A security team escorted Dr. Placer to the main GenLife campus from the GenLife Inn and she expected to return directly, but she hadn't been out for over a month. After the meeting she thanked Daryl for sticking up for her and for all the pairs waiting to meet. She also casually mentioned how cooped up she was feeling.
"Please, stick around for lunch at least. Join me in the deli?" He offered. The security team couldn't stop her from having lunch with their boss. Daryl apologized for not being able to take her somewhere better, but he was basically living in his office with his mate through all of this.
"I'm going to owe him one heck of a honeymoon when things finally settle." He smiled fondly when he talked about his mate and Dr. Placer found herself jealous. Not of the man himself, but of the idea of a man, an alpha mate to care about her and help carry this massive weight that living had become.
She'd never had time for love during all her years of school and then career building. She'd joined GenLife because she aspired to have it all, the career and a family, not because she knew how. All around her were successful women who didn't have time for families, and population collapse was a real concern. She knew it was a micro-culture, but it was her micro-culture and no one in it was particularly good at relationships and family. She already had a uterus but wasn't using it. Giving people who wanted to have children the equipment to do so seemed like a good idea. And maybe along the way she'd learn from them how to have that family side of life.
When she imagined a family, there was a man like Daryl at her side, adoring her and admiring her achievements. As they approached the deli, she caught their reflection in the glass doors and imagined her unknown mate standing so tall and handsome beside her. The scent that hit her when Daryl opened the door shattered that pleasant frame of mind.
Not seeing the sudden fire in her eyes, Daryl ushered her the rest of the way inside and walked up to the deli counter. He placed his order and turned to ask Dr. Placer what she wanted. That's when he finally saw it, the trembling, the flared nostrils, the anguished eyes. She'd caught the scent of her mate.
He looked around quickly to see who else was in the store. The workers were either betas or unexposed new hires so that ruled them out. There were others who'd been in the meeting with them, but they hadn't affected her. There weren't any unattached alphas out of quarantine, he remembered.
So, whose scent was she picking up in the deli? Ahhhh...he looked up at the owner's picture by her office door in the back. Trina had been allowed down when everything was closed to work on the books and put things in order for her employees. She must have left her scent. It wasn't enough for him to really discern among all the others, but if Dr. Placer was her mate...
Dr. Placer was moving now, drawn here and there following the faint scent. She could tell it was stronger behind the counter but there wasn't a straightforward way back. The employees watched her warily as she searched for a way to get behind the counter. "Don't stop her," Daryl cautioned. She'd figure it out soon enough.
A section of counter lifted when she found the latch and she followed the scent straight back to the office door. It was locked. She knocked desperately. "The boss isn't here," the employee finally spoke up.
"Boss?" Anna asked.
The employee pointed to a large, framed photo next to the door. Anna looked, and to her horror saw the smiling face of a very tall androgynous woman astride a motorcycle with a huge "Dyke's on Bikes Celebrate Pride Week" banner behind her.
Daryl was trying to be sympathetic, he really was, but the face Dr.Placer made was absolutely comical. He liked the Dykes on Bikes. They always led the Pride parades in San Francisco. He'd signed off on Trina's lease for the deli in part because he knew its owner would be supportive of their research when they went public with it. He didn't want a bigot spitting in their sandwiches. Sure, Trina was a bit rough around the edges, but she was always kind. She would lovingly care for her omega. Dr. Placer felt distressed for no reason.