common denominator?
Everyone was taking it out on me.
I gave Emma the excuse that I was going on my break and she shrugged disinterestedly in reply. After I’d scurried off to the break room, and finally had a moment of privacy, everything hit me.
I bit my lip. Trying to open my eyes wider, as if the extra air would be enough to force back the tears.
My eyes were getting blurry and stinging around the edges, but I wasn’t going to give in. Why would I start crying? This is what I wanted… I chose this job over my scent matches.
Oh my God.
I chose this job over my scent matches… and I hated it.
What the hell was I doing? Was I really cowering in the back of a dental office like my life was ending?
No. Fuck this.
I scrolled through my contacts.
Obviously, I couldn’t bother my moms right now. They were getting to the point in their pregnancies where they needed step by step instructions on how to get in and out of a car. But which of my dads was going to be the least dramatic about this?
My finger hovered over Daddy-Lo.
I scrubbed the tears off my face and forced myself to smile. Not because I was happy, obviously, but because it would change the way that my voice sounded. Maybe make me sound like I was happy, and wasn’t asking to be rescued from abysmal failure.
He picked up after one ring.
“Chloe?”
“Daddy-Lo?” I couldn’t help it, I sniffled a little bit hearing his caring voice. I couldn’t help it, after the day I was having.
“What happened?” His voice dropped low and serious.
This morning, I’d taken the bus, and now I couldn’t stomach the thought of sitting calmly around all of those people. Not after I’d fucked up this badly on day one of what was supposed to be the start of my grand new life.
I’d already calculated how much I’d have to put aside in savings for the next month before I’d be able to get a car on my own. All of those calculations were trashed now, along with my hopes for a quiet secretarial position.
“Can you pick me up?” I texted Daddy-Lo with the address to my job. Screw it.
All of my dads were over-protective, but I was past the point of caring.
“Be right there. Don’t you worry about a thing, baby-girl.”
His voice was clipped and all business. Nothing like his normal goofy dad-voice.
Well, shit.
A slight prickle of anxiety slithered up my spine, but I ignored it. Daddy-Lo was definitely over-reacting. Part of me felt like I should go wait outside, or at least give some sort of half-hearted attempt to warn my coworkers that an angry alpha might be bursting into this not-so-quiet dental office, but—meh.
If the Dentist and coworkers were so confident that they could treat someone like shit, just for being an omega… they could surely deal with the fallout.
This was on them.