Tea Parties in Boston

41 - Outside of the Comfort Zone

November 18th, 2022

The thought of kissing Rory was still making Logan giddy several days later. It was kind of funny even - a grown man, a few lonely grays in his hair and wrinkles in the corner of his eyes, smiling non stop like a child who'd just been to the candy store.

It almost made up for the concern he had for Em, knowing she was home that week with a runny nose mostly hanging out with Catalina or Christopher who had now returned and decided to work form home that week. Rory had assured him it was no big deal and saw no point in Logan subjecting himself to catching the same virus by babysitting her even though he'd offered. They'd discussed how Catalina was feeling a little concerned about her job now that Logan was around more, so they decided not to push it, not wanting the nanny to go looking for other jobs despite their assurances that they still needed her, even if it was a lot less.

Naturally Logan hadn't fully complied - he'd stopped by with treats, the healthier kind, and dropped off the bedspread from Em's room at his place that Em had loved so much, wanting to make her extra comfortable, as well as talked to her on the phone a couple of times. So it was safe to say Logan was in no way isolated or felt isolated from Em or Rory, despite her too having a rather busy week at work, trying to make up for her mistake. Logan wasn't pushing it, knowing a lot more certainly now that missing a lunch wasn't the end of the world for them.

He hadn't actually gotten around to delivering the carful of clothes to the charity until that day, having felt there wasn't any particular hurry, and hoping for them to actually get back to him about whether there was anything specific they required. Finally he'd gotten the response e-mail, assuring that they really had no shortage of people's second hand items this time of the year, but were gladly accepting monetary donations much like Logan had expected.

Making donations came together with his identity really. Some places he donated to for tax reasons he hardly ever thought about - those were handled by his accountants, and they covered a broad spectrum of things he agreed as a part of PR management. But every once in a while he felt like he needed to do something more. When he'd made his first million - he'd donated some money to a local start-up aid over at San Francisco, there had been that one donation to a cancer foundation in London too after he'd found out about Odette's illness.

But right now - other than being in this new position of getting his second chance - he really didn't have anything concrete in mind. So, before he decided and actually wired them a sizable donation, he wanted to check this place out in person and hence he'd volunteered to rent a truck and deliver all the items collected at the school to them himself. It was not like he was very busy these days. Besides, it gave him something else to think about than wondering how his father was going to take the news he'd been delaying telling him next week.

The donation center in question was located in a pretty generic warehouse district, next to some grocery logistics center that had large trucks coming and going every few minutes. From the outside the place actually looked pretty impressive in its size, truth be told, but as he made his way inside he was met with a row of trolleys and a grumpy-looking old man, reading a newspaper.

Without even looking at him the man grumbled - "You can load up the donations to the roll cage and just roll them in," assuming his business, even before Logan had gotten out a 'hi'.

"Oh, alright," Logan complied, feeling how he was now standing out like a sore thumb in his no-doubt expensive-looking Moose Knuckles parka that he'd recently purchased, thinking of his trip to Martha's Vineyard next week.

He pushed the heavy roll cage container outside, feeling relieved it hadn't snowed yet.

There were about three-four trolley's worth bags, none of them really heavy, that other parents had also brought to the school, besides the things from Rory's attic and his own old suits.