His Beta Half (MxM)

Chapter Three

"No worries." He says with a chuckle. "I would have struggled myself if Elijah hadn't pointed you out to me. I'm glad to see you settling in, it's a nice community. I'm sure you'll be happy here."

"Th-thank you, sir." I tell him. He's giving me friendly and relaxed vibes which is reassuring.

"Enough with the sir, we don't bother with that in our office. Jason is fine, I may be the boss but I believe productivity is much higher when we treat each other like equals. I can stand managers who act like they're better than their employees. I'm no better than anyone who works for me, I've just been in the business longer and worked my way up as I'm sure you will one day too." He tells me, making me smile. Being anyone's boss is not something I want to do, I prefer being told what to do than telling, but it still feels nice that, after meeting each other for only seconds, Jason believes in me.

"Th-thank you s- Jason. And thank you for g-giving me this job. It really means a lot." Before getting the job here, I must have had a dozen interviews at companies closer to where Mylo lives. On paper, I look like an ideal candidate with my degree and experience, but in interviews I always panic and stutter. Employers usually want someone confident and clearly spoken, I don't even know why since my job mostly involves just sitting at a computer. I'm just glad Jason was able to see around my anxiety and tell I was good at graphic design.

"Well you were the best candidate for the job." He says with a smile, before a man a couple of inches shorter than him with wavy brown hair comes over, placing an around his waist. "This is my husband Luc. Babe, this is Toby, my new employee who just moved here."

"Nice to meet you!" Luc almost screams before giving me a tight hug, making me squeak in surprise. "Are you gay? I'm getting gay vibes. Yay! We can start an lgbtq book club!" This guy was super excitable, it reminded me a lot of Mylo.

"Erm..." But Jason steps in before I respond, not that I'm in the closet or anything but I'm not used to being put on the spot like this.

"Calm down baby. Don't scare away my employee before they've even started." Jason says.

Looking around, I see Mylo coming over with another plate of food. I introduce him to Jason and Luc, and I think I may have been demoted to second best friend as he and Luc click instantly and fall into excitable conversation that I struggle to keep up with.

Jason wanders off to talk to some other people and I sit back down on the bench, finishing my food and taking sips of my cider.

"Having fun?" I voice speaks in my ear, making me look up in surprise as I see Elijah sitting beside me. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He chuckles softly.

"It's ok. The food is really good." I tell him with a blush.

"Yeah mum is pretty great at cooking. I always thought she should open her own restaurant but, alas, it wasn't something she wanted to do." He tells me. "What about your parents, do you see them much?"

"My m-mum moved to Spain after she retired a few years ago. But we still speak on the phone every day. And I don't really know my dad, he left when I was young." I tell him. "Does your dad live in the village too?"

"Yeah, he's here somewhere. I'm sorry about your dad." He says sympathetically.

"It's ok, I've had a l-long time to get over it." I admit, though it does still hurt a bit even if I am used to it. "My mum was amazing anyway. It was hard for her, but she did a good job raising me on her own." I don't know why I add the last bit, but something about Eli just makes him easy to talk to.

"Well she clearly did a good job. Jason seems pretty pleased he hired someone with your talent." He tells me with a smile, making me go even redder. I hope I don't look like a tomato.