Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (64 page)

I'll
show you what fun is about.

“I do hope that's for the
apple pie.” Kai had taken his jacket off and carefully placed
it over the top of the dresser. He watched Morgan flip her shoes off
into the corner, and walk toward him the whipped cream.

“No... unless...”
She thought of the mess that smearing the fruity dessert all over his
body would create, then thought better of it. “Nah, it's for
you.” She skipped across the room and put the can down next to
his jacket. “How about you take this off?” Morgan
unbuttoned his shirt and slid it down his arms while she stared into
this eyes. The shirt was discarded somewhere around her shoes.

“Easy with that, these
are expensive...,” he backed away and took his own pants off,
laying them across his jacket perfectly. Morgan didn't care how
expensive his pants were, they were going to have some fun.

She looked him over and smiled,
then started to pull her sweater from her head. Right at that
moment, his beastly phone rang out and ruined the moment. As usual,
he grabbed the phone from his jacket pocket and walked away, that
time, straight into the bathroom, and shut the door. Morgan looked
at the closed door as she pulled her sweater back on.

“Well, that was fun.”
She walked to the bed and waited, knowing what he was going to say
when he returned. Ten minutes later, she heard the words that she
expected.

“Sorry, I have to go.”
He got dressed in mere seconds, and never bothered to say goodbye as
he grabbed his coat and left.

“Really? It's like
that?” It wasn't a huge deal, she was happy to have some time
to herself, but her biggest concern was still the fact that Kai
didn't have time for even a little fun. “I feel bad for you, I
really do.” She got up and grabbed the pie, whipped cream, and
a fork, then went back to the bed to enjoy your dessert alone.

*****

“What?!” Morgan
peeked one eye open to verify that the noise was in fact her phone,
it was, and she mumbled all the way to her jeans that were still in
the bathroom from when she changed into her tank and shorts the night
before. “Hold on!” She clicked the button and answered,
still not fully awake.

“Morgan, you need to
pack, now.” Julianne's stern tone, and her words, woke the
girl up quickly.

“Pack? What's going on?”
She went back to the bed and sat down, waiting to hear what her boss
had in mind for her.

“I've sent another girl
to Kai, he called me last night. You need to get your things and get
to the airport, now. I've tried calling you all morning, but of
course, it's like waking the dead with you.” Julianne wasn't
happy at all, and Morgan felt her heart sink at the tone her boss was
using with her.

“I'm... I'm sorry.
What... what's going on? He doesn't want me here? Did I do
something?” She still had no idea what was going on, but the
tears had a mind of their own and she felt her eyes burn as they
threatened to fall. She heard Julianne take a deep breath before
answering her.

“All I know is that he
isn't happy with the current situation, and he asked that you be
replaced. It's not that hard to understand. Now stop asking me
questions and get yourself out of there, I was supposed to have you
gone two hours ago. Call me when you get to the airport and we'll
figure out what to do from there.” Julianne hung up and left a
crying, confused Morgan in her wake.

It took nearly thirty minutes
for Morgan to gather everything and pack it neatly, then another
thirty to get a shower and get ready for her day, whatever that
turned out to be. She was lugging her bags toward the door when she
heard it open. Morgan looked up to see a very surprised Kai, and a
smiling woman on his arm.

“Uh, I'm... I'm leaving.”
She put her head down and ran to the bathroom to get her carry on,
then stopped in the doorway to try to lift it all in one go. There
was no way she was going to wait for help from the front desk under
the circumstances. Kai quickly stopped her, and he could see that
she had been crying. He also mentally cursed Julianne for not
getting her out of there sooner so that there wouldn't be an awkward
moment such as what was happening.

“Morgan, I'm the one
that's sorry. You're a great girl, and you're really fun to be
around.” He picked up her zebra print bag and grabbed the
handle to her pink one. “But, I need a woman who is better
suited for the meeting. You're just...,”

“A child.” The
tall skinny redhead spoke up, and her smile looked more like a snarl.
Said snarling woman also stepped forward and spoke again. “I'm
Erika, I'm your replacement.” She had the nerve to stick her
hand out, and Morgan had just enough nerve left to smile in the
redhead's face.

“I'm Morgan, and you'll
be a perfect robot for him. Have fun, both of you.” She tried
to pull her bags from Kai's grasp, but he just kept his hold and
walked her to the hallway.

“That was rude of her.
I'm sorry. Morgan, I meant it, you're wonderful and I've enjoyed you
very much. It's just that you're a little... young... and carefree.
You know what I mean? The men at these meetings bring women that
are...”

“Perfect. The opposite
of me.” She pulled harder on the bags and finally got them
free of his hold. “Take care, and enjoy
that
.”
She nodded toward the closed door, and walked quickly to the
elevator. The woman's name felt as if it were being shouted in her
mind.
Erika! Erika! Erika!
The same Erika, she had no
doubt, had kept Finlay company as well. “Skinny, pasty, flat
chested...perfect....” It was no use, the woman was beautiful,
and Morgan couldn't dispute it. Fake, that was for certain, but
beautiful nonetheless.

With the tiny amount of time
she had left, before the waterworks would be fully unleashed, Morgan
turned and spoke to the man before he opened the door again. “Kai,
I thought you needed some laughter, some fun, and if I was wrong
about that, I'm sorry. But I've finally reached a point in life
where I can offer someone advice. People who are able to hide all of
their emotions, can hide anything. Remember that, because it applies
to your business life, and personal. Again, have fun with your
replacement.
”

Chapter Eight

By the time Morgan got to the
airport, she was livid. Mostly, she was mad at herself, but
everything else from the week had come to a boil. One that wouldn't
be turned down to simmer for a while.

“He let me believe
everything! Oh, Morgan, I'm so glad you're here. You're a breath of
fresh air. You don't care do you? I like that you wear jeans...”
The girl stomped her way through the electric doors of Helsinki's
largest airport and made her way over to an available chair, plopping
down hard in its seat. “Fuck you, Kai. I do care!”

As soon as she relaxed into the
chair, that's when the hysterics took over and the tears finally
found their way down her cheeks. Kai traded her in, Julianne wasn't
happy with her, Erika was a bitch, Tanner was already back with his
girlfriend, Finlay felt like he needed Erika to keep him company. “Am
I fucking good enough for anyone?” It was a moment that was
familiar to most people, if they're being honest, where she felt like
that whole world was dumped on her shoulders. She found fault with
just about everything, and everyone. It was an ugly moment, and she
knew it, but was far too gone at the time to stop it. Even the words
from David, back in Australia, had seeped in.
You're not his
type.

The girl buried her head in her
hands and had herself a good pity party for nearly half an hour, but
then, something snapped within the girl. “I won't do this. I
won't!” Morgan quickly wiped her tears and sat up in her chair,
trying to take a few cleansing breaths to clear her mind. In her mind
though, the perfect image of Erika kept dancing around and the words
that the bitch had chosen kept replaying over and over.
Replacement,
replacement, replacement.
“I was just trying to make you
have some fun! Boring asshole!”

A text from her boss
reminded her that she should have chosen another destination by then,
but Morgan didn't even want to look at the database, she didn't want
to talk to Julianne and she certainly wasn't ready to jump on a plane
and head to another client. Yeah, she had a few days off until
Friday, but that wasn't going to do. Nope, Morgan needed time. Time
to adjust her life, fix everything that needed to be fixed and get
back on track.
Maybe I'll wake up and love fine dining, red wine
and fucking pearls and make everyone happy.

Morgan stared down at
her phone at Julianne's third message and shook her head back and
forth. “I'll probably get fired. I wonder if any of the other
girls have been sent back. Probably not. Just me.” Her phone
started to ring in her hands, scaring the girl and making her groan
loudly as she thought she'd have to face Julianne sooner than she
wanted to.

She pressed the button and
brought the phone up to hear. “Yes?”

“Sticky Buns! I have
never, ever, in my whole mothafuckin' life met a man so annoying!
He's worse than Gio, the whiny little bitch!” Angel paused,
leaving Morgan time to respond, but on the other end, Morgan's tears
had started to flow again. “Wait, you ain't laughing. Oh no,
who's penis needs cut off today?”

“Angel! I'm
sorry....I....go on, tell me about your date,” she sniffled
into the phone.

“I'm not telling you
anything until you tell me why you're snotting all over Fuckland.”

Morgan actually giggled. A call
from Angel...maybe that's exactly what she needed. “I saw her,
Angel. Erika...I saw her.”

“Hold up, wait a minute!
The fuck did you just say? Erika? The skank Fin-lay-me-down is
banging?” His words were harsh and even made himself, the man
with no filter, cringe. “Sorry, Boo Boo. How the fuck did you
see her?”

“Kai....well, he replaced
me...and Erika was my replacement.”

“Shut the fuck up! Kite
replaced you? You know what he can do, Sticky? I'm going to tell you,
he can go fuck himself.”

“Nope, he has Erika to do
that for him,” Morgan was actually lightening up about the
situation.

“Tell me, what's this
bitch look like?”

“Skinny. Very skinny,
very tall. Little beady brown eyes, high cheekbones, bright red
lipstick...I mean
bright
red. No chest, whatsoever and a short
bob hairc....”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You
tell her that Bob and his hairstyle left the building about a decade
ago! A skeleton in the itty bitty titty committee with a fucking
stupid haircut and paint on her face? That's what's bothering you?
Boo, come the fuck on!”

Morgan broke into laughter,
which must have made her look insane to nearby people who'd just seen
her crying in hysterics and had to catch her breath before
responding. “I love you, Angel, I really do. The thing is,
Julianne is pissed because I wasn't good enough and I really don't
want to go to another client right now...but holy shit...I can't do
this another week.”

“No clients?
How....about...Mickey?”

Morgan thought about it for a
second. “Angel, you're a genius. I gotta go. Kiss, kiss!”
He said his quick goodbye and after they hung up, the girl knew what
she was going to do.

“Well, I said I wanted
somewhere warm...California is warm.” Morgan didn't think about
it another minute. Without even messaging her boss or looking at the
database, the girl marched up to the counter and got the next plane
to San Diego and she was out of there in less than an hour. Even if
Michael didn't want to see her, she'd be far away from all of them
and that was a good enough reason.

*****

Morgan waited for her bags as
she leaned against a white pole for support. The trip had taken a
day and a half, and that's the reason she vowed to never buy a ticket
at the last minute. It would always end up being the worst flight
with the most layovers. She was just grateful to be back in the
States, and not on a plane any longer.

The flight also gave her time
to think about what had happened, and to also think about why she had
felt the need to run to a man during her few days off. She could
just as easily have taken a flight anywhere and spent the days alone,
but she thought for hours as to why the idea of seeing Michael again
was so appealing. In the end, she knew the reason, because he was
one of the few people in her life that never criticized her for
anything, even if she deserved it. It was more of a cry for
attention, and she knew it, but she also knew that she needed some
normal companionship to keep her sanity after the few weeks that she
had been through.

Being alone is nice, but not
when I'm pushed away.
She waited another ten minutes until all of
her bags finally showed, and she lugged them to the first restaurant
that she came to. She settled her bags next to a small table, and
looked over the menu. She felt like she had a million things to do;
call Julianne, call Michael, cry a few more gallons of tears, but for
right then, all she planned to do was have a glass of wine and a nice
meal.

Good old fashioned pizza, that
was what leaped out from the page when she opened the menu. “Pizza
it is.” She ordered a few slices, along with her wine, and sat
back to people watch while she waited. The pizza was delicious...it
wasn't Sydney pizza, but it was the first real food she'd eaten in
nearly two days and it helped her feel a little bit better.