FEISTY AND HOSTILE

"Good morning!" Raquel cheerily greeted Diwa and Siel, as she entered their office area. "I kinda heard him announcing the end of our lunch break, so I skedaddled over here ASAP."

The new girl had great timing because Roderick was already stomping towards them. He was so furious and so red in the fact that he looked like his head would explode any minute now. However, the moment he saw Raquel giggling in front of Siel's desk, he almost skidded to a stop.

Ok, this Raquel bitch was sent from many management levels above me. Must not let her see me like this... I'm already in deep shit... shouldn't make it worse...

All three ladies watched as he inhaled deeply in an effort to calm himself down. It was so comedic, that R almost guffawed aloud, Di bit on her lip to stop herself from laughing, and Siel even smiled a bit.

"Good morning, Miss Molave, very pleased to see you today," the now-calmed boss said with a fake, lame smile.

"Good morning Mr. Roderick. It's Mrs., by the way. Molave is my husband's surname."

R's smile was genuine and innocent, but her attitude was firm, almost intimidating. It was hard to explain how someone so cheery can be so lethal so quickly. Well, Di could, but this wasn't the time or place to do that...

"Alright, I'll continue with my work. Remember what I told you, Siel, ok? Ladies..." Roderick stated as he walked back to his office with his tail between his legs.

Diwa glanced at Raquel as the rest of the girls watched their boss's hasty retreat. Di lightly nodded at R, complete with a thankful and relieved smile, and Siel caught that little wordless exchange just at the last moment.

Wait... is this letter related to this girl coming here? Was I right that she must have been sent to take over my position? And why is Diwa having non-verbal connections with her... Ok, stop it, Siel! Get a grip, please!

Siel had a tendency to overthink when she was stressed. These are one of those times. Her exhausted brain was now starting to show her the worst-case scenario that she feared above all: the image of her ending up with a cardboard box full of her belongings before the day ended.

I need to focus... I just can't let myself lose it... Not right now...

She tried her best to finish what she could within the one hour allotted to her but no thanks to her boss' megaphone-like announcement, it made it more difficult to deal with other workers who were part of the other departments.

With the amount of work, she had to complete she barely noticed the time passing... again. Yet, she could see that, when she walked to the printer, the legal department, or even the coffee machine, her co-employees would immediately avoid her. Some won't even look her in the eye.

Her paranoia grew exponentially, and by 1:50 PM she was ready to beg for her job.

There was no way she could manage being unemployed, even if she didn't like her position. It was all she had to take care of her babies, and it was almost Christmas.

No matter what, she had to keep it.

"Are you ready?" Di asked her as her friend combed her hair and put on a bit of lip tint.

"No, but I can't cancel on this one, Diwa. Wish I could..."

"Aww, don't worry much, ok? I have a hunch that everything will be fine," Di assured her. "Just being honest about my feelings about this."

"Di... I don't know anymore..."

"Girl, you haven't done anything wrong! Why are you so worried?"

"I..." A second of clarity came to her upon hearing her best friend's words. "You're right, girl. I haven't done anything wrong. Why are they calling me out, anyway?! They can't fire me just like that! So yes, I'll fight to keep my job!"

Di stared in shock at her friend as her volume increased and her fierce expression intensified by the second.

Oh, dear goddess, what did I just say? What did I just do? Diwa thought anxiously.

"Yeah! I'll tell that... that Chief Executive Officer that he can't just fire me! I have always been a good hardworking employee! They have no right to can me!"

"N-no, Siel... I didn't mean that... SIEL!" Di tried to go after her friend, but it was too late.

She had already rushed out the door, with her head held high, furious, and so ready to be feisty. The thing is, she's probably got the wrong idea about this whole thing, which was now worrying Diwa.

"I'm sorry, Alpha," whispered the operations manager of SCIT.

Raquel took this time to approach Di by sitting on Siel's office chair.

"So, she's on her way up?" Raquel asked.

"Yeah, and, no thanks to me, she's in a fighting mood... even hostile..."

"Don't worry, he'll manage. He's our Alpha, after all."

"But he's also a werewolf, and you know how they are when they like a woman."

"Puppy eyes and all silly?"

"Exactly!"

Both giggled, in the same familiar way they used to do when Diwa still lived in the Packhouse.

"So, your job here is done?" Di asked.

"Since yesterday," R answered with a smile, proud of her proficiency in her line of work.

"Means that you're leaving again soon?"

"I believe tomorrow is my last day."

"Then we should go for a celebratory drink after work."

"I agree. Margaritas night?"

"That sounds great! We have a lot of catching up to do."

"We do, indeed."

As the infiltrator turned to walk away, Di gently asked, "Was she your mission?"

"Sort of," Raquel answered after a long pause.

Diwa sighed, "Damn, I've been her friend for this long and never noticed. I think I let someone down."

"It's not your fault. For a long time too, not even we knew. But he knows now, and that's all that matters."