Around the World in 80 Men Series: Boxed Set 21-30 (54 page)

“You
know I will,” he nodded and passed Morgan a muffin, and held
their two cups of coffee to go.

“Blueberry,”
she whispered when she noticed the deep purplish-blue flecks within
the muffin.
The fuckin' irony.
Morgan flinched when Luis wiped
a tear from her cheek, but then she gave him a small smile and set
the muffin down on the counter. Eating the very thing that Finlay
made for her suddenly didn't seem so appetizing. “I'm actually
not very hungry,” she lied and gave his hand a gentle squeeze.
He was trying hard to make her happy and she appreciated it,
but a
blueberry muffin won't help me now either.

Luis
nodded a made a joke about how he could have had a cab waiting
already, but Morgan wasn't really listening. It may have been a funny
joke, but all she managed to give Luis was another small smile. “I'm
sorry. I don't mean to be all...” she shrugged her shoulders.
All what? What am I? Sad? Hurt? Angry?
She breathed out a
quiet and sarcastic laugh, having no idea how she really felt. Of
course, the situations were very different from one another, so she
was going to feel different things. One thing she had convinced
herself of though, the tears falling from her bright green eyes
weren't for the Scot.

“I
know.” Luis took her hand in his and guided them out of their
hotel room, to the elevator and finally down to the lobby to wait for
the cab he called for along the way. “Morgan, you don't have to
apologize to me for anything.” He'd already told her that each
time she had apologized, but a part of her couldn't help telling him
over and over again. She felt like she'd just dragged him along for
her pity party and quite honestly, who would
want
to go to
that kind of party? Morgan was grateful though, even through it all.

“
I
look forward to meeting Ms. Marks.” Luis changed the subject to
a much lighter one, one that actually brought a genuine smile to
Morgan's face. He smiled back and took her hand again, then led her
through the front doors and to the cab that had just pulled up.

Morgan
narrowed her eyes, blocking out the cold wind, “She's an
amazing woman!” she yelled over the howling.

“If
she hired you, then I'm sure she is,” Luis yelled back as he
opened the back door of the car.

*****

“
Let
me ask you a question, child.” Julianne leaned back on her
plush white sofa and looked Morgan in the eyes as she waited. The
women had already spent the entire morning, and a bit of the
afternoon, talking about not only the last few weeks of Morgan's
life, but the last few months as well. It was crystal clear to
Julianne what Morgan needed, and she was more than willing to set her
young employee straight.

“Sure...
anything.” Morgan leaned back as well, and her eyes darted
quickly towards the kitchen where Cade and Luis were loudly enjoying
their lunch.

“When
we met, did you have many friends?” It was a blunt way of
getting to the point, but Julianne wasn't one to ever waste time in
getting to one that she meant to make. Morgan looked down at her
hands that were clasped tightly together, almost pushing between her
knees. She thought of her two coworkers, and how they'd all go out
after work on occasion. Morgan almost mentioned them, until she
thought of the one time that she'd had the flu. She had a fever well
over a hundred, and couldn't even keep a sip of water down, so she'd
called both of them to ask if they'd swing by her place with some
medicine since Morgan knew that she wouldn't be able to drive herself
to the store. Both girls turned her down, and a very sick Morgan
ended up walking two miles to a pharmacy, and threw up four times on
the sidewalk before she made it back home.

Friends?
No, she had acquaintances, at best. “Not really... I mean, I
got along with people... but friends? No.” Morgan was
surprised to feel Julianne's touch when the older woman put a finger
under her chin, and raised her face.

“Morgan
Holland, that's the last time that I'll tolerate seeing your head
hung low.” Morgan smiled at Julianne's stern voice, because
she knew her boss well enough to realize that words of wisdom were
about to follow. “You went from very little personal
interaction, to all that you have now. Love, friendships, new
environments, and heartbreak, all at a pace that would make anyone's
head spin.” Morgan nodded, and was too focused on Julianne to
notice that Luis had stopped talking to Cade, and was listening to
the women across the room. “You're mentally exhausted, Morgan.
It's that simple. This isn't about Mr. Campbell specifically... or
even Abby, this is about you not having enough time to adjust to the
things around you.” Julianne shook her head and closed her
eyes, she had let Morgan do too much, too soon, and her employee's
near nervous breakdown was beginning to weigh on Julianne's
shoulders. She would fix everything for Morgan, and she would do so
that very day. “First thing, you'll take a week off between
clients.”

“What?
But you have so many now.. I can't..”

“Child,
that's an order. You work more than any of the other girls, and it's
taking its toll on you. Second thing, call Mister Shaw and offer
your condolences, you need to face it head on so that you can deal
with it. Mister Shaw needs to hear from you, and you need it as
well.” Morgan nodded, and her eyes filled with tears once
again. “No more of that!” Julianne wagged a finger and
smiled, “let's go have a drink... and make a few calls.”
Morgan smiled weakly as she wiped the tears away once again.

“Thank
you... for everything.” Morgan stood with Julianne and wrapped
her arms tightly around her boss' neck. “I love you.”
Julianne went stiff as she took in a quick breath before speaking.
She hadn't heard those words spoken to her, other than from Felix, in
such a very long time, and her heart raced with shock and affection.

Julianne
softened, and wrapped her arms around Morgan in return. Softly, she
whispered into Morgan's ear, “I love you too, child.”

Luis
watched the scene and dropped his head as he realized that he and
Morgan had obviously met at the wrong time. He wanted more with her,
more than she could give right then, and that reality was what made
up his mind to make his next move. He took a deep breath, and stood
from the bar stool at the small counter. Waiting until the women had
joined them in kitchenette area, he announced that he had to make a
few calls home, to check on Luis. He couldn't see her in pain any
longer, and he also didn't want to hear her talking to another man,
not that he would ever tell her that. So he took his leave, and let
her have the time that she needed.

Morgan
started to speak, but he left too quickly for her to respond. “I
should never have agreed for him to come with me.” She spoke
to herself quietly as she took a seat next to Cade, and he too got up
from the small table and left the room.
Fuck my life... I'm
making everyone uncomfortable.

“I
told him to leave, get that look off your face.” Morgan's eyes
moved up to meet Julianne's, and her boss smiled at the shocked face
in front of her. “Well... it was more of a hand gesture.”
Morgan's lips curled upwards again at her boss' ability to still
accurately read her thoughts and emotions.

Two
glasses were filled quickly with a freshly opened bottle of Moscato,
courtesy of Luis, and the healing process officially began.
Normally, Julianne wasn't one to interfere, but she kept herself
firmly planted in the chair across from Morgan as she watched her
remove the pink phone from her pocket. “Here goes my freaking
sanity...,” she took a deep breath, and clicked on Clay's
number. He answered after only a half of one ring, which made
Morgan's heart race even more.

“Hey,
Beautiful! I've been trying to call you!” Morgan couldn't
speak right away, his tone was far from where she expected it to be,
and it knocked her off her game of consoling her dear friend.
“Morgan? You there?” She hesitated even longer as her
eyes searched Julianne for a silent answer to her mental torment.
Julianne's brows came together in question as she nodded her head
towards the phone to answer the man.

“Uh..
yeah... how are you?” Her teeth clamped down on her bottom lip
as she waited to hear the bad news.

“Don't
bite yourself, child.” Julianne's whispered words made Morgan
close her mouth quickly.

“I'm
great! Better than great, actually. Abby is finally home and things
are getting back to normal in the Shaw household. I can't thank you
enough for what you did, Morgan. I don't know what I would.. what
we
would have done without you.” The words hit Morgan hard, and
her head dropped as she let the phone fall from her hand, and to the
counter. Sobs of happiness, exhaustion, relief, and every other
emotion that she'd carried for the last week had been unleashed right
then. She had no idea how the dog survived after being on death's
door, nor anything else about how she was finally home with Clay, but
knowing that Abby was alive and well was the greatest thing that
she'd heard in a very long time. Julianne grabbed the phone quickly
and put it to her ear.

“Mister
Shaw, this is Julianne. Morgan is fine. Exhausted, but fine.
She'll call you when she's feeling better.” She ended the call
and ran to Morgan's side, then helped her to her feet. “You
need to rest, let's go.” Morgan wiped her eyes but it was of
no use, the tears couldn't be stopped, and all Morgan could do was
surrender to the onslaught of emotions that demanded their release.

That
moment brought Julianne as close as she would ever be to motherhood.
Her maternal, and very protective instinct took over as she led
Morgan the rest of the way to the bedroom. She also felt as if she
was at fault for allowing Morgan to take on as much as she had, but
that wouldn't happen again, and it was the promise that she made to
herself as she pulled the blanket over Morgan and told her to rest.

Morgan
watched through the waterfall as Julianne left the room and shut the
door behind her. Nothing was making sense, the need to cry at good
news, the need to follow Julianne's direction, and the sudden need to
sleep..which should have been the furthest thing from her mind. It
was all too much, except for the one truth that she wouldn't deny;
her life needed to change. She blinked hard, pushing the tears from
her bright green eyes.

“
A
life change.” Morgan huffed, then rolled to her stomach and
wiped each wet cheek on the stark white pillowcase before laying her
head back down. Her arms hugged the fluffy square more tightly as she
exhaled loudly, then sniffed even louder.
How many of those am I
going to need?
Fuck you, Finlay Campbell... I should never
have let myself fall for you.

Julianne
was right, Morgan had jumped into a new life, full speed and she
hadn't slowed down in months. It was too much for anyone, and at some
point, a person was bound to become tired.
It all started with
that stupid ring.
Morgan squeezed her eyes more tightly and
sobbed into her pillow. It was true, that ring, the one from Cedric
and Angel had been the catalyst, the snowflake to the huge snowball
her emotions had become. It was the tiny crack in her composure and
since then, it had just been problem after problem, chipping away at
her.

A
break was exactly what she needed.
She'd
have time to do whatever she needed to keep her own sanity. Whether
it was talking to Angel on the phone, or visiting a friend, she could
do
it and not take any of her
life drama with her to a client. She knew that she could have taken a
break at any time, she did every month for her womanly cycle, but it
took Julianne to remind her that it was alright
and
necessary to take time off
between clients.

Morgan
pulled her arms out from under the pillow, then pulled the thin band
off her right ring finger and set it on the table. “And this
stupid ring ends it.” She set it on the bedside table and
pushed her arms back under the pillow before laying her head down.
After staring at the ring for a few moments through blurry,
tear-filled, eyes, they finally closed and Morgan fell into a deep
sleep, one that she desperately needed.

Julianne
found Luis in the hallway, ending his call to Spain. She informed
him that he and Morgan were to move to her hotel, and that she'd made
all of the arrangements already.

“
She'll
stay with me, if she wants. Your room is down the hall.” Luis
agreed, and set off for the lobby to wait for their bags to arrive.
He knew that Morgan needed time with Julianne, but he planned to have
her as well, when she was ready.