Trial of Error
Chapter Ten: Backup
Description: Set just after Will You Be My Lorelai Gilmore? Logan heads off to Vegas with Colin and Finn, but Rory doesn't let it just pass without having her say. Unfortunately for Rory, what happens in Vegas isn't going to stay in Vegas.
Ship: Rogan
Rating: T
Logan came away from the counter with three large coffees, all black. He navigated back to a table where Lorelai sat in wait, as he gave her two cups and kept one for himself. He slid his wallet back into the inside pocket of the jacket in one of his good suits, ready to head off to an interview.
"Thanks for coming," he said earnestly.
"You made it sound important. Is she okay?"
Logan nodded with consideration. "Yeah, she's fine. But we were at my parents' house last night and sometimes that can have aftereffects that sink in later on, the kind that inspire long walks on the edge of bridges or overpasses. This interview came up last minute, and while it might not amount to anything, it's based in New York, and I know Rory would rather stay on the East Coast, so it was worth checking out."
Lorelai gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Not that my opinion counts, but I wouldn't hate the idea of you guys sticking around myself."
Logan grinned at her forthcoming honesty. "I know. But you know how she gets with unscheduled time and stress, and she doesn't have a morning class on Mondays and I just thought it would be a good idea if she had company."
"She's lucky to have us," Lorelai declared.
"I can't disagree," he added.
"Now, before I go up there and she tells me how fine she is," she said, straining the f-word, "how did things go, really?"
He hesitated. "My parents want us to have a real wedding, which to them is a half-million-dollar production. My father brought in the legal team and the ministry, all to welcome her to the family properly."
"Sadly, I have been there," Lorelai said with a sigh. "But how was the mood?"
"They were cordial—though offended that we weren't willing to bend to their wishes, of course. My mother did her best to break Rory with psychological torture, but luckily her methods aren't as persuasive as my father's. She and Rory don't exactly share common mentalities to begin with."
"I suppose if they were warm and welcoming, it would be scarier than anything else," Lorelai mused.
"It would terrify me to my very core, that's for sure. Look, head on up. I need to run if I'm going to make the train."
"Good luck. And I'm not just saying that because I want you two to stay local. I hope you'll find something you love."
"Thanks," he said, with a nod as he made his way out the door. Lorelai armed herself with both coffees and made her way out to the stairwell and up to her daughter's newlywed apartment.
Rory opened readily at her mother's knock, looking surprised but appreciative. "You brought me coffee?"
"Your husband thought you might like some company."
Rory rolled her eyes but took the drink. "I'm fine. I'm more than fine. I have a free morning, my husband has an interview, and I have coffee."
Lorelai made a strangled noise. "I'm still getting used to the whole husband part, myself."
Rory sat cross-legged on her unmade bed and beamed at her mother. "I noticed. I'm still adapting myself, but it helps that I remember actually getting married now."
Lorelai stopped in her tracks. "Whoa. When did that happen?"
"I was out on the back patio at his parents' compound, listening to his mother tell me about the obligations of Huntzberger wives and how to come to terms with Logan sleeping around if he wants to," she said as if it were a normal recollection.
"She did not!"
"Oh, she did. But I started defending us, and our right to live our lives the way we want, and it just all came back to me."
"Who would have thought that talking to Shira would have proved useful?"
"Right? Anyway, all the little bits that had come back just fit together like a puzzle and it was like I was there. I mean, I was there, at the time, but reliving it, for the first time with my own memories."
"Without delving into the dirty parts of your becoming a wife, tell me all about it," Lorelai encouraged.
"It was surreal. We were just so spontaneous, which admittedly, is more normal for Logan than for me, but it evolved so naturally at the same time. One minute I was yelling at him for taking off, then we were talking about how we saw things going from here on out, then we were engaged."
"And thanks to Las Vegas, you didn't have to wait to do the deed."
Rory ran her finger around the top of her cup, tracing the grooves of the lid. "Are you mad? That you didn't get to be there?"
"Mad? No. Maybe a tiny, itty-bitty bit disappointed. I mean, you are my only kid, and while I wasn't exactly harboring Emily Gilmore-esque dreams about planning your wedding, I did sort of think I'd be there when and if the day came."
Rory nodded in understanding. "I thought that too. You know, if his parents get their way, you'll get to be at the reenactment."
"Reenactment? What is it, your wedding or a historic battle?"
"If we let Shira and Emily plan a wedding reception together, it could be both," Rory mused.
Lorelai laughed. "True enough. I've never seen my mother hate anyone quite as much as she does Shira Huntzberger. And now you've gone and married the enemy."
"You can't hate him that much, if you came when he called."
"He was concerned about you, I can't fault him for that. And I've never hated him. Hate is such a strong word, one I like to reserve for women who look better in an outfit than I do. Logan could never pull off my little black dress."
"I'm really fine. I mean, I might have woken up once or twice last night, a little concerned."
"Concerned about what?"
"Well, just everything. I have finals coming up soon."
"Is that all?"
Rory shrugged. "We're going out of town at the end of the week, to California. I've had to do a little juggling with my schedule."
"Anything else?"
Rory shrugged, looking away. "I don't exactly have job offers pouring in yet."
"It's early."
"I know, but it's just all always in the back of my mind. I'm trying to stay in the present moment and roll with the punches, but it's hard for me. I'm not exactly the most carefree person in the world."
Lorelai nodded sympathetically. "You like to have a plan."
"And I know it's something I should work on, being less constrained. I want to be able to enjoy life as it comes. That's a lot of the reason I'm with Logan. He helps me live in the moment."
Lorelai cringed. "Feel free to stop before you get gushy and gross."
Rory stuck her tongue out at her mother. "My point is, he's worth any compromises I might have to make."
"I've heard marriage involves quite a lot of compromise," Lorelai offered. "At least, when one wishes to stay married."
Rory winced. "Yes, well, I didn't say it would be easy. I'm still not sure I'll be successful at it. But I've promised him my best effort and I love him. I just hope those things are enough."
"Just take it one day at a time. That's what I did, when we opened the Dragonfly. That and raising you are the two most dedicated things I ever did, and the key to that kind of commitment is to take things as they come. So maybe if he helps you live in the moment, he'll be the one to stick around."
Rory smiled and hugged her mom. "I'm glad you're here."
"Well, it's nice to be included, even this late in the game," Lorelai said, adding just a splash of guilt into the proceedings.
"You are upset!" Rory accused.
"I'm not! I've seen you two making googly eyes at each other, and I'm not sure I would have made it through the ceremony without hurling. No offense."
"How am I not supposed to take offense to that?"
"Do you enjoy watching me flirt with men?"
Rory stiffened at the idea. "Okay. I see your point. Let's just move on to another topic, shall we?"
Lorelai raised her cup to her lips in thought. "Did I tell you Kirk's signed up to go around the world in a hot-air balloon for charity?"
-X-
Logan opened the door that led to a longer corridor, all lined with doors similar in appearance, the only notable difference the names etched in black script on the panes of frosted glass on each. She stayed at a fast clip, remaining within the confines of his arm that partially encircled her and kept steady at the small of her back. Her heels echoed on the marble tile, and the whole place smelled of old books and ink. Had they been there for any other reason, she might enjoy the experience, for the sheer olfactory delight alone.
"This shouldn't take too long," he said, for what had to be the tenth time since they left the house.
"Do you really believe that, or are you trying to convince yourself?" she asked.
He offered her a half smile, the result of nerves. "You know me so well."
She lifted a shoulder. "When you've been married as long as we have, it comes naturally."
He laughed and kissed her cheek. "Thanks. I needed that."
"It's just a meeting with a lawyer. He was nice enough, if not a little stodgy."
Logan halted in the hallway, forcing her to an abrupt stop as well. "It's not just him. Is that what you thought?"
She frowned. "You said we were meeting with your father's lawyer."
"Lawyers," he said, stressing the last letter. "And my father, schedule permitting, though I can't imagine what kind of event would supersede this on his schedule. The death of the empire, maybe, a total shut-down of all print media, perhaps. Especially now, with him having so little in the way of bargaining power over the rest of my future."
Rory's mouth gaped. "I thought he was happy for us."
Logan nodded succinctly. "He is. Mostly. I think."
"Then why is this still such a big deal? You were very clear with your intentions about work and our marriage."
He smiled, softly, at her naivety. "I'm trying, my absolute best, I want you to know that, to make this as swift and painless as possible—the transition away from my father and his control over my life. But you've met the man. He doesn't take no for an answer and he doesn't back down from any opponent. And if he thinks there is even the slightest chance I might so much as blink, he's going to seize any foothold."
"All of this so his son will take his place?" she asked. "Why can't Honor take over? She's first-born."
"Honor might do well covering a gossip column or perhaps writing an advice column about sex and dating for one of his papers, but being a CEO of a major multimedia empire has never really been her desire. She's far more dedicated to long lunches and vacationing on the water where foreign men bring her drinks with umbrellas in them as she suns herself in the sand."
Rory pursed her lips. "Honor is far more headstrong and motivated than that."
"When she wants to be, yes. But as much as she likes to point out the unfairness of our patriarchal, male-dominated family dynamic, she would have entered the witness protection program to hide from my father if she were in my place. But none of that matters, because there is no such thing as suggesting alternative solutions to these people. My father wants what he wants, as it was written in the beginning of time, and I'm going to put up a wall and tell him what he's going to get. He's gonna be pissed, but I've spent my life building up immunity to that particular emotion from him."
"And it's necessary that I be there for all this?"
Logan nodded. "Having you there will remind me why I'm pushing back so hard. And there will be some paperwork for you to sign," he added.
"You say that a lot these days. Maybe I should have a stamp made. Oh, wait, this is the courthouse."
He smiled at her as if she were the most adorable creature he'd ever seen. "You're just figuring that out now?"
She tilted her head, glaring at him a little. "Can't I get one of those forms here? At the Social Security office, to change my name?"
His mouth dropped open. "I, uh, yeah. You could," he said, emphasizing his last word heavily.
"You don't want me to?" she asked, suddenly concerned.
"No! It's not about what I want. I just thought we'd discussed this. You were going to wait."
"Well, I mean, it's been a couple of weeks now. We've told everyone, and now that I've remembered the night we got married," she trailed off happily. "It can't hurt to get the form."
He pulled her in, his hands at her waist, and kissed her soundly in the hallway. "No, it can't hurt at all. I wish I could say the same for this meeting."
"What kind of law firm has its offices in the courthouse, anyway?" she asked.
"We're not meeting them at the office. This is an arbitration," he explained.
"What?" she yelped.
"I told you, my father wasn't going to make this easy."
"But isn't that a little extreme?" she asked.
"Did you expect anything else from my father?" he turned the question back on her. "The arbitration is solely about my ending my professional ties with the family, but while we're here he wanted to go over the necessary paperwork to amend the family's paperwork in reference to my inheritance as far as the marriage affects it. It would be easier if they weren't intertwined, but that's how the Huntzbergers operate."
Rory seemed dazed. "Right."
He squeezed her hand. "All you have to do is hold my hand and sign off when we're done."
"Okay."
"It's going to be fine," he said, stressing the last word a little too much.
"Meaning we'll survive?"
"I wouldn't have made you come if I didn't have to," he offered, by way of making her feel at all better about the situation.
"I just wish I believed that it was just business, that it wasn't personal, because you married me and not someone they liked better."
"You don't get business and personal issues handled separately in my family," he admitted. "But we will. After this, they're just the people who contributed their DNA to me, not my bosses or my punishers."
"Do I get to be your boss?" she asked impishly.
"The second we get home," he agreed readily and kissed her again. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Giving me a dirty image or two to get me through the next few hours," he said, as he took her hand and encouraged her to step quickly to their final destination.
"Wait… few hours?" she echoed as they hurried along the hallway.
-X-
Honor sat at the end of the bar, with a martini glass filled with pink liquid, staring at her cell phone as she waited. Rory slid her purse down her arm and hung it on the back of the chair next to her sister-in-law and told the bartender to bring another of whatever he'd brought Honor.
Honor was instantly focused on Rory. "So, how'd it go?"
"There are no words," Rory said with a shudder.
"You're the one that married my brother. Surely you knew the kind of trouble you were heaping on yourself."
Rory cast a side-long glance at her companion. "Don't ever tell him I said this, but it was easier when he was toeing the line and honoring his family commitments in a completely half-assed manner."
"I might have expected him to admit that, but not you. You hate Herr Mitchum."
"I don't hate him. I mean, I did, for a while. I had his picture on the center of the dartboard at the Daily News. I drew little horns on his head, and I got to be a really good shot. But that was before; I can't hate my father-in-law."
Honor snorted. "Why not? People do it all the time."
"You don't like your in-laws?"
"Oh, my God, no, I love them. His mom makes casseroles and works part time at a bank, and his dad is a golf instructor. They're the most normal people I've ever met. Being at their house is like wearing a Snuggie. It's a bungalow for crissakes."
Rory blinked at Honor. "That's a good thing?"
"It's nice not to have to be on, all the time. In our house, you couldn't just hang out and relax, it wasn't done. You had to be coiffed and pressed and presentable, because there was always some dignitary or other over for dinner or brunch or over to play Canasta. I can be myself with Josh, and with his parents. They don't expect me to be anything else. It's great. I mean, I love dressing up and talking to famous people. It's fun, now and then. But it's stressful to live that way all the time, and I didn't want to end up like my mother."
"I don't think any of us want to end up like your mother," Rory agreed, knocking back half her drink in one go. "That's good."
"I find anything pink or blue usually to be a crowd pleaser," Honor mused.
"How much do you know?" Rory asked.
"About today? Well, I know you that you love my stupid brother enough to go into the lion's den time and again. And that he was in a pissy mood afterward, but he spoke glowingly about your patience. He likened you to Biblical characters."
"It was awful. Your father is treating him like a deserter. And it's not like Logan was looking to get money out of the deal. He's not asking for anything, other than to be left alone."
"My father won't agree to that. Logan is the heir, which makes his kids in line for the throne, even if he abdicates," Honor said with a simple shrug.
"Yes, we were explained how it all works in great detail. We were talked to about our children, whom we haven't even decided we'll have yet."
"You don't want kids?" Honor asked with interest.
"Not this immediate minute. We got married fast, but not out of an attempt to hide anything."
"Hiding things is something our family loves to pull off, at least socially. Behind closed doors, there are more strings than a puppet show."
"There is one solution to all this," Rory said slowly.
"Murder-suicide pact?" Honor guessed.
"A simple deletion. If everything got shifted to the first-born, not the first-born son, you could take over for your dad."
"Why on earth would I want to do that?" Honor asked, outwardly horrified.
"Because it's as much your birthright as it is Logan's, to accept or reject. He shouldn't have to pay penalties and pass the buck onto his kids because he's following his heart. Families shouldn't work that way."
"You want me to put this on my kids?"
"These kids don't actually exist!" Rory exclaimed, not for the first time that day. "Sorry. I have a headache, still, and I'm a little short-tempered. I stayed calm for Logan, but this is bothering him way more than he's letting on. He went to bed at eight-thirty. I nearly called a doctor, I was so worried."
"Listen, Rory, Logan's not new to this. He's spent his whole life being told the drill, as have I. Since he was born, he's been told he was a future CEO of big business, a newspaper man, a smart, capable guy that would run the world. I was told to marry well and taught how to pick out the right shade of lipstick for each season."
"Doesn't that piss you off? Wouldn't it be the best revenge to become your dad's boss, fire him, and take the business into the next phase?"
"My father and I have a very different relationship than what he and Logan have. I wish I could help you out, I really do, but it's not my place. Trite as it might be, I accepted my role in the family long ago. I might like to stir things up once in a while, and I do stand up for things that are important to me, like being with Josh, but I can't get involved in this fight. Logan's going to have to stay the course and get out on his own. I'm sorry I can't help more. I like you. I like having a sister. And I love that you want to intervene on Logan's behalf. He hasn't had anyone do that for him before. He deserves that."
Rory was crestfallen. "He doesn't have the money. What your father wants him to pay back, he doesn't have it. He lost a lot in the last deal he tried to make at the company, and this is going to kill him. He wouldn't say no, he's too proud for that, but your dad is going to have him on a payment plan. I told him, over and over again that I'm good at shoe-string budgeting and that I love him no matter how much money there is, and that as soon as we both get jobs we won't even notice the monthly dent, but he's never had to live like that."
Honor sighed and stared into her drink. "I'm not the only option."
"What's that mean? Does your father have an illegitimate son running around somewhere?"
Honor smirked. "Possibly, though I'm sure he'd be paying through the nose if he did. I meant you."
"Me? Taking Logan's place? I couldn't."
Honor nodded. "Why not? You're smart, you're a journalist, you want that life, and you're a Huntzberger now."
"I… can't. Logan wants to be away from all that. He doesn't want that kind of life."
"For himself," Honor corrected.
"Your father would never go for that," Rory added.
"You'd be surprised how badly he wants to keep it in the family. You're family now, and the next best thing to Logan. Hell, you even looked up to the old man at one point in your life, which is more than he can say for his real kids," Honor explained.
"He was pretty adamant that the original wording be kept intact," Rory argued.
"He wants it routed through the eldest son. You're married to the eldest son. The children sired from Logan will also come from you. It's a blurry line, but it's certainly a viable option if all parties were amenable."
Rory chewed at her bottom lip. "When you put it that way, I guess it almost makes sense. Not that I'm saying I think it's at all feasible."
"I'm not saying you have to make that choice. But I do think it is a choice you could make," Honor clarified.
"Is that what sisterly advice is?" Rory asked with a nervous laugh.
"I usually find advice from siblings is for your best interest, though often it's the last thing you wanted to hear. But, as an upside, we can share make-up and clothes, whereas I never had that option with Logan. Though his friend Finn did like to wear my shoes."
Rory leaned in conspiratorially. "Did you ever hook up with any of Logan's friends?"
Honor did her best to appear horrified at the thought, but caved a little. "I may have had a little too much to drink at Logan's graduation party and made out with Finn in my room. Tell anyone, ever, and I'll deny it."
Rory smirked, understanding the feeling. "How was it?"
"Surprisingly good. Thank God we got interrupted, or who knows what might have happened. Though I guess Logan would have been mortified to know his sister had hooked up with his friend. There's a silver lining to everything, right? Like you getting drunk and marrying my brother—I get a sister out of the deal."
"There's more good than that to come out of it, I hope," Rory added.
Honor held up her fresh glass, encouraging Rory to do the same in a toast. "To getting drunk and making life-changing decisions."
Rory clinked the glass with hers, realizing how very pertinent that toast was. "Guess I have to drink to that, don't I?"