Chapter Six
"Whoa," Jamey whispered to herself, gazing at the skyline. Rory chuckled. Jamey always said that about every new city they went to. Through her eyes, it was like discovering gold.
"Daddy, look!" She pointed at a lone skyscraper that seem to dominate the rest of the buildings. It was designed in an obelisk fashion, with a square, entirely glass top that was lit up as if lighting up the whole city in a way to see every imaginable thing.
"I see," Finn smiled, "Logan, you wanna tell her about that building?"
"That's my building," Logan said proudly, "I've been working on that gem since Riley was seven years old,"
"Really?" Riley asked, impressed
He nodded, "It's called Riley Tower." He smiled, "After all, you gave me the inspiration,"
"I never knew that," He said, impressed. Rory smiled, pulling a brown ski cap on him. His hair was so short these days that she worried he might get pneumonia faster.
"That's true. I forgot about Riley's involvement in your life's work," Rory pecked her son lightly on the head, "When you were seven, Jamey had gotten into some aspirin. Finn and I had to rush her to the hospital. Nana and Pop-Pop were looking at colleges with April then, way outta town. Dean was unavailable too-there was a dinner party," She said that with annoyance, "Anyway, Logan here stayed with you for roughly two days,"
Logan chuckled, "You were playing with the blocks. I asked what you were making and you told me that you were going to make the biggest building in the world. I was bored back then, and that gave me an idea. Opening a building in Washington D.C and establishing a permanent media center focused in its heart, out-looking everything possible to see the Atlantic Ocean."
"Really?" Jamey asked, "The Ocean?" She made a huge 'O' face.
Logan laughed, "Yeah. It'll be a tourist attraction as well. That glass box at the top is going to become a viewing area for anyone and the actual offices will be in the adjacent buildings. I'm also in talks about developing a ride that snakes throughout the entire pole area, but I think it might be a little tacky,"
"It's beautiful," Rory smiled. She put on a matching pink ski cap over Jamey's brown braids, kissing her on the head too.
"Can I have a building?" Jamey asked, eyes sparkling
"When you're a little older," Rory said, interrupting whatever Logan and Finn were about to say.
"Are we going out to dinner or straight to the hotel?" Riley asked, looking at her. His blue eyes were sparkling like crazy.
He had her blue eyes, like Jamey's. No one doubted that they were siblings or that she was her mother. However, Rory's "killer blues" as Lorelai used to say affectionally, made her want to give into Riley and Jamey's every plea. It was hard to find rationale with these crazy blue eyes they all shared.
She had gotten a sort of on/off switch over the years, though Logan and Finn never found that same switch. Sometimes Riley would turn to look at her so quickly Rory would just say yes, whatever you want, as if hypnotized. This was one of these times.
"You pick," She smiled,
"Can we have Italian?" He asked, grinning, "I'm in the mood for pizza,"
"Me too!" Jamey jumped up and down.
"Fine, but not from a vendor," Rory said, quickly, "We'll sit down someplace like civilized people and have a decent conversation. Logan, Finn, you two coming with?"
"I could use some pizza," Finn agreed, picking Jamey up.
----
"Dad," Joe looked at him, sighing, "I have possibly the biggest favor to ask you," He stretched his hands to show just how big.
Tristin had been eating a bowl of Raisin Bran with Coco Puffs, scanning the newspaper in half boredom. The FBI intelligence guys usually told him everything and anything in the papers in less then 5 minutes every morning as he was drinking his coffee, having forgotten that he was leader of the free world as he did every morning. He also drank the coffee to remember that Nina wasn't quite around.
Every morning, he'd wake up and think that he was still twenty eight years old. A college boy, in love. It didn't seem quite all that real until he viewed the other side of the bed with a sinking feeling of realization that she wasn't there, as he thought she'd be. He felt like an idiot, quite honestly, for not being able to get over her entirely in the period of four years. Was he supposed to entirely forget her? Was life really that cruel?
As he drank his coffee, he drank away his sorrows, trying to just get past it all. He focused only on the future. And right now, the future he wanted was with Rory. Tristin had never thought about the future with Nina. He had kept his feet planted firmly in the present. Proposing, the kids, his career, that was all spontaneous, but with Rory, he had plans. And he liked that. So he drank his coffee every morning, as a sort of tribute to the past and a focus on the present to gain the future he wanted.
He looked up from his cereal, and swallowed "Bigger then the dance lessons?" He had already read Rory's column and nothing else seemed as good as the way she wrote things. She wrote the way she talked, and Tristin was enchanted by both. Just the way she'd enchanted him in high school. Nina had never enchanted him, ever but he still fell for her.
"You know the girl I was talking about?" He asked
He nodded
"Her name's Michelle. Michelle DuPont," Joe grinned, "She wears bows in her hair which is always shiny and has these perfect curls,"
Tristin smiled. It was odd to hear Joe talking about a girl in such detail, but he went with it. Josh was more: 'The biggest boobs ever' and John had never really displayed such an interest in girls until Dannie came along a few weeks ago. They were quietly dating, not wanting a fuss.
"And what's the favor, Joe?" He asked
"We have to do these presidential reports for History class," Joe explained
"Oh," Tristin nodded, "Who'd you get?"
"President Theodore Roosevelt," Joe said, "And Michelle picked you,"
Tristin nodded, "T. Roosevelt's one of my favorites. And Miss DuPont is welcome to come over today and interview me sometime around-" He looked around for Lydia.
"Lydia!" Tristin yelled, knowing she was somewhere.
"Lydia's at the office, but I'm happy to help," A cheerful brunette with red lipstick on, smiled, walking out of the hallway, "Lynette, sir, I'm an assistant,"
"Lynette, huh?" Tristin asked, "Well, tell my secretary, Lydia-you know who Lydia is?"
She nodded, "Lydia heads the entire secretarial division to the White House and tends to all of your personal needs, sir,"
"That's right," Tristin smiled, and Lynette nearly swooned, "I need Lydia to know that a friend of Joe's, Michelle DuPont is coming to interview me for at least thirty minutes. I'd like Lydia to have the intifada watch meeting tomorrow, unless they launch an attack today, which is unlikely,"
"Yes sir," Lynette said, "I'll get right on it,"
"And be sure to inform Joe of the times, so he can inform Miss DuPont,"
"Yes sir," She said, "But I can just call Miss-"
"Lynette, don't," Tristin smiled, "Just tell Joe. He'll be waiting and make sure that there's transportation available for Miss DuPont."
She nodded, staying. Tristin looked at Joe.
"Anything you need, kiddo?"
Joe shook his head
"Go on, Lynette," He said, grinning. She nodded briskly, walking away. Tristin looked at Joe, grinning,
"Well, does your father rock or what?"
"You rock," Joe laughed, hugging him
Tristin laughed, hugging his youngest back. Joe was the only one who showed him such physical attention. Josh had never thought it manly to hug his father, and John, Tristin reckoned, just didn't want to hug him. Tristin held Joe's head for a second before releasing it. He didn't hug the boys enough, and now it was too late.
Joe turned to sit next to him, and Tristin frowned, looking at the empty chairs.
"Where are your brothers?"
"John said he was leaving early, because he wanted to get to school and study for a math test," Joe explained, "He thought I should tell you and Josh just got out of the shower when I walked past."
"Dad!" Josh walked in, "I lost the bet to John. Is there any way I can avoid this publicity dinner?"
"Speak of the devil," Tristin smiled, "Sit down, buddy, eat something. Chef makes a killer scrambled eggs, I hear. You two are supposed to eat good breakfasts,"
"What about you and that chocolate milk confection," Joe asked, grinning
"There's raisins, that therefore ranks it as healthy. And I'm the President, I can have anything I'd like,"
"Yeah, until the Surgeon General sees your cholesterol level," Joe said smartly, grabbing an apple and biting into it
"Dad, the dinner?" Josh asked, "Do you really need me?"
"Yes and you lost the bet fair and square kiddo," Tristin said, smiling, "Make sure you're all suited up by six and we'll leave by limo. It's only a fifteen minute ride and I could use some alone time with my middle son,"
"I'm honored, Dad," Josh said, grinning, "But I hate these things,"
"Likewise, but I need you there." Tristin said, "They need to even out the table and that requires a guest of mine to attend. At these functions, usually a date is the sort asked, and since I think no woman would want to deal with the publicity toward dating the President, I decided to go with a safer option of bringing my kid,"
"Bring Joe then," Josh said, "He's cuter and everyone can comment on how he's the spitting image of his father," Josh said dryly
"Hey!" Joe scowled, "I have Mom's nose, right Dad?" He asked
Tristin smiled and nodded, "Her exact nose," He was lying, of course. Nina's nose was buttonlike in shape, while Joe's was thinner and more defined, like his nose. But Joe didn't like that he didn't have any of Nina's attributes, so Tristin stated that bit to console him.
"Dad?" Josh asked
"Joe's too young for the publicity, as I've already explained in private to him. Besides, Rory will be there. You liked her," Tristin said, "And so is a good friend of mine, Finn Covington-Cross. Have I told you about him?"
Josh shook his head and Tristin laughed.
"Finn's quite a character. You won't be sorry that you missed it,"
Josh sighed, "Well, are there any cute girls?"
"Your age?" Tristin asked. He sighed, "I don't think you'll find any appropriate young girls there,"
Josh sighed
"And," Tristin added, "I think that you focus on girls too much," He smiled weakly, "It'll be good for you to take a break from them,"
Josh nodded, "Fine, I'll go, but I won't be happy!"
"Lovely," Tristin smiled, and Josh walked away, "Get ready for school!" His father yelled, taking one last bite of his cereal as Joe giggled.
----
Rory was panicking. She had on an empire waist dress that sparkled. Jamey was watching her with awe evident in her eyes. Jamey loved to see her mother all dressed up for these dinners. Riley could care less.
"Hey," Finn smiled, "Jamey, we gotta jump on it and get you two to Carter and Dayton's. Carter's making his special tacos,"
"Okay," Jamey sighed, "Bye Mommy," She lept off the bed to hug her mother, who bent down and kissed her, not caring if her dress wrinkled or whatever, "You look pretty," She added,
"So do you, babe," Rory laughed, "Send Carter and Dayton my love, won't you, sweetheart?"
She nodded, "And can we go to the zoo tomorrow, instead of the White House?" She added.
"Oh, uh," Rory sighed, "That's fine. I'll see the President tonight anyway," She had wanted to take the kids and Finn to the White House tour today, but Tristin called and explained that he had a prior engagement that just came up. She had understood and Tristin had wanted to see her the next day,"
"Don't forget to ask him if he got a trophy," Jamey said quickly,
"I won't," Rory laughed, kissing Jamey on the forehead, and letting her go. Standing up, she smiled and kissed Riley on the cheek, before tousling his hair. Riley scowled.
"Bye, pookie," She teased,
"Mom, I love you," Riley said, "But don't call me Pookie,"
"Oh fine," Rory sighed, "Have fun, Riles,"
"I will," He hugged her before walking off with Finn, who was wearing his spiffy black trousers and a white shirt, complete with a vest and untied bow tie. Finn winked at her before leaving and Rory sighed, shaking her head.
----
Tristin smiled, his eyes crinkling.
"I didn't expect such a forward question, Miss DuPont,"
His eyes traveled from her blue ribbon tied strategically on her hair to her perfect white teeth and red sweater vest that covered a white blouse and flattered her flared denim skirt. She was certainly more patriotic then he was in her clothing. Joe's female friend looked down at her notebook, and scribbled down his reply. There was also a record of their conversation on the tape player that the young girl had provided.
"No, no," Tristin laughed, leaning back, "I'll answer it." He cleared his throat, "My current plans are to revoke the Patriot Act as soon as possible, and bring home the last remnants of our soldiers still supervising up in Iraq and Afghanistan." He hesitated, "Hopefully, these two acts will lead to a more secure while democratic America,"
Michelle looked overwhelmed at hearing this,
"Wow sir. All I hear on the news is following the late President's footsteps,"
Tristin chuckled, "I know. I like to be as vague as possible. Just kidding," He smiled to show his little joke.
"Uh, these revocations and soldier clearances still have to be passed by Congress, Senate, you name it," He sighed, "I can actually get my troops home faster, but I want to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, and get rid of the Patriot Act as well. It's proving to be challenge, because there are some men in the government who are worried about the consequences of getting rid of either of these measures."
He sighed, "Been ten years since the war's ended, and I'm still fighting these bozos-uh off the record strictly speaking," Tristin added quickly, "I don't think these people would be happy I called them bozos,"
"Off the record," Michelle nodded professionally
"Anyway, yeah," Tristin smiled, "These two are going to be my first acts. I'm still working on them and I'm thinking about inviting the Mexican government up here, or going there, to deal with the escalating immigration issue as well as getting backup from Canada and the other Central American countries. Also there's still a Middle East Crisis and I'd like to help resolve that, but my motto is America First," Tristin said, "First, I'm going to take care of American needs before moving on to other countries and showing them what my country can do,"
Michelle grinned, "What are your feelings toward religion?"
Tristin sighed, "Now that's a difficult question," He laughed, and looked at her, "I knew a beautiful girl in high school. She was a sophomore, same as me," He got a faraway look on his face,
"Anyway, she was a small town girl, who was very bright-she was actually valedictorian our year and went on to be chief editor at Yale. Works for The Huntzberger Group now," He sighed, "Anyway, she was just very innocent and sheltered, I suppose is the right word. I'd call her Mary, after the Virgin Mary,"
Michelle scribbled that down, "Pardoning me, but sir, that doesn't sound very presidential,"
Tristin laughed, "I'm going to be upfront with you, Miss DuPont. When I was in high school and an undergrad at the Citadel, I wasn't exactly the most well behaved boy in school,"
"Oh?" She asked, confused
"I was a clown," Tristin said, sighing, "My older brother, Trent, he was going to take over our father's business and I was a back-up of sorts, in case anything happened to Trent,"
"Oh," Michelle knew the whole sordid story. Tristin was glad she had done her research. He didn't like telling the story about Trent's death.
"As you know, my brother died," Tristin laughed, shaking his head, "That was in the ninth grade. I never quite bounced back. Also, I wasn't invisible from my father anymore. He would constantly get on me about everything, and I didn't have Trent's amazing patience with him, which lead to my acting out, as well as becoming a giant bonehead, falling in love with a girl who didn't love me, and getting myself sent to military school,"
"Whoa," Michelle said
"Whoa indeed," Tristin laughed, "Anyway, I was still a mess, even after military school and the Citadel, which is a good college, but a very painful experience, all the same."
He shook his head, "I was at Harvard with a friend. There was a basketball game. It was the last one of the season and on that Harvard campus, I met Nina, my late wife," Tristin smiled,
"She wasn't at the game, mind you," He frowned, "Nina. She was sitting with a bunch of friends, just laughing. I didn't think much of her at first, but-"
He laughed, "Nina walked up to me and asked if I was a fan of their team and I said yes, though I hadn't quite heard the question. Then we became a couple. Nina was a bit older then I was, so I lied about my age, and told her I was going to Harvard Law. To keep it all up, I did went to the law school and she married me. Of course, because of that lie, that's sort of what set me on this course toward-here," He motioned around his office.
"That's soo romantic!" Michelle sighed
"Yeah," Tristin nodded, "Fast forward a few decades and you see that Nina got breast cancer and the rest is history, I suppose," He sighed, "What was the original question?"
Michelle laughed, after looking at her notes, "Are you religious? That was the gist of it. You never did answer the question,"
"I thought God existed," Tristin said thoughtfully, "But I don't anymore. If such a God existed, why," Tristin sighed bitterly, "Why invent cancer? Why kill thousands of innocents yearly from a disease which the President can't even save his people from."
"Stem cell looked very advantageous until President Ashbury pulled a federal ban on it and insisted on using articles like your Patriot Act to weed out the radicals still supporting it,"
Tristin laughed, "Lot of ways I could reply to that question, Miss DuPont. First, I wholly support stem cell if it could save people as wonderful as my wife and from what I've read, it's got a fair chance. Second, that is another of a whole list of reasons why I dislike the Patriot Act. The first reason is that it violates human rights and the second reason is that it's such a Catch-22 with our First Amendment, stating the right to free speech. I actually wanted to pay a few religious folks like the Pope, the Dali Lama, et cetera, a visit, and talk to them about abortion, condom usage, stem cell and see if we can't pull out a few new things onto these tablets,"
"Awesome," Michelle smiled, "What's your position look like, education wise?"
Tristin nodded, "Well, I want to offer up a snazzier version of the No Child Left Behind Act that President Bush Jr. passed years ago. Many of our school districts are behind this act and it's pretty outdated by now, so I want to add a few amendments. The whole issue is vague at best, as Ben never covered education as much as he did other issues facing us today, even though I care about it, what with my oldest son, John, attending one of these outdated facilities still under No Child Left Behind. As I've said countless times, this term is for Ben's dream,"
Michelle nodded, "Well, you've explained quite a bit about your foreign policy. What of the environment we live in?"
Tristin smiled and opened his mouth to speak when Lydia walked in.
"Mr. President, I apologize for interrupting, but Miss DuPont's mother is here to take her home. Apparently there's an emergency,"
"I'm so sorry," Michelle said quickly, "My mother's just gotten divorced and she's desperate," She added in a hurried whisper.
Tristin nodded, and sure enough, Lydia nearly got bowled over by who Tristin assumed was Michelle's mother.
"Hello, hello," She smiled widely. Her hair was dyed yellow, a fake sort of yellow that always turned Tristin off. She was wearing a sparkly skirt and a pink ruffled shirt that appeared to be designed in showing off her chest to a male's highest advantage.
"Mom," Michelle's smile was clearly forced, "I said Dad was picking me up. He works only forty yards away!"
"Your dad works here?" Tristin asked interested,
She nodded, "Senator Paul DuPont, D-Maryland. I wanted him to pick me up, so he could help me out with the report," Michelle explained sheepishly
"Oh hon, I wanted to see you and it's my night anyway," The mother said, "I take it you are our President," She smiled, taking his hand, "Much cuter then you appear on T.V, sir,"
"Thank you, Ms. Dupont," He said, smiling
"Call me Dora, deary," She said, "Did my Michelle get everything she wanted?"
"I was actually about to explain my environment policies, but I'm happy to reschedule, as I've heard you have quite a bit of an emergency, and I must be going as it is. I have dinner at the Riley Tower with Logan Huntzberger and we have to measure our egos," Tristin glanced at his watch as he said this.
Michelle laughed normally, but her mother's came out in an ear splitting screech. Tristin nearly winced. Just-divorced women were not pretty.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. President," Michelle said gratefully
"Don't thank me. Thank my son," Tristin smiled, "In fact, he'll hate me for doing this, but I think he'd like to go to that dance with you,"
"Really?" Michelle asked, amazed. When she'd talked to Joey earlier, it sounded like he had another girl in mind to the dance when she had brought it up while waiting for Tristin.
Tristin nodded, reading some papers that Lydia handed to him, before signing, all his movements fluid and almost entrancing to Dora. Smiling that kissable smile of his, Tristin moved a bit away from Dora,
"Yes, Joe can be shy, which is rather surprising," Tristin sighed, "Anyway, just call him if you'd like another chance to confer with me, but it'll have to be soon," He warned
"Yes sir," Michelle said dutifully, "Where is Joey? I'd like to thank him myself,"
"I have no idea, but you'll see him Monday anyway," Tristin said, smiling, "I'll be sure to pass the message, Miss DuPont. Ms. DuPont, a pleasure to meet you and your daughter. I'll be sure to tell Paul about how intelligent his daughter is next time I see the man,"
He smiled again and walked away quickly. Tristin didn't know how, but he was positive Dora's eyes were glazed over, picturing him, well, without clothes on, and Tristin didn't want to let Dora see that side of him any longer.
"Nina," Tristin took a deep breath and thought for a second before breathing out, "Rory," He rubbed his head with one arm before re-entering the Oval Office. On his desk, there would be a black and white picture of Nina smiling up at him. Her tummy was round and baby shaped as she was expecting little John then. Tristin loved her the most when she was pregnant. He supposed it was because headstrong Nina was more willing to let him do things for her that went against her feminist ways.
"Dad?" Josh knocked on the door before walking in. He smiled and Tristin was happy that his son had at least brushed his hair down to the side and wore a nice suit.
"Nice tie," Tristin smiled
Josh chuckled, his hand going up to the silver tie, "Yeah, I had Joe print off the instructions. I think I'll probably be wearing a lot of these for a while,"
Tristin nodded, "You're a natural, Josh," He sighed
"You ready, Dad?" Josh asked, "Limo's all set up, John's talking to Dannie on the phone and Joe won't stop dancing everywhere. It's driving me nuts,"
Tristin laughed, "You've had enough of the White House, huh?"
"When you get grounded for a month, you get desperate," Josh smiled
Tristin nodded and stood up, "I love you, kiddo," He gave Josh a manly one hug, leaving his arm on Josh's shoulder.
"You too, Dad," Josh smiled and his starry blue eyes looked up into his father's. They seemed to twinkle like crazy. Nina's twinkle, Tristin knew, thinking sadly.
"Good," Tristin glanced at his watch, "Get something to eat. We aren't going to leave for a half hour. I gotta chance into a suit and talk to a few people about work,"
Josh nodded, "Chef wanted to know if he was still serving anyone."
"No, I told...someone to get a few pizzas for them," Tristin said, "Joe asked this morning for some and as much as he loves the chef's specially made food, there's nothing like Papa John to Joe," Tristin chuckled, walking away.
------
"Logan," Rory laughed, taking his arm, "Don't you have a date to tend to?"
"Laura's fixing her makeup in the powder room," Logan explained, "And I don't think that my cousin is really a date. She's just here, because she wants a chance to flirt with rich young businessmen and become a socialite wife,"
"I heard that," A girl with wavy blond hair and a dark magenta dress outlined with Asian embroidery on her train slapped her younger cousin lightly, "And I'm not after some random rich young businessman. His name's Ephraim Deere," She glowed just saying his name, "He's a handsome newspaper columnist that works for Logan. Have you heard of his work?"
"He goes under the name E.G.A.D," Logan said, smiling, "Two middle names,"
"I love his columns!" Rory clapped her hands, "You have good taste, Laura,"
"Yeah," Laura beamed, "But I've never seen the guy. He's really elusive and Logan's the only one who's met him. Said that he'd be here,"
"Really?" Rory asked, looking around, "What's he look like?"
"Logan?" Laura asked, grinning
Logan frowned, "Uh, brown hair,"
"Dark or light?" Rory asked
"I don't know," Logan shrugged, "Ephraim really values his anonymity above everything else. He's only coming because he wanted to check out the building before he leaves for a sojourn into Vietnam. I haven't seen him in person since he penned his new name, which had been a few years ago,"
"Oh," Rory sighed, "Well, he'll come up and greet you, won't he?"
"Ephraim's a shy guy. Keeps to himself," Logan explained, "He's a genius on paper, but-"
"Ah, don't listen to Mr. Huntzberger," A young man behind him with jet black hair that was razored down like Riley's, but only more attractive somehow, smiled. He had tanned skin and piercing gray eyes.
"Ephraim, this is Rory Gilmore, Rory, this is Ephraim Deere," Logan explained, and frowned, "I could've sworn you had brown hair,"
"That is not me," Ephraim laughed and held out his hand for both the girls, "We haven't seen each other in a while, eh, Mr. Huntzberger?" He chuckled, "This anonymity of mine is only because I am out of the country two thirds of the year, if not more. And I only came because I hear President DuGrey will be here and I'd like to see him,"
"I have first dibs with President DuGrey," Rory said quickly and Logan looked at her, exasperated
Ephraim chuckled, "We work for the same paper, Miss Gilmore. Also, I do not do features as the President would undoubtedly be. I would just like to ask him a few questions regarding this county of mine,"
"Oh," Rory blushed, "I can get competitive sometimes with assignments. It's my fault,"
"Yeah, you should've seen Rory when I asked who wanted to go down to D.C and interview the President the first time around," Logan said, smiling affectionally at her.
"Ephraim, I'm Laura," His cousin said, wasting no time. He smiled politely, shaking her hand.
"Just one question," Rory said quickly, "What does the G and A stand for?"
"Ephraim Guthrie Alejandro Deere," He explained, "Hebrew, Celtic, Spanish, and English, for each nationality in my blood. Just happens to be a very good acronym for my nom de plume."
"Whoa," Rory said, "My mom just named me after her,"
Ephraim laughed, "Well, Rory Gilmore, that is a pretty name, far prettier then my acronym,"
"I would hope so," Rory laughed
He nodded once and walked away. Well, more liked was dragged away by Laura.
"I suppose that's the last we're going to see of Laura for a while?" Rory asked
"She finally met the guy," Logan nodded, "Good thing the real one isn't here,"
"What?" Rory asked and Logan's eyes twinkled
"I called and warned him beforehand about my vicious cousin, Laura. He sent his decoy, a cousin of his as well," Logan sipped some champagne, "The cousin promised to take pictures for him. The names thing is also false, as he is 100 Irish" He added, "That gives him this bright red hair which is unforgettable,"
"Well that makes sense," Rory admitted, "He seemed a little too forward for a while there,"
"The cousin's an aspiring actor. He loves to pretend to be someone else, Ephraim most of all, "Logan chuckled, "Let's get to our table, huh? Laura can just stay with him,"
Rory nodded, cheeks pink with excitement, "I can't believe I'll get to see Tristin again soon!" She clapped her hands, excited.
Trumpets sounded somewhere and Logan smiled, "Speak of the devil," He said this with a bitter voice though, but Rory didn't notice, nearly jumping at the ends to see Tristin. All of a sudden, she stopped. Why was she acting like a groupie? Tristin may be President, but first and foremost, to her, he would always be that boy in high school who seemed to specialize in making her life harder.
Rory hesitated. She saw Tristin, flummoxed by reporters and photographers clamoring for questions. It appeared that his son, Josh was with him. Rory hadn't spent much time with that one and, smirking with his pearly whites, Rory felt overcome by high school memories she had long forgotten.
That kiss at the piano at...some rich girl's party. Tristin had tugged on her lip slightly, something Dean had never done. She had leaped up in surprise as it dawned upon her that this man was not Dean. This man was not her boyfriend. And she ran, whether it was out of fear of losing Dean or confusion over why Tristin's kiss felt so...nice. Rory shook her head, wanting to get it out of her mind quickly.
Glancing at the President's son, she saw that his hair was like Riley's, an inch long. Apparently he had an admiration of whatever skater it was that Riley liked. Ethan Haas or something. His tie was a dark gray and had the look of being tied by someone else. Probably Tristin. Rory fought a smile, thinking of Tristin doing up Josh's tie in the car. He seemed like a good father.
-----
I'm sorry for the long overdue update. If the story alert didn't get to the people who clicked themselves under story alert (I can see you in my stats page, don't think I can't! I command all you non-reviewers to click that button and write a sentence stating that this chapter was awesome and beyond belief, as well as to update, because it makes me happy, even if there's no constructive criticism involved) You may have missed the chapter before this one and it's a good chapter, in my opinion anyway.
And my opinion's sort of biased, considering...
Okay, also, as a side note, I missed the GG episode last week. Can anyone recount the episode for me? Any memorable lines or important plot notices? Please tell me that Matt Czuchry still looks as hot as ever despite the long hiatus.
Lizzy-I did know about the presidential elections. If you'll read chapter one at a leisurely pace, you will notice that Ben urges Tristin to run for President. When Tristin doesn't get picked as a Democratic candidate, Ben has him run on his ticket and then he goes and has a heart attack a week after he was inaugurated and Tristin becomes President. I thought that was understandable enough.
Also, I made a mistake that a reviewer was kind enough to point out. Christiano Ronaldo is on Portugal and (no idea what his first name is) Ronaldinho is on Brazil. I usually get them mixed up, due to their last names. One's a really good soccer player (who isn't as played up as Beckham) and the other is really good looking and a good soccer player (not as good as Ronaldinho, I'm afraid). I suppose I'll switch the names later.