For My Love {Dark! Morgan x Ried}

Red Velvet Cupcake

{Ried}

When I step out of the elevator, my friends are thankfully not crowded around my desk. Instead, I spot Garcia and Morgan getting coffee and Emily sitting at her own desk. I join Garcia and Morgan at the coffee station. 

"Morning." I greet them, waiting patiently for the coffee pitcher. 

"Good morning sugar!" Garcia greeted me with her usual cheerfulness. 

"Morning kid." Morgan greeted me from her other side, pouring sugar into his coffee. 

"Here." She said, passing me the coffee. 

Okay...this is too normal. 

I poured my drink carefully, thinking hard about how normal things seem this morning. What a strange concept. For something to seem too normal. 

As I stirred my drink, I thought about how odd the past couple of days have been. Everything here has seemed so different since the secret admirer began leaving me gifts. It feels a lot longer but I know it's only been two days. 

I wonder why...

I walked to my desk on autopilot, lost in thoughts as I took a sip of my coffee. It turned out to be too hot. I burnt my tongue and grimaced, sticking out my tongue at the awful sensation. 

I heard someone laugh and turned to see Emily trying and failing to stifle a giggle at my childish antics. I glowered at her which seemed to set her off, seeing as she fell into a fit of giggles. 

I took my seat, carefully setting down my scalding drink on my desk, far away from me so I wouldn't make the same mistake again. Only once I sat down, did I notice the black box sitting on my desk, sitting in front of my keyboard. It was wrapped it a gold ribbon, tied into a neat bow, and displayed a local bakery's name. 

Two treats two days in a row? 

And it seems to be rather expensive, just like the last two gifts. The envelopes and parchment seem to be rather high end as well, meaning he must be relatively wealthy or at least pretty well off. 

I pulled at one of the ends of the ribbon and the bow fell, the ribbon falling flat on the desk. Once it was freed from the ribbon, I carefully opened the box to reveal what was inside. A rather large red velvet cupcake stood proudly, white frosting swirled elegantly around its surface and a tiny yet detailed candy rose decorating its center. 

How did he know my favorite kind?

I picked it up to study it further, squinting at the sweet treat. 

I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Garcia Morgan looking at me, Garcia grinning and Morgan smirking. Emily peered over the divider between our desks as well. I felt an involuntary hue dust my cheeks at the unwanted attention from my peers. 

I ducked my head back down and stared down the cupcake again. Once I felt like no one was watching me, I took a decent sized bite out of the mouthwatering  pastry.  The fluffy texture of the cake itself had me on cloud nine and accompanied by the rich buttercream frosting, I feel sinful having eaten such a devilishly good treat at my workplace. 

"You have frosting on your nose." JJ's voice suddenly brought me out of my cupcake induced euphoria. 

"Um what? What'd you say?" I asked, awkwardly clearing my throat and sitting up straighter in a desperate effort to seem more professional. 

"I said you have frosting on your nose." She laughed. 

I reached up and touched a finger to my nose and truth behold, she was right. I stared at the buttercream on my finger in bewilderment as JJ grabbed a tissue, wiping my nose gently yet firmly to get rid of the icing. 

My face flamed at the action and I tried to pull away from her hand. 

"Ried, hold still!" She huffed, sounding frustrated as I tried to dodge her hand. 

"I can do it on my own!" I argued in protest, failing to dodge her hand. She grinned in triumph, holding my face with one hand firmly as cleaning off the apparent mess I'd made of my face. 

Maybe JJ really does think she's my mother..

I didn't bother to look to see if Garcia or the others were watching me. I heard their laughter and didn't feel up to looking them in the eyes after JJ had embarrassed me. Instead, I ducked my head down and finished my pastry, of course after making sure she had already walked away. 

After I'd finished the divine cake and come down from my euphoria, I wiped off my hands and face with a tissue and tossed it in the waste bin. See? I can clean up after myself, JJ doesn't have to treat me like a child. 

I began my search for the letter next, sifting through the papers on my desk and rummaging through my drawers until I found it. An inky black envelope was hidden under a case file, gold lettering standing out boldly displaying my name in gracefully swirling loops of lettering. A red wax seal, similar to the candy on the cupcake but far more detailed and elegant held the back closed. 

I slit the back of the letter open, being careful not to destroy the wax seal as I did so and began reading. 

My love, 

I see you liked the strawberries. I knew you would, you always have loved sweets. I noticed you were upset when they made you share. I don't like seeing you upset but you were just so precious with that little pout, I can't resist teasing you about it. Didn't you ever learn sharing is caring? Don't worry baby boy, I got you this gift so you wouldn't have to share with anyone today. It's special, just for you. 

Love, your boyfriend. 

I stared at the letter, flustered. 

I did not pout! 

He's getting too bold. And he mentioned that I was pouting yesterday which means he was here with me, watching me open the gift. I don't remember seeing anyone out of the ordinary but I was also distracted by the gift itself and everyone taking my strawberries. 

Footsteps sounded behind me and I scrambled to hide the letter, putting it in my drawer under some papers to keep it safe. It turned out to be JJ who eyed my suspiciously but I just smiled nervously in response and she dropped it.

"Guys, we have a case. I'll brief you on the plane, get your go bags ready and be at the airport in 30." She announced, standing by my desk and looking at us expectantly. 

Emily was the first to get up and Morgan and I followed quickly in suit. I made it to my apartment in 10, giving me a few minutes to grab my bag and then get to the airport. I snatched it from my closet, checking to make sure I had everything in order. 

On my way out, I gave one last look at the vase holding the bouquet that my admirer gave me. 

A/N: We're finally getting to some action!