by Catty Diva
This was so much better than the two bedroom apartment on Earth where the girls had to share a room. The flowers in front were welcoming, their perfume filled the air as she walked by. Once she got in the house, she went straight to her bedroom, it was the master with its own attached bathroom. Mimi checked out her wardrobe not surprised to find it sadly lacking. She had what she’d come here with, about five informal outfits. Jeans, slacks, T-shirts, and sweaters, nothing else, because she hadn’t bothered to plan for, or buy for anything, but staying home.
Sitting at the desk, she turned on the computer. Better late than never, maybe she could order something and it would arrive for her second week of employment. It would be a plan, but how did you buy for a job if you weren’t sure what it was? Mimi laughed almost hysterically. You couldn’t. She might be working in the fields or in a mine. Offices were often wherever the work was, especially on a developing planet.
Since the computer was on, she searched jobs on Oison and was amazed at how many workers they were attempting to recruit. It seemed there were openings in every field imaginable, with a few in management. It had always been her dream to be a decision maker. Here on Oison, being a woman wouldn’t hold her back. Once she’d proven herself wherever they put her, she could move on. It could be viewed as a punishment or an opportunity. It was all in her hands, sink or swim. There was also still the issue of what to do about Zebir and there wasn’t long to make a decision. He’d barely missed being in the last mating games. For such an advanced race, the games seemed rather primitive.
Noise at the front of the house interrupted her thoughts. Her girls were home and she rushed out to greet them. She hugged Derria tightly letting love flow to her oldest daughter.
“Mom! Don’t squeeze me in half.” Derria groaned. She was the epitome of a teen even thought she was only thirteen. She was a girly girl, smart and beautiful, but very focused on herself most of the time. Maybe the way Oison regulated teens would be good for her.
Nelva stood by patiently waiting for her hug. Only two years younger, she wasn’t the typical tween. This little girl was caring and considerate. She was always volunteering and trying to find a way to help others. Mimi always said Nelva’s heart was bigger than she was.
“Are you okay, Mama?” Nelva asked looking concerned. “I saw you leaving and you looked worried.”
“You know me, Jitter bug, I always worry.” Jitter bug was an ancient Earth dance that Nelva had discovered and when she was younger, she would dance it all the time. So much so, that she and Derria began calling her that, still did even now.
“Worry wart. You should relax and let things happen.” Good advice from a child. Especially considering free will, for the most part, had been one upped by sisterly interference.
“You two get ready for bed. You have school in the morning.” Mimi felt good about the school the girls went to. They both seemed to enjoy it and their lessons were planned for each child based on what they had to learn and what they wanted to learn. Both girls were smart, but they didn’t have the same strengths or enjoy the same subjects.
Once they were ready for bed, they both came to find her to tell her goodnight. She got a hug and a kiss, before they each went to their own bedrooms. Having them in separate rooms cut out most of the nightly arguments. Everything was peaceful as she got ready and settled into bed. When she woke in the morning, her life would be completely different.
The smell of coffee woke her before the alarm. It was real coffee not that horrible crue they drank on Oison. Most of the females, even the ones who were Mazlans, refused to drink crue once the Earth coffee was available. Lista had demanded coffee be grown here, so it would always be available. In light of the poor relationship growing between Oison and Earth, it was a smart precaution. She could also smell bacon and it made her appreciate the cooking classes Derria was being given at school. Once she passed those classes, she would be able to work at the local diner. Nelva wasn’t left out either, she was learning to work at the local recycling plant. All children in that age group put in a couple of years there. It was a learning experience.
Mimi showered, dressed, and tried not to worry about what the day would bring. She headed to the kitchen where a cup of coffee and a plate filled with all her favorites sat. Hmm, this looked suspicious. Something was going on with her oldest daughter. Eating her food. She was determined to enjoy herself before the other shoe dropped.
“Do you like it, Mom?” Derria asked.
“Thank you, Honey. It’s great.” She wasn’t going to make it easy on her.
“I wanted to talk to you about something if you have the time?” Derria asked.
“Since you fixed breakfast, I can find some time.”
“I have an opportunity to work at the restaurant next week if you will give me permission.”
“How will that effect your school work?”
“I will get ahead this week and make up anything else the week after.” Derria assured her.
“Okay. You can do that.” Derria screeched like a cat and hugged her tightly. Mimi just squeezed back as tightly.
“Thank you, Mama. I love you.” Derria whispered.
“I love you too, Sweetheart.” Mimi whispered back.
There was a knock on the door so she went to answer it. Razar stood there. “Are you ready?”
“Girls, time to go.” The girls came up behind her. “Lead the way.” Mimi replied.
“Follow me.” Razar said as he led them to his hover car. The girls hopped in back putting their harnesses on like they had rode in a hover car all their lives. They had adapted so easily and Mimi was determined to learn from their example. She could do this, she could find her place here on this new world.
Razar stopped at the school to drop the girls off. It was located next to the childcare facility for the convenience of the parents that had children in both places. Once the girls made it inside, they took off. It wasn’t far before they stopped at a large building several levels high. They got out of the car and she followed Razar. They took the elevator to the fourth floor.
“This is the floor your office is on. I will leave you now. Your boss works from the office next door and he should be here soon.”
“Thank you of bringing me, but how will I get home?”
“That’s all been arranged.” Razar left without further discussion. Mimi knew he was a busy guy with all that he had to oversee.
She sat down and looked through her desk to try to find a hint at what her job would be. There were some copies of agreements and one that said it was a treaty. Mimi wished she had paid more attention to who was in charge of what. It would have made it less of a shock to her system when Zebir walked into the room.
“Good morning, Mimi. Are you my new assistant? Never mind, you must be. Why don’t you come into my office and let’s discuss what we will be doing today.” He led the way and she had no choice but to follow. Motioning to the seat across from him, he moved to his seat and sat. Mimi assumed he wanted her to sit there, so she did.
“Today we are having a teleconference with Crohm. They wish to extend their area to include a mountain near them. The mountain was excluded due to mineral deposits that have not been tested, but they say they’ve had them tested. We are not willing to accept their results, because they seem excessively anxious to add the mountain to their territory. While greed is a foreign concept to most of our people, I’m afraid it is finding a foothold in some areas. I need you to watch carefully and give me your opinion of what’s going on.”
Zebir leaned back in his chair just seconds before the screen lit up. Two males were on the screen, one older, the other looked like his assistant. Mimi wasn’t sure if they could see her since they didn’t acknowledge her. “Zebir, it’s nice to see you again. I hope you have given us due consideration.”
“Hastaf and Frugil, It’s always a pleasure. We’ve rejected your petition until we can explore the area and take samples of our own. This area falls under planetary gove
rnment rules and you have not had a rise in population or any other applicable reason to request extending your area. What is you need of the additional land?” Zebir asked.
“My mate wishes to build a house there. She lived in a mountainous place in Earth and wants to live in a similar environment.” Hasaf answered. Sweat beaded on his forehead and he looked uncomfortable. Frugil, his assistant said nothing, but his eyes wandered around.
“Once we have investigated everything and had time to consider what we.ve found, I will contact you.” Zebir said with an air of finality. It was the Oison version of don’t call us, we’ll call you. Hasaf was devastated. It was more disappointment than she would have expected. The screen shut off.
“What is your opinion?”
“Something is going on. He was too anxious, his nervousness was obvious. His level of disappointed was extreme under the circumstances. What is in that mountain?” Mimi asked.
“We suspect it is a rich deposit of our Oison mineral. It would be enough to provide Earth’s industries for a hundred years.”
“Someone has leverage on him. Maybe they are threatening him?” Mimi asked. She was surprised to be thrown into such an exciting situation right off the bat.
Chapter 3
Oisonite
“That would make sense. What would you do?”
“I’d investigate the new mate. He’s mated recently and now he’s behaving differently.”
Zebir picked up the phone. It was on speaker and she could hear it ring. “Moon Hunters. How may I direct your call?”
“I need to speak to Cash.”
“Cash is unavailable at the moment.”
“This is Zebir on Oison.”
“Let me check his availability.” There was a mumbling noise in the background.
“Zebir, always great to hear from you. What can we do for you today?”
“I have a delicate political situation and I need some information. Hasaf from the Crohm region is acting strangely and we are concerned that his new mate may be applying pressure to him, but it could be from another source. I need you to find out without him knowing he was investigated.”
“Sounds pretty routine. I’ll put Coy on it.”
“Okay, let me know as soon as you get something.”
“Will do.”
The line went dead and Mimi and Zebir looked at each other. “Now we wait. Let’s move on to other business.” Zebir began pulling out file after file.
By the time lunch rolled around, Mimi not only understood what Zebir did, she saw his need for an assistant, hell, that male needed a whole damn team. The work he did not only covered the planet, but included many planets they had contact with. Most of those planets, they had no treaties with and that was cause for concern. She was satisfied that they had not stuck her with him as a matchmaking scheme. Zebir truly needed the kind of help she was qualified to give.
From what she could see of the work he had done, he prioritized what was needed and took care of only what demanded immediate attention, like the situation with Hasaf. Zebir simply ignored what he didn’t have the time to do. Mimi wasn’t built that way, it would drive her crazy. The first thing that needed to be done, was people needed to be hired. She had contacts on Earth that would be great to lure away from their current jobs. They were all females, and all single so she was sure she could sell the idea to Zebir.
Once she assembled the team, she would divide up the tasks and get everyone going. She looked across the desk at Zebir. He was gorgeous, everything she could desire in a male and she thought he wanted her. Could she risk her heart after all she’d been through in her life? It wasn’t just her, she had to decide what was best for her girls too. Not that she thought Zebir could ever be abusive physically like her last boyfriend, who was Nelva’s father, had been.
The first time he had hit Derria, had been the last time she had seen him. Georgie had helped, she could never have escaped him on her own. It was amazing the relief she’d felt to finally be out from under all the emotional stress he’d caused her. That had been years ago and Derria didn’t seem to remember and she was grateful for that too.
“Mimi?” Zebir asked softly.
“Yes?” She focused on him.
“It’s lunchtime. Why don’t you let me take you to the diner?”
Mimi quickly weighed the pros and cons, she did want to get to know him better so she could decide if there was a relationship possible between them. “Sure. I’ve not been there yet.”
Quickly, they closed up the office and grabbed their stuff. Mimi felt excited to be finally seeing the community. So far, she felt positive about the decision to pursue a career. It was something she would reevaluate later in the week to be sure. Zebir led her to his hover car and helped her in. She wasn’t used to males who were gentlemen, but she could get used to being treated this well. The diner was nearby and once inside, it made her think of a fifties style eating place. A young female approached with an order pad.
“Can I get you a drink?” She asked. The girl had a friendly upbeat attitude.
“I’ll take sweet tea.” Mimi said.
“The same.” Zebir agreed.
The waitress rushed away to bring them their drinks. “What’s good here?” Mimi asked.
“Everything, but the cheeseburger and fries are the best. You can have the fries loaded now and they are amazing.” Zebir advised.
The waitress came back and set their drinks in front of them. “Have you decided yet?”
“Yes, I’ll take the cheeseburger with fries, loaded.”
“Same here.” Zebir said.
“I’ll get these started. Any appetizers?”
“No, we’re fine.” Zebir answered after he looked at her to see if she wanted anything.
Mimi was amazed. He was more alpha than any man she had dated, but he never assumed he knew what she wanted. It was a new experience for her. The food came and they ate in comfortable silence.
“That was good.” Mimi said her surprise evident. “It was a lot like the burgers back home.”
“I’m glad you liked it. Now we have to go back to the office and get back to work. Before we go would you like a milkshake? They have one hundred and one flavors.”
“Why so many?”
“They have flavors popular on places besides Earth. My favorite is the crue shake.”
Mimi shuddered. “Tell me I misheard? That is a rough drink.”
“Maybe for you, but we were raised on it. A youngster is not fully grown until they can handle their crue.”
“I’m good with being considered a youngster then. That stuff makes my mouth shrivel up.”
Zebir laughed, a loud belly life. The guy was so gorgeous, but when he laughed, he was doubly so. Mimi could just stare at him and think naughty thoughts. What would he think of her if he knew? He motioned for the waitress and she hurried over. They were the only customers for now, but she had busied herself filling up the napkin dispensers and cleaning.
“I’d like a crue milkshake and Mimi?” He looked at her as if he were dying to know what she’d want.
“I’ll take chocolate.”
“I’ll bring those right away.” The waitress assured then ran off to do just that.
“While we wait, I wondered if you had any plans to implement for my office.” Zebir asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I was told a personal assistant would streamline and organize my office. She or he would help hire and train additional personnel if needed. I’m not blind to the fact that I’m seriously understaffed.”
“To be honest, I did some thoughts about where we could find additional staff. I had some colleagues, all female, that were underpaid and some even underutilized. No guarantees, mind you, but if they agreed to come here, I think you would be very pleased.”
“I can’t wait.” Zebir said as the waitress set the shakes in front of them.
Mimi’s mind began to list coworkers from her last job on earth in a prioritize
d list according to ability and personality. As soon as she got to the office she would begin sending out job applications to those she selected. She felt like a super-secret agent or something like that since everything would have to be hush hush. If Earth found out she was attempting to poach there top workers, they would put a stop to her efforts.
“Mimi?” Zebir said softly.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Yes?”
“Are you ready to head back to the office?”
“Lead the way.” She said with a smile. They might not have progressed romantically, and maybe his interest in her wasn’t like that, but she felt more comfortable around him and she was ready to tackle a challenging job.
They loaded into the hover car with Zebir helping her in even though she didn’t require it. He took off as soon as he got in, they had a lot of work to do so time was tight. The first thing Mimi needed to do, was hire an assistant of her own. There was too much to get done without more help. Oison was growing and changing rapidly, they needed to keep up or get left behind.
Once they got to the office, Zebir closed himself in his while Mimi explored hers. She needed to know what her resources were, what she could offer new employees, and what authority she had to do anything at all. She was glad to discover that Zebir had a secretary. Nowel, a Mazlan male, was friendly and helpful.
“Thank the gods Zebir finally got some help or maybe thanking Razar is more like it. You are beautiful, I suppose Zebir already has his claim staked. Now what can I help you with?” The male was sweet and helpful with no sign of the dominant demon anywhere.