Page 59 of Love, Morgan

This whole trip had been unexpected, Morgan the most unexpected of all, and there was no coming back from that. There was no coming back from the fact that Morgan had never fallen for anyone before and it still wasn’t going to be enough to overcome the obligations we had when we weren’t on vacation. Nor was I going to ask for it to be. A vacation was nothing like a life.

Morgan felt bigger than a vacation, but the memories of her weren’t going anywhere. They were the things that would carry me through when she was gone and all that remained was the lingering trace of her in my head and on my lips. And that would have to be enough.

If nothing else, she’d taught me the power of being open, of asking for what you wanted. Thalia had too, but in a less direct way, thankfully. I liked her a lot, but not the same way I liked Morgan.

I looked over at her, sleeping in her bed still. We’d stayed up until the early hours, chatting like two people who had all the time in the world, like our very lives depended on knowing each other inside out. In some ways, for the next two days, maybe they did. I needed every bit of her I could get, and I’d carry them with me always.

Perhaps it was my internal clock refusing to be thrown off, or perhaps it was my heart not wanting to miss a second, but, as she slept on, I’d been awake for over an hour, and my stomach was starting to growl. Being as routine as I was did mean my stomach thought I suddenly hated it if I tried to stretch breakfast until later.

I sighed, slipping out of the bed and writing her a note in case she woke up before I returned. These moments didn’t feel like the actions of two people having a quick fling. I didn’t feel like she was someone I’d walk away from and be fine without. I would be, we both would, but life was already better with her in it. I could only imagine what life would be like with her five years down the line.

Every part of me wanted her to be happy and fulfilled and loved, but there was a part of me that felt undeniably special about the fact that romantic love wasn’t usually part of the picture for her. It wasn’t like there had been much of that in my life either, and she clearly wasn’t lacking anything. Just the way she talked about Jackson Point and her friends and community there told me everything I needed to know about how full and filled with love her life was, how important the life she’d built herself was, and I loved every part of that. But there was still something special in being the one who touched her in a way nobody else did.

I headed out of her front door knowing I shouldn’t be thinking that. It was too much, too precious, too little like a passing fling, but I couldn’t help it. I’d never met anyone like Morgan, and I doubted I ever would again. She was indescribably incredible. I didn’t think there was anything all that special about me, but the way she looked at me, the way she kissed me, the way she held me close to her as we slept beneath the canopy of her bed… all of it made me feel bigger than I’d ever dreamed possible.

“Don’t you look happy this morning?” Thalia called as I entered the main building, coming up behind me. “And late, too. I wonder why.”

I blinked, my eyes struggling to adjust to the light in here after the bright sun outside. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”

She laughed, jabbing me in the side. “You’re blushing way too hard for that to be true. Spill.”

“Like my coffee? You’ll have to let me get it first,” I said, grinning through my blush and walking towards the restaurant.

“Good god, woman, you’re even starting to sound like her.”

“Like who?” I asked, secretly delighted that I was. There were far worse people to pick things up from than Morgan, and I couldn’t deny how good it felt to know that little parts of her were rubbing off on me.

“You’re impossible.” She glared at me, shaking her head exaggeratedly as we walked. “We both know who, so just tell me what’s going on.”

I smiled at her. Two weeks really could change your whole life. Maybe not in massive ways, but in little, important ways that, in the end, might change your life entirely. Thalia had been the start of that. She’d been the first real friend I’d made as an adult. The first person who wasn’t interested in me because I could do something for her—pineapple stealing aside. And maybe Morgan had been onto something about being honest. Maybe opening up to people wasn’t the worst thing I could be doing.

“Earth to Iona,” she laughed, waving a hand in front of my head. “If you’re imagining all the things you want Ms. Franklin to do to you, please let me know the details, you’re both hot and I’ve got a long shift ahead of me.”

“Oh my god,” I whispered, looking around desperately. “Don’t say things like that. Someone might hear you.”

She cackled. “Hey, maybe they need some juicy details to get them through their day too. I’m performing a public service here.”

“Oh my god.” I hung my head, grabbed a tray, and moved to get some food. “It’s nothing like that.”

“Okay,” she said, drawing the word out as she watched me grab her pineapple. “Whatisit like, then?”

I blushed again, unable to suppress my smile. “Nice. It was really nice.”

“Gonna need more details than that, Iona.”

“Sweet. It was…” I shook my head. I wanted this moment, wanted this time with my friend where I got to talk about the woman I’d kissed and how amazing it was. And I could have it. That was so new. “I told her you sent the mango. She wanted to know why.”

“Naturally. What did you say?”

“I, uh…”

“Yes?” She grinned like the cat who got the cream. She didn’t need me to say it, she just wanted me to.

Maybe there was a lesson in that, too.

I took a deep breath. “I blurted out that you thought I had a crush on her.”

She whooped, a little too loudly and energetically for so early in the day, but, other than the chefs, who shot her an unsurprised look, nobody else was able to see us.

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