Page 5 of (Mostly) Human Resources

Alexys bit the inside of her cheek. There had been rumors about Kristin leaving before, but it’d been nothing more than office gossip. Alexys wouldn’t allow herself to get excited until the position was actually open. Prepared and qualified, sure, but not excited.

“I like Kristin,” Alexys said, her voice quiet. The room was filling up now and a few colleagues greeted her as they sat down. “She’s a great boss, and she’s good at what she does.”

“So are you.” Natalie gently tapped the toe of her shoe against Alexys’s leg under the table.

“Hello, everyone. Shall we get started?” Kristin clapped her hands as she opened the first slide on her presentation.

The meeting kicked off with the usual round robin of departmental updates, and by the time it was Alexys’s turn to speak about her District, she updated the group on Elliot, and how since joining, he’d been tackling the concerning increase in Jackalope cases. She barely got the last sentence out before she was interrupted.

“Sorry to jump in, but actually, we believe the increase in Jackalope populations to be an anomaly. We’re already looking into it.” The familiar, icy voice with the irritatingly charming English lilt shouldn’t have caught her off guard, but she instantly lost her train of thought.

Nic Dyre.

Entity’s pet encyclopedia and kiss-ass extraordinaire. Head of R&C and the absolute bane of her existence. He just couldn’t keep his mouth shut for more than ten minutes.

‘Actually.’

She despised the way he said it, as if he was doing her some sort of favor.

Alexys turned to fix her gaze on him. He sat, perfectly relaxed, in a sharp white button-up, round, wire-rimmed glasses and dark, tousled curls. The corner of his mouth quirked up.

Smug asshole!

“Thank you, Dyre. It’s good to know R&C is looking into it.”

Nic barely acknowledged her with a nod of his head. He dipped his eyes back to his laptop, where he started typing furiously.

Interrupting and interjecting was part of his nature. He resembled something more of a professor at an elite university, with his myriad sweater vests and houndstooth blazers. She imagined he would have lectured on classic literature, or something even more pompous like philosophy.

His gray eyes flicked up and caught hers, and she clenched her jaw. They were such a lovely shade of gray despite his intense stare.How irritating.

Pretty, rude, and pretty rude, if you asked her.

Working with him as the head of R&C came with its challenges, namely, his insufferable talent for lecturing. She tried,ohhow she tried, not to let him get under her skin. But every time they worked on a case together, it was only a matter of time before his know-it-all commentary sparked yet another argument.

Her knee bounced under the table as she resisted the urge to make a snarky comment.

“Speaking of,” Kristin segued, choosing to ignore the storm cloud forming over Alexys’s head, “everyone needs to ensure they’ve scheduled time with Nic and his team in-person so they can sign-off an agreed Plan of Action for your evaluations.”

“What?” Alexys’s question slipped out before she could stop it. She whipped her head between Kristin and Nic, frowning.

Nic, of course, didn’t bother looking up.

“You need to collaborate with Nic’s researchers,” Kristin explained. When Alexys didn’t reply, she continued, “You know, so you’re fully equipped with the case information before going into the field, to avoid repeating last year’sincident.Alexys, I thought you knew this.”

Alexys shrank into her seat, cheeks flushing. This was news to her. Previous years’ evaluations didn’t require sign-off, exactly. It wasmore a courtesy,hey, we’re planning this for our Wardens.She had heard about the incident. Everyone had. But why did everyone have to suffer as a result of one territorial Sea Serpent?

“I did … I do.” She cleared her throat. “Wouldn’t an email suffice?”

“No,” Nic said simply. He finally lifted his head to look at her, icy gray eyes amused. “Emails are so impersonal, don’t you think?” He was mocking her.

“I find them quite efficient,” Alexys insisted. “Phone calls are much more time-consuming.”

“I have to approve test cases to ensure everyone’s safety in addition to my team preparing research, all before signing anything off,” Nic drawled. “It’s how we’ll manage all evaluations from now on.” Alexys wanted to protest, but Kristin nodded in agreement.

“That’s right, each HR team lead is required to present a vetted case to their Wardens to ensure protocols are being followed. We’ve been given very clear instructions from upper management,” Kristin added somewhat apologetically.

“Yes, the safety of our staff is of the utmost importance. We have standards to uphold,” Nic remarked wryly. “No customer is safe unless our Wardens too are safe. Section four, page eight.”