"Woah! This is a wonderful breakthrough!"
That was Prof. Antonio's reaction when I first told him my theory.
"I also thought of a theory like this before, concerning the caudate and insula of the hippocampus, but I was never able to pursue it. It's good that you decided to look into it. If this is successful, you'd be able to help, not only fated pairs in unwanted relationships, but also marked omega rape victims, those in forced and abusive relationships, and those who were left behind by their useless alpha mates!" he said excitedly. "This breakthrough can save hundreds, even thousands of lives and can give omegas a brand new start!"
"Thank you professor," I answered, glowing with delight.
"So, tell me about this formula. How do you plan to administer it?" he asked with a big grin on his face.
"For now, it is still merely a theory," I told him. "I can probably do it by sending my pheromones straight to the insula of the test subject. After all, there is no stronger stimuli, than the pheromones of a prime omega."
"Ha?" he looked disappointed. "So, in other words, you haven't thought of a formula yet, since you can't really flaunt your pheromones out in the open!"
"For now," I repeated.
So for now, my quest is to find a way to duplicate my pheromones and a successful way to administer it into a test subject.
Ahh... if I could only use my pheromones freely, this would have been so much easier, but then again, I would still need to find willing fated pair volunteers to test my theory upon.
"Doc, it's lunch break, do you plan to head to the karinderia with me?" asked Pilar from my workstation doorway.
I look at the clock and noticed that it was way past noon. Time really flies when you are busy.
"Yes, thank you for reminding me."
I closed my laptop and went to the professor's room where I found him staring at his niece's picture. I touch his shoulder lightly and lean over to whisper to him.
"What would you want for lunch?"
"...meat..." he answered absentmindedly. I squeeze his shoulder before Leaving.
He is lost in thought again. He is probably concocting a new project on his own, keeping it from everyone else, including me.
It does not bother me as much as it did before, but sometimes I wish that he would tell me more about the world inside his head.
"Doc, you ready to go?" Pilar called from the entry way.
"Yes, the professor wants to eat meat today," I told her, "he seems to be busy with something."
"Are you going out?" Pedro called to us. "Can you buy me some soda? I left my tumbler back home."
"Sure thing, but please leave some of your lunch for me!" Pilar said as the door to the elevator opened. "JP brought his wife's famous meatloaf," she told me as the doors closed.
"Is that so? I've been wanting to order more of her cooking for a while now," I replied, "but the professor prefers to eat my cooking."
"Of course, he prefers your home cook!" Pilar said with a playful grin! "Even my hubby would rather I cook for him whenever we get home early."
"How is the newly wed life, by the way?" I asked her.
"Oh, Doc, as you can see, I still can't get any overtime, since my hubby wants to have children soon, and wants to spend more time with me at home. And to think that it's only been three months since we got married!" she giggled.
"Are you meeting him from the alpha division?"
"Yes, Doc, we'll be eating in the karinderia, so I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you back."
We went to Aling Tinay's Karinderia. There, we met Pilar's husband, Dr. Hilario, together with his assistant, Dr. Perez.
"Dr. Abdel, as usual, it's always a pleasure seeing you," greeted Dr. Hilario who stood up to holding my hand.
He always treats me as if his wife is not in front of us.
"Good afternoon, Dr. Hilario, Dr. Perez."
These two alphas are currently heading the Alpha Division as head Scientist and head assistant respectively, after Dr. Heathlow was relieved of his duty four years ago.
Our people in the Omega Strain Division jokingly call them the two-headed hell hound of the Alpha Division, since they always act like dogs in heat whenever they see me. In fact, most people still can't believe that Pilar married one of them, or that Dr. Hilario settled down with a woman.
"Dr. Abdel, why don't you join us for lunch?" Dr. Perez said with a seductive smile as he pulled out a chair for me.
"Thank you, but I prefer to eat with the professor."
At least, they are more agreeable compared to the former Alpha Division head. In fact, Dr. Perez is quite the gentleman towards me, though he has been vying for my attention ever since the two of them first came to the company. He seems to believe that I am simply playing hard to get.
At least that is what Pilar's husband told her.
"By the way, Dr. Abdel," Dr. Perez called my attention, "I loved your presentation during last week's meeting, perhaps we could talk about your SGT kits more over coffee?"
"No thank you," I replied. "Also, the SGT kits were created by Prof. Antonio, I am merely his assistant and representative."
"I know this great place in Makati where we can talk privately about it," he smiled at me. "I would love to compare notes with you about your theory on the fated pair syndrome as well."
I guess one of a dominant alpha's traits, is the ability to hear only what they want to hear.
"I am afraid I do not have any free time," I told the doctor.
"Then tell me your schedule," he approached me, smiling expectantly, "we can go any time you're free."
"No thank you."
I chose to ignore him completely. I ordered some beef stew for the professor and chicken curry for myself. I gave Pedro his drink when I returned to the office and went to the professor's room.
"Professor, eat something first," I gently shook his shoulder, "your lunch will get cold."
He was roused from his reverie and stared at me.
"Ah, Habibi, you really are a life saver! I'm famished!" He looked at the stew, then at my chicken curry.
"Uy, that looks good," he grinned at me.
"Would you like to trade?" I asked him.
"I just want a little taste." He took a piece of chicken. "Can you make me some coffee as well?"
"No. You are drinking too much coffee, the doctor told you to drink more water to save your kidneys and to keep you from getting dehydrated."
"Haaay... my hubby is nagging me again," he said with an exaggerated sigh, "can you blame me for getting addicted to your scrumptious coffee?"
I felt my face heat up.
"Just drink your water," I repeated. "So, were you working on a new project?"
"Not really," he replied with a yawn, "I'm just feeling a bit sleepy."
"That is because you hardly slept in the past three days. We should leave early to buy groceries and go straight home. Have you made a list?"
"Hmm, let's just stroll through the aisles and get what we need off the shelves." He took another piece of chicken from my plate.
"Here, you can have the whole dish," I pushed it over to his side and ate the stew instead. "Next time, I suggest you go down to the eatery with me, so you could choose the food you prefer."
"You keep telling me that, knowing perfectly well, that I am too lazy to walk all the way to the karinderia," he said with a laugh. "Good thing my Habibi is great at choosing food."
"If you want to keep calling me Habibi, at least learn to listen to me," I mumbled.
"Aren't I drinking my water now?" he raised his kalabaw cup and drank some more water.
"I would prefer it if you could accompany me every once in a while. Dr. Perez made a pass on me again. You should call me Habibi in front of him to ward him off."
"What am I, an alpha repellent?!" he said with a laugh. "Why don't you use the 'A-Off' perfume on him? Or better yet, use your original repellent which is twice as potent!"
"He's not a dominant alpha, he will not be affected."
"Hmm, that's right... I should have made a version that's good for all them alpha perverts..."
"That's something you can release this year," I added.
"Hmm... good idea, that would be enough to satisfy the mother fuckin' idiots upstairs..." he mumbled, proving my theory that the professor releases a new item per year. "In the mean time, just ignore Pretzel, he's harmless, after all."
Pretzel. That's what he calls Dr. Perez, since he has curly hair.
"How about Higad1, is he still hitting on you?" he asked about Dr. Hilario who sports a thick mustache.
"I'm afraid so. Even when Pilar is with us."
"Well, he knows that Pilar won't take it seriously. After all, he knows that you would never give him the time of day," the professor laughs. "Those two flirts are all bark, anyway. They won't actually do anything bad. I heard that they're doing well in the alpha department, in fact, they are actually hiring omega employees again. Alpha perverts who can't comply to the new policies are immediately slapped with a sexual harassment memo and face the risk of getting fired."
"What about me? Why do I need to endure their harassment?" I asked the professor.
"That's because you're so cute!" He pinched my cheek.
"Now, that is sexual harassment." He simply laughed at my comment.
"Okay, okay, I will tell him off the next time we meet."
1Higad – itchy worm or furry caterpillar