Beautifully Knight (Jordan Knight Fanfic, Liadan #5)

Ringtones and Rideshares

-LOGAN-

...I see trees of green, red roses too. I see them bloom, for me and you. And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...

Warm wetness tickled my nose as I stirred awake from a restless slumber and groaned in pain at the unexpected blinding lights filtering through my childhood family room.

I was typically an early riser—up before the crack of dawn and ready to gulp down too much caffeine before the sun had even risen into the sky. Most days by the time the sun was up, I'd already laced my sneakers and ventured out for a run or intense workout session in my apartment building's gym that always lasted for a minimum of an hour.

My target time was two hours, but a hangover always made sixty minutes feel like six hundred and since I'd been hungover a few more times than I'd like to admit lately, my current average hovered just at seventy minutes.

Following whatever exercise plan I had for the day, I typically took Finn for a walk to cool down, got dressed in a suit and tie or construction site clothes, depending on the project of the day, and then drove the few blocks from my apartment to work. Once there, I'd taken it upon myself to unlock my mom's law offices and tidy everything up before settling down in the office space she'd graciously allowed me to use while I'd built up my clientele for the past few years. With Nathan's radio station blaring in the background, I pulled out my case of drafting pencils and set to work for at least an hour before everybody else arrived.

Like clockwork, around 8 o'clock, my mom always poked her head into my office with a bagel and 'devil juice' in hand for me and asked how long I'd been working already. I always smiled, took the bagel, and said 'just a couple of minutes' to which she always shook her head and reminded me that sleep and breakfast are the best forms of medicine before she was undoubtedly pulled away by one of the junior associates that always had a question for her.

With the opening of my own new office, it occurred to me more than once that we were no longer going to have that habitual exchange five days out of the week, every week anymore, but I comforted myself with the knowledge that she'd still be right next door and I could be the one to bring her a bagel for a change.

My plan had been for today to be the beginning of that new habit. However, as simple a plan as it'd been, it wasn't a plan that was meant to come to fruition. Life had decided that my first official day with an office of my own wasn't supposed to be spent in the office at all. Rather, for the first time in forever, I found myself sleeping in on my parents' couch, still dressed in yesterday's jeans—my t-shirt had gotten tossed onto the coffee table the minute I'd stepped into the house, and trying my best to figure out where the sound of Louis Armstrong's voice was coming from.

A whine interrupted my thoughts and I stifled a yawn as I locked eyes with my puppy and he gave me one last lick on the nose before pitifully tilting his head.

I knew that look.

"Are you hungry, buddy?"

He whined again and scampered off towards the kitchen.

I drug a hand through my too-long hair and swung my tired legs off the edge of the couch before I followed him over to the laundry room where both Jem and Finch were peering in their bowls with the same disappointed look.

"Sorry, guys, I overslept. I'll fix you something right away, okay? Sorry," I apologized and scratched them all behind their ears before I headed to the fridge to find the "premium" refrigerated dog food that Mom spoiled the dogs with now that all of us kids had moved out of the house. Just one taste of the fancy stuff during a visit had been enough to make Finn decide that anything else was simply inferior and I now kept it stocked in the fridge at my place too, even when it was just about empty of human food.