Logan And Lauren Ch 10

I dressed myself in one of Logan's many tee shirts and put my jeans back on. My makeup and decent hair was absolute history. I looked at myself in the mirror of Logan's bathroom, cursing my luck. In the midst of my near-breakdown, Logan walked in the bathroom and wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck.

"This is where natural beauty come into play," he said as if he read my mind about my appearance, "and you're beautiful. You don't need anything extra, especially not for my mother."

I felt my cheeks flush as I turned around and gave him a tight hug. "Thanks, I needed that," I said with a small smile.

"No need to thank me for telling the truth," he said, taking me by the hand. "Come on, Mother's waiting."

~*~*~*~

We exited his bedroom and descended the fancy staircase hand in hand. My heart pounded in my chest and I squeezed his hand tighter as we walked into a room with a fire. An extremely fair-skinned woman with blonde hair sat looking into the fire, sipping brown liquid out of a glass that was predominately filled with ice.

"Mother," Logan began, causing the woman to look up in our direction. "I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, Lauren. Lauren, this is my mother, Nadine."

Instantly, I noticed she shared the same emerald green eyes as her son but they grew wide when she got a good look at me... that was to be expected. Determined to make a great impression, I gave her my best smile.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Chadwick," I said, nodding in her direction.

"Likewise, Lucy," she said, dismissively, raising her eyebrows and taking another sip, "Logan, what happened to that nice girl that used to come around quite a bit? I believe Vanessa was her name?"

I felt a pang of disappointment at not being accepted but what exactly did I expect? Logan and I were from two totally different planets and I knew it, but I had just gotten Logan back in my life and I intended to keep him in it. What really bothered me is that she looked at Vanessa as a nice girl but looked down on me without even knowing me.

Logan's body tensed beside me and I could feel anger radiating off his body. "Mother, it does not matter what happened to Vanessa. She isn't a factor... Lauren is my girlfriend and you wanted to meet her. Now you have, we'll be going now."

"Oh, Logan, Darling, don't be so dramatic! I simply asked what happened to her," she said, shrugging off her son's anger and taking the final sip of the glass, "I know you're with little Lily, here."

"Lauren," he corrected firmly.

"Lauren," she repeated, nodding. "So, Lauren, what does your family do?"

"My mom is a librarian and my dad is Logan's football coach," I said, still attempting to smile.

"Oh!" She said, widening her eyes in what she thought was realization, "Your father is Logan's football coach! So you're the little girl that was tutoring him, yes?"

"Yes, Ma'am. I tutored Logan for awhile," I said, nodding.

"I see. It all makes sense, now," she said, seeming a little happier about the situation.

"Enough, Mother," Logan growled.

"I was just wondering where this girl came from... where you found her. It just all makes sense, now. You needed the grade and here she is. I must say, I was almost concerned, Logan." she said, refilling her glass.

"You don't know anything, Mother, you're brain is always swimming at the bottom of a bottle," he said, causing her jaw to drop.

"Logan! Take that back!" She said, her right hand clutching her chest in an overly-dramatic manner.

"Take back everything you said about Lauren, then!" he challenged.

"I'm not taking anything back. You got what you needed from her! Why are you keeping her around? It's indecent," she pressed.

"I'm keeping her around because I love her," he said, taking a step in her direction.

She choked on the sip she was taking and scoffed audibly. "Love, Logan? You do not love her. You don't know what love is, Son! She is not your type... she is just looking for a way out of the filthy gutter that she was born into!"

I felt the heat rising to my cheeks and opened my mouth to speak. "With all due respect, Mrs. Chadwick, I was not born into a filthy gutter and I am perfectly content with walking out of this relationship, if the time comes, exactly the way I came into it. I have no interest in money and if I did, I am more than capable of using my own means to obtain it," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"Not interested in money? Please, Dear, tell me how you came across that pretty little necklace that's hanging from your neck. That doesn't look like the product of a librarian and high school football coach's wages to me," she asked, gesturing toward the necklace that Logan bought for me.

"I bought that necklace for her when she left me. If she was the gold-digger you're trying to make her out to be, she wouldn't have done that, Mother. She would have stuck around just for the money. If I were you, I would stop trying to draw conclusions about why I love who I do and put down that damn bottle," he said, pulling my hand as we walked toward the stairs.

When we were up in his room, I sat uncomfortably on the edge of his bed.

"Don't pay her any mind, Babe. She probably won't remember any of that in the morning, she stays so toasted." He said, resting his hand on my cheek, "I love you and nothing she does or says can change that."

"I love you, too," I said, feeling mildly comforted, "Logan, what did she mean by 'the girl that came over quite a bit'?"

He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled. "Honestly, Vanessa would come over a lot and we'd have sex. It was nothing ever more than that, just sex. Mother wanted to meet her and she did and she liked her. I guess it was because she was just as much of a vindictive bitch as she was. I was never with Vanessa which is why you never found out until now."

I shook my head, treating my brain like an etch-a-sketch, wanting nothing more than to erase the thought of Logan having sex with Vanessa. "So, where's your Dad?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"In Wyoming, inspecting the mines we have there. He's not as bad as Cruella, I swear and I'd like it if you met him when he returns. We're not all bad," Logan said with a small smile.

"Why does she drink so much?" I asked, unsure if I was crossing a boundary.

"My parents were, let's say, fated to be together," he began.

"Like an arranged marriage?" I inquired, earning a nod from him.

"Something like that. Well, Dad didn't like the thought of that one bit, while Mother was ecstatic. She had always wanted to be a wife and mother and whatnot. So, they got married and Dad still fucked other women and stayed out late. Soon, she turned to alcohol to make her feel better. Then, she got pregnant with me. After I was born, Dad cleaned up his act and did his best to right his wrongs but it was too late. She had developed an addiction and old habits die hard. I believe Dad stays with her out of guilt because deep down, he knows that he's the reason," he finished with a sigh.

I instantly forgave Nadine for everything she said that night and felt very sorry for her. Her life hadn't been easy and she drank to numb the pain. I felt a surge of anger towards Logan's dad for breaking her the way he had but I remembered that people make mistakes and he, like anyone else, deserved the benefit of the doubt.