Fidelis was deep in thought over his World History assignment when the sound of his Endless Love ringtone interrupted to his concentration. He snatched up his cell and hit talk.
"Sera, hey, what's up?"
There was silence and then her emotions hit him hard through the mark. Anger, sadness, pain, resignation, and fear.
"Sera, are you hurt? Do I need to come get you?" he kept his tone as calm as possible. It was a feat to do so. His protective instincts were roaring for him to find his mate and save her. He was surprised he was only now feeling her emotions.
Lately, he'd felt her emotions before she'd call. He didn't understand why this evening was different. Not that it mattered. He had to help her in whatever way she'd allow.
"Romeo, I'm sorry," she whispered.
He clenched the phone so tightly it groaned in protest. She sounded so defeated. It pissed him off. Why did her shitty father and sister torment her so much?
"Sorry? I don't understand."
"Can you ask your father about changing the department assignments? Is it possible for Al, Amy, and I to be in the same department?"
And there it is. He knew that Amy's anger would come back to harm Sera. Damn that bitch! Jealousy was such an ugly look on her.
"I can, but I don't know if he will. This is the second year of the program. My father established its structure last year and has only done minor tweaks to it. Also, he doesn't like his policies challenged without good reason."
He heard her sigh.
"I knew it," she mumbled. "I told them it might not work. Father won't listen to me and Amy won't either."
"Sera, if the departments aren't changed what will happen to you?" Fidelis prayed that his worry about her father's reaction would be wrong.
"Father said he would pull me from the program."
"Just you?"
"Yes, just me," she admitted.
His mark pulsed with her sadness at the thought. Damnit! His thoughts boiled over with all kinds of plans for getting rid of her disgusting family.
"I won't allow him to punish you like that. I'll talk to my dad. I want you to not worry and rest. Everything should be fixed by tomorrow."
"Thank you, Romeo. I'm sorry to drag you into my family drama."
"Sera, don't ever apologize about needing help. You mean the world to me. I'll do everything in my power to help make your life a good one."
He heard her suck in a breath and then happiness, relief, and some other emotion he didn't catch, warmed the mark. He grinned. Autem, help him, he loved this girl!
"I'm going to go rest. I'll see you tomorrow," Sera said and hung up.
Fidelis stood. It was time to go talk to his father. They would protect Sera and give her the space to breathe that she wasn't getting at home. Phone in hand, he went to his father's study. He would make sure a plan was in place for tomorrow.
~***~
The next day Fidelis had to do his best to contain his anger when he got a look at Sera's face. Though she had put on concealer, he could see the bruise on her cheek. Her bastard father must have hit her again. He also had to hold himself back from beating Amy. The other girl spent most of the day verbally taunting and tormenting Sera any time the two were in proximity to each other.
Sera would just drop her head and not retaliate. That broke Fidelis's heart. Whenever possible he would hold her hand, hug her, or even whisper words of comfort and strength in her ear. Sera only seemed better when they were in class and not near her sibling. Fidelis made sure Blainel and Sodalitas stayed close to help ward off Amy and any of her cronies.
School ended and everyone met at his father's firm. Sera and Al arrived early like last time. Amy came at 3:30 pm on the dot. Her arrogant smirk grated his nerves. She was so certain of her victory that it made him sick. He hated that they even had to cater to her and Mr. Holland's whims. He swallowed his rage. He was doing this to protect Sera. Slowly he calmed down as he sat next to Sera as they waited for his father to come.
The door to the conference room opened and his father, Dorothy, his father's assistant, and Jackson, the head of the screening department, entered.
"Good afternoon, interns. After receiving feedback from my department managers, we've decided to do some minor shuffling to give everyone a chance to experience as much as possible here at my firm." His father paused, making eye contact with everyone in the room. "I'd like to introduce Jackson, my screening department head. "
Jackson, an older, African-American man smiled and waved. Fidelis liked Jackson's calm demeanor. The man was not easily upset by things and treated all his workers fairly.
"Al, Sera, and Amy. You will be working in his department today. Jackson will assign you to your mentors once you get there. I trust there will be no problems today?" Fidelis hid a smile under his hand at his father's pointed look in Amy's direction.
Amy grinned and sweetly replied, "No problems. Thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Lancaster."
"You are all dismissed. I'll see you later at the debriefing meeting."
His father left. Fidelis stood and so did everyone else.
Jackson moved to the door. "Follow me please." He opened the door and took the lead.
Fidelis held Serenah's hand as they made their way to the screening department. He hoped that today would be a better day for her.