Chapter 3

Logan shot straight up in his bed and looked around the room. He was in his apartment, in his bed. Once the fog from his dream had lifted, he realized that he must have been remembering the Vegas trip when he married Rory. It all seemed too real to him, and he recalled that was the memory he was trying to conjure when he must have fallen asleep. He quickly threw on some lounge pants and a t-shirt before racing into the living room. Robert was entranced in some movie while Colin was passed out on the couch. Finn was nowhere to be found.

"Colin, wake up, man!" Logan called as he shook his friend gently.

"Huh? What the-?!" he replied groggily.

"Logan, what's going on?" Robert asked.

"I think I remember," he announced.

"Remember what? That you're getting married tomorrow?" Colin retorted.

"No," he answered. "Rory."

Colin perked up at the mention of her name, and Robert's interest was also piqued.

"You remembered?" Robert wondered. "After all of these years?"

"Yes, well, I think I do," he answered and went on to describe his dream.

As he recalled the details, the guys chimed in with their own memories every now and then, confirming his dream and filling in missing details. In the end, they seemed to be on the same page with Logan, but no one would say that's what happened for sure. It all seemed perfectly plausible, and they definitely remembered the hangover that spanked all of them.

"Hey, where's Finn?" Logan asked after noticing his friend's absence.

"He said something about being back later. I wasn't listening that close, to be honest," Robert said.

"I wouldn't be too concerned unless he doesn't show up tomorrow. This is typical Finn," Colin chimed in.

"He wouldn't miss this! I think he's hoping to hook up with Odette's sister," Robert added.

"You've got a point!" Logan agreed.

"So," Colin began. "When are you going to call her?"

"I don't know. I haven't thought that far ahead," Logan answered.

"You could still call Mother tonight," Robert suggested. "It's not too late back home."

"That's definitely not a good idea," Logan replied. "After the wedding, I'll send her a message and go from there."

His friends looked disappointed.

"What if I did it?" Colin asked.

"No, this is my problem. I don't know how she's going to take any of this, and I prefer to not have it hanging over my head all through the ceremony," Logan explained.

"Then, I suggest you march back into your bedroom and get your beauty sleep," Robert ordered, trying to sound light-hearted.

"Fine, but can you hide your disappointment a little better tomorrow? I don't want Odette to feel uncomfortable. This is already awkward enough for her," Logan requested.

The guys nodded in assent. He knew they wouldn't do anything deliberately to hurt his fiancé, but he wanted to make his feelings clear on the situation. He went back into his room, slipped out of his clothes, and climbed back into bed. For the next thirty minutes, he tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep. He couldn't shake Rory from his thoughts, and he knew he needed to do something so he could get back to sleep.

Logan: Hey, Ace. We need to talk.

He set his phone down after the text, wanting to feel a sense of relief. It didn't pacify the feeling of dread. He knew he wouldn't feel better until she signed those papers, and that meant he'd have to go see her. You don't just ask someone for an annulment over a text or email. A moment later, his phone buzzed at him.

Wow, he thought. I didn't expect a response so soon. Please let this be easy!

Looking at his phone, he saw it was an error message saying the text was undeliverable.

"What the -" he exclaimed quietly.

Did she change her number already? he wondered. It's only been a few months since New Hampshire. How in the world am I going to find her now?

He knew the answer to his own question and felt the knot forming in his stomach. Logan was going to have to go to Stars Hollow to find her because he didn't have any other way to get ahold of her outside of email, which he was sure she'd probably blocked.

Tucking away the disappointment, Logan tried to go back to sleep, but it was useless. Another two hours of restless slumber went by before he finally gave up. He pulled out his work laptop. If I can't sleep, I may as well be productive, he thought. He could feel himself starting to get drowsy, so he closed his computer and laid back down. It felt as if his brain couldn't shut off enough to go to sleep no matter how tired his body was. Since work didn't do the job, he decided to try a book.

Next thing he knew, he woke up to the sound of his alarm with the book still sprawled across his chest. He felt even more tired than the night before due to this significantly abbreviated slumber. Groggily, he got ready for the big day. He made some extra strong coffee to help battle the fatigue, knowing he'd have to make it through a very long day. Once he got going, he didn't feel quite as exhausted.

The wedding went off without a hitch, and no one had any inkling of the drama going on behind the scenes. At times, Logan had even forgotten about it. He and Odette seemed more in love than ever before. He didn't know if this was eating her up on the inside, or if she was truly enjoying herself. As expected in society, she hid her true feelings well. At one point, he realized that things were going almost too well. Everything seemed too easy, and it set off alarms inside. Something bad is going to happen, but I don't know what. Every wedding has something go wrong, he thought. Last night couldn't be the only drama that happened, but maybe it was. He tried to put the feeling out of his mind and enjoy his new bride and the festivities.

After the reception, the couple had their first dance. Logan left the song choice to his beautiful bride, and she kept it a surprise for him. They were called to the floor by the leader of the band, who said a few words about the couple. Looking quite smitten, he wrapped his bride in his arms, and the band began to play. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She'd chosen Moon River. Logan tried to hide his feelings as memories of Rory came flooding back into his memory. It had been the song they first danced to at her grandparents' vow renewal.

He desperately tried to bury those thoughts and focus on the beautiful woman before him. Odette was still smiling at him. She didn't seem to have noticed his internal distraction. Before his ex's memories could pervade his thoughts, he passionately kissed Odette. She was in a little surprised by reciprocated.

"I love you," he whispered with a soft smile.

At this point in her life, he'd become an expert compartmentalizer. Logan shoved his Rory memories into a drawer and slammed it shut so he could concentrate on Odette. Once the dance had finished, everyone else was invited to join in the dancing, which had turned more upbeat. After a few more songs, he made his way over to the bar to get himself a drink.

"Where'd Finn go?" Colin asked as he approached his friend.

"I don't know. It's not my day to watch it," Logan retorted a bit harsher than he intended.

"Sorry," he apologized. "No need to get snippy with me. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I'm just a little busy with the wedding, so, I haven't kept tabs on him," Logan replied.

"No, man. Something's up. What gives?" Colin pressed.

"I'm fine," he said and swallowed his drink. He glanced over and saw his friend enter the room looking a little disheveled. "There's Finn."

He didn't want to tell his friend about the confliction he was starting to feel. He simply couldn't because he knew how they felt about Rory. He would just have to do a better job of hiding his feelings. A couple more drinks of scotch helped him put her out of his mind and focus on his future. No one said a word to him about it for the rest of the night, and Logan pretended that nothing was wrong.

After the wedding, and for the next week, he focused on life with Odette while they traveled to Fiji for an abbreviated honeymoon. The sand, sun, sexy, and scotch helped take his mind off his impending trip to Stars Hollow. Odette didn't mention anything, and he didn't bring it up. Normally, they would talk about things that were bothering them, but this time, it was better left unsaid. There were a few things in Fiji that reminded Logan of his ex, so that made things much easier, but the inevitable loomed closer with each passing day.

By day three, he'd sufficiently numbed his conscious to a point where things in the real world weren't weighing on his mind as heavily. It was a similar coping technique he'd used after seeing his Ace in Hamburg for the first time since she'd turned down his proposal. Eventually, he listened to his friends and attempted to contact her, which resulted in another round of them dating. Once things had become too difficult, they decided on the Vegas arrangement. He'd been under an enormous amount of pressure to settle down and marry a nice socialite who'd been hand-picked by his parents. Rory had made it abundantly clear she didn't and couldn't see herself in that role, but they didn't want to end their relationship. He hadn't really told her about all of the blind dates and set-ups by his own mother, and Rory never disclosed her attempts in love either.

He'd always hoped that she'd come around to the idea of marrying him, and when she didn't, he knew he'd have to make good on the promise he'd made to his family. It wasn't simply a matter of getting married. He needed to wed someone his family approved of and provide an heir to secure his own fortune. His grandfather, Elias, had made certain of that by providing a stipulation in his will. If there was one thing Logan had learned from his family, it was that they were going to get their way no matter what, and they didn't care who got hurt in the process.

Once he returned home, he would have less than a week to prepare for the visit to the states. Not only did he have some business to take care of, he also had to quickly rectify the situation with Rory. He felt that a visit from his lawyer or a mere letter would be too impersonal and worried that might make the whole thing much more difficult in the long run. He knew she didn't personally have deep pockets, but she could summon the likes of the Gilmore matriarch. Although it seemed unlike her, he couldn't risk the chance. He wanted his bases covered for all contingencies.