THE OBLIVIOUS MODE
By Yih

Chapter 10

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Logan remarked as he opened the car door for me. "I certainly didn't expect to pick you up from Mrs. Gentler's house and find myself unexpectedly assigned the role of your boyfriend." I nodded glumly. "So how ever did that happen?"

"She asked me if I had a boyfriend," I responded tonelessly. "I didn't get a chance to tell her I didn't when you arrived and she said that your arrival answered her question for me. I was going to correct her misconception when you walked in and interrupted my second chance to get the matter straightened out."

He glanced at me sideways. "So it's my fault, eh?"

"Everything's always your fault."

He smirked. "I figured."

"So why are you here?" I inquired. I knew I was going to eat dinner with him, it was sort of a given now that I no longer had the Marty option. There were other friends, of course, but I had gotten into a bad habit of putting them off because of Marty and Logan obligations. With their time consumption, it was any wonder I got any work done on my novel. And I hadn't gotten anything substantial done for at least a fortnight. I should write but I ought to catch up with my friends. This weekend was as good of a time as any. "I thought I was meeting you at home."

He blinked slowly. "I thought I'd drive you home."

"You know," I muttered, "I do know how to take the subway home."

He shrugged. "You did get lost that one time."

"It was one time, and that was only because I fell asleep!"

"Wouldn't you rather ride home in my Mercedes-Benz than use public transportation?"

What kind of question was that? "Of course, silly boy."

He sighed. "Then why are you sniping?"

Good statement, I mean, rhetorical question. "How was work?" I asked instead, thinking it best to switch subjects. "Did you crush your opponents' savings account until they wanted to cry and become your best friend?"

He stifled a yawn. "I don't see why you think that all I do empty people's savings account. That's only a small part of what I do. If anything, my father is more the takeover master while I'm more of a reorganization specialist. I go into the companies that my father has already taken over and introduce new management."

"Don't you think you crush people's savings account when you fire them?"

"Perhaps," he agreed mildly, "but I also cushion the others that I don't fire when I reorganize their damn company. If it was being taken over, it was probably in danger of failing in the future anyhow. My father merely prevents an inevitable bankruptcy from being filed. How else do you think my father has built the Huntzberger Corporation unless he buys companies cheaply and reorganizes them to be successful where they weren't?"

Business and I didn't mix very well. We're like water and oil. We didn't mingle well; instead we stayed separated. Trying to explain business to me was like trying to talk to a stone wall. You can say whatever you want to say, but the stone wall is still not going to talk back to you.

He sighed. He knew I wasn't listening. This happened every time he tried to talk business with me. You'd think that by now, he'd get the point and not say anything even somewhat along those lines. But no, every once and a while he'd slip up and I'd have to remind him by turning into a stone wall and bouncing his words back to him.

"I hate it when you do that," he muttered.

"I know," I responded simply and sweetly.

"You're an infuriating woman."

I smiled. "Thank you."

He rolled his eyes. "So where would you like to go to dinner?"

"I don't care."

"If you let me choose, you know I'll pick…"

"O'Rourke's," I finished for him.

"And you don't care?"

I wasn't particularly fond of the place, but I didn't really care what I ate today. I did have a tendency to be picky with what I ate; however, the tendency comes and goes. Today it was gone. "I don't care."

"Then O'Rourke's it is."

"Okay."

He started the engine. "I forgot to mention that someone's joining us for dinner."

I blinked slowly. "New girlfriend?" Logan always seemed to have a girl dangling from his arm. It was odd for him not to have a bevy of fortune hunters chasing his ass. He never went single for long. Then again, he never stayed attached for long either. He was constantly getting together and breaking up with the opposite sex. It was a life pattern.

"Nope."

I stared at him, intrigued. The peculiar smile on his face was another irking matter as much as his statement that said nothing: "I've known her for a longtime."

Old girlfriend then. I narrowed my eyes, speculating who it could be. It could be Emma; I liked her as well as I could like any over accessorized Blondie. But Emma and Logan had parted in bad terms. It wouldn't be her. It might be Katrina and man did I despise her guts. It was unfortunate that of all of Logan's ex-girlfriends, Katrina was so sickeningly beautiful that he had every reason to date her just for the look factor. She was smart too, and clever. His parents would definitely approve. She'd be the next perfect Huntzberger wife.

I knew he was still friends with her. "Is it Katrina?" I inquired politely.

"No."

Fiona then? Fiona was definitely not someone his parents would approve of, not by a long shot. She had an edge to her that could be downright scary. Of all his ex's, I liked her the most. I could see myself being friends with her if she hadn't seen me as competition for Logan. That was the reason it hadn't worked out. Me. But I'm glad that he chose a friendship that had spanned more than a decade rather than married life with her.

"Fiona?"

He shook his head.

Were there any other girls that he'd been serious about? I couldn't think of another one that he might consider bringing out to dinner with me in tow. I was downright curious now. This was someone new. Had I been so absorbed with work and trying to fight the writer's block bug and the Marty dilemma to miss that Logan was dating someone new? It was a possibility. "Who is it?" I demanded.

"My mother."

My jaw dropped and I pulverized him with a glare. His odd smile had turned into a full blast smirk. He had known what I had been thinking about. He knew quite well what I thought about the bitches that were always chasing after him like they were in heat and he was the last available male in the universe. "Your mother?" He also knew quite well that Alexandria Huntzberger paralyzed me, thought not in fright like Kirsten Kincaid but awe.

"Yes, my mother," he confirmed.

"Why?"

He shrugged carelessly. "She's in town?"

"She doesn't randomly pop into town without a reason," I retorted.

We stopped at a random light. "She's probably here to try her hand at

matchmaking me with some eligible New York debutante that she knows through her vast social connections and whatnot. I don't see why she thinks that I need to get married. I'm still quite young."

He was. I hadn't even considered getting married anytime soon. Even if it was a bit of a cliché, girls did tend to marry before boys did. "Well, if you have the typical year long courtship then year long engagement, that would leave you at the ripe age of 26 at the time of your tying of the knot. However, if you veer into a longer courtship, which can last anywhere from two to five years, you could be as old as 30 at the time of your marriage."

I could actually see Logan taking the longer route. He didn't go into anything without a knowing thoroughness that made him such an excellent businessman. If his father had built the family fortune, trust in Logan to multiply them several times over. Thinking of that multiplication was enough to send my head spinning. I had never been good at numbers, but I knew it was a damn lot of money.

"And didn't your parents marry young?"

"They did," he answered.

"So wouldn't they expect you to be like them? Like parent like child?"

"Isn't the saying like father like son or like mother like daughter?"

"You know what I'm getting at," I retorted.

He chuckled and eased the car in front of the valet parking. "Are you going to be

polite?"

"When am I not?"

"Very often," he remarked. "You don't consider your behavior around my dates polite, do you?" I flushed. He was right, it wasn't. It was downright rude. "But I suppose my question was uncalled for since you do seem to be on your best behavior for my mother."

"Right you are."

The valet attendant opened the door for me. "Of course, I am." I stepped out. I'd like to have slammed the door on his typical arrogance, but the attendant was already shutting the door as softly as he could.

The smile was brittle on my face as Logan offered me his arm. Having no choice, I took it as he escorted me in. I wasn't surprised to learn that his mother had already arrived a few minutes prior and had already been seated in a personal dining room. Unlike me, she was also punctual like her son.

"Good evening," she greeted, standing up and touching my shoulder softly before

sitting back down. "It's been quite a while since I've last seen you, Rory."

It had been close to a year, I think. I do remember seeing her at some spring ball of some sort last year. But our last meaningful exchange of conversation had to be more than a year ago at a New Year's Party, when I had helped her to the ladies room when she had been feel a bit queasy in the stomach.

"Too long, I'd say," I responded with an earnest smile. "But you look as lovely as ever."

"You're too kind," Alexandria responded. "How have you been?" she inquired. "I heard from my son," she gestured to Logan, "that you've been writing a novel."

I shot him a surprised look. I wasn't aware that Logan talked to his mother about me. For all I knew, I was oblivious as his best friend to Alexandria when she had far more important things to discuss with him likea future wife. "I've been better," I replied. "I've got a severe case of writer's block."

"Ah," she murmured, "that must be frustrating."

It was. If only my damnable muse would return, things would start looking up. "So what brings you to New York?" I asked politely. Alexandria Huntzberger didn't appear here without a reason. "Some big event or ball of social consequence?"

She shook her elegant head. "Nothing of that sort," she answered. "I came here to see Logan and see how he is progressing with the added responsibility that his father has given to him. After that, I will be heading back to Munich."

I nodded understandingly, praying that she wouldn't launch into a talk that would be heavily business-y. Unlike with Logan, I couldn't zone out without being unbearably rude. Well, when I did ignore him it was rude but I could be rude to him without unduly offending him. I couldn't with his mother.

"After the novel is completed," she remarked, "do you plan to go back to get a

master's or PhD?"

I actually hadn't really thought that far ahead. I was a bit taken back that she was

even interested in talking to me about me. I can't really remember a time when Alexandria had talked directly to me. Oh, we've had conversations before, but they were over stuff that didn't have much to do with either of us. Small talk, if you will. And never before had Logan leaned back in his chair and didn't join in the conversation.

"I don't know," I responded. "I hadn't really thought about it."

"But I'm sure the thought has crossed your mind," she persisted, "hasn't it?"

"It has."

"Do you know what graduate program you were considering?"

I shrugged hopelessly. "There's an excellent program in Illinois, but I don't think I'd like to live there, even if it was only for two years. I think I'd probably want to stay in New York and NYU has a good program."

"So you'll most likely stay in New York?"

Curious, but not enough to satisfy it, I nodded. "Yes."

"That's good." Her eyes flicked toward her son before coming returning to me.

"What sort of career do you hope to have after graduate school?"

Again, I hadn't really been thinking too much on that. All I wanted was to finish my bloody novel and then, then I would start to think about the future. It was already too much to think about the next week and the fears of not making any money than to be confronted with the years that were in front of me. Taking one step and one day at a time was enough for me at the moment.

"Probably a Professor?" I answered because I don't think she'd like my answer if I said I had no freaking clue. "There isn't much you can do with a Masters in Creative Writing."

"True," Alexandria remarked, "but it is quite an accomplishment nonetheless and

you ought to be proud of you."

I turned startled eyes at Logan and he gave a little shrug that I'm sure was

unnoticeable. I would never have thought his mother the type to admit that a Masters in Creative Writing was something to be proud of. If anything, I would think she'd be unimpressed with anything other than a degree in Finance or International Business. I supposed that I didn't know Alexandria Huntzberger as well as I thought.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," she responded pleasantly and told the waiter that she'd have a

glass of Chardonnay. Logan indicated he would have the same and I decided that I'd best stick with a non-alcoholic beverage so I got their fresh squeeze strawberry kiwi drink. "Oh," she remarked after the waiter had finished getting our drink orders, "before I forget and before the summer season is over, you and Logan must join my husband and I on a cruise."

"I…"

She smiled brilliantly. "I hope that you are going to say that I would love to and aren't even thinking of declining."

My smile was not brilliant, it was rather weak. "I'd love to." What else could I say? No? Absolutely not.

TBC…

A/N: Stephanie's w/ Colin. And so what do you think? I'm worn out and school's beginning again and… ahhhh… break was too short!