Andrea looked again from JC to Morgan and back again.

“I live here.” She could barely get the words out and didn’t know why all of the sudden she felt her throat closing up and felt it hard to breathe. She looked at Morgan. “Did you know he was sleeping with me?”

Morgan’s mouth hung open. “Are you kidding me?” She looked at JC. “You were fucking us both?!”

JC felt as though he was in a very, very bad dream. Neither of the girls looked particularly thrilled with him and there was no way he could get out of it. He swallowed hard and nodded his head.

“I had no idea you two were roommates.” That was the best he could come up with because it was the truth and because there really wasn’t any other explanation.

Andrea still couldn’t believe it and looked at JC in disbelief. She knew she’d fallen for him a long time ago and he couldn’t have cared less. Everything he’d told her about their trysts only being for sex had gone out the door a long time ago. And Morgan. Morgan who could have any man she wanted to have had taken him away from her.

“I’ve got to go.” Andrea turned away and walked into her room. She grabbed the duffel bag on her bed that was already filled with her clothes and beach items for her trip. As she walked back out she saw JC and Morgan still standing next to each other in a most awkward manner. It was as though they didn’t know what to do or say to each other.

“Andrea-“ Morgan said but Andrea only gave her the finger as she exited the apartment and slammed the door behind her.

Morgan turned and faced JC. “She’s an immature little bitch anyway. I don’t really care what you did with her.” Morgan let the robe slip down to her feet and reached for JC’s hand. “My room’s this way. Let’s go.”

JC glanced at the door where Andrea had disappeared. A twinge of guilt tugged at him but he brushed it aside and followed Morgan to her bedroom.

Flashback 1991

“I’m sorry, Josh. I just think we’re better off as friends.”

Josh looked in disbelief at what his girlfriend was telling him.

“We’re just moving too fast for me right now. I need to take a break.”

Tiffany put her hand on top of his but Josh immediately brushed it away.

“Fine. Be that way.” He stood abruptly from the bleachers in the gym and glared at her. “And I don’t want to be your friend.”

“But Josh-“

“No. See ya.”

Josh stomped down the steps of the bleachers and walked across the gym floor. He and Tiffany had been dating for eight months and as far as he knew, things were great. They’d started out as friends first and it had progressed from there. He didn’t know what she’d meant by taking it too fast. It seemed to be exactly the speed it should’ve been for a high school relationship or so he thought anyway. She had made him angry by breaking up with him like she had. But he would make sure to move on before she had a chance to find someone new and flaunt it in front of him.

He walked past the courtyard where the cheerleading squad had been practicing for their upcoming competition. He’d always had his eye on Michele, the captain, because she was drop dead gorgeous. But he’d been with Tiffany and besides that, Michele was a senior. There was no way she’d look at him a lowly freshmen.

Josh leaned against the wall of the building that faced the courtyard and watched as Michele was thrown in the air and did a perfect toe touch. She landed on her feet and threw her hands in the air in the victory stance. She caught his eye and Josh thought he detected a smirk, which made him extremely nervous. He ran a hand through his hair and pretended to look away, still keeping her in his peripheral vision.

A few minutes later, the practice ended and Josh looked up to see Michele walking towards him.

“So, you wanna join the squad?” Michele was an inch taller than him and had springy, curly blond hair. He’d heard from several of his friends that she was easy and although she was supposedly dating a college student, she seemed to have her fair share of whoever she wanted.

“Um, no. I was um, just…” Josh trailed off and couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I’ve seen you around. You’re sexy for a freshmen.” Michele was flirting and Josh felt his cheeks burn.

“Uh, thanks.” He looked up at her and saw her flash him a sexy grin.

“Wanna take a ride? Or are you allowed to leave school before the bus gets here?” She slid her arm through his and began to lead him towards her Mustang.

He felt dizzy. He couldn’t think. He’d only been watching a moment ago and now he was about to go off with this girl. This older, very sexy, and hot older girl.

Twenty minutes later, she’d seduced him in the back of her car. It took less than a minute before Josh had come inside of her and she hadn’t seemed to mind. In fact, she told him she wanted to see him again.

A week later they were the most talked about couple at school. He’d been able to flaunt her in front of Tiffany just like he’d wanted. And even though the rumors flew about how Michele was secretly with some college guy, Josh didn’t care. He was out for himself and that was all that mattered.

They managed to get it on pretty much anywhere they could on school premises without being caught. In between that time, Josh became infatuated with her, despite his friends warning him that Michele was using him. There were times where Michele seemed to be honest and sincere and an all over lovely person to him. He began to forget why he’d gotten with her in the first place – to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.

The rumors persisted and while Josh pretended not to care, secretly he hoped they were just that – rumors.

A month later when Michele dumped him, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise but it did and Josh was devastated. He’d gone from feeling like a king to feeling like a joker.

It was then that he vowed he would always have the last say in the rest of his relationships.

JC woke up feeling quite groggy the next morning. The sex with Morgan had been just okay and he knew she couldn’t have thought it was all that great. They seemed to be on a slow path of destruction when it came to their sex life together. What had started out as three very hot and steamy lovemaking sessions had quickly turned into a very awkward and messy romp.

He knew it was partly due to these flashbacks he’d kept having lately. He had no idea why all of the sudden they seemed to creep up like they had been but it was starting to worry him. He wondered if he should see someone about it but then he’d have to own up to a lot of shit that he didn’t feel like dealing with and he had a lot of other stuff that was starting to pile up at work.

He slowly rolled out of Morgan’s bed and reached for his clothes that were strewn all over the floor. He wanted to duck out before she woke up and he thought he had succeeded until he heard her stir and groan just as he was reaching for the door.

“Do you have to be in early today?” Morgan sat up in bed and pulled the sheet over her. “You can stay for coffee if you want.”

“No, I need to get to the office and before that I need to change and shower.” JC reached into his pocket to retrieve his keys when he noticed Morgan slipping out of bed and walking over to him.

“Okay. Well, thanks for last night.” She looked up at him and smiled.

“Yeah. See you later.” JC knew she was trying to seduce him again but he wasn’t in the mood and after the last go with her, he didn’t know if he ever wanted to have Morgan again.

The sun was just creeping up from behind the clouds when JC walked outside of the apartment. He had about an hour before he needed to be back at the hotel. He needed to clear his head but there wasn’t any time. For some reason all he could think about was his first time with that dumb bimbo, Michele, who’d used him. He shook the thought from his mind but knew that it was because of her that it was easy to let women use him for sex and vice versa. He’d become something that he never, ever wanted to be.

“…and we’re at full capacity today so be on your toes.” Delaney was giving the morning briefing without JC, something that had never happened before. No one had questioned it and it didn’t really seem as though anyone cared that he was gone. If anything, it was more of a relief.

“Thanks, Delaney.” Chris nodded at her and Delaney smiled as she dismissed her staff. At that moment, the door of the staff room was thrown open and JC stood on the other side looking disheveled and out of sorts.

“Sorry I’m late.” He walked over to Delaney and the other staff, who were just about to disperse. “Okay, so what have we got for today?”

Delaney looked at him as if he were crazy. “You missed the meeting, Mr. Chasez. We’re done.”

JC shot her a look and through gritted teeth said, “Well, let’s review again, shall we?”

“We can review in your office. They’ve got to get to work.” Delaney retorted without batting an eye. “We didn’t know you were going to be a half hour late or else we would’ve gotten coffee and donuts.”

“Don’t be a smart ass, Ms. Nixon!” JC heard himself raise his voice and looked around at the staff who were all a bit surprised at his tardiness.

“Ok. I think we should take this into your office.” Delaney was trying to be as professional as she could and then turned to Chris, Joey, and the others. “Have a great day. See you all later.” Then to JC she said, “Let’s go, Mr. Chasez. I’ll tell you what we covered.”

JC huffed and turned on his heel with Delaney right behind him. They made the familiar trek back to his office and once inside, JC nearly slammed the door and got right in her face. “Those meetings do not happen without me there!”

“Well, you weren’t there and we had no choice! Don’t worry. It’s not a huge deal. You missed and I can fill you in. Once again, I’m not trying to take over your damn job. Once you get that in your thick head, I think life will be a lot easier for you.” Delaney turned and went to leave the office.

JC wouldn’t let her go.

“Just a minute!” He grit his teeth and snapped harshly at her.

Delaney slowly turned and raised an eyebrow at him. “Yes?”

“Who do you think you are? You come in here and try to take over and you keep telling me that’s not what you’re doing but your actions tell me otherwise. How dare you conduct a meeting without my being there!” He moved closer to her as to try and intimidate her, but Delaney stood her ground and stood firmly at the door.

“You were a half hour late! People have to work around here and we can’t all be waiting around for you. General Manager or not, Mr. Chasez, you know if it were anybody else, you would’ve had to start the meeting if you had been in my shoes.” Delaney waited for him to respond but JC just stood and gave her an icy stare. He was desperately trying to think of something to say, but for once nothing was coming to mind quick enough.

“Get out of my office. I’ll figure out what’s going on from John downstairs.” JC turned and hastily went over to his desk, picking up his phone and calling down to Guest Services.

Delaney said nothing but promptly gave the door a quick slam and went to her office. She groaned as she sat down at her desk and began to respond to emails from the night before. There was no winning with JC Chasez. None.

Andrea began to feel relief course through her as Todd’s car made its way out of Islamorada. He’d been gracious enough and let her stay with him the night before. She hadn’t said much, only that Morgan had had company and she didn’t wish to be there when she started entertaining. Two other members of the Concierge team, Joe and Liz, were sitting in the backseat sleeping, while an 80s mix played on Todd’s iPod.

Todd had been more than happy to see Andrea at his doorstep. He’d had a thing for her for weeks now and whether or not the rumors were true that she was sleeping with Mr. Chasez, he knew that this weekend away would give him a chance to prove himself to her.

“How’s the coffee?” Todd asked after a few minutes of silence. They’d stopped off at Starbucks on the way out of town and he’d glanced over to see Andrea sipping on her cup once or twice.

“It’s fine.” Andrea smiled at him and took another sip. She couldn’t seem to get the images of JC and Morgan out of her head no matter how hard she tried. She wondered how hard it would be to find another roommate or better yet, live on her own. She knew the latter was impossible on her salary, but anything was better than having to go back to that apartment again.

“You sure you’re okay?” Todd glanced at her through his sunglasses. Andrea couldn’t hide the fact that she was upset. It had been written all over her face since last night.

She knew she couldn’t tell him. Even if she felt betrayed by JC, he was still her boss and he could still fire her for blabbing.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just ready for a weekend away from work.” That was a truthful answer and the best she could give him for now.

It seemed to work because Todd changed the subject and after Joe and Liz woke up, the car seemed to come to life with laughter and conversation. Andrea started to feel a little better and did what she could to push all thoughts of the night before out of her mind.

Morgan arrived at work on time and made sure her phone was turned on vibrate should any texts from JC come in. She knew that last night hadn’t been as steamy or as hot like it had in the past, but she also knew she could do for him more than her little twit of a roommate could. The sheer thought that Andrea had had him before her made Morgan smirk. Just looking at Andrea reminded her of some lost little girl who was naïve to anything having to do with life, especially sex.

By her third hour on her shift, Morgan started to get a little agitated. She knew he was at work but he’d yet to call or stop by the coffee shop. It was slower for a Saturday and she started to get bored. Once or twice she wondered if she should call him but decided quickly against it. That wasn’t how she played her game. Men came to her. They always came to her. She had never once had to beg for anything from a man and she certainly wasn’t going to start now.

“Can I get a latte, please?”

Morgan looked up to see the blonde girl from the spa. She already disliked Ashley because of the disapproving looks she’d given to Morgan on occasion.

“Sure.” Morgan turned away from her and began to make a Café Latte. She heard her phone buzz and jumped a little, almost spilling the espresso.
Ashley eyed her and watched as Morgan hastily made the latte and checked her phone in the process. It was something that was quite unprofessional and very frowned upon at the hotel. Every manager told their employees in explicit terms not to ever look at their phone in front of a customer.

Morgan slid the latte over to Ashley and snuck another peak at her phone.

“Waiting on something?” Ashley dared to ask her. She’d known about Morgan’s little tryst and wanted desperately to catch her in the act.

“No.” Morgan snapped at her and waited for Ashley to pay for the latte.

“Employee discount.” Ashley pointed to her nametag and Morgan rolled her eyes, voiding the previous purchase.

“I know that.” Morgan sighed and punched in the code into the cash register.

“So polite.” Ashley couldn’t help herself. She’d watched this girl flaunt and flirt with Mr. Chasez and she was honestly sick and tired of seeing more of her cleavage every time she came into The Cup.

“I’m sorry, do you have a problem?” Morgan countered as Ashley took her latte.

“Stop looking at your phone and pay attention to the customer. Doesn’t matter whether I’m an employee or not.” Ashley retorted and turned to leave.

Morgan watched her and rolled her eyes once more. She checked her phone and let out a groan seeing that it was only an email alert about college loan subsidizing. She checked the time. It was much past the time that he would have tried to get in touch with her.

He’s busy.

He’s in a meeting.

He’s probably got to make rounds.

He’s in another meeting.

By the end of her shift, she was speechless. He hadn’t called, hadn’t texted, and for the first time ever, Morgan felt desperate. She hated him for that.

She brushed the feeling of desperation off and headed for her car. It was ridiculous. He was just busy that day. He’d be back tomorrow. Morgan was sure of it.

And if he wasn’t, then maybe she’d allow herself to feel desperate.