Metanoia: A Sequel

Chapter 10: What's Wrong With You?

The situation was dire, but hopeless. Every aspect of it was looking down for Rory, who was sweating feverishly just like the night when she had the dream about Logan just over a year ago. She wanted greatly to take a break, but she had to keep going. Their relationship wasn't over, was it?

Rory plopped down on a bench nestled under a tree in the subdivision and thought. What had she done wrong? Surely, Ashton didn't know about Logan, did he? There was that slim possibility that she had unintentionally done wrong. She thought more. It was mind-provoking, but she had to go to the ends of her thinking possibilities to find out what exactly she had done. Ashton wasn't the type of person to leave so quickly when their relationship was going great, so she must have done something terrible for the bond to diffuse so quickly in a matter of hours.

Then she remembered.

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Declaring the situation as completely hopeless, Rory returned to Conrad Café to sort her feelings out. How could she be so careless? She wasn't this type of person usually, but she had screwed up big time. She owed Ashton for this. It was a humiliating situation, and after what she had done, she couldn't bear to face him. In just under a day, she had discarded her relationships with both Logan and Ashton.

The cashier who had told her the way Ashton went sympathetically brought her a buttered croissant and a glass of orange juice, which Rory gratefully took. She faced the cashier to thank her properly for giving her the "classic breakfast" free of charge when her face caught her eye. She seemed very familiar. The fact that her recognition wasn't fuzzy proved that the face was recent, fresh in her mind.

"Francine? What are you doing here?" Rory questioned, examining her perfectly drawn eyeliner and blonde tendrils. She hadn't noticed her earlier because her cap was hiding most of her face. It was also peculiar seeing her in a dusty Conrad apron with her name stitched in the fabric instead of her ironed-out, cream-colored Mandalay Apartments suit with the gold-plated name tag. But her facial features remained flawless. They were the type that could never be changed.

"I work here part-time," Francine informed her. "I go to the condo later."

Rory seemed to witness a ton of coincidences lately. This was one of them. She stuffed a morsel of croissant in her mouth and nibbled, not wanting to talk in a split second. Barely finished, she shoved a fresh strawberry topped with cream inside as well and chomped down.

Francine observed her finish, then took her plate. "Would you also like a banana milkshake? It's my treat today," she offered.

Rory sighed. "What I truly want," she began to confess, "is a piece of evidence pointing to where my boyfriend went. He's gone."

Francine looked confused.

"Oh, I mean the one I was looking for earlier. Not Logan Huntzberger," Rory cleared up.

"I see. Well, in that case, I might have something useful," Francine piped up. "Wait just a second."

Rory was deliberating what the possibilities could be when Francine returned with a receipt. "Thank you," Rory said, taking the strip of paper.