Checking over Celeste's auctions was becoming a daily routine for Rory. She didn't necessarily need to buy the dresses, but then again if she happened to get them it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Hence she upped the bids fairly regularly. The very least that push of a button did was raise the price indicating the other 7-8 bidders that seemed to like Celeste's things that these were really worth something. Odette had never been an A-class celebrity, maybe not even B, except perhaps in France, and there was only so far the name alone went. Rory believed Celeste deserved to get all she could get from her past - like the past owed her or something.
That night she'd just put the kids to bed, having recently mastered putting all three in bed by herself, which alone made her feel rather powerful. Small victories - right? Technically what this involved was swaddling the twins and letting Finny fall asleep on the day bed in the twins bedroom next to her and then carrying him to his own room. But doing it this way truly made her feel less alone in the house. It was her and them in that room, her voice and their occasional sounds until there was none and she often lingered a minute or two longer to enjoy their silence and the love that she felt. Her flesh and bone - more than she'd ever hoped. She still couldn't quite believe she had three kids, every once in a while needing to remind herself in contrast to how things had been three years ago - she had three kids with Logan.
"You still up?" Logan messaged her, just as she was brushing her teeth - getting ready for bed herself.
"Yeah, just a sec," she replied, brushing her upper teeth a few more times and rinsed. She hastily applied a small dab of anti-age night cream to her forehead and other small wrinkles and neck as a part of her evening routine. She climbed into bed and settled in cosily against the sage colored pile of pillows that really was too much for just the one person to have around the bed, but it felt wrong clearing it out even if Logan wasn't there.
"Hey," she greeted him smilingly, deciding to call on Facetime that time.
"Hey," he replied, his voice sounding a little raspy. His neutral and modern looking hotell room was dimly lit, just by the bedside lamp.
"You sound off, everything okay?" Rory asked.
"Ah, it's nothing," Logan replied, couching a little.
"You're sick?" she asked, seeing it from his slightly glossy eyes.
"Just a minor cold, it's no big deal," he brushed it off. He hadn't wanted to call so she could worry about him. "I've just had chicken soup and the concierge stacked me up from the farmacy," he lied. He'd done that himself, not wanting to bother anyone. He wasn't ignoring the problem but boosting his immune system any way he know how, hoping to be back to work sooner rather than later.
"How high is the fever?" Rory worried.
"It's not that bad - 100.4," Logan replied. It was that after the Tylenol pill he popped an hour ago - again something she didn't need to know.
"Are you getting enough fluids? Rest?" Rory asked, knowing that Logan was calling her in the middle of the night. Logan's sleeping pattern was erratic at best, but that was no surprise.
"Yes, and yes," he replied.
"No working?" Rory didn't let up.
Rory knew already that he couldn't give the answer she wanted to hear.
"I wanted to tell you about something else, actually," Logan replied instead, seeing in her face that she knew too well he'd continued working, even if from his hotel room. "My dad went to see Owen," he said, sounding a little excited.
"Oh wow, how did he take it?" Rory asked, not even sure whom she meant in particular out of the two.
"I spoke to Owen a little, and it seems to be... okay? They're not celebrating the reunion or anything like that. There's definitely some feelings buried there, but he doesn't seem to be mad as such. I don't even know - maybe it's just the timing. That it's after Catherine is gone…," he pondered, his thoughts making sense but the sentence coming out less than exemplary in his condition.
"Do you know why he did it?" Rory asked curiously.
"I suggested it," Logan surprised her. "Remember how I told you that I spoke to Owen after the funeral," he explained. "Well, he's feeling a little sick with his job and Charlotte… I don't know her well enough but… how he put it, she's looking for something more. Maybe it's just the money… doesn't even matter," he discussed. It was not his wife - Owen would just have to determine what reasons were acceptable in his world. "Anyways dad asked him to consider moving to London and being our eyes and ears at the company. Essentially it would be like dividing the CEO position in three-four. A lot of advisers, both locally and from a distance," Logan explained, feeling victorious having thought of this.
"And he said yes?" Rory asked surprisedly. She really hadn't expected a development that quick.
"Not yet, but he didn't turn it down… he's thinking it over. And if he is, it'll probably be from the new year - but still," Logan replied, hopefully, clearly having begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel, despite being sick.
"Wow," Rory exclaimed. Sure, it wasn't a done deal, but this certainly wasn't the development she'd expected. "Wait - does that mean that if he does agree, that Mitchum will actually announce him as his?" she asked, realizing the bigger consequences. The HPG was big enough to get attention for employing someone new at a top position.
"Yeah, that would be a part of it," he admitted. What he was in fact a little scared of was that perhaps the media would begin drawing similarities with him and Rory and Catherine and Mitchum - if it ever went that far. At the very least it would be small scandal for Mitchum if not for them. It wasn't ideal, but somehow to Logan nothing had seemed so right in years. He truly felt Owen deserved this. He'd emphasized to Owen that he was in no way thinking that he shouldn't teach, he didn't think it was a job that was beneath the family name or anything like that - he just encouraged Owen to think about whether he too might want something else if the opportunity presented itself.
"Well fingers crossed, I suppose," Rory replied, already hoping to get Logan back home. She tried to picture Owen in that position, and while being very alternative compared to the average corporate face, he did have that same presence Logan had.
She could see that despite the excitement and will to talk to her, Logan looked really tired. And she was right - his eyes felt dry and head ached. She really wished she could do something for him from a distance.
"You should really go to bed, Logan," she suggested in a calm voice.
"I know… but I want to talk to you - I want to hear how it went with Christopher," Logan said. The truth was that he was lonely - just staying in the hotel room alone missing his family and now being sick on top of everything. All he really wanted to do was go home and sleep in his own bed.
Rory got that, better than he probably realized. And for this reason she said, "Okay, turn off the lights, close your eyes and put the phone by your pillow. I'll talk, but you rest, okay?" At least she could provide him some company, even despite being tired herself.
Celeste woke to the sensation of Jess turning to his other side, his arm travelling over her hip, his hand stretching out over her abdomen underneath her top for a moment. She arched her back slightly, feeling a little stiff from sleeping on one side almost all night, like she sometimes did.
They'd been devouring themselves like newlyweds the past few days - evening, night, morning and often when Evie napped. And while it was wonderful - her touch on his skin always felt tantalizing. It felt so right being home, Jess had a suspicion that she might be burrying her feelings again by this. But having missed her painfully he hardly wanted it to stop.
She heard him puff, blowing some of her hair out of his face, which had gotten there while she'd stretched herself. Clearly he wasn't fully asleep anymore, though it wasn't rare that his hands caressed her sometimes even while he slept.
The hand travelled up her blouse, one finger beginning to circle her nipple, wiping any trace of lingering sleep away. A nose brushed her shoulder, then her neck, followed by lips. He varied how he'd start their morning, not always going for the same tricks. And that was of course if it was him starting it.
Celeste curved her body once more, her breast pushing into his palm and ass firmer against him. This was the ultimate comfort. Not needing to ask, the other body feeling so familiar like an extension of one's own.
Jess' arousal nestled between her ass cheeks, not even demandingly, but simply enjoying the contact, the shaky sigh being a good indication.
The fingers continued to graze her nipple, almost as if half by accident, then squeezing it more deliberately. Then just as she was beginning to really enjoy the teasing, he moved his hand over to the other breast, brushing against it just the same, first with fingers, then inside of his fingers, then the palm and then the back of his hand. A gentle twist, squeeze, then a more abrupt stronger squeeze, the slight sensation of pain feeling ever so delicious right now so that it made her moan.
The hand moved back to the other breast, continuing to tease. Brush, twist, squeeze, graze, almost tortuously weak graze on repeat, a more painful squeeze, causing the same reaction as before and her to push back more firmly against his hips.
But he didn't let on, the hand roughly grabbing the other breast again, kneading it's flesh almost possessively. While he wasn't a breast-guy as such - he knew she really liked it. Seeing her squirm was enough for him.
Celeste grinded firmly against him, feeling the bottom half of her being forgotten. She made her needs perfectly clear by nudging her uninteresting cotton underwear down to mid-thigh.
His arousal felt hot against her skin - damn, how she craved to feel it between her thighs, trying to adjust her position. Jess didn't ease up with the nipple teasing, purposely delaying giving her what she was squirming for. Seeing her eager like that was the biggest turn on.
Jess gently bit her shoulder, laying a few more kisses on her neck, applying a firm and lengthy squeeze onto one of her nipples, making her gasp. She just couldn't stand it any longer.
"That's it," she exclaimed, jolting him out of the zone for a moment, nearly making him think he'd done something wrong. She rose to her knees, and added decidedly - "I'm going to fuck you now," she announced and pushed him to his back.
Jess smirked widely. He clealry had no objections.
But instead of kissing him or extending him the sort of attention he'd just given her - she just was unable to wait any longer. It was his fault really.
She raised her left leg over his body, her back to him, and allowed her soaking slit slide over his already undressed member, making him grin. Celeste tilted her hips, just wanting to suck him up. Her clit throbbed, and she took him into her hands and used his tip to run over it - it was almost like using him, objectifying him. She was so tender and wet already, aching for more.
Jess' hands dug into her hips, his eyes appreciating the hourglass figure in front of him, her wavy hair moving as she continued to grin, on occasion glancing back over her shoulder teasingly.
She sank down to his hardness, forcing a groan out of both of them then. She could feel him throb, and the warmth moving inside of her and if it was even possible, him growing even stiffer than he had been before.
Each caress of his fingers against her back or hips felt just right, almost being able to see his impression at each graze without actually looking.
Celeste raised her hips, delaying the thrust back. It was tortuous. She finally did, each thrust feeling like the first one, only making him crave more. Jess couldn't handle it, and as she tried to do that for about the fourth time, his hands firmly pulled down her hips onto him, then raising her again using his own hips as well.
She allowed him to repeat that the next time again, sharing some of that control.
She used her own fingers to move down to her core and sinking her index and middle fingers around his member, making the passage even narrower, making him grunt while her own thumb continued to caress her clit.
"Oh, fuck," he grunted, adding, "you're so tight like that."
He thrust his hips upwards faster, and she held her fingers in place.
This time he came much sooner than he anticipated, leaving her without resolution, regretfully.
"Damn that was so intense, I'm sorry," he apologized, as she sank down next to him. He panted for a minute, then turned to his side and kissed her long and hard, wrapping his fingers into her hair. He moved a little lower, licking over her nipple and rolling it between his teeth, while his fingers dived back between her lower lips.
One of the amazing thing about the vasectomy was that he still produced semen, making it very easy to forget he'd had anything done at all. There was just was something utterly sexy about her full with his seed like she was now, each time making him think back to how hot the idea of knocking her up had been. He brushed her gently with the tip his fingers, all four of them, up and down her slit - the waves she was making with her hips speaking for themselves.
Little by little he could see teasing made her buck her hips more demandingly, knowing it was the time to sink at least some of those fingers between her swollen lips, entering with a slick wet sound.
Celeste whimpered, as his fingers sent bolts of lightning along her body, the fingers slightly curving upwards, hitting the right spot. He thrust slowly then alternating between faster and painfully slow, making her buck her hips again. As her thighs squeezed together, trapping his hand between them, she came, her abdomen muscles clenching together violently.
"Amazing…," she exhaled as she panted.
Jess laid down next to her, his fingers soaked by their juices, feeling rather satisfied with the outcome.
There was just something about that time after sex, where they felt the most intimate, also mentally. And for this reason, after her breathing normalized, Celeste turned around to her side, propping herself up to her elbow. Evie was still asleep, and she'd been meaning to address something. She couldn't hide it any longer.
"What?" he asked, seeing that the impression she was observing him was quite serious. He cleaned himself up, and gave her his attention. He'd hoped for her to want to talk, he'd felt like she'd been keeping something to herself.
"I've been thinking…," Celeste began. "I don't think I've been fair to you. This whole thing - my depression… I need you to tell me how you are dealing with it. I reread the book and I just… I can't believe I didn't know some of those things. It's like you needed support too and I couldn't give it to you. I want to support you, and yes I know it's not that easy - but knowing what I know now - I'm just not sure how I can not feel guilty about it," she explained. The part that had caught her most off guard had been about him hating to play the guessing game, and this time she'd made him do that again, escaping into the physical part of their relationship.
"Hey," he pulled her against his side, her head now resting on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead as she laid there. "I'm good if you are, I can cope," he replied. He could - his thoughts didn't spiral out of control. "But I need to know how you're doing. I don't want you hiding or putting up a brave face if that's not what you're feeling - not around me," he added, assuringly.
She didn't reply.
"So I ask - how are you doing?" Jess asked out right.
She hesitated, and Jess could already tell that wasn't a good sign. "Four out of ten…," she replied. She was pulling through, but she wasn't great. There was the career aspect and her past - the letter in her bedside table still being on her mind and the dress auctions bringin up all kinds of emotions she hadn't really accounted for.
"Don't hide, okay? Promise?" he repeated, holdin her firmly, looking into her eyes.
"Let me," Finn offered, as he got out of his brand new Subaru, hastily moving around the front of the car to help his mother out of the car.
He'd been over to his parents on Saturday for the barbeque as agreed, but his mother had asked him to come back in the beginning of the week to help her run some errands. While his mother was very sharp in her mind and presence when at home, she wasn't very confident outside the house all by herself. She'd had knee replacement surgery about 15 years ago, but now she wasn't terribly looking forward to another replacement and the physical therapy afterwards - she tried to manage and kept postponing it, but on occasion her knees had failed her while out of the house resulting in a few nasty falls, and for this reason she liked to have someone accompanying her while she was out and about. That day, however, Finn's father was involved with something at the office, and as he really didn't have much else to do he'd volunteered to take her. As he was the only one of his siblings that lived in another country, he felt it was almost his obligation to help out when he was around.
"Thanks, love," his mother replied, as he opened the door for her, at the same time handing the valet the key of his Subaru that he'd ended up getting. It wasn't the cool grey khaki but dark grey instead, the other color having a waiting period.
The first stop was at her dentist's, downtown Brisbane. The 20-story glass-facade building was a multi-purpose building - containing some short term rentals, some services like the dentist in question, beauty salon, a chiropractor, conference space and a couple of restaurants downstairs.
Finn handed her her quad cane and held out his arm for support.
They walked slowly along a carpeted entry and foyer to the elevator and helped her to the dentist, positioning her to one of the waiting chairs. They had a few more errands after this, but for now there was just waiting for him and after making sure the recepitonist knew she was there he sat down next to her.
"I shouldn't be more than an hour, Finn," she noted. "You don't need to stay here, I can call you when I'm done, I'm sure the lovely nurses can help me until then," she added. While she loved seeing Finn when he was around, she didn't want to be a burden.
Finn really didn't have a love for dentists hence he really preferred to rather wait somewhere outside and his mother probably knew it too, hence the suggestion.
"Alright, but don't start coming down on your own, okay? I won't go far," he promised.
As he reached downstairs, he didn't bother with getting the car but simply glanced left and right deciding where to go. He picked a direction at random, having no concrete plan. He rarely walked around the business district these days. He casually popped into a couple of stores to kill time. He wasn't an eager shopper, but it wasn't something he despised. Twenty minutes later he walked out of Mitchell Ogilvie's with a paper tote in hand, having bought a couple of new shirts for himself. It was nothing fancy, just something to freshen up the small wardrobe he'd brought with him.
He popped into a JB Hi-Fi wondering whether he should get another game he could play with Chloe. He'd spend most of the weekend babysitting Paige and Chloe, and he'd actually enjoyed it - making the Sunday all about the backyard olympics, allowing his sister to finish up a project she was on the deadline with. He emerged empty handed as they didn't have anything age appropriate in stock that they already didn't have.
Finn had resisted the urge to message Charlie for nearly a week, keeping himself busy with finishing up his work assignments, as from December his actual vacation was starting and playing with her nieces.
But he couldn't help wondering what Charlie was up to. She didn't owe him anything - they hadn't agreed to anything, but in a way he worried whether officially - if there was anything official about being friends - it was his turn to initiate contact. He didn't quite recognize himself worrying about simple interactions like this - he even hadn't worried that much with G, and even that had crossed some invisible line.
He recalled being just around the corner from the coffee shop she'd said she'd gotten a job at and he knew she might not even be there, so he decided to go for it. If she was - great, if she wasn't - so be it. Somehow this seemed less direct than messaging her.
Finn entered the sleek and modern coffee shop, and glanced briefly around, but didn't catch sight of her. The place was sparsely occupied, perhaps five customers in total, but he kept glancing at the staff - but there were just a few whom he didn't recognize. Must've been her day off - he thought to himself, feeling disappointed.
But he was there and it had been hot outside, so he decided to get an iced latte just the same. He gave his order and leaned against a bar stool not too far from the counter to wait for his order.
He'd just gotten his drink and was getting a paper straw to go with it, when he heard the familiar voice.
"...and we're out of soymilk," Charlie said, emerging form the kitchen speaking to another employee, who walked on to the office section at the other end of the counter. She fitted right in, sounding like she'd worked there for ages. She was dressed in a black waitress uniform, wearing a black, stonewashed, apron on top of it. Her hair was pulled up, forming a braid crown. For a moment she didn't notice him, continuing towards the back of the counter to wash her hands.
It was as she turned, drying her hands into a paper towel, as she saw him.
"Hey," she exclaimed, having not expected to see him.
The greeting sounded positive, at least. Finn almost felt like he should be making an excuse to why he was there, but he pushed down that emotion.
"I just thought I'd see if the coffee is still as good as I remembered," Finn said with a smirk, realizing that it was pretty obvious from his tone he was just saying that.
"Well, is it?" she asked.
"Well… Ice coffee really isn't the best for judging it - my mistake," he admitted, gesturing at his drink. "Any chance you could get a break?" he asked. Who was he kidding? - Of course he was there to see her even if he hadn't particularly planned it for that day.
"Actually, yeah," she replied, briefly looking at the time, smilingly. "Robbie, do you mind if I take my break a little early?" she asked a colleague.
"Sure," Robbie mumbled. It was slow, so it really didn't seem to be an issue.
Charlie grabbed her bottle of water from by the register and led Finn up the metal spiral stairway to the half-open second floor, where it was quieter now in the afternoon.
The two sat down at a table and just for a moment both clearly hesitated on what to say.
"I almost thought I wouldn't hear from you again," Charlie said, surprising him. She looked a little worried, or perhaps even sad.
Technically he'd said that she could call him up sometime, but perhaps she'd already done that by inviting him to dinner the other night.
"You know…," Finn laughed at his own expense. "I wanted to but… I don't know, I didn't want to think I was clingy or something," he admitted, rubbing his forehead. He really didn't know what was going on with him.
"If you were clingy I'd tell you," Charlie replied.
"I've just been told that I can be a bit intense. That I'm too flirty and I just didn't want to scare you off," he excused himself.
"I'm a big girl, Finn. I'll tell you if I have an issue…," she said, not quite finishing her thought.
Finn felt ridiculous. He could talk most women into jumping into bed with him in a matter of minutes - why was the protocol of being Charlie's friend making him so nervous?
"So how have you been?" Finn asked.
"A bit too much work to get me 'trained'," she explained, rolling her eyes. "I went to the Botanical Gardens the other day and just walked around a bit," she added.
Clearly she didn't mind travelling alone or she wouldn't be doing this for a whole year.
"You?" she asked, and took a sip of water from her Sigg bottle.
"Mostly family stuff, I was babysitting my nieces and went to see my parents, I'm actually in town with my mom right now - took her to the dentist nearby," he confessed and glanced at his phone for time in between, wondering when he needed to get back, having not really planned this detour.
Charlie smiled at him, her face speaking for herself that she thought that it was sweet of him.
"Well.. I'm glad you dropped by," she replied.
"Ah, this is her now," Finn sighed, feeling slightly dissapointed - both of time having gone so quickly and him having only thought of coming her after having spent the better part of the hours shopping. He quickly answered her call and promsised to be back in five minutes.
"Alright," he exhaled, coming up with a quick plan. "I was thinking about heading to North Straddie one of these days, maybe surf a little... Just a chance of scenery. I haven't been there in years," Finn said. His surfing options were a little limited since the night they'd met - even driving up to Woorim seemed a little iffy with bushfire warnings along the way. He really preferred to not be put in that position again. Surely - going off the mainland might be just the thing.
"So let me just get this straight… You're asking me to come with you or are you just telling me your plans?" Charlie mocked him teasingly.
Finn laughed, loving the way she seemed to be determined to break the tension he'd carried.
"Yes, I'm asking you if you'd like to join me - just tell me when you have a day off and we'll make a day trip out of it," Finn said, spelling it out for her.
"Alright - I actually have the next four of days off, so technically I can just go when you are free..," Charlie replied.
"Excellent. I need to make a few inquiries, check the weather... But I'll message you, okay?" he added, feeling now much more confident. He needed to stop thinking so much and just do.
"Can't wait," she added excitedly, before he headed off.