“You have nothing to fear here. My people—our males—will leave you alone. Just tell them to stop, that you have no interest in them if any approach you. We appreciate honesty and bluntness. There is no confusion that way. There are also a lot of words and sayings your people use that we are still learning. Sometimes it causes language barriers or misunderstandings. Just speak your mind clearly and we will listen. You can talk to me immediately if any problems arise and I will handle it. We want you to be happy working for us.”

“Thank you.”

“Could you start working now?”

He surprised her again. “Sure.” She hadn’t planned on more than the job interview but she wasn’t going to say no. It was just after eight in the morning. She didn’t have anything better to do other than go home and watch game shows and she didn’t mind avoiding that. “That would be great.”

He nodded. “Creek, my receptionist, will call for one of our males to escort you to building C. You will be told your duties when you get there.” Slade paused. “Because of security you are not allowed to leave the building during work hours until your lunch. One of our males will meet you at the gate every day when you arrive and escort you from there and then back to the gate at the end of your day. At lunch a male will escort you to our cafeteria. I apologize but we can’t have you roaming around free. We have many enemies and it has to be this way for security purposes.”

“I understand. I could just pack a sandwich so I won’t need an escort at lunch.”

He smiled. “Lunches are free, Miss Gordon. We serve excellent food and you should take advantage of it.”

“Thank you.”

He stood and held out his hand. Zandy stood to put her much smaller one in his so they could shake on it. He had a firm hold, released her quickly and nodded.

“Enjoy your work.”

“Thank you.” She gripped her purse and left his office.

Creek smiled and waved her to have a seat. “An officer was called to take you to building C. You will like working here.”

Zandy liked the New Species woman and smiled. “Thank you. I’m sure I will. Everyone I’ve met so far has been wonderful.”

A snort sounded from Creek. “Except for the fact that you have to be searched every time you enter our gates.”

“They had a woman pat me down but it wasn’t so bad. They were really nice about it.”

“We try. We feel bad for having to touch everyone but it’s necessary. Just weeks ago a man came in for a job interview and they found a gun stashed inside his underwear. He was from a hate group and wanted to shoot Slade dead.”

Zandy was shocked. “That’s terrible.”

“Some humans hate us.” Creek shrugged. “They blame us for what we are though we were never given a choice. Now we just want to live in peace and it offends some of your kind. We fear hiring humans—no offense to you—but many of us don’t have the skills to do all the jobs required. I learned how to use computers and type to become a receptionist. A human did this job before me but she sold some documents to the reporters for money. Eventually we’ll be able to do most of the jobs as more of us learn skills though the humans we trust will keep their jobs.”

“That’s just shitty that she did that.”

Creek nodded. “Yes. Slade trusted her. She was a grandma type. Is that the right way to say it? I saw Christmas movies and she looked like Mrs. Santa Claus. It was sad when she betrayed our trust and it really hurt Slade’s feelings. He liked her and it left him very depressed.”

“I don’t blame him. There’s nothing worse than someone you trust screwing you over. Especially for money.”

A look of interest sparked in the woman’s eyes. “You have been betrayed for money?”

“I’ve been betrayed but I never had any money to steal and there were no tabloids to sell stuff to that would hurt me. I just imagine it would be worse if that’s why someone did it.”

Creek nodded. “Do you have children? I like them.”

Zandy shook her head. “No. I’ve been married twice but neither one of them turned out to be daddy material. Or loyal.” She shrugged. “Now I’ve given up on the whole having-kids plan. I’m past thirty and enjoy not having a man in my life.”

“You have had two mates?” Creek’s eyes widened. “Did they die?”

“I divorced them. The first one was a cheating jerk who nailed anything that said yes. The second one, well, he was a bum.”

“He lived on the streets?”

Zandy laughed. “He probably is now that I’m not around to support him. He liked to sit on his ass all day doing nothing and couldn’t find a job to save his life. He was lazy and I got fed up with it. I divorced him and he moved in with a woman two apartment buildings over. While I was working and supporting him, he was sleeping with her. I’m a horrible judge of character when it comes to men, I know that now, and have called it quits on finding another one.”

“I don’t blame you.” Creek reached over and squeezed her hand in support. “Our men are not bums. I heard some of your males are not very strong but our males keep in good shape. You won’t find any weak ones here. Our males would die before they expected a female to tend to them as if they were helpless. They don’t have that bad trait.”

“Are you married? Do you have children?”