Chapter 6

Rory put down her paint brush, swept the hair out of her eyes and admired her work. She had to admit it looked pretty good, she had just finished painting her bathroom royal blue to match the tiny blue and white mosaic tiles that Luke had put up for her the previous weekend. Her mum and Luke had been a real help getting the place decorated and it was paying off, the apartment looked more like a home now than the cold and empty storage place it had been before she moved in. The thing Rory liked most about it was it was hers. She had been given some money from Grandparents and her father when she graduated and with a little bit of help from Lorelai she was able to buy it and not have to worry about all the sleazy landlords they had seen during the hunt for the perfect apartment. It was nothing like the apartment she had shared with Logan, that apartment had been all about him, and this time Rory had things just as she wanted them. It had a decent sized living room / office space, kitchen / dinning room, bathroom (with a bath/shower, which had been not been the case at most of the other apartments) and 2 mid-sized bedrooms, one of which had been turned into a mini library with a spare bed for visitors.

Work had been really busy which meant that Rory only really had time to decorate at the weekends so it had taken her about a month to finish, as she looked at the blue bathroom with all its silver accessories she felt complete. The fear had melted and she could see the path in front of her now, everything had changed but it was all for the best. She couldn't think why she had ever been so nervous about the move. Lucy and Olivia had been over a few times, her mum had been here at least once a week since she moved and even Logan had dropped by to give her a housewarming gift, a miniature suit of armour just like the one they had in the apartment at Yale. On top of that things at work were going fantastic, before she left the office on Friday she had been told she would be getting her first assignment this week. There was a bunch of people that had started at the same time as Rory and after their induction the biggest part of the job had been shadowing existing reporters and seeing exactly how the office ran. Rory was to be the first of the group to be given an assignment and although she didn't know what it was going to be she couldn't wait. Deciding that she best get some sleep so she could impress the following day Rory poured herself a glass of water and headed for bed.

Next morning Rory woke up before her alarm for the 4th time and decided it was better to just get up than trying to get back to sleep again. She fixed herself some coffee and showered in her newly decorated bathroom. After pottering about for a bit, changing her outfit 5 times and drinking way more coffee than was advisable this early, Rory stopped. Feeling slightly lost as she was about to leave the apartment she realised that this was the first big step in her life that her mum had not been here for, had she still been in Stars Hollow there would have been no way Lorelai Gilmore would have let this day pass without marking it in some bizarre way, and she smiled as she remembered her mum and Luke turning up extra early on her first day at the paper so that they could have a traditional Luke's breakfast together before she set off to work. "Grow up Rory, you don't need her here to hold your hand" she said out loud to herself, grabbed her jacket and headed out of the door.

The journey to work had been much the same as any other day, she rode the subway and got coffee from her favourite stand just outside the station as she exited. As she was making her way toward the office Rory caught sight of one of the guys that had started with her and decided to get his attention "Hey Duncan!"

A tall agitated redhead turned searching for the voice that had called to him, spotting Rory he smiled warmly and waited for her to catch up. Rory liked Duncan more than the others. On there first day they had to give a small talk about where they had grown up, Rory discovered that although most of them came from big cites all over the country (and had the attitudes to match she thought), Duncan was from a small town like her. They hit it off immediately they had loads in common and soon they realised their towns were so alike, Duncan's town even had its own version of Taylor! "So Gilmore it's the big day today, your first assignment. What do you think it will be?" he asked as they started to walk.

"Well I'm hoping that I get something interesting, anything but Sports and Paris Hilton and I should be happy."

They laughed as they walked into the building and headed to the elevator. Whilst waiting they were joined by two more of the new starts Roberta (Bobby for short) a pretty blonde girl from Chicago and Ting who had been born in Beijing, but had spent most of his life growing up in New York. Rory casually made small talk with them in the elevator knowing that when she would get to her desk the assignment would be waiting for her. The lift seemed to be going extra slow today. When they exited the lift each of them went their separate ways and Rory growing more excited with every step made her way to her desk, she could see the piece of paper lying in the centre of it.

Hi Rory,

Can you go see Roddy Parker up on 26 when you get in please.

He will be expecting you (and likes coffee almost as much as you!)

Cheers,

Phil.

Phil had been looking after the new arrivals since Rory began, they had gotten on really well and their discussions would usually run on long after the others had left. Rory put her jacket and bag down on her desk and headed for the kitchen. Phil had hinted that taking coffee for Roddy would be a good step and decided to trust his judgement.

5 minutes later with two extra strong coffees Rory stood in the lift watching the numbers changing.

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

And finally 26. She took a deep steadying breath and stepped out into the reception area. Walking to the nearest desk. "Hi I'm here to see Rod… Mr Parker, my na-"

"Rory Gilmore of course, come right this way Roddy is expecting you" the receptionist said cutting Rory off and stepping out from behind the desk to show her to the office. "Nice touch" she said as a bewildered Rory looked at her. "The coffee, nice touch, I swear the guys like a caffeine powered robot." Smiling she knocked, showed Rory into the office and then left.

Rory stood holding the coffees staring at a high backed chair that was facing out at the window in front of her. "Yeah sounds good, have them couriered over to me this am. Ok, Bye" The chair spun round revealing a stout man with greying hair, pale skin and green eyes. "I hope that one of those cups is going spare, I've been on a call for 35 minutes and not had one drop of coffee since I arrived this morning." He said eyeing up the cups.

Rory liked him already, she made her way into to the room towards the desk. "Someone might have let it slip that you like coffee, hope you don't mind it extra strong" and she placed the cup down between them. Roddy picked it up, sniffed it and took a long drink. Rory could see the colour in his cheeks returning more with each gulp he took.

He looked up and as he stood up to introduce himself "Hi I'm Roddy Parker, I am the editor of the Reviews section, and that was good coffee."

"Why thank you, it's really nice to meet you Mr Parker" she said as she shook his hand.

"Call me Roddy please. Sit" he gestured to the seat opposite him, Rory did as she was told. "As I am sure you are aware, I've asked to see you this morning as I have an assignment that I think you'd be great for. Word has reached me through the grapevine that you are an avid reader, and for someone of your generation this is something that is sadly very surprising." Rory nodded as he took another sip from the cup. "Phil has told me that you have a great knowledge of books, and that when you talk about them you do so with passion and a thirst for more." Rory blushed and found she was unable to speak, Roddy continued "I admire this in you Rory and I have read some of your pieces, that is why you were the first person that came to mind for this job. Are you ready to prove yourself Ms. Gilmore?" He was staring at Rory waiting for her answer.

"I…" She faltered as she began but soon steadied her voice. "I don't know where to start. Thank you for the wonderful things you just said, and thank you sooo much for this opportunity. I would love to work for you just tell me what you need me to do." Rory beamed as her heart thumped hard inside her chest.

"Fantastic! We received a press release on Friday from a new bookstore / publishing house that is opening its first branch in New York. They are holding an open night to advertise the store and the launch of their next book, which is a collection of short stories by up and coming New York authors. When I was thinking about who to give it to I thought to myself, what better story to give to an up and coming reporter than a review of up and coming authors. So what do you say, do you still want to take it?" he crossed his hands on the table and waited.

"You are kidding aren't you? Of course I want it! Thank you so much Mr. Par… I mean Roddy." Rory couldn't have hidden her excitement if she had tried. They chatted for another half hour going over the details of the launch and finally Rory made her way back down to the 18th floor.

Duncan and Bobby were hovering by the kitchen door, obviously waiting for Rory to return. She saw them standing there chatting distractedly and made her way over to them. "Well? Was it good, what'd you get?" Duncan asked as soon as she was within earshot.

"I bet it's something out of town, maybe even overseas." Bobby said with a hint of jealousy in her voice.

Rory decided to ignore this and instead turned to Duncan "It's better than I could eve have imagined. I get to cover the opening of a new bookstore and the launch of their newest book. The book is called New York by New York and is a collection of short stories by up and coming authors."

"I'm so jealous, well done you! I bet I'll get sports now." Duncan's nervousness had returned "we'd better get back to our keepers, we kept nipping back hoping to see you, I thought you'd never come back down, they will probably have noticed we're gone by now though."

"Have either of you seen Phil? I need to thank him for putting in a good word with Roddy for me."

Bobby shot a dagger at Rory as she passed her "He had to go out. You'll just have to thank him later."

Duncan watched Bobby leave and turned to a rather stunned Rory. "Don't mind her, she's just jealous. Now go get ready you have big night tonight." He hugged Rory and headed back to the other side of the office.

------------ Later that day ------------

Rory was changing for the 4th time, she didn't know what to wear. She wanted to be smart, casual and professional all at once but nothing in her wardrobe seemed to work. She looked in the spare room where she knew that her mum had left a bag with some things for when her and Luke came to stay. As soon as she opened the bag she saw the perfect top. It was a fitted blouse made with the most beautiful floaty material and the colour matched her eyes perfectly. She grabbed it and put it on with a black flowing skirt that dropped to just under her knee and finished the outfit with a pair of simple black heals just as the car signalled its arrival from the street below.

As the car cruised through the streets Rory checked the things in her bag for the 3rd time, she was sure she had forgotten something but couldn't think what. She was still rummaging in her bag when she heard the driver speak "Miss we are here. Are you ready to go in?"

"What? Oh yes thank you Eddie. Don't worry about collecting me, I'll be meeting some friends afterwards so I will make my own way back. Wish me luck" she said as she climbed out of the car. The front of the shop was painted black and had a banner over the door that read Grand Opening. Rory could see lots of people inside as she made her way to the door. Looking around Rory could see people chatting excitedly, a band setting up on the small stage at the side of the room and right at the back was a long table with what must be the 4 of the 5 authors sitting behind it. As she made her way to the back a man in a purple STAFF t-shirt approached her.

"Hi, thanks for coming tonight. I'm afraid the authors are meeting and greeting press only just now, can I get you something to drink while you wait?"

"Oh right, I'm sorry I am with the New York Times, do you need to see my pass?" She said as she was digging in her bag for it.

"The Times, I'm sorry I don't think I've seen you at any of these things before are you new?"

"Yeah, this is my first job, I'm here for Roddy Parker." She handed the man her pass.

"Rory Gilmore. Well it's nice to meet you Rory, and if Roddy Parker sent you then you must be good. The name's Kris" he held out his hand and Rory shook it. "So can I get you that drink and then I'll take you through to the press area. You will have 5 minutes to chat with each of the authors individually, it was supposed to be longer but they got way more interest than expected so we had to cut it. Then afterwards a couple of them will be doing readings before the real party starts." He pointed towards the stage where the band were still setting up and handed Rory a glass of champagne. "If you'd like to make your way up those stairs just there you can meet with the first author Tiffany Kurtz."

"Thanks, and for the drink" she raised her glass to Kris in appreciation and turned to the stairs. Another purple shirt greeted her at the top.

"Hi, this is Tiffany Kurtz, if you'd like to take a seat I will let you know when your 5 minutes are up" said the friendly girl.

Rory sat across from Tiffany, the only female author at the table, and even though she was sitting down Rory could tell that when she was standing she would be tall and slim. She had jet black hair and was dressed to match it. Rory couldn't help but think she looked a bit cliché. "Hi I'm Rory Gilmore, from the New York Times. It's really great to meet you. Now Ms Kurtz which of the stories is yours?"

"The first one Neon Dreams and Fluorescent Nightmares." She answered without looking up and Rory could tell that this was going to hard interview.

The 5 minutes felt more like 50 and Rory was relieved to be told she could move onto the next Author, Daniel Travelyan. He was much more laid back and the time passed quickly. Next along the table there was the empty seat, seeing that the 4th author was still engaged in a conversation with another reporter Rory sat opposite the empty seat to wait. She was checking over her notes from the previous two interviews when somebody spoke.

"Hey sorry to keep you waiting, there was a bit of a crisis with the band and since all the other staff were busy it was down to me to deal, and I thought I' at least get tonight off." He laughed as he took the seat opposite Rory who looked up. "I'm…" he stopped and stared into her eyes, the eyes that had lingered in his dreams since the day he had left Stars Hollow.

"Jess?" She too was staring, the noise the people everything else around them seemed to have disappeared and she felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Ok I'm sorry this chapter was so long and finished at the bit where most of you have been waiting for. There was a lot that I needed to get out so that I can set things up for later. Chapter 7 is well underway and will be up soon so please stick with me as it's going to get a lot better from here on in.

Please review so I know if I'm going in the right direction.

PGx

ps - Any thoughts on what people think should happen next would be appreciated. I have an idea of where this is leading but I am open to new ideas.