Chapter 8
"The dress looks beautiful on you, Gi," Gigi's maid of honor, a local friend named Abigail chimed, as a group of them, five in total, sat at the bridal store, watching Gigi do her final fitting.
Gigi seemed to have made a handful of friends through her studies, so Rory could tell she was fitting in nicely here in Brisbane. Her sister was truly creating a life for her here. But then again, Gigi had always fit in anywhere, having spent her life traveling between Boston and Paris.
"I bet Finn's mouth is going to drop open," another one of Gigi's bridesmaids, Sienna, added, laughingly.
"He's definitely going to like it," Rory said, awkwardly, not really feeling like she fit in with the group of 20-somethings. She didn't feel like she had much to talk about with them, all of them having very much their own inside topics. Rory had already said the biggest faux pas she possibly could in a group like this, that she didn't have any personal social media accounts, having taken herself off of everything on purpose. It was one of the reasons why she'd managed to stay clear of news regarding Logan. She had professional accounts, of course for work, but that was different. She didn't want them becoming the center of her life again, thinking back to her early thirties when being available through the three different phones in her pockets had been the holy grail of information. Having Mil had taught her to slow down and to do things differently.
"You're all too sweet," Gigi replied, definitely enjoying the attention and swirled her dress around in front of the mirror. The dress wasn't anything too extravagant - just a simple summery crepe dress that followed Gigi's slim curves to a flawless finish. There were delicate pearl details, but nothing over the top. Perfect for someone with a young model-like body like she had, the slightly crazy pink hair adding a little twist to her look.
Rory sipped her champagne, not really seeing there was a lot of point being here, considering Gigi had her dress already picked out and tailored, only needing a few minor adjustments. Sure, she was about to be fitted for a bridesmaid's dress herself, but as far as she'd understood they were the beachy kind one could later wear again in ten different ways, not really needing a lot of tailoring. As she waited, however, she couldn't help but let her mind wander onto Logan. What had all of these years that they'd not seen each other entailed for him? Had he been happy?
An hour later Rory finally stood on one of the smaller podiums, being fitted with her own plum-toned dress that felt a little too revealing to her personal tastes, having always preferred the modest styles over those that showed skin. But this was Gigi's day. For those few hours, Gigi would get whatever she wanted. It was not like Rory had major complexes to showing a little skin. Besides, the weather was threatening to be boiling in this corner of the world, and that was something Rory was really not used to.
"Finn told me about you and Logan. I was thinking he was just some guy you dated in college… but I mean he was really the guy you dated," Gigi suddenly commented, having changed back into her summer dress, appearing from behind her.
"Um… I guess?" Rory replied, not really wanting to go into the painful topics.
"Finn pretty much made it sound like you were the one that got away. For Logan, I mean," Gigi added, being her typical self by crossing boundaries of comfortable topics.
That certainly moved something in Rory, but also it was something that stabbed her already numbed heart yet again, finding the spot that still ached as a result.
"And? Not every relationship works out. There's no point putting something that was on a pedestal," Rory said, coming off a little too defensively.
"Nothing," Gigi chimed, rolling her eyes at her reaction. "I was just curious what your side of the story was," she added.
"We dated for years, he proposed. I wasn't ready. And briefly we saw each other later also, so it's a little bit more recent than that. But dad doesn't know about that part…," Rory said, wanting to get this over with. She knew her sister could be pretty persistent when she wanted, and hardly ever let go before she knew everything she craved. It had been the same way when Rory had first started seeing Jess again. Truth be told, Gigi had had a little crush on the guy before Rory had admitted to it. But it had been largely superficial, focusing on Jess's looks. Recalling that, Rory realized she really shouldn't have been all that surprised by Gigi having a thing for older men.
"Okay, I get it… I get what Finn meant about this being a touchy subject, certainly," Gigi replied, rolling her eyes yet again, not seeing the point of being tactful about it. They were largely by themselves, just the shop assistants around, while Gigi's other friends had already been fitted.
"It may be," Rory exhaled. "But we're friends. We're trying to be friends, it's not the end of the world," she added, trying to make it sound like it was nothing, despite all the struggles she was having with the idea herself.
"O-kay," Gigi chimed, half-skeptically.
"Don't 'o-kay' anything, okay?" Rory insisted.
"So, what exactly does Jess think about you being here with… Logan," Gigi teased, knowing this was likely even more intriguing.
Rory sighed deeply.
"I mean, if you want, he can still come to the wedding," Gigi offered, referring to Jess.
"No, that's not necessary," Rory confessed.
"You guys still on the rocks?" Gigi inquired.
"We're… we're nothing. We're just existing… we have Mil," Rory replied, taking some time between those statements.
"Oh, come on! Staying together for the sake of a child is so 1990," Gigi rolled her eyes as if she was so mature and knew a lot about relationships.
Rory gave her sister a knowing look, not really taking her word for it. But she did know what she meant. Paris had said the same thing.
"So, what's the deal with him? You guys just grew apart? He's still not accepting of you having more money than he has? He cheated on you or something? Is he not home enough?" Gigi listed.
This was really not the topic Rory wanted to be discussing in a bridal boutique. But the fact did remind her of the relief she felt towards the fact that she and Jess were not actually married. That would've been a whole other story compared to simply drifting apart the way they seemed to be doing, mostly so on her initiative. Her dodging his calls unless he texted her that it was something about Mil was a prime example of it.
Rory just shook her head, not wanting to say it. She'd only barely hinted at it to her mother so far, even Paris hadn't gotten the whole story, knowing too well what her opinion would be on this.
"What, Rory?" Gigi insisted.
"Do we really have to talk about this? Here? Now? I'm trying on a dress for you, for God's sake!" Rory exclaimed.
"No, we don't. But I'd at least like to understand so I don't rub my happiness in your face all the time. I mean, I am already doing that with all this," Gigi replied, gesturing around the bridal shop.
Rory snorted, finding it kind of funny indeed.
"Just… maybe there's some way I can help?" Gigi offered, a little naively.
Rory stepped off the podium, and headed for the changing booth to undress. She looked at herself in the mirror, feeling like it was a little easier to think about this whole thing when she wasn't looking her sister in the face. She wanted to remain indifferent, unhurt and undamaged by this. And having Logan around had actually been the perfect escape, raising all kinds of other thoughts in her brain than those that she'd left back home.
"He had an affair. Maybe it's still going even. I don't know…," Rory said, preferring to tell with the curtain between them.
"Son of a…," Gigi cursed.
"And I mean, it wasn't like I had no blame in it. We weren't connecting…," Rory said, skipping the part about a non-existent sex life this past year.
"Oh, no you don't, Rory! These things are never the woman's fault. I mean unless they're the one initiating something else," Gigi blabbered.
Rory was actually kind of amused by her sister's response.
"All, I'm saying is… it's not black and white," Rory said, pulling the curtain away, having changed back into her street clothes.
"It never is!" Gigi agreed, sounding very mature for her age.
"So anyways, we're not really talking. I'm pissed at him. And if I can help it, I'd rather not think about him again until I have to, okay?" Rory explained.
"Okay," Gigi said, accepting that answer. "It's kind of good, Logan's here then," she hinted, teasing her sister.
"Quit it!" Rory demanded, giving her a killer look.
"Hey, all I'm saying, you'll have the perfect formula to tell him about later. Drive him crazy with jealousy. I mean…if there is anything left to save," Gigi added.
That really did give Rory something to think about. In a way Logan was indeed the perfect guy for something like this. It didn't even matter whether she did something or not – even though most of what she was doing was just playing with fire. But was she really that selfish – both towards Jess and Logan?