Rory was instantly surrounded by her friends from the trail as she boarded the elevator and pressed the button for her floor, but she barely noticed. She was lost in her thoughts and still reeling from seeing Finn.

"Alright, Rory, care to tell us who that gorgeous man was?" asked Kate.

"Huh? Oh, he's an old friend from Yale. You guys remember me telling you about Logan? He's actually one of Logan's best friends."

"Well, he sure seemed happy to see you," Laura chimed in. "Anything ever happen between the two of you?"

"What? No! You just have to know Finn. He's exotic and eccentric, but he's amazing. He's a great guy," replied Rory.

"And easy on the eyes!" exclaimed Kate.

"Right, I guess he is. I hadn't really noticed until today. He was always a friend of mine because of Logan, if that makes sense. Finn and I weren't really close."

"What are the chances of you running into him at this hotel?" mused Laura.

"Umm...actually, pretty good, I guess. His family owns this chain."

"What?! Gilmore, how do you end up getting all of the gorgeous, rich, nice young bachelors to fall at your feet?" asked Kate.

"He's not falling at my feet, guys. He's just Finn. I swear, he's never looked at me like anything other than a friend."

"Right. You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better, but we all saw the way that he looked at you, and we could all feel the sexual tension in the air" replied Laura.

"Guys, I swear! We're just catching up as friends tonight at dinner. Yes, he's gorgeous and sweet, but there's nothing going on."

"Enjoy writing your article and getting ready for your date," Kate said as she laughed and the girls broke off to go to their rooms.

Rory entered her room and threw her laptop bag down on her bed. It was noon, so she had plenty of time to grab some lunch and write her article before dinner tonight. She changed quickly into jeans and a casual shirt and pulled her hair into a ponytail before grabbing her laptop bag and heading back out to find a cafe with drinkable coffee and wifi so she could work on her article and eat lunch.

A few blocks later, she settled herself into a booth at a local cafe and ordered a burger, fries and coffee for dinner before pulling her laptop out of her bag and beginning on her article. She was in the zone, and the article flowed easily. She was grateful to be able to focus, given that her mind was still occupied with the remarks of her friends in the elevator. Surely Finn didn't like her, right? He could have any woman he wanted, and probably did every single night. Still, something in the way that he looked at her and hugged her stuck in the back of her head and made her wonder if her friends weren't onto something.

Finally finishing her article, she e-mailed it to Hugo and uploaded it to the backup server and turned her attention to checking her e-mail and reading her favorite news sites for a bit before heading back to her hotel. Finally arriving back in her room, she kicked off her shoes and plugged her laptop in to charge and picked up her phone. She held it for a minute before finally hitting speed dial 2 and pressing the call button.

"Loin fruit! Mommy misses you!" came her mom's enthusiastic voice.

"Mom! I miss you, too! How's life there?"

"Not the same without you, kiddo. I'll be grateful when the campaign is over and I can actually see you on a fairly regular basis. Have you given anymore thought to where you might settle?"

"No, not really. I mean, I have the offer to continue on with the White House press corps for Hugo, but I'd like to try my hand at something different and be closer to home," replied Rory.

"Oh, kid. I would really like that, too. Now, not that Mommy doesn't enjoy talking to you, because I always do, but you never call me before 9:00 at night. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. It's just...it's nothing, really. It's silly."

"If you're calling me at 6:00, clearly everything isn't fine and it's not silly. What's going on?"

"Do you remember Finn?"

"Finn...Finn...wait! One of the limo boys? Exotic, sexy, gorgeous accent Finn?"

"The one and only, Mom. It's so weird. I guess his family owns the hotel that we're at this week and he's in town for the week to make sure everything goes smoothly with all of the events this week, and I saw him in the lobby and the next thing I know I'm running into his arms for an amazing hug. God, I miss being close to friends! So anyway, he asked me to go to dinner tonight to catch up, and I said yes, but then Kate and Laura cornered me in the elevator and were insinuating that Finn was looking at me like he wanted to be more than friends and I don't know what to think, Mom! Why is this throwing me for such a loop? God, I'm a wreck!"

"Whoa, calm down there, kiddo. That was a rant to set the standard for all Gilmore rants. That is the rant against which all others will be measured. Do you feel better now?"

"No, not really. I need you to talk me down from the edge, Mom."

"Alright, first things first. Put on a pot of coffee in your room and get some more caffeine in you. Then sit down on the bed and we'll talk," said Lorelai.

Rory quickly started the coffee maker with a fresh pot of coffee and sat her mug on the counter at the ready and then sat down on her bed, curling up with her blanket and getting comfortable.

"Alright, I'm sitting and ready to talk to Mommy," Rory said quietly.

"Okay, what exactly has you so freaked out, sweetie? You know Finn, and you know he's a great guy. You've never felt uncomfortable around him before."

"I don't know, Mom. I've always enjoyed spending time with Finn, and I was fine until the girls started in on how he was looking at me and how they could all feel the sexual tension, and it freaked me out. I mean, it's Finn! It's Logan's best friend! He could have his pick of women. Why in the world would he be interested in me, Mom?"

"Oh wow, kiddo. So many things going on here. First of all, are you over Logan?"

"Yeah, I absolutely am. I hardly ever think about him anymore, and when I do think of him there aren't any lingering feelings of love or anything. We were good together while it lasted, but I know that I was right to end it, and I don't regret it at all."

"Okay, good. That's the first step. Now, I know you're not your biggest fan, Rory, but you need to quit thinking that some man would be settling to want to be with you. You're gorgeous, you're witty, you're smart, and any man would be lucky to call himself your boyfriend. Your idiot ex-boyfriends and your dad sure did a number on you by walking away after earning your trust and not being reliable, but those are their issues, not yours. They didn't leave because you weren't worth their love. They left because they have commitment issues. Do you hear me, kiddo?"

"God, they really did screw me up, didn't they? How have I never realized that before, Mom?"

"With age comes wisdom, my dear daughter. Now, we'll tackle the last issue of Finn in a minute. First, what are you thinking about wearing tonight?"

"Well, I thought about that blue halter dress with the flowy skirt and the silver heels," Rory replied.

"Ah, that tells me everything I need to know about Finn for now."

"What? How does that tell you anything about Finn, Mom?"

"Because when you're home and your grandparents set you up on dates, you wear slacks and a nice shirt or a sun dress and ballet flats, my dear. And when you were dating that guy from the trail briefly you never dressed that nicely either, which clearly means that you want to wow him tonight when he sees you. Am I right?"

"How do you do that, Mom? I mean, seriously, you just made it sound so easy."

"Mommy is pretty and wise, kiddo. Obviously you want to look good tonight for dinner, so curl your hair and wear the blue dress and heels and just relax and enjoy yourself. Have a glass or two of wine with dinner to help take the edge off of your nerves and enjoy spending time with Finn. You'll know if you feel something more than friendship there."

"You're amazing. Thank you, Mom! Now, I need to hop in the shower if I'm going to be ready by 7:00. I'll let you know how it went tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds good. Have fun, Ror!"

Rory hung up the phone, finished off the last of the new pot of coffee and jumped in the shower, taking the time to shave her legs, before drying off and throwing on her robe. She dried her hair and curled it carefully, put on a bit of mascara, blush and lip gloss. At a quarter 'til seven she slipped on her dark blue halter dress and silver heels and looked at herself in the mirror. Not bad if she did say so herself. She threw her wallet, room key, lip gloss and cell phone into a small clutch that she carried for their formal events and took a few deep breaths just in time to hear a knock at the door. He was right on time. Rory gave herself a quick pep talk, grabbed her purse and jacket, and crossed the room and opened the door with a smile, momentarily shocked to see how sexy Finn looked in his grey suit.