Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (59 page)

Tanner had told her the night
before that he had to leave early. When Morgan knew that she would
be alone after Thursday morning, she thought that she might go to
Finland a day early to do some sightseeing before meeting her client
on Friday. It was a twenty-two hour trip, with a stop in Singapore,
but even if she was tired, she planned on at least an evening of
sightseeing before meeting Kai. A quick call to Julianne, and her
flight had been moved up to accommodate Morgan's wishes.

Chapter Three

As Morgan sat aboard the plane
to Finland, she took the time to think about the last few months of
her life. She'd grown more during that time than she felt she had in
her whole lifetime. All the lessons she'd learned, starting with the
first one Finlay had taught her.

Taking
a serious look back, Morgan was reminded of when she and Finlay had
laid awake all night talking. It was one of her favorite memories of
the man, but what he told her was front and center in her mind at
that moment. He had told her that he had figured her out. Not that
she agreed with him, but he said that she was someone who had just
grown up. She hadn't been raised, but just went through her years as
a child, then entered adulthood. In spite of it all, she ended up
with an immense love of life and that was what he loved about her. At
the time, she thought he had no clue what he was talking about. But
as she played the words over in her head that night, she realized
that he was right. She hadn't been raised, she just simply... grew
up.

Growing
pains, eh, Fin?
She'd
had a lot of those...too many to count. She'd learned lessons from
each of the men, but her most recent lesson, don't let yourself be
taken over by emotions.
Did she really love Tanner? Yes. Just
as much as she loved Finlay. Was she ready to say she loved him? Was
she ready to pop out tons of little tan Aussie babies and live a
happily ever after life? Of course not. She'd let her emotions take
over...instead of maturity. It was something she did often and it was
one of the hardest growing pains she'd have to get through.

She was an emotional girl, one
who had no problem expressing them when she felt they needed to be
expressed. Whether it be happiness, sadness, anger...they were always
worn on her sleeve for the world to see. That part wouldn't change,
she knew that. She told herself a long time ago that she'd never be
an emotionless robot. No, Morgan would still be who she is, she just
had to work on her judgment and not letting her high strong emotions
get the best of her.

Right before Tanner left, he'd
told her one of the first bits of advice she'd ever received from the
man.
Live like you mean it, Morgan.
She felt like she'd done
that, since meeting the sexy man from down under, but there was more
to it, she realized. She planned on taking Tanner's advice even
further, mixed with Angel's
be honest with them all
recipe and
put it to the test.

I'll be honest with all of
them. I'll live like I mean it. I won't be too quick to judge, but
not too safe either. I need to help people more, but I also need to
think about myself once in a while. My emotions...maybe I'll just
write that one down as 'think before I speak'...yeah, that's good.
I'll work on that.
How many times had she thought of the things
that they had taken the time to tell her? How many times had she
thought the exact things as she did right then? How many changes
would she have to make? She felt her face warm when one more thought
came to mind.
When will I meet someone that thinks I'm good
enough as I am?

That was her last
thought before closing her eyes and getting some rest before landing
in Helsinki.

*****

Morgan had arrived to Finland
around seven AM Thursday morning, and after napping at the hotel, she
was ready to get some lunch. She was thankful she'd gathered some of
her winter clothing from Tanner's home, and it had given her the
opportunity to drop off a few of her extra tank tops and shorts...at
least until things warmed up again.

After a long, warm shower, she
dug through her bag until she found a thin black sweater and a pair
of low rise blue jeans. She matched that with a pair of black high
heeled boots, along with a scarf, then finished off the look with her
thick furry coat. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to wear out,
since the coat didn't quite flatter her, but it was very cold out and
being warm while she got to where she was going was more important.

Morgan didn't feel like eating
at the hotel. What she wanted was the day to herself, since she
hadn't had any of those intended days in Australia, and going out for
a burger sounded like the perfect way to spend her afternoon. She got
into the taxi and asked the driver where the best burgers were and he
was quick to announce his favorite place.

“Take me there!”
Morgan sat back in her chair and took in the scenery around her.
Finland was a good choice, she thought as they drove down the
historic streets. It reminded her a lot like Scotland, Ireland, even
Wales.
At least I get to take my pictures.
She took her camera
out of her bag and snapped her first Finland picture of a park as
they passed by. Morgan especially liked the statue in the center as
it reminded her of the one in front of Finlay's home. The thought
left her mind as she paid the driver and started walking toward the
restaurant.

What is wrong with me?
She put her head down and put her camera away, sadness had taken hold
once again and she had no idea why. Morgan wondered if it were just
residual feelings from the ordeal with Tanner, but she was certain
that those feelings had been sorted. One thing she knew for certain,
she was glad that she had given herself an extra day of alone time
because there was no way she would meet her client while suffering
from some sort of depression.

“Angel.” He was
the only person that she could think of to help her shake the
wretched mood she was in, but her mood also told her that she had
asked him for help far too many times in the past. Morgan smiled
halfheartedly because she knew that he wouldn't mind, in fact, he
would be upset with her if he knew that she needed him and didn't
call. “Not this time, my Angel.”

She passed on the burger and
opted to spend some time in the park, even though her face was nearly
frozen by the time she made it to the center and sat down.
I try
so hard to do things right.
She pulled the scarf around the
lower half of her face and fought the sniffles that the icy wind had
brought on.
Always be prepared, Morgan. You need to mature,
Morgan. Live like you mean it, Morgan. Call Angel with every
problem you have, Morgan I knew you're weren't his girl, you're not
his type, Morgan..
She looked up to the ancient building across
from the park, then watched people take photos, laugh, and walk hand
in hand in front of her. “I'll take you as you are, Morgan.”
She spoke the words to herself as she shook off the tears. It was
much easier to do that time since her stomach had finally had enough
of a delay.

The cozy pub was much nicer on
the inside than it looked from the sidewalk. That, in itself, gave
it even more charm, and the burger was one of the best that she ever
had. Morgan devoured the large meal, even opting for an extra soda
when she was finished. A glass of wine sounded nice when she thought
of it, but her mood from earlier would return for sure if she added
alcohol to the mix, so soda would do just fine.

“What's a lovely American
girl doing here alone?” The older lady behind the bar had
leaned over so that Morgan could hear her from the small table she
was sitting in close by. Morgan looked up and smiled, falling in
love with her accent, and simply told her that she was on holiday.
“Alone? Ah, not something I could ever do! I wish I were more
like you, that's for sure!” The lady continued her loud
questioning, which brought a few surrounding people to the
conversation. Over the next fifteen minutes, the group had all
agreed that it took someone special to get on a plane alone and
travel across the globe. “And so beautiful, too! I'm afraid
my jealousy might take over if I keep talking to you.”
Everyone laughed at the older woman, and Morgan laughed with them.
It was nice to let go a little bit and enjoy their company, even if
it were just for a little while.

The cab ride back to her hotel
had been a bit different than her mood in the park. She smiled as
she thought of how an older woman, maybe even the one who owned the
pub, wished that she were more like Morgan.
I guess I do have
some strengths to be proud of.
On that note, she was determined
to call Angel when she got back to her room, only that time, it would
just be a call to talk to her friend, and not to ask for advice for
anything.

When she got into her room, she
turned up the thermostat and drew herself a hot bath. Even though
she'd just showered before leaving her room, something about soaking
in a tub always made things better. Morgan pulled her hair up into a
messy bun, grabbed her phone out of her jeans and stepped inside of
the sea of little bubbles.

Before sinking down into the
water, she pressed the number for her best friend, then put it on
speaker. “Sticky Buns!” His Portuguese accented voice
sounded loudly throughout the bathroom, a voice that, as always,
brought a smile to the young woman's face.

“How are you, my love?”

“I've been dying, waiting
to hear from you. It's been like eight fuckin' months, bitch!”

“Alright, Drama Queen,
it's been like a week, but I know...way too long. Things have been
INSANE!”

“And this is the part
when you tell me all about it,” he responded matter-of-factly.
Morgan planned to do just that. She told him everything As she
rattled off every detail about Vlad and Fuckin' Eee Von, the band,
the traveling, even meeting up with Alrik, it made her realize there
was a lot more good in her life than bad. Vlad had been incredible
and the time with him memorable. As she talked about him, she twirled
the music note around her wet wrist and smiled.

“Sounds like the vampire
put a spell on you, Sticky!” Morgan giggled and told him all of
her nicknames for the man, in which Angel replied that he could spy
on him any day. He then asked what she'd been doing the past week,
since she hadn't been talking to him.

Morgan thought about skipping
over the “I thought Tanner was dead” part, but then she
remembered, she wasn't calling him to seek advice. So she began,
“well, I went to Tanner's house when I left Russia. Remember
the key he gave me?”

“You saw the
motherfuckin' TanMan?”

“Well, he was out to sea,
but then on my first night there, I got a knock at the door saying
Tanner was dead...”

“Tanner's dead!? Oh sweet
Jesus, Sticky Buns! Oh no! Tanner's dead!”

“Angel, listen!”
Morgan sat up in the tub and hung her arms over the side so she could
speak louder into her phone. She skipped over all of the details and
just got to the main point, “no, it wasn't his boat.”

“Tanner's alive! Oh,
Sticky, that's great! Oh my God, I think you gave me a heart attack.
I was screaming, PoPo is screaming. GiGi threw a shoe at the both of
us. Baby, you can't do that to me!”

Morgan smiled remembering the
advice she'd given to herself on the plane.
Don't let your
emotions take over.
Angel was a prime example for that one.
“Anyway,” she continued, then went on to tell him that
they had a fantastic week together. He'd bought a stash of horror
movies that the two of them enjoyed over a few days of pizza. Then
they made burgers together and even went for a few breezy walks on
the beach. She'd enjoyed the sightseeing and the hand holding, but
especially the long talks and the cuddling.

Morgan did leave out the 'love'
part though. It was something she was still dealing with and even
though Angel was her best friend, she wasn't ready for anymore advice
for the moment. Angel asked where she was headed next and she was
happy to change the subject. “Well, I'm actually in Finland,
right now. When I went out with Vlad, we'd stopped at Finland but I
slept though it...so I wanted to see it.” She felt a little
silly for her justification, but it was a better reason than the one
she'd had for most of her choices. “His name is Kai. Oh, Angel,
you would love him!”

“Mhmm, well you tell Kite
that I'm busy!”

“Busy? What?”

“I've got a date for your
information, Boo Boo.” She could hear the snap of his fingers
and had to bring her bubbly hands to her mouth to stifle the giggles.

“A date!? Who!”

“His name is Antonio.
He's no Fin-lay-me-down, but he can buy me drinks,” Angel told
her and Morgan laughed at his idea for a good date. He promised to
tell her all about it, then he said he had to go and get ready. She
also told him to take a picture of his straightened hair and a
picture of his date. It made her giddy to think about her Angel going
on a date. When they hung up, Morgan sunk deep into the tub and hoped
for the best for her friend.
I hope he's a gentleman and treats
you right. And I hope he doesn't want to change you.