Page 25 of Wishing Upon a Monster
“He put his hands on me outside of training on Thursday,” I raised a hand at his disgruntled growl. “I get it, no one puts their hands on your team, especially not members of your team, and I didn’t tell you because I wanted to make sure I was clear-headed before I let you know. I don’t want our history to cloud my judgment, but if you pull up the cameras from the hallwayoutside of the locker rooms, you should be able to see it. He just grabbed me, but––”
“That’s a write-up,” Nash said, turning to his ancient desktop nestled inside a wall of plants.
He went through the recordings and watched our exchange. “I don’t care that he ‘just grabbed’ you. That’s not okay. I honestly think he and his family cause us more problems than good, but the big boss approved him for optics. Your family is more respected; I think that’s better optics.”
“We both know it's my family that looks good to the magical world, not me.” I gesture to the screen. “And we both know that’s, at most, worth mandatory sexual harassment training and a strike against him in his file. He’d have to fuck up two more times before you could let him go.”
“Are you trying to protect him because you still care about him?” Nash asked.
“Honestly... I am tired of making things work around him. I’ve done everything I can to move forward, and I think I've done a great job. He's just proven that he is not able to operate in a professional setting. I cannot trust him to have my back when we are out in the preserve. I want a transfer,” I said firmly.
“I’ll need to talk to Irene,” he groaned, “and if approved, you will need to pick up the human shifts for Cece, Seline, and me while I rearrange the schedule until we get a replacement. It shouldn’t take me more than a week or two, honestly. Irene will want to put you through your paces anyway until she adjusts the schedule to fit you in.”
“I appreciate you, Nash,” I said, pushing up from my seat.
“Yeah, yeah, go play dress up with the humans,” he said before downing his tea.
“You realize I am human, right?” I laughed.
“Not in the ways that count, Rorie,” he said, shooing me out.
11
Aurora
Ihad a pretty normal shift at the nonmagical human side of the preserve, but it was nice to catch a car and be chauffeured back to headquarters.
“See ya, Mac!” I called to my driver, a quasi-retired preserve enforcer who had plenty of stories to tell, shutting the Jeep’s door with a slam.
The sun was setting later now that it was truly spring. I enjoyed the colors a little bit before walking into the lobby.
“Tell me you hit a home run this weekend!” Vickie floated quickly to my side.
“What? No! We just met each other, Vickie! Honestly!” I scolded, trying not to laugh at the utterly dejected look on her face.
“I think you need to work on getting to first base at least!” She teased, her cool hand solidifying enough to push me on my shoulder.
I coughed as I felt the heat rushing to my face.
“YESSSS!” she crowed, levitating up in the air with her fist raised in victory.
“Shhh!” I hissed and looked around.
We were thankfully alone.
“What you need to do is wear some low-cut tops, Rorie. You have great tits. It could give him ideas.” She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Oh! And then, you could let him fuc––”
“I swear to the Goddess if you finish that statement!” I power walked faster, not really knowing where Olan was, only that he said we could meet after work.
Maybe the conference room...
“You arenofun!” she pouted, letting me escape.
I hightailed it to the conference room, happy to see the door was open. Giving it a quick rap with my knuckles, I entered. A bored-looking Olan sat at the table, scrolling on a cellphone.
“When did you get a phone?” I asked as I flopped down in the rolly chair next to him.
“While you were out, Rocio offered to get me ‘set up.’” He said, swiping up and closing his phone.
