Erik really got along well with Daniel. He was kind, fair and was just as much of a hard worker as he was. Now that he was his manager, he didn't think he minded it much. So, he told him that he hadn't presented yet and even though he decided to tell him, he couldn't help but think that he was still going to be ridiculed for it. But the derision never came.
In fact, Daniel just smiled at him and said, "That's okay. I was a late bloomer myself. You'd never think that from looking at me, but if it hadn't been for my alpha, I don't think I would have ever presented. If you want to keep it a secret from the others that's fine, but you don't have to worry about anyone looking down on you for your secondary characteristics here. They were super supportive of me before I presented and after as well. You'll see for yourself, just give it a bit of time."
This surprised Erik, since now that he was actually taking a closer look at Daniel, he did have the classic pretty and ever so slightly feminine features that a lot of omegas displayed, but he was so tall! He had thought he might have been a beta if not for him telling him that he was an omega. He was just a bit sassy, and he got along well with everyone, by being easygoing. But he was also a stickler for people doing their jobs. He felt comfortable around him and maybe that's why he ended up confessing.
"Oh, and by the way, you can call me Dani. All my friends do," Erik was surprised yet again. Did this mean that Daniel wanted to be friends too?
"It's okay, take your time to warm up to the idea of being my friend. You're cool after all. And as I said earlier, your girl is here to talk to you, so why don't you take your break now and take something sweet out to give her that she can enjoy with her mocha."
"Oh. Is it really okay to take my break now? Isn't it a bit too busy? I haven't even been working that long…"
"Hey. Your manager says it's okay, so why not?" Dani grinned at him and gave a bit of a nudge and pointed to some cookies that had been rejected for being too chocolaty when they were literally triple chocolate chunk cookies.
"Okay, I'll be back in a few, then." Erik wasn't going to argue any further with Dani. He was curious as to why Liona was here when she had just seen him yesterday.
Taking the cookies out with him, Erik headed over to the tables that were nearby for customers on foot to enjoy their drinks and snacks at. Although the sun had come peeking out from behind the clouds in the early morning, it was still chilly for early spring. He shivered a little as he got near to Liona who was looking at her phone. As soon as he stood in front of her, she looked up. She had that pretty smile on her face that only got prettier as she recognized him.
"Hey! You came out! I was prepared to wait a while, since Auntie Hannah was here not that long ago. So how did it go? Was she as scary as you thought?" She seemed to be teasing him about his statement about seeing important people in low end places like a fast-food restaurant and how he was uncomfortable with being around such people.
"N-no. She w-was very n-nice." Erik swallowed hard as a ray of sun broke through the partial cloud cover and shone down on her. She looked even more beautiful as the sun hit her strawberry red hair and made it practically come alight, like it was a halo of fire.
"I-I br-bought s-some cookies." Erik took a deep breath to try and steady his words. "My new manager said I should bring them out. They're triple chocolate chunk."
"Oh! I love chocolate!" Liona's face lit up at the sight of the cookies in his hands.
"Won't they be too sweet with your mocha?" Erik found himself asking.
"Nah. Double shots are actually a bit bitter, so the cookies will compliment it well." She seemed unperturbed by his question, so he dared to ask more.
"How come you drink such a large amount of caffeine? How can you stand so much espresso in your drinks?"
"Oh, well, I like the sense of alertness I get when I have caffeine, plus it helps me concentrate on my schoolwork and a double shot is all my mom allows me to have." Liona didn't seem to mind his curiosity in the least and easily answered his stupid questions.
"You look like you have more questions. You can go ahead and ask me, but I get to ask you some questions too. Sound fair?" How could he not find that fair when that smile wasn't fair in the least! He wasn't sure why or how, but that smile just made his stomach flutter and he liked seeing her with it on her face since it lit it up so brilliantly.
"I'm not very interesting, but okay…" He mumbled. He didn't do much so she would soon see he was boring.
"Do you like sweets?" This question surprised him. He thought she would ask something like why he was poor or the way he was.
"I don't eat them often, but I do like them…" He didn't add that sweets were a really big luxury.
"Uhm, you said you had siblings yesterday that were twins. Do you have any other siblings?" He was curious because she was the only person he knew that had so many siblings, almost as many as he did.
"Nope. I only have my twin brothers and my twin sisters. All of them are younger than I am. My brothers are 15 and my sisters are 14, they both attend my school in the lower grades." Erik thought this before, but it seems she got along well with her siblings from the way she spoke about them.
"What is your favorite food?" Liona asked him.
"Uh, I don't have one? I'll eat anything… I'm not picky." It was true. If he was picky then he wouldn't eat.
"Really? Oh goody! Then I hope you'll enjoy lunch today! She turned to her side and dug in a large messenger bag and pulled out the same lunch box she had shared with him the other day. "Here this is all for you!" She handed him the lunch box. "I'll pick up the box from you tomorrow and trade you for a fresh lunch then."
"Okay, next question!" She seemed excited now. "Would your sister like some cute clothes? I'm getting rid of last year's spring wardrobe that I've outgrown and is now so last year and I thought that some of them might fit your sister. My little sisters have a few things as well that we are getting rid of and if what I have doesn't fit Nikki then those might fit her or even your next younger sisters. I didn't know how to contact your sister directly, so I figured I'd ask you about it."
This immediately raised a red flag for Erik. He was getting flashbacks to the last time that Nikki received clothes from a rich girl. He was so sure that this wasn't going to go over well with her, but he couldn't make that decision for her. Part of him wanted to trust Liona, while the other was hesitant to do so. He wasn't going to promise anything. "I'll see if she's interested…" That was all he could manage to say on the subject.
"Okay! Well, when she makes up her mind, let me know and I'll invite you guys over to have a look. I have way too many to haul around so it's easier if you come to my house. Oh! I almost forgot! Here!" She dug back into that messenger bag again and pulled out a good-sized crisp envelope and handed it to him.
Taking the envelope, the first thing he noted was that the palest pink paper he'd ever seen, felt soft under his calloused fingers. It was a weird sensation for him. The next was that there was a gold foil seal on the back with an imprint of a lion and a shield, much like the crest of Liona's school, but it was ever so slightly different. It also had writing that he didn't understand, but one word he recognized was 'Leo'. He understood that Leo was basically, lion in a lot of languages, he just didn't know what language was written there. Turning it over in his hands, he saw a handwritten script that was neat and tidy. It was addressed to him. He had never seen his name look so fancy before.
"It's the invitation to my birthday party. I hope you'll come!" She then smiled at him again and he almost couldn't handle it. She was beaming with such joy that he didn't want to protest that he was more than likely going to be busy working the day of her party.