12
Jai
Jai hadn’t breathed properly until he made it out of the office building and he had never been so glad to see the weekend. At least he had a couple of days to prepare before he ran into Nickolas again. He promised himself he would be professional, and not act like some omega slut who couldn’t control himself around a hot alpha. He was raised better than that.
On the bus traveling home, or what he called home nowadays, he mentally devised ways to not be in the same room with the alpha again. He would just keep his head down and make sure he wasn’t picked for any task that had the CEO’s involvement. Although that shouldn’t be too difficult after the coffee on the document stunt. Plus he would definitely not be making any unannounced trips to the alpha’s office, that was for darn sure. He was going to behave like a model employee.Get in and get out.
What on earth had possessed him to behave in such a way? To give his body to an alpha who was literally a stranger? Jai had to admit those questions plagued him.
The only answer he could come up with was the alpha had not felt like a stranger to him. There was some sort of pull he couldn’t explain. A sense of familiarity he couldn’t shake off. That was probably what had scrambled his good sense.
But that was all rubbish because Nickolas came from a world of wealth and privilege he couldn’t even fathom. Jai was nothing to him and he would do well to remember that before he made a fool of himself – or more of one, anyway.
He knew the alpha’s interest in him had gone to his head. How could he have resisted the temptation of alpha perfection? He was only human for Christ’s sake.
He had no strength of will to overcome such temptation. And the alpha was the very definition of the word. Webster should add him as an example in the dictionary. To Jai, he had been indescribably and stupidly appealing. Nickolas was the word temptation personified.
The slight twinge in his ass and the feeling of emptiness was a keen reminder of his weakness.
It wasn’t until early the next morning, when his seven-day reminder for his approaching heat came up on his heat tracking app, that Jai remembered the contraceptive failure. A sliver of fear crawled down his spine. He said a prayer to all the gods he could think of that his heat would come as usual.
He couldn’t even fathom the thought of getting pregnant on what was essentially a one-night stand, and he had a feeling the alpha would not react positively to the news.
Jai definitely didn’t want to bring a child into this world who was unwanted – that would be a disaster. The weekend went by at a ridiculously slow pace. He was anxious, agitated and melancholy, and couldn’t seem to shake it off. The fact he was subconsciously waiting on the phone to ring, pissed him off even further, and the knowledge that his mood became progressively worse while his phone stayed stubbornly silent, didn’t help any.
If he needed a sign that he was temporary entertainment, the silence of his phone the entire weekend was indication enough. Clearly, the alpha had forgotten all about him in no time at all. The knowledge had him going to bed utterly devastated.
The workweek passed similarly. He knew from the people in the office that Nickolas was away. He guessed the man had not been lying when he said he would be out of the office. Jai tried not to see it as him avoiding him, but his heart wouldn’t listen.
Every time his phone so much a vibrated, he jumped, and his stupid heart hoped it would be Nickolas. And he’d been disappointed each time. Instead, it was just a lady from his small town checking on him to ask how he was. How sad was that? The only person who ever called him was a friend of his mom's, Betty, who still lived one town over from the one where he grew up.
No call from the alpha.
Two weeks went by, the only good part being he had felt the stirring of his heat on his usual day and had taken a suppressant quickly. Even though he had only had to take one, instead of the full dose that lasted three days with the ones he took. But he didn’t have the feeling of heat the next day.
On the Saturday, in the morning, while Jaimie was cleaning to pass the time, someone knocked on his door. He paused momentarily, wondering who on earth it could be, and decided to ignore it as he wasn’t expecting anyone. The person persisted, knocking louder, so he gave in and opened the door, to find someone he didn’t recognize standing there.
“Mr. Ricci sent me to pick you up.” The unknown man said.
“Mr. R-Ricci?” Jaimie stammered.
He frowned when he realized what that meant and who had the audacity to summon him. After being ghosted for two weeks, Jaimie was spitting mad. He had never felt so angry in all his life. How dare the man?
He had basically ignored Jaimie for two whole weeks, and now the man wanted him to appear on command. How had he even known where he lived, for crying out loud?
Jai cursed his stupid omega heart for getting excited for even a second when he realized who had sent the driver. He had actually been excited that the horrible man hadn’t completely forgotten he existed, but thankfully his anger was more potent.
Did the man think Jaimie was his pet or something, who would come when commanded? Who treated people that way? The small voice in his mind reminded him that the alpha probably thought Jaimie was easy, seeing as he had fallen into bed almost immediately.
So why was he surprised that the alpha assumed he had nothing better to do and would be at his beck and call? Not that he did, but still. The man clearly thought Jai existed for his own amusement and would come when called, and who could even blame him for assuming that was the case.
“Please tell Mr. Ricci that I am unavailable,” Jai said, in the most polite tone he was capable of through his anger.
The driver simply nodded, even though Jai hadn’t missed the surprised look on his face before it had returned to neutral. Then the man turned and left down the stairs. Jai realized the surprise was probably because no one had ever told the alpha no.
