Chapter 278: Uh oh, stinky
When Andrew stepped off of the elevator onto his floor, he could immediately tell something was a bit off.
It wasn’t something obvious, but there was...a change in the air. Something was...askew. What it was? He couldn’t tell, not until he arrived at the office. The girls, who were betas, were working away, unaware of the thick, cloying, almost disgusting scent that filled the air. Andrew couldn’t exactly get mad at them for not noticing it, but he was a little confused as to why people who worked around secondary sexes far more than he did hadn’t noticed that something was wrong.
He was even more confused when he entered into the office and saw that it was only Dr. Cox, Dr. Piper, and Richard in the room. All were working quietly at their desks until Andrew entered, none of them noticing the smell.
Dr. Cox and Dr. Piper greeted Andrew warmly, asking about how he was doing, and then slyly asking how Mr. Beckett was doing. Andrew knew his face was warm as he said that Maxwell was doing well, he seemed to be recovering from his rut better than Andrew thought he would. That had earned him a few chuckles from the two women, but Andrew couldn’t help but notice that Richard wasn’t participating at all.
In fact, Richard looked quite unwell. He had been feverish before, about two weeks ago, but he looked downright ill. He was sitting at his desk, his hair all over the place, his clothing haphazardly put on, and he was staring at the computer screen, but clearly not comprehending what he was looking at.
It took all humour out of his body as he realised that something was seriously wrong.
Especially as Andrew came to the horrifying realisation that the scent? The cloying, almost unpleasant scent? That was coming from Richard.
Andrew glanced at the girls, who were still in Andrew and Maxwell land, and hadn’t noticed how serious Richard’s condition was. Andrew, who was fresh off of his rut was nearly repulsed by his scent, but this was a serious situation. He knew that Richard lived alone, but the fact that no one else had noticed prior to Andrew being here? That was insane.
It wasn’t as if Richard didn’t meet with the other heads of departments, especially on the lower levels. There were things that Richard probably knew that even Andrew didn’t, and he didn’t care to know. Maxwell didn’t need to tell him about everything that was going on in the company, and he wasn’t going to force the issue.
Andrew was only thinking about these things because he was having a hard time understanding how no one else had noticed this change in him. How had no one else been able to tell that something was happening to Richard?
There was the fact that Richard might have noticed something, thinking he was ill, and had avoided those who would normally be able to tell. It was a very big possibility, since it was something Andrew would have done as well. Especially if he thought it was a cold or something similar.