Everything Reminds Me of Her

Everything Reminds Me of Her

Logan rushed his breakfast without really tasting any of it and left after a few minutes. It was just too much for him to process all at once. He needed some space to think things over. It was almost overwhelming.

“I… I got to go,” Logan said, barely glancing at his parents.

“Logan, wait!” Audrey called out to him.

“Let him go,” Daniel said, holding her hand to comfort her, “it’s a lot to take in.” He looked over at Logan and said, “Be careful, and… we can talk whenever you want to.”

“Bye!” Logan hurried to say as he hurried out. Crossing the doorway, he thought he heard his mother’s voice crack as she said, “Sorry!”

He made his way to his car and drove out of the manor. If last night his mind had been a haze of confusion, anger, and pain, this was a whirlwind. He needed to get away from everything. Clear his mind. Find out what was real and what was not. His entire world seemed upside down. “WHAT ELSE IS GOING TO SHIT ON ME!!!” He screamed at no one as he drove down the street. Or maybe he screamed at the whole universe.

He started by heading out to Cyan Point, near the bay, till he remembered all the times he had gone there with Sharon on Lover’s Lane and wondered if she had gone there with Charlie. ‘Of course they did.’ The pain churned his stomach in a knot as he turned away. He was halfway to Crystal Lake when he remembered riding the bike trails with Charlie to get away from everyone. He gritted his teeth, his knuckles white as they gripped the steering wheel as he remembered his best friend’s betrayal. ‘How could he do that.’ he wondered till he remembered what Charlie used to say, ‘We have to see what’s out there, we got to test drive before we buy. We don’t settle for the first car we see, we got to try them all to get the best one.’

“Fucking bastard!” Logan growled as he turned away and headed to downtown Azure Rock. He laughed at his own words, ‘Yeah, Charlie was a fucking bastard, piece of shit.’ He soon realized that everywhere he wanted to go… everything reminded him of her.

And in the back of his mind, there was the haunting image of his parents with Chastity. He wanted to be angry at his father for cheating on his mother. But was it really cheating if she brought Chastity into their bedroom? It all opened a whole other can of worms his mind tried to run away from. But once he opened that door, there just wasn’t any way to close it. Had his mother been cheating on his father? Was that the secret? With Chastity? Someone else? No, it couldn’t be that! His father had said she had helped him solve a problem. And… Chastity had offered to help? With sex? Was this all some weird nightmare? Had they slipped him something at the Siren’s Song and this was some weird **** hallucination of a dream? Logan shook his head. No, it wasn’t a bad dream. And he didn’t know what to do about it.

Logan drove aimlessly for a while, exploring other neighborhoods he had only seen in passing and never really noticed. He passed by the installation of Smith Industries and the industrial park. He realized he had never seen this part of Azure Rock in ages, if ever.

Driving along, he saw a sign that said _Millie’s _in bright golden letters like it was some gangster movie from the 20s or 30s. On a whim, he drove into the parking lot and entered the place. At least here there weren’t any memories to haunt him.

When he entered _Millie’s _he was blown away by what he saw. The sign outside said it was an ice cream and coffee shop but the inside looked like it came right out of a movie. The walls were dark wooden panels, the chairs and benches were upholstered with real leather, the metal railings, doorknobs, and the rest were made with bright, polished brass, real brass, he noticed. It looked like an old pub snatched right out of history.

His wide eyes took in the magnificent sight, and he wondered why he had never come to this place. “Ehem! Do you mind?” he heard a sharp female voice next to him. He glanced and saw it came from one of the most beautiful blonde girls he had ever seen, with bright green eyes and full red lips with just the right touch of makeup. “Grace?” he asked in surprise. He had never, ever, seen her his beautiful.

“Yes!” Grace said, a bit annoyed as she glanced at the door, “Do you mind, I have… somewhere to go.”

“Oh yeah, sorry Gracie,” Logan said almost sheepishly as he gallantly held the door for her to leave.

Grace was giving him the stinky eye for calling her ‘Gracie’ before she noticed the way he held the door open for her, inviting her to pass. She would have thought it was kind of roguish, the way his hand subtly gestured her to go first if it wasn’t for the sad, red eyes she saw in him. “Thanks, Logan,” she nodded as she passed by.

He watched her leave Millie’s and walk over to her Tesla, her, pleated shorts only helped accentuate her curvy hips and waist. He shook his head, turned around, and came face to face with another young blonde. She was about his height, her long dirty blonde hair braided in a thick interlaced design that went along with her waitress uniform that seemed picked right out of some Bavarian tale. At that moment, both braids ended within her enticing cleavage and he **** himself to look at her honey brown eyes.

“Never thought I’d see you here,” the blonde said with a smile.

Logan blinked as he took in the unexpected sight of his classmate, “Bonnie?”

“The one and only,” she said with an impish grin as she gave a practiced curtsy, “Don’t ever accept those cheap imitations!”

“What?” Logan asked, noticing again her ample cleavage within her Bavarian waitress uniform, “You work here?” he asked.

“Oh! My parents own the place,” Bonnie hurried to explain, “I just help out here sometimes.”

“Cool,” Logan said, looking around as he ran his fingers through his hair. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

“So what brings you out here?” Bonnie asked, her curiosity was too much for her to keep in check, “I thought you were out in Swallow Crossing with Sharon to pop to question?”

“Does everyone know about it?” Logan snapped, his burning eyes boring into hers. This was just too much.

“I’m-so-sorry-I-didn’t-mean-to-make-you-mad-I-just-thought-you-came-back-home-early-with-her-and-wanted-to-find-somewhere-private-and-and-and,” Bonnie rambled as she hurried to apologize, her eyes pleading with his to forgive her.

“It’s ok, not your fault.” Logan shook his head and waved her away, “Guess I’m not as careful with my secrets as I thought.”

They looked at each other for a moment, Each one hesitant to say something to upset the other one. Bonnie took the first step and softly asked him, “Want to take a seat? I can get you something if you want.”

Logan nodded and followed her to a cushioned cubicle near the back of the ice cream parlor. With a sigh, Logan dropped down on the chair. “Can I have some... coffee? Tea? or whatever you have.” he asked absently, without even looking up at her when she nodded. He didn't really care. He felt like the whole world had turned upside down on him. He felt alone and wondered if it had always been that way.

****

Bonnie hurried to scoop some ice cream and hot cocoa with marshmallows. Her mother narrowed her eyes as she watched her hurry prepare everything for Logan. “You going to charge that?” she asked.

“Mom, please?” she sheepishly to her mother.

“Hunny, you can’t go around giving things away,” her mother admonished.

“Take it out of my allowance?” Bonnie asked, her face scrunched up as she implored her mother.

“You already owe me 3 months of your allowance. And god knows how much you scammed off your father,” she said sternly as she glared at her daughter. Still, the urgent pleading look on her melted her heart. “You’re going to ruin us you know?” She added, “Good thing your brother’s going to take over. At least he won’t give everything away to his friends.”

“Can I?” Bonnie asked again.

“GO! GO!” Her mother shooed her away, “That boy looks heartbroken.”

“Thanks, Mom!” Bonnie hurried to hug her mother before loading the tray and heading back to Logan.

Bonnie set the chocolate ice cream in front of Logan and sat across from him. “Everything feels better with chocolate,” she said with a hesitant smile as she crossed her arms under her bosom and leaned on the table.

Logan blinked at her. That was exactly the same thing Chastity had said. He looked at the blonde beauty from Bavaria in front of him and asked. “Is that real or just some costume?”

“Oh, it’s real,” Bonnie said, “We’ve always worn this ever since my great-grandparents built this place.” Bonnie’s bubbly voice started to run as she let her nerves get the best of her, “Part-of-the-charm-of-Millie’s! That’s-my-great-grandmother’s-name. My-grandfather-named-this-place-after-her-when-they-came-over after-the-first-war-and-she-always-liked-to-wear-something-like-this-cause-my-great-grandfather-liked-to-look-at-her-tits, they-were-much-bigger-than-mine-are-but-she-loved-to-show-them-off-and-so-did-my-grandmother, that’s-how-my-grandfather-noticed-her-and-and-and… sorry,” she added, “I sometimes get carried away.”

“That’s ok,” Logan said, “It’s good to know your history and where you’re from.”

“Ok, thanks,” Bonnie hurried to say, “cause-I-tend-to-get carried-away,-and-start-rambling-about-stuff,-cause-that’s-what-my-friends-always-say-I-do-and,-and… sorry. I’m doing it again.” Bonnie said, and she ran her fingers over her mouth with zipping sound and mimed throwing away the key.

Logan let out a low chuckle as he scooped up a spoonful of chocolate ice cream. “Mmm, this is good!” Logan raised a spoonful he praised the ice cream, “Really good!”

“Thanks!” Bonnie beamed with delight, “We make it ourselves.”

“Really?” Logan said in surprise, he always thought the ice cream shops bought it from some big ice cream factory. Like the soda in the fast-food joints.

“Yeah,” Bonnie nodded with enthusiasm, “We used to make our own beer in the cellar but my dad was tired of dealing with drunks always breaking things, so he sold the brewery and bought ice cream machines.”

“Wow! That’s great!” Logan said with sincere admiration. He always assumed selling **** was more profitable than coffee or ice cream. He’d seen coffee shops close but never a bar. “So…” Logan said, dragging out the question he had in mind. “How did you know I went to Swallow Crossing with Sharon?”

“Oh!” Bonnie gasped, “That was easy. Lots of people made some comments on Pulse about you two leaving town with some friends and then a Ravers showed up in Swallow Crossing, so it was hard to put two and two together, and then someone posted a picture of you and Sharon and the others over there.”

“And I thought I was pretty good with my secrets.” Logan grinned, but the mirth only touched his lips. Bonnie could see something in his eyes bothering him.

“Why would you think that?” Bonnie asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Well, I never show up in TattleRock,” Logan shrugged, “Heather’s always showing up.”

“Oh, that’s cause she wants to show up,” Bonnie said. “I think she knows who to tell, so they get the scoop. But you’re ok. Don’t worry about that. You probably won’t show up.”

“Yeah, except, that one time,” Logan said, remembering how TattleRock had published a gossipy note on him and Dylan vying for the same girl.

“Oh!” Bonnie gasped wide-eyed, ”You remember that one! I thought you wanted it to show up.”

Something Bonnie said clicked in his mind. “You thought?” he asked.

“OPPS!”