All Your Perfect Imperfections

Chapter Two

-Avery-

I stood in front of the mirror and studied my clothes. I was wearing the dark tan pants that Devin and I both liked, and I had paired them with a light blue button down. We were going to leave for the office soon, and I was a bundle of nerves.

Devin seemed to sense this. He appeared behind me, wrapping his arms around me and smiling. "You look amazing. That shirt makes your eyes even bluer."

"As long as I'm dressed right. I don't want to look out of place."

"Sorry to say, but you're going to look out of place no matter what you wear. No one else is as hot as you," he said, moving his hands down to the front of my pants.

I turned, forcing his hands to my hips instead. "We don't have time for that. I can't be late on my first day."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. But when we get home, you're mine."

The ride to the office was a blur. We drove one of the company SUVs that Devin's dad had let me borrow while I was still wrapping up at the camp. I told him I'd return it once I got my own car.

I was grateful to have Devin with me. Already knowing someone on my first day helped a lot, and that someone being the owner's son was probably the best situation I could be in. But even though I'd gotten the job because of Devin, that didn't mean I should take it for granted. I needed to work hard and prove myself.

We took the elevator from the parking garage, and I stared as the doors opened. The office was beautiful. It was all glass and dark wood. Huge windows allowed me to see the surrounding buildings and the mountains in the distance.

People waved and said hello to Devin as we walked through the building, and I began to notice something as I looked at the employees. I didn't consider myself an expert in guessing someone's sexuality, but a few of the men were obviously gay and a couple of the women gave me the vibe they were lesbians.

"Devin," I began. "I don't really know how to ask this, but it seems like quite a few people here are gay?"

He snorted. "Yeah, Avery, good observation." Then his smirk faded a little. "Ever since I came out, my dad has tried to be supportive however he can. He's made it a personal mission to hire LGBTQ+ employees whenever possible. I think he went to an LGBTQ+ student association meeting at the university a couple years ago and advertised that we had job openings at the firm. Obviously anyone who works here still has to be qualified and do a good job, so it's not like he's just handing out jobs to anyone who's gay, but it's nice that he's gone out of his way to be inclusive."

"That's really sweet," I said, blinking back a few unexpected tears. "He obviously loves you a lot and cares about the community."

We reached Logan's office and Devin barged right in without knocking. When Logan saw who it was, I could tell he was exasperated, but he smiled when he saw me. "Avery! Welcome to the firm." He got up and came around his desk, offering his hand to me. "I'm glad you're here. We'd like to get the first culvert installed next week, so there will be plenty to do before then. I'll take you to meet Mike, who -"

"Dad, chill. It's his first day. Give him a minute to get settled in before you dump a ton of work on him," Devin said, rolling his eyes.

"It's okay," I said. "I'd rather get started right away. The sooner we can get this done, the better off the salmon will be."

As Logan walked me over to my desk, we talked, Devin trailing behind us. We stopped in front of a small office.

"This is you," Logan said.

I glanced around. Most employees were in cubicles.

"Why does he get an office?" Devin asked, a confrontational tone to his voice. "I've been working here for four years and I'm still in a cube."