Chapter 24
The sight in front of Logan was truly one he had little experience with since college. The place kind of reminded him of a beach bar he'd been to in Brazil once, and the inside was a slightly sloppier version of The Richman's Shoe.
"Wow, when you said trivia night, you really meant trivia night!" Logan yelled over the crowd and live music - some local cover band.
They'd taken one car coming here, but since Logan had gotten a call from Honor during that drive, where she'd gone on and on about what was going on with her and Josh, Rory hadn't really gotten much of a chance to talk to Logan, especially if she didn't want to draw attention to her presence.
"What did you think I meant?" Rory shot back, but noticing an empty table in her favorite corner, she began to make her way towards it.
"I don't even know," Logan shrugged, feeling like yelling whatever had gone through his mind wouldn't be the best option, and followed her.
The place was full of quirky characters, both older and younger, a couple looking like they belonged in a motorcycle gang, the cross-dressing playboy bunny and the knitting club with the average age of 75 at 3 o'clock being few good examples of the variety of people in there.
"What can I get you guys?" the server appeared, not giving Logan a good chance to inquire into this unexpected habit of hers.
"We'll have an appetizer platter and pub tacos with chicken wings. Extra sauce. Oh, and do you still have those crispy cheesy sticks?" Rory began, taking the lead, and going on to exchange a few more words with the waiter. "And a shot of tequila and an IPA, please," Rory finished her order off with a smile.
"I'll just have something that's from the tap. Something light, whatever's popular," Logan replied, charmingly.
As the waiter left, Rory couldn't help but to tease him,
"Oh, you're not eating anything?" Rory asked.
"You seemed to be ordering for a party of six so I was hoping you'd share," Logan replied, a little too seriously.
"Oh, no, that was just all for me," Rory teased.
"Good one," Logan commented, catching on to her joke.
"No, I'm serious," Rory commented, keeping the joke up for a little longer.
"So, you do this often?" Logan inquired, having never heard her mention this place before.
"First time this year. But sometimes, yeah. Usually when I have friends visiting. My friend Lane and I actually won one time," Rory explained.
"Wow, you must be a local celebrity," Logan teased.
"Hardly," Rory commented.
For a moment or two they both just watched the crowd, finding the band's choice of songs - "I'm just Ken" from the Barbie movie - that had been popular a few years back, rather unexpected but also hilariously dramatic. But the band seemed to be taking it with a healthy dose of humor.
As they watched, however, Logan couldn't help but wonder, what was it that Rory had wanted to talk about. Whenever a woman had said those words to him, it had generally meant something serious. Wanting to take the relationship to another level. A pregnancy scare, which he was relieved to rule out in this case, having not turned away from period sex a little while ago. Something concerning money, health or business. So, in his mind he was mostly concerned about the former. It wasn't that he didn't like her enough to consider something like that. Just his track record wasn't great with serious relationships, he almost felt like he was a bad influence on the women in his life, often ending rather dramatically. So, not knowing what this was going to turn into and how long it was until Rory was going to turn back to her life in Hartford, he felt it was better to just seize the day and enjoy whatever time they spent together rather than plan for something overly serious.
But he hated the unknown, so if this was what she craved from him, some label, something more serious than he felt ready for - he didn't want to spend the rest of the summer tiptoeing around that topic.
"So, was there anything specific you wanted to talk about?" Logan asked, just as the band's song ended, causing half of his question to go to deaf ears.
"What?" Rory asked loudly over the crowd.
"You wanted to talk?" Logan added.
"I just felt we haven't had a lot of chances to talk lately," Rory replied, a twinkle in her eyes, as she casually rested her hand on his thigh.
"I guess we haven't," Logan replied, wondering whether Rory was eager to take this to the physical level yet again. Surely, not here - but he might've not said no had she offered. She was a wild cat in the form of a kitten, and to Logan finding out that side of her had been a wonderful bonus. She could flirt like nobody's business, and just one look from her eyes with the right posture was sexier than a variety of short skirts and low cleavages.
"I'm not complaining, believe me…with all the sneaking around, I just wanted to feel like a grown up for a night," Rory explained.
"You mean our activities haven't been 'grown up' enough?" Logan teased, tracing the inside of the forearm that was placed on his thigh.
"Ha-ha," Rory shot back, knowing that was not the case.
"I just…we started out by talking, and I kind of miss that," Rory said.
"So, was there anything specific?" Logan began to ask after the waiter had delivered their drinks.
Before Rory had a chance to respond, however, the host of the evening had picked up the mic and was announcing the beginning of the trivia game of the evening. They were told to raise their arms if they had a team, and honestly Logan just found it amusing how serious Rory looked, doing this. He'd usually just made fun of things like that, but he was welcoming a new experience thanks to his enticing tour guide. After all, if he was going to be living up here in Maine, maybe he, too, was going to have to learn the local ways of having fun, instead of going out to Michelin star restaurants and fancy clubs every weekend.
Logan took a sip of his beer, which turned out to be pretty decent, and observed Rory as she prepared herself to answer the questions.
He'd never seen someone so excited about what essentially was a 'test'.
"Alright, first question!" the host began. "How many Harry Potter books have been written?" he asked.
"Now that's just plain easy," Rory said, already scribbling down the number 7.
"But weren't there 8? I think there were 8 movies at least," Logan pitched in, surprising Rory.
"Wouldn't have taken you for a Potterhead," Rory smirked.
"I wouldn't quite call myself that," Logan argued.
"But to answer your question, then the final book was split into two films," Rory replied, with a knowing smile on her face.
Logan gestured with his hand for Rory to hand in the answer, liking her argumentative response quite a lot. Honestly, considering he was in the publishing business he wished he'd known something like this by heart, but his brain was full of lots of numbers and names that had lost meaning to him.
"Second question," the host began, trying to make the trivia competition sound exciting by adding some drumroll. "Now for something a little bit more challenging," he added, causing Rory to become especially attentive. "The sound of what or whom is a near-constant in the movie "Rosemary's Baby" and is meant to accentuate Rosemary's loneliness, fragility, isolation, and eventual paranoia," he continued.
"God, it's been forever since I've seen it," Logan commented, really not being too sure.
"I mean loneliness generally means you're in the house all by yourself, so I guess it would make sense to hear all the little household sounds. It was something domestic, I think… like a buzzing fridge or water or… wait, I think it was a clock. What do you think?" Rory discussed.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Logan shrugged.
"Ticking clock," Rory spelled, taking a moment to write the answer down.
Logan was already eagerly inviting the assistant to collect their answer and he could tell they were already one of the first teams to be done.
Rory was looking unusually happy in the moment, and to Logan that was a lovely sight, and the slight delay gave him a moment to just observe her as she took a sip of her beer.
"Question number three: What was the name of the ship in Patrick O'Brian's book "Master and Commander"?" the host asked.
"Oh god… now this is embarrassing…," Rory began, really believing she should know something like that. She'd even substituted an English class once where they'd discussed the book.
"It's Sophie," Logan said, surprising Rory with the lack of hesitance.
"You know, I think you might be right," Rory agreed, trying to play it cool.
"I know, I am," Logan replied confidently.
Rory held up her arm this time, and handed away their answer.
In the meantime, their appetizer platter was brought to the table, and Rory took a chance to grab a piece of tortilla.
"Question number four: Music genre that evolved in southwest Louisiana and which blends blues, rhythm and blues and is usually played in an up tempo, syncopated manner with a strong rhythmic core," the host said, struggling a little pronouncing one of the more complicated terms.
"Cajun music?" Rory guessed, not being entirely sure of this one.
"Nah, Creole or Zydeco?" Logan suggested.
"Of course! Zydeco!" Rory resonated while trying to keep her voice down at the same time.
Logan took charge, and wrote the answer down on the paper. "How could I not remember it - my mom had it at her wedding," Rory shared.
"That must've been some wedding," Logan commented, handing over the answer.
"It was. You should've seen it. It's hard to put into words. Mine just seemed plain in comparison after that," Rory replied, thinking back to the elaborate daisy-themed wedding that had looked like a magical wonder-land having a visit from Circus Soleil.
Logan could see a hint of sadness in her eyes right then. He wanted to say he truly wished he had been around to see it, considering how few degrees there truly had been between them in college. One different turn in the courtyard and maybe then they would have met each other already?
"I mean, it's hard to beat a working antique carousel," Rory commented, not wanting to seem depressed.
The host announced they'd be taking a short music break and continue the quiz in a few minutes, allowing them to keep talking.
"That sure sounds impressive," Logan commented.
"What am I saying, I'm sure you had magical weddings," Rory said.
"I had weddings orchestrated by the women in my life in which my job was to stand at a specific spot and go along with it," Logan replied.
"I'm sure you could've had your say. Or maybe it's just not as interesting for you guys," Rory discussed.
"You clearly haven't met my mother. And you should be happy about that, trust me. And the last time, that was just… spontaneous," Logan replied.
"Let me guess - Vegas? New York? Copenhagen?" Rory listed, surprising him with her knowledge of quick elopement weddings.
Logan shook his head, before correcting her. "Seychelles," he said.
"Wow," Rory exclaimed.
"It sounds dreamier than it was, really," Logan noted, not wanting her to be envious. "Honestly, I wish I'd done that one a lot differently," he added a moment later.
"Like not done it at all?" Rory dared to say, wondering whether it'd be okay to joke about the divorce. It was for her, at least, and she hoped he was the same way, despite having an idea that things were a little bit more complicated with him and his ex.
"Yeah, that too," Logan replied. "But just wish I'd had people around, you know. My kids, for example," he added, regretfully.
That Rory had not expected and it truly made her quiet for a moment.
"Well, I'm sure you had a good reason for eloping like that," Rory said a moment later.
"I could merely say that it was just the inability to stay unmarried to Odette for a second longer, but as things were revealed later, I think a large part of it happened so quickly and the way that it did was her diagnosis. She's bipolar. The high functioning kind, but combined with not being too keen to take her meds, drinking and drugs… it was not a good combination," Logan revealed, leaving Rory speechless.
"I found that out much later… I just thought she was moody and temperamental," Logan said, noticing Rory's silence.
"That sounds rough," Rory commented, compassionately.
"It is. Especially for Eléa," Logan replied, keeping to himself for the moment how that sentence was a lot more loaded than it might've sounded. A day didn't pass when Logan didn't consider the chance that his daughter might have a dose of her mother's genetic baggage and each moody episode she had, could potentially be the beginning of something worse. Odette's substance abuse had been her way to self-medicate, and Logan hoped for dear life that his daughter would find a better way to deal with it. To offer her the calm environment with fewer stressors and bad influences, was the biggest reason for them being in Maine in the first place
Rory was naturally curious to know more, but the crowd applauded the band's funny version of "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish. The song hadn't matched the seriousness of the topic at hand.
"Alright everybody. Are you ready for the next question?" the host tried to rally the people up.
Logan took a generous sip of her drink, for a second remembering the times when he too had drunk a little too much. He wasn't about to make a habit of this, and a beer or two wasn't going to change the way he thought about it.
"Question five. In the TV show "Twilight zone" season 5 a mistake is made by Dr. Bixler about how he refers to the makeup of the planet Jupiter. What was the mistake?" the host asked, commenting - "Now this is a tough one, isn't it? Put your brains to good use, make a guess if you have to," he added, going on to mention jokingly how he was going to have to talk to the person who made these questions.
"Great, now they expect us to be astronomer," Rory complained.
Logan knew the episode better than he liked to admit. It was childish even and with a predictable plot. But growing up he'd loved that show.
"I think I remember something," Logan tried to ponder, not really knowing the specific script regardless of how much he'd once liked the concept of the episode.
"Well?" Rory urged.
"So, we know Jupiter is a gas giant, right? I mean how many other things are there that regular people might know?" Logan tried to apply some logic.
"Or whether it's the largest planet in our solar system or not?" Rory suggested.
"That's kind of obvious, I think. Color… too subjective, I think. I doubt technical data would be included," he added.
"Okay, your version sounds the likeliest. But did they know back then that it's made of gas?" Rory discussed.
"I think so," Logan shrugged.
"Okay, so let's just make a guess then," Rory encouraged, trusting his hunch.
"Volcanic? What other ways are there for a planet to form or consist of?" he discussed, not knowing an awful lot about astronomy.
They wrote down "Jupiter is volcanic" not knowing what else to suggest, figuring it was a long shot.
A few moments later the host continued with another question.
"During the trial of Dan White (1979) for murdering San Francisco's mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk, White's lawyers argued that White suffered from severe depression and used his consumption of various junk food and this one particular treat as proof of his depression. What was this unhealthy treat? Bonus points if you can name the legal defense phrase they used," the host asked, going on to complain about the hard question yet again.
"Oh, I know!" Rory yelped, being a little surprised she knew something like that.
"Keep it down!" Logan scolded her.
But there was already a victorious smile on her face as she wrote down: "Twinkies, Twinkie defense," feeling rather proud of herself.
"How the hell did you know that?" Logan exclaimed.
"I pay attention in class," Rory said, pushing her nose cutely up in the air.
The host went on to ask several more questions, 20 in total, which alternated with some music. Overall, they thought they did pretty well on the topics of politics, movies, music and literature, even if they missed a few questions on some more recent social media celebrities.
"And the winner is - Table number 9!" the host announced a while later, and it took Rory and Logan a moment to realize it was them that they were referring to.
"Oh my god!" Rory exclaimed.
"Let's give them a warm hand of applause and Katie, will you please take their prize to their table," the host continued.
"What's the prize?" Logan inquired, after they'd shaken hands with the guy, feeling a little awkward at the attention they were getting together, no less.
"I have no idea," Rory replied, laughingly, definitely feeling a little drunk on this odd event of success.
"You were really good at this!" Logan commented.
"Thanks! You were not bad yourself," Rory replied.
They continued to snack a little on what was left of their appetizers, both feeling already incredibly full. Rory's healthy appetite was no news to Logan by now, but it still amazed him.
"You know… part of why I wanted to talk to you today," Rory began, wiping her fingers clean of the chicken wing she'd had in her hand.
"Yeah?" Logan inquired, anxiously.
"I guess I just wanted to understand your parenting style a little better… and I know we talked about this briefly in the morning. And it's not a fight that I'm after." Rory continued.
"But you feel like my parenting style and my kids are a bad impression on Corinne?" Logan guessed, trying to not take it too seriously. But he was a little hurt by it, he couldn't help it.
"I'm not saying that," Rory tried to explain, but it came off a little futile.
"I mean, I'm sure as you've heard by now, I'm not exactly the model parent. Sure, I'd want to know what to do and always do the right thing, but honestly, I'm just doing what I know how to do and this is it. I don't know how to do this; I've never had to do this alone before… There has always been help. Nannies and maids mostly." Logan explained.
"But don't you think that as a parent it's not your job to be their friend as much as someone who actually sets some boundaries to what they do? And I am just talking in general… not just the concert. But I don't know… the drinking, they seem to have no curfew or anything," Rory discussed.
"Wow," Logan chuckled, hating to hear criticism.
"I'm sorry." Rory said, sensing him getting defensive.
"Well, drinking is just an American thing. Back in Europe nobody would think twice," Logan argued.
"Yeah, but one thing is the law and then there's their health. And I know I'm not supposed to be telling you how to raise your kids, but I just don't want Corinne to make a habit of things like that either," Rory explained.
"I've told them to never persuade anyone to do anything they don't want to do." Logan defended himself.
"Yeah, and what kind of a teenager, especially the kind that has a crush on one of the guys in question, doesn't want to seem cool instead of a party-pooper," Rory exclaimed.
Logan couldn't really argue with that.
"What is it that you want me to do, exactly?" Logan asked, calmly. He wasn't after a fight or taking offense like some immature guy would. He knew he had a lot to learn concerning parenting, and he knew well that he might've been too late already.
"I am in no position to tell you what to do, Logan. But I am offering, if you want my advice, I'm all ears. I'm no pro at this either. Hell, Corinne probably hates me half the time. But I did have a mom who did a pretty good job on me, if I say so myself, and that's what I like to apply with her as well. I want to raise her in a democracy, but every now and again I am going to play the 'mom' card, you know? So, I guess I just wanted to know… I wanted to understand why you do things the way you do and why you give them such liberties. And I think I understand things a little better already after today. But all I am saying is that, you can talk to me about these things. If you want?" Rory rambled, feeling a little nervous he might still take it badly.
Thankfully, he didn't as he nodded in agreement, not minding one bit the scenario that he might have someone to talk to about these things in the future.
Their nervousness was scattered by the delivery of a huge tiramisu plate that was meant for sharing, causing the two to sigh at the size of it, both of them feeling already very full. But at the very least they had a reason to laugh, lightening the mood at the table.