Part 2: Intrigue

Finn walked into his office with a sigh of relief as he closed the door behind him and leaned against it. If he never had to deal with the choice of menu for the week, while arguing with a temperamental cook with a meat cleverever again, it would be way too soon.

Locking the door behind him, he took off his coat and sat down behind his desk, happy to get off his feet, and started looking at the papers in front of him. He moved the expense sheets to reveal the cocktail napkin that he had taken with him to work to see if he would actually call.

It had been a week since he had gotten Lorelai's number and he couldn't help the hesitation he felt to call her and ask her out. Ignoring the feeling for the first time in a week, he picked up the phone and dialed the number on the napkin.

Leaning back in his chair, he listened to it ring, then listened to the message, first in confusion, then in great amusement. Hanging up the phone after the message ended he dialed Logan's number, putting the phone on speaker so he could gather his things.

"Huntzberger."

"Meet me at the Hard Rock," Finn said as he stuffed the number in his pocket.

"What?" Logan asked confused.

"Meet me at the Hard Rock Cafe in twenty minutes."

"One, we live in New York, you can't get anywhere in twenty minutes."

"Fine, an hour," Finn said rolling his eyes as he put on his coat.

"And two, I've already had my lunch break, Finn, I can't just leave work right now."

Finn frowned at the phone. "Don't you own the paper?"

"Yeah."

"So put on your coat, tell them you have a meeting to go to and meet me at the Hard Rock Cafe."

He heard Logan sigh. "Fine, but this better be good."

"Oh, it is," Finn said hanging up and pulling out his cell phone as he started leaving.

"Mr. Rothschild, did you need something?" His assistant asked.

"No, Shannon, I'm meeting a couple of friends for lunch, I'm not coming back for the day."

"What about your calls?" She asked nervously.

Finn sighed. "Just forward all calls to my cell phone, how 'bout that?"

"All right, I'll do that," Shannon nodded. Finn patted her shoulder as he left the hotel and grabbed a cab. He told the driver where he wanted to go as he dialed Colin's number.

"McCrea," Colin answered.

"Have you had lunch yet?"

"No, and I'm starving. My client held me in here till she got the settlement she wanted."

"Do you have any meetings now?"

"Just paper work," Colin answered.

"Then meet me at the Hard Rock Cafe in an hour."

"For?"

"Do we really need to have the conversation again?" Finn asked.

"Right, I'll be there." Finn hung up the phone and laughed. Oh, this would be good.

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Logan got out of the cab, paid the driver and walked into the Hard Rock, only to be met by Colin who was sitting on the red vinyl waiting seat.

"He called you too, huh?" Logan asked sitting next to him.

"Yep, and I'm starving," Colin said.

"What do you think this is about?"

"I don't know, but if this is to brag about him getting laid, I'm getting my food to go and going back to my office."

"There will be no going back to your office." They looked and saw Finn standing over them. "I swear this is good." He went over to the hostess and requested a table for three.

Logan and Colin stood up and followed Finn and the hostess to the table.

"Here are your menus. Your waiter will be with you in a minute," she said as she walked away.

They took off their coats and got comfortable as they grabbed their menus.

"So what's this about?" Logan asked as he scanned the hamburgers.

"Yeah, and did you have to chose this place?" Colin asked looking at the decor in disgust.

"Hey, you said you were hungry and I had already told Logan to meet me here."

"This couldn't wait until tonight when we usually meet up?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, I still have that mountain of paperwork at the office and if this is about some girl you fucked..."

"Will you listen to yourselves," Finn laughed, putting down his menu, having decided. "We were the ultimate playboys at Andover and now our conversations are about paperwork and meetings. What is wrong with this picture?"

Logan looked at Colin who looked shocked.

"Holy shit..." Colin muttered. "I'm turning into my father."

"Good for you, but can I take your orders?"

They looked up and saw the waitress looking down at them expectantly.

"Right," Finn said. They gave their orders as she dropped off their water glasses.

"Great, I'll be back with your drinks shortly," she said as she left.

"Now that we've got Colin realizing he's like his father, let's get down to why we're here," Finn said.

"Why are we here?" Logan asked.

The waitress brought their drinks, set them down quietly and left again.

"All right, we couldn't get together tonight because I have to go to dinner with my parents tonight. It's the monthly Rothschild get-together and all."

"Right," Colin agreed taking a drink of his coke. "So, what's so important that couldn't wait?"

"Well, you know how last week I got that girl's number?"

"Yeah. Um... Lorelai, right?" Logan asked.

"If that's her real name," Finn muttered.

"What?" Colin asked confused.

"Never mind," Finn waved off. "So, all week I've wanted to call her and ask her out."

"Once again, if this about you getting laid, it could have waited," Colin said.

"Will you stop talking and listen," Finn said glaring at his friend who smirked.

"Fine, tell your story."

"Thank you. So I was at work and I found her number on my desk, and I called."

"And you got a date?" Logan asked, not seeing the point of the story.

"No." He pulled out his phone and put it on speaker phone. "Just listen."

Logan and Colin frowned. "Fine."

He dialed the number and put the phone in the middle of the table so they could listen.

The phone rang, then they heard:

"Hello, this is not the person you are trying to call, you've reached the Rejection Hotline, provided by Rejection Unfortunately, the person who gave you this number did not want you to have their real number. We know this sucks, but don't be too devastated.

So why were you given this Rejection Hotline number? Maybe you're just not this person's type. Note: this could mean, boring, dumb, annoying, arrogant, or just a general weirdo.

Maybe you suffer from bad breath or body odor, or a nasty combination of the two. Maybe you give off that creepy overbearing psycho, stalker vibe. Maybe the idea of going out with you just seems as appealing as playing leap frog with unicorns.

Regardless of the reason, please take the hint, accept the fact that you've been rejected and get over it. Please do your best to forget about the person who gave you this number, because they've probably already forgotten about you.

Thanks for calling the Rejection Hotline number provided by closed the phone, while Logan and Colin laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Finn muttered as he stuffed the phone in his pocket.

"Wait, wait, so the chick that you met at the bar gave you this number?" Colin laughed.

"Yes."

"So which one do you think you are?" Logan laughed. "Creepy overbearing psycho stalker? Or maybe it was the nasty combination of body odor and bad breath?"

"Shut up!"

"Oh, come on!" Colin laughed. "You can't tell us this story, make us listen to that message and not expect us to mock you for... what do you think, Logan? A few years?"

"No!" He scoffed. "Eternity is more like it."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"So what are you going to do?" Logan laughed.

"I don't know," Finn shrugged. "Not going to stop me, that's for sure."

"But the message said to forget about her, man," Colin told him, chuckling. "It very clearly said to take the hint, she's probably already forgotten you."

"Doesn't matter," Finn said. "This message, it's only intrigued me, not turned me away. I'll find out everything there is to know about Lorelai Gilmore."

"If that's her real name," Logan repeated, looking at Colin as they fell into another fit of laughter, leaving Finn to lean back in the back of his seat smugly. He'd definitely find her and he'd get her real number this time.

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Rory printed out her article, happy to have finally finished it. Standing up she packed up her things and started walking to her boss's office to turn it in when she was cut off by one of her male coworkers.

"You know, I looked up beautiful in the dictionary and saw your picture next to the word."

Rory gave a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Really? 'Cause I looked up asshole the other day and found yours."

"Why are you like this? One date, that's all I ask."

"Rodney, the day you learn how to treat a woman is the day I will finally say yes."

"Oh come on, you don't have a boyfriend," Rodney said as they walked down the hall together.

"And how do you know?" Rory asked.

"Come on, all the pictures you have on your desk are of your mother and father and siblings. You have no person on your desk that is not family related."

"I'll have you know..."

Rodney raised an eyebrow as she began to talk, causing her to shut it.

"All right, I don't have a boyfriend," Rory said knocking on her boss's door.

"Come in," he called. They walked in still bickering.

"All I ask if for one date," Rodney said closing the door.

"And all I ask is for you to leave me alone." Rory laughed as she rolled her eyes.

"Still bugging you for a date, huh?" Her boss asked with a smirk as she put her article on his desk and flopped on one of the chairs in front of him, Rodney next to her.

"Yep, as much as I tell him to leave me alone, he's very persistent," Rory answered as she laid her feet on Rodney's legs.

"Well, you don't have a boyfriend," he pointed out.

"Thank you," Rodney laughed.

"You two are very mean to me," Rory pouted. She turned to her boss and smiled at him as he looked through her article. "So I saw you went out after your lunch break."

"Keeping tabs on me again, Hayden?"

"You know it, Huntzberger."

"Again?" Rodney asked confused.

"Old college thing," Logan waved off with a laugh.

"You two knew each other in college?" Rodney asked.

"Yeah, me and Logan worked on the paper together at Yale," Rory told him. "He was one of the many people who offered me a job here. I took it solely because I thought it'd be great to work for a friend rather than some asshole who would try to look up my skirt... much like you're doing now, you perv!" Rory said kicking Rodney's legs as she sat up and crossed her legs.

"Come on, Rodney, I really don't feel like having that sexual harassment meeting again," Logan told him as he put Rory's article in the edit pile of his work.

"Sorry, boss," Rodney laughed.

"So you didn't answer my question, where'd you go?" Rory asked Logan.

Logan shrugged, "Hard Rock Cafe, a friend of mine called and asked if he could talk to me and another friend."

"Anything important?" Rory asked curiously.

Logan shook his head as he began to chuckle. "No, but we went to a bar last week after work and a girl gave him her number, but when he called today, he got this message, from... god, what's the name," Logan said closing his eyes trying to think. "Rejection Hotline," he said snapping is fingers as he remembered.

Rory turned and looked at him. "Really?"

"Yeah, do you know about this?" Logan laughed.

"Yeah, my mom and me memorized it, my dad found it hilarious."

"What's Rejection Hotline?" Rodney asked.

"It's this phone number people give out when they want to reject someone without making a scene. When the person calls, they get sent to this recording of a guy telling you you've been rejected," Rory explained.

"Have you given a guy this number?" Rodney asked.

"Of course not," Rory lied, not wanting to mention the Australian who had accosted her last week.

"Well, my friend got this number at the bar last week and he says that it's not stopping him. He's going to find out everything he can about this girl."

Rory smiled. "Tell him to write to me, I might help him let this girl go," she laughed.

Rodney smiled. "I'll leave you two alone. You are starting to get flirty."

"Shut up, Rodney," Rory laughed.

"Hey, I have a pick up line for you," Rodney said stopping at the door. "One you won't have a response to."

Rory leaned her head back while Logan watched amused.

"Hit me," Rory said with a smile.

Rodney stood up straight and smirked at her. "If I could see you naked, I'd die happy."

Rory raised an eyebrow and turned in her seat smiling coyly at him. "Yeah, but if I saw you naked, I'd probably die laughing."

Logan snorted in laughter as Rodney mock-glared at her. "One day, Hayden," he vowed.

"Keep them coming," Rory laughed turning in her seat. She heard the door close and turned back to Logan. "So what do you think of a Hayden movie night tonight, or are you and the guys getting together?"

"Nah, family dinner and a date cancelled guys' night, so I'm free."

"Great," Rory said standing up. "My place, six thirty, bring the Cookie Dough."

Logan smiled as he nodded. "Just no chick flicks this time."

Rory shrugged. "I'm the instigator of movies nights, therefore I get to pick the movies."

Logan sighed. "Fine, but if I get stuck watching 'A Walk To Remember' again, I'm hiding your coffee."

"You only hate that movie 'cause it makes you cry," Rory teased opening the door.

"Out!" Logan ordered.

"See you at six thirty boss." Rory said sticking out her tongue before walking out. Logan leaned back in his chair and smiled. Rory Hayden was going to be the death of him, but she was always good to have around.

She was probably the only girl that he considered a friend, and only a friend. There had been a bit of sexual attraction at the beginning of their friendship, but the more he got to know her, the more he realized that she could never be one of the girls in his conquest book, so he started looking at her as an annoying little sister that he loved very much.

A little sister that was going to die if she made him watch "A Walk To Remember" again.

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"How's your day been, Finn?"

Finn shifted in his seat as he looked at his mother. 'How was your day' in mum code meant 'Did you find yourself a nice girl that can marry into the family and give me that billion grandchildren I've been wanting.'

"Fine," he responded lightly.

"Have you meet any nice girls?" His father asked.

Finn frowned as he looked at his salad. He could feel his older sister's smirk as she looked at him. She was lucky, she was already married and had a kid on the way, so she wasn't under the parent radar anymore.

"Actually..." he started, hoping that his parents maybe knew the girl. Gilmore sounded like a society name, he could of sworn he'd heard it being thrown around once or twice.

"Really?" His mom asked interested as she leaned in. Becca looked shocked and his father smirked.

"Yeah, but I can't seem to find her and I was actually wondering if you knew her."

"A society girl? Finn, you never go for society girls," Becca pointed out.

"Well, times change. There was a time you didn't go for society guys," he argued causing her to look at her salad.

"What's her name, Finn?" His father asked.

"Lorelai Gilmore?" He stated in a form of a question. He watched his mother furrow her brow as she tilted her head in contemplation.

"Gilmore, there's Emily Gilmore," she said. "She has a daughter Lorelai, but she goes by Hayden, she's married to Christopher Hayden. They have three children," his mother said tapping her chin as if going through her mental filing cabinets, pulling out what she could. "An older son, a daughter about your age and a younger one."

"The daughter, what's her name?" Becca asked, now curious about the mystery woman.

"Lorelai, but everyone calls her... Rory. She goes by Rory Hayden."

Finn smirked and nodded. "Thanks, mum."

"You know, I believe she'll be at the masque ball at the Hilton in New York next week. I could get you together."

"No, mum," Finn smiled. "I think it'll be okay."

Rory Hayden. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the name of the advice columnist at the New York Times, a paper Logan happened to own.

"Huh," he muttered.

"What is it, son?" His father asked.

"Nothing, dad, just thinking," he answered eating his salad. If Rory worked at the New York Times, Logan had to know her. Oh, this just peaked his interest more and more.

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A.N: I'm glad you're all enjoying this story so much, I have to say that I enjoy writing it very much. Next chapter coming soon! Keep an eye out!

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Kassandra