The Locket

We entered the small diner, what my dad would have called a hole in the wall. Logan said they had the best Eggs Benedict around. We sat in a small corner both. The diner had a 1950’s theme, layered with trinkets and memorabilia from that decade. James Dean, Elvis, Marilyn, even Betty Boop stared at us as we sat.

“My dad had the biggest crush on Marilyn Monroe” I said to Logan, who grinned at me through a thick layer of brown lashes.

“What?” I said defensively.

“I think anyone donning male anatomy has had a crush on her.” He held his hand out in front of his chest and made a squeezing motion with his fingers.

“Eww,” I laughed. “Very true, but I didn’t really need the visual, thank you.”

We placed our order for Eggs Benedict which Logan requested Irish style, substituting ham for corned beef hash. It was my dad’s favorite. New England was one of the few places it was possible to get it that way.

Sitting in a cloud of doubt, I was twiddling my thumbs and could feel the heat in my cheeks growing as I considered what brought me to this diner. I was so angry at Brent, but I missed him so much.

Logan must have sensed my uneasiness. He reached across the table and folded my hand in his. “Claire, it will work out.”

I wanted to believe him but my heart felt the difference. “It won’t Logan. I can’t forgive him.”

His amber eyes spoke to me before the words left his mouth. “I know firsthand that is not true.”

“You and I have a different situation, Logan,” I whispered, leaning across the table.

His lips turned up in a smug grin, suggesting it was his turn to help me. “It’s not that different, Claire. You hated me, yet found a way to see past that. You’re angry, but I know you’ll get over it eventually.”

“I won’t! I almost slept with him last night and I asked him…” I started to explain, turning my head away, slightly embarrassed. I asked him with my thoughts and Brent knew. What if that was it? I wonder if he read my question wrong last night. No, he knew exactly what it was. “And he lied, Logan. He said he had never been with someone else,” I finished.

Logan’s smile turned apologetic now. “Maybe he hasn’t been with anyone else.”

I allowed a moment of awkward silence to fill the air between us before I spoke. “I heard it with my own ears, Logan, and so did you.”

“He said he could explain,” Logan reasoned. I wasn’t sure if he was defending Brent or himself.

I should have laughed. “Isn’t that what most guys say in that predicament?” I teased, playfully reaching across the table smacking him in the arm.

Logan laughed. “Ouch! But I can’t argue with you there,” he said, reaching across the table and lifting my chin up. “I think you should talk to him, that’s all. I don’t want you to have regrets later.”

God, what was it with the guys in my life and my regrets?

“I’ll worry about my regrets, thank you.”

Just then the waitress interrupted us, setting our plates of food on the table, along with two cups of coffee. I really wasn’t hungry and I pushed the plate aside. Logan dug right into his Eggs Benedict, like he hadn’t eaten in days. I poured cream and sugar into my coffee, stirring it before I took sip.

When Logan finished, he wiped his mouth on a napkin and tossed it on the empty plate. He glanced out the window, obviously struggling with something and then returned his gaze to me. He rested his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers and resting his chin on them.

“If I understand it correctly, he’s like your soul mate or something, right?” Logan inquired, uncomfortably.

I pursed my lips and nodded because coming up with an adequate response to deny the pull I had to Brent was nearly impossible. Logan was right, Brent’s seal was stamped identically to mine, designed to belong to me for eternity. I remembered when Brent told me Reese was my match, explaining that it was a force that couldn’t be fought, only shelved, leaving a person incomplete.

“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. People go their whole lives sometimes without ever finding the one person that was designed for them,” I argued.

Logan looked at me with pity in his eyes. It was a first time moment for him, he actually felt sorry for me now. “That might be true, but only because they don’t find them, and not because they don’t want them.”

“But they do and they live happy lives despite that,” I continued arguing.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair briefly, appearing irritated I was not seeing things his way. “True, they live incomplete lives, but you don’t have to because you have Brent. That is quite a gift, Claire.”

He was being sincere. I knew he cared so much for me.

“Why are you doing this, Logan? I would think you would be happy about our separation.”