“What? Why can’t you do that, or why can’t we just not say anything?” asked Meg.
“To prevent the same reaction you had in the middle of sex. Honesty is the best course. If she wants the job, you have to let her know. It will be easier coming from you than from me. Then if she doesn’t pass out or laugh herself silly, call me into the office,” he said.
“Damn you’re too rational for this early in the morning. You’re right. Well, she’ll be here in a couple of hours. Let me get to work so I can take her to lunch,” said Meg.
Luc smiled, blew her a kiss and headed back to his office. On his desk were a couple of notes from Kevin. Apparently, he’d been catching the phone. Looking at the pencil scratches on the paper, he gave up trying to decipher them and headed to Kevin’s office. “Maybe Angie will be just the right answer!” he thought.
*
Kevin popped into Meg’s office. “Hey Meg, you have a gal waiting for you in the front. Seems a bit nervous,” he said.
“That’ll be Angie. Thanks for letting me know she was here. I’ll be right out,” said Meg. She grabbed her handbag and coat and headed for the front. Angie was trying to pace, peek around and pretend not to all at the same time. Meg smiled.
“Hey there Angie!” she called as she entered the reception area.
“Hi Meg!” said Angie. She moved towards Meg and the two women hugged. “It is great to see you. I’ve missed our lunches and just, well, um, missed you period.”
“Same here Angie. I figured we’d go to lunch and talk. Sound good?” Meg asked.
“Sure. Where are we going?” asked Angie.
“Hmmm, too cold for salad. How about Roberto’s for chile and tortillas?” asked Meg.
“That sounds good. My car is just out front,” Angie said.
They headed out for lunch. As the door shut, Kevin and Luc met in the hall.
“How did she check out with you?” asked Luc. He knew Angie from before and found her acceptable, but he needed to have the input of others. He knew Kevin was a good judge of character.
“She’s a bit nervous, and I can understand that. It isn’t every day you have to go begging a job from a friend. Otherwise, she seems fine. Think Ginny will take to a non-shifter running the front desk?” asked Kevin.
“Once she remembers Angie and realizes that she should have hired a receptionist about six months ago, yeah. Between the kids, Duke and now Patrick, she won’t have time to breathe let alone try to run this office the way she has. In spite of things, business is picking up. If Patrick is any kind of computer tech, I’ll be hiring him as well. If not, I’m going to be advertising for a tech. Chances of that one being a shifter are 50-50. Our days of being a small family business are about over,” said Luc.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. Which reminds me, you have a call to be at in twenty minutes,” said Kevin.
“Damn! Thanks Kevin,” said Luc who went to grab his tool bag and his coat.
*
“So, you finally had enough of the old fart?” asked Meg.
“Did I ever. I swear they wanted me to do twice the work, and no extra pay. After a week of overtime, I said enough. They didn’t listen, so I gave my notice. Gave them the time sheet with the vacation time worked out and explained that I had two weeks of vacation time coming to me with pay. I packed my desk after collecting my check and left,” said Angie.
Meg about choked on her smothered burrito. “Oh god! I can just see them turning purple.”
“It was so worth it. Now, tell me about the job you think might interest me,” said Angie.
Meg explained the business, and how the IT work meshed with what she was doing. Angie nodded. They paid for their lunches and headed back to the office. Once at the office, Meg gave her a tour of the building and then they went to Meg’s office. Meg closed the door.
“So, if it is alright with Luc, would you be interested?” asked Meg as they sat down.
“Yes, I would. I have to admit that I’d rather work with someone I know than start all over,” said Angie.
“I know. It makes life so much easier. Now, I have one other thing about the job to discuss with you,” said Meg.
“Okay,” said Angie trying to figure out what they had left out of the discussion.
“You’ll probably think I’m nuts, but most of the people who work here are shifters,” said Meg.
“Huh?” asked Angie.
“Shifters, werewolves,” said Meg. “There, the word is out. Now for the hard part.” she thought.
“You’re pulling my leg! Is this some kind of joke to see if I have a sense of humor Meg?” asked Angie.
“No, I wish I was joking. However, there really are such things as werewolves. Only they don’t eat people or bite them to turn them into werewolves. It’s genetic,” said Meg. She remembered her own shock and hoped she could get the information across to Angie without coming off as a kook.
“Right. You work for werewolves. Um, just because the business name is Alpha Wolf doesn’t mean you have to pretend,” said Angie.
“You know, Luc said this wouldn’t be so easy,” said Meg.
“Meg, I think you’ve watched too much TV lately or read too many books. Werewolves aren’t real,” said Angie.
“Yes, they are,” said Kevin from the door.
Angie turned around to see the man who had greeted her earlier in the day. “So, are you one? Or is this just Meg’s fantasy and joke to pull my leg?” Angie asked.
“I’m a shifter. Everyone here except you and Meg are shifters. I will shift for you if you require proof,” he said.
“Oh yeah, but isn’t the full moon a week or so away?” asked Angie. She really did think that this joke was going a little far. “Why on earth was Meg doing this?” she wondered.
“It doesn’t have to be a full moon Angie,” said Meg.
Angie blinked. Meg sounded serious.
“How body conscious are you Angie?” asked Kevin.
“Well. Um, I don’t parade around nude, but. Why?” she asked.