Chapter 10

"Wait, what did Benson say?"

The two were in the back room, sitting in the exact same stools with a latté each. The back room seemed to be the place for the important discussions between the three.

Eileen hesitated at Mordecai's question. What Benson had told her to pass on to him made her feel awkward and uncomfortable, though she had to keep telling herself that the person in front of her was a girl and the clothing made it all too convincable to tell her otherwise.

"He...he told me to tell you that he...he's worried about you and that he's not trying to creep you out, but if he is, he's sorry."

Mordecai groaned into his hands. "Well, that's it then. Even when I avoid him, he still manages to find a way to talk to me. He's still gonna have feelings for me, until I change back."

Eileen watched Mordecai's defeated posture and thought for a minute about what they could do to make the blue jay see this in a lighter perspective instead of having him like this from Bensons unchanged emotions.

"You know...you could reply to Benson if you want to."

Mordecai took his hands away from his face and looked at Eileen for a long time, thinking it over.

"I mean, you're not having direct contact with him, so technically, you're not going against what Skips said." Eileen added in.

The avian stopped. "That's...actually a really good idea Eileen." He smiled.

Eileen grinned at him. "I'm glad you think so."

But something hit Mordecai and his smile faltered a bit. "What should I say to him?"

Eileen paused, her own grin disappearing for a second before it lit up again."Well, what would you say to him if he was here?"

"Right now?"

She nodded.

"Um..." Mordecai stopped to take a deep breath in then released it, thinking. "I would say that...I accept his apology and that he doesn't need to worry about me."

"Anything else?"

Mordecai swallowed then, doing one last double take on his message, he shook his head.

Eileen took a sip of her hot drink then smiled. "Alright, so do you want me to pass it on to him?"

The avians heart was in his ears as he said "Yes." and to distract himself, he raised his cup to his lips and within minutes, he'd finished off his latté, the nerves having got to him.


Benson sighed after Eileen'd told him what Mordecai'd said and he looked to the side, thinking of what he could say.

"Okay," Eileen lowered her caramel moccachino to her lap and waited for Benson to continue, "Tell her "thank you" and that if there's anything she wants to get off her chest, then she can talk to me."

Eileen nodded in confirmation and licked the froth off her lips.


And so for the next week or so, Mordecai and Benson went back and forth with their messages, going to Eileen to send them and the poor girl felt more like an owl then a waitress as the days went on.

Mordecai was playing punchies with Rigby over getting the last piece of pizza they'd had the night before for their take out dinner, both being too lazy to cook anything let alone have dinner with the park staff sans Benson himself, when Mordecai's cellphone rang and he held up a hand for the raccoon to stop, the latter being midway a punch so it connected with the avians hand.

"Arg dude!" Mordecai gave him a look and shook his hand to rid the pain and Rigby frowned at him.

"Hey don't give me that look. You're the one who held your hand up."

"Shhhh." Mordecai rolled his eyes and got his phone out to answer it and Rigby watched him go into the kitchen to answer it privately. "I just need to take this alright?"

As soon as Mordecai was out of site, the raccoons eyes went to the pizza and he smiled, grabbing it. "Awesome! More pizza for me!"

The blue jay leaned against the wall and when he saw Eileens name on the caller ID on his phone, he felt his heart slam in his chest, fearing the worst. But still, with shaking fingers, he answered it. "H-Hello?"

"Listen, Mordecai, I can't keep this up."

Mordecai's stomach dropped when the thought of Benson popped in his head. Did he say something over the edge?

"I've gone through at least 12 cups of different coffees and I've missed three days of work from stomach cramps. I'm exhausted from you and Benson coming to me to pass on messages to each other plus my manager's making me work extra for the next few days so I don't think I can help you anyway."

The avians heart sunk. "Have-"

"I don't have his number."

Mordecai swallowed and told her the number to Bensons mobile. "Thanks Mordecai. I'm really sorry about all of this, honestly. Maybe you could find another way to communicate."

He sighed. "I-I guess. But I don't know how it would work."

"You'll figure it out."

Another sigh. "Thanks so much for the help, Eileen. I appreaciate it."

"No problem. Good luck."

Mordecai pressed "end call" and put the phone back in his pocket, a sudden weight on his chest from the phone call. Well, Eileen was out.

When he went back into the lounge, he wasn't surprised to see the pizza slice and Rigby gone and he threw himself on the couch, the weight growing heavier as he waited for Benson to get off the phone with Eileen. If he wanted to carry on the messages, he would be the one to do so since Benson was that in love with him.

A few minutes passed and Mordecai heard Bensons office door open then shut. He stood, grabbed the pizza box and made a beeline back to the kitchen, crumpling the cardboard in his hands. No way did he want to see Benson. Who knows what he said to Eileen.

Mordecai stuffed the box in the bin and made sure to have his back fully faced to the door just incase Benson stepped in. When he heard silence, the blue jay turned and as he wiped his hands on his skirt, he looked up and saw his boss standing in the doorway. At the mere sight of Benson, Mordecai felt the familiar sense of infatuation come back and he swallowed, silently cursing himself to stop.

Walking towards the gumball machine, Benson stepped away and Mordecai went through to the living room, his heart leaping in his chest. Benson didn't follow this time. Although he'd had the conversation with Eileen, he'd learnt his lesson through the messages Morgan and him had sent to each other and so he knew what not to do and he stuck with it.

Still, as Mordecai made his way upstairs, he could still feel Bensons presence and images flashed through his mind when he got to his and Rigby's room. As soon as he'd shut the door, his back slipped against the wood and he folded himself up, placing his head on his knees and letting a few tears shed. Rigby, who'd been playing a hand held console while snacking on the last piece of pizza and laughing to himself, heard Mordecais quiet crying and so he paused the game and with the slice in mouth, he jumped off the tramp and went over.

"Hey man, what's up?"

Mordecai sniffed and shook his head through his arms. "It's nothing, Rigby."

"Hormones?"

The blue jays body shook but he managed a nod and Rigby slowly backed away, going back to his game.

5 minutes passed before Mordecai raised his head and he wiped the tears away, the weight still there. He rested his cheek on his hand and looked off to the left, swallowing it down. Despite knowing Mordecai'd finally lifted his head, Rigby decided to leave him alone to deal with his 'hormones'.

But it was more than hormones. Or at least, Mordecai hoped it was.

Because even through the messages and the phone call he'd had with Eileen, that one glimpse at Bensons face bought back the feelings he'd had with his boss and he felt like crumpling up again at the realization.

No matter what he did or said, deep down, he was still in love with Benson. And he always had been even before Morgan had taken over him.