Page 32 of Bonded By Tea and Tarot

I nod slowly. “You haven’t scared me off. Not yet, anyways.”

Jayce slumps in his seat with a bewildered looking smile, while Hayden’s grin is warm and broad, pushing those round glasses up their cheeks.

“So, Jayce,” I say. “What do you do for work?”

“I’m in construction.”

I wait for more, but he doesn’t provide it.

“And…?” I say. His eyes flit between mine, growing wider with every second that passes. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“Oh.” He clears his throat, then takes a sip of water. “Well I’m the foreman, so I’m in charge of the job site. I make sure everything is running smoothly, and I step in wherever is needed.”

“Wow,” I say, genuinely impressed. “That sounds like a heavy mental load. And hard physically, too.”

“It’s honest work. What do you do?”

I fidget, twisting the turquoise ring around my pointer finger. This is the moment of truth. Too many times I’ve been belittled for my profession, my interests and skills. I suppose this will be the final test. I take a deep breath, then square my shoulders and glance between them. Hayden’s eyes narrow slightly, dipping over my straightened posture. They tilt their head and sit up straighter as well.

“I’m a content creator.”

Silence.

“And…?” Jayce finally replies.

My hackles immediately rise and I lean forward, ready to throw down. “What do you mean ‘and?’ I’ll have you know I make good mon⁠—”

“Whoa, whoa whoa,” Jayce interrupts, throwing his hands in the air. “I was teasing, pretty omega. I don’t know what that means, so I was throwing your line back at you.”

I blink at him once, twice, and then deflate back into my chair.

“Oh,” I say, frowning at my reaction to his playful rebuttal. “Sorry.”

“All good. So… What is a content creator, exactly?” he asks, his tone carefully neutral.

He only looks more confused as I explain, so I pause in the middle of it. “Do you not have social media?” I ask, rattling off a couple that most people use.

Jayce shakes his head, glancing at Hayden as though for help.

“We don’t really have an online presence,” they say with a shrug. “What kind of content do you create? I’d love to hear more about it.”

Once again, I’m taken aback. These alphas keep throwing me for a loop and it’s getting hard to keep up with the whiplash. Maybe part of that is on me; I’ve been making assumptions of them left and right.

“Yeah, well, I mostly do tarot readings.” I stop and look pointedly at Jayce, waiting for the snarky ‘and’ but instead, he leans back in his chair, mimes zipping his lips, then folds his massive arms over his chest.

I reluctantly quirk a smile, and his eyes twinkle in response.

I roll my eyes, giving in. “Tarot reading is where you use a deck of cards to help guide your intuition. It’s different for each person, but it’s not like telling the future—not for me at least. I use it as a reminder of my values, things to be mindful of or keep an eye out for, that type of thing.”

“Fascinating,” Hayden murmurs. They have both elbows planted on the table and are staring at me like they’ve never seen anyone like me before. “Can we see one of your contents?”

I snort the most unattractive laugh I’ve ever snort-laughed. Then I slap my hand to my face, mortified that such a horrific sound came from me, but I can’t stop laughing.

“Did you just say…” I gasp out, “that you want to see one of my contents? Like, plural?”

“I…” Hayden glances at Jayce, who shrugs, then looks back at me. They square their shoulders and tip their chin up. “Yes.”

“Yes?” I say, still chuckling between words. “Okay, well. The content I create is mainly videos, some pictures here and there. I can show you a video of a reading I did recently, if you’d like.”