Page 2 of Fritillaria

Work was hectic today, and I know that the next few days are going to get even worse. I’m trying my best to fit in as much good work as possible so I can show off at my interview.

Whose idea was it to book my interview the morning after a big party that I’m going to have to coordinate socials for? I’ll need to be present for at least the first half of the event to get shots of all the attendees and behind the scenes interviews with the artist and producers for the album. I feel like it’s a test of some kind.

These things always are.

Sighing, I dump my keys in the heart-shaped dish by my door, slip the covers off my hooves, and prop my tote bag on a bar stool. I should probably wash my tupperware from lunch, but I’m far too tired for that. The best I can do is set it by the sink.

I so badly want to order food for dinner, but I am trying to save money right now. Meal prepping is my savior, and I quickly pop some pasta in the microwave to reheat.

Living alone has its perks, but cooking for one is not one of them. It’s impossible to put together a decent meal without having leftovers anyway. Two minutes and forty five seconds is all I have to quickly get changed into my pajamas and put on my favorite TV show.

My studio apartment would be considered small for a lot of Monsters, but it’s perfect for me. I have shelves lining the walls to display all my cute things, and dressers and cupboards to hide anything not so pretty. Storage is key to successful tiny living, that’s for sure. Well, that and making sure your shelves sit higher than the height of your horns.

I don’t have a couch, but that doesn’t stop me from cozying up in bed with my pasta and watching TV. My bed is a sea of home-made quilts and plushies and it’s my perfect little nest.

Wolfing down my food, my empty plate is quickly discarded, and I pull out my quilting supplies to get started on a new piece. This is my absolute favorite way to wind down in the evenings. Quilting with a TV show or my phone open to auto-scroll through my personal socials.

My days are filled with strategizing and talking to people, and I need to know about all the active projects at the label for my job. I love working with all of these incredibly talented people, but it’s also exhausting.

There’s a certain sense of accomplishment after coming home from a hard day’s work though. That’s definitely not something I would have gotten if I had stayed at home. I come from a small town and a typical Satyr family. They’re crazy about gardening and being outside, so the family profession comes as no surprise. My parents run the local garden center, my older brother and younger sister following suit and fulfilling my parent’s dreams.

Maybe it was a need to be recognized for something after growing up as the forgotten middle child, but I never wanted to work in the family business. As I got older and decided that my passion was social media - well, let’s just say that my parents weren’t the biggest fans of that. They didn’t even understand what it was for the first few years.

They did help me study media and communications in university, supporting me through that and my internship at the label. So I know that somewhere deep down, they are supportive of what I do. I love them dearly, and I know that they would have seen how unhappy I was working in the garden center and told me to pursue another profession. They’re just old and not exactly understanding of what I do.

My siblings aren’t quite so bad, my sister always asking about the artists that I work with. She makes me feel pretty cool when I see her.

I visit home every month or so, and every time I feel further and further away from that world. In a few days I will be interviewing for a big promotion to Social Media Manager with the label. I’m terrified for the interview, but I have my case study prepared to present on, and I can objectively say that I’m ready for this. My fingers are crossed that they’ve decided not to headhunt anyone external too, there’s no one better placed in the label right now for this position than me. This promotion is everything I’ve been working towards since I joined the business.

My boss, Liliana, is a force to be reckoned with though. She’s insanely intimidating and I’m worried that I’ll choke when presenting. I wish I was nearly half as calm and collected as she is. Most people think that she’s hard to work with, but I actually like it. She’s always clear in what she needs from me, and if she doesn’t like an idea I have she shuts it down quickly and we move on. Not that it’s helped with my inability to deal with rejection, but that’s a whole other story.

My mind wanders back to work today. Aspis spoke to me in the break room again, the giant Naga told me he thought the post I did with Ivy was great. I think I played it cool but I’m sure in reality I was a mess.

Aspis is so attractive, his close-clipped stubble, boyish haircut, and polished suit match his persona as the office charmer perfectly. God, I need to stop lusting after him, he’s far too high up in the label to ever be interested in me. He’s just being nice, that’s all.

That doesn’t stop me from picking up fabric squares in the perfect shade of green to match his sexy tail. Or is it the same green as Ivy’s hair? Now that’s another person I have no business lusting after, she’s way out of my league too.

Chapter 3

Aspis

“Alright, team. Action points will be emailed out by Tabitha within the hour. Keep us up to date on your progress, as always.”

Finnegan is short and snappy with these meetings, and I appreciate it. There’s still three left to go today, but at least I can take those online from my desk.

I join Finnegan for the stroll, as much as I can for someone with no legs, back to our desks. We collaborate on work a lot, so our offices are next to one another for ease. It also means that we get to chat between meetings.

“Whoooops!” Tabitha flails, her green arms waving in the air as she tries to catch herself.

Finnegan gets there right before I can manage to catch her. It’s probably best that he be the one to catch his niece. Although Tabitha is basically family at this point, anyway. I wonder what my parents would think of me being this close with an Orc family.

“Sorry, I almost tripped on your tail.” Tabitha exclaims, a look of horror on her face.

It’s pretty taboo to touch a Naga’s tail without their permission, but I honestly don’t care about all that.

“No worries, Tabs! We’re all good here.” I give her what I hope is a smile to put her at ease. It seems to do the trick, a dark green blush coloring her cheeks as she whispers another apology and scampers off to the printing room.

Finnegan laughs it off with me and we head on the path to our offices again. He knows full well that I don’t give a shit about that, so he also knows that he doesn’t need to say anything.

---