Page 4 of SaaS & Class

“Ok, everybody,” I said loud enough for them all to hear. “Remember that this is the last week to work on your projects. Presentations start next Monday. And they’ll be randomized, so be ready. You won’t get a do-over if I pull your name early and you’re not done.”

“Yes, Mister Andrews,” replied the ones who weren’t completely checked out.

The bell rang, and they all grabbed bags before shuffling out.

I waited around for several minutes to make sure nobody from another class came in with any questions. Once I decided that the coast was clear, I grabbed my bag, made sure I had everything I needed, then headed to the teachers’ lounge.

I checked the bulletin board inside the door to make sure there were no changes to the after-school duty schedule, spent a few minutes commiserating with my fellow teachers about the kids with senioritis, then headed out to the parking lot.

Warm humidity hit me as soon as I was outside, but one glance at the line of student cars gridlocked as they waited for the light told me that there was no point in rushing to my car—unless I wanted to waste gas.

I paused to chat with a former student there to pick up a younger sibling, then found myself drawn into a discussion with the band teacher and an English teacher as they took bets on who’d come back after summer break with new mates and babies on the way.

Of course, I snorted when the English teacher suggested that I’d have a mate at the beginning of the next school year. It was a bet he’d lost before, but I’d take my prize come August if he wanted to try again.

Not that I wouldn’t mind having an omega to go home to—a man to tuck into my arms in the evenings. But I’d never met one that felt right.

I wasn’t about to rush into mating and starting a family with a man whom I wasn’t positive was the one.

The traffic finally eased, and I decided it was a good time to head over to the community college to sort out the standard administrative bullshit for the basic computer skills course I taught there on the side.

Physical attendance sheets from my spring class were due, and it was time to update my security and vaccination information. Plus I had everything I needed to give the chair of the continuing education department for my classes for the next school year.

I was halfway there when I found myself stuck in traffic in the historic district. Cars moved at a crawl, and tourists seemed to think that they were invincible as they made the problem worse by jaywalking as they criss-crossed between stores.

My gaze flicked to the dashboard clock. While I still had time, people would grumble if I pushed it too close to five.

Movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I looked up to see somebody applying vinyl lettering to a glass door.

TechSpeed Consulting…

Something about the name made me think. Maybe I was wrong, but the word ‘Tech’ was promising.

My kids, especially in the basic classes, loved to ask when they would use the skills once they graduated. To them, everything was in the cloud, and they were used to apps rather than desktop applications.

I mentally filed the name away. It was one thing for me to tell my students that they were learning important things. But maybe this TechSpeed place was the type of business that could tell them that the skills were still relevant.

The light changed, and horns sounded to spur pedestrians from the middle of the road.

I pulled forward and managed to just make it through the intersection on a yellow.

My thoughts returned to what I needed to do at the community college as I mapped my path between offices.

It felt like a lot sometimes, but keeping both teaching jobs was what let me live in Harris Cove. So I’d do the paperwork and make sure I was set to keep teaching my college courses.

But as the traffic eased again, I recalled the teasing from the English teacher.

It would be nice to have an omega.

Chapter 3 - Adam

I stared at the glass door—and through to the office behind it.

My office.

I’d never had an office before, though very few TechSpeed employees did. The executive team believed in collaborative and open workspaces for the most part. So to have an office at all meant I’d made a big leap.

Even more significant, it was one of the four large offices. The only one bigger was reserved for my friend and new manager, Dylan.