Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
MATEO
After another night of real sleep, Mateo felt confident he could get through the day when returning to Spellbound. He knew better than to think the week would go by entirely smoothly, he was working for Roz after all, but at least he was rested enough to function.
Sitting at his desk, he pulled out his wipes, cleaning off the surface while mentally tallying the tasks he knew he had to get done this week.
There were always tickets for concerns about security issues, and Roz would flag any log-in attempts that were suspicious.
More often than not, those tickets were quick, since it was usually user error and not an actual hacking attempt, but he’d need to get through them quickly if he didn’t want Roz handing out cyber security courses like candy.
“Hey, Mateo,” Jonah greeted, coming to stand next to his desk. “You’re being reassigned today.”
Mateo looked up at him with a deep frown. “Reassigned?”
Jonah nodded. “Yep. We’re starting on the Medical Innovations security set up this week, remember? Roz left it up to me to choose who would join the team for this bit, and I think you’ve got the skill to handle it.”
“What about my assigned tickets?” he asked.
He liked the idea of Jonah recognizing his skill, but he didn’t want to run around like a chicken with his head cut off trying to get it all done.
Good sleep or not, he wasn’t great with being overburdened.
He didn’t want another week of falling asleep on Dax any time they were together.
“Don’t worry about that. I redistributed the tickets.
Some I sent upstairs to IT since they’re not overly busy right now, and some I sent to those who are staying on this floor.
We’ve also got two new hires coming in later in the week who will take the easier stuff on.
I really want my team focused only on properly setting up the cyber security in each division.
Otherwise this will take months, and Roz will lose her mind. ”
He said it like a joke, but Mateo felt like there might be some truth to that. Still, he was happy to go along if it wasn’t going to make his life more difficult. “Okay, when do we leave?”
Jonah glanced at his phone. “I’d say maybe ten minutes? I’m waiting for Shayna and Tim to join us. Deshawn is already here.”
Mateo had been hired with a large group of newbies, but because they’d been so busy since day one, he didn’t know his coworkers all that well.
Deshawn was apparently a coding savant and usually worked with noise cancelling headphones so he could focus.
His desk was in the back away from the windows because he didn’t like the glare on his screens.
Mateo… wasn’t entirely sure they’d get along.
The guy was polite, but his desk was an absolute nightmare.
Cans of energy drinks, crumbs, and Mateo was pretty sure he saw the guy rip a piece of paper off the surface because it had gotten adhered by something sticky.
Did he clean it? No. He put the paper back and moved on.
Mateo may have purposely tried not looking in that direction since that day.
The rest of the team arrived on time, and they left together to head to Medical Innovations.
They were starting with the research floor since everyone on the team felt it was best to protect the confidential testing information first before moving on to the rest. It wasn’t until the elevator opened on Medical Innovations’ research floor that he remembered that was where Dax worked.
His heart skipped, and he looked around, zeroing in on the kraken who–
“Holy crap, what is he doing?”
All eyes swung in the direction of Dax, who held a gnome upside down by his ankle with a tentacle, dangling him over some kind of device Mateo had no hope of identifying. Whatever it was, it was huge, and if Dax dropped the gnome, he’d very likely get hurt.
His feet moved before he’d made the conscious decision to head in that direction. There was no way Dax was bullying a gnome or threatening him. Dax wasn’t that guy. Was he?
“Here?” Dax asked as Mateo got closer.
“Nah, farther left,” the gnome grumbled.
Mateo’s footsteps faltered, and he took in the situation a little closer now that he could see things properly.
The gnome had a screwdriver in his hand, and he didn't look nervous or scared, just focused. Meanwhile, Dax was moving him where requested, stepping onto a small step ladder to give himself more reach. He nearly overcorrected, and Mateo’s hands shot out automatically, snagging his waist and righting him before he and the gnome both toppled into the machine.
“Thanks, I–” Dax glanced over his shoulder, his whole face lighting up when he saw it was Mateo who was touching him. “Mateo! What are you doing here?”
“Focus, Dax,” the gnome snapped. “If you drop me to flirt with someone, I’ll hurt you.”
Snorting, Dax gave his attention back to the gnome. “Alright, alright, keep your pants on. Are you over the right spot yet?”
“Yeah, I think so. Lower me down.”
He did so, and Mateo watched as Dax effortlessly held the smaller man aloft with one tentacle without even a twitch of exertion, which was amazing. From what Mateo had heard, gnomes were surprisingly dense and not easily hefted around.
“There,” the gnome called. “Hold it there.”
Once the gnome was working on whatever it was he needed to do, Dax looked over his shoulder again and smiled at Mateo. “What are you doing here?” His smile faltered. “Don’t tell me my system is getting hacked again. I swear I didn't do anything.”
That made him snicker, shaking his head.
“No, Dax. I’m not here for you. We’re actually here to add the same security measures I put into place in your system on the rest of the research floor.
” He tipped his head toward the elevators where the rest of their team was speaking with someone Mateo didn’t know.
He should probably head back over there, but he was reluctant to let go of Dax when he was leaning the way he was.
“I’ll probably be on this floor for a few days at the very least. Maybe the rest of the week. ”
It was like he’d told Dax Christmas had come early. The kraken beamed at him, bouncing a little in excitement, and earned a scolding from the gnome he was supposed to be assisting for jerking him around. “Gods damn it, Dax, hold still! I knew I should’ve just waited for the hoist to be fixed.”
“Sorry, Gim. Won’t happen again,” Dax called back, shooting Mateo a teasing grin. “You’re going to get me into trouble.”
“Sorry. I don’t want you to fall in.”
Dax’s expression softened. “That’s sweet, thank you.”
He stayed where he was while the gnome finished what he was doing. Luckily, it only took a couple of minutes, and when the gnome was pulled back out, he looked no worse for wear, aside from a little red in the face from being held upside down for so long.
“All good?” Dax asked as he carefully set the guy on his feet.
“Should be. I warned Knox it’d come loose if he didn’t secure it properly. Also told him it’d be a huge pain in the ass to fix if it did. He didn’t listen.”
“Well, I’m glad I could help. Did you put in a ticket to maintenance about the hoist?”
“I’ll do that now,” Gim grumbled. “Go back to your work.”
Dax didn’t argue or even comment about the fact that the gnome never said thank you. He just snagged Mateo around the waist with one tentacle, leading him over to his work station and proudly showing him his computer. “See? Still working fine.”
Mateo loved that he listened and cared about what he’d said, but he couldn’t help teasing a little, picking up the keyboard and flipping it over to make sure the password wasn’t written under there.
“Hey! I told you I wouldn’t put it under there!” Dax squawked, his eyes wide with incredulity.
“Just had to check,” Mateo said, pressing his lips together to hide his grin. It broke free when Dax poked him in the side, an adorable little scowl on his face that immediately faded when Mateo laughed.
“Alright, troublemaker. Get back to your work. Did you bring your swim stuff? I want a pool buddy after work, and I’ve got a present to give you.”
A present? Mateo was immediately confused and a little apprehensive. They’d only just started spending time together. Wasn’t it too early to be buying presents?
“Uh, yeah, I brought it. It’s at my desk, but you didn’t have to–”
He didn't get to finish the sentence before Jonah called for him, forcing him to abandon the conversation mid-sentence. He shot an inquisitive glance at Dax, but the kraken just grinned at him, wiggling his fingers as he dropped back into his seat. “I’ve got data to sort through. Have fun doing computer wizardry!”
Dax didn’t look even slightly like he’d stop to explain himself, leaving Mateo confused and curious the rest of the morning.
Jonah assigned him to a researcher who thankfully was in the middle of a testing phase and all the data was going to her tablet, so he could work on her workstation without interrupting her.
Her workstation was in direct view of Dax’s, meaning Mateo could keep an eye on the secretive kraken, but nothing he said or did gave Mateo any clue what he could have gotten for him as a gift.
His stomach clenched a little uncomfortably at the thought.
He wasn’t sure about getting a gift from Dax.
He didn’t know him well enough to get him something in return and receiving a gift without reciprocity struck him as wrong.
He didn’t want to sound like an ass turning him down, though, either.
Not if Dax went to the trouble of getting something for him.
“Ha! Found you!”
Taron’s voice startled him out of his spiral, and he jerked his head up just in time for Taron to plant his butt on the edge of the workstation Mateo had been working at.
Mateo masked a grimace, suddenly wishing he’d brought his wet wipes with him.
What was it with people sitting on other people’s desks?
“Taron? Did you need something?”
“Yup. I’ve got something for you,” Taron said brightly.
Seriously? What was it with everyone bringing him gifts today? He didn’t do anything to earn it as far as he was aware.
Taron handed him a box and Mateo blinked down at it in surprise. “A phone?”
“Yup. Company-provided. You need a phone to keep in contact with your roommates. Since the residency program is run through the company, it still counts being covered by a company phone. I already plugged in the essential numbers so there are no more excuses for missing a house meeting.”