Under My Skin, page 21
“Are you sorry that your secret came out?” Naomi asked.
Morgan tilted her head to the side. “Yes and no. I am sorry about the way it came out, but it wasn’t a secret to those close to me so I didn’t feel like I had betrayed anyone. I am glad it came out however because it has given me a platform to talk about this very important issue. Violence against women is still a big problem in our society. Acid burning, while not common in the west does happen. There’s Bethany Storro, a woman in Vancouver, Washington who had acid thrown in her face by a stranger. There’s Katie Piper, in the UK, who was targeted for an acid attack by a jealous boyfriend. And there’s the two young, British women that were travelling in Zanzibar who had acid thrown on them. And those are just the ones that make the news. But this is only one type of violence happening towards women. Women are being victimized in so many ways and it has to stop.”
“What do you hope to achieve by talking about your experience?”
“I want to shine the spotlight on women’s issues and challenge us to defend the safety of women everywhere. I also want women who have been victims of acid burning or other disfiguring conditions to have the chance to feel beautiful in their skin.” Morgan sighed. “I know some people will think it’s hypocritical to say that while covering up my scars with makeup. It took a long time for me to be able to stand here like this and let people look at me and be okay with it. For a long time I felt hideous and unlovable - which is the exact goal of those who perpetrate acid attacks. But God has healed me, and His love as well as the love of family and friends has shown me how to love myself. I couldn’t do that locked up in my room, and the cosmetics helped me feel normal on the outside while I healed on the inside.”
“And now?”
Morgan smiled. “Now I have the freedom to be who I want to be when I want to be. I can show my scars or not. I will always be a champion for victims of acid attacks but some days, I want to blend in and just be Morgan, the friend or Morgan, the cousin...”
“Or Morgan, the wife or girlfriend,” Naomi’s eyes twinkled.
Morgan rolled hers but smiled. “Or that too, whenever that happens. What I know for sure is that I am more than this experience. I am more than just my scars. I am a sister, a daughter, a friend, an entrepreneur, an activist, a child of God. And I refuse to let one thing define me.”
Minutes later when the cameras cut and the interview wrapped up, Morgan was still tingling with the truth of her words. So much had happened over the past few years, but God had used it to build her into a strong woman who was capable of facing anything. That moment in her car in Naomi’s driveway had been a turning point in her life. It had been the point when she stopped letting the past direct her life and instead walked boldly into her future. And it felt great. Looking back, she couldn’t believe she had waited this long.
“I am so proud of you!” Naomi’s arms went around Morgan pulling her into a big hug. When she let go, she was grinning. “Bet you didn’t think when we were sitting together in that college support group that so many years later we would be standing here like this, two entrepreneurs, not afraid to share our truth with the world.”
Morgan shook her head. “Girl, I would not have believed. I am so glad we stayed friends through all of this.”
Naomi nodded. “Me too.”
Morgan waved goodbye to the crew and then let Naomi walk her down to the exit. “My friend messaged me last night, told me your foundation is out with a test group. That’s exciting.”
“More like scary,” Morgan laughed. “People I don’t know are actually going to be trying my makeup. I’m not used to that.”
“Get used to it, girl,” Naomi said. “And don’t worry, they’ll love it. You know I did.”
“I know but you’re my friend. You have to love it.”
Naomi shook her head as they stood by the doors. “You know I would tell you the truth even if I didn’t, so believe me when I tell you it’s good. This is going to be the start of something big for you.”
Morgan sighed as stepped out into the sunshine. “I hope so.”
“Thanks again for doing the interview,” Naomi said. “It should air on the Wrap Up program on the Street Life website later this week.”
“Thank you,” Morgan corrected. “You’ve been a great friend to me through all of this.”
“I’m always here for you, girl,” Naomi said. “So, don’t let me have to call you a zillion times again before you hit me back.”
Morgan laughed. “Yes, boss.”
She waved as she walked down the steps and onto the sidewalk. The almost autumn sun was bright, but the air was already getting a little cool. Morgan pulled her coat closer as she headed to the subway. She had chosen to take transit today instead of drive and she was glad she had. It was a beautiful day. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do with the rest of the day, but she had one more stop left to figure it out. A quick subway ride later and she was across the city and taking the elevator up to the top floor of the Prism building.
“Hey, stranger.”
Carrie looked up from her desk and squealed. “Morgan!”
The two women hugged each other.
“It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve seen you,” Carrie moaned when they let go of each other.
Morgan narrowed her eyes at her friend. “You know where I live.”
“Yeah, but it’s not the same when you’re not in the building,” Carrie said. “Plus, you know Dutch had me with him in Chicago almost the whole week last week.”
“Oooh. Travelling with Dutch,” Morgan wiggled her eyebrow.
“Stop it,” Carrie shot her friend a warning look then grinned. “Girl, I missed you.”
Morgan hugged her friend again. “Me too. It’s not the same over the phone. Let’s do something this weekend. Saturday night?”
“Of course,” Carrie slipped back into her chair. “So what are you doing here?”
Morgan perched on the edge of Carrie’s desk. “Came to sign off on some things here at Chrysalis.”
Carrie raised an eyebrow. “So the rumour is true then. You’re leaving?”
“Not leaving entirely,” Morgan explained. “Just moving into more of an out of office consultant role. You know the cosmetics thing is going to take up a chunk of my time.”
Carrie grinned. “I am so glad you’re finally going to do a line.”
Morgan nodded, almost bouncing off the desk with excitement. “Not a whole line at first, just foundations and cover-ups. But Carrie, I am so excited to be working on this. It’s the most excited I have been about work in a while.”
Carrie nodded. “I can tell. I can also see that you are not wearing your makeup. I don’t get it. Now that it’s your product, shouldn’t you be wearing it all the time? It’s what you would tell your clients.”
“You’re right, I would,” Morgan said. “But I just got back from doing an interview for Street Life’s online magazine and they were doing a video interview about acid burning, how I got my scars, what I’m doing...so I just wanted to go bare face for them. Besides, I kind of like my bare face.”
“I like your bare face too. As far as I’m concerned, you’re beautiful either way.”
“I knew you were my bestie for a reason.” Morgan smirked. “You should have seen the looks on their faces downstairs at Chrysalis though. Geoff couldn’t stop staring and Clay could barely look me in the eye. It was hilarious.”
Carrie shook her head. “See. This is how I know something’s changed. The old Morgan would be upset about that. But the new Morgan...”
“It just slides off her back,” Morgan finished.
“Care, did you finish up the new shareholder list for ...oh hello, Miss Cox.”
Morgan stood up and smiled at her friend’s boss. “Hey, Mr. Haverford. How are you doing up here on the top floor?”
He grinned. “Not as good as you who managed to escape the building. Congratulations on your new endeavour.”
Morgan beamed. “Thank you! I am very excited about it.”
“As you should be.” Dutch slipped a hand in his pocket. “It’s great to see young women becoming entrepreneurs, especially in fields that will help others in such a real and direct way.”
Morgan nodded.
“I just sent the list to you, Du... uh, Mr. Haverford,” Carrie said. “It should be in your inbox.”
“Thanks.”
Morgan waited till he disappeared back into his office before she turned to Carrie knowingly.
“Care?”
“Shut up,” Carrie’s cheeks lit up like stoplights.
Morgan laughed. “Oh I can’t wait for the day you two...”
“Actually, I still have a boss so I still have a lot of work to do,” Carrie busied herself with the papers on her desk. “Do you mind?”
Morgan shook her head as she headed towards the hallway. “Alright, kick me out of your office. But we’ll take this up later. And don’t even think about not answering my phone call!”
Morgan was still laughing to herself as she took the elevator down to the main floor and exited the building. She smiled as she inhaled a deep breath of fresh air, then coughed a little as exhaust from a taxi filled her lungs. She pulled her tan leather jacket a little tighter over her white blouse and white fitted pants. She had dug some gold platform heels out of the back of her closet that morning and paired with her Louis Vuitton bag that she had scrimped and saved for she knew she was looking dynamite. As she walked down the sidewalk towards the station she had to admit it was nice to look great and feel great at the same time. God was smiling on her and she could feel it.
And she kept feeling it until she took a step and found herself stuck. She looked back and realized that she her heel had gotten stuck in a sidewalk grate. She knew better than to walk on one of those in stiletto heels, but she had been feeling so good she hadn’t been paying much attention. She tugged on the shoe with her foot. It wouldn’t budge. Then she wiggled her ankle around trying to twist it out. After a few tries, it popped loose. But before she could celebrate, she took another step and went down lower than she expected as the heel snapped off.
“No!” Morgan looked down at the heel dangling off the edge of her shoe. “Not on the day that I decided to park the car!”
How would she get through the subway and the walk home with a broken heel? She looked around even though she already knew there were no retail stores in this business area of the city. She was still on the same block as Chrysalis. Maybe if she could hobble back up the road she could borrow some shoes from Carrie. She always had a pair or two under her desk. Or better yet, she could call Carrie to bring her a pair.
She watched New Yorkers walk past her as she debated her options. One woman, noticing her plight, gave her a sympathizing glance but most just passed by without stopping. She didn’t really expect much more. People rarely stopped for anything on the busy city streets.
“Excuse me, is there a problem?”
Morgan sighed and turned around. “Yes, I happened to break my ...”
She stopped short when she came face to face with the first person to inquire about her well being. She drew in a long breath partially to help with the dizziness she was suddenly feeling and partially to keep the butterflies in her stomach from getting any wilder.
“I happened to be parked across the street when I noticed you getting stuck in a heating grate. I thought women knew not to walk on those things with heels?”
Morgan bit back a smile as she tried and failed to look annoyed at Derek.
“Actually, women do know that,” She planted her hand on her hip. “But sometimes we get so excited about life that we forget.”
Derek raised an eyebrow as he glanced down at where she was balancing on one foot and a toe. “Maybe a little too excited.”
She rolled her eyes. “Maybe. Can’t a girl get excited sometimes?”
“Oh she can,” he smiled a hundred megawatt smile that sent the butterflies into flight once more. “In fact, I kind of like it when she does.”
Morgan knew she shouldn’t stare but she couldn’t help it. It had been three weeks and counting since she had laid eyes on Derek. She had done her best to stay away from the blogs and business trades that might carry his story but had failed miserably. She knew that everyone was talking about the IPO that they were expected to launch in six months and that prospects looked good. She knew that a lot of business analysts were labelling Solid Step Footwear as one to watch. Things were looking good for Solid.
And Derek was looking even better.
Hair and beard low cut and lined up to perfection, biceps twisting beneath the pushed up sleeves of his long sleeved shirt and teeth gleaming as bright as his eyes as he stared at her. She drew in a deep breath, bit her lip and saw his eyes automatically drop to her mouth when she did. All of a sudden, she was feeling a little hot in her leather jacket.
When he spoke again, his voice was deep and husky. “Maybe I can help with that.”
He brought his hand around from behind his back revealing a pair of female sneakers that Morgan had never seen before. They were slim lined and high cut, crisp and white on the outer half, artistically flowing into leopard print on the inner half. The laces were pure white except for the tips, which were in the same leopard print decal and the inside of the shoe was done in gold lining. They were beautiful. Morgan loved them the moment she laid eyes on them. In fact, she was so in love and in awe of the shoes and the man who designed them that when he squatted down and took her foot in his hand, she let him remove her broken shoe and fit his custom designed sneaker on in place.
He looked up at her. “Good fit?”
She nodded, unable to contain her smile. “Perfect fit. Almost like they were made for me.”
He shook his head. “No almost about it.”
Morgan’s eyes widened. “You made these for me?”
“The Princess cut high top,” he said. “Sneakers made for a princess - for all sides of her.”
She put her foot on the ground and felt her feet sink into plush comfort. After a morning of walking around in stilettos she felt like she was in heaven. Man did she love these shoes. She was having pretty strong feelings about the man carrying them too.
He slipped her other foot into the other shoe in like fashion then stood up, holding her pumps in his hands.
“So here’s the thing,” He reached out and touched a strand of her hair. “Me and God have been talking like you suggested. I mean really talking. Like serious intense conversations, and I think that I know what I want now.”
She raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh do you?”
“I do.” His eyes peered into hers. “I want to be with a woman who inspires me. Who challenges me to be stronger in my faith. Who calls me on my nonsense but who’s willing to fight the world for me. A woman who I want to see every day and who I can’t stop thinking about at night. A woman that makes me feel like a king when she walks into a crowded room and only has eyes for me. A woman truly beautiful from the inside out.”
He stepped closer. “And every time I think of that woman, all I can think about is you, Morgan Cox. I want to be with you.” He touched her left cheek, running his fingers over the unnatural surface. “I want you.”
Morgan closed her eyes, trembling under the touch of his hand. Since the last surgery had been completed no one had ever touched her face, except her. No one had ever wanted to. For the longest while, she’d thought she had no more feeling in that part of her face. The doctors had told her that the nerve endings were likely damaged forever. But when Derek touched her, when his fingers caressed the most damaged part of her physical person, she felt it. She felt it deeper than she had ever felt any human touch before.
“And this woman,” Morgan’s eyes remained closed even as she spoke. “What does she get out of this deal?”
She heard the deep rumble of Derek’s chuckle. “She gets a man who will always be by her side, who will cover her with his prayers and support her and her dreams; a man who will help her be brave when she is afraid to be and who will treat her like a queen every time she walks into a room. A man who will love every part of her wholly and completely, scars and all.”
“Scars and all?” Morgan echoed.
“Scars and all, princess.”
Morgan drew in another shaky breath.
“So what do you think, Morgan Cox?” he tucked her hair behind her ear and continued to caress her face. “Is that something you might be interested in?”
Morgan nodded. “I think so.”
“Open your eyes and say it.”
Morgan opened her eyes, letting a runaway tear fall free. “Yes, that is something I would be interested in.”
She watched as his mouth stretched into a huge smile. “Then how about we make it official?”
She smiled back. “What are you waiting for?”
She felt his body shake with laughter as he drew her close to him. He leaned his head towards hers and her eyes closed in anticipation. When his lips landed on her left cheek, she started shaking as waves of emotion flooded over her. He kissed her scars, slowly and gently, until he worked his way over to her mouth. And when their lips finally connected, Morgan felt heat course through her limbs, leaving her no choice but to melt into his arms. Derek had been wrong. She was ruined. Ruined for him. And no now other man would do.
“Get a room!”
Morgan laughed and eased away from Derek, touching her lips as she did. “Guess we’re kind of blocking sidewalk traffic.”
Derek grinned. “I could think of worse things to be doing.”
He took her hand, pulling it away from her mouth so he could steal one last kiss. Then he tugged her towards him. “Come on. Let’s go.”
Grinning, Morgan laced her fingers with his as they walked back towards the corner. “Where are we going?”
He glanced back at her, her shoes dangling from his fingers, his eyes drinking in hers. “Does it really matter?”
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