“Don’t bother with that sign. I’ve already replaced the two you had.” Arsenio burst into the building with a ferocity I wasn’t expecting. I hadn’t been expecting him here at all tonight, but as he was the owner, I couldn’t really bitch about it. Although I might later to Desi.
“Already? It’s been like three days? I thought I was going to pick people.” I protested. I had gone through way too many people the last time to get to Adam and Dylan. My stomach was already souring with the thought of who Arsenio had picked.
“Yes. No need to stress about it. They’ll be here in a bit.”
Desi appeared behind him then, and I tried to give him a look to take my side, but he refused to look at me. He was wearing his dark sunglasses. He hardly ever wore them here. What happened last night?
“Let’s get the paperwork for them.” Arsenio motioned for me to follow him in the back.
“Who are they?” I demanded when we stepped into my office. I went behind my desk and sat down. He took the seat in front of me.
“Their names are Una and Aleida.”
Women?
“Oh. Are they—” I licked my lips. “Your—” I couldn’t look him in the eye. When I did glance up, I saw his eyes widen. He shook his head vehemently.
“No, of course not! It’s only been—Scout—I would never—Look,” he sighed and leaned forward. “I don’t have any negative feelings toward you. It’s just too hard for us to be together.”
I put my hands up in protest of this conversation. “Okay, you don’t need to go into this again. I feel the same. We were an odd match. Truly. I think of you like an old friend. A good memory.” I offered him a small smile, and he instantly relaxed. “I just—you picked two women?” I stared at him in confusion. He nodded.
“They are friends of my sister. They just happened to be moving here. I’m helping them out. They are helping me out. Win-win. I think you’ll like them.”
I nodded and bent down to begin looking for the new hire papers.
“Plus, while I agree that we weren’t exactly soulmates, I think it puts my mind at ease to not be throwing you into the arms of someone else.”
I blinked and pressed my lips together tightly. Why did he have to say that? Was that a veiled threat? Did he know about what Desi, and I had done? No, he wouldn’t be this calm.
“You know we’ll both have to see each other move on eventually.” I reminded him. He made a face which made me let out a small giggle. We’d had some good moments.
“Yeah, but whoever you end up with, I won’t see every day. What you do out of work is none of my business.” He waved his hands in an X motion in front of him. I saluted him.
“Aye aye, Captain. Okay, so here’s the tax stuff.”
A moment later, there was a knock on my door, and Desi opened it. We both looked up, and I saw there were figures behind him.
“The girls are here.” He looked in and scrunched up his nose at the size of my office.
“Maybe we should take this into my office?”
“Good idea.” Arsenio stood up with the papers and barely glanced at me. I stood up, but the group was quick. I barely made it inside before Arsenio was shutting the door.
What the fuck was that?
“Scout, this is Una and Aleida. Ladies, this is your other manager, Scout.”
“Go to her with any issues. Don’t ask me for anything.” Desi told them as he went around and plopped down at his desk. I looked at the women and waved. One was a brunette, the other blonde. While both attractive, as all vampires were, the blonde was really pretty, and she stood confidently like she knew it. They smiled, but their eyes showed disinterest.
“So, it goes you.” The blonde pointed to Arsenio. “Then Desiderio, then you?” She pointed to me last, and it felt so condescending I could already tell we were going to have issues.
“No,” I said firmly. Desi relaxed and started to put his feet up on his desk, but I stepped forward and slapped them down. He opened his mouth to argue but clamped it shut. “He’s essentially useless. I’m in charge.” I crossed my arms and glared at the new pair. I wasn’t going to let them run me out of my easy gig.
Arsenio chuckled nervously. “Yes, I can agree with that. Scout and Desi are on the same level, but you’ll mostly be managed by Scout. Now, let’s get your paperwork done, and we can take you out onto the floor and get you trained.”
The room fell silent other than pen scribbles and Arsenio directing the new hires where to sign. I finally made eye contact with Desi.
He rolled his eyes, then stood. “I’m bored. I’m going to go get something to drink.”
