Exit Wounds

Chapter 4/19

Veronica knew she lived in a cockroach infested rat hole. She knew the hallway smelled of urine and her own apartment had an aroma of bleach, merely to keep the smell of urine out. She waited, just inside the door, watching her, well, for lack of a better term, Logan stand. He stepped in, taking large steps. His head ducked, unnecessarily, under the door frame. She felt the world crash in around her when she came home, but there was more than enough room for him to fit through the door. She scrunched up her face a bit at him. When he turned and winked at her, she merely shook her head. She had given him the reaction he craved and fell right into the trap that was Logan.

She made a gesture to the main room, slamming the door behind him with a swing of her arm. She locked one of the locks before turning to face him. He walked up to the back of the couch, looking down at the mess of folders, dishes and unopened mail thrown about the place. Her coffee table and couch were both covered with papers, as well as plates with crumbs and empty coffee mugs and glasses. Crunched up balls of paper garnished the table and floor.

The room itself was pretty self explanatory as far as living rooms go. It was large enough to fit her three seat leather sofa, a wooden and obviously refurbished coffee table and a plush chair. There was a floor lamp behind the chair and it was cozy for reading in. In the corner of the room, next to the bookshelves, was her television. Windows lined the wall with the chair and television and had simple shades to offer her privacy. Her view was that of the building next door and not that interesting. Attached to the living area was the small kitchen, which barely had any counter space. A skinny refrigerator and two burner stove were the highlights. She had a shelf that stored her dishes and some cupboards. The kitchen wasn't really big enough for more than one person.

"I think someone broke in and left a mess." He turned, smirking at her. "I could give you the number of my cleaning agency. They might have relatives out here." He was using that old cocky tone she hated.

"Yea, I know. I'm a slob." She moved on, pointing to a small little kitchenette area. "The workman's eatery." She pointed down the hall. "Sleeping quarters and showers." She watched him look around.

He moved down the hall, peeking into the bedroom and turned back, waving his eyebrows." Nice. Simplistic. I like it."

She nodded. "Right." She walked around the couch and started to pick up the mess. Logan joined her, but she snatched folders out of his hand and shook her head. "I've got it. Give me a second and you can sit down." She continued to pick up, giving him some room to sit. Once she had the folders stacked, she took a pile of dishes into the kitchen. "Been busy, didn't get a chance to pick up the last couple of days." She paused, placing the dishes in the sink. "I wasn't expecting out of town guests."

Logan didn't sit though. He snooped around. She found him by some hanging pictures he had missed near the door and joined him. He saw Mac and Wallace, from high school according to their hairstyles. There was a picture of Veronica with her dad, another of Logan with Dick surfing, a couple of the Fab Four. There were newer pictures, like one with Veronica and four other women, one of them being Claudia. Veronica was smiling brightly in that one and she hoped Logan didn't realize how fake that grin was. She could tell when he saw the big one. It wasn't big in size. But in meaning, it was huge. In the photograph, Veronica was wearing a sundress and sandals and a man was wearing a dress shirt, not tucked in, with khakis and boating shoes. He was holding her close and she was looking up at him, smiling. Logan took a quick breath and held it, staring down at the picture.

"That's Nate." She felt guilt, sadness, pride and love when she looked at the picture with Logan standing so close to her. She was guilty that she moved on when she knew she would have been with Logan again had she stayed in Neptune. She wasn't sure if they would have lasted very long, but she knew where they were headed. She was sad at losing that time with Logan, who was one of her oldest friends. But, at the same time, she was proud of her relationship with Nate. She did love him, in a way, and he made her very happy. She didn't regret marrying Nate one bit.