Chapter 159

February 11th, 2011

Logan's eyes were glued onto the television by the departure board at Heathrow, and so were everyone else's, even those who should've been rushing towards their gates at the time. There had just hours ago been a huge earthquake in Japan that had been followed by a report of a massive tsunami that had swept over the coastline. Lives had been lost, cars and houses being sweep away like they were toys. And apparently now they were just bringing up the fact that a nuclear power plant had been affected too. There was nervousness in the air.

It was certainly the kind of news that made one stop what one was doing, feeling like the world had been somehow a different place before he'd stepped onto the plane he was just coming from a ten and a half hour flight from California. But now here he was, despite the fact that a disaster was taking place halfway across the world. He took it more personally than an average person, partly because many of his colleagues he'd just left at Silicon Valley, with whom he'd had a goodbye party with just mere days ago, were actually Japanese and had some family there. But with a semi-permanent tan on his skin, his hair bleached by the sun, as he'd been for the better part of the past years, he realized that the only real, imminent, trouble in his mind was the reason why he was here - his return to the family company which was more about swallowing his pride than anything else, and the disaster on that tv screen certainly put things in perspective for him.

It was going to be fine, even if it took some self-assuring. He wasn't here to be pushed around by the Dark Lord, he had a position that actually sounded interesting - Head of Project Management. Mitchum had asked, man to man, at least more or less equal to equal that maybe Logan could consider moving to London to help him out, after hearing the Silicon Valley was no longer quite what Logan wanted from it. He'd gone, worked and succeeded. He'd proven in the past 5 years what he could do and even his father had admitted that he had been impressed, he'd even admitted how he'd kept an eye on his doings all this time. Which for someone who never believed his father to be proud of him throughout his life was a big gesture alone.

He'd promised Mitchum he'd give it a try. He was no longer as upset with his father for pushing him into some mold, and at least returning on his own free will felt a lot lighter what being forced to do it back then had felt during his last year of college. He was here on his terms. Besides, he always had liked London, and too much sun did get kind of old, but the reality of stepping out of the terminal, realizing he'd stepped into an all-gray drizzle, made the contrast abundantly clear. But it was kind of refreshing, truth be told, and honestly, he struggled to fight the excitement of being faced with a new challenge.

"Mr. Huntzberger, sir?" Logan suddenly heard someone call from behind him, as he was already standing outside by the line of cabs ready to just take a random cab. Suddenly he realized he should've expected this. Of course the company had sent a car. In the five years of living a lot more humbly, he'd forgotten the HPG way, which made him feel rather silly. But it came back in a flash. Not with shame or reluctance, but as something that simply made him smile, something that he didn't entirely hate.

"Yeah, that's me," he replied to the driver that had clearly missed him at the departure hall.

"Right this way, sir," the well dressed chauffeur gestured. "Is there any more luggage, sir?" the man whose name tag said Charles asked.

"Not right now, "Logan replied, having just arrived with a small carry-on, and had the rest of it either shipped and in part stored, unsure if he'd be here for the year that he'd promised or longer.

"And where to, sir?" Charles asked, after he'd opened the door for Logan and placed his suitcase in the back of the Mercedes E-class, and returned to his seat. "I have the keys to your apartment to give to you, if that's where we're headed, sir" he added.

"Actually… I'd rather stop by the office," Logan said. He couldn't really complain of jet lag, having traveled in first class in his little sleeping pod. Even the food had been decent, which had been a pleasant surprise. He was eager to get started, knowing that in this company eagerness was encouraged.

"Of course, sir," Charles commented and drove off.

The office building looked daunting as ever, and now that it had moved from Trafalgar square to the corner of Buckingham Gate and Victoria Street in Westminster, even more so as it was all new to him. The place was a lot more modern too, which supposedly was a good start. He wanted it to feel like a breath of fresh air.

It was around noon on a Friday, so technically he shouldn't have been in until Monday at all. But instead of just killing time at the apartment, which he was kind of dreading since it was a place his father had likely had some real estate agent pick out for him, probably some impersonal one-bedroom like he'd had back in 2006, he wanted to get a head start on something he'd actually enjoy.

He was here to work, so that was what he wanted to make sure he could get right onto the first thing on Monday morning. He wanted to make sure his office was setup, get to know a few people, ensuring things would run smoothly from day one.

It was however, as he stepped into the foyer he realized, he hadn't exactly announced his arrival. It was a building with a row of security gates downstairs, hence he needed to speak to the guard first to get himself a key card, even if it was a visitor's pass right now.

"Excuse me, hello?" he addressed the guard.

"Yes, hello, sir. How may I help you?" The very tall, dark-skinned guard asked, as he rose from his seat.

"I'm starting here on Monday, I was hoping to get settled," Logan explained, handing him his ID, hoping it'd suffice.

He could definitely see the expression on the guards face change as he noticed his last name, but he remained hesitant.

"I need to get this cleared first. Excuse me, just one moment," he excused himself, apologetically, to make a phone call - probably to Lyn from HR.

Logan turned around, leaning slightly against the counter, deciding to be very cool about this. It was frankly a little refreshing not to be treated any differently because of his relationship to this company. He was still a stockholder, even if not an automatic heir, not to his knowledge at least, at this point.

He observed the people coming and going, being pretty sure he could at least name a few of them from the old days. He also spotted a famous critic, Craig Raine leaving the building, and he was pleasantly reminded by how interesting this place could be on a good day.

"I'm very sorry for the wait, sir," the guard soon approached him again, "here you go," he handed him an access guard. "Do you know where to go? Ms. Cooper was just going into a meeting but she can meet you after if you need anything. Your assistant should be present though, by your office, she said," he added, casually

"Okay," Logan replied, feeling quite satisfied with this response. "Any hints which way to my office?" he asked, assuming the elevators were the right direction, but he didn't want to spend the next hour looking for the right floor and right office.

"Of course, sir, my apologies," the guard said. "10th floor, office 1005," he explained.

"Thank you, ….Jamal," he read out his name tag, aiming to make a point to make some of his interactions less than formal if he could help it.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Huntzberger," the guard said, as Logan walked off, his small suitcase which also held his laptop, in tow.


April 25th, 2022

Logan had arrived in London late last night, his flight had been a little delayed and having lost half a day in the process as he was moving ahead in time flying east. The flight had just been seven hours or so, and because he'd spent the majority of that time working, he wasn't really too off his schedule, and had gone to bed almost as soon as he'd arrived at Ruben's Palace, not his usual place, as he'd been a little late making these travel arrangements. Honor had an apartment in the city, but it only had two bedrooms - the other being the kids' room when they were with her, and Logan hadn't felt like crashing her place. It was just a week, after all - and as long as he was fed and had a decent bed to sleep in, he'd be fine, already missing Rory and their own bed. Or maybe he just wasn't as young as he used to be, and traveling felt more tiring.

It was the next morning, as he'd agreed to meet Honor at the office at 9. He'd walked over, loving this about London and his hotel hadn't been very far from the office either.

He was dressed in a simple dark blazer and a button up, a pair of fairly casual gray chinos, embracing the business casual look. It was less than a year since he had stepped foot in this building, and to his sadness, Jamal was nowhere in sight. They hadn't become best friends or anything, but he had become the first friendly face to greet him at most weekdays. The guy had loved to discuss rugby and had had twins a few years back, for which Logan had made sure he'd gotten a raise after.

"Hi," Logan began, as he reached the security desk. "I'm Logan Huntzberger, I'm here to get a guest pass for a week. My sister should be joining me shortly," he added, hoping just showing his ID would suffice along with name recognition.

"Let me check," the new guy asked, not being nearly as well trained for this as Jamal had. Logan hadn't expected to be bothered by the lack of 'sir'-s and a certain recognition, but he was. It just was what this place resonated to him, it was the atmosphere that it had carried despite occasional casual conversations. Was he actually admitting that he'd like the position of power he'd been in here?

"Alright," Logan replied, having expected that considering he didn't know the guy and leaned against the counter to wait. And if he had been hired after he'd left it was no wonder he didn't know him. There was also an interesting situation as the HPG was no longer directly identified by the Huntzberger name anymore. The reason being that Honor was a Rothchild not a Huntzberger, and had been that for more than a decade. It could well be that people who know of the place post-Mitchum, only knew it as the modernized brand 'HPG', not as the Huntzberger Publishing Group.

"I'm sorry I don't have any clearance for your name, and I couldn't get a hold of Lyn at the moment. She isn't in yet," the guard explained, glancing at the wall clock behind him, which still showed it to be early. It was 8.30-ish, and for Logan this was already pretty late. He knew well enough that not everybody at the company were early birds and he even knew Honor had been a lot less demanding on exact office hours as long as the work got done and from 9 to 5 there was someone manning the phones, besides - if he remembered correctly Lyn at HR usually took a train from Guildford in Surrey, which was quite a lengthy commute, having spoken to her about the house she was renovating with her husband at one of their Christmas parties a few years back.

Logan was just about to object, pointing out his name or his relationship to the firm, but this time he didn't feel he had the strength in him, or the desperation. He didn't want this. He didn't want to make it into a big deal. It wasn't like he had any claim over the place in his position. It had been his choice to leave, his choice to not become the CEO, his choice not to claim this as his. But it did feel like a slap against his fingers in a way. For the first time in ages, he felt like he kind of deserved that.

"Alright, I'll wait," he sighed, sounding a little annoyed, but didn't say another word, instead took a seat at one of the armchairs in the foyer. He felt like calling Rory, but he knew better than to wake her. Hence she settled for a text which she'd hopefully get when she woke up.

"Good morning, Ace. Big Ben is still in its place. Feels like summer already over here. Miss you," he typed, knowing he wouldn't have a lot of time until later that evening to call her again. Naturally he'd already texted her upon his arrival, but that had just been a quick exchange.

He had barely gotten to opening his mailbox and replying to a few of his business e-mails that concerned his own company, which was pretty self-sufficiently operating these days, having managed the tiny business with the methods of a big one, when his phone chimed.

"Hey," Rory replied. "I miss you too," she added.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, knowing it must've been 3 AM there.

"The bed feels empty without you, and there's the damn bladder. And now there's the flutter again," she replied. It was such a special feeling, which she recognized now very explicitly, knowing her body quite well by now.

Their banter went on for a few minutes, along with some more meaningful 'I love you's'.

"Well look who they made wait in the foyer," Honor interrupted his texting, teasingly, dressed in a beige pantsuit, definitely having that aura of power about her, unlike he was used to seeing her back home.

Logan really didn't need to reply, just rose from his seat and felt like the little brother that he was, essentially, and followed his sister towards the security desk.

"Rhys, would you get my sweet brother a guest pass for a week, please," Honor said to the guard, clearly feeling a lot more at home here than Logan did, moving things along swiftly.