Page 14 of By the Fae

They were talking again, and it was at this moment my brain decided to tune them out. It also tuned out my feet, as I found myself standing. And walking.Oh, no, what was I doing?

Seth looked at me, an eyebrow cocked, Luke still blah-blah-blahing on the screen.

“Finished!” I yelled. “I’m going now, bye.” Was he getting smaller? Or was my vision tunnelling?

“Finished already?” Seth said, dropping his hand holding the phone. A smile spread across his face. “Well, see you around.” And then he went back to talking with Luke as though I had not interrupted him.

I needed sugar. I practically ran from his office to the twelfth-floor break room where my lunch awaited me. Microwaveable macaroni-cheese, and a fae-sized chocolate bar. I’d start with the candy.

I barrelled into the break room, smashing the door open, expecting it to be as empty as it always had been before, but there, at the table, sat two fae women. One dark-skinned with gold-threaded braids, and one light-skinned with flame-red hair.

I froze.

The redhead jumped to her feet. “Oh, the human!”

“We finally get to meet you,” said the fae with golden braids. “I’m Alina. I work in marketing. This is Shell. She’s Cerulean’s PA.”

“Hi,” I squeaked. I had no idea who Cerulean was. Unless . . . Well, there was a guy with blue skin that worked in logistics, but that’d be a little too on the nose, wouldn’t it?

“I hope you don’t mind us using this break room? We both work on ninth, and that one is always teeming,” said Shell.

“And we didn’t fancy getting hit on in the canteen again.”

“Sure, of course. Not a problem to me,” I said, glad my voice was returning to normal. I still needed sugar, so I casually, as casually as I could muster, strode over to the cupboards, and pulled out my lunch. I took the seat opposite the women on the large central table and bit into my chocolate. The instant relief of the sugar-hit flooded my system. Out the corner of my eye, I noted the two salads sitting in front of the fae.

“So, how are you finding it here? You’re a designer, huh?” asked Shell.

“Senior designer,” corrected Alina.

“Oh wow, good for you. Give those boys a run for their money.”

“I’ll try,” I said with an affected laugh. I still had to do my shadowing. The chocolate bar churned in my stomach. I took another bite, regardless. I was still ninety-nine percent convinced I would choose Seth, but that whole encounter had left me feeling so many new emotions, I’m not even sure half of them had names.

If I was being honest with myself, he was a bit of a jerk. My fault for putting him on a pedestal he wasn’t aware of. Men were men. It didn’t matter about the species. I should know not to enforce unrealistic expectations onto others. Especially ones I was attracted to.

Because I will always, always, disappoint myself.

And I couldn’t deny that a tiny part of me was hopeful, too. He dated humans. So perhaps something — a date, a relationship, marriage and four adorable half-fae babies —wasn’t completely out of the realms of possibilities.

“You make sure you’re putting those lads in their places,” said Alina. “And if any of them try anything with you, tell them where to swivel.”

They both laughed. I chimed in with an unconvincing, “Hehe.”

“Especially Seth,” said Shell, causing my stomach to swoop dangerously again.

“You won’t have to worry about Goldie, though,” said Alina. “Not anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I found myself asking. Unjustified curiosity, and a little jolt of adrenaline, travelled up my spine.

“Well, you know, because of the rule.” I must have looked confused because Alina added, “Goldie’s a nymph, yeah?” I nodded. I’d read that in my big book already. “So, he has an affinity for, um, promiscuous activities.” I also already knew this. “His boss, your boss, got so sick of him sleeping with everyone in the office that she forbade him from ever doing it again.”

“Oh,” I said, because my brain decided this was information which it needed to process later, not right now, as the conversation was happening.

“Basically, he’s fucked everyone — almost everyone — at work and if he does it again, August is going to fire him.”

“Everyone?”

“Everyone,” they both said in unison.

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