65. Talking It Over With Dani (Erik)
After his mother had a complete conniption fit over his finding his fated mate and it being Liona, she had gone to get him some suppressants he could use in the meantime until they knew the kind he reacted to best. That was yesterday. This morning, he had taken one of the suppressants and after passing inspection from his mother, he was given the okay to head to work. He still couldn't sense if he was giving off pheromones or not, but he had a sneaking suspicion that this new weird sense of color he would get at the edges of his vision had something to do with his supposed presentation.
As Erik made his way to work, he could barely keep his mind from wandering to thoughts of Liona. He wanted to see her. He wanted to confirm that she was really his fated mate. He had this overwhelming urge to be near her, even if it was just to see her. If he could only lay his eyes on her, he felt like this urge would stop being so insistent. He didn't understand if this was his alpha talking to him, or if it was his own desire to see her. Either way, he knew that seeing her would be like finally filling his empty stomach after a day of not eating.
When he arrived at work, the first thing that happened was a hearty round of congratulations from Dani. Apparently even with the suppressant he had taken he was still emitting some pheromones that were detectable by other people. As he talked to Dani, he saw the colors at the edges of his vision start to swirl and change colors. They were a rather excited yellow which was a bit weird as that thought hit him. He couldn't explain just what about this yellow color meant excitement, but that's what he felt as it invaded his vision's edge. He blinked several times trying to get it to go away and stop hovering, but it persisted.
As he worked through the morning, his thoughts kept traveling back to Liona. He could barely keep his attention on work and actually messed up a couple of orders which was really unlike him. He kept sighing and thinking that he just had to make it until Liona showed up to drop off one of her lunch boxes like she usually did while he worked. He had grown used to her sudden appearances with the food and looked forward to them.
"Hey what's got you so down in the dumps? I've never felt such sad pheromones before…" Dani, his manager asked.
"Oh, well…" Erik hesitated. His mom didn't understand, but maybe Dani would listen and have good advice.
"Come on and take a break and talk to me. The others have it covered since it's slow right now." Dani said before he turned to let their coworkers know they were taking their break.
Erik relaxed a bit as Dani seemed willing to listen to him. They headed outside to enjoy the sunshine, but Erik thought that it was so that their coworkers wouldn't overhear them. Dani seemed like the kind of person to be conscious of the need for some privacy.
"So, what's on your mind today? It's unusual for you to get the customer's orders wrong. Could it be something to do with your presentation?" Dani hit the nail on the head.
"Well…" Erik took a deep breath. Dani was trying to be a friend and he now recognized that thanks to Liona's efforts in befriending him. He no longer saw everyone that was better off than his family as just someone taunting his low-class status, but there were still some lingering fears and doubts that were hard to not feel towards those that were much more wealthy in this world. That would take a lot longer for him to trust, he supposed.
"You know the girl, Liona, that always brought me lunch and hung out with me on my breaks? Well, I attended her birthday yesterday when I asked for time off. I was actually surprised at how normal she was, besides being really well off. I don't know what I was expecting, but she pretty much was chill her whole birthday party. That was until her ex-boyfriend showed up, crashing her party. I guess they broke up some time ago, I don't exactly know when, but he and another girl, that I surmise was the reason Liona broke up with him over, said some pretty nasty things to her about her choice of party games. I could tell she was really mad about the whole thing and starting to doubt the fun that her guests had over the games, so I attempted to help calm her down. However, I guess that got misconstrued as they then targeted their hateful comments my way."
Erik took a breath before continuing, "I'm used to people hating me for no reason, just because I'm dirt poor. I know I don't belong in her world, and yet I dared to present myself as better off than I am by attending her party in an outfit she had to buy for me. Yeah, I'm so fucking poor that I can't even afford to by myself clothes…" Erik gave off a self-deprecating laugh. "I guess they hit a nerve with Liona when they called me a charity case, which I guess I basically was, despite her claim that she was my friend. I can see that, but not Liona. She lost it. I've never ever seen her get so angry before. She wasn't angry at the comments to herself, she was angry at their comments directed at me. She was angry on my behalf."
He paused, waiting for Dani to say something, but he just seemed to be waiting for him to get all this off his chest. "Anyway, she didn't react the way I expected her to. I was sort of blindsided. She kissed me in her fit of anger and well… She's my fated mate… I think I presented yesterday after she kissed me, but I still can't really detect pheromones. Anyway, I guess I was giving off pheromones yesterday because not only did her dad try to get me to take a suppressant, but when I got home, my mom got on my case about giving off pheromones. She totally freaked out over my telling her I found my fated mate…"
"Wow, man! First of all, congratulations on not only presenting, but finding your fated mate! That's really wonderful for you! I really think you'll be happy with Liona. She's one of a kind and despite being a year younger than I, her reputation at school preceded her. She's nothing like the rich girl image most people think of when they hear about her family. Despite my attending that school as a scholarship student all the way up to my senior year, she never once looked down on me the few times our paths crossed, despite knowing full well I was there only because of my scholarship. I can't say I know her well, but I do know she's one of a kind and definitely not a stuck-up snob like most of that school is. That's why I think you two will be happy together." Dani seemed to be genuinely happy for him, which further made him glad for opening up to him. It felt good to get this off his chest with someone who actually listened to him.
"So, man, what was her reaction to finding out she was your fated mate? You can't just dangle the juicy bits and not spill the tea!" Dani asked.
"Oh… Well… I sort of left without getting a chance to talk to her about it. I guess after we kissed, she sort of had this reaction and was giving off pheromones so her dad reminded her about her pheromone levels and after that she took off to take a suppressant. I felt like if I stayed there I would be a nuisance and would be asked to leave anyway so I just slipped out when no one was paying attention to me. Her Dad was really seeming to want me to take a suppressant and I didn't have any yesterday until my mom got some for me after I got home. If her dad found out I didn't have any, then he was sure to kick me out anyway…" Erik looked down.
"Oh, man I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when you were talking to her dad! I mean he's only the coolest alpha in the entire city! I'm so jealous that you got to meet him! What was her dad like? I know my boyfriend would just die if he got to meet him in person!" Dani was super excited for some reason that Erik didn't understand.
"I don't know, I guess he was like normal. I mean, he looks a lot like Liona and if I think about it, he's basically an older version of her from what little I interacted with him. It's not like we really talked other than him pushing me to take a suppressant. I really can't say one way or another what he was like other than comparing him to Liona." Erik didn't know that Liona's dad was special other than being well off. Maybe he had some high rank in a company and that was why his family was so rich. He didn't know enough about this area to know who was top of the food chain. He had never really felt the need to know this about an area he lived before since they moved so often.