Persuasion

The Man

"What's going on Ace? You've barely said two words since we left the restaurant."

I just shook my head in frustration and an exasperated noise escaped my lips.

"Don't worry about Mitchum" he said coolly.

"Don't worry?!" I shrieked.

"We were having lunch, it's not like he caught us without any clothes on."

"He might as well have" I grumbled.

"Rory" he said calmly.

"Logan" I mimicked.

His mouth turned up into a small smile and he ran his hand over my knee. "You worry too much."

"You don't worry enough" I huffed.

"Rory" he repeated.

"He just irks me" I groaned "I saw him and suddenly I was 20 again. I don't know why, he just makes me so. . . uggh."

"Yeah try living with the man."

"I don't envy you that" I said quietly. "He just made me nervous."

"Yeah, I could tell" he said with a chuckle.

I punched him lightly "I wasn't that bad was I?"

He laughed repeating "Mr. Huntzberger."

"He took me by surprise" I complained.

"Like a deer caught in headlights" he joked.

"Thanks" I said sarcastically.

"A cute deer" he said smiling and putting his hand on mine.

I nodded nervously and looked out the window.

"Hey, it's fine. Okay? I'm sure he doesn't suspect anything" his voice was softer.

"I shouldn't have left with you. I should have taken a cab" I said rubbing my temples.

"He was three drinks deep in a heavy conversation with a group of investors, he wouldn't have noticed if I left with Carmen Electra" he rationalized.

I looked back toward him "it just made me feel caught. I didn't like it. Just sew a red 'A' on my shirt and call me Hester."

He looked at me eyebrows raised. It was one of the unspoken rules between us. We didn't use words like 'caught' or God forbid 'cheating.' I said the word 'caught' and it hung between us.

"You are not Hester" he said quietly, but the damage had been done and the words that had been only previously thought were said.

The car came to a stop and he leaned in to kiss me.

"I'll see you at home okay?" he asked.

"Okay" I agreed.

"Ace" he said waiting for me to return his gaze "everything is okay. Promise me you won't worry."

"I'll try" I returned an unconvincing smile.

When I got back to Logan's flat I tried to shake the unease I felt after our encounter with Mitchum, but even my stress tapping couldn't calm my nerves. He made sure to talk about Odette, he did that on purpose, I was certain of it. I saw the glimmer in his eyes when he said it. He offered to help me too. Just to solidify my feeling small and inconsequential. The worst part about Mitchum offering to call Conde Nast, was for a moment I was thinking about accepting it. It made me sick.

I spent the rest of my trip convincing Logan that I was fine, that we were fine. It's Vegas right? I said to him with a smile that almost convinced myself. We didn't talk again about Mitchum after that afternoon and any literature discussions were kept far away from Nathaniel Hawthorne. Still an unspoken energy had shifted, our arrangement (for lack of a better word) was crumbling and something about the way he was acting told me he felt it too. On the morning of my flight back to the states I kissed him with every ounce of my energy hoping my tongue would do the talking that we had been avoiding.