"Mom! We've been here for less than two weeks! How could you think I would be doing that already! Seriously, this is so not cool!" He mumbled at the end as shoved a piece of bread in his mouth as he watched his mom place a fried egg on his plate.
"Cool or not, young man, you are an alpha. Even if you haven't presented, this is important. YOU WILL NOT IMPREGNATE AN OMEGA!" His mother was sounding so stern that he was taken aback for a moment. His mom then softened her words, "I don't want you to end up like your father and I and impregnate some omega and mark them. We can't afford to take responsibility for two more mouths to feed because if you get an omega pregnant, their family will come after us for support for not only their child, but their grandchild as well. Do you know how much it costs to raise a child to adulthood? Your part time jobs, all three of them, won't pay even close to enough to even feed the three of you for very long, let alone, diapers and formula and medical expenses like the birth and then vaccines and post-natal check-ups…"
Erik sighed as he ate his egg. How did he get into this conversation? He had only woken up with a stiffy, and now his mom was lecturing him as if he had already done the unthinkable with an omega. He had thought that he had hidden that well enough, so how did his mom find out?! He wanted to pull his hair as his mom's lecture went on. Seeing as the only way to escape was to leave for work, Erik quickly took care of washing his plate and fork before rushing out the door to the sweet relief of the pre-dawn morning chill.
It seemed that it had rained all night as the ground was still wet as Erik left the trailer and made his way to the main road where he had a long walk ahead of him. As he walked, he contemplated the things his mother was telling him. He knew she was right. First of all, his reaction was totally normal and wasn't the first time he had woken up with one, but it was the first time he had dreamed about a particular person and gotten one. As for her lecture about not getting an omega pregnant, he had to laugh to himself.
First of all, he had to be close enough to one to even get anywhere near that step; and second of all, even if he was close to an omega he wanted to do that with, he would never do that with an unwilling partner. Thirdly he would never ever find himself in that kind of situation unprepared. If he was that desperate to have sex with someone, he could probably buy a box of condoms.
It's not that unusual to see people, even older folk, buying them at the grocery store where he worked. It's just that unfortunately the condoms for alpha's were pretty expensive. They had a special design that made it so the condom didn't tear when an alpha knotted. That brought him to his last point. Fourthly, he hadn't even presented and that meant that he didn't give off pheromones, nor could he detect them. It was pretty obvious to him that an omega wouldn't even be attracted to him sexually because he was basically a beta right now.
Before he realized it, while lost in his ruminations, the sun was peeking over the horizon, and it was now dawn and he was close to his workplace. He wondered how the hell he had spent the last two hours lost in thought so that he was now arriving at work already. He shook his thoughts off as he approached the small drive through coffee shop and opened the door. To his surprise, no one had started work yet and there was the lady that had said that she owned the burger joint that he worked at, yesterday. Come to think of it, she did say something about owning several eating establishments across town and that she would see him at work tomorrow. Was this what she meant?
"Good Morning, Mr. Norman! Punctual as always! I see your record doesn't lie! Your co-workers here were just filling me in on what their thoughts were of you and your work ethic. I must say that you have a spotless reputation and one that precedes you! All good things, I assure you!" Ms. Dermott spoke warmly as he closed the door behind him. He wasn't sure how to respond. He just went over and stood next to Daniel and waited for the lady to get to her point for visiting.
"As you all know by now, I am the owner of this coffee shop as well as a few others around town. This location was my very first expansion of business from the parent shop on the university campus that was once owned by my parents. Now, many years later I have seen this expansion grow and become successful. Recently I have noted the increase in business and the trend seems to have followed the young Mr. Norman since he started here. We are seeing an uptick in customers that purchase large orders as well as breakfast orders of various breakfast scones and sandwiches. Loyalty rewards are also being signed up for at an astonishing rate. So, I have come to the conclusion that we have our very own celebrity working here, driving up business! Thank you, Mr. Norman, your contributions have not gone unnoticed!" Ms. Dermott spoke in that same warm and friendly tone that confused the hell out of him.
She continued on about numbers and profits as well as customer satisfaction before she finally got to the point as far as Erik could tell.
"So today we have promotions going around as well as raises! Please step forward when I call your name so we can all give you a round of applause. Ms. Yvette Stevens, you have been promoted to district manager and will now oversee the main branch coffee shop as well as the rest of the coffee shops I own in this area. Next up, taking Ms. Stevens' place, is Mr. Daniel Lutz. I hereby promote you to full-time manager! Mr. Erik Norman, you will take Mr. Daniel Lutz' place as the team leader for your shift. Starting next week, I will have a new employee to take Ms. Stevens' place once she settles into her new role at the parent location. In the meantime, please keep up the good work! That is all."
Erik didn't know what a shift leader meant, he had only ever been a grunt, shift leader sounded important, but he was too hesitant to step forward and ask what the details of his new position meant. He was also curious if his hours and duties had changed drastically or not. Once Ms. Dermott left, he and his coworkers all clocked in for the day with excited chatter and he was listening intently to it, trying to decipher any clues as to what he was supposed to do now. For the time being, Erik just took orders and made drinks on autopilot. He didn't dare deviate from what he knew.
"Hey man, that pretty girl is here to see you again! Are you two going out? She's been here an awful lot lately, right along with a bunch of other students from my alma mater." Daniel said as he elbowed Erik in the ribs, good naturedly with a smile.
"Huh? Pretty girl?" Erik was tired and his brain wasn't functioning on all cylinders as Daniel's words took a bit to sink in as he finished the last touch on a drink order.
"You know, the redhead? Endless blue-green eyes? Senior at the private academy, one year younger than I? You know, the big tipper." Daniel prodded him to remember.
Finally, Erik's brain caught up to Daniel's words. "What?! She's here for me? No way! She's probably here for a drink, like all the rest of the high schoolers around here…"
"Well, she ordered and when she didn't see you, she requested that we tell you that she was here and would wait for your break to see you since you were busy. She's currently sitting at a table sipping her drink and patiently waiting. So, are you two dating? I think she's pretty lucky to have a guy like you in her life. You guys have, like, the cutest chemistry!" Daniel laughed at his expression.
"What? I'm an omega. I can practically feel her pheromones surging whenever she talks about you! You may not give off pheromones, but I can totally tell you like her. Your face tells all."
"You're an omega, Daniel? I guess I never noticed, sorry…" Erik had no idea. He couldn't detect pheromones, so he had been clueless.
"You really didn't know I was one?"
"No. Sorry. Uh, um, to tell the truth, I actually haven't presented yet…" Erik said in a small voice. He felt like he could trust Daniel with this information.