I should have known.

~Daisy~

Three days.

It's been three days since Daisy last heard from Gabriel. Not that she's particularly worried or anything, she just finds it weird that the man sent her that text and just disappeared into thin air. She thought nothing of it on Monday or even yesterday because of her initial shock of Micheal being her third mate but now it's too obvious to ignore.

He did call her on Friday evening when she was getting ready to go out with Alexander to ask if she was free. Could that be related to the urgent matter he wanted to discuss with her on Saturday? What kind of mind game is he playing? Is this a new way of him trying to get her attention? Because if it is, it's definitely working.

"Miss. Roe?"

Daisy blinks, her mind finally coming back to the planning meeting for the Investment Fund Launch being held tomorrow. Her eyes survey her subordinates looking at her expectantly. She sights the words, ‘The End’, on the PowerPoint presentation and mentally knocks herself on the head for not hearing a single thing that was said.

Damn Gabriel. Even in his absence, he still manages to meddle with her work. "Right," she hums, glancing through the printed documents in front of her. As she's about to ask some questions to get a grasp of the final concept they're going with for tomorrow, someone barges into the meeting room.

"Is it true?" Says a familiar redhead as she makes her way towards the side of the conference table.

"Abbie?" Daisy frowns in confusion, examining the girl's blazing eyes of distrust.

"Are you the new project manager for the FlatIt.co project?"

The moment Daisy hears that, she signals her subordinates. "Please excuse us." Thankful that the redhead doesn't say anything else before they're all out, she stands up from her chair. "Abbie-"

"Tell me it isn't true," Abbie begs, seeming close to tears. "Tell me you haven't been lying to me for over a week. Tell me I haven't been parading around excited like an idiot because I thought I was finally making leeway in this profession!"

Damn it. This is exactly what she was trying to avoid but like always, trying to shelter someone from hurt only ends up doing more damage than good. "I wanted to tell you. I really did but I chickened out."

Stepping back as though Daisy's words just slapped her in the face, Abbie grips the head of one of the chairs to wedge herself. "How could you? How could you look me in the eye and smile with me knowing you were taking my job?"

"It wasn't my intention to. Gabriel insisted that I be the project manager-"

Abbie scoffs loudly. "Of course. Your rich Alpha mate." Laughing humourlessly, she glares at Daisy with contempt in her eyes. "Of course he would give you preferential treatment."

Surprised by the girl's attitude, Daisy attempts to defend herself. "It's not like I asked for it!"

"But you still got it!" Abbie yells over her. "You've always had it easy. The boss's ace. The company's best employee. The hottest female in the company poll. The one who pulled in Cilexx and FlatIt.co. Mr. Randy is going to give you that promotion you've always wanted just because two men walked into your life," she says. The increasing venom in her voice shocks the blonde even more.

Of all the things the redhead mentioned, the one thing that pisses Daisy off is her first statement and the last. "I've always had it easy?" She scoffs, a brief painful chuckle escaping her lips as a quick flash of her past washes through her mind. "You have no idea what I had to go through just to get here."

Abbie huffs. "Oh please. Did you get discriminated against from day you were born? Did you get termed too weak to make it in the human world just because of your hierarchy? Did you get ridiculed by everyone in your pack including your own friends whenever you talked about being an independent woman? An omega's place is being the runt of the pack. They say we are the backbone of the pack but that's just an excuse to use us as slaves and cheap labour. Did you have to fight tooth and nail to escape your pack? Did you have to constantly prove yourself over and over again to prove that you deserve this job? No. Like every other thing, you had a supportive pack handed to you on a platter of gold."

Wow. Daisy didn't know those things happened to her. The girl barely talks about herself. Somehow, Daisy is starting to realise that she doesn't truly know the people around her. Then again, she has never been close to Abbie despite how many times they've hung out together. It's not like she doesn't care, she just doesn't pry into things she's not interested in. "You have had your struggles and I have had mine."

"Yours are inconsequential but that's besides the point. The point is that you lied to me and made me a laughing stock. I've been pestering David for the details of the project and he's been dodging me. If I didn't annoy that bastard enough for him to tell me, then I would still be in the dark. Do you know what it's like to be pointed at? To hear whispers around you and be the hot topic as the office fool?"

No, she doesn't but spending less than twenty four hours as the talk of the office has taught her a thing or two about how daunting it can be. Daisy sighs. She really fucked up, didn't she? "Abbie, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you yesterday but-"

"You went to see another man when you already have two rich men," Abbie concludes.

Well...if she puts it like that, it just makes Daisy sound like a shit friend. To be honest, she really is. "You know Lisa-"

"Lisa may have instigated it but you could have said no. You didn't. You didn't deem me important enough. What, you think that just because you have Alphas falling at your feet, you're better than me?"

Whoa. Okay, maybe she should stop trying to defend herself and just keep apologising but… jeez. "Where is this coming from, Abbie?"

"It's the truth, isn't it? You think less of me. You and Lisa. You always have," the redhead resigns, her eyes turning icy. "Is that what you were talking about yesterday on the balcony? You were laughing at how stupid I was to have believed you two could ever be my friends, right?"

Wrong. "That's not true-"

"Isn't it? I should have known," Abbie shakes her head, raking her hands through her hair. "No matter where I go, people are the same. Especially people like you."

Oh for fuck's sake! Can this girl just shut up for one minute and stop assuming things?! "Abbie-" Daisy huffs, running after the girl when she starts making her way towards the door. "Abbie, wait!" She yells, grabbing her hand.

The girl pauses but she doesn't look at Daisy.

"Listen to me. It's not like that at all. Yesterday-" the blonde is interrupted when the door opens to reveal Mr. Randy looking like a happy camper so early in the morning. Who the hell looks that happy at 7:30am?

"Miss. Roe," Mr. Randy calls in a sing-song manner, completely ignoring Abbie's existence. "Daisy, my good luck charm. We need to talk."

Abbie instantly rips her hand out of Daisy's grip and the blonde doesn't miss the tears on the redhead's cheeks as she rushes off.

Daisy doesn't have time to feel bad or ponder over what just happened. Her boss signals for her to follow him. Having no choice but to go after him even though she just wants to clear up the misunderstanding with Abbie, she enters his office. She jolts when he puts an arm around her shoulders just as she closes the door. "Mr. Randy-"

"Come, come, come," he muses, pushing her towards the relaxation chair in his office. "Take a seat." He pulls out a bottle of booze from his desk drawer. "Would you like some Brandy?"

Sitting properly, she shakes her head. "No, I'm fine, sir."

"Good." The man sits across from her, nursing his glass. "So?"

"So...?"

"About what we discussed they other day." He rolls his eyes when she still looks confused. "Have you convinced your boyfriend to keep doing deals with us?"

This again. "With all due respect, sir. Mr. Carpenter is not my boyfriend and even if he were, private and business lives are separate entities. If we propose deals that are attractive to him, he will sign with us again," she says, already irritated that this is what he called her in here for.

"Daisy, Daisy. Always the upright stuck up," he smiles. "Let me rephrase, if you don't whisper the words I want into his ears, then I'll report your little relationship to the disciplinary committee. A huge dent like that on your professional reputation will be devastating."

Daisy reciprocates his smile and demeanour. "You won't do that, sir."

"Oh?"

"If you do that, Mr. Carpenter will surely pull out of this deal. You will be black listed as the company that FlatIt.co rejected and you will have a pissed off powerful enemy at your throat," her smile morphs into a smirk when he gets pissed. He knows what she just said is nothing but the truth.

"And yet you say you have nothing with him."

"I don't. I'm just stating facts, sir," she shrugs. "Now, if there's no other pressing matters to be discussed, shall I take my leave?"

"This won't last, you know?" He pipes up when she stands up. "Men like him easily get bored of lowlifes like you."

Amused by the human's bruised ego, she hums. "I guess only time will tell."