Chapter 3
The girls arrived at a French bistro recommended by the Boston Herald reporter on the trail. Rory wanted a nice restaurant to thank Paris for having her. Robert made his way inside to the maître d', two minutes later and immediately saw the girls. He smiled and walked toward them.
"Hi! Rory, Paris, Robert Semple, we met at Yale, sophomore year."
"Hi, I do remember you now" Paris shook his hand with her usual unfriendly intense gaze.
The waitress just began to bring the menu and ask if they wanted drinks when Paris phone rang.
"Paris Gellar" she answered with a professional tone. "OK, I'll be there in half an hour."
"Is everything OK Paris?" Rory asked.
"It's the hospital. I have to cover for a student who called in sick. Sorry, Rory. Here's the key. I don't feel too bad as you have company" She glanced at Robert. "I'll see you in the morning, try not to wake Doyle when you'll come home." Paris exited quickly, leaving Robert and Rory a little astounded and mildly embarrassed.
"I guess it's just us. Not that I'm complaining" Robert smirked at her.
"So, grad school huh? I would have thought that you would stop after college. I didn't know you like that much studying. Didn't you want to get into your family company?"
"Jeez no! I'm lucky my family company can run by itself. There are plenty of much more competent people than me working there. My brother and my sister chose to work there though, but at their own free will. So, tell me about the job at the Globe"
"Actually, I have been offered two jobs, one to report on politics in the New England area, the other one to write on comparative politics with other democratic countries and I would have to report from these countries starting from the European Union"
"Really? I'm impressed" Right in my field "And which one did you choose?"
"Well I would prefer the second one, but the first one is more for a long term"
"I'm sure you'll do great on either job. I have to say I'm quite impressed that you'd manage to get this job in a major newspaper just a year after your graduation" Robert pursed his lips and nodded. Rory blushed and attempted to switch the conversation.
They enjoyed a nice meal: the food was amazing with excellent wine pairing, and the conversation didn't lag, far from it. Rory had never realized how much they had in common. It wasn't as awkward as they had both anticipated.
"So, political science. I never thought we shared that much."
"More than you know. I've read all your articles. You're really good at this, smart and witty" He raised an eye to look at how she was reacting. Rory blushed.
"Wow, I didn't remember you were such a smooth talker. What about your parrot?"
Robert laughed "God, you remembered that! By then, I was so nervous trying to impress you that I thought that being a self-absorbed cynic guy could get your attention. You know, just being different so you could get interested in me. After all, I was competing with the number one Yale player" Why are you so dumb to bring Logan up? He carefully watched her reaction.
"It's OK, you can mention him. Are you guys still in touch?"
"Yes, we are. We only met 3 or 4 times since his graduation, but we talk to each other or text quite often. He was devastated after your break up, so we had shifts to stay with him that summer to try to limit his destructive behavior. Colin and Finn are his closest friends, but they also asked for help because it was too difficult for them to manage the distance with their work. During that summer, Steph also went there. Colin even considered to be transferred to Stanford to be closer to him, but his dad wouldn't pay for it. Finn is seeing him more often as he's frequently at his San Francisco office. He still lives in Palo Alto. We were not allowed to mention you though."
"It's nice that you guys still have each other"
"What about you? Are you over him?" Robert whispered. He wasn't sure if he could ask the question…She looked at him and saw deep concern rather than curiosity.
"It was tough at the beginning but having to adjust at my new job kept me focus and helped me a lot. It's when I saw you this afternoon; it dawned on me that my healing process is over now" She slightly smiled at him.
The conversation never faltered until Robert felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and took a quick look.
"It's Finn. Hey, Finn what's up?"
"Hey mate, I just landed at Logan's airport. Can we meet for a drink?"
"Sure, and I'll maybe have a surprise for you. Meet at our usual bar?"
"Deal, see you there in twenty."
"I think it's your lucky day Reporter girl, what about another of your favorite Yale man for you tonight?"
"Sure, let's have a crazy Finn night." Just then the waiter brought the check and placed it on the table, they both reached for it, but Robert managed to snatch it up. "Please, my treat, I insist. You know I can't let you do that" he grinned at her.
"You know you don't have to do that, but thank you. I'll offer you guys the drinks at the bar". Robert laughed "Don't be such a feminist, let us enjoy treating you right, for old time sake." Robert settled the bill quickly and pulled Rory's chair.
Since Yale, Robert and Finn got closer as the Aussie worked for a year in Boston. It was an unexpected match as Robert was the most down-to-earth of the group and Finn the most delirious one, but it actually worked pretty well. Robert was able to loosen up while Finn became a little more grounded. They had their habits in a bar not far from Robert's apartment. They used to hit on the same girls and to wait which one of them she would choose. Mike, the bartender, kept the score. At the beginning, Finn's score was higher, but when Robert discovered that speaking fluent French was a catch, he quickly even the score. Finn already was at the bar talking to Mike when they arrived.
"It seems that Robert is about score tonight," said Mike. Finn turned around and saw Rory with Robert's hand on the small of her back.
"Holly shit! Love!" Finn walked to Rory, brought her into a tight hug, twirling her around.
"I guess you're happy to see me" she grinned.
"Let me look at you," Finn said taking a step back from Rory. "Kitten you're even more gorgeous now. Robert, where did you find her?"
"I ran into Rory this afternoon at a coffee shop. I'm the one who got lucky today" he winked.
"Let's get drinks and grab a table so that we can catch up."
Robert showed Rory an empty booth, and the guys sat by her sides.
"So, tell me, Finn, what are you doing now?" Rory asked.
"I'm a portfolio implementation manager at GMO, my family company."
"Wow, I don't have any clue of what that means, but I'm impressed. So, you're in Boston too?"
"After Yale, I spent almost a year at the Boston office, then at the San Francisco office and now I travel between Boston, San Francisco, London, and Sidney. I'll be in Boston for the next week."
They spent an amazing evening. Rory felt right, safe and happy with them like she hadn't been for a long time.
"Guys I had a wonderful evening with you, but I'm exhausted, I had to wake up very early this morning, I think I'm gonna call it a night."
"allow me to drive you to Paris," said Robert.
"Don't be stupid Robert, you live just around the corner, I can take a cab. Besides I don't think neither of us should be driving."
Finn looked at Robert "I'll call my car service, and we both take you to Paris', sounds good?"
Rory was already too tired to argue with them, so she gave in. She knew too well how exhausting it was to go against Finn. Anyway, it felt nice to be taken care of after this whole year all by herself. When they arrived in front of Paris' building, Rory felt a little sad. She hadn't had that much fun for such a long time. The guys walked her to the front door.
"Thank you guys I had an amazing night" she kissed both of them on the cheek.
"Don't forget to tell us if you get the job and now that you have my number, call me whenever you're in town?" Robert said.
"Promise" she closed the door slowly trying not to wake Doyle. She was glad to have run into Robert. Rory had a wonderful night, and she thought that it would be good getting this job and stay here in Boston. For a year it had been only just bus, sleep, listen, write, never time for fun. It wasn't that far from Stars Hollow; she had her dad and Gigi, Paris and the guys. The Globe was not the New York Times, but it belonged to the New York Times Company and was the most important in the New England area. She also had always admired their spotlight team, it was definitively a very good paper.
