Secrets & Lies

7| Pancakes or Waffles?

"My mom said to tell you hey and that she's hopes to get to meet you soon," Vanessa said into the phone. 

I was sitting on the side of my bed in my hotel room; waiting impatiently for Logan to call and let me know he was on his way. 

"Tell her I said hey back. How is she?" 

The rustling sound over the phone told me Vanessa was moving the phone from one ear to the other. "She's doing good. I keep trying to get her to come to New York, but she loves California too much." 

I smiled at that. "Well, there's always hope." 

"How's Atlantic City?" 

I ran my tongue over my teeth. "It's good. Different. Mostly doing work stuff." 

I tried to talk to Vanessa as little as possible while I was here. Every lie I told her was like a punch to the gut. How the hell was I going to look her in the eye when I got back to the city? I had no fucking idea. I couldn't let myself think about that right now. 

"That's good," she said. I heard her mother's voice over the phone calling for Vanessa. "Sorry, babe, I gotta go. Talk to you tomorrow?" 

"Yeah. Good night and enjoy yourself." 

"You too," she replied and ended the call. 

I threw my phone on the bed and walked into my bathroom. I splashed some water on my face and patted it dry with a towel. It was almost midnight. I thought I would hear from Logan by now. I tried calling him a few times but it went straight to voicemail. I was debating if I should go make sure he was okay when I got the call from Vanessa. 

Ring--ring

"Finally," I mumbled to myself. 

When I went to answer my phone, I frowned at the unknown number. It wasn't Logan. 

"Hello?"

"Hi, um—is this Grant?"

The female voice on the other end sounded vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it. 

"Yes. Who is this?" 

"My name is Terri. I work at Jack's Bar."

Holy shit. She was the woman who served me and was asking me all those questions! What the hell was going on? 

"What is this about?" 

I could hear Logan's slurred words in the background. "Is he coming? Tell him...tell him I said please. And he has nice eyes. And soft hair...I want waffles."

My eyelids slid shut. Fuck. Logan must he hammered. Why the hell was he rambling like that? If he wasn't quiet, it could cause problems for both of us. 

Terri cleared her throat. "Um, he won't let me call him a cab. His phone died and this is the only number he would give me. Can you come down here?" 

I was already closing my hotel room door behind me. "I'm on my way." 

I slid my phone in my pocket and cursed under my breath. Something had to have happened at that party to make him drink like this. He never drank that much. After what felt like an hour, I stepped off of the elevator and exited the hotel. I hurried to my car and threw it in drive. 

I was feeling all kinds of things as I drove down the dark street towards the bar. Anger. Worry. Fear. One thing he said stood out to me. "I want waffles."

That statement reminded me of one of our good nights together. One where there was no fighting or storming out...

I leaned against the headboard of the bed and lit a cigarette. I took a long drag of the Camel Menthol then rested my arm on my bent knee while I waited for Logan to come out of the bathroom.