Page 19 of Knot Happening

“Hello!” Bubblegum coos as she addresses us, a megawatt smile on her lips. Another pink haired woman joins her on the stage, but there’s no doubt this one is Omega. Her scent is all sugar. “I’m Bubblegum, and this is Dream.”

Dream waves, looking just as chipper as Bubbles does. I’m calling her Bubbles, at least in my head, because Bubblegum is too long. Their smiles and happy vibes infect me with a nervous excitement, and I wave back at the two women.

“You’ll be considered a new hire for six months. Typically, the bosses hire in batches, helps keep training simple as well as weed out the weak faster. I am proud to say that we rarely lose anyone for negative reasons. Declan only hires the best candidates, and once hired, we’re well cared for. I’ve been the new hire team manager for eight years now!” Bubbles grins, and you can tell she’s very proud of herself. As she should be. Eight years is a long time to hold the same job.

“And I’ve been her assistant for two years,” Dream adds, but Bubbles gives her a stern look.

“Dream is not my assistant. She is also your manager. You’ll show her just as much respect as you show me,” Bubbles growls, her Alpha side showing for the first time. Me, and the three other Omegas in the new hire section, snap to attention.

“Yes Alpha!” the only male Omega amongst us four says. She gives him a wink, making him blush furiously.

Judging from the scents surrounding me, there aren’t many mated employees walking around here. Seeing this many unbonded, older Omegas is something that's less common. Instincts often drive both Omegas and Alphas to find compatible mates.

I wonder what the bonded employees do here. They’re certainly not Heat Mistresses. Their bonds would lose their shit. I can’t even imagine what a horror show that would be. Unless their bonds also participated, I suppose? Clearly, I need to ask questions.

“I’ll be working with all of you, but you’ll each be assigned an expert to work with directly in the same position you were hired for. When I call your name, raise your hand,” Bubbles explains, and I notice several of the experts have moved closer to the stage.

Bubbles calls the names of everyone else until I’m the last one left without a mentor.

“You must be Tatum,” Dream says, as she walks off the stage and approaches me. “You’ll be my victim, I mean mentee,” she teases, and I smile. “Declan said you’re on a time crunch, and basically need the accelerated training. You’ll still be considered a new hire for the next six months, but he requested I get you ready for working the floor by Friday.”

“He said that?” I ask, as she leads me under the red tape, and around to the locker rooms. Several of the other pairs are headed back this way as well. I notice a security room sign further down the same hall. I hear one of the other experts telling their new hire that during working hours, one of the guards will always be down here to prevent customers from passing.

She opens the black door into a large room that looks more like an upscale gym or spa changing room. The surrounding lockers are a mint green with name tags on the front while nearby benches are cushioned with white leather. Along the far wall, makeup vanities with good lighting are covered in products for both hair and make up. I notice a doorway that looks like it leads to showers based on the white tile visible through the entrance.

“He did. After training ends today, you’ll have about three hours to yourself before you need to be back here to shadow me. We open at ten thirty, but make sure to arrive by nine to start setting up. Theme nights and routine changes will change our timing occasionally. Sometimes earlier, it just depends. Now, let's start with the basics.”

“Theme nights?” I ask, as we approach a locker that doesn’t have a name tag. It’s the one I left my stuff in yesterday. Dream hands me a lock, and magnetic name tag.

“Yep, they’re great fun. You’ll see. Now, basics. The lockers are random, so if at some point you decide you wanna switch, you can, just make sure it’s not already being used. Some of us use locks, others don’t. Depends on what you’re putting in there, I suppose,” Dream shrugs, having me stuff my old gym bag inside the empty bottom locker and place my name tag on the outside.

“About theme night…” I try again, but Dream snorts.

“I’ll get there! Jeez, woman, be patient. We have a lot to go over.” Dream leads me over to the doorway I had seen earlier, and I see several stalls with floor to ceiling doors. “Private shower stalls, communal shower stalls,” she nods to a nearby area I hadn’t noticed right away, with a bunch of shower heads in the walls. I follow her toward the wall-to-wall vanities. “We share these. Only Bubblegum, and a few of the other managers, don’t. This one’s mine. I was sharing with Crystal, but she quit three days ago.”

“Oh,” I frown, and she smiles, shaking her head.

“She’s pregnant.”

“Oh…” I’m not sure that isn’t a reason to frown too, though. Dream leads me back out into the hall, and then knocks on the door that I’d clocked as security earlier.

“Hey Trev.” She smiles sweetly as a beastly sized fellow opens the door. I notice a distinct lack of scents coming from this room.

“Dream.” The intense frown on his face softens as he looks down at the Omega beside me. I sniff, trying to get a sense of his mood, but there’s not an ounce of scent coming off him. Dream’s scent, however, is like a beacon calling out to nearby Alphas. I can’t scent this big guy, but I’d assume he’s Alpha, just based on size alone.

“Security are the only employees who use scent blocking sprays. Well, they’re the only ones required to. We can use them if we want to, for whatever reason, but security needs to be able to move through the club undetected. Trev here being the exception. He’s a little too big to hide,” Dream teases, and the big guy blushes. I get the sense he’s a gentle giant. At least when he’s around Dream.

“Nice to meet you.” He nods, glancing at me only for a second, before looking back at Dream.

“You too,” I murmur, but I don’t think he actually cares what I have to say.

I follow Dream back into the main area and pause in the center of the room with her. “North, south, east, west,” she says, pointing in their respective directions. “North bar, and north stage. South bar, south stage, west stage–”

“East stage?” I offer, and she chuckles.

“Yeah. You’d be surprised how often new hires get confused. We have maps. I always remembered because the north stage is under the VIP balcony, and the south stage has the cages. If you can remember one of those, you’ll find the rest. Now, over here, this hall leads to the back rooms.”

“The rooms for private dances?”

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