Chapter 9: That Was Fast

Linda styled Charlotte's hair into beautiful loose curls while Logan was still upstairs getting a haircut. Every once in a while, she could hear the hairdresser's laugh pour down from the upper floor. She didn't understand why Logan had stayed for a haircut; it didn't seem like he needed one, and he surely had an army of hairdressers and stylists at his disposal. 

She couldn't shake off the feeling that he was still mocking her. Like he was having fun spending the day like a normal person. Or a poor person, if you compared him to Charlotte. 

"You look beautiful as usual," Linda said, holding up a hand mirror so Charlotte could see the back of her head.

"Thank you," Charlotte said and hurried to the front desk to pay. She wanted to scurry out before Logan came down. But there was another woman talking to the receptionist, and just when she left, she saw Logan's polished black shoes at the top of the stairs. Soon all of him came into view.

It didn't seem like his hair was a lot shorter than before, but the hairdresser had done something to it that made it look more polished. Everyone in the salon stopped doing whatever they were busy with to look at Logan.

"I'd like to pay, please," Charlotte said, trying to divert the receptionist's gaze from Logan.

"Oh, yes, of course," the woman said, handing her a receipt. "Will you be paying together?" 

"No" Charlotte said, at the same time that Logan replied:  "Yes"

Logan approached the desk and got so close to Charlotte that she had to back up a little. It wasn't polite to argue in public when someone offered to pay for something, so she kept quiet, and made a mental note to find a way to pay him back. She didn't want to be in his debt, though she was already in his debt after he had given her a ride to the salon.

Logan wrote down a percentage for the tips on the receipt and handed the lady his credit card. The woman's eyes widened when she saw the amount, but she said nothing and swiped the card. 

Charlotte thanked Linda and left the salon, thinking about how she was going to hail a cab and get back home. Being without a car in a city like Atlanta was very inconvenient. She still had to go home, change, then go buy the things her mother had asked her to take to the stupid party, and then actually get there. 

She heard laughter coming from inside. In the few seconds she stood there on the sidewalk, the women in the salon had surrounded Logan as he apparently told them something extremely funny. Charlotte turned to watch the street for any cabs passing by, and there happened to be one dropping off a woman about a block away. She opened the door to the salon.

"I'll be going now! Thank you!" she cried, without even making eye contact with Logan, and she hurried down the sidewalk. Behind her, she heard the salon's door chime ring.

"Miss Astor, let me give you a ride home," Logan said, joining her. 

"Thank you, but you shouldn't have paid for me. I can make my way home on my own," she said, just as the woman closed the cab door and it sped away.

"It was my pleasure, although you don't really need all that flair to look beautiful," he said. Normally Charlotte would reply with something witty and equally flattering, but she wasn't going to do that with Logan.

"Why did you stay in the salon? Did you really need a haircut?" she said to him.

He walked towards his car and opened the door for her.

"Doesn't it look better this way?" he said, checking himself out on the side mirror. "Come on, get in. It will be my pleasure to be your driver for the evening."

"What on earth is wrong with you, Mr. Hamilton?" Charlotte said, tired of this game he was playing. "You surely have better and more important things to do instead of driving me around." 

"Like I said, I have a soft spot for damsels-"

"I am not a damsel in distress. I can get home on my own."

"And I can do whatever I please with my time," he said, arching his eyebrows and gesturing for her to get into the car with his chin.

"You're insufferable," Charlotte said. Yes, he was her boss, but if he was going to act this way, so would she. 

"I've been called many things, Miss Astor. That happens to be one of the most used adjectives directed towards me," Logan said. "I'm almost proud of it. So, aren't you going to be late for whatever event you have tonight if you keep arguing with me?" 

Charlotte looked at her watch, and to her dismay, he was right. She had to hurry unless she wanted to be one of the last people to arrive, and the last thing she wanted was to have to walk into a room full of people who had already been mingling for a while. 

"Fine," she said, walking towards Logan's car and getting in. 

He closed the door and got in the driver's seat. 

"Where to, Miss Astor?" he said with his crooked smile. 

"I need to go home and change," she said. "And stop to get drinks on the way."

If he was offering to be of help, she might as well take it. 

"Lead the way," he said and accelerated so fast that Charlotte swore her body would leave a Charlotte-shaped hole in the seat. 

Charlotte barely finished telling her the building name and Logan already knew where it was, and they got there in record time. She was surprised no police officers stopped them. He didn't ask about the drinks, so she didn't mention it again.

"Thank you, Mr. Hamilton," she said, as she stepped out of the car.

"Why are you always so formal? Just call me Logan," he said, stepping out of the car. 

"You call me Miss Astor," Charlotte said, ascending the steps to the lobby.

"Well, you haven't told me to call you Charlotte," he said, leaning on his car. "And you haven't told me where you wanted to get the drinks or what kind of drinks you need."

"Don't worry about it. I'll get them on the way there," she said, opening the door. "Goodbye!" 

She didn't even turn to see if he was gone before she rushed to the elevator. 

When she got to her apartment, she realized she hadn't taken out the dress she planned to wear, and it was still lying in her overfilled closet, which meant it would probably be all wrinkled up. 

She really wished she could tell her mom about Edward. Maybe she'd be less insistent about making Charlotte a participant of all the events she was sure were coming, like bridal showers and bachelorette tea events that the Atlanta crowd loved so much. But knowing her mother, she'd probably find a way to twist it all up and say that Charlotte was intentionally trying to cause a scandal. 

It didn't take her long to change into the blue dress (that was not as wrinkled as she thought it'd be) and put all her things into a new, matching purse. She then called a cab and went down to the lobby. 

Logan was sitting there, flipping through a magazine.

"That was fast," he said, smirking at her.