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.

Anastasia was the first one in the Mocha that morning. She hadn't slept well last night, and now she was slowly nursing her second cup of coffee, attempting to wake herself up. Fir the first time ever, she was strongly considering getting a hobby that didn't involve art in some way, shape or form.

Isabella was sitting in the lobby in a gray dress, reading over the newspaper as she waited for the car that her client was sending to pick her up to arrive. It wasn't anything new. In fact, it'd become sort of customary on these initial meetings that her client attempt to subconsciously show off the sort of money they had to throw around. Despite all that, she was starting to despise these initial meetings more and more, simply because she didn't really know the people she was going to meet. 

Olivia had been sitting in the Mocha, but when her cell phone rang and she saw her father's number, she'd decided to move herself out into the gardens where there was less opportunity for eavesdroppers. Billy had gotten in trouble in rehab again, because establishments like that tended to look down on their patients being in possession of a few eight balls of cocaine and a prescription bottle of Oxycontin that wasn't theirs. Her father seemed to bounce back and forth between being pig-headedly hard on Billy and giving him everything he wanted. Right then he was in a 'give him everything' mood and spent fifteen minutes rationalizing why Billy was stealing other people's pain pills. Olivia sat down on the bench after she hung up and ran a hand over her face and strongly considered taking up smoking.

Sterrin was laying on her stomach on a large beach towel in the garden a good ways away from the usual garden activities. She was wearing a blue and white bikini, and beside her on the ground was a bottle of water and a pair of big silver sunglasses. Life right now was extra boring since she'd gotten Micah as a babysitter any time she left the Manor and when she'd managed to elude him, Declan had been right there waiting. She got the worry, she really did. She' just didn't like feeling - caged.

Kate was in the library standing on a stool and fighting off the shivers that kept shooting up and down her spine. It was a wonderful library. So many interesting books! However it was mostly empty. When a second shiver shot up her spine and she turned around to see who was watching her and found no one there, she had to wonder if that feeling might be the reason why.

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 was in Sanctuary Tuesday night with a bunch of her girls  wearing a peach dress, strappy heels, and so drunk that she was contemplating taking up smoking. She was having an amazing time, though, which was all thanks to the chemical alteration of alcohol, but that was okay. A good time was a good time, right? And she needed a good time right now like she needed nothing else. Thankfully she was a pretty classy drunk, so if tales of her shenanigans reached Micah he wouldn't have to be embarassed.

***

Seamus stood at the bar in the Lamb, leaning over a bit as a regular named Mac told him all about how is ex wife used to pose naked for him.

"I gots a whole calendar a nothin' but her titties, son. That was back in the day when titties were nice and real." He cupped his hands in the air to demonstrate, to which Seamus earnestly nodded.

"Fuckin' A," he said, looking impressed. "Did ya hear that?" he asked the guy sitting next to Mac. "A whole bloody calendar of World War II era tits. They should put that shit in a museum or somethin'."

***

Kate sat in the mocha with a pair of black framed reading glasses perched on her nose while she glared at her lap top. All the work she did last week, all the research concerning cancer, was being discarded for another project to cure FRECKLES.

FRECKLES.

He had been shocked when he had heard the maids gossiping about what had happened. Ms Rossi and Mr Grey weren't people he knew to speak to but they were part of the Manor village and so deserving of care and concern. Even if Mr Grey had made a spirited attempt to punch Deacon's face in that could be forgotten in the face of such a tragedy.

Maid gossip progressed to TA discussion and Charlie volunteered to do what was necessary. So as soon as he heard that Ms Rossi was out of danger and safely home again he went up to the tenth floor with a large bouquet of spring flowers and a card signed by all the available staff.

He knocked on the door tilting his head to listen for signs of occupation. Surely she wouldn't be there all alone?

Ylva couldn't have been more shocked when she had got the frantic phone call from Daphne and had spent the day at De Rossi fielding enquiries from other anxious staff members though at that point she hadn't known much more than they had.

Then had come to terrible news and Ylva had passed it on to the ones she judged really cared and made a hasty substitution in the case of one pretty girl for whom Isabella's loss was too sharp a reminder of her own a year or two before.

This afternoon she had called to check on progress and had accepted the gentle rebuff philosophically. She wasn't family so had no right to information. However, she could visit.

The waiting area outside Isabella's private room was very palatial. Ylva watched the nurse go into the room and listened to the soft voices beyond the door.

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!"

"I can't believe he did that," Ylva said as he fingers danced through the filing system , slotting dockets and receipts into the correct folders. "All night - did he really expect you to believe that?"

She giggled and glanced across at Isabella who was working at her desktop and looking, truth to tell, a little peaky. But at least she had stopped that awful nausea.

Isabella sat at a table in the Mocha wearing a black dress and sorting through a stack of mail. The Mocha was unusually subdued and understandably so. She'd taken the day off for a doctor's appointment, but the doctor had cancelled at the last minute due to a family emergency. Not a huge deal, but Isabella was still taking the day off as a break from the non-stop working she'd been doing since Del left. 
She paused when she came to a package from Daphne and wondered why she just hadn't given it to her at the office. She opened it, and inside was a gender neutral pack of soft baby bibs. One in the shape of a duck head, one white with yellow ducks printed all over it, and the last one featured a duck splashing in the water that said "Cute and messy, just like my daddy." 

Isabella couldn't help it - she laughed. Loud. 

******

Drew stood in line still in his blue scrubs, waiting patiently though that was mostly because he felt half dead. He'd gotten maybe six hours of sleep since the disaster on Saturday night, and he felt like shit. It had been a busy week for him anyway, but in addition to his scheduled surgeries he'd volunteered to help tend the injured Manor residents. Now, seventy-two hours, a million cups of coffee and two quick break-room naps later, he was ready to solid pass the hell out for the next eighteen hours until he had to go back to work. 
Well, after one more cup of coffee, that was.

The office door looked good quality and the lettering was discreet. Ylva nodded approvingly and opened the door and stepped inside.

"Good afternoon," she said, making herself sound even more east of mid-Atlantic than normal. She smiled to the woman at the desk. "I'm Sylvia Sands. I believe I have an appointment to see Miss Rossi."

Isabella knew that she should be taking the man sitting across from her seriously. He was Peter, her father's second in command, and she'd always liked him. He was giving her a very serious warning about her father being very upset with her and how that could inevitably spell bad business, but all Isabella could think about was the overwhelming smell of his cologne and how desperately it made her want to vomit. She'd smelled it on him before and it'd never bothered her, but apparently a hound's nose came along with being pregnant. Morning sickness. FHL.

All Del's unwanted possessions had been packed away and he was left with one smallish bag, his wallet and his phone. Where they were going clothes would be optional and if Eris decided to take a trip to warm up Anchorage they were in sufficient funds to buy what they needed when they got there.

He got a last coffee and seated himself in his favourite seat in the Mocha to wait for his lady.

###

Gil was grabbing some quiet time in the library with a heap of recipe books and one of the computers. While the printer churred and chugged and spat out nice new inventory lists he leafed through the books wincing at the over coloured pictures and occasionally snorting at the recipes.

But sometimes he nodded and scribbled in a dog eared notebook. You could always learn something new.

###

Charlie was in the conservatory with a pile of printed off pictures and a pair of scissors. If anyone passed he went very still, trying not to attract attention. He was good at that - still hadn't lost the knack of self-effacement he'd found so necessary when he arrived.

But this time it wasn't because he was scared of the world and everything in it. It was because the pictures he was so carefully cutting out were of handsome, smiling and mostly naked young men and were destined for a very special project he had in mind.

He just didn't want to give offence.

###

Andy read a novel with a sense of utter luxury and sipped a latte from time to time without much enjoyment. Her doctor had impressed upon her that double shot espresso could be overly stimulating, in fact addictive and that she really wouldn't want a new born that was going cold turkey.

She turned another page, read a bit, and snickered. Harlequin Historicals. Priceless. And hardly stimulating anything at all, other than her funny bone.

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.

Robert Rossi walked into his daughter's office like he owned the place because, well in his mind, he did mostly. Driven by anger and frustration, he didn't slow to take in his surroundings. The news had reached him this morning from one of his contacts in the city and he had to talk to Isabella now and hopefully make her see reason before the situation was beyond fixing.

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.

Jackson and Evans had booked leave at the same time. This happened in even the best regulated offices. When one man said his vacation was end of February and the other said his was first week of March it sometimes took a while to catch on that those dates included a common weekend. So they had drawn straws who would cover the Saturday night and Vincenzo, fuming, had picked the wrong one. It didn't help that he also had the Saturday afternoon shift as well.

But coffee would keep him going. Lots of coffee.

He stood in the queue and waited his turn, thinking about what he had planned for Emily tomorrow.

###

Fin had a book and some coffee and no commitments at all - which meant he was on edge and unhappy. He was a man who dearly loved a dead line. Also he had just had a very disturbing encounter with Andy Andrassy. He didn't dislike women in general but some were scary and she was just plain terrifying.

Lots of coffee was what he needed too.

###

Another man with a book was Leo Beck, reading through that years edition of the writer's handbook with a slightly bemused expression on his face. Occasionally he reached out and stirred his tea - which was getting cold.

###

Allan was garnering evil looks from the barista because he had been struck with a brilliant idea for a sculpture and to help the thought process was constructing a maquette out of pipecleaners and damp napkins. He always thought better if he had something to do with his hands.

###

Gil had nothing at all to do for the moment - not even a paper to read - and was enjoying the comparative silence before he had to go to work. Not that he disliked his job - he loved it - but a few moments calm before the madness was to be relished.

###

Del was less happy. He had worked last night, had a thick head, and suspected that Eris was making her mind up to move on. He'd go, of course - if she asked him to.

If.

He sipped his latte and wondered what he'd do if she didn't.

###

Charlie glowed happily as he sat in the corner and drew. Deacon was watching the sport, Nia was having tea with Aunty Andy and Unka Ekka - he snickered every time she called Erik that, and Charlie could feel the gentle pressure of his little collar under the fold of the scarf swathing his neck.

He smiled across the Mocha, his pencil moving with confident strokes, and drew anyone who crossed his line of sight.

Into the Mocha they went and Kris looked around, seeing a few of the gorgeous faces and bodies he had hoped to see, and he cleared his throat and tapped on a table to attract their attention.

"Um - ladies, gentlemen," he said, "we are in - frankly - awful trouble and are hoping some of you might be kind enough to help us out. The fact is - we have a designer and a complete collection of clothing but the photographer and all the models are stuck in Switzerland. So - would you be prepared to wear Lewis's clothes and have photos taken? What do you say?"

He looked round hopefully. "Anyone?"

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?"