Chapter 4

Ororo mentally went over the details for the gathering that evening. She checked off nearly all of the items on her list. Smiling to herself, she sensed her husband's presence and looked up from the skillet to see him enter the kitchen.

"You left me," he said, hugging her from behind and kissing his favorite spot on her neck.

"I know but I wanted to cook you breakfast," she told him, turning off the skillet and turning to face him, "It's the least I can do for the serious workout you gave me last night."

"I was gearing up for round two but I found my wife's side of the bed empty," he said, pulling her close to him so she could feel his readiness.

"As much…as I would love to…I have…to get going," she told him between kisses.

"What do you mean you have to get going?" he said, not moving from his spot, forcing her to move around him.

"I have some things to do today."

"I thought we were going to spend the day together," he replied

"We will. Later this evening but I have a few things I need to do before then," she told him, encouraging him to take his seat at the table, "Do you remember saying that you would probably be working at the Roadhouse for most of the day?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I didn't want to spend the day at the Roadhouse so I made plans to see friends. So when Jack and Skip get back from the car show, call me and we can go out or something," Ororo told him nonchalantly, munching on her turkey bacon.

"Why not? You haven't had a problem with it before?" he asked.

"I do not have a problem with the Roadhouse, Logan. I am just saying that I would like to do something other than sit at the Roadhouse and wait for you to get off. I enjoy spending time with you and the staff at the Roadhouse but that does not mean that I want to spend every evening there. "

"And I don't expect you too, Ro," he said, trying to see things her way. He waited a few seconds before continuing, "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

Logan looked at her expectantly, chewing on a forkful of eggs.

"Well, T'Challa called and said he would be in the area and asked if I would have lunch with him at Niagara Falls. Afterward, he's giving me a ride over to the mansion to hang out with the Team for a bit before…," she began but was interrupted.

"Did you just say you were going to have lunch with your ex on my freakin' birthday?" he said, his face a mask of suppressed rage.

"For someone who didn't care about celebrating the day, you sure are making a big deal about it now."

"I still don't care about celebrating it. I just don't like the fact that my wife made plans to be with her ex on my damn birthday," he said angrily.

Taking her seat across from him, she looked at her husband. Ororo knew Logan didn't care for T'Challa but she was surprised at how angry he got about her lunch plans. T'Challa was in town to attend Logan's roast and had asked if they could meet for lunch. After Logan said he didn't want to do anything special, she decided she would. She felt a twinge of concern for him and considered telling him about his party.

Just as she was about the spill the beans, Logan spoke.

"Fine, do whatever you want. I'll be at the damn Roadhouse," he said, getting to his feet, knocking his chair over in his haste. He didn't look back as he headed to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Ororo sat, wondering if what she was doing was worth the hurt and anger her husband was experiencing. She waited until she heard the shower running before getting to her feet and setting his chair upright. She cleared the table of their plates, both still full of food. She put the muffins away in an airtight container and scraped the rest of the food into the garbage disposal.

Turning around to face the kitchen door, Ororo waited to see if her husband would skip their morning goodbye ritual. When she heard the front door open and slam shut, she got her answer. Now she was the one who was hurt. I hope it's worth it, she thought, going to her bedroom to get her phone.

She keyed in the password and typed the text message, letting her co-conspirators that Operation B.B.R. (Boss's Birthday Roast) was in full effect. She also warned them to stay out of his way, using the phrase "woke up on the wrong side of the bed". The recipients knew that meant that the Boss was in a bad mood and to take cover.

Heading to their bedroom, Ororo took a deep breath and began meditating and praying that the day would turn out better than it began.

At the Roadhouse, Logan was so angry that he couldn't focus on the meeting with the kitchen staff. Seeing that his boss wasn't himself, Alfonso suggested they do the best of the dishes from the past week. Logan agreed and left the kitchen, heading for the office.

Logan paced the floor of the office, trying to calm down. Going over to his desk, he pressed the intercom button and asked Daniels to bring him a drink. Two minutes later, Daniels knocked and Logan took the drink from him, muttering thanks before slamming the door. Daniels, being forewarned, didn't take it personally but mentioned it to the staff so they could steer clear.

A few minutes later, the drink had started to kick in but he was still angry. Sighing, he decided to focus the anger into something productive - researching some new recipes.

Standing and stretching, he glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly two in the afternoon. He immediately wondered why Ro hadn't called him. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he remembered the scene at breakfast.

Now that he had calmed down and could think rationally, he felt like a jerk for the way he snapped at his wife for making plans on a day he said was just another day. Replaying the scene in his head, Logan realized that in his haste to leave, he had broken one of his promises to her, that regardless of how they felt, they would do their morning ritual. Feeling like crap, Logan pulled out his cell and voice dialed Ro.

Ororo, sitting in the lobby of the motorcycle customization shop, pulled out her phone and silenced the call. So it begins, she thought, setting the phone's ringer to vibrant and returning the phone to her hip holster. She knew that Logan would be pissed but she was determined to see the plan through.