I sat at my desk in the office the next morning with a fresh up of coffee and some research in front of me. I had sent out feelers to a couple of potential contacts, trying to get statements about the recent uprisings in Saudi Arabia. The only problem that I continued to be concerned with was how Gerry was going respond to this piece. The more I worked on it the more it was becoming true blue reporting, rather than the feature story on the latest dignitary meeting that he had intended. Don't get me wrong, I like my job, but I do miss writing like this, like I had gotten to do on the campaign, and even at Yale. It had been too long since I've gotten engrossed in deep research like this.

First thing that morning I had gotten a text from Leslie, asking what I was up to today. I decided not to respond yet; it wouldn't be the first time that she has given me grief about working on a Saturday. Leslie was a good writer and she did her job well, but she always made it a priority to have a life outside of the office. Maybe it was all those years of living and working with Paris, but it didn't really matter to me what day of the week it was when I was working on something. I had spent a lot of the morning putting out calls and emails to potential sources, looking for some statements and extra information.

I sat back in my chair to reread what I had written so far, when my office phone rang. I was surprised that I might already hear back from one of my contacts, especially on the weekend, but I answered…

"Rory Gilmore"

"Well imagine that, Gilmore in the office on a Saturday."

I froze, receiver to my ear. I had to be dreaming again. I must have fallen asleep at my desk and was re-experiencing the dream I had the other night.

"Ace?"

Nope, this was actually happening. I had no idea what to say.

"Logan… uh… this is, um… a surprise…"

Get it together, Gilmore. If you can report on unrest in the Middle East, you can put together a sentence. I took a deep breath…

"Sorry, I just wasn't expecting to hear from you." Ever, really.

"Yea, well, I wanted to make sure you got that coffee I sent over yesterday."

"Yes, I did…" I flashed back to the thud it had made when I dropped it in the trash can. "I suppose a 'thank you' is in order."

Getting there… at least I'm conveying complete thoughts.

"Right… well, I'm glad you got it."

Now that I had calmed down a little, I could hear a slight uneasiness in his voice, very un-Logan like. Oddly, it gave me a little confidence boost… I have to ask.

"How did you know where to find me?"

"I read the papers."

"Oh… Right..." Idiot. I had been so wrapped up in emotion the last couple of days that the logical conclusion had entirely evaded me.

He laughed a little, "Oh c'mon, Ace. You really don't think I've followed your writing? You put out some great stuff on the campaign, and now The Post. You've done well."

He was back… confident, complimentary, truly Logan. And he had followed me. I ignored what might have been butterflies in my stomach.

"Well… you haven't done so bad yourself, Huntzberger."

Well played. I can do this. If I learned anything from my mother besides how to order take-out, it was the art of bantering.

"Yea, I suppose you could say that." I could practically see him smirking on the other side of the line.

There was a pause in the conversation… Was the coffee really why he had called? Keep it casual… small talk.

"So… New York, huh?"

"New York."

Well that failed… Why am I suddenly the one trying to make something out of this conversation? He was the one that called me. And why can't I come up with anything to talk about? I was starting to panic again.

"Well, I guess I should have wished you a happy birthday the other night…" I brought up the other night? So much for small talk.

He gave a little laugh. "Thanks, but you know me and birthdays… not really one for much fuss."

"You seemed to be having a good time."

"Yea, we were… mostly just catching up with some old friends, you know…"

He trailed off… Now I really wasn't sure where to go with the conversation.

"Listen, Rory… About that night…"

Uh oh.

"I… I really didn't mean to ambush you like that."

Ambush me? I thought back… Yep... I had pretty much been a deer in the headlights.

"Yea, it was pretty… unexpected." Good…Unexpected was safe… understatement of the century, but safe.

There was another pause before he spoke again…

"You know… I tried to call you when I knew when I was coming to the city."

What?! That was beyond unexpected… I was blindsided.

"You did?"

"Yea… I guess you changed your number, though. That's why I tried your office today… I figured at least I could leave a message, but I guess I shouldn't have been surprised to find you working."

I had changed my number. A few months ago I got a new phone and decided I should finally switch to a New York area code. Of all the people that I figured I would need to update about a new number, he wasn't one of them.

I really didn't know what to say to him. Why would he call me now, even if he was coming to the city? Before I could manage a response, he continued.

"Have lunch with me."

The hits just keep on coming. Suddenly, I instead of surprised I was feeling upset… angry even. Four years of nothing, and he calls me now? My life is good. I have a good job; I have my family and friends. I don't need it to be turned upside down. And I hate the way he made it a statement rather than a question, as if he just expected me to agree.

"Why?" There was a little more edge to my voice than I had intended.

There was a long pause, it felt like minutes passed before he replied.

"I… I want to…" Well this was different… I guess it was my turn to surprise him. It was a rare occasion for Logan to not know what to say.

He cleared his voice before he continued, "Clear the air."

Clear the air? He stumbled his way through the first half of that sentence to end it with clear the air? Considering the resentment I had felt towards him only moments before, I couldn't explain why I felt disappointed by his answer.

"Rory, please?"

I realized I hadn't said anything, but now hearing him say 'please' was not helping me come up with a response. If all he wanted was to clear the air, why would he plead?

"Logan…" I'm not even sure what I was going to say when I started, but it didn't matter.

He cut me off and had once again regained his composure, "Look, you don't have to answer me now. I'll be back at McConnell's tomorrow, one o'clock. If you don't show up, I guess I understand… deserve it even. But I really hope I see you."

And just like that, the line went dead. My head was spinning. The phone call itself had been hard enough, let alone the prospect of having a face to face conversation after all this time. I had no idea what to do.

I looked at my computer screen and at the stacks of research in front of me. There was no way I was going to be able to focus on all of this anymore today, not after that roller coaster of a conversation. I started to organized it so I would be able to pick up where I left off when I came in on Monday morning, when I got another text from Leslie, "I know you're at the office. Don't make me come drag you out of there."

I replied to her text, admitting that I had been in the office, but dragging me out wasn't necessary. I told her to meet me downstairs and we could grab some coffee. Fifteen minutes later, when I was in the elevator on my way downstairs I decided not to tell her about the phone call, not yet at least.

I just needed more time to process this before I would be ready to fill her in. I know she was only trying to protect me the other night, but by the way she dragged me out of there I had a pretty good idea of what she would have to say about this. In the three years that we have been friends, from the beginning we had vowed to leave our past in the past. We made efforts to move on… she had obviously been more successful that I have. Things between her and Ben had ended on such bad terms… it was different between me and Logan. I think she understood that, but still… He and I hadn't had a huge fight or lots of drama, not at the end at least… he just left. I had tried dating other guys when I got to New York, even had a few second dates, but it was never right… It was never him.

Instead, I decided to take her grief about working on a weekend, and fill her in on the article. She was surprisingly receptive… maybe she was just glad that I seemed to be focusing on something other than Logan. She even suggested that I should try to shop it around as a freelance piece if Gerry turned it down.

I honestly hadn't thought about it before, but it really wasn't a bad idea. Les said she still had some connections from her freelance days and might be able to get my article seen. We walked the six blocks from the coffee cart back to Leslie's apartment, it was cold even for February and clouds had rolled in over the city, but talking about the prospect of doing some freelance writing had the day looking up.

When we got inside, Les put some popcorn in the microwave and we flipped through the channels before landing on a movie… Breakfast at Tiffany's… a classic, and one of Leslie's favorites. Halfway through the movie she sat up, with a bright look in her eye.

"Let's be tourists tomorrow."

"What?" I know she wants me to get away from work but that seemed silly… besides I haven't decided whether or not I already have plans.

"You know, walk around the city… Time Square, Central Park, go shopping… well I just got my Visa bill so maybe just window shopping…"

I looked at her incredulously, and then I looked out the window. Bad weather… a good excuse to avoid committing.

"Look outside, Leslie. It's probably going to be pouring rain by tomorrow."

"So? We have boots and umbrellas. Since when does bad weather deter New Yorkers? What else do you already have going on, on a Sunday?"

I took a deep breath, "Well…"

She looked at me expectantly, so I continued, now avoiding her gaze, speaking so quickly it was almost one long word, "Logan called me at the office today. He wants me to meet him for lunch tomorrow."

I prepared myself for what I expected to be a long list of reasons why I shouldn't go, but when she didn't say anything I turned back to her.

She sighed and put her arm around me. "I think you need to call Lorelei."

I looked at her and almost laughed. "Who are you are you and what have you done with Leslie?"

"I know; I'm never this mature. But really Ror, I would love to tell you to forget it and blow him off, but I know it's not that easy. I've seen what a mess you've been the last few days, and you've told me about what happened between you guys, but I have only known this Rory, and that Logan. I wasn't there for Rory and Logan. Your mom was."

All I could do in that moment was hug her. She got it. I should have given her more credit this morning.

"Besides, no matter what either one of us say, it's really your decision."

Leave it to Leslie to follow up a stroke of wisdom with a big dose of reality.

I looked at her with a pained expression. She gave me a half smile and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Go home, call your mom, make your lists, whatever you need to do… but you had better call me when you decide."

I gave her another hug before I bundled up and headed home. On the train I sent my mom a text, "Have time to talk?" I knew Saturdays were busy at the Inn, but Leslie was right, she was the only one who could really give me advice here. Almost immediately I got a reply, "On a scale of one to Chernobyl, how serious are we talking?" I replied simply with, "Call me" figuring if I wasn't joking with her, she would get the hint.

** I do not own any characters or contents related to Gilmore Girls or any other entities mentioned. **

A/N - Because someone asked sooooo nicely, here's one more :). Keep the feedback coming! It inspires me! And to those of you playing spot the difference, so far most of them are pretty subtle... restructuring a sentence, changing a word or two, but I have dropped in a few more random references and will be fleshing out a couple of things in the future. Enjoy! xoxo