What They Don't See

Chapter 18 - Missing Him

Four days came and went.

Just like the first night, Kate and Logan slept together in her room, cuddled together. Every night, Logan held her as she cried, and listened as she told stories about Luc and their childhood together. Bit by bit, the tears ceased, and after the second night, Kate stopped crying herself to sleep, but she still grieved.

 She spent every morning in the sparring room in the basement of the chateau, mentally replaying every one of her matches with Luc. She would sit and stare at the sparring mat for hours, even when others were sparring on it. In her mind, she would watch each match unfold like she was a spectator in the real fight, and silently comment on every mistake either of them made.

Slowly, Kate began to feel better, and it got easier for her to talk about him to others without feeling a familiar tightening in her chest.  She would never allow her composure to be disturbed in front of others, regardless of the circumstance, so for the first few days, she simply chose not to talk about Luc, and she would leave the room whenever he was mentioned in her hearing range. But slowly, it got easier, and she would simply listen. By the fourth day, she could say his name without her voice cracking. 

On the day of Luc's memorial service in the chateau gardens where he and everyone before him were buried, Kate held onto Logan's hand the whole time, gripping it tighter every time the urge to cry would hit her. 

Logan finally understood how important her people were to Kate. He never left her side, her constant support and comfort as she grieved. They took walks in the gardens around the chateau, watched movies together, and just spent time together.

Over those four days, Logan learned a lot about Kate. He got to see where she grew up, and meet the people that had basically raised her - the house staff.

He met the chef who taught Kate how to bake when she was 10 and continued to teach her until she was 15 and training began to take more and more of her time, and the two maids, Linda and Sharon, who taught her how to clean up after herself, and made sure she was fed and clean every day after her mother moved out of the house. 

Logan even got to meet Kate's mother. 

She came by the day after they arrived, bringing Kate several shopping bags full of stylish, expensive clothes as gifts for Kate. Although she didn't stay long and barely gave Kate a proper hug, Logan could see where Kate's great fashion sense came from. She had eyed Logan up and down after being introduced and had whispered something to Kate in French. Kate had laughed and shaken her head, and she refused to tell Logan what she had said. 

Kate explained that her mother showed her love through gifts. The more expensive, the more love she was expressing.

"I don't fault her for it. She didn't grow up with much, so those things are important to her, they're basically her whole life now," Kate had explained as she put away the dozens of new clothes and shoes into her walk-in closet. Apparently, her mother had insisted on having one installed in Kate's room several years ago, so she could continue buying Kate things and she wouldn't have to throw anything away. 

On the third day, Logan received a call from Maxwell asking where they had gone off to. Per Kate's request not to give him any information that he didn't need to know, Logan simply said that they were in Europe and they would be back soon. Frustrated and a little put-off, Maxwell had declared that they needed to interact with social media and let everyone they were alright before conspiracy theories began to pop up. So they posted a video on Instagram and other social media platforms, assuring everyone that they were alright, and recovering well from the accident. They gave no mention of where they currently were and made sure their background gave nothing away.