Around the World in 80 Men Boxed Set 31-35 (71 page)

“
No,
but Angel would.” She pulled the shirt from his hands and held
it up in front of her. “Bitch. Beautiful individual that causes
hardons.” When Morgan had seen the shirt, she couldn't pass it
up.

Gil
laughed, and watched Morgan as she folded it up and slid it in the
bag once more. She looked out to the ocean, and ran her hand through
her long hair, pushing it away from her face.

Morgan's
eyes eventually came back down to her lap, and she took her charm
bracelet between her fingers. “What's the story with those?”
Gil grabbed the sheep that was next to Morgan's finger.

Morgan
looked up and smiled, dropping her hand back to her lap. “Lots
of stories to these! They were all given to me...for different
reasons.” The bracelet was getting full, and she loved each and
every memory it provided. The triangle, the frog, the phoenix, the
sheep, the fish, PoPo. They all meant something so special to her,
given by special people in her life. “You know, I have spent a
lot of time helping people.” She laughed, as the words sounded
foreign coming from her lips. “But each of these people,
they've helped me. In more ways than they even know.”

He
knew, watching her right then, that nothing happened to Morgan's ex
boyfriend.
Your heart is too big, Morgan. It would have eaten you
alive.
That only meant that when it came to Ernesto, she had done
nothing to him. He still had questions, just from his own curiosity,
but he would never pry. It was an answer that was good enough for
him.

Chapter
Fifteen

“
Are
you serious? I just pick a piece of wood, and they carve anything I
want? While I wait?” Morgan couldn't understand the true skill
of some of the street merchants, but was wiling to give it a try. She
pulled out her phone and scrolled through her photos until she came
across the perfect one. “Can you do this?” She showed the
bender the photo, and he nodded enthusiastically at the challenge
ahead of him.

“
It's
true, we can wait while he works.. but we can wait in there, where
there's food.” Gil pointed directly behind the old man on a
stool, and Morgan agreed as she chose her block of wood for the man
to work with. The old man removed his own phone, and snapped a
picture of the photo. It wasn't natural to see such experienced and
weathered hands hold a new phone, but somehow, it worked. Gil spoke a
few words to the man and handed him money as the two left his area to
find lunch.

“
If
he can pull that off, I'll pay him double.” Morgan giggled,
hoping that he could, and Gil just nodded in agreement.

“
So,
tell me about this town. It's different from most places I've been.”
Morgan slid into the booth behind a wood table, and Gil followed. He
had already ordered two beers before they'd even gotten situated into
their seats, and Morgan was grateful.

“
I
guess you noticed that it isn't as clean as most places, but don't
hold it against us. It's part of our charm.” Morgan laughed,
but had to agree. There was no drainage, so water was collected in
most corners of the city, and the contrast between ancient and new
that she had grown accustomed to in most places, was interrupted by
mud walls and seedy establishments. Yet, the brightly colored stands
of the street vendors, mixed with the scent of simmering meats,
sounds of music that changed every ten feet, and people of at least
half a dozen races in any given area had made it all work perfectly.

“
No,
I won't. In fact, I love it! It's modern, classy, ancient, run down,
upscale, and fun all at the same time!” Gil's brows came
together slightly as he took in her words, and then agreed that she
had nailed it.

“
This
city used to be the home of pirates, as many coastal cities were.
Then it was mainly used as a logging camp and transport, then
eventually grew into the tourist trap you see today.” Morgan
laughed, and she knew that she had encountered many more locals than
tourists during their walk, but wasn't going to point that out.

“
So,
I'm guessing with the little Mayan statues for sale all over the
place, they used to live here as well?” Gil was impressed, and
he explained that the Mayans did in fact inhabit the area.

“
Enough
about our fair little city, tell me more about Sean.” His blunt
conversation no longer shocked Morgan, and she took it in stride as
their drinks were delivered.

“
Sean
was a client, and now a dear friend. He... how do I put it.... he's
the strong silent type when he's worried about something, but
outgoing and carefree when life is good.” She knew it would
take an hour to fully explain her love for Sean, and the past they
shared, but what she offered summed him up enough.

“
I
see. And this strong silent type came to your rescue recently?”
Morgan shook her head, then stopped as she wondered if that's what he
had actually tried to do.

“
No.
Yes. No. I don't know. I went through something and he wanted to know
if I was alright. So, yes he would have helped if I needed it, but
no, I didn't so... he didn't.” Morgan took a long sip of the
ice cold beer. Gil listened, and understood more than she said.

“
He's
a good friend then?” Morgan told him that he was, and that she
couldn't see her life without him in it. “I'm glad for you,
Morgan. I'm glad you're surrounded by love.” He meant his
words. Morgan seemed to have a beautiful heart, and to think of her
going through life alone would be tragic.

The
server approached them again, but Morgan didn't have time look at the
menu. Gil spoke up quickly, and ordered for them. Again. That time,
Morgan spoke up.

“
I
have no idea what you ordered, but I heard
tamales
. I don't
even know if I like those... so...,”

“
Trust
me. And if you don't like it, we'll get something else.” Gil
smiled, releasing the damned dimple, and Morgan agreed. Trying new
things had been her motto for the last few months, so she couldn't
think of a reason not to give tamales a try. “Wait, you've
never had a tamale? Really? Never?” Morgan raised her
shoulders, and laughed. There were many foods that she hadn't tried,
especially if they didn't come prepacked and microwave ready. And if
there was only one thing that she knew about tamales, it was that
they were best enjoyed fresh.

The
two spoke more about the city, and Morgan's shortcomings with her
food knowledge, until her fresh chicken tamales were placed in front
of her. The aroma itself had her wishing she'd tried them sooner than
that day. Gil stood up from the table when he noticed that his hand
had dirt on it from their walk, and excused himself to go and wash.
Morgan offered her hand sanitizer that she carried everywhere, and
had just used, but he chose the old fashioned sink washing. Morgan
put her travel size disinfectant back into her bag, and stared
longingly at the tamales. It would be rude to start the meal without
him, Julianne had taught her that on day one, but it was beyond
tempting.

“
Damn..
just one little bite.” Morgan spoke to the emptiness around
her, and pinched off a little piece to give it a try. She popped the
warm bite between her lips, and chewed slowly. “Sweet mother of
fuck on a stick! Oh my god. Where have you been all my life?!”
She tore off another bite, but didn't get it to her mouth before
being interrupted.

“
That!
That is what I was hoping for!” Gil returned just in time, and
laughed as Morgan's face turned red before he was situated. “No,
eat! Enjoy!” Morgan laughed, and did just as he suggested. She
ate the lingering bite that she held, then grabbed her fork to dig in
properly. “And you're right,” Gil took his first bite
and swallowed quickly, “sweet mother of fuck, on a stick, these
are
good!”

“
Wow,
I need to let people order for me more often. Wow.” Morgan dug
into her food quickly, and by the time she and Gil were finished,
they'd ordered another round of chicken tamales.

“
So,”
Gil finished off his first plate as the second arrived. “Where
to next?”

Morgan
shook her head as she wiped her face of tamale drippings with her
napkin. “Not sure,” she shrugged. “I think it's
going to be another warm place though...I could get used to this
weather. But,” she added, “our week together just
started, so let's just enjoy it now.”

Gil
grabbed a full tamale and dug in with his fork. “Fair enough.”
They finished their beer and second round of food quickly, and
realized Morgan's carving was probably finished. “Shall we go
check?” Morgan nodded and Gil dropped enough money on the table
to cover the meal and a nice tip before they got up.

“
Holy
shit!” They came around the corner of the small stand and next
to a display of colored bead necklaces was her piece of wood. “Holy
shit!” she said again as she picked it up. “This is
amazing!” Her eyes rose to the old man and Morgan watched the
pride grow across his face. One of the best payments he could receive
was knowing a customer was happy with his work. “Look!”
She turned and showed Gil, who also looked shocked at how amazing the
work had turned out. “It's PoPo, Angel's bird.”

She
had taken the picture during her first visit to Brazil. The big macaw
had spread it's wings, showing off for her, and Morgan had captured
the moment perfectly. Angel had loved the picture so much, he'd
gotten it framed since. “He'll love it,” Gil finally
spoke after his own examination. As promised, Morgan paid the man
double for his work.

“
It's
beautiful, thank you.” She handed him the money and in return,
the man put one of the string of beads around Morgan's neck. They
were purple, and matched her new bracelet.

“
Welcome
to Belize, friend.” Morgan thanked him once again, and found a
place to set her things so she could take a picture of her new
carving.

“
Those
beads are probably just left over from the parade.” Gil helped
Morgan set her things down on a bench before finding a spot for
himself in the mountain of bags.

“
Do
you always have to rain on
my
parade? Wait! Parade! Isn't
that...” Morgan was sure the parade was that week.

“
You
missed it, darling.” He told her that it ended two days before
she got there.

“
Well...”
She snapped a picture of the wooden bird and sent it to Angel. “That
sucks. I really wanted to go.” She wasn't going to add in the
fact that the parade was the deciding factor of coming to Belize in
the first place, because parade or not, she was happy to be there.
Morgan tucked her phone into her pocket and no sooner than she sat
down on the bench, her phone began to ring.

“
That
was quick!” Gil watched Morgan pull her phone back out, and hit
the speaker button.

“
Holy
mothafuckin' baby baboon butts! Sticky Buns, is that shit for me?”
Angel's voice was so loud, she could barely understand him, so she
adjusted the volume before speaking again.

“
Hold
on a second.” She had a better idea, and told him she would
call him right back and hung up. With a video application on her
phone, she called him again. Angel answered in one ring, and Morgan
and Gil watched as Angel and PoPo came into view.

“
Girl,
you look as fine as the Pope Diamond!” Angel grabbed one of his
long curls and spun it around his finger as he sat down on the edge
of the bed.

“
It's
hope, Angel. Hope Diamond.” Both Morgan and Gil laughed.

“
Hold
the fuck up, who's laughing? Is that Blue Gil, let me see him!”
Morgan moved the phone over to squeeze Gil into the view. “Aw,
Blue. I'd grab your fin and swim with you anywhere. Mmm.” They
watched as Angel feigned fainting.

“
Thank
you...I think.” Morgan giggled again as the wave of awkward
feelings crashed over Gil's face in a crimson tide.

“
Stick,
thanks for the PoPolicious sculpture. It's mothafanfuckintastic. How
did you get them beads, you showing off your fun bags again?”

“
It
was one time!” Morgan defended herself, knowing she never
should have sent Angel that picture of her breasts. “That's it!
I know where I want to go next!” Morgan grabbed the beads
around her neck. Since she couldn't go to the parade, she would go to
a place that always felt like one. “I'm going to New Orleans!”