Logan woke alone, his momentary panic concerning Rory's whereabouts soothed by the sound of the shower running, his body relaxing at the thought that she was still there. He would've gladly stayed in the haze of the night a while longer, however the fact alone that Rory was up, meant that it was probably late morning already, and as much as he wished it was otherwise she wasn't here just for him and had only a limited timeframe. He hoped that in some ways her understanding Odette's motives would make the process easier for him as well, convince him that he was in fact doing the right thing. Rory's assurance meant the world to him, especially now that she had admitted to wanting him, despite the pending label on their relationship.
By the time Rory emerged from the bathroom, he was sitting up on the side of the bed, searching for the courage to face the day. Instead of the numerous alternatives he'd considered, she greeted him with an almost blissful smile as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just purposeful ignorance, whatever it was, he was grateful for it.
She walked over to him, already dressed in a fresh pair of panties anda white t-shirt, wrapped her arms around his head, running her fingers through his hair, with a "Good morning."
He hugged her hips, pressing his ear against her abdomen, almost posessively, sighing, "and what a good morning it is." It felt indeed better than all those mornings before, if one was to forget all else.
"Come on, we better get us some breakfast," she said in a weak voice, realizing that it was time to break their bubble for now.
"I'll be right there, you go ahead, I'm sure Josh has already made breakfast, he has a knack for it." Logan added, trying to sound positive, rising from the bed and giving her one more gentle kiss, before heading to his room to shower.
"Good morning", Rory greeted as she joined the breakfast table where Honor and the kids already sat, Josh just plating the scrambled eggs he'd just made. For a moment she contemplated going to help Josh, but she was unsure whether feeling and acting as at home, like she had a decade ago in this place, was still okay.
"Rory, eggs?" Josh asked.
"Yes, please," Rory replied, observing the family.
"Did you sleep well?" Honor asked, with a slight glimmer in her eyes.
"I did," she replied. The weak glow on her cheeks was difficult to hide.
"Hmhm," Honor noted, realizing that she couldn't really comment any further with the kids present. To her this whole arrangement was like real life telenovela, with the chance of her brother actually getting hurt in the process. Despite her love for Rory, that was what she mainly worried about. "Conrad, make sure you eat your tomatoes," she added, switching into the parenting mode from her thoughts.
"So how old are you guys?" Rory asked curiously, as Josh placed a plate in front of her.
"I'm…," Linus said, holding up four fingers in front of him.
"Wow, that's a lot. What about you Conrad?" Rory continued, before taking a bite.
"I'm six," Conrad added less enthusiastically, biting into his tomato slice reluctantly.
"So you must be starting school soon, right?" Rory inquired, glancing at the boy and Honor who was sitting next to them, nursing her coffee.
"He did this fall already," Honor noted, "he's doing great," she added proudly. Honor too had aged, her hair, pushed behind her ears, was shorter now, about up to her chin.
"Morning," Logan joined them in the kitchen, having only taken a quick shower.
"Eggs?" Joss asked Logan.
"I can make my own, you can go eat," Logan offered Josh, but before beginning cooking for himself, he poured Rory a cup of coffee and plated a fresh chocolate croissant, they'd had delivered from the nearby bakery, placing them in front of her, without asking if she wanted them.
"Thanks," Rory replied, smiling at him, his presence making her feel at home. As the kids soon scattered to the den along with Josh, she dived unapologetically into the newspaper next to her, separating the business pages and placed them in front of the seat next to her for Logan to read. It was routine for them, and despite long periods of time apart in between, in whatever circumstance they were in, they'd always enjoyed their mornings. Fairly innocent, but intimate in the predictability of the dynamic, and it showed.
"Where's Odette?" Logan wondered, feeling slightly guilty for neglecting her. Despite everything she was a friend and he felt like he'd dragged her over here. He could sense that even if Odette didn't say anything, having their agreement cut shorter than she perhaps had counted on, was putting her in a difficult position. Not only did she know what she was very soon going to be a divorcee, the benefits of their arrangement were rapidly diminishing for her with the exaration date, still currently unestablished.
"She went for a walk, the weather has been nice this morning. She ought to be back soon," Honor replied, being woken from observing his brother around Rory by his question. It was day and night of difference compared to how he was with Odette, there was no denying that.
"Any plans for today?" Logan asked his sister, as he ate.
"There's a crafts corner for the kids in Oaks Bluffs library, it starts in an hour, and we'll probably be out for lunch as well," she explained, giving them some time to work things out.
"And you?" Rory asked Logan.
"I can stay if you want, if you don't, I guess I could always go to the gym or something," Logan replied, after taking a sip of coffee. It felt strange doing something so common, when the the two important women in her life were discussing him.
"I should be alright for a few hours, she's not that scary," Rory tried to joke.
"God, you two, I hate seeing this," Honor said, unable hold it in any longer. "It's so bloody unfair that this has to be like this," she added, almost getting teary eyed.
"Hey, things could be worse...," Rory said, trying to sound genuinely optimistic, the sentence only shadowed by the sadness in her her voice, glancing at Logan, getting a weak smirk in return.
The three finished their breakfast in quiet and began cleaning up.
"But I was wondering," Rory began as she was beginning to melt into feeling at ease around the house, filling the dishwasher, "Mitchum hasn't always been like this, has he? I wasn't snooping around, but I accidentally found some photos at the house, and on those he looked so different - relaxed, happy even. You guys were in those same photos, Logan you must've been around 4-5 I guess. You were playing, hanging around the house, boating," Rory said.
"I don't remember ever seeing those photos," Logan pondered, recalling very little moments that could possibly qualify as quality time with his father from his childhood.
"I do recall spending some time there with you and him, but I don't remember much - I remember I loved the pool," Honor noted.
"Was your mom with you? There were no pictures of her," Rory added.
"I don't think she was," Honor replied. "She couldn't stand the Maine house for some reason, hence dad gave it to me as a wedding present," she added.
Rory's mind was already far gone into the processing of the possible scenarios, yet she wonder whether she was crossing a line even thinking about this further. Perhaps she even imagining things? Or maybe she was just bored? Either way - It wasn't like it would change anything, was it?
Rory had taken the newspaper into the living room, having missed reading a real paper as she didn't subscribe to any of them in Maine. The smell and the touch of the real newspaper under her fingers was a little bit like a religion, just as with books, to her. Logan had left for the gym, a little reluctantly, and she could hear Honor in the hallway ordering her kids around, trying to get them ready to go as well, the discussion about the missing glove having lasted already a couple of minutes.
"Hey," Odette said, taking a seat on the armchair next to her. It almost seemed like she wanted to talk to Rory as much as she did to her. Either way, they both knew why they were there, left alone in the empty house.
"Hi," Rory replied, folding the newspaper up, putting her feet back on the floor from her curled up position. A silence carried, and the two waited and listened until the front door was slammed shut by one of the kids.
"Well I probably don't need to tell you this is a strange situation. But I'd like it if it didn't have to be too awkward between us," Odette stated hopefully.
"It would certainly make things easier," she replied with a sigh.
"Listen, I've seen Logan pine for you for the entire time I've known him, even when he wouldn't admit it, even when he tried dating - me or others. And believe me, if I had any feelings for him, other than our friendship, I would hate being this detour for him. I'd probably fight you even," Odette said, adding, "but I am not, am I?"
"I see that, and for that I am thankful," Rory replied.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" she asked. She had an idea, but she was not the one who had asked for this, it had come from Rory.
"I don't even know what I should say, I guess in a way I wanted apologize to you even," she hesitated. "I realize your relationship to him is, or was, not traditional, but I didn't know it back then, and it certainly didn't stop me from acting irresponsibly. So if there is any part of you that is hurt by those actions, or the present, I'm sorry," Rory said.
"It's okay, I get it. In a way I understand - you've loved someone who you didn't think you could ever completely have. You took what you could. I've been there," Odette sympathized.
"So can you tell me your side in this? Why are you going through with this, even now?" Rory asked.
"I don't really know how much Logan has told you, but I guess one of the main reasons is just to get my family off my back. They're, I guess a pretty typical high society family. They care about their history and reputation, their businesses, contacts... I think everyone in my family has an arranged marriage, to some level at least. I've tried pleasing them, even dated many of the guys they've set me up with, I even lived with one… but those options, while "suitable" and wealthy, just never fit. One of them was abusive. I luckily got out with just some mild bruises. But even me telling them why I needed to break up with him wasn't really enough for them, they adored him. They didn't believe he could've done something like that. He was the type you know - perfect on the outside, rotten on the inside," she explained.
"That's rough," Rory commented.
"A few years ago I did find someone I loved, he loved me. We kept seeing each other for almost a year, most of it secretly and he, Fabien, hated it - meeting in secret, I couldn't even meet his parents, and he really began to think he wasn't good enough for me, but that wasn't it. I was scared for him. My family, my brother more specifically, has always been very watchful of me - he tends to go too far, threaten, I'm pretty sure he even beat up one guy when I was still in high school because he didn't think he was good enough for me. Fabien wanted to be out in the public, and when we tried, my family, not just my brother, threatened him with a harassment claim. He is a schoolteacher, so you can assume the content of that threat probably," she sighed. "So I broke it off, I was devastated for a really long time. Therapy and antidepressants helped, and I was glad Logan was around, even if he was just a friend. And I guess as a friend I do love him," Odette described.
Rory just listened, feeling for her, wondering why so many people she knew from high society had to pay such a high price for being born into that situation. Perhaps her mother had indeed been right to try to keep her away from it?
"Then at some point Logan told me about all the conditions there were set up for him to get his inheritage, and the deal with Mitcum. He even told me how his family had ambushed you back in college. He thought that partially it was because of his family why you turned him down when he proposed. And when you and him were in your arrangement, he really didn't feel like he could ask you again, and even if he did, it wouldn't be something Mitchum and Shira would've been easily convinced on. I think he might have even tried, but he was scared. I've never seen him so scared like when he talked to me about you. You have all the power over him, and you probably don't even realize it," Odette said, pausing to take a deep breath.
"I really don't," Rory added in a weak voice. She was the one that felt addicted, dependent, willing to put her own life aside for him.
"Of course things were more complicated than that, with the percentages of shares, Mitchum having his own expectations and so forth, I'm sure he has by now told you about these things. Anyways, he seemed stuck, and with my life at a standstill at that point, it seemed like a good option as any to get a lot of people off our backs with simply stating that we were dating, soon engaged. We just went through the motions that people expected from us, like on autopilot," she said. "At first I thought that if it had to be an arranged marriage, I'd rather just marry a friend, to help him at the same time. It was better than any one of the guys my parents had ever set me up with. But as time went I understood that more than the actual marriage all I wanted was a family of my own. I don't know if you know this but I'm actually a few years older than Logan, and my clock is ticking, so to speak. We've never really discussed this with Logan, I didn't even know where he stood in this topic. But when he told me about your miscarriage, I could see how much it had hurt him, he really would've wanted this, but he would've wanted this with you. And now with the situation like it is, I just want to have a kid on my own soon, but I don't want to do it in Europe around my family. I don't want to subject my child to that kind of life. So I figured marrying him will at least get me to the States. I'm not a huge fan of the place, but if that's what I have to do - change my name, do everything myself, disappear from the public eye, that's what I'm willing to do," Odette continued.
"My mom raised me on my own," Rory shared, "the difference is that she was 16 when she had me. She tried staying with my grandparents, but she couldn't do it either, living up to their expectations. It was definitely hard, but here I am," Rory recalled, momentarily feeling guilty for having shut out her mother for the past months, the way she had.
"Logan never told me this," Odette commented.
Rory smiled at her briefly - it was as if they now shared something. But Rory felt she wasn't quite done with the more urgent topic, feeling like she needed to explain herself to Odette.
"These things, these family strings that both of you have, this is the very reason I've been so hesitant with Logan. I don't feel like I could fit into that world, I don't think I ever fully will. Partially it's my mother who's to blame, but to some extent I guess I just don't want to see him turn into Mitchum either, I don't want a life that's all pretence. But I do understand - I understand your reasons and I understand why he needs to do this. He needs to get control, he's tried to please him for so long, he deserves this. And I am grateful you are helping him," Rory explained.
AN: I am not too familiar with USA Visa issues and have decided to just got with the probably faulty theory that marrying Logan will get Odette a citizenship. I know there are probably other options, but I am just not up for that amount of homework right now.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter!