What Happens In Hamburg

Chapter 3

It was funny how within the past 24 hours the focus of Rory's visit to Hamburg had shifted. She'd aimed to immerse herself in the plenaries and discussions, bringing home fresh ideas, looking for a couple of art exhibits she'd hoped to see and checking out the Elbphilharmonie. That was all the homework she'd managed to do prior to this trip. Now all that was utterly insignificant to her, doing the bare minimum her job required. That alone was unlike her, but this was worth it. The connection was too strong to just dismiss, and spending the next three days with Logan meant at the very least waking up the emotions in her, even if they chose to leave it at that. But it was just too tempting not to see what was still there.

She'd skipped off from the conference venue during lunch hour, grabbing just a quick sandwich and a coffee on the way. She googled the nearest department store and burned a small, unplanned, hole in her private travel budget. She'd gotten a pair of black treggings, a dark blue silk spaghetti strap top and a light blue short A-line dress with a laced top and V-neck and some underwear. She had struggled at the underwear section being forced to think what her intentions truly were in this situation, eventually settling for a few pairs of fairly neutral black mesh sided panties and a matching unpadded bralette. It took her some effort to squeeze everything but the dress into her messenger bag, not wanting to parade around with several tote bags the rest of the conference. In this professional setting it was not ideal, but spending the last sessions with a dress under her chair, left her with a welcome anticipation. She had three full days to spend with Logan, having pushed her flight to Sunday evening. She knew she was going to be dead tired arriving to work just an hour to spare, cutting it close if the flight was late, but not once had she ever regretted having Logan taking her on a wild ride and she doubted she was going to now.

As the last speaker began, Rory texted Logan letting him know the plenary was on schedule.

"I'll see you soon," he texted back a few minutes later, creating a nervous knot in her stomach.

Logan waited for her at the side of his car, smiling smugly. He hadn't felt like that in years, almost seven years to be exact - it was just something different about Rory. Surely he had dated and even had a few girlfriends during that time, one even that he might have actually loved, but it had become clear in comparison that that too came at different intensities.

"I see someone's been doing some shopping," he noted, observing her tote bag.

"Oh, they were just giving these out at the coffee break," she joked, obliviously.

"Can't wait to see what you got, Ace," Logan commented, expectantly, opening the car door for her.

As they returned to the apartment, for a moment it felt as if the two actually lived there, returning home after a long work day. It felt natural for Logan to head to the kitchen to brew a couple of espressos for the them while she took a shower, changing into her new pair of treggings and the spaghetti strapped top. The autumn evening was still unusually warm, and Logan opened up the balcony doors to bring the outdoors in.

"So is this okay for tonight, or do I need to change?" she asked, emerging from the questroom to the kitchen.

Rory really didn't need much to look gorgeous, and that was obvious to Logan. Still, seeing her dressed up, even if it was fairly casual, clearly having made an effort, left him a little speechless as he glanced over her. Rory could sense him appreciating the view, struggling to pick his words.

"Is it just me or are you getting more gorgeous, Ace," he said, smugly, after gathering himself.

Rory's cheeks flushed a little. It wasn't as if she'd never heard him compliment or appreciate her looks before. In fact she'd probably never heard as many compliments, counting the indirect ones - "Okay, put my number" she heard echo in her mind - from anyone as she had from him - yet it felt like the first time, making her smile uncontrollably.