Morningstar Manor

Monday morning. Kids were back in school, people back to work, and at this time the major morning rush had already come and gone leaving the Mocha relatively quiet.

Deacon had dropped Nia off at the daycare and was enjoying a coffee and muffin. He'd texted Charlie as he walked across the lobby. Bfast in Mocha?

***

Seth was in the Mocha too and he'd waved to Deacon when he spotted him but didn't go to join him. He was sketching away in his book, sipping coffee, and bopping about in his seat as he listened to this music coming through his headphones.

***

Gabe was stretched out on one of the couches, coffee in one hand and phone pressed to his ear in the other. "Darling I know I wasn't there but honestly - what where you thinking? It was the Emmy's! You could have at least gone to Angels. I mean I might not be there but my people are good. Cuz honey - your hair..."

***

Demitri was up early. He didn't have a class until later this afternoon. And though he no longer ran the Mocha he liked to see that it was doing well. He sat by the window, looking out at the street and the people going by and thinking on the things that had happened in the past few months. And smiled softly.

***

Max and Micah sat at another table, both drinking coffee and looking through the paper.

Some mornings were just to nice to stay inside. This morning was one of them. With the weather warming nicely they decided that once breakfast was done it was time for a bit of play in the gardens. Coffees in hand (and some apple juice for Nia) Deacon and Charlie and Nia headed down to the gardens and soon enough were sitting on a bench watching Nia chase butterflies and occassionally playing catch with the ball they'd brought down.

It was a lovely way to start the day.

Isabella didn't own any dresses, but she figured she wouldn't be needing them for a simple coffee date anyway.

Well, not simple. Not with company like Micah.

So when she showed up at his book store she was wearing a pretty yellow corset-style top with flowers printed on it and a pair of low rise skinny jeans with strappy cork platform sandals. 

"Hey you," she said when she spotted him. "I've come for coffee."

Micah Grey had taken a late lunch and was only just now getting back. Nevermore Books - named after his favorite Poe tale - was fairly new to Vine Square but had been doing okay for all that. The bookstore was like any good bookstore should be: small, dim and musty with books stretching up to the ceiling and going all the way to the back of the narrow storefront. Well most of the way back anyway. There was a wall eventually with a doorway closed off by a curtain that lead to the stores in the back.

Micah turned the 'Closed' sign to 'Open' on the door, unlocked it, and went back to his spot at the desk, slipping his wire rimmed glasses on and beginning to go through the stack of books that had been delivered earlier that day.

Isabella had stayed home from work today after a bout of vomiting had woken her up instead of her alarm. She hated to see morning sickness return with such a vengance, and she thought a little extra sleep would do her good. She still had to talk to Micah about the Ylva situation, but she just didn't have the energy. So, she crawled back in bed with him and let herself doze.

She woke up a few hours later and something just wasn't - right. Her hands were swollen, she felt so dizzy she could barely focus her eyes and her stomach cramped painfully. "Micah?" she called as she struggled to sit up. When she did she noticed the blood on the sheets beneath her hips. Her heart dropped and panic swelled thick in her throat.

"MICAH!"

Micah's call hadn't been unexpected but it had been poorly timed. Ylva had needed some time to herself and had taken a bus to Cleveland and then had flown to Stockholm for a week to enjoy some time with her relatives. She had returned early on Sunday morning and was trying to get unjet-lagged by staying awake as long as possible.

So that is why she was yawning and having another cup of coffee as she waited for Micah to arrive. This mall really was a bit down market. She shouldn't see anyone she knew.

Isabella sat curled up on the couch, already dressed in her nightie for bed as she waited on Micah to come home.
She wasn't looking forward to this discussion. Her father had crossed the line, and she hoped Micah didn't freak out too much when she told him.

The Mocha was jumping today and many Manor regulars were out and about.

Deacon sat at a table reading over an email Seth had sent to him. It spoke of collars and other alternatives to them and had gotten Deacon thinking. But when Nia insisted on climbing into his lap he closed the email and instead opened up the video player to one of her Winnie the Pooh shows. He'd have to take her to daycare soon so that he could go to the dojo but until then they had a bit of time. So she sat happily in his lap, munching on a cookie and watching Pooh Bear and Deacon sipped his coffee and smiled down at her curly head.

****

Erik had been on the phone when he'd first arrived in the Mocha - speaking to his estate agent and working out everything that would need to be done before he and Angela returned home. Moving everything from their flat here back to Norfolk was a daunting task and so when that call ended - and he'd gotten his tea and found a table - he took a moment to simply sit. He'd had a bit of time before the next call needed to be made.

****

Micah sat in one of the chairs near the Mocha door, sipping his coffee and staring at nothing in particular. He was still furious with Robert Rossi's assumption that he could be bought off like that and hadn't yet said anything to Isabella about it. He'd need to though and likely soon. He'd also need to tell Max about the baby. That was a conversation he wasn't looking forward to.

****

Across the room at at a table Max was reading a paper and enjoying coffee and a bagel before it was time to head to work. Something was up with Micah, he knew, and he'd give it a bit more time before pressing the issue. Then there was the matter of Sterrin and her ex. Granted Max hadn't seen anymore of the man he'd sent to the ER but the fight had obviously caused a riff between Sterrin and her brother - something Max wasn't pleased with.

He sighed and turned a page in the newspaper. Relationships could be such a bother.

****

Rhys was back in the Mocha as well, dressed for work in slacks, a button up and a tie that hung a bit loose around his neck. A duffle bag with a change of clothes and his scrubs sat at his feet and he munched on his bagel and drank his coffee and mentally prepared for his shift.

Micah was early. He wanted to check the place out before Rossi got there. Eventually he got his coffee and sat down at a table.

And waited.

"Mr. Grey, this is Robert Rossi. We have things to discuss. Call me back at this number and we'll set up a time."

Anastasia sat at a table shifting through her sketch book with a wrinkle between her brows. Her sketchbook was full of small, intricate paintings that once again, she didn't remember doing. What the hell was going on?

Niles sat sprawled out on a couch, fiddling with his new iPhone and writing a happy song on the iPhone's piano app. Things were good. So good, in fact, that he didn't even notice the pretty, but sad looking blonde woman that flickered in and out of sight beside him.

Isabella sat at a table staring at a slip of paper in front of her. It was a prescription for prenatal vitamins handed to her by her doctor this morning when she'd gone to confirm that the three pregnancy tests she'd taken on her lunch break Monday morning weren't lying.
She was pregnant. She didn't think she'd be a good mother. How could she bring a baby into her life where there would be so many people, like her father and Max, to protect it from?
But oh, a baby. Micah's baby. Smiling just a little, she put a hand on her stomach and tried to figure out how she was going to tell him.

Smith stood in line, staring at the back of someone's head that was in front of him. Man, he really didn't like that guy. It probably even showed on his face, not that he gave a shit.

Bea sat at a table with her laptop open in front of her, composing a blog for her website. She'd made her website more interactive and started blogging, which seemed to be going over well with her fans. There were some bizarre ones, but weren't there always?

Declan sat at a corner table on his phone, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Well, I can't crap out a deal for him, Mike. Tell him to call back after lunch and I'll give it a try." He hung up, but smiled to himself. He was still in too good of a mood from last night.

Olivia sat on one of the couches, idly flipping through a tabloid. Things were so different from the times when she'd been in these things constantly, she realized. That was a good thing, though.

Sterrin stood in line, ignoring everything around her as she shifted through some pictures on her phone. She hoped she never lost this anywhere, or at least hoped that with all of technology's advances they'd invent a self-destroy option for the phone soon for when people did.

Drew was in line as well, and he could feel eyes on the back of his head. When he turned around, he saw Laura's serial killer looking boyfriend giving him a stare down. He faced the front again and sighed internally. Awesome.

Kate sat at a table sipping cofffee and countng the chocolate chips in her cookie. This was supposed to be a double chocolate chip cookie, but it seemed average to her. "False advertising," she muttered to herself with a frown.

Rhiannon sat at a table with Harvey who'd decided he was going to wear an Optimus Prime helmet all day. He pushed it up just far enough to take a bite of his cookie and Rhiannon smiled as she flipped through a magazine, attempting to think of an idea as to what to fix for dinner tonight since her boyfriend was coming over. Boyfriend. It still made her feel a little giddy.

Isabella had taken today off because she knew Micah was going to be off and they had things they needed to talk about now that she wasn't wallowing in grief so much anymore. She had to think seriously about her father's request and see what Micah would be willing to do or not do about it.
She went down to the foundry market to pick up breakfast and arranged it on a tray to bring to him in bed. It was always better to approach him with an idea she wasn't sure he'd like when he had a full stomach.
She sat the tray down on a bedside table and crawled in bed with him, sliding over to straddle his hips and pressed a kiss to his shoulder.

"Morning, handsome. Are you hungry?"

He'd been with Max when he'd gotten the message. They were getting ready to go to a meeting but Micah had looked at his phone and then at Max.

"Boss - please..."

Max had read the text message then looked at Micah a moment.

"Go," he'd said and turned away and Micah had dashed for the car.

It had only taken a few minutes to get home.

"Isabella?" he called, coming into the apartment and shutting the door quickly. He headed for the bedroom, shrugging out of his jacket and letting it fall to the floor when he saw her in the bed. "Oh, baby, I'm so sorry," he said, crawling into the bed with her and wrapping his arms around her.

Isabella was pretty sure that Micah had managed to beat her home tonight. She'd been visiting her mother all day, something that was entirely depressing, and had to attend a late Christmas party for a client. It'd had an open bar and Isabella had put it to use.
Now she made her way into her apartment in one piece, thanks to Daphne driving her home, and was trying to be quiet and not wake Micah.
The fact that her heel caught in a rug and sent her tumbling into a side table, something that she thought was outrageously funny, didn't help.

After going to her lunch meeting, Isabella came home to see if Micah was up and about yet. He'd worked well into the morning hours, the poor baby, and she'd brought him coffee to see if that would help at all.
The apartment was quiet and there was a large, Micah-sized lump in the bed, so she climbed into the bed with him and lay herself along his back, pressing a kiss to his shoulder.
"Hey," she murmured quietly, just to see if he was awake.

Isabella was enjoying her first real holiday with Micah. He'd gotten the day off because the club was closed and apparently even Max was too busy on Thanksgiving to require him for any of his 'other' services. So Isabella had gotten up early and  had their dinner catered in since she loved Micah far too much to make him suffer through her attempt at cooking a turkey. They'd had their meal at lunch and packed up the rest to bring to her mother who would no doubt be alone since her father had to spend the holidays with his 'real' family.

She was in a worse mood when she came home then she had been when she left, and she was trying to change that before she walked in the door. She didn't want to be grumpy with Micah when he was one of the few people/things that wasn't making her angry right at the moment and she'd always preached about leaving your work at work when you went home.
Sighing, she walked inside her apartment and unbuttoned her coat.

Jimmy arrived at the club in good time. They were expecting some deliveries and it was always wise to have one of the management team available just in case someone needed sorting out.

But first things first.

"Coffee," he said as he passed a bunch of the girls and grinned to see Yolanda get up to fetch it for him. She was looking good, if a little more twitchy than usual and Jimmy regretted that Max was showing an interest. But he doubted it would last long - just until he got bored - and then Jimmy could take on the left overs. she might even be grateful.

She brought the coffee, and a pack of cookies earning points for initiative, then Jimmy took both through the club to the storage areas to over see the delivery of booze. Later oother goods would be coming in to the annexe, but for now he was quite content to count boxes of Malibu and Navy rum.

Hi,

Just thought I ought to mention that it's Isabella's birthday on Friday. Just in case she hasn't already mentioned it.

Cheers,

Del Avilar

Kara yawned as she entered the Mocha. Dressed comfy and warm today in a pair of worn jeans and a men's plaid flannel shirt - though she couldn't remember where she got it, old boyfriend, one of her brothers, or maybe Niles? - and a pair of ratty and ancient Converse sneakers, she wasn't exactly all feminine but she made it look good anyway. The necklace Niles had given her hung round her neck, as it always did, and the shirt was unbuttoned enough to show it and a bit of cleavage off.

Things had picked up at the Lamb since she'd gotten that new tea in and she had to admit, it wasn't half bad. She still stuck mainly to coffee though. This morning, for once, there were no deliveries to be made and she had people covering the lunch shift. Which was good. Kara needed to catch up on her laundry and grocery shopping for one.

But first, coffee.

****

Loki was already in the Mocha, draped over an arm chair and sipping one of the new Chai lattes. One sip and he'd laughed, tasting what the rest of the people were getting so hooked on. It was probably good for the rest of the world that those such as Loki weren't affected by it. He had a shift at the gallery later but for now was in his usual black - skinny black jeans and a black thermal shirt this time, a rosary dangling round his neck.

A new week. What trouble should he get into this time?

****

Micah was up early today. There were a few 'errands' he needed to run for Max, then he'd have time for lunch - hopefully with Isabella - and then the club that evening. It was jeans and security shirt at the club tonight and since the errands this morning didn't require a suit Micah had put on jeans, black Doc Martins, and a tight black t-shirt. His leather jacket at the moment was draped over the back of a chair and he was drinking his coffee and checking emails via his iPhone.

Lots to do but for a Monday he was in a good mood.