Magnolia opened her mouth, fully ready to call Levi out of the lie that had just escaped his plump pink lips. The words never came, instead, a ringing so loud echoed across the room. It made her cover her ears and squirm in her seat. The others inside the canteen were doing so as well. Finally, a tapping sound echoed through the intercom, like the person speaking through the microphone was currently tapping it.

“Miss Magnolia Franzen please proceed to Room 9010,” The intercom rang. The sound of someone clearing their throat echoed through the microphone. “Miss Magnolia Franzen please proceed to Room 9010.”

She felt her brows furrow. From what she could remember, she had not done anything that would require Mister Hermosa to call her. That was unless he could read her mind all the way from his main office and just knew that she was thinking that Levi was lying. That was impossible, even for someone of his stature. She knew that older Alphas had a much stronger sense when it came to hearing but this was ridiculous if her assumption was correct.

She grabs a napkin and wipes her mouth. Excusing herself, she stands up.

“Where will you be going?”

Magnolia lets her eyes fall on the small Omega that was looking at her curiously. He was tilting his head and his chestnut hair was falling gracefully by the back of her neck. It made him look adorable, something that made him look dangerous. Scowling, Magnolia pinches the bridge of her nose, grabs her tray, and mumbles, “Sir Hermosa’s office.”

Levi grins, “I’ll go with you. I have to talk to him too!”

Felix could already tell that Magnolia was at her limit. Even though he enjoyed every minute where his friend would act like a ticking time bomb, he truly felt sorry as well. These new emotions were confusing to her as it was. And yet the Omega seemed like he could not quite tell just how powerful he truly was. Powerful to Magnolia at least. He grabs Levi’s hand and stops him from standing up. “Tell me more about your story, Levi. I don’t think Sir Hermosa and Mags want an audience when they talk.”

Magnolia reminded herself to buy something for Felix when their shift was over.

She walks towards Sir Hermosa’s office, almost pulling her feet as she did. She appreciated the fact that she had been excused. She also really liked the fact that she was not in Levi’s vicinity as well. She could not quite understand, but ever since she became aware of the Omega, there had been constant pains and sparks flowing through her. She could tell it was instinct, something to do with that. It couldn't be something else other than just pure instinct. It might have even been because her more primal Alpha part was waking up and the first Omega, they had met was Levi.

Yes, that is probably just it.

She reaches room 9010 and enters with a knock.

Sir Hermosa was not even surprised that she had entered without him telling her to. He was there when she grew up after all. He was there during her birth, her birthdays, and other family parties. She had always been there. Hermosa had been a very close friend of her parents, and she managed to exploit that every time she could. He was a short, dark-skinned, pudgy man. His hair had used to be curly, but he had cropped it short when he reached the solid age of 65. Despite his age, and despite her age, he always still treated her like when she had been 12.

“I’ve been busy the past few days,” The old man explained, his chocolate eyes looking at her with warmth. There were days where she had always thought she had two sets of parents. Her biological ones, and then there were Hermosa and his wife. Hermosa waved towards the seat opposite his table, asking her to sit down. Magnolia knew that sitting meant that this talk would take longer than she wanted but she also knew that her parents would nag her ears off if she so happens to refuse. And so, she sat down. Hermosa grinned at that, showing his perfect pearly whites. “I’ve heard you’ve been promoted to Supervising Literary Agent. Congratulations, Mags! I knew you were meant for big things.”

Magnolia shrugged, averting her gaze. “It’s not like you didn’t know. All promotions had to be run by you.”

“Oh, well, still. Congratulations,” Hermosa blushed at that, rubbing the nape of his neck. Magnolia bit the inside of her cheek, looking at her watch as secretly as she could. There were a lot of papers waiting for her inside her office. Her lunchtime was long from over, but she knew that she would not be reprimanded this time, it was Hermosa after all who requested her company. “It was a surprise to everyone especially to your parents when your results showed that you were an Omega. The last Omega from your bloodline from what I could recall your father telling me was your great, great, great, great, great grandmother from your father’s side. Everyone else had been a full-blooded Alpha.”

Magnolia chose not to talk at that. Replying meant that she wanted to be a part of this conversation. Taking part in it means elongating it. She was torn. She wanted to continue not working, and if it meant that she had to bear listening to an old man’s ramblings, then maybe that was worth it. But then again, not working meant that her work would pile up.

“Of course, I knew how hard it is for Omegas to you know,” Hermosa mumbled softly. Magnolia could not care less whether she knew or did not about his vague statement. She was busy looking at the watch on her wrist now. “That’s why I was really excited when your father said that you were an aspiring writer. You know I am always waiting for your manuscript, right? All you have to do is pass it over to me and we can immediately process its publication.”

Magnolia knew that. She knew that all it had to do to reach her dream was to pass it over to Hermosa and everything would be alright. Then again, it was her damn pride. It did not seem right that other authors would pass through months of review and evaluation just so that their novel would get a chance in publication. Could she really consider herself a writer under those circumstances? She would be passing her manuscript, that she knew. But it would be on her own terms.

It would be because her novel was amazing. It would not be because she knew the owner.

“Anyway,” Hermosa cleared his throat and Magnolia finally lifted her head to look at him. “There was actually a reason as to why I called you here today.”

She cut him off, “I figured.”

“You were always way too smart for your own good,” Hermosa added. Finally, he turned the monitor on his table towards Magnolia so that she could see it from where she was sitting. Right on the monitor was a different collage of videos, by the bottom was today’s date. She realized it was the live footage from the CCTV cameras. “I saw that you were talking to Levi, having lunch with him even.”

The mere mention of the Omega’s name was enough for Magnolia to squirm in her seat.

And that small squirm was enough for Hermosa to notice.

“What about it?” Magnolia asked, trying her hardest to remain impassive about it.

Hermosa was quiet, too quiet. The kind of quiet that Magnolia knew she should be scared about. Whenever Hermosa or her parents were quiet, it meant that they were planning something. And that plan typically always involved her future or what she actually plans on doing in the future. Sometimes, it was both. After a few seconds, the old man was still quiet, his elbow propped on the table, his cheek leaned against the palm of his hand.

There was an oddly annoying smile on his face, something that Magnolia wanted no more than to erase.

“If that would be all,” She stood, not waiting for a reply, and started walking towards the door. “I’ll be going back to my office, Sir. I have tons of paperwork that are waiting for me. A lot of manuscripts need to be read. Not to mention the contracts that need my signature.”

Hermosa just laughs, and Magnolia finds herself back inside her office.

'This time of day, when I was still an Omega', Magnolia thought to herself. 'I was busy taking a nap.'

Although she was close to accepting the fact that she was now an Alpha and not an Omega anymore, she could not quite accept the number of responsibilities she had to do just yet. It seems like although she was staying late, the papers and folders on top of her desk seemed to never disappear. The moment she thought she could get a small rest; Felix would enter carrying more folders and papers.

'Back then I could easily pass anything I did not want to do to the Alphas. No one ever expects anything from an Omega.' She thought.

A knock from the door brings her back to reality. It was not Felix, nor was it Hermosa. Hermosa never knocks, he just enters. Felix enters with a knock. Whoever was on the other side of her door, they were waiting for her to say that they could enter. And so, with a blink of confusion, she spoke, “You may come in.”

She felt the electricity in the air and his scent hit her like a bat.

This all happened before he even entered. Levi simply opened the door ajar, peeked through, his chestnut hair looking fluffy even from afar. Magnolia frowned almost immediately. The Omega smiles shyly, not yet entering the office. “Sir Hermosa said I should go here. He said you would understand why.”

“He said what?”