Page 22 of Fritillaria

“I’ll explain, it’s just… let’s just say I’m glad I ran into you, it’s important.”

Rosie is pretty bossy, I have to give it to her. She guides me to a couple of chairs in a tucked away seating area. I’m too tired to fight it, following her lead and dumping my bag on the ground at my feet.

“I know I’m kind of overstepping, but I do want to help, and I thought that talking to another Human could be helpful.” She says, her warm blue eyes softening in kindness.

I’m not a bad person, and she does seem to mean well, so I just go with it.

“This is about the mate thing.” I can’t help but comment.

“Yes.” She replies. “I was on the way to meet mine, actually. I am sure you know Finnegan, but I don’t know if you are aware that he is besties with Aspis?”

“Not really.” I haven’t really put much thought into it before.

“Well, it means that I’ve ended up becoming quite friendly with Aspis too.” I can’t help but have my interest piqued. I don’t want to know more about him, and yet at the same time I want to know everything. “I’m mostly aware of what’s happened between you, and I just want to say that I totally understand where you are coming from. It’s so totally weird to have someone just tell you they are your fated mate.”

“Right?!” I am finally talking to someone with some sense, it seems. “This dude just smells me and I’m supposed to hop into his arms and make his Monster babies?”

“Oh,” Rosie giggles. “It’s not about making babies, I don’t think. I’m not even sure that wecouldif we wanted to… but that’s beside the point. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I too didn’t react very well when Finnegan told me.

“Our circumstances were different. He pursued me and dated me before he ever told me that we were mates. So you can imagine what my hang up was about the whole thing.”

“Yeah, for sure.” I can’t imagine if that is worse or better. I suppose it worked out better for Rosie and Finnegan, because they seem pretty happy in general.

“I also didn’t go into it against being mated. My best friend is the singer, Flora, so I could see how happy she was with Sebastian and I kind of wanted that for myself too, if I’m being honest.

“Anyway, I’m sorry, I’m going in a roundabout way of saying this, but I can imagine that being around Aspis and Matilda is hard, but being away from them might be harder. It’s really difficult to ignore the mating bond, and if you’re at all interested in exploring it with them, you could find yourself so much happier.”

I fight not to roll my eyes. I should have known that her relatability had a catch. So, she is not exactly fighting for the ‘no mates’ team, which I probably should have guessed.

“There’s a dinner.” She continues, pushing forward through my silence. “Sebastian hosts them twice a month. All of the mated people in our friend group meet at their house and catch up. It’s always fun, and I think you should go. It could be nice to see everyone in a relaxed setting, and see how it all works.”

My normal reaction would be to shut her down right away. But maybe she’s right? Rosie has been the first person involved in all this to really understand my perspective here. Maybe she’s onto something.

“Wouldtheybe going?” I ask, toying with my shirt.

“I mean, I think it would be good if they did.” Rosie leans forward, taking my hands in hers. “They’ve never been invited before. Honestly, the only people Aspis really hangs out with are me and Fin. I’m not sure about Matilda… but you would all be fresh in the group, it’s not a space they’re super comfortable in. It could be a nice, even playground to get to know them a little within a bigger group setting… there’s like eleven of us.”

“I’ll go.” It’s weird hearing the words leave my mouth. I’m not even sure I consciously said it, but that’s probably a good thing. Maybe I should at leasttryto trust this. “But if I don’t like it, or I feel uncomfortable, I want everyone to get off my back about this whole mate thing.”

Chapter 19

Matilda

Plonking myself down at my desk, I check my never ending to do list to see what is next.

My interview was last week, but I haven’t heard anything about the promotion yet. I thought it went OK, but the longer it takes for me to hear anything, the more anxious I get.

Aspis assures me that they are probably just securing the budget for my raise, and that sometimes the approval process can take longer. But I really don’t know, maybe they will just brush it under the rug and pretend that the interview never happened.

This past week has been a whirlwind. After my day and a half of sick leave, I thought that Liliana would be mad with me. She actually just asked if I was OK, and wanted to know if I needed any support.

I suppose it probablywasstrange, I don’t think I’ve ever taken a sick day in my entire career with Fortune Records.

Work has been so busy, too. I’ve been recording interviews and making strategies for the department. Hopefully if I get the promotion they might hire someone to help me.

Aspis and I haven’t really told anyone about being mates yet. To be honest, I think that we’re both feeling some shame that Ivy doesn’t want to be with us. It’s easier to just not have to explain that to anyone.

He has been staying at my place almost exclusively. We tried one night apart, but I ended up attached to my vibrator and got zero sleep. It sounds like it was much the same for him.

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