It wasn't actually that bad. The walls were still up—more or less. Nobody had been rushed to the hospital. The horrible drapes no one wanted to tell the CEO were ugly had been burnt beyond repair.
Aldair entered the breakroom and pushed aside crumbling charcoal blocks that might have been chairs and stumbled over the water jug, its plastic warped from the heat. He sighed and pinched his nose. Okay, so maybe he was in denial.
His phone buzzed and Aldair lifted it to his ear. "Boss."
"You called?" a soft voice murmured on the other side.
"Yup. You chose a good day to work from home."
A pause. "It happened again?"
Aldair nodded, though he knew she couldn't see him. Probably. "Don't know why you chose to hire dragons in the first place. You could have at least made them work remote like the giants."
"They're still new and need the training. Is the office salvageable?"
Was she mad? He could never tell when she was mad—or any siren for that matter. "Barely. The building itself is still standing. Kendric's calling his family to help patch up the holes."
"Good. The dwarves will be able to get that fixed in a timely manner. Anyone hurt?"
"Most were a bit scratched up and singed but nothing warranting a hospital trip." Aldair wandered back into the office area, winding his way around the blackened cubicles. "I sent everyone home."
"Well, that's good news at least. I didn't particularly feel like hiring anyone this week."
Was that a joke? He couldn't tell. "I'll start purchasing office items again. Do you have the spreadsheet with everyone's preferences on it from last time?"
"Yes. I'll email it to you today. Thanks, Aldair."
"Welcome." Aldair hesitated. Should he push the dragon topic?
"No," his boss's voice suddenly retorted.
Aldair blinked. "Um, what? I didn't—"
"You were going to ask we let the dragons go. My answer is no."
He gaped at the phone. Then glanced at his charred surroundings. She wasn't in the building, was she? "With all due respect, this is the fourth time the dragons got into a squabble. The fourth."
"I'm aware. But I want our office to be diverse."
"Yes, yes, that's great and all." Aldair pinched his nose. He could feel a migraine coming on. "But did we need to hire twelve?"
"Yes."
His boss didn't elaborate, and he decided it wise not to push the topic any further. "Very well. Dwarves should have the place up and running by Saturday and the harpies will probably get the office supplies delivered around the same time, if not sooner. We can plan to have the employees back in person by Monday next week."
"Wonderful. I'll see you Monday, then."
"Yup. Bye."
Aldair shoved his phone back in his pocket then walked to his office and salvaged whatever items hadn't burnt completely to ash. His coat had somehow survived, though one sleeve had torn at the elbow and the hem had burnt quite a bit. He sighed and slipped it on then walked out the door. He was going to need to invest in fire-proof clothes from now on.
Comments