Out of Order | ONC 2022

4

Logan had barely set his belongings down on the desk when Keanu and Jen talked about Callum's past scandals. For the most part, Logan had heard most of them: the photo of him and the valet guy, the front desk staff, and the notorious one, his ex-wife. All were pretty similar to what he had heard back in New York, which Logan was mildly disappointed. If most of the details were this consistent across the board, they must've held some truth to it, right?

Maybe it was that Logan had expected better from the stoic boss, or assumed that perhaps the slightest ounce of concern he thought Callum might have for the rest of his employees was the truth behind this scandal-riddled mask he wore.

Logan was disappointed that his optimistic assumption about their boss was looking more like a farce and that he was quite possibly the playboy, aloof, and terrible boss that everyone made him out to be.

And if that were true, he had fled from Chris and his terrible personality only to encounter another annoying person. Only Callum was his boss Logan reminded himself. Comparing the two was like comparing an apple to an orange.

"I don't care whose baby it is, Jen." Keanu's flailing arms had caught Logan's attention back to the conversation—or more like the bash-Callum-rant. "He cheated on her, plain and simple. With an employee!"

Jen pinched the bridge of her nose. It was like viewing a tennis match, Logan mused, watching the two of them go at it from across his desk. "Keanu, that means she's a cheat too! They're both in the wrong there."

"He started cheating first. And remember the press that showed up when they realized it was someone from the legal team. Nobody could leave the parking garage with all their vans and reporters."

"Yeah, it was a nightmare," she agreed. "She did kind of use him, though. Made it way more public than it needed to be. The way he handled their divorce was a dick move, though."

Logan wasn't sure if Jen was defending or criticizing Callum anymore.

"He should've given her more money. Or a place to stay or one of his fancy cars."

Jen groaned. "I'm just glad the reporters have lost interest in the whole thing."

Keanu agreed before mumbling something about coffee. He got up and walked to the break room.

Logan pretended to work on his laptop at his desk, but their conversation only sparked further questions. He had heard about the baby before, but he didn't recall hearing about her or the baby after that. He turned to Jen. "What happened to her? The ex?"

Jen shrugged. "Who knows. She took the money and ran."

"And the baby?"

"It was probably some other guy she swindled money out of. It could've been a lie, too, for all I care." Jen twirled her hair as she booted up her computer.

Logan frowned. "So it wasn't his?"

Jen scoffed. "Could be. He didn't really deny it to the reporters, but talking to them isn't his thing. He usually gets a representative or Charlotte to do it for him. But honestly, him? A father? God, that poor kid would be screwed."

Despite laughing nervously along with her, Logan wondered why he felt sorry for Callum. So fatherhood didn't really fit his image, but Callum could've been a totally different person if he had a child. For example, chef Gordon Ramsey was night and day to father Gordon Ramsey.

Logan swatted the thought from his mind, deciding that thinking about his boss and fatherhood was not something an employee should do anyway. "Should we figure out what we're doing for the new project?"