by Bry Ann
Chapter 5:
The second I got home I was clouded with guilt for having fun when I should have been figuring out how to earn the money I needed to save my mom. To add to that, I was off the next day and already committed to spending time with Logan and his sister. The only reassurance I had was Logan’s sister seemed like she needed a friend as desperately as I did. I woke up the next morning and watched TV with my mom while continuing to look into ways to make money. I told my mom I was going out with Logan and she gave a look that said she was interested but never pressed. One of the things I loved most about my mom was that she gave me my space. She knew me. She knew I’d come to her eventually if there were something to tell, but she always let me get to that point myself. His car pulled up around one o’clock, and I waved goodbye to my mom after deciding to put on a burgundy sweater and jeans.
Logan leaned against his car casually in a white cotton t-shirt and a nice pair of designer jeans. I got in the car without saying a word. I still felt so stressed and guilty about the time clock my mom was on. I could see she was getting sicker and sicker by the day. I think Logan sensed how stressed out I was because he followed me into the car without saying a word. Once we were on the road, he turned to me.
“Hey, are you okay? You seem…off.”
“I’m fine.”
“Is your mom okay?”
I wanted to lie but I just couldn’t, not with him looking at me like I was a wounded puppy. My face fell, and I nodded my head no.
“Come here.”
He extended his arm out to me.
“What?”
“Just come here and quit bitching.”
I scooted a little closer, and he shot his arm out and pulled me towards him, not allowing me any distance. I stiffened at first, but when he gently started rubbing his hand along my arm I allowed my head to fall on his shoulder. I relaxed into him. Somehow it helped. It didn’t feel like anything other than a friend comforting a friend, which is why I allowed it. I somehow felt less alone. I felt comforted, and I hadn’t felt that in a long time. He moved his hand from my arm to my hair and started absentmindedly rubbing my hair. The second his hand landed in my hair I burst out in tears; the guilt, pain, loneliness, and fear I constantly felt was sometimes too much. It just felt so good not to be alone.
“What’s going on Sam?”
“My mom. I’m not helping her. I… don’t know what I'm doing. I can’t lose her.”
I felt Logan’s body tense.
“I wish there was something I could. Is there anything I can do?”
Uh yes, can you think of a way I could raise 100 grand without letting you give it me?
“No, there’s not,” I pulled my head away, “But thanks Logan for giving me a moment. I better pull it together before we meet your sister. Geez, she’s gonna think I'm a mess.”
“She’d understand,” Logan said simply before looking out the window.
He looked tense…and nervous. We both set in silence the rest of the way, both of our minds were fully occupied. We drove for 45 minutes until we finally pulled into a parking garage nestled between two tall brick buildings.
“I’m so nervous,” I said once we were parked. Logan immediately snapped out of his train of thought. He turned around quickly with a look of shock on his face.
“You are? Why?”
“Because, I mean, I want her to like me.”
He laughed. “Since when do you care?”
Now it was my turn to laugh, “Honestly, most of the time I don’t but, I don’t know, I feel this like bond to your sister. I think we could get along.”
“You mean you finally heard of someone with as many issues as you,” he said with a sly smile.
“Exactly!”
He nodded his head back and forth, laughing at me. We both got out of the car, and the second Logan stepped out he threw on a pair of dark sunglasses on and brushed his shaggy hair back to stick a baseball cap on. I raised an eyebrow at him.
“They don’t have a side door here. We’ll have to go through the front. I don’t want to be easily recognizable.”
“Oh…” I furrowed my eyebrows. “I don’t know how, but I sometimes think when I hang out with you I forget you’re just about the famous person in the world.”
He smiled at me, but his tone was serious.
“I know, and that’s why this friendship works.”
We walked out to the front of the lot, and Logan walked with his head down but in front of me, partially blocking me from view. I glanced over and noticed the two guards were not the same ones he usually had around.
“Are the other guys fired?”
“No, but they have to sleep sometimes Sam. Usually, when I'm in Nashville I just have two guards five days a week for 8 hours a day and the other two days I just have one guard for six hours…. but since I’ve been hanging with you, and visiting my sister more, I just… I need to make sure you and her are well protected, and your identity is well guarded. So I hired another two guys to trade off with them, that way I have guards available 24 hours a day if needed.”
My heart fluttered at how nice that was, but it also made me uncomfortable. I don’t know how to act when people do nice things for me, so I just cleared my throat and made a very awkward attempt at a thank you.
“Oh, um, that’s good. No one should know where your sister is staying. Sounds like a good plan.”
Logan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it has nothing to do with protecting one of the best friend’s I’ve ever had.”
With that Logan held the door open for me and I followed him in. I was grateful to be in the air-conditioned building because I was not expecting how hot it was going to be that day. Little beads of sweat developed on my forehead. Not sweater weather for sure.
Once we made it a little further in the building, Logan removed his sunglasses, and an older brunette lady instantly greeted us.
“Hello, Mr. Prescott. How are you today?”
She kept looking over at me as she spoke, probably wondering who I was. I stood up straighter even though inside I felt a little uncomfortable, which didn’t happen too often.
“Hello, Ms. Arnette. How is Dana?”
“She’s on her way down, but, uh, she’s ….” Ms. Arnette kept glancing over at me gauging if she should talk in front of me or not.
Logan answered her questioning gaze.
“Oh, this is my friend Samantha. You can speak in front of her. She knows the situation.”
There was a slight look of shock on her face, and I could tell she wanted to say something else, but she didn’t. When I looked over at Logan, I knew why. He stood glaring at her, warning her to keep her mouth shut. She cleared her throat.
“Oh okay. Nice to meet you Ms., uh, Samantha. As I was saying, Dana is doing very well. In fact, she can probably get her own apartment here soon and visit us during the week. She hasn’t harmed herself, has been participating in the group, and that lovely sweetness and light is coming back into her eyes. It’s been such a joy.”
Logan seemed genuinely touched. “Really?”
“Yes, Mr. Prescott. Really. I know it has been a long journey.”
Logan dropped his voice. “Any visitors?”
“No, Mr. Prescott. I'm sorry.”
They must be referring to his parents. How sad.
“Ah,” Ms. Annette said turning around. “Here she is.”
I turned around and walking down the hallway toward us was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She had short blonde hair, an adorably innocent looking face, a slightly chubby frame that nothing but suited her and a just overall loving, welcoming vibe in a cream button-down sweater, excessive necklaces and cute jeans. It was so hard to believe she’d been through all she had. She literally glowed.
“Logan,” she squealed, breaking into a full run.
She ran into his arms, and he caught her, wrapping his large arms around her in a tight hug. I took a few steps back to give them their moment. Logan glanced back f
or a quick second just to shoot me a look like he was wondering what I was doing. Instantly, Dana whipped her friendly face around towards me.
“Hi, um, who are you?”
Logan jumped in. “First let’s get out of the lobby, okay? This is making me uncomfortable. Too many people.”
“Good thinking,” Dana said as she headed towards the elevator. We followed her. “I’ve seen too much of you in the news already.”
I already liked her.
Once we were in the elevator, Dana turned to me.
“So apparently, we can’t know anything about each other until we are in a private room, but I live on the tenth floor of this place in room 1049. I thought I’d let you know, so you have some idea where we are going. I’d be uncomfortable just following a random person up to a room I didn’t know, but, uh, this is a good place.”
I didn’t like her.
I loved her.
She wasn’t what I pictured when Logan described her. I mean in some ways she was; cute, shy, adorable, kind. However, she was also sarcastic, warm, friendly and loving. I was picturing a shy, quiet, closed off, tortured girl. This was not who she was at all.
The elevator dinged, and we walked down the hallway to room 1049. We each entered, and Logan went in last. His bodyguards waited outside the door somehow managing to be subtle. Logan checked the locks like fifty times. He was paranoid and careful. Once he was sure the door was locked he took off his hat and threw both the hat and the sunglasses on the bed.
“So, who is she?” Dana sounded somewhat annoyed, but I could tell it was only with Logan.
Logan sat on the bed and ran his hands through his hair trying to fix all the messed up pieces. I stood awkwardly looking around her apartment, which looked exactly like a nice hotel room. I guess in some ways it was since this place was a live in treatment center.
“This, the girl standing awkwardly on the complete another side of the room, is Sam. She’s a good friend of mine.”
Dana rolled her eyes. “From LA?”
Logan looked extremely agitated, so I cut in laughing. “Do I look like I'm from LA?”
Dana smiled, and gave me her full attention. I walked forward and stuck out my hand.
“Let me try this. I’m Sam. I work at a breakfast place here in Nashville. I guess Logan and I are friends. Sorry if I cut in on your time with him.”
Dana sat down and studied me. She seemed to relax after a second.
“No, it’s no problem at all Sam. It’s nice to meet you. You seem refreshingly normal. Sorry for being kind of a bitch. Logan and I just…. Well, I’m not big on the Hollywood thing to say it mildly. I was scared Logan was trying to mix his two lives.”
Logan stood up. “Have I ever done that? Or even, hinted I would! God Dana.”
“Okay whoa,” I cut in. “Let’s try this again. Please don’t fight, especially because of me.”
She shot him one last dirty look and then pulled out of the fight and turned to me. “How did you two become friends?”
Logan and I looked at each other, and he nodded for me to go ahead.
“So, Logan came into the restaurant I worked at. I hated him at first but after a while we started getting along and then we started hanging out more. That’s really about it.”
Logan laughed. I assume at my way oversimplified version of our friendship. Dana rolled her eyes.
“Oh really. I’m supposed to believe, my brother, came in with his posse and just decided to become friends with his waitress. I love you Logan, and you know you are my best friend and the only person who I’ve ever loved, but you're a famous douche to everyone other than me. I don’t believe that story. What’s the real version?”
“First Dana, I appreciate that assessment. Always keeping me in check.”
His mouth was a fine line. I could tell he was trying not to lose his temper.
“Your welcome.” She wasn't even sarcastic in her response. I freaking loved this girl.
“As you can tell Sam’s not big on personal details. I walked into her restaurant, and she was our waitress like she said. However, Sam is leaving out the degree in which she hated me. She was a complete bitch,” he laughed, “Like a total bitch. I was curious and entertained by how much she hated me so I came back and requested her a second time. I don’t know why, but I found myself asking if she wanted to hang out with me. She obviously argued, and a magazine got a picture of us.”
Dana tensed, and Logan sensed it because he softened his voice.
“Well, soon after that Sam came storming into my manager’s headquarters and I knew she would. I knew she was not the kind of girl who would be happy to be pictured on a magazine cover with a guy like me, so I waited for her there.”
What? He met me there on purpose!
“She was scared, and I agreed to work on getting them taken down if she agreed to hang out with me. I don’t know. I'm tired of not having any real friends, tired of doing nothing that makes you proud Dana. When my Hollywood days are over I’ll have no one, and despite her bitchiness I saw something in Sam. Anyway, obviously, Sam agreed. Somehow, I managed to get the pictures taken down and, um,” Logan glanced at me.
We were at the part where he found out about my mom. I nodded my head no. I wasn’t ready for Dana to know about her yet. Dana glanced at us curiously but accepted the fact we were leaving something out for my sake.
“Sorry anyway, I took Sam to the lake. She loved it.” He was full on smirking as he remembered the lake incident. Asshole. “We bonded after that. Now she won’t leave me alone.” He winked at me, and I shook my head.
“Wow,” Dana said standing up to pat me on the shoulder. “I love it. Sam, you are going to be such a good influence on my brother. He’s lucky to have you.”
My jaw dropped. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I'm a pain. He’s been very nice to me.”
Dana raised an eyebrow at Logan, “Really?”
He hit her arm. “Yeah really.”
“Huh,” was all she said.
“Well, we should get out of here. Go get lunch or something.”
“Um, I don’t know.” Logan ran his hand down the back of his neck, clearly nervous about the idea.
“Logan,” Dana set a hand on his very tense shoulder. “I’m ready. If they get a picture of me being your sister, I'm ready for that. You are my brother, and I'm proud to be your sister. I won’t love it, but I’d rather be able to have lunch with my brother and have a dang picture out there because of it than stay locked up in here forever because I'm too scared to be in the world with you.”
Logan looked at her with a small but proud smile. “You really are gonna be okay.”
She smiled and patted him gently. “Getting there.”
They both turned around, and Dana instantly caught my eye.
“Oh shit! I wasn’t even thinking of Sam. I'm so sorry! We’ll stay here. Do not even listen to my speech. I’ve been too scared to go anywhere with Logan for years, and he’s my brother. I have board games. We can do that.”
I raised an eyebrow at Logan trying to picture him actually playing board games, which apparently, he did.
“Um, it's okay. We should get lunch. I mean let’s try and stay hidden, but I don’t want to hinder anything.”
Logan walked over to me.
“You are not hindering anything we will stay here.”
“No, we’ll get lunch! Let’s go.” I walked right out of the apartment, forcing them to follow.
I could hear Dana whisper “well damn” from behind me which kind of made me laugh.
“You two are going to kill me,” Logan groaned.
“Well you chose to have me around,” I said laughing, “Practically begged me.”
“Oh, put a sock in it, Sam.”
I laughed, and the three of us went back to the elevator. Logan put his hat back on and kept his sunglasses at the ready.
“Okay, so we will need to go somewhere with a private patio, so I can wear my disguise, but not too open wh
ere people on the walkway can see us. Know anywhere like that Dana?”
“Yeah, Frances. It’s two blocks down and serves great Italian. Really private patio but it's outside.”
“Okay, we will go there.”
We went to the lobby, and Dana went to the counter to tell the staff where she was going. I assumed it was a treatment thing. We entered the car, and Dana seemed very uncomfortable like I always was in his fancy car. I kept eyeing her wondering why she was uncomfortable. She’d had a famous brother her entire life.
Logan sat on the left, Dana sat in the middle, and I sat on the right. Logan glanced over at the two of us.
“Geez, the two people I care most about hate money.”
Dana laughed, but I tensed. I don’t hate money. In fact, I desperately needed $100,000 of it. The whole rest of the ride I was quiet while Dana, Logan and the security guards talked. We pulled up to the restaurant, and the three of us got out. The minute we did Logan grabbed my shoulder firmly and held me back.
“Dana, would you mind grabbing a table outside? I need to ask Sam something.”
I looked at him curiously, but she just nodded and headed inside. I turned to him, still feeling tense.
“What’s wrong? Your whole demeanor changed when I mentioned money. Sam, do you need help with anything? Are you in trouble?”
“N..no,” I stuttered.
“You’re lying,” he said with a clenched jaw.
“I’m not.”
“Sam,” Logan practically growled.
“I said it’s fine!”
He sighed. “Okay, but if you need anything. Please don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“Mmm-hmm,” I nodded. The lie slipped out too easily. I didn’t even have to think about it. This was the most selfish thing I ever did. I could have gotten my mom the procedure she needed a lot sooner if I had just admitted I needed help. I told myself it was about my ego. That I was independent. The reality was I deathly afraid of letting Logan that far in. I couldn’t get myself to do it. Even for my mom.
Logan rolled his eyes and opened the restaurant door. I walked in and immediately panicked.
“This looks expensive,” I said with a slight tremor in my voice.