Chapter 108

"That's alright, Stephen. I can find it," Logan replied to his assistant over the phone, having spent his entire Saturday with his nose in his laptop, doing what a 60-hour work week should've already covered, but hadn't. He tried to sound light, but the tiredness in his voice was evident despite his best efforts.

As much as Logan was enjoying the independence this new job was giving him, the work also came with challenges. The good part was that Logan hadn't so much as spoken to Mitchum for a full month by now. He didn't even need to run anything by him on paper. Logan had his own advisors and trustees around the office, and he was actually pretty good at what he did. He's education was serving him well, and much like his father he had a good sense for business. It was good that Logan could on occasion work from his home office and shift things around to take a long weekend to explore England with Rory even if he made up for it during those days Rory was at the university or early mornings. He'd had to cut down on gym hours and mostly just settled for a quick morning jog through Hyde Park. But that too was a nice change rather than the downside.

The trouble was, getting into the job in a way that provided the kind of results he'd set as his goals when he'd started required more than one person's efforts. Even if he didn't often show it, he too was kind of a perfectionist who liked to aim high and hated to admit defeat. Or the fact that he could've used some help. Subconsciously he was still trying to prove himself – but not just to his employees or his father, but to Rory too. It was for his sake they'd moved here and he really wanted to make it worth its while. He wanted to succeed - succeed as much on his own as the heir of the company could. This was his chance to do that.

"No, it's fine, you go enjoy what's left of your weekend," Logan said to Stephen, already seeing Rory leaning against the doorway to the study that they shared, expectantly. He was doing the generous thing concerning his assistant, letting him off the hook. The man had been a huge help already, but he didn't want to be one of those bosses who didn't give his employees the time off that they deserved. And considering he didn't treat this job just like a random person would, this was his family company, his inheritance after all, he felt responsible for every task way more than he wished he would. He was finally beginning to understand why his dad worked so much, but he wasn't sure he liked what he saw.

"See you Monday. It's fine," Logan assured, finishing the call, allowing Rory to just hear the one-sided phone call.

Logan sighed and let his hand with his phone in it land onto his desk, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him for a moment longer. He didn't want to disappoint Rory by telling her he still had hours of work left that evening. In his head he was barganing. Maybe he could not dissapoint her by waking up extra early the next morning? Maybe he could just let it slide? Maybe he could just phrase it so she wouldn't be dissapointed in him?

"Any progress?" Rory asked, moving to stand behind his chair, and draped her arms down his shoulders, hugging him. Her fingers intertwined into his hair, massaging his scalp, and kissing his temple in a comforting manner.

Logan closed his eyes for a moment at her touch, her skin against his feeling most heavenly.

"A little. But I'll be stuck with this tonight I'm afraid," Logan sighed, hating every word of it.

He knew Rory would insist it wasn't a problem, he knew she would say that she understood starting this new job was hard and it was bound to take up a lot of his time. She was forgiving and overly understanding. New jobs often did and so did Rory's studies. She took them very seriously, she just had a time off, unlike Logan. This was something Logan was beginning to hate - he was never off the clock, his brain always generating new ideas and thinking about the day-to-day concerns.

"Would you mind terribly if I went out on my own in that case? I mean not by myself, obviously, but Lucy and Olivia said they are going to check out this new performance in… Tottenham, I think it was," Rory pondered out loud. She had been planning on heading out to dinner with Logan and then just casually seeing where they ended up, possibly finally getting Logan to meet her girlfriends up somewhere if they felt like it.

"I'm sorry I don't get to meet them myself," Logan said, realizing that perhaps this would've been the evening he met the two cool girls who Rory kept talking about.

He'd been relieved that it had been two Northern-American girls that she'd met. He felt happy for her. But knowing the other girls were single, certainly made him ponder whether the places they hung out at together were the kind where there might also be single guys. He really didn't feel like a very good husband with his lack of free time, even if he tried to make up for his absence with special gifts and outings whenever he could find a moment. He just didn't want Rory getting bored with him, and finding the thrill somewhere else. He knew the ring on Rory's finger meant something and she wouldn't have just done something like that to him - but there was this peripheral anticipation, that something like that could in theory happen if he wasn't careful. He was critical of himself and frankly wouldn't blame her if his lack of attention led her to wander. It was a horrible and painful train of thought, one he tried really hard not to think about much.

"You will," Rory said, feeling assured that that was inevitable. "I was actually thinking…, um…," Rory began, hesitating a little.

"Uh?" Logan asked, not being too used to seeing her hesitate anymore.

"I was wondering if it would be okay to invite them over sometime. I don't know - for a movie night or something. I kind of miss those, and with a bigger bunch it might be kind of fun. Lots of food and snacks, you know…," Rory explained, but that part of it wasn't what she was concerned about.

Logan crooked his eyebrow, not liking the way she was asking that question.

"It's your place too, Rory," Logan reminded her.

"I know," she replied.

"I mean - I appreciate you checking with me, but yes, of course, if they're someone you like and trust then, of course, you can have your friends over to see a movie," Logan said.

It had been different in New Haven. The majority of their friends had been people they trusted, or at the very least people who weren't shocked by Logan's family name, and in a few occasions like some bigger parties, there were legal devices at play to assure their privacy by limiting, for example, what kind of photographs would be made on their turf.

"That's just it. I mean… I have a good feeling about them. I have no reason to doubt them. They're cool, genuine and very open people… I like them and they seem to like me. They haven't even asked for my last name… it just doesn't seem to matter. But how do I know if I can trust them?" Rory admitted her concerns. She just didn't have experience with needing to vet her friends before.

Surely their living room didn't hold many big secrets. But still, they had expensive things and in their study, they certainly also had personal documents and things they would never want to be made public. If they let someone into this apartment who had negative intentions, there could be things to disrupt their lives, or at the very least leave their personal lives feeling invaded.

"You want me to have someone run a check on them?" Logan asked, having done that more times in his life than he would've like to admit.

"Um.. no," Rory replied quickly, not liking the sound of that.

"Then just… trust your gut," Logan said, knowing that usually Rory had a good hunch about people. They'd met all kinds of people during their family functions, good and bad, and generally she knew the difference without much effort. But he didn't want to inject doubt into her either about her new friends, because frankly - he would've loved to be in her position, exploring the city and people with the youthful passion she did. It was a low point in Logan's week, as he thought it, feeling tired, unmotivated and missing his friends. It was also a moment when he could also feel his age more than usual, being a few years older than Rory was, having to put work first.

"Ugh," Rory groaned, hating this pressure. She wasn't used to making these decisions. It was one of the reasons she wanted Logan to meet them first, before extending any type of invite.

"I'll hide the silverware," Logan teased her with a wink, really not expensing a couple of college girls to be out to steal from them. Surely there were easier options for that than hanging out with his wife for weeks on end. And as far as he'd heard they had a million things to talk about, and Rory had barely mentioned anything regarding their wealth. But naturally, if one was able to read people - Rory's rings and clothes did some speaking of their own.

"Logan..," Rory scolded him, but her serious tone was followed by a yelp as Logan pulled her into his lap.

Rory laughed, as his hand went around her waist and he gently nibbled at her neck, not aiming for things to go further necessarily, but just taking a well-deserved break.

"It'll be fine," Logan promised, speaking now at close proximity.

"I feel kind of guilty going out like this you know… I hate to leave you here like this," Rory changed the subject.

Rory wasn't used to having girlfriends that wanted to take her out, but in the last weeks it seemed she had developed some.

"It's not your fault I'm stuck behind a desk… I want you to be having fun," Logan replied.

"I know you do," Rory said, having heard this before. "But maybe once you're done with this you and I could watch Lost together tonight. I don't have to go," Rory suggested. Lost had become their most recent thing to watch together, just the perfect balance of intelligence, excitement and action.

"Enjoy your friends. And I'll gladly meet them when you bring them over for the movie," Logan assured, trusting that it was a 'when' rather than an 'if'.

"I tell you what..," Rory suggested, getting an idea. "Tomorrow, if you still have something to finish. I'll help you. Whatever it is - checking your spelling or doing research, I'll help. I'm sure we'll get it done in no time. Besides - I am sure my salary can be negotiated to be something reasonable," Rory flirted, and kissed him with more meaning. She wanted to help him, she genuinely did. And she wanted to make sure he took time to rest too.

Logan really didn't mind that prospect.