Meant to Be

CHAPTER 16 - A NOT SO INNOCENT LIE

Rory was back at work after spending a pleasant weekend with Jake. They visited the farmers market, walked through Central Park and cuddled up on the couch to watch a few movies. It was nothing fancy, but a weekend spent relaxing with each other.

When Monday morning rolled around Rory was reminded by the calendar on her iPhone that she had another planning session scheduled for the Nichols-Huntzberger wedding that afternoon. She would deny it to anyone that asked, but Rory was excited she would be seeing Logan again. It had now been a week since their flirty text exchange and she missed the lack of contact with him. She got ready as quickly as she could, settling on a bright blue dress that she knew Logan would appreciate. She grabbed a cab and headed towards the Plaza, a small smile resting on her face.

The morning flew by quickly as Claudette handed off the contracts for a few smaller events coming up at the Plaza. Rory grabbed her phone and started making arrangements for the baby shower and retirement party she was now happily working on.

As the clock moved towards 1PM, Rory took a deep breath as she expected Logan and his fiancé to walk in at any moment. The disappointment hit her hard when she looked up from her computer to see the bubbly blonde, sans fiancé walking towards her desk.

"Hello Rory. Are you ready for me?" Katie greeted her.

"Hi Katie, yes I am all set. Should we wait for your fiancé?" Rory questioned.

"Oh, no. He won't be able to make it today. He is busy with meetings at work all afternoon. You know how men are? Anything to get out of sitting here picking out flowers and tulle," she laughed.

"Right. Well let's get to it," Rory replied.

They spent the next hour discussing bridesmaids and groomsmen, bands, and décor and they were about to wrap it up when Katie looked at Rory and asked, "So, this is a little off topic but did I see you at Juliet Conrad's birthday party the other night?"

"I was at Juliet's party. She's been a really good friend of mine since college," Rory responded.

"Interesting. She is a really good friend of Logan's from college. Did you know him at Yale as well?" she asked.

"Oh, umm, I think I had seen him around the campus but no, I didn't really know him personally," Rory lied.

"Hmm. Well, what a small world it is, isn't it?" she asked, "I guess we might be crossing paths outside of this office as well."

"Yes, it seems we might. Listen Katie, it was a great session today but I've got another walk thru with my next client and need to get going," Rory almost begged, wishing her to leave.

"Oh, of course. Have a nice day Rory. I'll see you around," Katie replied rather curtly and walked out of the office.

Rory sat at her desk, resting her head in her hands. 'She knows and she is going to make this experience worse than it already is.' It was in that moment that she knew exactly what she had to do.