Authors Note: Hey Guys, I hope you're enjoying this ff. I kind of feel like this chapter was a bit of a filler chapter. I had a question as to what happened to Finn and Colin in the accident. This answers that. Also I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions of where you would like to see this go. I am reaching a block and I don't want to drag it out. Just not sure of where to go from here. So I am open to suggestions. As always I would love your reviews and feedback. =) D xx
"Excuse me?" Jess asked her.
"Well I haven't actually bought it yet, but I went to talk to John today about it and it took him some convincing that I truly do have a good seventeen million dollars to spend on a company and we called in some Lawyers and we drew up papers and we have made an offer on the '4A7' station here in New York." She told him before running short on breath.
"Rory that is amazing, so what does this mean. Where will you stand in the company?" He asked her.
"Well, John has made me a partner in his company and we will build the station back up together. We are going to expand into online media and it's so exciting. There is a lot of legal mumbo jumbo I won't bore you with but John is so smart and I really think we can make this a great station again. And do you know the best part? Mitchum Huntzburger had put an offer in but the man who owned it thinks Mitchum is a heartless robot so he was hanging out to see I he could get another offer before caving and we offered and he said yes so the papers are being drawn and we will own it and Mitchum can bite me!" She exclaimed.
"Rory that is so exciting, I am really impressed." He told her.
"I impress you hey Zuko? Without wearing my 'Pink Lady' jacket? It can't be true." She joked. "So I know you wouldn't have packed all day, what else happened?" She asked him.
"Oh you know, I read some stuff for truncheon and I sent my new novel to the editor. I talked to Geoff about the new store a little." He told her nonchalantly.
"Wait! What?" She began to question him, "You finished your novel? When? Is it great? I bet it is great. When can I read it? When will it be published? This is so exciting Jess, I am so proud of you." She said breathlessly.
"Don't get too excited, the editor might read it and hate it." He chuckled.
"Never! That is impossible because it will be great. You are such an amazing writer so by extension your book will be amazing and when you are a famous author and you have hundreds of book groupies running around after you I will be plugging your books on my new papers website and new station." She exclaimed excitedly. Jess just laughed at her. He could hear the smile in her words and he couldn't help but smile himself.
Mitchum Huntzburger stood in the doorway of John Heggerty's office at the 'New York Speaker'. John looked up at the publishing titan and placed an expression of innocent curiosity on his face.
"Mitchum, what can I help you with?" He asked brightly. He noticed Mitchum's lips pull into a tight line and the anger flash through his eyes. He could see the man was beyond mad and he knew exactly why.
"Don't play dumb with me Heggerty." He demanded, his voice catching the attention of many in the small office space. "You know very well HPG was in negotiations with '4A7' to buy the station from O'Reilly and I go to see the old man this morning to put in my final offer and he informs me that he has accepted another offer for the station. How in the hell have you managed to buy a news station? I know your readership has increased but I didn't realize it had increased to a fifteen million sum." John stared closely at Mitchum for a moment. He watched the anger seething inside him and the spoilt trust fund brat coming out in the grown man who was definitely not used to getting his own way. He couldn't help but smirk at the man, knowing it would only work to increase his anger.
"Well Mitchum, I obtained a new business partner. Very bright and smart young writer who came to me with the suggestion of branching out into other media ventures. Luckily for us they also came loaded with the capital to make the buy a reality." John told the irate business man in front of him.
"Oh really?" Mitchum spat at him. "Well how lucky for you. And I am sure that you were unaware of the discussion in progress between '4A7' and HPG?"
"Oh, no actually, we were well aware of those discussions. We were also aware of the reasons that those discussions had not progressed into any firm deals. Looks like the tiny little 'Speaker' that has never warranted any of your attention before has more soul then those robots working for HPG. Don't take it too personally Mitch, we won't be trying to take over your empire any time soon, this was just a great opportunity for this company to branch out and spread its wings. Now don't be too insulted when I say this but get the fuck out of my office!" John said smiling widely now at the enraged man. Mitchum made to turn around; knowing that no matter how much he yelled, screamed and even threatened it would get him no where. Before he had exited the office completely he turned back to John.
"Before I go, who is this great new partner with all the capital you have gained? I know everyone in the business and I don't recall anyone of that great a value coming onto the scene." He asked him.
"Oh you know this reporter Mitchum, you know them very well." He told him smugly.
"Who? Who is it then?" Mitchum asked, his anger rising again. When the voice hit him from behind he thought he would suffer whiplash with how quickly he turned to meet it. He met the bright blue eyes looking up at him with self-satisfied determination and the lips turned up in a smug smile. He had seen her angry before and he had seen her indignant. Hell, he had even seen her devastated but he had never seen this expression on her face. He knew the expression well though, as it was one he had worn himself, almost everyday. When he looked down at Rory Gilmore he could see a satisfied look of arrogance.
"That would be me."
Jess's phone vibrated obnoxiously on the hard desk in the truncheon office. It was his last day in the shop and he had found himself so overcome with nostalgia that he was enjoying the mundane task of inventory. He looked down at the caller ID on the screen, the number was unknown. He picked it up and hit the answer button.
"This is Jess."
"Hi, Jess Mariano?" the unfamiliar voice on the other end questioned.
"Yes, speaking." Jess confirmed.
"Hi this is Hannah Lyons, I work for Hawthorn Publishing." She explained. Jess new the publisher; it was one of the larger and more successful in the country. He was still a little confused as to why they would be calling him, however.
"How can I help you?" He asked her.
"Well Mr. Mariano, your editor Sharni passed on a copy of your novel for us to read." She began to explain. Jess's brow furrowed with even more confusion. He hadn't been aware that Sharni planned on passing his work on. He also was unsure as to why they were calling him about it, shouldn't they have been calling Sharni with their rejection. He realized he had completely tuned out of the conversation. He pulled himself back to now and listened to what the woman on the phone.
"So it shouldn't take to long, it's already a wonderful body of work, I would say three months tops and then we hit a release and tour."
"I'm sorry," Jess said, shaking his head, "What are we releasing and touring?"
"Your novel, Mr. Mariano. Hawthorn would like to publish you novel."
Jess had decided to keep his novel news under wraps for a little while. Miss Lyons had explained that there would be about three months of further editing before it would be ready to publish and he knew a lot could change in that time. As all men are aware, he knew there was nothing less gratifying then peaking too soon. He had instead focused on moving his things to New York and into Rory's. They had spent the weekend, helped by Luke and Lorelai, getting his boxes in and unpacking. Rory had been right; their combined library took up a room all on its own. Luke and Lorelai had left in the evening on the Saturday and Jess had promptly taken Rory back inside to really celebrate their moving in together. They had made love in every room and had drifted off to sleep on the lounge room floor as the sun was rising and peaking into the apartment. They had woken after noon, entwined together on the floor.
"Welcome home." Rory said to him, kissing his chest lightly.
"I forgot how much I missed this city." He murmured into her hair.
"It is beautiful." Rory agreed with him "I am sure it has missed you too. Coffee?" She asked him, unwrapping herself from his arms and pouring herself a mug of the godly liquid. Jess shook his head and moved from the floor.
"Shower." He told her. "I thought you might join me and then we could head out to get food of some sort."
"A shower sounds wonderful," Rory agreed. "But, I actually have something to do this afternoon." She looked down at her feet and Jess could sense she was slightly uncomfortable.
"Ok that's fine." He told her curiously. He wanted to know where she planned on going but he could see from her expression she didn't want to discuss it. She looked up at him and shrugged.
"You can join me if you want. It won't be a fun filled afternoon that is for sure but you can come." She told him.
"If you want me to come I will." He told her. She nodded at him, and then before the mood in the room could increase in awkwardness she stepped towards him, taking his hand and leading them into their bathroom.
They stood outside an unassuming, brick building in the city. A sign out the front read 'Saddler House'. Jess watched as Rory took a deep breath, her face creased the way it would when she was worried about something. Jess squeezed her hand, desperately trying to reassure her. He felt a little unsure himself as he was still confused as to where they were. She looked up at him and smiled slightly.
"You ready?" He asked her. She nodded towards him and they took a step inside. The building was very clean, sterile to be exact. It felt like a really fancy hospital. Rory approached the desk and spoke to the middle aged receptionist behind it. Jess hung back and looked around the lobby area they were in. There were a series of black and white photographs on the wall showing children playing in the streets of New York. Young girls playing jump rope, a little boy blowing bubbles and a close up of a chubby little hand drawing on the pavement in chalk. Jess felt his heart constrict. He had never had a strong reaction to children before. He was pretty fond of his sister, Doula, despite her crazy parents, but as far as having any other kids around, it had never really called to him. So why was he having such a strong reaction to some fingers and chalk? He looked over at Rory and caught the receptionist explaining directions. Rory turned around and caught Jess's eye and gestured towards the elevator with her head. Jess walked towards her and took her hand in his before they entered the elevator together.
They walked down a corridor and stopped before a door numbered 446. Rory raised her hand before hesitating.
"Are you ok?" Jess asked her. Rory looked at him and bit her lip.
"I, well I mean we, are here to see a friend of mine." She told him. Jess nodded at her and waited for her to continue, knowing there had to be more to the story. "My friend isn't really with us anymore. They probably won't even realize we are here and even if they do they won't know who I am. They are in a wheelchair and basically can not do anything for themselves anymore. Not eat, or talk or anything. I just want to warn you before we walk in there." Jess nodded at her words and he squeezed her hand. She knocked on the heavy wooden door and a woman in a nurse's uniform answered.
"Rory?" She asked, "It's so nice of you to come today."
"This is my boyfriend, Jess." Rory introduced them, "Jess this is Jenny." Jess reached out and took the woman's hand.
"How is he?" Rory asked.
"He is the same." Jenny said sadly. "But it's nice of you to come. There haven't been any other visitors."
"Really?" Rory asked. This made her so incredibly sad. They walked into a small sunlit room, with a large window that looked out onto the city. Rory walked over to the figure in the chair and bent down to lay a gentle kiss on their temple.
"Hey Finn, I miss you buddy."
As Rory lay snuggled up under Jess's arm while he tried to read, both their minds however were wandering.
"That friend of yours today, Finn." Jess began to ask her, "That was Logan's friend wasn't it. One of the guys in the wreck with him?"
"Uh, Yeah." Rory answered him honestly. Jess nodded in understanding before continuing. "What about that other guy, Colin, What happened to him?"
"Colin died as well, like Logan." She told him. "Finn was thrown out of the car before it rolled, otherwise he would have died too. Although seeing him today maybe it would have been better. Can you think of anything worse then living like that? It's not really living is it?"
"Definitely wouldn't choose to spend the rest of my life as a turnip. Guess that is why we should enjoy the time we have." He told her.
"Well look at you getting all wise and philosophical." Rory joked. "But I know what you mean. Seeing him like that definitely put things into perspective. Everything I want from life."
She leaned up and kissed Jess on the mouth, opening her lips to allow his tongue access. Their kiss quickly deepened and it wasn't long before he was inside of her and both of them were reaching the ultimate release. Afterwards as Rory lay sleeping in his arms Jess came to realize what it was he wanted out of life. He wanted to be a father.