"What the hell is this?!"
I slammed the newspaper I bought in front of Aahmes.
"'Prof. Eric Antonio Dedicates His New Formula to Mysterious Omega'?! What kind of fucking nonsense is this? Why are the two of us on the front page?!"
Aahmes glared at the crumpled newspaper on the table. The article written on the lower half of the front page was about the past Medical Expo. It had a small picture of the two of us, with me leaning my head on his shoulder.
Fuck.
The only reason I did that was because I was feeling a bit nervous that day! How the hell was I to know that some bastard would take a picture?!
"It is just a photo." Aahmes looked up at me. "The news inside tells the story about you and your brother."
"It does?"
I took the newspaper and hurriedly flipped to the article on page 8. There was another picture there of my brother and me. Looks like it was taken when I graduated from MIT.
Where the hell did they get this?!?
"Huh. The cover pic was misleading!" I grumbled. "Fucking assholes... trying to link me with you..."
"It is old news already, just a follow-up of last week's Expo. No one would even notice it."
"That's what you think!" I muttered. "You have no idea how Filipinos get when it comes to baseless rumors. The more intriguing, the better. They're worst than flies to rotten fruit! They're like a Petri dish left in the open to cultivate microbes!"
"Depends on what microbes," Aahmes answered nonchalantly.
I looked back at him and noticed he was busy at something. "What are you writing?"
"Our expenses for this Month," he replied, "we have already given the initial payment for the things we ordered from the Expo, I'm doing the accounting."
"Oh, so when do they plan to deliver the stuff I ordered?"
"They are in storage right now, waiting for the renovations to be over."
Ah, that's right, the 68th and 69th floors are currently being renovated to house the MIR, PET scanner at CT scanner I ordered. Good thing the assholes upstairs gave me a thumbs-up to acquire them. It's been such a hassle to set up a schedule just to use the stuff in the West Tower's Alpha Laboratories, since we didn't have our own here in the East Omega Tower. At least now, I wouldn't need to do all the paper work whenever I need one of my guinea – I mean, test subjects scanned for research or medical purposes. We can now get more volunteers for clinical trials as well.
I watch as Aahmes continued writing.
Why do I get the feeling that there's something different about him?
"Did we already release the ad for our test kit's clinical trials?" I asked him.
"Yes, Professor, but the legal department is still working on a contract for their parents, they are all minors, after all."
I stared at Aahmes some more.
"Habibi, why aren't you nagging me today? You look a bit pale, too. Are you feeling okay?"
"Not really," he sighed, "I am just not at my best right now."
"Huh? Are you sick or something?" I placed my hand on his forehead to check his temperature.
Hmm, he is a bit warm.
I was still touching him when I noticed him glaring up at me. I quickly pulled away.
"Sorry, I was just checking your temperature... I think you have a slight fever."
"It is nothing."
"Don't get any ideas, now! I was just checking your temperature! No reason to complain about sexual assault in the workplace or something!" I said defensively.
"Why would I do that?"
"Well..." I backed away from him, "some people think that placing a hand on one's shoulder is enough grounds for harassment," I grumbled. "As if they're even pretty enough to get harassed in the first place..." I quietly added.
Aahmes glared at me some more and asked, "Has someone sued you for sexual harassment before?"
"Would you believe I got sued three times already?" I recounted with a grunt. "The first one was some fat researcher. I called her sexy and got slapped with a lawsuit the very next day! The second one said I touched her inappropriately when I helped her up after slipping on the floor. The last one, an omega, sued me for patting him on the shoulder. And all of that happened here in this lab in less than a year!"
"Did they know who you were?" asked Aahmes in his emotionless tone.
"Obviously," I replied, "thus the insanely high amount they asked for settlement. Good thing I had an insanely capable lawyer as well."
"I guess that's why you don't touch people anymore?"
"That's half the reason," I agreed, "the other half is that, I just don't like people."
"Yes, I am well aware of that," he continued in his calm, soothing voice.
"And it's not that I don't like certain people," I added, "I just don't like people in general."
"Is that so?"
"I mean... I don't like... mingling with people."
"Do you mean to say, you have a social phobia?"
"No. They disgust me. After what happened to my brother... I... I..."
I stopped myself mid sentence and looked at Aahmes.
He looked back at me with his psychedelic eyes that seem to change color with the light.
He seems to be reading me. Seeing right through me.
The fuck.
I almost forgot that this bastard is also a doctor of psychiatry!
"Sir!"
Good thing a Pedro suddenly appeared!
"What?"
"Dr. Gonzaga gave us an invite for a company event on Friday! It's in an all-you-can-eat buffet in the Monster Mall of Asia!"
"Okay, good luck." I waved him away.
"Sir! You just have to come!" a Pilar suddenly popped in. "We need to bring the division head with us to take part of the event!"
"Okay, Habibi," I placed my hand on top of Aahmes' head. "With the power invested in me, I now dub thee, the new head of the Omega Research Division!"
"It does not work that way, professor," Aahmes replied.
"Do I need a sword to make it official?" I said with a grin.
"Sir!" now, a hand full of minions appear! "Please po, you need to come with us so we could join the party!"
"That's right, Sir Eric, our internship ends next week! This would be our last get together as the Omega Research Team!"
"We should join the event to get make memories before we leave the company!"
"And when did we ever have a first get together?" I asked them sarcastically.
"Oh, please, Sir Eric?!" they kept bugging me.
These last set of interns truly are more thick faced, compared to the rest.
I blame Aahmes.
It's his fault that my minions are starting to feel comfortable around me. I shouldn't have let him treat me as a pushover.
"Oy, stop bugging me, unless you don't want to last until your last day."
The morons simply laughed at me. One of them even approached Aahmes and held on to his arm.
"Dr. Abdel, can you please convince Sir Eric to come with us?"
"Okay I'll talk to him," replied the idiot with a fever.
"Whatever! Why don't you lot get back to your your stations? Have you finished all your tasks? Do you have the luxury to loiter around my room?!"
The idiots dispersed, giggling along the way.
"And you," I pointed at Aahmes, "how can you say 'I'll talk to him' when you're coming up with a fever?"
"Actually, today's my first day."
"What 'first day'? Is it your first time working on accounting? Are you so bad at it that you're coming up with a fever?" I asked with a laugh.
"No, this is the first day of my estrus."
I stared at him with my mouth open.
"The fuck?! You didn't need to tell me that? I mean, isn't that supposed to be a secret?"
"You are a beta, you are of no threat to me."
This bastard.
Are you looking down on me?
"Well then, what if I tell everyone that you're currently on your monthly estrus? Just imagine what Hitler would try to do to you if he finds out! He's got the hots for you, after all."
"You wouldn't," he simply replied.
"Hmph. You trust me too much."
I watched as Aahmes continued with the accounting he's working on.
"So... are you using a suppressant, or are you holding out with total will power alone?" I couldn't help but ask.
"Will power. I prefer to go au naturale."
"You have total control?" I asked in a whisper. "My DOME was like that as well. He's good at controlling his omega pheromones, but not as much with calming pheromones. You, on the other hand, seem to have total control of both."
"Hm? Is it safe to talk here?" Aahmes looked up at me. I shut my mouth immediately.
"A-anyway, how can you convince me to join the event tomorrow, when you're feeling under the weather?"
"Only on the first day," he said, "I will be better tomorrow. It would be good to take a break tomorrow."
"Shuu... take a break? It's the perfect arena for those alpha bastards to hold a pissing contest1. That's why I don't go to company outings. It would only piss me off. Particularly when Hitler enters the room."
"We don't need to be with them. We will not go there for them in the first place."
"As if thinking that would make the event more bearable."
"We can find a place to sit, away from the others, if you do not want to mingle with them."
"I think you forgot that I am one of the reasons for the eat-out?" I asked him sarcastically. "Gadxilla would probably force me to sit right beside him."
"Not if we come fashionably late," Aahmes pointed out. "Once everyone has settled down on a table, we can then arrive and choose to sit away from the rest of the company."
"Hmm..." I broke out in a grin. "That idea just might work! You really are the best, Habibi!"
"Don't call me Habibi."
1A pissing contest – a senseless competition between rivals to brag and assert dominance over others.