4.1 Friends, Rivals and Faking its

You pretend like you are made of granite. But when you are not trying, I can see the velvet in you. - Alex

~~~

(Alexandra)

"That blonde, he is my best friend and the other one... " Somehow she knew.

"Your Stacy's ex?"

"Not my Stacy, but yes."

"Oh, you are so dead." She said to him before she ate her ducks.

"And do you even care?"

"Oh, I do. I care very much about my duck."

"God. You are the most irritating creature I have ever come across."

"Thank you."

"That is not a compliment and shit, they are coming this way. Can't they see I am having dinner with a beautiful woman here?" She raised her eyebrows. Beautiful woman? He didn't look like he noticed what he had just said and Alex felt a strange tingle in her bones.

It was so weird -- these feelings rippling through her. She had never been attracted to anyone before. She didn't have a relationship more than four months and there were only one who could be remotely come anywhere closer to being called a boyfriend and she had stayed four months because she liked him, as a friend.

It wasn't like guys didn't find her attractive, but all those guys who asked her out, they all made her feel like she was somewhat sexless. Asexual. Like she couldn't feel it.

But with this one, it was all so much. Too much. The sensations. The weird feelings. The tingles and somersaulting intestines.

She had to be careful with him or she would soon be nursing a heartbreak. And she couldn't.

"Why are you freaking out? You are going to out yourself if you act like that." She said as she tried to put a stop to her thoughts. They were freaking her out.

"Now you are giving me lectures?"

"Grumpy." She poked her tongue out.

"How old are you? Two?"

"How old are you? Two hundred? Stop looking like you have just been caught smuggling stolen diamonds. Take a deep breath. Relax. Or it will all be over before it has even started."

"I didn't expect this. I was planning a perfect... " He trailed off, irked.

"But it happened. Now, we will see if you have really got game. Just smile and follow my lead."

"Your lead?"

"So you are going to lead?" She quirked her brows and he shook his head. God, he looked really pale. And as she looked at him, she realized how really important it was for him. But why? Why was it that important?

"No."

"Thought so. And now, smile, here they are."

"Logan, hey man, when did you come back from the conference? Why didn't you send me a text?"

"Hi Daniel. Hello Collins."

"Hey Forte."

Forte. Alex's head jerked up and Logan looked at her, his eyes wide. They seemed to be pleading with her.

'Don't mess this up.'

'I won't, but buddy, you have got some explaining to do. Logan Forte?'

'I will. Just not now.'

Ok, how are we doing it? Alex though as she shook her head.

"And who is this?" Daniel looked at her, his eyes suspicious.

"I am Logan's friend."

***

(Logan)

Did they just do that? Talking by eyes? Weird, Logan thought before he looked back at his friend, who was now pulling a chair back and was getting himself ready to sit down.

Yeah, why don't you just go on and sit down? As if I am not having a dinner with a woman? Logan thought as Daniel sat down.

He stomped on Daniel's foot and he looked at Logan with a frown, looking totally clueless. Finley Collins stood there, staring at Alexandra. It looked like he was in a conundrum. He wanted to stay, but he didn't want to look like he was interfering.

Danny, though, had no such dilemma. He was now blissfully eating Logan's food, as he studied Alex with a suspicious look.

"And who is this?"

"I am Logan's friend." She smiled with a secret twinkle in her eyes that contradicted her words and she threw him a wink, pretending to be all secretive.

Danny saw that, so did Finley. Their eyes were round as saucers as they continued to stare like they had never seen a woman in their life.

"We met at the conference." Alex said with a smile. "Talked and realized, we are pretty... I don't know how to say it. Compatible? You understand? There is something there. I asked him out, but he had a girlfriend." She looked at Logan, her eyes filled with longing and Logan couldn't breath. "So friends it is, the universal solution. Eh." She joked with a smile and Danny smiled back.

"Finley, you go on man, and join Peter and I will join you two later."

Grimly, Collins nodded and walked away, but Logan was sure he didn't want to. He wanted the gossip. But he wasn't getting any, not today.

"I am Daniel Anderson. And I think we can establish that connection." He smirked. Playboy!

Logan gritted his teeth. "Stop hitting on her."

"You jealous?" Danny smirked. "Oh, look like you are. But you have Stacy and I am single."

"I don't have Stacy. We broke up." Logan said and he felt strangely relieved by that thought. What now?

"Thank God, you finally become smart enough. She is such a... Oh, sorry." He looked at Alex and scratched his chin with a sheepish smile. "She just makes me so angry."

"Oh, go on. Don't stop on my account. I don't mind. I would love to hear what you thought of her. You see, I am not such a fan of her." Alex shrugged as she took a bite of her souffle.

"I like you." Daniel said with an appraising look. "Man, this one is a real prize. You should hold on to her or I will steal her away."

"No one is going to steal anyone. Close your mouth and eat." When Danny opened his mouth, Logan waved a hand. "Stop. Don't say that."

"He can't close his mouth and eat."

"Great minds think alike."

Logan threw them an exasperated look. "Really?! Alex? I just warned him not to say that."

She chuckled. "I know. That's why I said it."

"Very mature." Logan said. "You two will get along famously."

"Because we are both funny and easy going. You should be like that. I mean, you don't have to carry the world in your back, anymore. You are finally in a place where you can relax and enjoy." Danny said and Logan glared at him and whispered, shut up.

Alex looked at him curiously. "So... Logan Forte, who were you before all this glamour and fame?" She asked with a curious look on her pretty eyes.

Why was he using so many adjectives today, to describe her beautiful eyes? There he go, again!

"It is nothing." Logan was quick to answer. She scrunched her nose and shook her head.

"It was not nothing. But if you don't want to say, it is okay." But her eyes said it was not okay. For the added effect, she had a pout. And those lips... Oh. He sighed.

"No big deal. And don't look at me like that." Logan pointed a finger at her.

"Hmm." She widened her eyes with a smirk. "Look how?"

"It is a big deal. Logan here... He is a self made man. His parents are not poor, but they aren't exactly rich, either. You see. All his money, he had to work for it, work hard for it. And he did it, too, at such an young age and people are always looking at him, people like Collins and waiting for him to tumble down from the top. Praying. Wolves. And it made him so cautious." Danny's voice was proud.

There was a smile, one of pure boasting on Danny's face. Logan felt like he wanted to hide his head inside the table. He looked at Alex and she looked like she was contemplating something. She did not say anything to what Danny had just said.

"God Danny, will you stop that?"

"But as I told you, Logan, you are there and you are going to be there. No one is going to change that. You are smart, you got that drive and you fit in."

"So what was it like fir him when he first come into this world?"

"Not easy. I mean, these rich people, they don't like outsiders trudging inside their territory. They were sneering, full of contempt. They were sure it was some first timers luck. They were not ready to accept a man from outside their turf, not accommodate him. But Logan proved them all wrong. He changed their mind about him and he accomplished everything on his own."

"Not alone. You helped." Logan said.

"What? By my constant wisdom? And my witty insights? Eh." Danny waved him off with a dismissal, but Logan knew how much Daniel had helped him by just being there, by having his back.

If it wasn't for Daniel, he would still be a nobody. Still stuck in a single bedroom apartment infested with rats. He would have been working under someone, calling someone else as boss. But because of Daniel, who had pushed him to follow his dreams, --when they were doing architecture and then MBA-- here he was. His own boss. And many other called him boss.

"Don't dismiss it. Having a friend can go a long way in strengthening your backbone." She said as she looked wistfully at her hands. "Oh, I miss my friend. She is in Canada now."

"You talk with her often?" Daniel asked.

"Not recently. But yes, we do. I recently lost my phone and lost the contacts." She replied and then looked at Logan for the first time since Danny told her about him.

He watched, mesmerized, as her eyes touched his with tenderness. And pride. He watched as she gently placed her hands over his and squeezed. And he wanted her to look at him like that, always.

"As Daniel said, you are here, Logan. You have worked a lot for that, but sometimes you have got to relax." She whispered.

When she took her hand away, he instantly missed her warmth. Her touch.

Danny looked at them and whistled.

"I have stretched my stay here. I feel so unwelcome." He stood up. "Ta-ta. See you soon."

"Bye." She said, but her eyes never left Logan. Logan felt trapped. Imprisoned inside her eyes. Lost. And Found, all inside the depth of her eyes.

Daniel chuckled as he walked away. "Friends they say... And... " His voice was a distant memory.

"Okay. It is done. Phew. Good acting. He wouldn't dare second guess us again." She said with a smile and he felt like someone had poured a bucketful of ice cold water over his head.

He jerked upright. Acting? God, what a fool he was. For a moment, he really believed the pride in her eyes, and the warmth, it was all real. It felt real.

"You are a good actor." His voice was filled with disgust and derision.

"What? Why are you complaining, now? I helped you out."

"You did. You did. Hmm, look at that. Let us go. It is already late." He stood up and she followed with a knot in her eyebrows.

***