"We have a table on Mr. Colin McCrae," Logan informed the restaurant host who immediately smile in acknowledgement.
"Mr. Huntzberger, Miss Gilmore and Miss Huey? Your companies are already seated. May I take you coats?" He said with a over polite tone they usually use in high end restaurants like this.
Logan signaled him to help Clarissa while Logan himself quickly situated behind Rory to take her coat. Peeling off the coat from her shoulders, he was caught unprepared when his fingers grazed her skin...a lot of it. His eyes went really wide as the coat leaves a huge area of her skin.
"What the hell are you wearing?" He could not hold himself to comment.
That is not the same dress he saw her in at lunch. This is a 'night-out' dress. This is a dress to impress. It has a low back cut and a seductive silky fabric that showed off her godforsaken body and that super silky super creamy skin. If this dress can make him gulped, it certainly will make any other men gulp too. He groaned at the prospect.
"This is my Friday night outfit,"
"But...but...but where did you get that? You were wearing a completely different outfit this afternoon," great, now he's stuttering.
"You didn't expect me to wear my work clothes to the club, right? Because I know that's where we're heading after dinner,"
"Yeah but how did you even get a Friday night outfit? You were working this whole afternoon,"
"I keep Friday night outfits at the office. Now can we not make a big deal out of this? I'm starving," she started to follow the host.
"So is this a regular thing?"
"What is?"
"Friday night outs,"
"Well... probably,"
"It must be for you to be keeping outfits like this,"
"Logan, chill. I always hated your caveman attitude. I hated it then, and you don't see me amused or flattered now, do you?"
He sighed and followed her close. That was all he can do, it's a loose battle for him since he doesn't have any right in her life. He pouted, this will be a long long night indeed.
A tall man came on to them and cut in front of Logan to reach Rory. "Hey gorgeous, I think you should ditch whoever you came here with and join me to the Church. Because you're so fine and I gotta thank God He'd made you,"
"Back off, Finn..." Logan growled from his back.
"Logan?" He asked genuinely surprised. "Huh, I should have known you will get the finest babe in the room... you look extravagant, Mother... I almost didn't recognize you," he kissed the back of her hand.
"You didn't. You wouldn't dare to hit on her if you did," Logan scoffed. He might get a stroke before tonight ends.
Finn just laughed and led them to the table.
"You wouldn't believe how many guys would hit on her in one night alone," Clarissa said behind him.
"You don't say,"
She laughed. "Don't worry. She's oblivious for it, or pretended to. And she has a tendency to avoid being romantically involved with men. Most of the men in her private life now are the ones from long long time ago or work acquaintances..." she added.
"Really?" Logan asked interested.
"Yep. In fact, the last time she had a boyfriend or dating might be eight or nine years ago before she went to graduate school," she shrugged then went along to her seat at the table.
Hm, interesting. He will definitely ask about this later.
"Good evening, boys." He said as he took his seat.
"Hello, Logan. Mother, you look stunning. I'm surprised Logan hasn't wrap you in a towel and lock you up in his dungeon yet," Colin commented.
"Thank you, Colin. And he knows better, right Logan?" She replied lightly.
"Oh I would if I could,"
She gave a viper smile. "You wouldn't."
"I won't. Because I don't have a dungeon." He confirmed. "Yet."
"Jerk,"
"I prefer the term endearingly protective,"
"We're not here to watch you fight. I'm starving," Robert reminded.
Rory sighed. "Yeah, let's order something greasy and unhealthy. What do they have here?"
"What an extraordinary woman! We shall provide whatever thou shalt wish!" Finn exclaimed.
Rory laughed and reached for the menu.
"Go crazy, Ace!" Logan added deliberately quoted the sentence he once said to Rory at their happiest stage.
She pretended not to hear, but he knew she indeed heard by the way her eyes lit up for a second.
Logan observed Rory the whole dinner, noticing things that didn't change, like how she can skip appetizer, ordered two main courses, and two deserts. She only do this when in familiar companions, he noted how glad he was that she still feels comfortable with them after all those missing years.
He also noticed some new things, like how she seamlessly she worked around the menu, and ordered the correct wine to go with her food like having dinner in high end restaurants like this is a daily thing.
But the highlight of this dinner was, the fact that she still remembers how he liked his food. A perfect combination of salad and bread for appetizer, a balanced main course, and not too sweet dessert to end the meal. Of course she also remembered he liked to end the dinner with a cup of espresso when they were going to continue the night to a night club, because she ordered one for him when she ordered her caramel macchiato.
He was like transported into his younger self watching the table of his friends and his girlfriend, having random and sporadic conversation ranging from politics to bikinis. This is what he's been missing. There were many dinners like this with his friends during the last decade, but he always felt something is missing.
And watching them now is like having the last piece of puzzle fit into place. This is it. This is what's been missing. Rory. Why can't he have this now? God knows he's been suffering enough.
"Hey lover boy, you think we can get your attention for a second here? We need your opinion." Robert's voice emerged into his cloud of minds.
"Sorry, what?"
Finn snickered.
"Honestly Logan, can you stop staring at Rory and get out of your perverted mind for a second to join the conversation?" Colin said annoyed.
"Hey, nothing perverted involved in my thoughts of Rory," he defended. "This evening," he added with a smirk.
Rory rolled her eyes hard.
"So we need a tie breaker. Rory, Clarissa, and Robert believe using magic to do something is cheating. Finn and I don't agree, using magic that is yours is like using your talent. Think of it as your brain, or your charisma." Colin explained.
"It wasn't a tie. It's three to two. Adding my opinion will risk it become a real tie," Logan tried to reason.
"That's why we need your opinion." Robert answered incredulously.
"To make it a tie?" Logan asked confirming.
"Yes," all five heads nodded.
Logan shook his head.
"You do know that magic isn't real?"
"How do you know?" Clarissa asked.
"How would you explain the relics? And the mythology?" Finn asked offended.
"Exactly what the word mean. Myth."
"Oh! How would you explain the ancient buildings and architectures? Like the pyramids? Or the ancient temples made in heavy stones, deep in the forest? How did the ancient people build them? They didn't have trucks, or excavators!" Rory couldn't stop her defense.
"Cute! You thought angels and gods made them? They sent hippogriffs and cute little pixies to help mankind?" Logan chuckled gaining dagger gazes from the others.
"What about the Salem Witch Hunt?" Robert chimed in.
"God, you guys are so lost!" Logan shook his head.
"Probably after this you'd tell us that Dumbledore wasn't a real person?" Finn asked hurt.
"Finn!" They all shouted.
"What?" He looked genuinely confused.
"He's busy playing canasta with Santa Claus but secretly trying to bang Mrs. Claus," Logan answered cruelly.
"Logan, don't be a jerk!" Rory scolded him.
"Mother!" Finn whined snuggling his face to Rory's shoulders, that sneaky bastard.
"There, there!" Rory patted his head.
"Yeah, yeah. Stop that! Are we going to the club or not?" Logan was really uncomfortable seeing Finn getting something that he was dreadfully wanted.
"Yeayyy!" Finn jumped and quickly settled the bill then headed to the door. The others followed.
Logan caught up with Rory and helped her put on her coats. "Had fun, Ace?"
"I did. Didn't realize how much I miss spending time with you guys,"
"We're glad to spend time with you too..."
"Good," she smiled.
As the night went on, Logan could feel Rory became more relaxed, but it wasn't for the alcohol because he noticed how she switched to cute but non alcoholic beverages after her fourth glass of martini. Means that she knows her alcohol limitations, she does this a lot then.
He also noticed how she drives her way out of guys especially those who had eyes on her and when she was caught at the bar by one one the guys, she muttered something politely but apparently enough to sent the guy away. This girl is skillful and has mastered this strategy for quite some time. The only question left is that why she objected those attention.
Not that Logan was mind, but a girl like Rory; independent, sophisticated, confident, and drop dead gorgeous, dismissing guys who looks potential and promising seemed a bit odd. He could swear girls with her quality who played their cards right would be able to land any bachelors they want with a bat of an eye.
"What's wrong with that one?" Logan asked when Rory arrived at their table.
"Not your business,"
"Wasn't the right blonde? Not the right height? His voice maybe? Or his body odor? I heard that's something of a consideration for women," he said in all seriousness.
"Looks were never in my criteria,"
"Really? I could've sworn you fell for my dazzling smile..." he smirked.
"Your cockiness undo all the charms that smile sent." She replied wincing her eyes.
"Ouch. So what did you say to the guy? It looked super effective that he immediately left you the second you said it,"
"That's a secret, Logan. With you being on the other side of the pool, I couldn't risk letting you know our secret weapon to keep your kind away,"
"My kind? You mean hot, successful bachelors? On behalf of my kind, I would proudly say to you that your kind throws themselves at us and would practically do anything to get us to the altar,"
The word altar stunned them briefly.
"You must've mistaken my kind with the bimbo clan. You know, those Stepford wives cadet..."
"Ah yes, my mistake. They who spent their lives studying how to be a good wife and reading book about the 'uniqueness of silk table cloth and cashmere wipes in hosting a totally pointless mid week brunches' while you were buried deep in Tolstoy and Hemingway,"
She laughed. "For the record, I don't think lowly of those kind. I think everyone entails for their own dreams in this world. I mean, even if that dream is to just marry a rich guy, have a bunch of kids, got divorced, and live off the child support. Some people has simpler dreams like just be happy, or having someone to share their lives with. Some aims really high they got lost in the process of reaching their dreams," she shrugged. Logan noticed a shift in her gestures. He scooted closer and looked at her right in her eyes.
"And you? Are you almost there, Ace?" He asked with the smoothest voice he could muster.
She looked back at him, a tinge of sadness in her eyes.
"I don't even know if I wanted that dream anymore, you know? I dreamt about it so many times, and I worked my ass off to reach that dream. Somewhere along the way that dream shifted, but I was too stubborn to noticed. And I fell apart, everything fell apart and it wasn't familiar anymore. And when I tried to change it..." she took a really deep breath. "It broke even more. So I held on to the only familiar thing there was: this dream. Even if I don't know if I wanted it anymore,"
"What do you mean? What dream? You become a hot ace reporter and writer? You become a badass editor? Because you did such an excellent job, Ace! You're doing great!" He affirmed.
She smiled bitterly.
"I had to...become the best, you know. Because I sacrificed the best thing that's ever happened to me for it..."
Logan blinked. Once and twice and thrice. Did he hear it right? Was she implying that best thing was their relationship? Or was he imagining things?
Logan was thinking about his next move when his friends came back to their table.
"We have a terrific idea!" Finn's voice broke the moment.
Logan screamed inside in frustration. He was so close in having that talk with Rory. Finn really should learn something about reading the atmosphere.
Rory quickly regained her composure and asked Finn "What's that?"
"We should go take a month vacation to tour around Asia! Maybe finish our trip that we planned before the yacht crashed!" Finn announced.
"We can't just go and take a month vacation, Finn!" Rory said.
"Why not? It's not like you work for a living, Rory. And Logan, you own the company..." Robert replied.
Logan laughed.
"What about me?" Clarissa asked stunned.
"You can come of course!" Colin said as if it was the obvious thing.
"What about my job? Unlike you all, I have to work for a living,"
"Babe, you underestimate yourself. For someone as pretty as you, I would give you any position in my company..." Finn answered.
"That's not how the world works, Finn..." Logan reminded him.
"Well, the world sucks! What's the point of having all these money if you can't even spend it the way you want it when you want it?" He whined.
"With great money comes great responsibility," Logan reasoned.
"Okay, Spiderman... what about a weekend? Think you could spare it?" Robert asked.
"Oh I have a better proposition. What about Labor Day week? It's Friday so we'd have a long weekend. We could take Thursday off and fly somewhere tropical away from New York City's crowd Wednesday night and be back on Sunday," Colin offered.
"Oooh can we go to LA?" Clarissa looked excited.
"Really?" Robert rolled his eyes.
"I wanna go to the Bahamas!" Finn stated.
"Maldives," Colin countered.
"I vote for Bali," Logan chimed in too.
"Oh, yes! I've never been to Bali before too. I heard it was super crowded and traffic was mad there," Robert said.
"You must be mistaken it with Jakarta, the country's capital..." Colin corrected.
"Whatever. I heard they still has death penalty there," Robert said seriously.
"Relax. We won't do anything illegal there..." Logan assured them.
"We won't? Well it's just got uninteresting real fast!" Finn pouted.
"I heard the girls are beautiful and exotic," Clarissa added.
"Finn's exotic,"
"But he's not a girl."
"Okay... okay... so, Labor Day vacation in Bali?" Logan tried to confirm.
Everyone nodded but one.
"Rory?"
"Umm.. I... I don't,"
"You have a family thing?" Rory wasn't exactly speaking with her parents, and her grandparents passed away, so Logan wasn't sure if she has a plan or anything. Logan hoped it wasn't with other competitors.
"No, I... um..."
"Oh I forgot! I have a thing with planes," Clarissa shot as if she'd just remembered.
"You have a thing with planes?"
"What thing?"
"I'm afraid of planes,"
"That's not very convincing. I thought you were from Portland,"
"Yes, I am."
"So you go visit your family there with cars? Or buss? That's a long way to go,"
"And you did suggested us to go to LA. Did you hope to go there by cars?"
"Um...um..." she stuttered. "Can we just go somewhere that don't include flying?"
This is so suspicious. He could almost swear Clarissa is covering for Rory, but he couldn't pinpoint the problem was. Rory doesn't have any problems with planes, she went to Europe a few times and she went to spent Christmas with him in London once.
"Let's go to Atlantic City then. It won't be as fun as Vegas, but at least I could spent more money than I could here... God knows I have too much..." said the all so snob Robert.
Everyone agreed, including Rory, who Logan noted, submitted her agreement in a small nod. She was nervous about something. And he's determined to find out about that.