Part 1 Chapter 2 Rory's Choice: Journalism
Sitting on the bus, Rory closes her eyes and remembers the Graduation Bon Voyage surprise party that Luke had organized for her in Stars Hollow. Luke, he was like a father to her, in fact he was more of a father to her than her own father. She wished that her mother would finally wake up and marry him. She missed her family, her friends from college Paris, Doyle, Steph, Juliet, Lucy, and Olivia. She missed Stars Hollow, Kirk, Lulu, Miss Patty, Babette and even Taylor, but most of all she missed her best friend since Kindergarten, Lane.
When she returned home after her college graduation, she went over to talk to her best friend Lane. Lane and Rory shared everything. She told her about Logan and she didn't judge her. Then she told her about the job offer from Hugo. She was going to be part of the press corps that was following Obama on his campaign trail. Lane had encouraged her to go and not to worry about failure. Lane told her that she was going to be an amazing journalist. Now, here she was, Rory Gilmore traveling the country writing about the Presidential nomination and his campaign. Will it be everything she ever dreamed of?
Well it wasn't as glamorous as Rory thought it would be. Early morning meetings, weak coffee, junk food, terrible diners, long hours on the bus or in hotels and poor WIFI reception. Plus, there were many nights that they had to sleep on the bus. The hotels were never a four or five-star hotel like the ones that Finn's family owned.
Rory was the new kid on the bus and all the other journalist were competitive and all had experience hustling to get their stories. What stories or facts they didn't get, they made up.
Rory was slowly becoming discouraged and disheartened. Worst of all she missed home, her mother, her friends and Logan. She tried calling Lane a few times, but she was always busy with the twins and Zach. Their band was doing well, and they were leaving for tour. A few times she called Paris, all Paris did was complain to her about the courses she had started to take in June and what idiots her professors were. She would remind Rory to be careful and to use the mace she sent her. She also reminded her to wash her hands and to carry Purell so that she wouldn't catch any diseases.
It was during the long lonely rides on the bus that Rory often thought about her friends at Yale. Tucked away in her wallet she had two pictures that she would pull out and look at often. One was the picture of Steph and her in their ball gowns taken after the jump at her first LDB event. The second was a picture of the five of them. This was taken at one of Finn's parties. She was standing beside Finn and Logan. She would look at this picture and smile, a few times when she was alone in her hotel room she would hold it until she fell asleep. Steph had recently sent her a text telling her that she and Colin had begun dating but had not made a commitment to each other yet.
Looking at the two pictures she thought of the funny pranks that Colin and Finn like to play. Smiling she remembered the time they came to bail her out of jail and got down on their knees and bowed down to her. They also threw her a get out of jail party. She loved those boys. They taught her how to not take herself so seriously and to take a chance, a leap to try a new adventure. They were always there for each other, a brotherhood. They were there when they needed someone to bail them out or someone to talk too. They were always there for her, from the moment she first met them.
Suddenly her phone rang. Digging through her Birkin Bag that Logan had given her she finally found it on the fourth ring and answered it.
"Hello,"
"Hey girl, how is the campaign trail going?" Steph inquired her sounding so happy.
"I was just thinking of you," she answered.
"So, have you met any handsome journalist yet?" Steph asked.
Rory looked over across the bus where James was sitting and smiled, he was handsome but for some reason she was still thinking about Logan.
"Yes and no. Steph, I think I made a mistake. I never should have said no to his proposal."
"Steph could you find out where he is, I need to talk to Logan."
"If you are sure this is what you really want. I will send you a text with the information. "
Ending the conversation with Stephanie, Rory closed her phone and put it in her pocket. She remembered the day she met Finn, Colin and Logan. Rory was standing by the coffee cart with her new friend Marty talking about their summer, when Colin bumped into him. Logan appeared behind him with his arm around a blonde and then Finn appeared in his brown and white printed shirt, his long legs in light colored pants, his curly reddish-brown hair and the leather necklace around his neck. How arrogant and rude the three boys could be, yet Finn was different. Slightly eccentric, quirky but always making people laugh and having fun. A few days later they appeared again outside her dorm room. Finn was going to write his phone number on her door, but Logan stopped him. Logan…. Rory smiled when she pictured those sparkling brown eyes that crinkled up when he smiled, his grin and the way he rubbed the back of his neck when he became nervous.
After a discussion that turned into a sparring match with words, he smiles and told her that the next time he saw her he wanted her to call him, "Master and Commander." Smiling to herself she closed her eyes and began to think about his kisses. It had been such a long time since she was in his arms and lately at night she began to have erotic dreams.
Steph had called Rory that day while she was getting ready to leave the city and go to Boston to visit Colin. They were getting serious even though they hadn't committed to each other yet, but they both stopped seeing other people. Since she was living in New York City, she was hoping to see Finn. In September she was going to take graduate courses for her MBA in business and she hoped that they would run into Finn on campus. Colin had told her that Finn had called, and he would be having a party once school started and they would all be together again. But Steph really missed Rory. Rory was one of the few girls who really understood her. Steph was smart but to be popular she would pretend that she wasn't. Steph understood what it was like not to have a lot of girlfriends since many girls were threatened by her. She liked Rory's friend Lane but never understood Rory's relationship with Paris. She also understood why Rory said no to Logan. She hesitated about sending Logan's address to her. According to Colin, Logan started dating a lot of different women, including Mindy from Vegas and Rosemary again. She wanted to tell Rory to forget him, but she knew that Rory had to find out for herself what Logan was really like. Steph sent Logan's information to Rory. This was a choice that Rory had to make on her own. Rory had told her that she always did what everyone else told her to do, and now she had to make her own decisions.
Rory awoke to the sound of her phone pinging. It was the message from Steph. She opened it and noticed the address. Will she do something with it? She thought about it for a while.
Jill, another reporter was sitting in the seat across from her today. She and Rory had become friends. Rory never shared much about herself but decided today she might ask her for some advice.
"Jill, did you ever break up with a guy and wish that you hadn't?"
"Yes, once. We had a big fight and I told him to leave. Then two weeks later I realized how much I missed him. So, I swallowed my pride and called him up."
"What happened?" She asked her.
"We got back together. Now I talk to him long distance."
"Where is he?"
"He's in Baghdad right now. Do you have someone like that?" Jill asked her.
"Yes, I did. Now I wish that I didn't break up with him."
"He lives in California, Jill. do you think I should go and see him?"
"Rory what do you have to lose? He might be missing you just as much."
She smiled at Jill and then opened her phone again. She looked at the message that Steph had sent. It was Logan's home address, phone number and his address at his office. Yes, she and Logan had their problems, but most couples do. Look at Luke and mom? They always were running away from things. She didn't want to run away from this. Maybe, like Jill and her boyfriend, she and Logan could work this out. If Jill's boyfriend was in Baghdad and were talking to each other it would be easier for her and Logan. They could meet in different places, hold each other, talk, they could make it work.
Rory pulled out the schedule that she had in her bag. They would be in California in two days, specifically San Francisco. They were staying in San Francisco for four days. This would give her enough time to see Logan, apologize to him. Rory remembered that he was planning on buying a home in Palo Alto. She looked again at the message that Steph had sent her. She checked her message again and noticed that his home address was not in Palo Alto. Rory was ready to call him when she noticed that the power was low on her cell phone. She would have to wait until she got to the hotel and place it on the charger. Maybe it was a good thing that there was very little power on her cell, instead she decided that she would go and see him.
Suddenly Rory's stomach felt uncomfortable, it must be something she ate, but this was happening a lot lately. She was exhausted and needed a good night's sleep. Rory sat on the bus staring out the window. She thought about all the surprises that Logan had given her, now it was her time to surprise him. She had turned him down, it was time for her to make the grand gesture.
Rory felt her stomach begin to cramp, she ignored it and took two Midol, thinking that her period must be starting, so she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
The bus arrived in San Francisco the next day. It was a warm July day and they would be there for four days in this uniquely beautiful city. They arrived at their Best Western hotel and quickly left for a meeting. The next full day they attended more meetings. Rory sat between Jill and James two reporters that she was now friends with. She found herself laughing as James made comments during the briefings. The three of them shared notes and later dinner together.
She liked both James and Jill. James was a nice guy but when he asked her to go and explore San Francisco with him she told him no. Rory had a plan, a choice, tomorrow was going to be the day that she will take the leap and tell Logan she was wrong and if he still wanted her, she would marry him.
The second full day of their stop in San Francisco, she got up and took extra time getting dressed. She curled her hair and arranged it the way he always told her that he liked, she added a light amount of makeup and her cherry lip gloss. When the press corps was in Chicago, she and a few other female reporters went shopping. They had gone into LGS a designer Boutique and she found a blue dress designed by Donna Karan. She went and tried it on and she decided it fit her perfectly. Jill had convinced her to buy the dress and she decided to do it. It happened to be in one of Logan's favorite color, that was one of the reasons why she had chosen it. She put on the blue sheath dress and her white shrug. She looked at her self-one more time in the mirror and grabbing her purse she said, "Omnia Paratus," She took the elevator and went out front of her hotel to hail a taxi. Giving the taxi driver the address that Steph had sent her she arrived around ten thirty in the morning. Rory paid the driver and stepping out of the taxi, in front of his office building, she saw him. He had his arms around a beautiful blonde and he was kissing her passionately there in the middle of the street.
The taxi pulled away after she had paid and gotten out of the car. She froze. She didn't want to see him now, so she quickly turned around and walked two blocks away. Seeing other taxis going by she quickly hailed another taxi and returned to her hotel. She was relieved not to see any of her fellow reporters in the lobby or in the elevator and she quickly returned to her room, with tears in her eyes she took off her dress and threw it in the pail in her room. Rory turned on the shower and climbing in the large shower with the water flowing on her, she cried. When the watered started to turn cold, she got out and ordered, pizza, and ice cream from room service. Rory put her cell phone back on the cord to charge it. As she was waiting for the room service to deliver her food she called her mother and told her how much she missed her. They were able to talk for a while, but as usual Lorelai was in a hurry to get to the inn. Realizing that she needed to talk to someone who understood, Rory called Steph and told her what happened. Steph took the time to listen to her and she put the phone on speaker so that Colin could hear her too.
They both listened, then Colin said, "Rory, it's time for you to move on."
"I don't know if I can, Colin."
"Rory, listen to Colin. You told me about that handsome journalist from Texas, James? Spend some time with him. Flirt with him. You need to take control of your life."
"I guess you're both right. If Logan has already replaced me, then I never was his forever. It's over. I miss you guys so much. I guess that it is obvious that Logan has moved on and so I should too."
Rory talked to Steph and Colin for a while longer and made her promise to call them when she got back to Connecticut.
Back on the trail Rory began to immerse herself in her writing and wrote some excellent articles to submit to Hugo.
James began to take notice of Rory and how she was changing. He was very tall and handsome, confident and a charming man. With his blonde hair and high cheek bones and a smile on his face he reminded her of Tristan. He liked to tease and play jokes on her. He told the best stories and called her "sugar", a much nicer nick name than Mare, or Ace. After they left San Francisco she began to flirt with him more. He had been asking her, during the campaign trail, to join him for breakfast and coffee. They were in Orange County at another press conference meeting when she decided that she was going to take back control of her life. That morning she stopped at the coffee shop and bought two coffees. She went to the meeting and handed him one. James smiled and said, "Thanks, sugar."
James and Rory began to spend more time together, sharing notes, coffees, lunch and dinners. Soon they were sitting beside each other on the bus. James was from a small town outside of Houston Texas, called Baytown. When the campaign trail brought us to Houston, he rented a car and showed her where he grew up and where he worked. She met his mother and father and they had their first home cooked meal. He took her to a barbeque in the town square. She laughed and even did some line dancing. It was the first time in a long time that she had laughed and slowly she felt a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
As the bus continued their campaign trail across the country they began to spend more and more time together. She hesitated to be intimate with him. They shared kisses, but she was afraid that she would get hurt again. She also knew that once the campaign ended and Obama was elected she probably wouldn't see James again.
At Christmas time the press corps had three weeks off. Many of the reporters returned home to spend time with their families over the holidays. While she was home she told her mom and Luke that she was thinking of quitting the press corps when the year was over. They were surprised but told her that they would support her decision.
The day after Christmas James called her telling her that he was coming to New York. He wanted to spend New Year's Eve with her in New York City in Times Square. She was happy about this and she felt finally happy that she was moving on.