Bending the Rules: Breaking the Rules #2 (3 page)

Three weeks later,
late October…

Chapter 4

Drake

I think I should change my title at work to fireman because
that is all I do all day long…I put out fires. I don’t know what the hell my
father has been doing with the European division all this time because it’s a
fucking mess. I’m learning a lot, making great decisions and putting new
protocols and procedures into place but it’s been hectic and at times I feel
like I’m going to lose my mind.

I miss Morgan. It sucks going home to an empty apartment
every night. I miss our evenings together as we can’t share our days even
though we are in the same building, sometimes even in the same boardroom. I
miss holding her at night, feeling her soft skin pressed next to me.

On a whim last night I purchased a plane ticket to Paris for
the weekend. The flight wasn’t cheap, but I don’t really care. I just need to
get the hell out of here for a few days. Morgan loves Paris. She’s been there a
few times and often talks about how she’d love to travel there with me someday
so we can experience the city of love together.

****

I’ve just gotten off the plane and am headed through the
terminal towards the baggage claim and customs when I see someone walking in
front of me with the same strawberry blonde hair as Morgan. At first I tell myself
there is no way she is in the same airport in Paris, walking down the same
terminal just twenty feet in front of me. It isn’t impossible, but it doesn’t
seem possible. As I pay attention to this person’s gait and the way she
nervously twirls all of her hair around her finger before pulling it all over
one shoulder I know it’s Morgan. As she moves around a mother who has stopped
to tie her son’s shoe I get a quick look at the side of her face and stop dead
in my tracks. It’s most definitely her.

In a moment of panic, I step out of the flow of people
walking to pick up their bags and lean against the wall. All I want to do is
wrap my arms around her, and kiss her, and keep her by my side forever but I
know that if she sees me there is no way possible that my dad won’t find out
I’ve communicated with her. He’ll never believe that it was a coincidence that
we ran into each other in Paris at the airport. He’ll think I’ve been breaking
the rules this whole time and the chance at the future with Morgan I’ve been
working towards will be over.

My heart is shredding as I stand there watching the distance
between us grow once again. All I’ve dreamt of since leaving for Zurich is
seeing Morgan again. I can’t believe we are in the most romantic place in the
world to reunite with each other and I’m leaning against a wall like an idiot
and letting this chance pass me by. I told myself before that being with Morgan
under the radar would be fine. No one would ever know. We can just bide our
time, do everything right and then magically everything will fall into place
and we can have our happy ever after. Obviously that didn’t work out, but now
I’ve been given this shitty second chance and although spending this time away
from Morgan sucks, and watching her walk away from me now is like a sucker
punch to the gut, I know I have to do this the right way this time to get my
girl in the end.

Morgan

I’ve spent the last month searching the globe for Drake. I
started in Vegas thinking that was the most obvious and brilliant place to
start. After Vegas was London, a logical place. From there it was Rome,
Barcelona, Cape Town, Brussels, Amsterdam, and every other brilliant, logical
and dumb place I could think of hoping to find Drake so I could finally take a
full breath. All I’ve thought about is how amazing it will be to once again
feel like I do when I’m in his arms. I didn’t think it would take this long to
find Drake. I’ve searched everywhere and now I’ve just landed in Paris where I
said he would be if I couldn’t find him anywhere else. This is my last shot. I
have to find him here. I’m trying not to get my hopes up too high, but ever
since I stepped off the plane I swear it’s like my body feels him. That old
magnetic pull is back and I find myself once again searching the face of every
man I pass by, hoping that it’s Drake.

In every place I’ve been I always think I see Drake. I have
even called out his name, only to have a stranger give me an odd look then walk
in the opposite direction. He has to be here. This trip, the time and all of
the money I’ve spent cannot be for nothing. I cannot go home feeling like
nothing.

I’m on my way to baggage claim in the Charles De Gaulle
Airport to pick up my luggage before hailing a cab to my hotel when I stop dead
in my tracks. It’s Drake. He has his back to me but I’d know that boxer’s build
and gorgeous brown hair anywhere.

“Drake!” I call out to him and he doesn’t even flinch. Maybe
he didn’t hear me. I walk a little closer and call out his name but the man
doesn’t turn. I could have sworn it was him, and if French soldiers weren’t
walking around patrolling with AK-47s I might be a little ballsier and walk up
to him, but I don’t want to cause a scene. I learned my lesson in Brussels that
you can’t run up and throw your arms around someone even if you’re sure it’s
the person you love because it might end up being someone else, and that
someone else’s wife might not appreciate your affection towards her husband
very much.

It’s clearly not Drake though, or he would have turned at
the sound of his name. Especially when it’s my voice that’s calling it.
Realizing I’m wrong again I go to the baggage carousel, grab my luggage, and
with a heavy heart, depart the airport and continue the search I no longer
think will end well.

Drake

It took every last cell of energy in my body not to turn
around when Morgan called my name. I saw her walking to the baggage claim and
turned around hoping she wouldn’t notice me. Of course she did though, we’re
drawn together. I could have been perfectly camouflaged into my surrounding and
she still would have sensed me in the room. It absolutely kills me that I can’t
talk to her but I know that if I give in and break the rules even just this
time, my father will find out and even the last month or so without her will be
for nothing.

I want to run and grab her, have that moment that movies are
made for when I call her name and we run toward each other with smiles, and
tears, and don’t stop until we crash into one another all lips and teeth and
kisses and hands in hair passion while those witnessing clap and cheer and cry.
But instead I play by the rules, only bending them slightly as I play voyeur,
watching her every move as she collects her bag, calls for a cab, takes a
hopeful yet heavy hearted breath and departs from the airport and my presence
once again.

****

My original plan for the weekend was to lie low and walk
around Paris taking in the sights. Enjoy the food, the wine, immerse myself in
the local culture and try to clear my head. The moment I saw Morgan in the
airport I knew that plan was shot to hell. I can’t hang out in my hotel room,
and walk around the city when I know Morgan is here too. I busted ass out of
the airport to grab a cab after Morgan left and followed her cab to a small
boutique hotel in the heart of the city. There is no way I can spend my weekend
in Paris now that she’s so close but I still can’t have her. I just want to
make sure she got a hotel room and is safely tucked away before I head back to
the airport and fly back to Zurich.

I’m sure anyone in my position would have turned around in
the airport when she called my name and maybe I’m making the biggest mistake of
my life by playing by the rules for once in my life. I know I feel like a
foolish asshole right now by watching from a cab as Morgan checks into a hotel,
but if this is what I have to do to make it to the finish line, then so be it.

Morgan

“Morgan, where are you, are you alright? It’s late,” Amanda
asks as she picks up the phone, her husky sleep voice barely audible.

“I’m sorry, I forgot about the time change. I just woke up.
I’m stuck in a Paris hangover.”

“A Paris what? Morgie, I know I’m half asleep, but that
doesn’t even come close to making sense,” Amanda mumbles into the phone.

“A Paris hangover. I don’t know, I just made it up. It’s
like I’m here, in the city of love. A city with so much history and so many
things to see. I should be out enjoying my day, but I’m in bed with a headache,
trying not to throw up. It’s like when you party hard on Saturday, and you wake
up Sunday and it’s such a beautiful day outside. You know you should be out
enjoying the last few moments of your weekend but all you can manage to do is
lie bed with a killer headache trying not to puke and all you want is some
glorious McDonald’s Angel to show up at your door with a fountain Coke and
fries,” I explain.

“I understand. So why don’t you feel well? Did you pick up a
bug with all of the recycled air on your flight?” Amanda asks. She’s starting
to sound a little more awake which I’m grateful for, but feel bad for waking
her up.

“No, I’ve been here for a week now looking for Drake, if it
was the recycled plane air I would have come down with something sooner I
think.”

“Then what is it, Morgan?”

“He’s not here, Amanda. He’s supposed to be here. I’ve
searched everywhere. He’s supposed to be here, and he’s not…WHERE IS HE?” I
start to sob into the phone.

“Shh. Don’t cry, Morgan. You’ll find him. He’s out there
somewhere, he has to be. You know he loves you,” Amanda says, trying to soothe
me.

“He is out there somewhere, just not any place I’ve looked.
Maybe he doesn’t want to be found. At least not by me. I’ve gone everywhere
looking for him. I really thought I’d find him, Amanda. I thought I’d find my
happiness. What do I do now?”

“Oh, Morgan, I’m so sorry. I wish you could have found
Drake. You’re right… maybe he doesn’t want to be found right now. Maybe he’s
still working things out for himself. You said his father dissolved his
position. That’s a huge blow for someone who has worked so hard to get his life
on track. Maybe he’s still working out a way to give you the life you’ve always
wanted. You told me he wants to do that for you. Morgan, you said he told you
in Vegas he couldn’t wait to marry you. Maybe time alone is exactly what he has
needed, that’s why he isn’t there looking for you too. You know I love you more
than anything, Morgan, but you might not like what I’m about to say…maybe it’s
time to come home, put your big girl panties on, get a job, and face life in
the real world again.

“You know I’m here for you always and I’ll help you in any
way I can, but Morgan right now you aren’t happy. In fact you’re sitting in a
hotel room in Paris, and you’re absolutely miserable. I know you want to find
your happiness and you think you can only find that in Drake, and maybe part of
that’s true. But why don’t you come home and see what other happiness you can
find by getting your life back on track.”

“You’re right. I’ve just never felt like everything is right
in my life as I have these past few months with Drake. I guess I thought that I
have to have him with me for my life to go on. Maybe some of that’s true, I
don’t really know how my heart will go on without him as cheesy as that sounds,
but I’m way too young to throw the rest of my life away because I’ve lost the
person I love. God, I’m talking like he’s freaking dead and he’s not. He’s not
even a missing person, he’s just the person I’m missing. Maybe it is time to
come home and move on. I need to pull myself together. I just have to figure
out how to do that without Drake. I’ll call you when I’ve booked my flight.
Will you pick me up from the airport? I’m not ready to face my parents just
yet,” I ask.

“Anything for you, Morgie, you know that. Let me know when
to pick you up and I’ll be there,” Amanda says. As soon as I hang up, I go
online and book my one way ticket home. I spring for first class – I’ll need
the extra room and amenities that come with the price of the ticket for this
last leg home. One last little extravagance with a side of denial before I land
back in the States and get bitch slapped by reality.

I arrive back at my apartment late Thursday night. Amanda
offers to stay with me, but I thank her and tell her I need to be alone. By
Saturday I’m ready to face my parents and the decisions that I’ve made that no
doubt have disappointed them, so I bite the bullet and call my mom to invite
her to our usual Sunday brunch at the club.

Adrian

I have just gotten home from playing racket ball with an old
fraternity buddy when my phone starts ringing. To my surprise it’s Morgan’s
mother Lana calling. Her husband Jim leant Thompson Manufacturing some money
when my father’s health issues started and the company was in decline. Every
once in a while since then, Lana has called with different tasks she’s needed
me to do to repay the loan. I’ve told her each and every time that Thompson is
back on track and I’d be happy to repay Jim, but she seems to have her own
agenda. Truth be told I think she’s just a bored housewife that likes to use
people for her own amusement now that Morgan is out of the house and no longer
under her control.

“Lana, what a surprise…I wasn’t expecting your call,” I say.

“You never are, darling. Listen, there’s something I’d like
you do for me.”

“Now there’s where I’m not surprised. What kind of project
do you have lined up for me today?” I say with as much sarcasm in my voice as
possible.

“Oh stop with the tone, young man. You’re going to like this
one, trust me. Morgan has just gotten back into town from her “eat pray love
find her boyfriend journey of life” or whatever the hell you want to call it.
Anyway, she didn’t find what or whom she was looking for apparently and is now
broken hearted and unemployed.”

“And you want me to…” I already knew what she was asking. In
fact, this was already part of my plan to get Morgan back. Now I have Morgan’s
mom to give me advice on how to get her back. Plus, working on this “project”
for Lana will keep her off my back for a while too.

“I want you to give her a job, Adrian. You two belong
together, not Morgan and Drake. I raised my daughter to be with a clean cut,
well educated, social climbing corporate mogul. Not some ex-junkie sex addict.
Drake is lucky to have a father who is as wealthy as he is or that boy would be
dead by now. Can you imagine what people at the club will say once they find
out Morgan was ever with him? You need to fix this, Adrian. Morgan needs to be
on the arm of someone like you, and you need her just as badly. Thompson’s
public image still needs help after its decline over the past couple of years.
You have done a miraculous job getting it back on track and don’t forget the
contributions my husband has made to you to make that happen. Now is the time
to socialize. Get to know your investors. Having someone like Morgan on your
arm will help you get noticed by the right people.”

“Ah, so you want me to use your daughter.”

“You will only be helping her. She loved you once, Adrian, I
think she still does. Having the career she always wanted, and the love of a
man who will support her dreams will help her to flourish, and you to succeed.
Do this, and your debt to my husband will be forgiven – minus the shares you
already promised when Thompson goes public. Consider it an early engagement
gift.”

“I’m not quite sure what to say here, Lana…”

“There is nothing to say, Adrian, you don’t really have a
choice in the matter. I’m meeting Morgan at the club tomorrow morning for
brunch. I’ll plant the seed in her head that she needs to start looking for a
job and move on with her life. She’ll most likely be leaving between 11:30 and
11:45 depending on how long it takes for me to make her mad enough to storm
off. It’s her M.O. I want you to run into her on your way into the club and
somehow during your conversation either offer her the job, or offer her a
dinner date to talk about an offer you’d like to make her and give her the job
then.”

“Lady, you’re a little insane but I’m in,” I say, shaking my
head in disbelief that this woman could be so callous when speaking of her
daughter and controlling her future this way. I’m just glad that unlike some
other schmuck Lana may have thrown Morgan at for her own gain, I’m at least in
love with her.

“I didn’t doubt you would be darling. When you are done
speaking to Morgan tomorrow, come join me in the clubhouse and we will discuss
the plan further,” Lana says before ending the call.

I sit on my couch for a moment feeling more than stunned.
I’m not even sure why, actually. This is just the sort of thing Lana would do.
I know she loves her daughter but to use her like a pawn like that is insane.
I’m sure with a quick call to Jim Lane I could turn Lana’s offer down and get
her back for good, but seeing as I was already planning on doing the same thing
and Lana would just find someone else to get Morgan’s mind off Drake, I really
am the perfect person for the project. I guess I should just hold on tight from
here on out ‘cause I have an idea things are going to get pretty interesting.