Page 24 of Wishing Upon a Monster
My brain kickstarted again. “Uh, yeah, sure. I actually need to talk to my supervisor before my shift.”
“Nash!”I called after leaving Olan in the conference room with Palmer and members of the Nyxian Council. He was willing to talk about signing the treaty, but not willing to travel to Club Nyx to meet with the bigwigs.
I guess he’d had enough traveling after the Raleigh trip.
Feeling a bit of misplaced guilt about that, I chased down my day shift supervisor, who had a cup of his usual herbal tea in hand.
He took a sip and surveyed me over the top of his mug. “You look rested and in one piece.”
I stopped in front of him, hands on my hips, cocking my head to the side and raising a brow at him, “Really, Nash? Did you think he’d eat me?”
“Absolutely not, as your boss, I want you to know that I officially think you kick ass,” he said, taking another sip.
“Unofficially?” I dropped my hands from my hips and stepped forward.
“Unofficially, I had hoped you would have to take another week off because you had called me to help you hide a body,” he said, his eyes twinkling at me over the rim of his mug.
I sighed, “Homicidal fae.”
“Still think it’s the best option, but I respect your decision to be regretfully pacifistic,” he replied, bringing his mug down in front of him.
“Could we talk privately?” I asked seriously.
“Sure, let’s just pop into my office,” he agreed, taking me down to the office he shared with Irene, the night shift supervisor.
The office was split down the middle. On the eastern side, Nash had his cluttered desk, with enough plants to give him the unofficial title of Plant Zaddy. He said all the flora and fauna made him think of home. In front of his desk, he had some pretty comfy chairs for staff to sit in, carved from what looked like one piece of wood.
On the western side, Irene kept everything pristine. She had her pens lined up along the blotter, her mug clean and waiting on a coaster, and her laptop closed and centered on the blotter, which was centered on the desk. Everything on her side was modern and sleek, with not a speck of dust anywhere. Her desk also had chairs in front for staff, but they looked uncomfortable, dull gray plastic with metal legs.
These shift supervisors were made for each other; they just didn’t know it yet.
Nash collapsed in his chair, brushing some balled up papers into the trashcan next to his desk before putting his mug on top. “What’s up?”
“I want to transfer to night shift,” I said, not wanting to draw things out more than necessary.
Nash leaned back in his seat, lacing his fingers together and resting them on his stomach. “I can think of one excellent reason that makes sense, except you’re five years late.”
I sighed. Dropping into one of his chairs, I shifted, getting comfortable. Sometimes Nash couldn’t leave well enough alone. “He overstepped. We had made an agreement to be professional––”
“Which, as your boss, I appreciate,” He interrupted, “But since you are leaving me forher,” he scowled at Irene’s desk, “I thought that was pretty fucking stupid of you both to have a relationship and work together. But you, and I meanyou, specifically, made it work. I get why you wouldn’tsleep with me––”
I rolled my eyes. Fae didn’t care if they were your boss. They liked to fuck, and fuck often, and that truly was all that it was most of the time. I knew that he could have separated the act from work, but I also knew I couldn’t, which is what got me into trouble with Kenny, in the end.
“–– but I had wished you would have extended the same rejection to him. Relationships with coworkers can get messy,” he finished.
“But fucking them is fine?” I gave him a look.
“Absolutely, it's great to let off steam post-battle. Just don't get your heart involved, and it’s like therapy!” He grinned enthusiastically.
I laughed. Nash sounded like a fuckboy, but... No, no but, he was one. However, once they met that one, their mate... everything changed. I had hope for Nash’s character development, but I wasn’t up for that story arc, and I never would be.
“Kenny was a mistake,” I allowed, “and I shouldn’t have gotten mixed up with him. I’m rectifying that mistake now.”
“I could fire him,” he offered. “He does good work, but he's a pain in my ass.”
“I appreciate the solidarity, but you know you can’t unless you have a good reason,” I cautioned.
“You’re an excellent enforcer, and I’d fight to keep you, but you’re right, I can’t. He’s got to leave on his own or fuck up bad enough to be fired.” He steepled his fingers together, bringing them to his lips. “Hashe fucked up enough to be fired?”
