Tea Parties in Boston

12 - The Help

September 29th, 2022, Cambridge, MA

"This is an interesting place," Logan commented, casually, after the initial greetings.

Rory had taken charge this time and told him to meet her at a burger place that really didn't quite live up to the standards of the former restaurant they'd had lunch at, at least no by its appearance. It was busy and therefore loud too.

"If by interesting you mean loud and kind of crappy looking then yes," Rory replied.

It was obviously a student oriented place - plastic chairs, no real decor other than a huge oversize Coca-cola billboard on one wall.

The two of them were standing in line to order from the counter - it was how this place worked. It certainly left Logan a little puzzled by why she'd chosen this place in particular. After all they weren't here just for the food but to talk as well.

"But trust me, the burgers are good," Rory commented, it being no mystery to her that she was pushing Logan a little out of his comfort zone. She'd done that before, it had just been more than a decade since the last time.

"I trust you," Logan nodded. Rory's choice of venue had never failed before. Fine - that one time in East London when she'd been trying to prove a point and they'd both ended up with stomach aches. But that had indeed been an exception.

"I was thinking we might just go eat at the Common - it's nice out today," Rory commented, referring to the park just by the campus. It was indeed surprisingly warm and sunny for the end of September.

"Sure, sounds good," Logan replied, still having to speak loudly over the kitchen sounds.

"Hey, what was that all about yesterday? Em was a little weird last night and Catalina was gone by the time I got home. You wanted to take her for ice cream...?" Rory specified, looking confused, having just gotten to experience a disappointed preschooler when she got home with few explanations.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I just... I said it without thinking things through and I didn't want to bother you at work. And I get it - Catalina just didn't want to take the blame if she wasn't supposed to let me take her so I just..," Logan sighed, shrugging his shoulders.

"So this was just about ice cream?" Rory asked.

"Yes," Logan replied. "I feel like I let her down," he added.

Rory chuckled. It was cute how worried Logan looked about something like this. He really was taking this seriously, wasn't he?

"She won't recall this in a few days, you know. Things come up, she needs to accept 'no'-s and changes of plans. Doesn't matter if it comes from you or me," Rory explained.

"Right," Logan sighed with relief.

"You can take her, you know.... To ice cream or something," Rory suggested.

"Good to know," Logan replied, feeling relieved that things like that didn't seem to be an issue.

"I'll make sure Catalina knows and just text me what you're up to or when she'll be back so I don't worry about her whereabouts," Rory instructed.

"Good! I will, I promise," Logan said.

It was their turn to place their orders next, and they took some slightly fancier burgers each along with some fries, slaw and drinks. While they waited, Rory ran into some colleague and exchanged a few words. And since they were close to the kitchen which was rather loud, they didn't really speak much about anything significant. But thankfully they were soon on their way.