Page 16 of Love, Morgan

“The fruit here is amazing.”

I nodded easily. She wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t entirely what I’d been caught up in, but she wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t sure I’d ever eaten a pineapple that was just so… pineapple-y.

Thalia smiled. “I just wanted to check how you were doing today. You seemed a little fried yesterday.”

I breathed out heavily. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. This is just all a little… new, you know?”

“Yeah. Today’s going better so far?”

I laughed, the sound a little hollow. “I guess?”

“Oh, that soundssoqualified,” she laughed, slipping into the seat across from me. “What’s going on?”

Where to even begin?

“Well,” I paused, wondering how much to tell her. She was kind, but we weren’t exactly friends. “Just a rough first impression on my neighbor, I guess.”

She furrowed her brow, watching me intently. “The person in the bungalow next to yours?”

I nodded, knowing she was mentally narrowing down the suspects. I hadn’t seen anyone in the bungalow on the other side of me, but it didn’t mean they weren’t there. I had, after all, spent most of my first night hiding from the neighbor I definitely knew was there.

“Do you need to move to another room?”

“Oh, no. No, nothing like that.” I was about ninety percent sure I was insisting because I didn’t want to cause problems. I wasn’t thinking about the other ten percent.

“Well, what happened?” Thalia leaned across the table, helping herself to a piece of pineapple from my plate.

I chewed my lip, watching her. I wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to be that familiar with the guests. Talking to me was probably fine, but sitting with me and eating my fruit felt awfully familiar. Maybe she was just one of those people who relaxed easily around others. I could barely even imagine what that must feel like.

I huffed, settling on the only version of events that felt logical. “I just stepped out onto my balcony when she was out on hers, and I startled her. Quite a lot, I think.”

“Ah, Ms. Franklin.” She nodded. “Don’t worry. From what I can tell, she’s just a strong personality. She seemed perfectly lovely at check-in. I’m sure she was just caught off-guard.”

That made me feel worse. She hadn’t once looked at me in any way other than with hatred. What could I have done, simply by existing, to a woman who was, apparently, perfectly friendly with everyone else?

I forced a half smile onto my face and nodded at Thalia. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“I am. The next time you see each other, everything will be perfectly fine.”

“I hope you’re right,” I muttered, as she got up again. I wasn’t holding out hope, though, given how our first two interactions went.

“I have to get back to work, but I’ll see you around. Try not to worry about Ms. Franklin. I’m sure everything’s going to be okay. Just have some fun today.” And, with that, she turned on her heel and marched off towards the front desk.

My head was spinning. I wasn’t sure she’d been supposed to sit with me, but I was sure she wasn’t supposed to tell me another guest’s name without their permission. Franklin was nice, though. I couldn’t help but wonder what her first name was.

What was wrong with me? Becoming fixated on a woman I didn’t know, but who hated me was not healthy. It wasn’t what I was here for, and it wasn’t going to be how I spent two weeks—or however long she was here for. At least if she left earlier than me, I’d have an easier time forgetting her.

I glanced around the restaurant again. Still no sign of her. I felt like an unsuspecting adventurer in a story where everyone but them knows a dragon’s about to jump out at them. Except I was the only one expecting her to jump out.

Maybe I wasn’t made for vacations. Maybe I should have stayed at home and worked instead of taking a break. At least I knew how to do that. Plus, it let me put on a persona, one that was much braver and more exciting than Iona Engle was, and that felt like what I needed.

Thalia had told me to have fun today, and I knew that was the point of being here. I knew that was what I was supposed to do. But, in this state, I didn’t know how to get there. Maybe I just needed to reset, remember who I was, and then everything would be okay.

???

Resetting, it turned out, meant working. I really should have seen it coming, and I definitely should have kept myself away from the laptop—away from the whole bungalow, perhaps. But it made me feel safe.

When I was behind the computer screen, I knew what I was doing. Sure, imposter syndrome got me when I thought too closely about the fact that I made a living from people watching my videos, but when I was answering emails and negotiating sponsorships and replying to comments, I knew what I was doing.

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