The Gift

December 23rd 7:21PM

Morgan and Henry stood shoulder to shoulder in one corner of the busy room. She was wearing Katie's knee length black dress. It hugged her body close, but was not uncomfortable to move in. Her left shoulder was fully exposed as the dress only had one shoulder to it. Morgan fumbled with the jeweled necklace that hung around her neck. She noticed out of the corner of her eye as Henry looked at her, again.

"What?" She asked with a laugh, turning her head to look up at Henry. He bit his lip and shook his head.

"Sorry, it just, you look good in that," he mumbled out. As soon as the words left his lips he took a sip of his drink. He made a disgusted face and set the drink down on the nearest tray. "That is disgusting." Morgan laughed and passed off her own. The banquet was in full swing and Anita had disappeared into the throngs of people, leaving Morgan and Henry to themselves.

"Thanks, I'm surprised it fits, your sister is a lot taller than I am," Morgan said and smoothed the fabric of the dress.

"Oh Henry!" Anita called out. In a flash, she made her way across the room, grabbed Henry by the arm and pulled him away from Morgan. She let out a sigh and walked over to the food table. Almost the entire table was covered in various types of sushi. On one corner there was a plate of crackers and cheese. Morgan slid around the table, squeezing past people to get to the one corner.

"You lost?" A deep voice asked. Morgan shook her head and looked up. A tall, broad man stood in front of her. He couldn't be much older than her based off of his features. His black hair was slicked back with too much gel and his grin took up half of his face.

"No?" Morgan questioned, her head tilting to the side. His grin faltered and he let out a laugh.

"Usually that works and I get to talk to a pretty girl, but apparently it did not," he stated and shrugged his shoulders.

"That was a pick up line?" Morgan asked with a soft laugh. "You need to up your game there."

"Gerald, my name is Gerald," he said and stuck a hand out. Morgan took it gently in her hand.

"Morgan," she stated.

"Nice to meet you, Morgan," Gerald said with a grin. "You, uh, here with anyone?" He asked, looking around the room. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and tilted her head.

"And why do you want to know?"

"Well, it would be a shame for the both of us if you were with someone," Gerald said with a shrug, picking up a chunk of sushi off of the table and popping it in his mouth. "I could give you absolutely anything you wanted, can you say that about the person you are with?" He asked, cracking another grin.

"You know, that's not anything that is an interest to me, but I think I might know someone who would love that," Morgan replied with a smirk. Gerald's frown dropped and he tipped his head in confusion. "Plus she's probably a lot prettier than I am, so you can have the eye-candy as well." She winked at Gerald and reached out for his hand. He took it and let her drag him through the crowd.

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Trying to find her, there's a lot of people in here, sorry," Morgan apologized. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Henry. Still holding onto Gerald's hand, she weaved through the crowd. As she got closer, she could she a blonde girl hanging off of Henry. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he held his head high above her reach, even though she kept trying to pull it back down. The pit of Morgan's stomach rolled as she watched the other girl touch Henry's face. Was she jealous?

"She's beautiful," Gerald breathed, gently pushing Morgan out of the way to go talk to Amber. Amber noticed him coming and dropped her hands off of Henry. He turned to look at Gerald.

"You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen," Gerald stated, grabbing Amber's hand in his own. She let out a sigh and flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"I know! Finally someone understands me," she replied. Henry took a few steps away from Amber, letting the two get acquainted. Morgan slipped through the crowd, avoiding Gerald and Amber, to meet up with Henry.

"That was strange," Henry stated.

"Tell me about it," Morgan replied with a laugh.

"At least she's not all over me anymore," Henry said, sighing in relief.

"I have a question," Morgan stated. Henry turned to look at Morgan and she met his gaze.

"What is it?"

"Why is there only sushi here? Isn't this a Christmas banquet?" Morgan asked. Henry broke out into a loud laugh that startled the man next to him.

"Even pizza would be better than sushi, but I guess it's because sushi is fancy," Henry replied.

"Pizza sounds so good," Morgan groaned, tipping her head back. Henry pulled out his phone and tapped a few buttons.

"There's a place a block from here that apparently has some of the best pizza in New York," he stated. He looked back up at Morgan and gave her a smirk. She grinned back at him as he grabbed her hand in his and led her towards the door.

"Our coats, please," he said at the coat closet, handing their tickets to the woman behind the counter. She nodded her head and stepped back into the closet, pulling two off of the racks.

"Henry?" Anita's voice called out. Henry's shoulders stiffened and he tapped his fingers on the countertop. "Henry!"

"I don't hear it, I don't hear it, I don't hear it," he mumbled. As soon as the woman came back with their coats, Morgan and Henry threw theirs on, heading for the door. As soon as Henry had his on, he grabbed Morgan's hand and pulled her along.

"Henry!" Anita's voice echoed off of the walls.

"Hurry!" Morgan laughed, her hand tightening around Henry's. As soon as they hit the door, Henry slammed it open, attracting the attention of a few of the banquet members. The two young adults stumbled out onto the street and took off at a job, racing away from the hall.

When they reached the pizza shop, they were out of breath from running and from the laughter. Henry pushed open the door and a bell rang above them. A young waitress looked up and smiled, heading over towards them.

"Just the two of you?" Her answer was a string of laughs and nods. The young waitress broke out into a grin and she led them to a table. It wasn't until they reached the table that Morgan and Henry realized they were still holding hands. They let go to slide into either side of the booth.

"How long have you two been together?" The waitress asked, putting a menu in front of them.

"We-uh, we're not," Henry stammered, bowing his head, his smile fading.

"Oh that's too bad, just seeing you two together made me have hope for myself. What would you like to drink?" She took their orders and walked away, leaving Morgan and Henry at the table alone.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked, having noticed Henry's fallen expression. He looked up and nodded his head.

"Yeah, just thinking, I'm all good. Let's eat and then we should go see what cheesy movies are on," Henry said, cracking a smile. Morgan laughed and leaned back in her seat.

"Sounds like a plan to me."