Caveat Lector: Real life took a huge toll on me, but I'm back. I'm so so so sorry I haven't been updating as regularly as I try to. Here's to hoping I can stay inspired and don't have to take another long leave again, guys! To make up for my absence, this chapter is broken down into two parts, this is the second part.
Oh my god, you have no idea how much I love that you enjoy Logan as much as I do, my anonymous reviewer! I'll share them because frankly, they need a lot of love because the IIC of writing and storylines royally screwed up with Logan. He definitely should have had a better run on paper than he did. I was so pissed when they just killed him off. There was potential there! Also, yeah I lowkey rooted for Diego and Georgie too, tbh.
Lola's eyes darted around as they got out of the Testarossa. As she handed her keys off to valet, Logan couldn't help but notice that she seemed to linger closer to him. Much closer. And the way her eyes continued to flit around the crowd was a clear indicator that she was looking for any and all exits to leave the room. Her body was so tense it seemed to fold her into herself and Logan found himself wanting to strangle Simon when the man appeared behind the two of them and quipped, "Posture, Ms. Casteel. You're a starlet, remember? Stand taller."
Logan managed to bite his tongue, but only barely.
"Shouldn't you be mingling?" Lola asked the question in a voice filled with tension. The further up the red carpet she walked, the closer to Logan she seemed to find herself migrating. The jumpier she felt, as if she knew something bad was about to happen. ,,To be fair, she thought to herself, it's not as if I don't suspect something will. It's not as if my gut hasn't proven to be correct many times in the past few years. If I could get solid proof that somehow, Simon is behind it and another of her flying monkeys sent to finish me off, that'd be great. I could finally wash my hands of all this and just go have a quiet life somewhere."
"Relax. Ya act like you don't do this all the time, woman." Logan's voice against the shell of her ear brought her back into the present and her surroundings, drawing her out of the noisy thoughts tugging her mind one way or the other. She took a deep breath and as she gazed up at him, she nodded. And despite her efforts, she found herself huddling closer into his side. To an outsider, it wouldn't appear as if the two shared a working relationship only and Port Charles gossip mills caught onto this quickly, the first of at least five reporters catching up to the pair just before they entered the ballroom of the Metro Court and tapping Lola on the shoulder.
"Is Mr. Baldwin your date for the evening, Ms. Casteel? You do seem to have a pattern of falling for the help." the woman smirked as she asked the question and the smirk only made Lola want to shove the microphone being held in her face right back out of it. Rather than make it known that the woman's annoying and salacious question caused any reaction one way or the other -and to capitalize on the element of mystery as she'd learned to do long ago, Lola merely gave a shrug and a soft laugh. "We're here together, what we are is for you to decide. You certainly seem to think you know what you're talking about, after all."
The smirk turned to a split second scowl as the words settled over the woman standing in front of her and now, it was Lola's turn to smirk. Which she did, of course. "It's a lovely night, hm?"
"It is, indeed. Should I quote you?"
"You will either way."
The reporter realized that she wasn't getting anything out of Lola, so she turned her attention to Logan instead. "You're aware that Ms. Casteel has a type, yes? And usually, the men involved with her tend to wind up a little less than alive?"
"Okay, yeah. I think you've asked enough shit for one night, hon. Hey, isn't that the guy who models underwear over there by the front of the building?" Logan thought on his feet, Lola had to give him that credit. As soon as the reporter that had been bothering them was gone, chasing down her next celebrity to hound for the night, Lola gazed up at Logan and gave a small smile. Before she could stop herself, she'd slipped her hand into his, lacing her fingers through his own. "You're not mad that I didn't confirm or deny any rumor she's going to start, right?"
Logan shrugged. "Might be better if people think.. ya know." he mused as they stepped into the ballroom and Simon appeared yet again, practically dragging Lola away before Logan had time to stop it or do anything. Logan swore to himself and hurried through the crowd mingling around the stage at the front of the crowd and he spotted them.
And he would have gone straight over if not for Lulu and Maxie both standing nearby with Lucy Coe, the three women talking to Lola as if they were explaining something to her. If he could avoid Lulu at all costs, Logan tended to go above and beyond to do so. Otherwise, the two didn't get along at all.
When Maxie, Lulu and Lucy were finished talking to Lola and Simon had vanished again, Logan started to walk over to her. Before he could, a loud pop from the ceiling above had him stopping and looking up and luckily, when he saw the source, - a light fixture about to fall down nearby, and realized that if it fell it would hit Lola, he didn't think, he just reacted; barely managing to lunge and grab Lola, the two of them settling just a few feet away when the light fixture finally came crashing down from the ceiling.
Logan gazed down at Lola as he caught his breath and nodded to the light fixture and broken glass from it scattered on the floor nearby. "Close one, hm?"
"Indeed. And now, Simon's insistence that I show up tonight despite all three of the women who own this company telling me that they're glad I came but I wasn't obligated to because they weren't planning to do a reveal until the Nurses Ball... Yeah. Can we take what just happened as more proof that Simon is behind this somehow? Or he's got someone working for him?"
"Yeah.. He's gotta have a hand in this somehow, there's just something in my gut telling me the guy is up to something. There has been since he hired me to play bodyguard, to be honest."
"One 'accident' down.. I wonder how many more are in store for tonight,hm?" Lola mumbled quietly, pulling herself to a sitting position, still straddling Logan's hips as she gazed down at him. "You have amazing reflexes, by the way."
By now, the area around them was packed tight, people talking over each other to find out if everyone were alright and Logan wanted to strangle Simon a second time when Simon shoved his way through and dropped down, making a huge scene and fussing over the two of them. But as Logan gazed up at the man, he noticed that Simon seemed a little less concerned and a lot more desperate. Lola pulled herself off the floor and Logan sprang up too, waving away the crowd. As soon as people began to disperse, Logan stepped closer to Lola, looking her over in concern. Concern that she scoffed at, reassuring him at least ten times that she was totally fine.
"Want to step out and get some air?" Logan asked.
"Mhm. I need to regroup. I should have been expecting that. The last time this all began, something similar happened."
Logan cocked a brow at her and Lola nodded to the door as she bit her lip and gazed up at him. "I'll explain when we're away from so many ears. I don't know that there was a clipping on this particular incident in the file I let you read earlier." she admitted, sighing and shaking her head.
There hadn't been. She knew there hadn't been and she knew because the last time something like this happened had been one of the first times she'd managed to let her guard down, started seeing her bodyguard romantically. When the beam fell off the stage heading for her, he'd reacted, but as a result, he wound up paralyzed, - which lead to his death years after the fact, when the beam meant for her hit him across the back and damaged his spinal cord instead.
They'd just stepped out into the chill of night and Lola hugged herself, pacing back and forth. Angry at herself for not being prepared, angry and frustrated that Simon had gotten a head start on her somehow, beyond frustrated that she couldn't actually prove that Simon had any involvement yet.
Logan stepped away a little to call in to the station and this is when he found out that Valerie was incoming, someone inside must have called the incident in. "You were there to witness it. Do you think it was an accident or do you think there was foul play?"
"Oh, I'm pretty damn sure it wasn't an accident. I'm almost as sure of that as I am when Valerie and her team arrive, they're going to be led to believe that it was an accident." Logan admitted. And almost as if on cue, Logan heard sirens blasting in the distance.
"I'm gonna get off here, go over and tell Valerie what happened. Since I was standing right there when it did and nobody else noticed until after the lighting fell." Logan explained, ending his call.
After he wandered back to where Lola sat on the top of a brick halfwall, he and Lola went over to talk to Valerie and her team and about halfway in, Simon ran out, inserting himself. Trying to talk over Logan.
Lola whirled around and glared up at the man with her hand on her hip. "You have no reason to be present. You weren't nearby when all of this happened. Do you mind getting lost?"
"I just wanted to make sure the cops know what happened."
"But how would you know?" Valerie questioned as she glanced over at Logan and the two shared a look for a few seconds. Logan chuckled. "No answer, huh? Get over there with the rest of the civilians, man. Let the actual law enforcement do their jobs, maybe?"
Simon glared but he turned, walking away as he glared.
"It couldn't hurt to do a little digging on him." Valerie muttered and Logan chuckled quietly. "Lola needs to talk to you. Make her statement of events. I'm gonna wander away... See if I can't catch him off guard or something. I have a feeling about that guy."
Lola and Valerie were left to sort out Lola's recount of what happened and when Lola finished, she took a deep breath. "I think my manager is behind tonight somehow."
Valerie's brow arched at the statement. "Do you have any proof?"
"A gut feeling I've had for years. And if my gut feeling is right, tonight will appear to be an accident. You all will do everything in your power to prove otherwise but he's been doing this a while."
"Why are you still working with him, exactly? I mean, if you think he's trying to kill you?" Valerie questioned and her question was met with a shrug. "It's best I don't get into all that right now. Trust me. As law enforcement, the less you know, the better."
Something about the grim tone and the solemn look in Lola's eyes had Valerie wondering just how illegal whatever she was up to would be. And why exactly she was determined to do it, if she already suspected her manager was or could be dangerous. One of her team members called for her and Valerie hurried over, leaving Lola to wander away and look for Logan.
Logan slipped up behind her, surprising her instead.
"Noticed there's no actual food inside. Since you already know you weren't supposed to show tonight, what do you say we slip out, huh?" Logan asked, his breath warm and his lips a little rough as they grazed against the shell of her ear. Lola's breath caught for a second or two and she took a shaky breath before eventually managing to form the words to answer him.
"Please?" she turned to gaze up at him, stepping closer to him, the space between the two disappearing.