Of Loss & Betrayal (Madison & Logan 2)

We had an amazing weekend, but Monday came too soon. I hadn’t brought up Kristina or L.A. again because I didn’t want to ruin the weekend, but it had been on my mind constantly. When Logan left Monday morning, he gave me a kiss and told me he loved me, just like every other Monday. But this Monday, I knew he would be gone for almost the entire week. That was bad enough, since we had never spent so much time apart since the start of our relationship, but the Kristina factor just made everything worse.

I tried to push the thoughts out of my head as I headed over to Emily’s apartment after leaving Logan’s place. I was going to stay at her apartment while she was gone, since Lola was much less anxious in her own home.

“There’s nothing worse than having to fly out for work on a Monday morning,” Emily groused, in lieu of a greeting when she opened the front door.

“Good morning to you, too” I said with a smile. I saw Lola peering at me from behind the living room couch. When she realized who it was, she came bounding toward me with enthusiasm.

“Hi, cutie pie,” I said, crouching down to scratch her behind her ears. The shelter had said Lola was a mix between a Cairn Terrier and Schnauzer, and she definitely had the energy of a terrier when she was happy.

“Thanks so much for watching Lola,” Emily said over her shoulder as she hurried to her bedroom.

“No problem,” I replied, as I continued to pet Lola. “It’s pretty easy to watch a sweet dog like her.”

I scooped up Lola into my arms and was rewarded with a wet doggy kiss. Emily came out of her bedroom, pulling a suitcase behind her and looking harried.

“It’s a good thing you’re early. I need to leave earlier than planned because Sylvia wants me to stop by the office to get a file she forgot, before meeting her at the airport.” Emily irritably blew at a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I have to be the one who rushes because she forgot the damn file.”

Sylvia, Emily’s boss, was a real taskmaster, but Emily put up with her because she was slowly being given more and more interior design responsibility, which she craved, but she still did plenty of the grunt work.

“I’d say try to have fun, but I get the feeling this trip is going to be all work and no play,” I said sympathetically as I followed her to the front door.

Emily grimaced. “Remind me again why I put up with Sylvia and her constant demands?”

“Because soon you’re going to be running projects in your own right and you’ll become a world-famous interior designer, and then you can order your own lackeys around to do your bidding.”

Emily grinned. “Oh yeah, that’s right.” She gave me a quick hug. “Thanks again. I’ll check in when I can.”

“No problem.” I raised one of Lola’s paws and waved it at her. “Say bye-bye to mommy.”

Emily leaned down and kissed Lola on the head. “Bye, cutie, I’ll miss you. Be good.”

Lola whined a little after Emily left, but I distracted her with one of her toys, and soon she was happily romping around the living room with her stuffed monkey in her mouth.

I got my computer from the overnight bag I had brought with me, and set myself up on Emily’s breakfast table so I could work on my article. The cursor blinked at me on the empty page as I tried to concentrate on forming coherent thoughts into sentences about minimum wage, the topic of my article, but all I could think about was Logan. I trusted him, and I knew he wouldn’t have any contact with Kristina, but the “what ifs” wouldn’t stop plaguing me. What if, by chance, they ran into each other? Logan had never denied he had feelings for her when they were together, even though he claimed it wasn’t love. I knew he cared about her, and regretted the way he had hurt her. Even though I knew it was unreasonable, it killed me that he cared about another woman in any way. Then guilt was added on top of all my anxious feelings. Kristina hadn’t done anything to me. In fact, I was the one who had wronged her by being involved with Logan while they were still together. It was a confusing mix of emotions that was giving me a headache.

I shut my laptop, knowing I wouldn’t be getting any work done today. It was easier to just play with Lola, so I spent the bulk of the morning throwing her ball to her indoors. She loved fetch, but it was way too cold to play outside.

Time crept by, and I kept checking my watch, wondering if Logan’s plane h

ad landed yet. I decided to kill some time by braving the blustery weather outside so Lola could get some exercise, but it was too cold for more than a lap around the block. After Lola relieved herself, we headed back inside.

I was stretched out on the couch with Lola on my lap watching TV when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it, relieved when I saw Logan’s name flashing across the screen.

“Hi, Logan,” I said, trying to sound casual and not like I had been on pins and needles, waiting to hear from him.

“Hey, babe. I miss you already.”

I instantly felt foolish for being so worried about him and Kristina. Whatever had been between them was in the past, and I needed to trust Logan, or our relationship would never succeed.

“Me, too. I can’t believe you’re going to be gone almost the whole week. Where are you now?”

“The car just picked me up and I’m headed to the hotel. Are you at Emily’s now?”

“Yup. Lola and I are being lazy and watching TV.”

“Wish I was there with you. I’m not going to enjoy sleeping alone tonight.”

Logan and I hadn’t slept separately in the last four months we’d been together, so it was definitely going to be weird without him tonight.