Chapter 73
December 1st, 2021
The sky was the shade of blood orange, little by little growing darker, as Logan made his way down Walbridge Road, the concrete plates under his Icebugs not really being his surface of choice for running. Sometimes he missed London's parks just for this tiny detail. The air was icy, below freezing, and his every exhale let out a visible puff of air. He liked the briskness though, the way this activity cleared his head after being slouched in front of his laptop for a whole day. His home office really got dull after a long day.
There weren't many runners out and about in weather like this that he'd grown used to seeing in the previous weeks. That too had been a pleasant interaction, a quick nod, or exchange of a few phrases when it came to someone he recalled once having worked as a valet at the country club and provided him and his buddies with weed and now lived at the building next to his. Clearly that guy had risen up from that kind of life and worked some white collar dayjob. Things like this made him think about what people thought about him. Without knowing his story would they think he'd failed? Made a mistake? Had a drug problem? Hit rock bottom? He didn't see it himself, but he almost wanted everyone to know that he was happier like this, hence he tried to smile when he saw people.
There were still the dog-walkers of course - Logan noticing mostly the dogs not their owners - the labradors, a couple of Jack Russel terriers, the majestic hounds, a sheepdog, a beagle, even a pompously groomed poodle. He now noticed every small bark, owners training their dogs for obedience, some still teaching their puppies to walk besides them and treating them with snacks every now and again. He also began to notice the different personalities the dogs had.
It was like playing dog-Tinder, wondering which one of those dogs would suit him, both appearance- and personality-wise. It was a little like trying to imagine oneself at different professions as a child, not that he'd really had much choice in the matter himself.
The idea of a dog, an idea that was perhaps slightly childish, naive and overly simplistic, hadn't really disappeared from his mind since it had popped into his head the first time. He didn't want to explain this to Rory, worrying that she might think he was being negative or setting them up for failure, but in a way the idea of getting a dog in his mind worked as an insurance policy. That if he screwed up or this wonderful world that he was creating shattered, even if it happened for reasons that were beyond him, not daring to hope too much, he'd have at least this loyal four-legged creature to keep him going.
He also knew of therapy dogs, having seen them used quite a lot in London, dogs that helped people with anxiety or simply dogs that hung out at the offices so people could de-stress in their presence during their breaks.
So far the only negative that he'd thought of was the limits it would set to his traveling. Josh was allergic, so leaving the dog with Honor was out of the question. But sure, one could pay to have someone look after the dog and there were dog hotels as he'd already found out after several hours on the internet on the topic. But he wanted more of a companion dog than someone he'd have to leave at the apartment all alone. But he realized that if there ever would be a baby, things would be more local either way for him. He could only really speculate, not having a lot of insight.
Strangely enough he almost expected someone to make fun of him for wanting something simplistic like dog. It was like a kid wanting a pet for Christmas. Like he was reliving some of the things he's childhood had lacked.
Logan reached Elizabeth Park with it's reddish gravel, having run to another area of town that night, letting Rory have her peace with her extensive workload that night, realizing that he was out a little late for this particular trail choice due to the lack of street lights. But it wasn't the first time he jogged in the dark and most of the way pollards separated the road from the path he was running on, so it wasn't a big deal and he made a mental note to take another route back that was lit.
Suddenly, his watch buzzed, alerting him of an incoming call. He answered.
"Hey, sis," Logan said, breathing heavily, but was able to speak uninterruptedly, as he lowered his pace a little.
"Hey," Honor said. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything, you sound out of breath," she added.
"Ha-ha, get your mind out of the gutter," he teased. "I'm out running," he explained, a passing car distracting him for a second or two.
"Listen, I was hoping to get your input on something," Honor began, and Logan could already assume that this was about the HPG. He knew he'd promised to advise Honor or HPG related matters, but he wasn't particularly eager to do it, sending his mind into that former time at those offices, where he was reluctant to go.
"Okay," Logan sighed, lowering his pace even more so.
"I need to hire someone new as the CFO, Mark just hasn't proven particularly co-operative. I was hoping to hire someone from inside the company," Honor continued.
"Ah…," Logan exhaled and went into explaining his own reasons for hiring the man in the first place, inquired about her reasons in more detail and somewhat reluctantly offered her a couple of names to consider as alternatives. It wasn't an easy position for him - advising but not actually having decisive power.
"Thanks, and sorry for bugging you with these things. I know it's not something you like doing, but who else am I going to ask?" Honor said, with a bitter-sweet shrug in her tone.
"I know, and I know I shouldn't complain. I'm the one who put this on you, even if indirectly," Logan said. Here he was thinking about things like getting a dog, and his sister was dealing with the workload that had taken him 16 hour-days on most days to handle, and she was doing this long distance with little prior experience which meant she was doubted by every other officer in the place. She had the theoretical preparation, lacking the practical experience in running anything beyond a department.
"Oh come on. Everyone should have a say to opt out, so did you," Honor assured.
Logan had left the company for his father to handle, assuming he'd just delegate enough. But he never had, he'd sucked it up for half a year before his car accident, as if it had hurt his pride to have anyone else do anything for him. Logan's disappearance had likely hurt his pride a lot too. Half of that had been intentional too.
"Well, just delegate what and when you can," Logan suggested, knowing too well that that was more easily said than done. Delegating took a lot of trust in people. "Maybe go there for a few weeks in person, get a lay of the land and a real feel for the people. Ask George for intel, he's been with us since forever, and has zero intentions in leaving this close to retirement," Logan added, his mind definitely having gotten sucked back into the HPG world.
"I'll try," Honor replied, though it was audible that even she was reluctant to do it.
"Or alternatively, we could just sell the whole thing, though it might be easier to do that in bits," Logan continued, just throwing it out there. Maybe that really was the easiest thing to do? He'd thought about that before. But the trouble was that a company this size was near-impossible to sell simply due to all the non-compete clauses. If they were to sell, it'd mean the loss of at least a quarter of their partners along with it which really felt like devaluing its essence. Whether he liked it or not, he still took pride in the effort he'd put into it over the years and he wasn't indifferent to its inner workings and success, even if he wanted to be.
"I'll think about it," was all that Honor wanted to say on the matter. She actually cared too much for the family legacy to do that lightly. Logan knew that too. "But how have you been? I saw you posted something from Boston over the weekend. I hope you guys had fun," she said, already the tone in her voice changing, as she spoke of something lighter. He believed that that was what his sister was supposed to sound like, that was her true self.
"Yeah, it was fun," Logan replied, by now simply walking along a street that he'd reached, going through the park. He knew he should pick up his pace soon or else he'd get cold in his light layers. He also felt incredibly excited about the secret engagement, and desperately wanted to tell his sister, but held his tongue for now. "Hey, listen - there was something else I was wondering," he began on another topic though.
"Shoot," Honor insisted.
"I'm thinking about what to do with the house in the Vineyard," Logan sighed. "It's falling apart, after the pipes froze last year... Half the doors won't open on the first try, the roof needs changing…," he listed, knowing there was a lot more about the house that required work. The house was an old one, built in the 1970s, but ever since both him and his dad had moved to London, they'd hardly gone there again. He knew when this wedding gift had been more about prime property location than the house to begin with.
"Do you need money to fix it?" Honor asked out right.
"I was rather thinking about selling it, it's a pretty good time to sell," Logan said. The trends had changed enough that there was little point in fixing the place up before selling it, considering the new owners would likely want to build something different instead.
"Oh," Honor responded, and Logan could just tell she was not happy to hear it.
"You haven't been there in years either," Logan continued.
"I know, but it's still special," Honor replied, sounding sentimental.
"You have the house in Maine, it's just so much more secluded there, less posh and uptight. Nobody's watching what you wear or who you have over when you're there. Don't you prefer that?" Logan asked.
"Who has the time to go to Maine!? I've been like once a year, not even every year," Honor complained.
"All I am thinking is that if at some point I might want a place of my own… here or I don't know… that I could use that kind of money for that. Being self-employed doesn't do great things for my credit score, you know," Logan added. His business was running, but it his intentions to keep it small worked, it'd never make that kind of money to buy something he believed Rory deserved. He had a pretty good feeling that Rory didn't even really need is input, but he didn't like feeling this poor when it came to the important things.
"You want a place with Rory, don't you?" Honor replied, struggling to hold in some of her excitement.
"At some point, yes," Logan admitted, almost expecting further teasing as if being 20 again.
"Aw… that's adorable," Honor exhaled.
"So you get why I might need to sell, right? I have no money to fix the place up right now anyways. It's just hemorrhaging," he added.
"You know you have money. You just need to suck up your pride and accept dad's inheritage. Otherwise it'll just continue to sit there in limbo forever," she said.
"Or you could just accept it and then it won't be sitting in limbo anywhere," Logan suggested, lightly.
"You really like asking me for money more than having your own?" Honor snorted, in disbelief, and Logan could just sense her eye roll behind that statement.
"I don't want to ask you for money… I don't want it," he assured.
"Well why don't you just let me fix up the place in the Vineyard then, I bet Rory would like to go back there too for holidays," Honor tried to convince him.
"Honor, it's too much for me. The land tax alone," he added, not bothering to say that he really would've preferred to have that money freed up in case he were to buy himself and Rory a real place someday.
"It's going to be hard to let that place go," Honor said in a nostalgic tone.
"Yeah, you're really going to miss Stan and all those daddy longlegs in all the bathrooms," Logan teased, refering to the raccoon that he was pretty sure was no longer alive himself.
"Certainly not those," Honor laughed. "But you know what I mean," she added. They had had some nice moments there growing up, even if had been mostly with the nannies or just by themselves.
Honor wasn't a fan of letting things go, having embraced the lifestyle of having options and never ruling anything out.
"Or I could just buy it from you..," she suggested.
"Oh, sis…," Logan sighed. "I won't stop you if that's what you really want but…," he added, knowing that his sister might just as well be saying it now, not really having thought things through.
"I just want you to get everything you want, what you deserve. I want you to be happy," Honor said.
"I know you do," Logan assured. It just wasn't necessarily how he defined his happiness anymore. "I was actually thinking about maybe getting a dog," he decided to say, picking up a quiet pace to not get too cold while walking.
"Hm…, that's new," Honor commented, and they continued to discuss the topic a little, Honor listing all the dogs he knew in their circles, providing Logan a pleasant background for his jog home. It was not every evening that he ran by Rory's place, feeling like he needed to balance time with her with others as well, not that he had that many people to do that with. But his sister was certainly at the top of that list of people.
AN: And seriously - I am going to need reviews, even if you don't like something so I know what it is you don't like. Or I'll just assume the worst. Reviews are addictive unfortunately and keep me going.
