Juno: Do you want to play?
Gaia: Yes!
Without even noticing, I ended up isolating myself in the studio. I had work to do, I told myself, but probably that wasn't the only reason. Rationally I knew we should be talking, but it's so much easier to just stay here, by myself, in silence...
I didn't know how late it was exactly, just that it was night already. All I knew was that, out of the blue, I was interrupted by the noise of something hitting on my window.
Well, that wasn't really a smart move. Whoever the culprit was, I definitively wasn't in the mood for any stupid joke.
And my hatred towards the anonymous disturber could only worsen, the moment I realized who dared to throw that stone.
Logan: (cautiously) Good evening, Rowan.
Rowan: Of all people, you should really be the last one to show up here, you know?
Logan: But…
Rowan: This is trespassing, and if you had thrown that stone just a little harder you could also be incriminated for damage to private property! Not to mention...
Logan: (raising hands) Hey, hey, I come in peace!
I struggled to keep calm, if there was one person I blamed for what had happened without any possibility of appeal, it was him. But, with great effort, I still decided to calm down enough to say to him:
Rowan: (threatening) What do you want?
Logan: Actually, it's not like I'm not happy to be here either, but seeing Juno's face this morning at work I think the two of you are clearly overreacting. What happened yesterday wasn't that big deal, really, I actually don't even know why she told you about it.
Rowan: (Grumpy) ...
Logan: Okay, you're mad at me, but at least did Juno explain to you what exactly happened?
Rowan: No, she didn't.
And I wasn't sure I wanted to know, either.
Logan: Well, she should have, at least this whole thing wouldn't have gotten so big over nothing. Long story short, at the last fundraiser, we had both drunk a little too much, one thing led to another, you know how it is, we may have flirted a bit... But before anything happened she pushed me away, and then immediately burst into crying, saying it wasn't right, that he couldn't, that he felt so guilty...
Rowan: ...
Logan: And then this morning, at work, she immediately took me aside to tell me to stop making all those advances, as if it needed to be clarified... It was a mistake for me too, you know?
Rowan: ...
Logan: Anyway, Mister Sulky, everyone at the office noticed how miserable Juno looks since you moved to this new house, and you started to play hide and seek in that studio of yours. What do you think she is, your co-worker in your family-run company called "house"? People also need some love, dude, of course then she...
Rowan: (interrupting him) That's enough, I got the hint.
I took a deep breath to try to calm down at least a little. His version of events was at least congruent with what I had seen, I too had noticed how Juno had already cried before returning home, and had repeated that she felt guilty so many times...
Maybe knowing those details really helped me after all. At least a bit.
Rowan: I don't think you have still reason to stay here any longer.
Logan: Got it, I can't wait to leave either. Adieu!
It was definitively time to talk with Juno, and seriously this time.
That time she was the one who decided to sleep on the sofa. Or had she seen me leave and was waiting for me? I couldn't say exactly. But I know how uncomfortable that couch is, whatever her reason is I don't want her to wake up with back pain.
Rowan: I don't recommend you sleep there, really.
So I told her what Logan had just said to me, and she added more details along the way. We were digging so far back in time, did that big mess really have such deep roots?
Juno: I know that we had decided to work hard to be able to buy this house more quickly, but in practice we've only been talking to decide who would pick up Gaia, or who would prepare dinner, or who had to go to the bank for the paperwork for the house loan. I missed that time when we had fun together in that mini apartment, everything was so different...
Rowan: ...
Juno: I was a bit sad, some days, and I ended up talking about it with Logan, he's actually a quite good listener. And thinking about it now I think I kind of missed receiving those compliments from time to time, and all that attention, and...
Rowan: (nods) I see.
I felt like a complete imbecile in that instant. I know all those things are more important to her than they are to me, yet in the last few years I was so busy with work and with Gaia that the topic never really crossed my mind. I took her for granted, and that was clearly a mistake.
Rowan: Why didn't you tell me right away?
Juno: If you were always that busy it was just to make our project possible, you did it all for me and for Gaia, it didn't seem right to blame you, but... But maybe I'm just an idiot, that's it.
Rowan: Of course you're not, and you know it.
Juno: So you aren't mad at me?
Rowan: (nods)
It was a wild ride, for sure now on a lot of things will have to change. I don't even know where to start from, my dear diary, our life is just so busy right now... But we clearly dragged this on for way too long, she reached her limit and I'm not that far away from it either. We definitively can't keep ignoring this, we'll need to dig deeper into the matter, that's for sure.
Nacho, are you feeling okay? You're on the kitchen counter and not the fridge! I know Juno and Rowan are having a rough time right now, but I like that they are at least not letting their personal problems get in the way of their parenting, that's a good thing.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I entirely trust Logan's side of the story. He doesn't even sound particularly apologetic about the fact he flirted with Rowan's wife, nor does he seem too bothered about Juno trying to assert a boundary with him either. It's all very typical 'uhhhh I messed up', stuff, not much of an actual apology. He was so ready to get away before Rowan could understandably yell at him.
It's interesting that Logan tries to act like Rowan is ignoring her needs and that he's acting too workaholic- honestly I don't think he is, and this is why I don't believe him entirely...But then there's the other hand of, what if Juno has been saying this behind Rowan's back to Logan? I really don't know. But Rowan's putting everything aside for work stuff I feel he left back at university. I feel like even with all the pressures he's still a lot more emotionally available than he was back then.
They are both busy, with demanding jobs, a child, and such, so I guess some things will end up going out of the window as a result. In terms of people 'needing some love' I think Rowan just has a different way of showing love, that isn't the same way as most people would and that Juno seemed okay with until now (potentially?) If her needs have changed in terms of the relationship that's something that needs to be discussed with Rowan.
I'm glad they at least spoke about it, now it's to see what is best ahead for them and for Gaia. I really liked this chapter < 3
Thanks for your comment, as always!
DeleteLogan is definitively intended to be the character the bad guy here, and I agree that what he said was not an apology at all. In the story this is never covered much, but I want to point out that Logan's wife isn't very impressed by his attitude on this kind of situations, either.
Anyway, everything Logan knows on the matter can only come from what Juno told him, yup. And, clearly, she didn't say anything to Rowan instead, that's quite of the whole point here.
I would still comment that, overall, Rowan and Juno have a quite different way of showing and experiencing love, before Gaia somehow they managed to guess each other enough to make it work, but now they really need to clarify it and have a difficult talk about feelings, isn't it?