7
Skylar
Over the next few days, work was a welcome distraction from all the crap going on in my life. I donned my angel costume and spent eight hours taking orders, smiling at customers and serving hot drinks.
Maybe the tips would’ve been a bit better if I could put on a genuine smile, but that was difficult to force when I was in so much turmoil.
But I kept myself busy, and thankfully none of my coworkers pressed me for any details about why I seemed a little down. Only Kaden knew there wassomekind of drama with an alpha, since he was there to catch the tail-end of me and Rafael’s argument. But he’d recognized I needed time to cool off, and that there were still secrets kept from him, so he left me alone except to give me a comforting pat on the back once in a while.
Just two weeks,I kept telling myself as the hours crept by.Two weeks and I can take a pregnancy test and know for sure. Then I can stop keeping secrets from everyone.
But the thought nagged me: what exactly was I going to tell my friends? That I just woke up pregnant? I either needed to make up another lie, or tell them that I didn’t feel comfortable sharing who the father was, which went hand-in-hand with mentioning that I’d be raising this baby on my own.
I let out a deep sigh as the heavy thoughts weighed me down. This had gotten way more complicated than I wanted it to be. All I wanted was a baby, like Jake had Finn, and Felix had Grace. It seemed like all my omega friends were getting romantically involved and knocked up one by one. It felt like the next thing I knew, Kaden was going to show up with a big belly.
Oh, please, don’t let that happen. I’ll tear out all my goddamn hair.
“Hey, cutie. Are you done zoning out?”
The alpha’s voice brought me back down to earth. He was a handsome man, young with pale skin and blond hair, a perfect smile and a clean-shaven face. He sat alone at the table, the menu still in his hand, but thankfully he didn’t seem annoyed at me for being inattentive. He smiled as I flushed in embarrassment.
“Oh, I’m so sorry!” I said. “Have you decided what you’d like to order?”
He winked at me. “I’m guessing you’re not on the menu.”
It wasn’t the first time I heard that comment, but with the alpha’s playful tone I could tell he didn’t mean it in a sleazy way.
“No, but I can show you some of my favorites.” I offered him a friendly smile and leaned in to point out the chocolate cinnamon latte. “Excuse my reach, but this one’s the best.”
“No problem at all.”
The alpha didn’t move out of the way. He stood confidently still, letting my arm brush up against him by accident. I blushed, feeling awkward, and pulled out of the way. He handed me the menu with a charismatic smile. “Then I’ll have your recommendation.”
I put in the drink order and came back with it quickly. If I wanted to get those extra tips, I knew I needed to ham it up. Usually I didn’t mind, since it came with the territory of the job--even though I never had to put myself in a situation where I felt uncomfortable--but with all the stress in my life, I found it harder than usual to connect with customers.
This alpha in particular seemed nice enough, though, and he wasn’t too hard on the eyes. When I returned to the table with his drink, I smiled brightly at him--and hey, it was only partially fake.
“Here you are, sir,” I said, placing the mug neatly in front of him.
The alpha caught my gaze, not letting go the entire time as he watched me move. “Thank you, Skylar.”
I was confused for a second before I remembered:Oh, right. Name tags.
Since it was common courtesy, I replied, “You’re welcome, Mister…?”
“Shane,” he replied. He nodded his head to the opposite seat at the table. “Why don’t you sit with me for a while, Skylar?”
The Omega Angel Café had a strict set of rules which included customers not being able to touch employees, and banning photography. They were there to keep all the omega employees safe and comfortable. But there were other things wewereallowed to do, and sitting with customers was one of them--only if we wanted to, of course.
Wanting that extra tip, I smiled thinly and took a seat. “Sure.”
Shane was handsome, there was no doubt about that. But there was something about his perfect pale skin and perfectly coiffed hair that left me longing for something else.
Or maybe it wassomeoneelse.
“Would you like to take a sip?” Shane said, smiling as he tipped the drink towards me.
Sharing food and drink was a grey area, at least by the café’s rules. It wasn’t banned, or even frowned upon, but it was up to the individual employee to decide what they were comfortable with. Knowing that the drink had come fresh from the kitchen and wasn’t spiked or anything, and that Shane hadn’t even had a single drink yet, I opted in.
