Page 10 of The Good Boys Club

“As it stands, you have two choices,” he continued. “You can stay here, and hope the new CEOs give you free rein to take Howl to wherever you’ve been envisioning.”

I tried to imagine where that might be. Where did I want to take it? I’d spent so long on those proposals for James—still had the document saved on my hard drive—but did I care enough to implement them? Let alone fight for their implementation. After all, I hadn’t fought James. I’d heard his shredder blades spinning and instead of kicking off about my wasted time, I went to the canteen and bought a jacket potato with cheese and beans.

“Or the other option... Finda new job.” He raised his eyebrows and smiled at me like a magician with a bouquet up his sleeve. “I have a friend who has an opening you might be interested in?”

Curiosity got the better of me. “A friend?”

James opened the top drawer of his desk and removed something. A glossy magazine. He placed it in front of me, already clipped open to a particular page.

“That’s your friend?” I laughed. “Dylan West is your friend?”

The majority of the page was taken up by a very large posed photograph of two werewolf women—one in her mid-forties, and the other early twenties. They had arms slung over one another and were both grinning towards the camera. The title of the article read:Rare Job Opportunity Opens at Byte Tech.

“Yup. Dylan and I... well, Dylan and Alice go way back. The position is a managerial one. Head of...” He waved a hand vaguely. “Development or something. Are you interested?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I’m interested. That’s... a dream job. To work at Byte Tech. To help people in real, definable ways... uh, I mean... not that we don’t help people here.”

Hello foot, meet my mouth.

James shook his head. “It’s fine. We don’t help people the way we used to... the way I hoped we would. The only people we seem to help these days are guys like your friend Mitch.”

“Mash,” I corrected.

“Right, sorry, Mash.”

I found myself nodding in agreement. Three years ago, Mash had been banned from using Howl because of the sheer volume of complaints we’d received. Women who’d claimed he’d fucked and then ghosted them. I could hardly be offended on Mash’s behalf.

“But Byte Tech is a serious corporation,” I said, because I might as well try to jam the other foot in there too. I grimaced. “I mean, they’re not just going to employ me, are they? I don’t have any experience in that field. I can’t just apply to be the head of development. They’d laugh me out of the building.”

Byte Tech built software products and data management, integration, and analytical tools for hospitals and healthcare facilities across the Eight and a Half Kingdoms. Like Howl, Byte Tech began as a lupine specialist, but quickly branched out to include humans, fae, other shifters, orcs, anyone besides the undead and immortal. Working at a company like Byte Tech would mean realising eighteen-year-old me’s dream career. This was the type of job I’d envisioned when I applied to do computer science.

“You built Howl from scratch, didn’t you? You’re more than qualified to apply. I don’t wanna hear any more of this self-deprecating bullshit. The worst that can happen is they say no, right, and you’re still in the same position you are now?”

“I suppose,” I said, but I didn’t believe the words.

James must have heard the doubt in my voice.

“I’ll speak with Dylan and put in a good word for you. I’m not saying it’s going to guarantee you the job, but Dylan is a great boss, and I’d know she’d give you a fair chance to interview. Shechooses her leadership roles based on... what’s the word you kids use these days... vibes. Not what boxes are checked on a piece of paper.”

Well, I supposed it was worth a shot. My options were somewhat limited as it was, and I could do with the boost from a guy as well known, respected, and loved as James Bradshaw. Werefolk were especially fond of nepotism. I just had to hope there was nobody closer to Dylan who was gunning for that position.

“Anyway, you give me the word and I’ll drop her a call, but no pressure. You need to make the choice.”

My mind was still void of emotion. Should I be sad that my life as it was would be over? Excited for new prospects, the chance to work at Byte Tech, make a real difference, grow? Byte Tech had offices in Remy. They were on a different U-Rail line, a little further into the main part of town, but... closer to the uni. Closer to Mash. We could meet for lunch more often...

“Sure, that’d be great. Thanks, James.”

“Perfect.” James got to his feet. My dismissal. “I’m proud of you. I thought you should know that.”

I stood also, and James tucked the magazine into my grip.

“Well, I’ve got a phone call to make to a certain Miss West.” His smile dropped momentarily. “I’ve heard she’s not making the announcement until the end of October... Basically she’s going to decide over Harvest Fest who she wants for the position.”

“Harvest Fest,” I repeated pointlessly.

The annual ten-week-long celebration that almost all werewolves participated in. A celebration of the three most important full moons in the lunar calendar. Being from a family of shifters, we’d never observed the holiday in my household, but I’d worked with werefolk long enough to understand the significance.

A lot of the werewolves who were employed at Howl would return home—wherever home might be—and the offices would be both quieter than usual and incredibly hectic as the non-were species worked double time to pick up the slack.

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