His first week had gone by in a blur. Getting to and from his job was a longer commute than he was used to, but the freedom of riding a motorcycle was something he enjoyed, so he often looked forward to his rides. Although, he could already tell that he was going to have to wear something heavier over his work clothes when he rode. He was just getting too cold. Maybe he’d do a little shopping today.
The actual work part of work was going smoothly enough. Truly, doing the work was the easiest thing about his job. Cataloging, studying, analyzing…they were all tasks that he found intriguing. It was dealing with all of the various personalities at the research center that was the real challenge.
Louis seemed to think that he and Kai were best friends now, and while Kai liked the man, he wasn’t sure if he liked being treated to the non-stop rendition of the Tao of Louis. He had an opinion on everything, and was none too shy about sharing it. He was also 100 percent certain that Kai had screwed Missy on that very first day in the backroom. He hadn’t even hesitated to ask Kai for the details, and had only been surprised when Kai had refused to admit they’d done the deed. To Louis, it was just another fact catalogued in his brain. His sureness made Kai wonder if Missy was telling people that was what had happened.
As for Kai’s actual relationship with Missy, well he probably had a decent case for sexual harassment on his hands. He wasn’t about to take it that far—he could handle being hit on every day without formally complaining—but it was taxing at times. Kai hoped that after a while of his purposeful disinterest in her advances, she would stop. So far, she hadn’t yet. If anything, she’d gotten a little bolder as they grew more comfortable around each other. Just yesterday, when she’d been bugging him about the bike, she’d also grabbed his ass.
Kai had politely, but firmly, asked her to not ever do that again. He was sure she would, though. Really, he wouldn’t be surprised if she cupped his junk one day. He was seriously hoping that day didn’t happen anytime soon.
Then there was his boss, Mason. After a full week he’d finally somewhat warmed to Kai. He seemed to truly appreciate Kai’s work ethic and ability to multitask. He’d commended him on his analyses and often asked Kai to help him with projects he was working on, most of them involving those damn bees. Fortunately, Kai hadn’t been stung again by the little bastards.
But even with all that, Kai got the feeling that Mason would prefer it if Kai weren’t around. Like, for some unknowable reason, Kai upset him. Mason wasn’t obvious about it when he spoke to Kai, but Kai was observant, and he noticed the tightness of Mason’s eyes, the guarded way he smiled, and the small sigh that escaped his lips whenever Kai entered a room. Yes, Kai wasn’t sure why, but he was positive that his boss didn’t like him.
That bothered Kai. He really looked up to Mason, admired his mind and his goals. The work he was doing was important, noble even, and Kai had a great amount of respect for him. He wanted to turn the man’s opinion around, get him to like and accept Kai as an important member of the team…he just wasn’t sure how to do that. The only thing Kai could really do was keep his nose to the grindstone, keep doing his job to the best of his ability. Maybe, given enough time, whatever Kai had done to Mason would fade away, and they could be close colleagues.
Kai hoped so.
Just as he was feeling better from his mental pep talk, he heard a soft, lyrical ringing. He looked over at his nightstand, to where his cell phone was softly playing a song. Frowning, Kai picked it up. He’d lowered the volume of the ringer on his phone, but he was pretty sure he’d never changed the ringtone to “Endless Love.” Rolling his eyes, Kai wondered if Missy had somehow stolen his cell phone and messed with it. Great. He was positive her number was now in his contact list.
Glancing at the name on his display, Kai frowned even more. Answering the call, he held the phone to his ear. “Mom? Why are you up so early?”
His mother seemed surprise that he’d picked up. “Oh, hi, Kai. I wasn’t sure if you’d be up this early on a Saturday. I was just going to leave a message.”
Kai looked over to the clock on the microwave and let out a soft laugh. “It’s not that early for me, Mom. It’s after ten. But it is for you. Why are you up so early?” he asked again, relaxing back against his headboard as he idly watched TV.
His mom hesitated. “Oh, I just…had a couple phone calls to make. I was a little anxious about making them, so I really wasn’t sleeping well anyway.”
Hearing the stress in his mom’s voice concerned Kai. “Everything all right?”
She hesitated again, like she was debating whether or not to tell him something. He had no idea what she might want to say, and it worried him. “Of course, honey. Don’t you worry about me. How are you doing? How’s work going?”