Page 111 of Toxic

"Well, that’s a good question. I thought it would be a smart idea, for one—you know him, his skills, his ways of working. The second reason is he’s an alpha, and not many managers want alphas on their team for various reasons, but your familiarity could help. From what I understand, you tutored Skye before, and it could help in establishing an authority position. He respects you, and other managers don’t have that kind of dynamic already in place. The third reason is much simpler: your team truly needs another member. An intern is perfect for that, and he can be easily replaced if needed. Moving him to another department won't be a problem, and it might be if I had assigned a regular employee to your team."

"Did he ask for this?"

"No. He just wanted to work for the company, no matter what department. That is solely my decision, based on these three reasons I listed."

We stared at each other. I knew I had to play along. He was Skye’s brother, dammit.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully chose my words. "Okay. Whatever my personal feelings about Skye may be, I will, of course, strive to maintain professionalism in the workplace and not jeopardize the project. I appreciate your trust, and I’ll do mybest not to let you down, though… I can't deny that his presence here is quite a shock to me. And to be completely honest, I’m in a relationship with another person now."

Nolan blinked slowly, then stared at me cautiously for a while.

There was a long pause as he thought about it, his face vacant, his gaze somewhere above my head. His very pale gray eyes were somewhat creepy, almost alien. It was rare to see such light irises on people; they were more common in cats or wolves. Finally, he snapped out of his pensive state and directed his gaze back at me.

"I didn’t know this, Soren. That changes a lot."

He stood up and approached the window.

"Listen, I’m not forcing this on you. I know it can be hard for both of you to separate emotions from work. I admit I had the spontaneous idea that, since you know each other, the familiarity could help, and it might be easier for you to introduce him to the project. But I obviously didn’t have the key information about you being in a relationship. I sense you're uncomfortable. Would you prefer that I move Skye to another team?"

Despite the logical part of my brain being on board with the idea of removing him, I also felt a wave of stress. My heart was screaming: No, don’t move Skye! No matter how irrational or stupid it sounded, even in my own head. I needed him close, for some reason. I was grateful Nolan gave me the option out, yes, but I was never going to take it. No way, no matter how shocked and jittery I was.

So, I quickly assured him, "No, no, I can handle it. I’m open to challenges, and thank you for choosing me as team leader."

"Are you sure? The challenge may be a tad too big. If you’re really with another person, it can be a horribly stressful situation for all of you."

"I’m positive. I can handle it."

Director Nolan stared at his hands for a while before asking, "Can I ask you a personal question, Soren? You don’t have to answer."

A nervous shiver jolted through my body. "Yes."

"Did you ever have feelings for him, even just a little bit, or was it just a casual thing for you?"

Answering him was a challenge because my jaw suddenly clenched painfully.

"I did, and I still do. But since he didn’t want to take me back, after two months, I moved on, accepting a relationship proposal from my long-time friend, who works here too, one floor up."

"Are you sure, Soren? There will be no consequences if you want Skye out of your way. Nothing changes. We can just assign you another intern. Don’t feel obligated just because he and I are related."

Raising my head high, I answered, "I’m sure. If there’s a problem, I’ll report it and ask for Skye’s reassignment. But let’s hope for the best."

Winter was silent for a moment, then he nodded and stood up. "Thank you. Marcus from HR will handle all the formalities. Now, I need to go; I have a meeting to attend. Go back to your office. Tomorrow, you’ll be moved to your new room, where you’ll start to manage the newly formed team."

I stood up as well. He extended his hand, and I shook it, feeling a bit uncertain.

As I approached the door, Director Nolan walked past me and suddenly said in a low voice, "Good luck. You only live once."

And then he walked down the hallway toward the conference room.

I stood there, mouth slightly open.

The fuck? What was he alluding to?

That I should perhaps… reconsider?

Easy for him to say; he wasn’t in my shoes, hadn’t lived through what I had. ‘You only live once’? Really? More like, ‘You suffer many times along the way before you die’, and sometimes… you just want to limit the amount of suffering!

As I lingered there, the shock of the whole situation began to wear off, and the cold, harsh reality started to sink in.

---