"You're firing me?!" Meribell shouted. Her emotions flared, the room filling with aggressive pheromones.
"We're not firing you…" the rightmost of the suited men mumbled. His face was red and pinched, and his sweaty hands were up, as if he had been caught cheating on his wife. Again.
"No, you're just replacing me with one of your grandsons! The only thing we have in common is our caste!" she stood over them, these five rotting raisins. Raisins who had been trying to make up reasons to get rid of her since the beginning.
Too bad! Meribell was the sole reason this entertainment company hadn't fallen into bankruptcy. Ever since the position of idol manager had been pushed on her six years ago, she had taken insane efforts to get this stupid company back on its feet. She crawled through mud, weathered storms, and swallowed her pride until her throat was raw. She didn't work so hard for her to just be shuffled somewhere else!
But Meribell loved her job. She loved being aggressive. It was the only time she could feel like her caste wasn't holding her back. Because of all her hard work, for the last three years, the company has been in the black. They've made money and are on the way to tripling their profits this year. Investors are foaming at the mouth to get a slice of the profit. So now, after everything that she's done for these stupid, ignorant men they're replacing her with a fresh young college graduate. Why? Because he's an alpha?
"I need an explanation! Now!" she snapped.
The group of old men shrunk into their chairs. They looked away from her, some covering their noses. Their reactions disgusted her. First, they try to soften her up by making this meeting seem like they're discussing her promotion. Then they tell her that, they're moving her to a different department. A group of rats with golden spoons stuck in their mouths. They should be ashamed to even be considered the same as her.
"That's enough," her replacement, Zach said. He got up, quickly stepping between her and the chairmen. He frowned at her, his own pheromones slipping into the air. "You're embarrassing yourself. Can't you read between the lines?"
"Y-yes," another chairman stuttered. "You think this was an easy decision for us?! Some of us here really like you and find your contributions to our company invaluable…"
"Then promote me!" her pheromones flared again, "Instead of stuffing me in some corner on the other side of the country! You really think I'm dumb enough to just agree to a department change? You don't think I know you've been trying to get rid of me for as long as I've worked here?!"
The chairmen were stunned. Some looked down at their hands, while others murmured questions to the head chairman.
"I guess I'm going to have to explain the situation," Zach sighed dramatically. "We're not only selling this company to investors, we're selling ourselves. You understand? You're not normal. The only reason you've got this far is because of how aggressive you are, but these negotiations aren't something you can brute force." He paused, smirking. "You're 28 correct?" He raised a finger. "No partners. No children," two fingers went up. "No interesting exes to gossip about…."
"Unmarketable?" Meribell was confused. "Just tell them what I've done! Show them the numbers!"
"It's too risky," the head chairman spoke up. "We're an entertainment company. Everyone is going to see you, and we must be able to sell you. Do you know how hard it is to sell a female alpha?"
Her replacement nodded, and so did some of the scheming chairmen. Fine. She understood. There was no way out of this. They were trying to get rid of her just because of who she was. All her hard work didn't matter. It never did.
"I quit."
--
"So that how my day went mister bartender," she slurred. She was on her 8th drink. That slow feeling was crawling thorough her brain. Finally, she was feeling drunk.
"I know," he said grabbing her empty glass. "It's the fifth time you've told me. But it's closing time Meri."
"I was wondering why is's so quiet…" she slurred. "Here I'll pay." she grabbed her purse.
"No, no," he waved his hand. "You know the rules; it's on your tab. There's also a cab on the way."
"Is that on my tab too?" she said, half joking.
"Ha," the bartender grinned. "Cab's on the house."
--
The cab ride was into the heart of the upper district. Her stomach burned, the alcohol was finally hitting her, and the tight turns and hard stops this driver was pulling wasn't helping. This guy's been speeding since she took her seat. She blinked. He was driving with one hand covering his face.
The same thing had happened at the bar. No one sat next to her. There was no way she smelled right? Yeah, she was pissed off during the meeting, but by the time she got to the bar her dampeners should've kicked in. Wait… her dampeners… When was the last time she had taken them?
Dampeners dulled most aspects of an alpha, including their enhanced smell and pheromone strength. Meribell's prescription was a pill, which needed to be taken twice a day. Once during breakfast, and once during lunch. But she had skipped lunch today. And dinner.
She must have smelled incredibly strong, she realized. Strong enough to where the guy was speeding to get her home.
"Hey," she said. "What's your caste?" Him being on edge put her on edge. Which wouldn't make the pheromone's stop.
The cab driver tensed himself. He looked like he wasn't sure if he should answer.
"I'm a beta, miss."
"BO or BB?" there was a difference, even if people didn't want to believe it.
"BO. The company wouldn't allow an omega to work this late," he sounded like he was trying to avoid inhaling.
In this world, the omega gene, or 'O' was recessive. A beta-omega or BO person was still a beta, they just were a little bit more sensitive to an alpha's or omega's pheromone outputs. His strong reaction was natural, and it subconsciously pushed her to output more.
She rolled down the back windows. After a few minutes of riding, the cab driver had two sweaty palms firmly on the wheel. Finally, he wasn't speeding anymore. Meribell's stomach thanked him.
"I forgot to take my dampeners." She apologized.
"I-its ok," he gulped, less nervous this time. "Long day?"
She laughed. "That's one way to put it…"
--
"Ugh."
With drunken movements she kicked off her shoes and flicked on the lights. Her cat, a white puffball meowed her home. He jumped off of his perch, and nuzzled her ankles.
"Hey," she picked him up. "How's my little Snowball doing?"
The rest of the evening was a heated blur. She fed her cat, showered, sat at her computer, then watched some old reruns on her couch. The alcohol hadn't worn off, but neither had the memory of Zach's stinging comments. "Not normal." What does that even mean? She flicked through channels. But there was nothing on. The stand ups feel flat, the cartoons were on re-runs. She couldn't concentrate on the dramas.
"Maybe I should just go to bed..." She sighed. Snowball had beat her too it. Meribell smiled at his twitching ears.
"Goodnight Snowball, goodnight world. See you tomorrow..."
As Meribell fell into bed, she found that her anger was gone. She had decided that working wouldn't make her happy anymore. Instead, she wanted to find a place where she was welcomed. Where she belonged. Where she could be normal.