Chapter 27: Their Cursed

Remi

Cullen kept his word. He stayed with me at my apartment until he took me to work. I packed a bag and left it in his car so I would have clothes at their apartment tonight. After about a hundred kisses, he finally let me go into the building. He told me to let him know when I would be off, and he would be right there to pick me up. When I got inside, I found Jessie putting her bag away.

“Hey, long time no see!” she said with a smile. “We missed you.”

“I missed you too!” I said. “It was sort of a crazy week,” I told her.

“Yea. Who was the blonde hottie that came to get you? He was gorgeous,” she said.

I laughed. “Gentry? I don’t think he is your type,” I said. ‘Werewolf’ did not really seem like her type even if it was apparently mine. “Wait, what about your boyfriend?”

“I don’t even want to talk about him right now,” she said, tying her apron around her waist. “Just because he lives off a trust fund doesn’t mean that he gets to be insensitive to those of us who have to work to pay the bills.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Whatever. We are not speaking for 48 hours. We both need time to cool off,” she said with a sad look on her face.

“Well, you can always call or message me…” I tried to reassure her.

“Thanks,” she said. I grabbed my apron, and we went to clock in and get to work.

It was weird being back at work after everything that had happened last week, but it was nice to have a little normalcy. Lunch went by quickly and Jessie and I were having a great day. I had kept my phone in my pocket on vibrate knowing that it was probably going to go off multiple times today. And I was not wrong. I got multiple texts from Calder and Cullen throughout lunch. There was even one from Amanda about how much Calder was sulking with me gone.

“You are checking your phone a whole lot today,” Jessie said, catching me in the back.

“Uh, yea. Haha. I guess I kind of am. Sorry,” I said.

“I know that smile. That is the new boyfriend smile,” she said, giving me a knowing smile.

“Hey, Remi. Someone is up front asking for you,” the hostess called from the door to the floor. Perfect timing.

“Sorry, explain later,” I said moving quickly.

“You better!” Jessie called after me. I went out to the dining room to see Calder, Cullen, Gentry, and Amanda standing up by the front doors. Amanda waved excitedly while Calder gave me a giant smile. Cullen gave me a cool smile and Gentry just rolled his eyes. I walked over to them quickly.

“What are you all doing here?” I asked as I came up to them.

“Lover boys were being insufferable…” Gentry said. I stopped in front of them. Calder reached out and grabbed my hips, pulling me to him.

“I missed you, baby,” he said, rubbing his nose against mine. My heart warmed at his words, but they were still standing here right in the middle of my job.

“I missed you too,” I said. “But, Calder, I am working.”

“I know,” he said.

“Uh, Remi. Do they need a table?” the hostess asked me. I looked at her and she shot a nervous glance at Angela who was standing nearby.

“No-” I started to say as Cullen interrupted.

“Yes,” he said. “In Remi’s section, if you would.” I turned to him horrified.

“No, you guys can’t. I am working,” I said.

He grabbed my chin in his hand. “And we are hungry, love,” he said with a smirk. He pecked my lips before letting my face go. I looked at Calder who seemed to approve of all of this. I sighed.

“Fine, but absolutely no tipping, okay?” I asked quietly.

“Only if you promise to sleep over again,” Calder bargained. I nodded. I turned to the hostess.

“What table are we seating them at?” I asked her. She gave me their silverware and napkins and I took them to the table. “I’ll be back in a second okay?” I said. I quickly walked to the back. Jessie cornered me as soon as I got in there.

“What are your hot business guys doing with their hands and mouths all over you?” she asked seriously.

“It’s a really long story…” I said.

“But why are they both acting like you belong to them? Why kind of twin crazy is this Remi? You have never so much as spoken of a guy!” she asked quickly.

“That part is an even longer story,” I told her.

“You seriously have the craziest luck,” she said. She lifted a tray of drinks and left through the door. I took a deep breath and pulled out my phone. I texted Amanda begging her to make them eat quickly. She texted me back a thumbs up.

-

Calder, Cullen, Gentry, and Amanda took their time, much to my dismay. They finally left when we started getting busy with dinner. Luckily, Calder listened, and they didn’t leave any crazy tips on the table. As things started to slow down for the night, Angela came by and asked to speak to me in her office. What could she possibly want to talk to me about?

Fear gripped me as I went towards her office once my tables were taken care of for a moment. I knocked and she beckoned me in right away.

“Hi, Angela,” I said.

“Remi, come in. I need to speak to you about something that was brought to my attention,” she said.

“Uh, sure. What is it?” I asked.

“Now, as your manager I cannot tell you what to do with your free time. But I also cannot let you mock your place of work like you did today,” she said.

“What do you mean?” I asked confused.

“If you wish to jump into the bed of any man or multiple, you are welcome too. But those antics will not fly while you are on the clock here. And to be preying on the new owners of the restaurant, no less.” Her voice was cold. My eyes widened, realizing what she meant.

“I wasn’t…” I tried to say.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses. Your morals are your own business. But that behavior will not be tolerated while in employment here. I am sorry, but you are fired,” she said. My heart stopped. I was getting fired for Calder and Cullen showing up? “You can go ahead and leave now, there is no need to finish your shift,” she said. My eyes welled up with tears.

“I’m sorry,” I said before turning and leaving her office. The tears were flowing by the time I got to the back. I took off my apron and grabbed my things. Before I could get out the door, Jessie stopped me.

“What happened? Why are you crying?” she asked with worry in her voice.

“I just got fired. I need to go,” I managed to say.

“Why would Angela fire you? I don’t understand!” she said quickly.

I just shook my head. “I got to go,” I sobbed and left out the door to the alleyway. I walked quickly towards the street. I wanted to be home now. I did not bother to tell Cullen that I was now leaving work. I was too upset at the moment. I just got fired for being a w***e because they both came in today and were affectionate with me. I turned the corner, moving quickly down the sidewalk.

“Remi,” I heard my name behind me. Oh no, not right now. I did not want him to see me crying. Why was he even here? “Remi, wait,” I heard Cullen say again. His voice was stern like he was not to be argued with. I kept walking, trying to hide my sobs.

His hand gripped my arm, stopping me and turning me around. I crashed into his chest at the change in motion. His other hand came up to the back of my head, holding me to his chest. “Don’t cry, love,” he bent down and whispered in my ear. Someone else was next to us now.

“Baby, what happened?” Calder asked quietly from behind me. I just continued to sob into Cullen’s chest. I could not just tell them what happened.

“Just let me go,” I sobbed quietly.

“Not until you tell us why you are crying,” Calder said in a soft voice.

I pulled away from Cullen and looked at them both before looking down at the ground. I sniffled trying to calm myself enough to say it. I took a deep breath. “I just got fired,” I said steadily. Cullen’s body stiffened. “I just want to go, okay?”

They were both silent for a moment before Calder spoke. “Was it because of us?” he asked softly. I nodded my head, still unable to look at them. I thought we were all getting along well, and I was starting to get used to all this. Now I got fired and everything was going to be messed up.

“Come on,” Cullen said. His voice was hard again, like he was mad. His arm came around my waist and pulled me along with them. We got to his car and he opened the passenger side door for me. I climbed in the car. Calder and Cullen both got in and the car took off. I kept my eyes down in my lap as we drove, still unable to control the tears that were falling. It was not long before the car was parking. Calder opened my door and pulled me from the car. His hands cupped my face and turned it to look at his. His purple eyes were sad.

“Oh, baby,” he said before pulling me close and wrapping me in his arms. This just let loose another wave of sobs. First, I get fired. Then, I am a crying mess in front of both Cullen and Calder and now I am getting the pity look from them. I hated the pity more than anything and here it was again. He bent down and picked me up bridal style. “Let’s go upstairs, okay?” he said as he moved. I buried my face in his shoulder and continued to cry.

Soon enough, we were upstairs, and a door was closing, telling me that we were in either Calder or Cullen’s room. My nose was completely stuffed up from all the crying, so I could not simply tell by smelling which one of them was stronger. Calder sat down with me in his arms still. He placed me on his lap. He held me, stroking the back of my head gently. After a few minutes, I started to calm down.

“Are you ready to tell us what happened, baby?” Calder asked in a whisper. I took a deep breath and nodded a little. He let me sit up and face him properly. His purple eyes were worried. I turned to see Cullen leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He looked angry. “He isn’t mad at you, baby. But you need to tell us what happened? Why were you fired?” Calder said, bringing my attention back to him.

“My manager called me into the office. She said she wanted to talk to me about something. Then she said that she was not going to employ someone with loose morals. She said my behavior was out of line…” I explained softly.

Calder looked at me in disbelief. Cullen let out a low growl. “So, she fired you because we came in today? Because we both kissed you?” he asked incredulously.

“She said I was preying on you…” I told him in a small voice.

“D**nit,” Calder said. He looked past me over to Cullen. I turned and looked at him as well. He was clearly incredibly angry. My lip quivered knowing that this was my fault.

He looked at my face and he softened. He came over to us, scooping me up from Calder’s lap. He leaned his forehead against mine. “This isn’t your fault…” he said softly. His hard exterior was now completely gone, replaced with the gentleness he had given me for two days now.

“We will fix this,” Calder said softly next to me.

“No, its fine…” I whispered.

“No, it isn’t. That manager is completely out of line,” Cullen said. I looked into his face that was full of worry.

“I needed to find another job anyway. This just speeds up that timeline a bit…”

“You don’t need a job at all,” Cullen said.

“Why did you need to find another job, baby?” Calder asked confused.

I sighed. “You bought the diner. You own it. I cannot work there when you are my boss’s boss. And today proves it…”

Calder looked at Cullen. “I bought the diner so I could keep an eye on her, know that she was safe…” he admitted quietly.

I looked at Cullen. “But… You were so mad that I was your mate…”

“It didn’t change the fact that you were my mate. Remi, I have cared about you this whole time. I thought rejecting you was what was best for everyone. After Jaime attacked you, I realized I could not do it anymore. I could not stay away from you when it was hurting you so much. I couldn’t let you continue to feel like you weren’t good enough…” he said softly. I could read his guilt all over his face.

“Remi, we shouldn’t have shown up to the diner today like that. We have no issue with sharing a mate, but we were not thinking about how different human culture is. This isn’t typical for werewolves, but it also would never be unaccepted. We’re sorry, baby,” Calder said.

“It was selfish, love,” Cullen said. A fresh round of tears was threatening to spill. Cullen’s hand came up to cup my cheek. “Please don’t cry anymore,” he said. I nodded my head, and he kissed my forehead.

“Baby, we need to talk to you about something,” Calder said hesitantly. I turned my head to look at him. “We need to talk about bringing you across the boundary to bring out your wolf.”