My Lost Omega [BL]

The office was lively, bursting with loud chattering. At least that's how it was when Axel had just stepped in, before anyone noticed his presence. Then the woman sitting near the entrance turned her head, and their eyes met…

There was a brief pause, and her eyes widened in recognition. She scooted over and elbowed the man in the seat next to her, whispering something. He glanced over… And did the same to the next person. And then another person at another desk noticed…

And just like that, in a few short moments, with three or four broken phone games making rounds among the employees, the chatter died down. Not disappearing, of course, but rather turning into hushed whispers, as the workers tossed furtive glances Axel's way.

It seemed that everyone already knew who he was. No matter how much Axel wanted to start with a clean slate, his surname gave him away. Knowing that a 'Chandler' was going to be their new team leader, the employees had made a quick research, and they quickly found out. Axel Chandler was the heir.

"Hey! Long time no see!" Just as Axel was standing in the door, his confidence wavering, a cheerful voice called from behind and he was smacked on the shoulder.

"Wynn?" Axel's eyes widened, unable to hide his surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here, of course! Sorry for not letting you know, I wanted to surprise you once you finally get here!" Wynn laughed, while his eyes swept over the office, instantly chasing all the spying glances away. "Happy to see me?"

"Of course." Axel exhaled, his anxiousness receding.

"Good, good… Hmm? Is that from the shop opposite the office?" Wynn's eyes fell on the cup in Axel's hand. "They have some great craft coffees! What did you get?"

"Uh… Standard macchiato?" Axel scratched his neck. Was it really just him who didn't know anything about coffee?

Wynn caught onto his embarrassment, and quickly changed topic, "Well, either way, you should try their pour over sometime. Brewed by the owner, that guy with, ahem, alternative style. The male Beta that looks cuter than most Omegas!"

"He sure looks very cute," Axel mused, sipping on his coffee.

"I know, right?!" Wynn laughed. "We all couldn't believe that he was a Beta at first. Some guys from the marketing department even went there once, shortly after it opened, spreading all their pheromones… They released so much that they made two Omega customers faint, but the owner didn't even flinch! He just calmly asked the Alphas not to make his other customers uncomfortable…" he paused for a moment, noticing Axel's disgusted glare, "Hey, why are you looking at me like that?! I didn't do it, I wasn't even there!"

Axel let out a long sigh, rubbing his brows. "I know, I know, you wouldn't take part in something like this. It's just… annoying to listen to. It's because of people like that that many Omegas secretly hate Alphas…"

"Yeah, I get what you mean. But, word of advice," Wynn wrapped his arms around Axel's shoulders, as he leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper, "Don't go spouting your ideals around here. They're great and all, but… Corporate offices like that are quite conservative. If you start talking about equal rights for Omegas and so on, they will take you for a weirdo and walk all over you. And with your, ahem, character…"

He didn't finish, but it was obvious what he meant. With how naive, dense, and honestly, slightly dumb Axel was, he probably wouldn't even realize when he was taken advantage of.

"Right now everyone is vary of you since you're the heir, but that's a good thing. Be nice to them, just not overly friendly. Trust me, even if they're a little distant, that's for the best. It's not college anymore, where you could be chummy with everyone around you." Wynn patted Axel's shoulder, and let the man go.

Axel was left feeling a bit dispirited by the advice. He was sincerely hoping he could make some new friends at the office…

But Wynn was his senior he was close to since middle school. Axel had no reason to doubt his intentions, and so, he could only trust his words and do - or at least try to - as he was told.

He passed by the row of cubicles with low walls all the way to the end of the office, where the team leader's desk was - that is, his new seat. Despite his insistence that he should start from the entry-level job, his parents forced him into the team leader's position. 'You're going to be the CEO of one of the subsidiary companies in a few years,' they said, 'Therefore you need to start gaining experience in managing people as soon as possible.'

To be fair, Axel didn't even know if he wanted to be a CEO… But, he was an Alpha, and the only son of the Chandler family, so surely that must have been right? It wasn't like his Omega sister would take the position, not when she was already married to the CEO of the TVO station.

Besides, he didn't have any other plans for himself. From childhood till now, he had always followed the path his parents had chosen for him… At least for the most part. The only time he disobeyed his parents was when he chose to pursue a poor Omega of unknown origins, when he should have mingled with other children of prominent families spending their summer in the Lake District. And then subsequently refusing to mate with any of the Omegas his parents tried to set him up with.

But that was a completely separate matter.

"Ahem!" He placed his stuff on his desk, and cleared his throat loudly, to get the attention of his new subordinates… Attention that was on him either way, only in forms of surreptitious glances. 

"Hello, everyone. My name is Axel Chandler. Starting today, I am the leader of this team. I look forward to working with you," he briefly introduced himself. "I have already received briefing on out current projects, however, I would appreciate it if all of you would submit reports on your individual tasks and current progress by tomorrow. We will discuss the next steps at the meeting on Friday. Until then, please continue as you usually would. Any questions?"

The office fell into the silence. From one of the desks at the front, Wynn smiled at Axel, giving him thumbs up. 'You did well.'

"Then, please start working on your tasks now," Axel exhaled, the tension slowly leaving him. He sat down - with elegance, although he almost would have plopped down casually, if he hadn't reflected upon himself in time - and once he could no longer feel the eyes on him, he opened the box, revealing the poppy seed tart.

It looked quite pretty. Maybe not like some sophisticated, state-of-the-art desserts you could find in exquisite restaurants or luxurious pastry shops, but definitely made with some skill. River clearly had a good eye for visuals and knew what he was doing.

But, of course, looks were just a part of success. While they could entice the customers into buying the pastry, if the taste wasn't up to par, then they wouldn't buy it again. The coffee was delicious though, so the expectations were high. Axel lifted the tart, studying it for a moment, then took a bite…