Searching For His Omega - Harper B. Cole

One

Stan

I quit!

I’d said those two words over and over in my head until I heard them in my dreams. But after all Abrar had done for me, there was no way I could leave it at that. Or start or end with that. I thought back to the years I’d worked for the man. First as a barista and then manager of the original Café Om that was wedged between two tall office buildings. We’d made so many mistakes but we learned on the job, and Café Om was now a respected name in the coffee world.

Thinking back to the alphas and omegas who’d met, bonded, mated, and married at the coffee shop brought a smile to my lips. That little café was a matchmaker, and part of me missed the whoosh of the old-fashioned coffee machine Abrar insisted on having in each shop, along with shiny new ones.

We’d worked so hard and had little time off, but what free time I did have‚ I spent volunteering at Omega House. The month or so I’d sat at home with a broken foot got me thinking about trying to advance in the company, and that meant leaving the day-to-day hands-on life of a shop manager. It was a big step, but I was always up for a challenge.

Abrar, who was able to see potential in his employees, often before they recognized it themselves, offered me a job in head office while I was working out how to make the leap from shop front to corporate life. It was a position that was both terrifying and thrilling.

Going from a manager who doubled as a barista during rush hour, pacified irate customers whose drink was too hot, trained new staff, wrestled with spreadsheets when doing staff schedules, plus emptied the garbage and manned the ovens when we were overwhelmed, to sitting at a desk staring at a computer while wearing a tie that made me itch was a radical sea change.

But when I’d settled in and stopped arriving at the office at the crack of dawn trying to show my immediate boss I was capable and proactive, the job opened up a whole new world. And once I’d proved myself, Abrar himself presented me with another opportunity which got me out of the office.

Managing and expanding the old plantation nestled in the mountains while the former manager, Elliot, created a new plantation across the valley. Fresh air, hands in the soil, sort of, walking the rows of coffee bushes while building facilities for guests and college kids working summer jobs. That was my future.

At least that had been the plan until Elliot’s past caught up with him. It would have been great if he’d let us know bad guys were after him. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, Stan. Poor Elliot, he couldn’t say anything as he was in witness protection. And combined with the man’s now-husband G’s sleazy baby daddy and cop, Damien, who just so happened to have worked for those bad guys. It was a perfect storm with me in the middle. Literally, and I had the bump on my head to prove it.

That last day at the plantation was still a blur. I remembered the big bad boss, his muscle men, Elliot, his goat Nanny, G and his young daughter, Rosalie.

Damien, who was a proper scumbag, had hit me on the head with his gun. Maybe it was a blessing ‘cause things apparently got crazy after that. I’d only heard it third-hand as Elliot, G, Rosalie, and Nanny had been whisked off to a new life afterward, and the bad guys, including Damien, were in jail. It sounded like the police drama I streamed on my tablet each week.

Another spell in the hospital followed by a long stint at home gave me plenty of time to think about the future. My broken foot had been nothing compared to a freaking whack on the head. Some memories were vivid and appeared unannounced, while I clawed to remember others. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to fit the pieces together.

For weeks, I didn’t recognize myself, and though my therapist assured me that was to be expected, I was freaked. The physical injury healed far quicker than my emotional scars.

It was while I was watching one TV program after another from my bed or the sofa and sleeping a huge chunk of the day that I made a decision.

Much as I enjoyed the corporate life, it wasn’t for me. Or perhaps it