The next few months passed quickly for Junsu and Morgan. Their work was completed efficiently and systematically. After hours they would relax over beers or coffee; they took walks and shared music tastes, movie tastes and book recommendations.

Whenever Sandra spoke with Morgan about it, she always chided Morgan. She would tell Morgan that she should be careful of what she’s doing. She should make sure that Junsu was available. She should find out Junsu’s intentions.

Morgan wasn’t worrying about it. To her, Junsu and her were simply hanging out and having fun. Morgan had no reason to believe that it was more than innocent friendship.

There was a week in Morgan’s fourth month as Junsu’s assistant that was particularly hectic. Morgan was running around insanely booking meetings and following up with callers. The two of them had to work extra hours on multiple occasions. Junsu would be conferencing with international partners and Morgan would be quickly faxing over necessary documents or bringing in the faxes that clients sent to Junsu.

After an exceptionally busy night Morgan left to make some tea for Junsu. She knew he would be entirely wiped out and she figured tea would help soothe him. She walked from the kitchen to his office with a mug in hand. She reached his door and found it to be slightly ajar; she peeped in and saw him sitting at his desk.

He had his hands laced through his hair and she could see his knuckles were white with tension. His eyes were shut tightly and he let out a huge sigh of frustration.

Morgan tapped on the door with her free hand and slowly walked in. Junsu looked up, surprised, and watcher her walk towards him.

She placed the mug on his desk and sat on the corner of his desk.

“Su, what’s wrong? Do you need to talk about something?” she asked him softly.

He ran his hands over his face and groaned, “There’s just too much going on in my mind right now”

“Let me carry some of the weight for you; tell me something that’s on your mind” she suggested.

He placed his hands under his chin and looked up at her. She could see the wheels turning in his head. Finally, with another sigh, he caved.

“I love my job, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes it just feels like too much. I get home late, I get to work early. I haven’t spoken to anyone outside of this office….”

His words rushed out of his mouth. Morgan’s heart ached and she couldn’t quite understand why. She suddenly had the urge to reach out and comfort him but wasn’t sure what would happen if she did.

Junsu pressed his eyes into the palms of his hands. Morgan watched him; this was the most vulnerable and exhausted she had seen him ever; she chewed on her bottom lip and tried to fight against the urge she was having.

She acted before she could stop herself.

Morgan reached over and pulled his hands away from his face. Junsu looked up, bewildered. Morgan didn’t let go of his hands; instead, she held them in hers.

“Morgan…” Junsu whispered.

She looked down at her hands, seeing his hands in hers. She was barely breathing.

“Su….I worry about you…” she said, cautiously.

Junsu looked into her eyes and saw that she was being sincere; he could see the worry written all over her face.

He took his hands out of hers and stood up; he stepped closer to her. He was inches away; she could smell his cologne and feel his warmth. He looked down at her; she refused to look up and meet his gaze.

He placed a hand under her chin and brought her face up so he could see her fully. He cupped the side of her face with his hand; Morgan subconsciously snuggled closer to his hand.

“Morgan…I’m so sorry that I make you worry.”

She tried to look back down but he placed his free hand on the other side of her face and gently kept her facing him.

“You’re the best assistant I’ve ever had and you’re becoming a close friend. Without you….I don’t know what I would have done these past few days…. Let me say thank you in the language closest to my heart: Komawoyo.”

With that, he released her and playfully ruffled her hair.

Morgan realized she had been holding her breath; she took a sharp intake of breath and covered it up with a cough.

“Uhh I’m glad I’m able to help you, Su. Sooo, yeah, that’s some tea I brought you. You should drink it; it’ll help you feel better. I actually need to be going sooooo if you don’t need anything else, I’ll be heading home. I mean, if you need me to stay I can stay but….well….yeah….” Morgan rambled incoherently.

Junsu blew into the cup to cool it and took a sip of tea.

“That’s probably a better idea; if you waited here so I could drive you home you would get home too late. No sense in both of us being sleep deprived.” He joked.

She laughed nervously, “Okay so remember…try to take it easy. I’ll see you tomorrow, Junsu…” she trailed off.

He winked at her and went back to typing away at his computer.

Morgan walked out, feeling awkward. She walked to her desk and slumped down into her chair. She placed a hand on her chest.

“Oh man it’s beating so fast” she thought to herself.

“What…was that…about…?” she asked, to nobody in particular but the air around her.

Before anyone realized the Holiday season was upon them. Mirotic Investors was preparing its Annual Holiday Soiree.

The Soiree was always held at a prestigious establishment; somewhere grand and luxurious. The menu had something for everyone: turkey, duck, beef and pork. Stuffing, potatoes, veggies and of course desserts! There was wine, beer, champagne and an open bar.

Morgan and Junsu received their invitations from the building Facilities & Services staff; in the envelopes was one “Plus 1” ticket.

Morgan sat at her desk, during her lunch, and wondered who she would bring. Her mind wandered to whom Junsu would bring. She shook her head to clear her mind of those thoughts. Over the past while she found herself constantly thinking about Junsu in ways she knew she shouldn’t.

She picked up her cell phone and dialed Sandra’s number.

“Hello my darling Morgan!” Sandra sang out.

Morgan chuckled, “Sandra, listen I’ve got a quick question.”

Sandra feigned annoyance, “Oh you only called me for a quick question, thanks.”

“Sorry!! I’m on my lunch and I needed to know”, Morgan begged.

Sandra laughed, “Sorry, dear. I was just kidding. What’s your question?”

Morgan took out the tickets and read the date, “What are you doing on….December 22?”

Sandra paused before answering, “Hmm, oh that’s the day my family is flying in from Vietnam. They’re coming to visit for a few days, for the Holidays.”

Morgan sighed in frustration and Sandra asked, “Why….what’s up?”

“There’s a Christmas party going on where I work and I was hoping you could go.”

“I wish I could go! Trust me; I’d rather go there than put up with my rude uncle” Sandra complained.

Morgan shrugged, “Oh well. It was worth a try. Anyways, I need to get back to work. I’ll talk to you later!”

She hung up the phone and stared at the extra ticket.

“I guess I’ll be going alone…” she mumbled to herself.

Junsu sat staring at the Plus 1 ticket. He held the ticket in his hand and to him it weighed more than a simple slip of paper should weigh.

His thought process was erratic; he knew who he should bring. He knew who he was expected to bring. Often what should be done is not what people want to do, and Junsu was in that exact type of situation.

“Oh, Sara…” he said under his breath.

Ridiculous as it was to him, he knew that in his heart he wanted to go with someone else. That person was off limits to him; ethically and morally. That didn’t stop him from considering it.

“Babo…she has her own ticket. She’ll be going anyway.” Junsu explained to himself.

That wasn’t the real issue. It was far from the real issue. Even if Morgan is there that doesn’t solve the issue of Sara. Junsu knew he shouldn’t be so close to Morgan but he couldn’t help it. She was so easy to talk to and so caring.

“AH! Morgan! You make my life complicated…” Junsu groaned in frustration. How could he bring Sara with him, knowing that he would be paying more attention to Morgan?”

“I’ll think about this later….” Junsu decided, and he stuffed the ticket into his coat’s inner pocket.

Morgan was all done for the day. She walked up to Junsu’s door and opened it; she wanted to let him know that she was leaving. The office was empty but his coat and winter boots were still there.

She decided to leave him a note; for some reason she felt like she wanted to avoid seeing him, with all the fuss going on about the Christmas party. She wanted to avoid talking to him about it.

She wrote down her message on a sticky note and left it on his monitor where she was sure he would see it.

Having finished she retreated back to her desk. When she was all set to go she headed down to exit the building.

Morgan made it home on the bus. She was walking from the bus stop to her house when she heard a car screech to a halt behind her. She ignored it, not even thinking twice about it.

She heard the car door slam then snow crunching as someone ran. She realized the footsteps were running towards her; Morgan clenched her hand around her keys tighter within her pocket and sped up her walking.

She heard someone call her name; she recognized the voice. It was Dimitri. She kept walking fast; the last thing she wanted was to have another dramatic episode with him.

“Morgan!” he shouted again.

Then just as she reached the path leading to her front door she felt a hand on her shoulder. Morgan groaned mentally and resisted the urge to run.

She turned to face him, “Oh hey, didn’t hear you until the last moment!”

He smiled down at her, his blue eyes twinkling, “No worries, I managed to catch up.”

She peered up at him curiously and shrugged his hand off her shoulder, “So what’s up….”

He looked down at his feet and shuffled the snow with his boots, “I wanted to apologize.”

“Apologize for what…?”  Morgan asked, feeling a little uneasy.

He looked up at her sheepishly, “I shouldn’t have asked you for money, for the stupid ticket.”

She scoffed, “You’ve got that right.”

“Yeah…anyway, listen, I need to get to work; I work night shifts at Canadian Tire. I just wanted to stop and say sorry.” He explained in a rush.

Morgan forced a smile, “Thank you, I appreciate it. Have a good shift, okay?”

He nodded at her and she turned away sharply; impatient to get away.

He was about to walk back to his car when he saw something float down from her bag and land on the snow behind her. He waited until she was at her door and he turned to walk to his car, knowing that she would check to see if he was leaving. He ce to see if she was inside; she was.

He made sure she wasn’t standing at a window and ran back to where he saw the object fall. He picked it up and brushed the snow off of it.

“Mirotic Investors Holiday Soiree….” He read to himself. He saw the date, time and location.