Page 171 of Masters of Control

“Yes, please.” Taking out her phone before hanging her purse on the hook, Morgan went to sit on the bar side of the counter, happily accepting a plate with two cookies. Turning back into the kitchen, Brian opened the fridge to get out the milk and pour them both a glass. As he did so, he hummed under his breath.

“What are you happy about?” Morgan asked. Brian only hummed under his breath when he was particularly happy about something. She also liked the idea of getting his attention off her.

“Nothing.”

But he didn’t stop humming. Morgan eyed him as he slid the glass of milk in front of her. Should she say something about how he expected her to answer his questions, but he wasn’t answering hers truthfully?

She didn’t want to make him angry.

It also didn’t seem fair.

She was saved by her phone chiming with a text message before she had to make a decision. Tapping on her phone, she saw it was one of the group text messages she was in. She was in several, which could become overwhelming at times.

This one was with Amy, Sam, Noelle, Marissa, and Carolyn—her ‘group’ at Stronghold and Marquis. Even though the clubs welcomed everyone, Morgan had noticed people sorted themselves into groups within the larger group. She was happy to be a part of one. It was the first time she’d ever been a part of a group.

Even at their church, her parents hadn’t liked her spending time with the other kids too much, not even the other little girls, unless they were learning something. It was hard to make friends when you weren’t supposed to talk to each other.

Amy: How was the date with Asad? Are you still there?

The phone chimed again.

Noelle: Tell us everything!

“Now, what are you so happy about?” Brian asked teasingly.

Morgan couldn’t help but grin at him.

“Having friends.” People who cared. She might still be learning the rules about what friends could and couldn’t do, but she knew she liked having them. And thankfully, her friends were patient when she messed up.

Not everyone was.

“Friends are definitely good.” Polishing off his cookie while Morgan typed out a response, Brian came around the counter to give her a kiss on top of her head before ambling off to the couch and turning on the television.

It was good. I have a lot of events I need to pack for, though. Can anyone come over next weekend to help? We leave on Monday.

A moment later, her phone was chiming incessantly from the flurry of responses as everyone joined in to say when they were free. Morgan texted that she had a wedding she was doing makeup for on Saturday afternoon, but other than that, she was free, then let the others work it out for themselves. It didn’t take long for them to come to the conclusion that Sunday afternoon was the only time that worked for everyone.

That was one worry taken care of.

The first time she and Asad had talked about the wedding, he’d told her there were a lot of events, but this time, they’d gone more in depth into what the events were. He hadn’t had much of an idea of what she was supposed to wear to any of them, though.

“A dress is fine” wasn’t much direction.

Hopefully, the others would be able to tell her. She was also going to look up Persian weddings online. Brian kept telling her she needed to stop relying on movies and television for her societal knowledge, but there was a lot of really useful information online. At the very least, she bet there were videos of weddings she could watch.

It sounded like the wedding week was going to be a mix of two cultures celebrating the union. She was looking forward to it.

Hopefully, this week would go by fast.

Asad

“Yes, Mom, Morgan is very excited to meet you, too.” Walking into his friend Law’s house, Asad rubbed his forehead. His mom was giving him a headache, which was nothing new. “We’re going to drive up on Monday, then we’ll leave after the Mādarzan Salām next Sunday.”

There were a lot of traditions being combined for the week, and the traditional greeting to Cyrus’ new mother-in-law was going to be part of the morning-after brunch his bride’s family was throwing. Asad wasn’t going to promise how long he’d stay after the exchange because he had a feeling he’d be ready to run by then. If he could have gotten out of the brunch entirely, he would have, but it would look bad for the groom’s brother and best man to totally skip it. It would also draw attention his way from his family, which was the last thing he wanted.

Asad wanted to get in, get out, and go home as quickly and painlessly as possible.

“We’re going to have dinner Monday night after you get here,” his mom said. “Just our immediate family, so we can meet Morgan.”