Sleepover

Sleepover
Nothing has changed over the years. The way Morgan Daniels felt for Maia Shelton had not changed, neither did the way she sucked on her bottom lip whilst she was asleep, nor the way she murmurs uncomprehensive words in her sleep, the way her brows crest in when she's having a bad dream and the way she smiled whenever she dreams of something pleasant.

In my mind, Morgan could already see what will happen next. She will stretch, slowly opens her eyes and whine about how her staring woke her up. Then Morgan would smile, kiss her forehead and ask her what she missed while she was sleeping. Then, they'd spend the next hour making out in bed. Then Maia disappeared into the bathroom and emerge smelling like lavender.

Or, when Morgan will wake up and frown at the empty cold spot beside her, but her frown will be replaced with a smile once she walked into the living room to find Maia humming and swivelling her hips as she cooked breakfast.

But of course, that only happened in her mind because when Maia opened her eyes, she had a frown on her face as she tried to take in her surroundings. She stood up with a gasp, using the duvet as a shield to cover her naked body.

However, when her gaze landed on Morgan, she seem to relax. The scared look in her eyes was replaced with something Morgan dared not think out loud.

"Hey," Morgan greeted, sitting up Indian style

"Why am I here?" Maia asked, bringing the cover closer to her body.

Her question caused an unexplainable ache in Morgan's chest. It sounded like she didn't want to be here like she was repulsed at the thought of being close to Morgan. The older woman braced herself and answered her question.

"You were wasted last night and I couldn't let you leave in that state, and I didn't know the hotel you were staying at so I brought you here instead"

The door to Morgan's room flew open and her seven-year-old daughter came running to her and jumped on her bed.

"Hi mummy, I want pancake for breakfast" she gushed, not noticing Maia in the corner of the bed, struggling to her bare shoulders with the comforter.

"Whatever you want my little monkey,"

"Hi, mommy's friend" she turns to Maia, making Morgan's jaw drop. The little girl had waltzed in and pretended not to have seen Maia in bed whereas she had and just wanted to pass her message along.

"Hi, Lea" Maia forced out an awkward greeting.

"Mummy, did you have a sleepover with Maia like you do with Nanny Charlotte," Lea asks innocently.

This couldn't get any more awkward. Maia's eyes grew wide. Right now, Morgan wanted the earth to open up and swallow her. She knew what was going through Maia's mind, and while it was true, she didn't need her daughter throwing her under the bus.

"Uh... it's not the same thing monkey" Morgan answered awkwardly, scratching the back of her head and not knowing a better way to explain it.

"Okay," she says with a shrug, dashing out of my room as if she hadn't just put me in an uncomfortable situation.

"It's not-"

"I should go" But Maia cut her off before she could finish her sentence, already dashing off into her bathroom.

Way to go Lea, way to go, I murmur to myself as I fell back in bed.



"Mummy, when will aunt Eleanor be back?" little Lea had just stuffed her face with pancakes when she suddenly missed Eleanor.

"I don't know little monkey, you'll have to ask her," Morgan replied, flipping a pancake on a plate she had kept aside for Maia.

"Did I upset your friend Mummy?"

She was being quite inquisitive today.

"No baby, she's just tired is all," Morgan replied, hoping that that will be the last of questions.

Morgan hasn't told her daughter she liked women, although the little one caught her Nanny Charlotte and her several times in awkward situations. Morgan was worried she wouldn't have the right answers to give her once she starts asking questions.

"Mummy look, it's your friend" Lea called out, taking Morgan off her trance. Her gaze shifts to the direction of Lea’s pointer. Maia stood on the stairs, looking torn.

"I set aside a plate for you"

In the past, Maia Shelton would have told her that. That she set aside a plate for her.

"Actually, I should be on my way," Morgan Daniels couldn't help the dejected look on her face as those sharp words rolled off Maia's lips.

"You'll be alone in your hotel room. Janata is with Resha" Morgan spoke, hoping to convince her so she could stay longer.

Maia Shelton hesitated, looking between the door and Morgan, whilst her seven-year-old sat clueless about what was happening.

"Okay," she says, throwing her clutch on the sofa before making her way over to them. Once she was seated, Morgan slide the plate she had set aside for her.

"Coffee or juice?" Usually, Maia would take an orange juice but things may have changed over the years.

"Coffee, thank you," she says, at once digging into her meal.

"Mummy, why can't I have coffee like Maia?" Lea asks innocently.

"Because Coffee is for grown-ups" she replied, pulling a chair and sitting on it, wasting no time digging into her pancake.

"When I'll be a grown-up, I will drink coffee all the time. It smells delicious"

Silence filled the room as they ate, with Morgan occasionally stealing glances at Maia who will sometimes play with her food. She looked like she had a lot on her mind but Morgan had an idea.

"Mummy, I'm going to play in my room" Lea announced and before the older woman could even reply, she had disappeared upstairs.

Now, it was just Morgan and Maia, eating in silence, which wasn't so silent asides from the cranking of forks and knives, the gaze she was occasionally giving Morga said a lot of things.

"Nothing happened last night"

"What?" she asks, confusion written all over her face.

"I said, nothing happened last night. Isn't that what you're worried about?"

"Oh uh, that's not it-" she pauses. "How come I was naked in your bed? and why didn't I go with Janata to Resha's," she asks.

Morgan Daniels. The fact that she looked disgruntled over sleeping in the same bed with her, the fact that she looked torn, wondering if something had happened between them last night. Although the older woman knew she didn't have the right to feel that way because she did fucked things up between them, it didn't stop the ache. It didn't stop the cramping in her chest.

"Nothing happened between us Maiaa and you didn't go with Resha because you didn't want to. Once I'd succeeded in putting you in my car, you passed out, leaving no room for Janata so Resha offered to take her" Morgan explained with annoyance in her voice as she picked up Lea's empty plate and walked with it to the sink.

"And why was I naked?"

"I took them off after you puked all over them"

Maia sighed. "Don’t be upset, Morgan. I have to ask these to make sure I didn't fuck things up"

"I am not upset. Just hurt" Morgan Daniels, exasperated, through the glass Lea used in the sink, then turned and face Maia with the same expression. Maia Shelton looked at her as though she couldn't believe what the older woman had just said.

"You're hurt? That's rich coming from you Morgan" she says with amusement in her voice.

“What is that supposed to mean,”

“You saying you’re hurt when I was the one who got cheated on,” she says, dropping her cutleries.

“You said you had forgiven me and it was all in the past”

“Of course not. I haven’t forgiven you, Morgan. You were unable to forgive your brother when he cheated on you with your girlfriend and I know you still haven’t forgiven him as we speak” Maia expressed above pitch and Morgan feared that their growing argument will alert her daughter.

"So why did you say you forgave me?"

"Because-"

“And don't compare our situation to Roi and Julie, that's different Maia, and you know it” she was comparing things that had nothing to do with each other. Roi and Julie two-timed Morgan for a year. What happened with Ace was just a curious mistake.

“It’s the same thing, Morgan. You cheated on me, with your employee who turns out to have a dick. You did to me what you said you loathe so don’t expect me to forgive you that easily. I trusted you, Morgan, with my life and you hurt me, how do you expect me to forgive that so easily?"

As Maia spoke, Morgan Daniels realized she had fucked up her chances with her. She realized she would never be able to gain back her trust. She realized Maia may never be able to forgive her and as painful as it is, she realized she had to let her go.

"You shouldn't have said you had forgiven me. I know I fucked things up, I... I" Morgan didn't know what to say. She had already said everything. Her eyes became glossy with tears and it was out of the question for Maia to see that her words hurt.

“Okay. I’m gonna go call you an uber” Morgan spoke with pain in her voice as she left the back counter, her head down, trying to hide her face to prevent Maia from the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks, but that went down the drain when she spotted her seven-year-old standing on the stairs with a sad expression on her face.

“Mummy, are you crying?” she asks with concern in her voice.

Morgan Daniels was about to answer when she heard the front door slam. She turned, to find the spot where Maia sat a few seconds ago empty. She let out a sigh before turning to Lea, stooping down to her level and saying “No baby, mummy just has dirt in her eyes”

“Did you fight with Maia?” she inquired again.

Lea was smart, she could tell something had just gone down between her mother and her friend. Lying to her will just piss her off. So Morgan took in a deep and tried to explain things to her without telling her much.

“Uh yes, baby. But it’s just because mummy did something bad and hurt her friend”

“What did you do mummy,” Lea was relentless. This is where it got tricky. How does she explain to her daughter that she cheated on the woman she swore to love?

“It's adult stuff, baby,”

Lea studied her mom before shrugging. “Did you apologize?”

Morgan was about to answer when she cut me off “Because I like Maia and I want to be her friend. So you better apologise to her and fix it” the little girl spoke with an attitude and then flipped her hair at her mom as she walked away.

Okay! Now even her seven-year-old seems to be upset with her.

Morgan stood up, walked to the sofa and sat. She took out her phone and decided to call Eleanor to find out if she landed safely. She had taken an emergency flight back up Nord after they bumped into Maia and Janata at the food pub downtown. Apparently, there was something that urgently needed her attention at the hotel. Morgan dialled her number and it went to voicemail so she understood she was either in a meeting or she was still in the air.

Morgan didn’t know what to do to occupy herself so she called Terry to ask for updates on the lounge in Middenhall.

Morgan already knew her reply. It was a ritual she'd heard so many times coming from Terry and the truth, she was worried. The older woman found it hard to believe that Terry didn't face any challenges in managing the club.

When Morgan called and got no response, she couldn’t help but be worried. She decided she will try again later, and if she still can’t get to her, she will have Resha contact her. That was the most she could do before taking any rash decisions.

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