Chapter 35-1

Logan walked through the doors of Bishop Lodgings with his wife, Ava, beside him. The two of them went to visit Heath in the hospital a few minutes ago, but Declan told them that Heath had woken up and went straight to the hotel for some sort of business. Ava immediately called the hotel and they confirmed that Heath had indeed went back to Bishop Lodgings. Logan’s wife then insisted that they had to go straight there to force him back to the hospital since he didn’t get his condition checked. Of course, he agreed. Though he had wanted to stay in the room for a bit to check for Heath’s personal cellphone. Logan thought he had it in his back pocket, but the last time he checked, it wasn’t there. It must’ve fallen out when he didn’t notice. Where could it be though? Logan and Ava made their way to the front desk and the receptionist let Heath know that his parents were there. They made their way to the elevator which led to the top floor and waited as it came down for them to ride. The elevator was all too familiar to Logan, but it didn’t belong to him any longer. Neither did the suite at the top. A smile formed on Logan’s lips from those thoughts. When they reached the top, Ava immediately dashed out and entered the suite. Logan on the other hand, followed at a steady pace behind. Inside, Heath was sitting on the couch in the living room. He looked fresh out of the shower and was wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt. A towel laid across his shoulders but the buttons on his dress shirt weren’t buttoned. “Heath?” Ava said his name with worry. Slowly, he looked to the side and saw the two of them. His eyes looked…blank. “Sorry.” He said as he stood up. Then he began buttoning up his shirt. “I’ll get ready and we can go.” Ava glanced at Logan with worry before she walked to Heath and buttoned his shirt for him. “Heath, what’s wrong? Why did you suddenly run out of the hospital like that? You should’ve stayed for a check-up.” Heath didn’t answer as he looked down at his shirt. Ava finished and placed her hands on his shoulders. “Why did you come here?” Logan’s son looked away from his mother before he sidestepped her. “I’ll get dressed.” He softly said before he walked into his bedroom and shutting the door behind him. The two of them stared at the closed door before Ava turned to Logan with concern, clear on her face. “What could’ve happened?” He could think of an answer, but Logan wasn’t sure Ava would like to hear it. Though soon enough, Ava was able to connect the dots and came to her own conclusion. After all, Logan had told her about Claire visiting the second time. She had been so happy to hear that, but now… “Claire.” Ava said with horror in her voice. “He must’ve come here to see Claire! Did something happen between the two of them?” Logan didn’t comment as Heath came out of the bedroom, fully dressed. “Where’s Julia?” he asked. Heath answered. “She decided to let me be alone when I came back. She’s walking around the hotel as of the moment.” “Heath. Did something happen between you and Claire?” Ava asked, getting straight to the point. She wasn’t one to ignore problems or give people time to cope. When Logan’s wife asked that question though, Heath twitched from the sound of Claire’s name. But he didn’t look at her as he said, “Let’s go to the hospital.” Ava was shocked from his reply. “Tell me what happened. I thought you two were dating?” “How did you know?” he said with utter shock. When Ava told him that Claire had told Logan and he had told her, Heath looked at his father with wide eyes before slowly looking away. “I didn’t know.” “It’s fine. Now you do.” Ava quickly waved that off. “Just tell me what happened between you and her.” “She…” Heath paused for a second before continuing. “We decided to break up.” Immediately, Ava whipped her head around and glared straight at Logan. He knew she blamed him, and she might’ve be partially correct. “Why?” Logan asked his son calmly. “It just wasn’t working out.” He answered. “And she doesn’t like long-distance relationships. It makes her…uneasy.” “But you were just going to stay there for a month. Didn’t you tell her that?” Ava quickly said. “Why didn’t you reassure her?” “I did, but she still didn’t want to do it. She said she…” A crease formed in between Heath’s eyebrows and his eye twitched. Ava and Logan waited for him to continue, but he looked as if he didn’t want to. “And what?” Ava urged him to continue. “What did she say?” “She said…” His jaw clenched. “She said she didn’t like men who were too…clingy.” Logan sighed to himself. Heath must’ve been too direct with Claire. She always brushed off men who tried to pick her up when Logan still worked in Bishop Lodgings. Claire was an independent woman who didn’t like men when they interfered with her life. She dismissed those types quickly. Heath must’ve reacted too strongly to the photos that Julia sent to him. His jealousy probably annoyed Claire rather than reassure her that he truly cared for her. Logan remembered an event when she had just gotten hired. Claire had a boyfriend at that time, but her boyfriend was jealous of the environment she was surrounded in. Logan could recall overhearing her phone call with her boyfriend. Apparently, he was jealous of the head chef in Bishop Lodgings since he noticed that Claire and Chad had gotten friendly. It surprised Logan when Claire easily and calmly broke up with her jealous boyfriend. There was no remorse in her voice when she cut off his ranting on the phone and told him that their relationship was over. It made Logan wonder if Claire had been just as heartless with Heath. “Clingy?” Ava repeated. “But you’re not clingy!” Slowly, Heath chuckled bitterly. “She apparently doesn’t think so.” The older Bishop observed his son and saw that he refused to look at either of his parents’ eyes. He kept them glued to the floor or an inanimate point on the wall. “Ava.” Logan said with a firm voice. “Leave him be.” She glared at him. “I am not going to leave this be! You-!” But she stopped herself short before turning to the door. Immediately, Heath reached out and took hold of her arm. “Mom. What are you doing?” “I’m going to have a talk with Claire. I need to hear her exact reasons.” “Don’t bother.”