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Chapter Seven
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Cori wasn’t sure what to do. Logan had texted her in the afternoon to cancel dinner that night. He said there was a medical emergency. There was no reason not to believe him because he was a highly sought-after surgeon. It was more surprising that he’d spent this much time with her.
But today she hadn’t heard one word. Her stomach was grumbling, and she wasn’t going to wait to eat just because he might call. So she ordered her favorite pineapple pizza for delivery and changed out of the just-in-case-he-called clothes into a pair of lounge pants with a tank top. If she had her way, she’d go braless all the time. Maybe that can be my next article. Women who hate bras.
She chuckled to herself as she grabbed her laptop and decided to work while waiting. They had promised a thirty-minute delivery time, but she was a regular with them and knew they never kept their promises. It’d been her problem her entire life. People say one thing and do not follow through. Even the pizza guy disappoints.
Cori wasn’t worried about being disappointed. She seemed immune to it. It had become acceptable behavior to her. She made excuses for such rudeness. No one in their right mind would tolerate such behavior over and over again. So why did she?
As a child, Grandpa Joe never disappointed her. If she asked for it, he delivered or had a valid explanation why her request couldn’t be fulfilled. But after he died, she couldn’t remember another person telling her the truth instead of what she wanted to hear. At first, it was because of her loss, and they all wanted to console her and made promises impossible to keep. She held on to hope for such a long time until one day she realized hope, like love, was just an empty word. Both were merely a combination of four letters. When she heard either uttered, they seemed like water flowing through a net. They registered, but any feeling toward either quickly disappeared. She didn’t want to admit it, but inside she was broken. The only thing that made her different from anyone else was her ability to hide it from the world. If only I could hide it from myself.
What she didn’t want was her childhood to affect her as Logan’s had him. He’d also mastered masking the pain to the world, but there had been a brief moment when the veil was lifted and she was let in. It was something that haunted her. She’d been ready to do anything she needed to get the story she sought. Now her cutthroat edge wasn’t as sharp as before. But he was holding on to a secret he wasn’t ready to share with anyone.
Cori needed to cut him some slack. How he was wasn’t his fault. Or is that me making excuses for why he didn’t call me after kissing me?
She wasn’t happy that her thoughts had gone from thinking about work to thinking about Logan, then back to her. Why do I carry the weight of it all on me? Someday she’d take the time to explore that. Right now she had two stories she needed to focus on.
Cori pulled up her email from her boss and rolled her eyes. He’d loved the last article on feederism and said it was her best yet. He actually wanted her to reach out to the women and get their points of view to see if they found it sexually gratifying as well. Can today get much worse?
So while waiting for her pizza, she spent twenty minutes with her best friend, Google, and found a few ladies who seemed to live that lifestyle. There were several who had posted nude pictures of themselves and proudly displayed their weight. She was only a few pounds overweight, and that wasn’t something she’d ever be able to do.
There was a knock on her door, and she left her laptop open so she could reach out and call them after she finished eating. This was a story she wanted to bang out quickly, so she could move on to the one she was passionate about.
Placing the open laptop on the table, she reached into her wallet, grabbed her money, and opened the door. The pizza was there, but so was an unexpected guest.
“What are you doing here?”
Logan smiled and held out the pizza. “I thought you said you’d buy me dinner.”
She took the pizza from him and said, “Where’s the delivery guy?”
“He left.”
“So what you’re saying is you bought the pizza?” He nodded. That wasn’t the deal they had made, but bringing that up might lead to why she was so hung up on him not paying. Right now there were two things she knew: she was hungry and she was happy to see him. Logan followed her as she went to the kitchen and placed the pizza on the counter. “I hope you brought beer as well, because I have nothing to drink but water.”
“I could always take a run to the store, but water is... fine with me.”
She turned to see why he had hesitated, and she almost leaped from her spot to slam her laptop closed. It was too late. Even from where she stood the pictures of naked women lit up her widescreen monitor. Cori wasn’t sure what shade of red she turned, but she felt her entire body blushing.
With what little composure she could muster, she walked over and gently closed the lid. “If you don’t mind, that’s personal.”
Logan’s expression was priceless. She would put a year’s wage down that not much left him speechless. This scene obviously had.
Cori figured if he’d truly looked into her as he’d said he had, then he probably knew what type of reporting she did. That left her confused. Why would he agree to give me an interview if he knew I wrote this garbage? Then she choked back her laughter. Maybe he was hoping that’s the type of story I wanted to do on him.
She didn’t want to know what freaky fetish he was hiding. After all the research she’d been doing lately, it almost scared her to think which one he fit in. Let it be none of them.
Cori walked to the table and grabbed some plates for the pizza. “There’s cold water in the refrigerator.”
“I honestly think I need a beer,” Logan said, still looking at her closed laptop.
She couldn’t help herself any longer. She burst out laughing. “And you think you’re the only one who had a rough day at work? This is what I have to look forward to this week.”
Logan shook his head. “I think I’ll stay in the operating room, thank you. I don’t know how you do this without doubling over during each interview.”
“I have a secret. All my interviews are done over the telephone, so no one sees my reaction.”
