Back in Crestview

Back in Crestview
Morgan Daniels had the best time with Maila Shelton yesterday, so much so that, it made separating from the red-haired painful. They had spent the day laughing, getting to know each other whilst at the same time, being free, letting go of responsibility for the day and just enjoying themselves.

One could safely say that at the end of the day, Lea had gotten more obsessed with Maia Shelton. She was at her hip the entire day and even started calling her Aunt Maia. Maia’s face when Lea called her that was still engraved in Morgan's memory. But their fun-filled day came to an end when they had to part ways, as Lea’s little body was already exhausted from overplaying.

It was currently eight a.m. Saturday morning and Morgan, Eleanor and Lea were on their way back to the Crestview. They had gotten up as early as six a.m., packed the rest of their belonging and checked out. Eleanor drove Morgan and Lea to the cemetery so they could pay respects to Laiba and Jonah before leaving.

They had barely driven some kilometres when Lea complained she wanted to use the bathroom. This was the second time since they got on the highway, and Morgan couldn't ’t help but wonder. If the journey was already announcing itself like this when they were just thirty minutes into the highway, what will happen in the next four hours of driving?

Eleanor stopped at a refill station. She took Lea in to use the bathroom and in the process, got a few snacks and drinks from the convenience store, whilst Morgan Daniels stayed out for the refill since she was going to take over driving.

Morgan Daniels had finished with the refill and was now sitting in the car and browsing through her phone when Maia’s call came in. Immediately, the older woman's face lit up. Morgan called earlier before they left the hotel but it went to voicemail, so she understood that the red-haired was still tired from the fun-filled day they had yesterday.

“Hey” Morgan spoke into the phone, blushing like a sixteen-year-old having a massive crush on someone.

“Hey, I’m sorry I just got your voicemail. I slept off without charging my phone and my battery died down within the night”

“It’s alright,”

“How far gone are you guys?” she questions.

“Not too far. We stopped at the cemetery to say our goodbyes to Faiza and Jonah and now we are at a refill station. Well, I am. Eleanor and Lea went into the convenience store” Morgan Daniels explained, turning in time to see her best friend and daughter walk out of the convenience store, each of them with a big paper bag in hand.

“Alright. Drive safe” Maia concluded and the older woman replied with thanks before hanging up the call but immediately cursed at herself for hanging up without asking if things were okay between her and Janata, since Eleanor vehemently refused to give her details of her date yesterday unless they got to Crestview.

Morgan Daniels couldn’t wait until then. She would die of anticipation.

However, she couldn’t help but analyze things. Eleanor had gotten back yesterday looking neutral. There wasn’t a smile on her face, nor was there a pained nor saddened expression, making the process of guessing what happened during the date gruesome. They couldn’t help but think that Eleanor had done it intentionally, so she wouldn’t be able to read her expression.

Now, if she hadn’t been so quick to end the call, she would have asked Maia if Janata looked upset or if she looked pleased. Only then, will she know if the date went well?

“That’s a lot for a four-hour drive trip,” Morgan Daniels remarked as Eleanor opened the back door and placed what she got in the backseat, before helping Lea get tucked in.

“Oh, it’s not. Lea saw some of her favourite snacks and wanted some” Eleanor replied as she got in the front seat and was struggling to put on her seatbelt.

“Seriously Eleanor?” Morgan grumbled.

“What? They’re just snacks. Not like I bought her a mansion ” she defended with a shrug, making the older woman rolled her eyes.

“I don’t even know why I bother with you again” Morgan Daniels mumbled under her breath as she steamed the engine and drove off.



It was two in the afternoon when Morgan Daniels turned off the ignition of the car that was now parked in the garage of her two-story house. Lea was fast asleep in the back seat, so Morgan gave the house keys to Eleanor to take her inside, while she followed with the rest of their stuff.

It felt weird being back home. They were gone for only a week but it felt like a year, as the surroundings seemed somewhat strange. Morgan took out the paper bag of groceries and went in with them first, then walked back outside to take the luggage.

“Hi dear, welcome back” her neighbour, Mr Clusterfield greeted. He is a man in his late sixties, having blonde hair and the kindest eyes the older woman had ever seen. He also wanted Morgan to marry his son.

“Hi, Mr Clusterfield. Thank you” Morgan replied with a smile on her face before turning to Poppy, the Labrador Retriever breed of dog he had, and that Lea was absolutely obsessed with.

“Hi poppy” she waved at the door and she replied by barking at Morgan.

“Where’s Lea?” he asks. Poppy’s tail immediately wiggled from excitement at the mention of Lea’s name.

“She’s sleeping. The journey wore her out” she breathed out, taking out our luggage from the boot.

“Oh! She’s such a sweet little girl. Tell her poppy misses her once she’s awake” he says, as he slowly starts to walk away.

“Will do” Morgan called out, At the same time the front door to the house flew open to reveal Eleanor walking out.

“Is she still sleeping?”

“Yeah” Eleanor replies out of breath. “She’s gained a lot of weight” she adds, stretching out her arms.

"And who's fault is that?" Morgan questioned sarcastically, rolling their luggage into the house.

"Yeah, enough with your whining" replies Eleanor, unapologetic about her shenanigans with Lea.

Once Morgan had gotten everything inside, Eleanor lay on the couch, whilst the older stood behind the kitchen counter, putting away the leftover snacks from their trip. Once done, she took out two bottles of beer from the fridge, walked to the living area and handed one to Eleanor before taking a seat next to her.

"Thank you" Eleanor murmured, then proceeded to unscrew the cap of the bottle. There was a brief moment of silence between both girls, each one of them savouring the taste of cold beer.

"Is Mr Clusterfield still bugging you over marrying his son?" Eleanor broke the silence.

Morgan smiled. "These days, he seems to have taken a rest from it" she stated, looking briefly at her best friend. And it surprised her. The older man never missed the chance to talk about how great of a daughter-in-law Morgan will make.

"That's weird,"

"Right. I think so too" she joked and they burst into a fit of light laughter. There was a brief moment of silence between them before Morgan stared at Eleanor from the corner of her eye and said.

"So, are you going to tell me about your date? You've been having a poker face since you got back, making it difficult to guess" she finally spoke what had been on her mind. She brought the bottle to her lips whilst giving her a side glare.

"Yeah. You have to admit I deserve an award for keeping up with it for this long" there was a look of pride on Eleanor's face as she gloated, making Morgan roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Whatever, spill it out already" she cooed, getting impatient.

"Okay, okay" Eleanor took another sip of her beer before placing the bottle on the table. Then she faced her best friend, putting on her right leg on the couch.

"It went great. Of course, at first, I was worried she was going to cause a scene. You know, throw her drink at me, slap me, whatever could be used to draw attention to us. But when she spotted me, she kept to her drink as though I was irrelevant. Getting her to speak to me was a real hassle. But after she came around, we spoke" she explained while Morgan paid attentively, occasionally replying with an 'uhu'.

"And that was it" she concludes.

"That was it? You returned to the hotel later than me, so tell me more" Morgan argued. She refused to believe that was what they spoke about for ten hours.

"That's it, I promise. I didn't want to overdo it, so I left. After that, I just drove around town for a bit, trying to clear my head" she adds.

Morgan Daniels studied her suspiciously.

"Okay," Morgan shrugged, deciding not to push any further.

"So, what does that mean for you two?"

"I'm not sure. We did not talk about that. But for now, I'll just go with whatever works for her" she explains.

They were silent for a while. Morgan picked up her phone and sent a quick message to Maia, informing her that they were already home. Her reply came in immediately.

Maia: Is it weird that I miss you already?

Morgan smiled, her cheeks getting flushed.

Morgan: I mean yes.

The older woman teased. The bubbles appeared, indicating that she was typing, but soon, they quickly disappeared, and instead, an emoji came in. It was a sad emoji and a heartbreak emoji. Morgan's smile widened.

She began to type her reply when another message entered.

Maia: You don’t miss me?

This time, Morgan frowned.

Morgan: Of course I do baby. I was just pulling your legs.

She typed in, adding a kissy face emoji and several heart emojis before hitting the send button.

"Is that Maia?" Eleanor interrupted Morgan's conversation with Maia.

"Uh yeah," Morgan replied, her gaze never leaving her phone as she waited for Maia's reply.

"No wonder you look like an idiot" Eleanor teased and Morgan roll her eyes.

She gave Eleanor a death glare and that only made her laugh. Maia's message came in again and Morgan replied before closing jer phone.

"So, you said you had a solution concerning the lounge," she called out.

Eleanor pondered for a while before asking. "Do you want to take legal action?" she asks.

Now, it was Morgan's turn to think things thoroughly. Did she want to go through the tiring process of hiring a lawyer, going for hearings and any other complicated process? That wasn't even the main reason. Despite everything, she had to admit Terry handled her business as though it was hers. She did something she thought could be beneficial to both of them. And Morgan Daniels didn't think it's right to severely punish her for that.

"No, I don't want to go through that process" she explained.

"Okay. Then, the second option" she says.

"Which is?"

"Compensation. She'll have to compensate you" Eleanor stated.

Morgan Daniels liked this option better. Matter of fact, she even thought about it.

"Go on,"

"She'll have to reimburse the capital you invested. How much is it by the way?"

Morgan could only smile. That amount will be too high for Terry to reimburse.

"A little over a hundred grand" Eleanor gasped at Morgan's reply. She knew Terry would have that same reaction.

"That's a lot,"

"Yeah"

"Well, what will you do about it? Do you think she'll be able to compensate you?" Eleanor questioned.

Morgan pondered again. Will Terry be able to reimburse a hundred grand? Of course, she didn't have that kind of money. If she did, she wouldn't have taken money from the lounge for her personal business. Morgan couldn't give Eleanor or herself a proper response. She needed to think things thoroughly before making a final decision.

"I'm not sure yet. I'll think about it"

Eleanor picked up her bottle of beer that was long forgotten and drank the last of it.

"Well, while you think over it, I'm going to take a shower and get a well-deserved nap" She states, already getting up from the couch.

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