Chapter 29 - 2011 Rory and Robert
Saying that Robert was stressed was an understatement. He was in the team preparing the President's trip to Europe and of course in particular in charge of the France part for the G8 summit. As a France lover, he made it a point to do the best he could for the President's visit in his favorite country. Everything had to go off without a hitch and he was trying hard not to overreact. He had several contacts with the French president's cabinet director, Emmanuelle Mignon that he'd met with Rory. The French were glad to have a counterpart that was fluent in French but also so at ease with their protocol. It was the last year of the term for the French President and he wanted to show off in contemplation of his reelection. For that, he got help from Nicolas. Over the years, the huge amount of American security details always had been a problem, but Robert managed it smoothly. Spending so much time in Nicolas' family made him an expert on French diplomacy. Surprisingly, what he was looking forward was the two days in London preceding the French summit. He would be able to spend some time with Logan, whom he hadn't seen since their Australian vacation. Logan enjoyed his new life in London and had numerous workmates, but none were real friends. Because of the time difference and their workload, his Yale buddies were poorly available on a day-to-day basis and he wished he had a more trusted social network. His situation wasn't that different from what Robert was living by himself in DC. Therefore, the two men were excited to spend some time together like two toddlers for a play date. They started with a dinner in a hip restaurant even if neither of them really care anymore for this kind of place, but Logan wanted to show his old friend what was considered the best in London. What they enjoyed the most were the looks they got from the ladies, and what they relished even more was not hitting on them. Logan did smirk back once or twice at a gorgeous black woman, but didn't bother going any further.
"So, Robert, Colin told me that you were considered for the House of Representatives?"
"Well, I was, but it's really not my kind of gig. From the inside, American politics has become just another team sport, and I know what they saw in me was just my family and everything that goes with it, you know, money, all the connections and add to that my academic education. Maybe because I'm young so they think they can mold me to what they want. They just thought that with my background, campaigning would be a piece of cake. I'm just not cut out for that."
"I know it's not your thing. So you're thinking of quitting the White House?"
"Well, I got offered a junior lecturer position at Harvard and I'm considering it, just don't want to leave David and the President so maybe I'll wait until the end the reelection."
They enjoyed their dinner making small talk and then moved to a bar where they finally let go and tried several single malt scotches. They were on a 16-year-old Lagavulin when they got past the drunken state and hidden feelings were coming out, as if they thought that everything would be erased in the morning. Logan gazed at his friend and decided it was time to talk about the one person they hadn't mentioned since the beginning of their evening.
"You know, I always thought that after the Vineyard, you would take the leap and start something with Rory right away, and I have to admit, I'm pretty relieved you guys didn't. I'm absolutely sure I wouldn't have been able to handle you two together. I know she's over me, I let her go and I'll never get her back, but I can't help feeling that she's still mine. Sometimes, I still think I would be able to hear her heartbeat from miles away. I know, I'm not supposed to tell you that, but on the other hand, you're the only one who could understand what I'm feeling. She got under our skin, in our brains, and we're both screwed, aren't we? Who would think that out of us, Finn was the smartest and got out of it in time, but we poor bastards, we're still here pinning on her?"
Robert was just nodding, the alcohol had numbed his brain. He was just able to listen to the words that his friend was burping out. After all, maybe Logan was right, it had been too long and there was no way Rory and him would be together anymore, he was finally at the same place as his blonde friend. He finally was able speak.
"Have you figured out how she does that? You know, I never saw it coming, I had this crush on her since Yale, but nothing major, and then it turned on me, I became addicted to her smell, her presence, her skin, her voice, her… everything."
"That's what I'm telling you man, we're screwed because we can't do anything about it, we can't even blame her. And you, you're the best friend ever, I know I was unfair to you, but I have to say, and I promise I'll deny it if you repeat this, I've always been jealous of you."
"Are you kidding me? You, Logan Huntzberger, jealous of me?" Robert gazed at his friend stunned. He'd never imagine that Logan Hunztberger, the most confident guy he knew, the epitome of the alpha male, could be jealous of someone.
"Come on, Robert, we both know you're the smartest of us all, but over all, you have one thing that we didn't get, the most precious thing. I would give anything to have that - you're free, a free spirit, free of your family, you just don't care of what people think of you."
"Logan, I didn't free myself, my parents are just open-minded people and just raised us like that. I didn't do anything."
"Yes, precisely, why did you get that and not me? Why did I get the Huntzbergers? Oh, I have to tell you something, I think I'm gonna got my revenge for the Rory thing."
Robert barely raised an eyebrow and gazed at his friend. What now?
"I'm gonna have the one girl that you couldn't get."
"Huh, I don't know what you're talking about, there are a lot of girls that got this particular characteristic."
"I met Odette de Valmy."
Robert laughed. "How is she? When did that happen? And I very much doubt that you're her type."
"Mitchum introduced me to her at the private preview at the FIAC in Paris, you know, this boring contemporary art thing at the Grand-Palais. He wants to do business with her father. She's incredible, I thought I was going to have a dull evening but jeez, she's brilliant."
"She's so much more than that, Logan, don't play with her. Although I'm sure she won't fall for you," Robert smirked. There was no way that his smart French friend would fall for a cocky American, she was much too clever for that.
"So that's what you think, I'm not good enough for women like Odette and Rory?"
"You perfectly know what I think, you messed up with Rory because of your dumb ultimatum. She was madly in love with you, she would have done anything for you even bear your parents, you just couldn't wait a little while for her."
"I know, I know." Logan gave an apologizing look to his friend "Sorry. Back, to Odette, so you guys are friend, aren't you? You guys never hooked up?"
"Nope, we've known each other since we were five, it's kind of like you, Colin and Steph."
"Yep and Colin is with Steph now, you see, when the girl is worth it, love can take over friendship."
"Seriously Logan, you're interested in Odette?"
"I'm messing with you, I think she's an amazing woman, the kind we don't mess around with, so I won't try anything because I'm not ready for anything serious. She speaks so highly of you it's sickening. Just wondering why you hadn't tried anything with her, you're more her type, you know the PhD type."
"I did, we were eight, she had to choose between Nicolas and me, she picked him but even with him, a few months later, she moved to Alexandre Denoyer though."
"So you've got a track record of hitting on your best friend's girl?"
"You can see it like that, but at the end she dumped both of us for Alexandre and I'm still friend with her and Nicolas, when the winner is now out of the picture." Robert was happy talking about his French friends.
"Yeah, we've already been through this, you're already got the award of the most loyal friend ever. But now I get it, you're actually the best at being friend zoned by girls, not just by Rory."
They both laughed. Robert had missed this friendship, just like Logan, he was doing well in DC, made friends but nothing like what he had with the Yale gang.
"Why don't we call it a night, as much as I enjoy our male bonding thing, I've got to get to Deauville tomorrow and I'm supposed to have all my neurons wired properly."
As planned, the President's trip to Deauville went without a problem and Robert was relieved. Nevertheless, he couldn't see the point to this kind of summit. It was such a debauchery of wealth for so little result. On the plane back to the US he thought about his talk with Logan and it struck him that maybe he was thinking too much of his past, how he missed his Yale friends as much as his French childhood ones. And that was without considering his inability to move on from Rory. It wasn't that bad considering that Logan was still hung up too. He felt bad for him and decided that he had to pull himself up and do something.
# # #
Rory was assigned to report on the "Media and Politics in Times of Crisis and Change" conference that was held at Harvard. The program was pretty interesting and she was looking forward to listen to several of the speakers and in particular to David Axelrod.
At the beginning of the morning session, the chairman made a brief introduction and announced that due to an emergency, David Axelrod wasn't able to attend the conference and that Robert Semple would speak instead. Her heart pounded a little harder and instantly Rory searched for him in the room, to finally found him in the second row. She could only spot the back of his head covered by his dark locks but she knew that this neck, this white collar and dark blue jacket were his. He had a laptop in front of him and was checking his power point presentation. She wondered if he knew that she was in the room. She looked down at her dark blue pantsuit, and wiped out imaginary crumbs. She sighed, she knew she should have worn a skirt this morning and she pulled out her lip gloss from her purse.
His talk was brilliant and the audience seemed to have really appreciated it. He had numerous interesting questions which he tackled smartly. She'd always found him talented, but his years at the White House had clearly changed him to an exceptionally accomplished speaker. She could perfectly see why he had been proposed to run for office. His ability to address the public, his calm demeanor, as well as his natural charm and good manners made him appear as a confident winner. At the end of the session several people were talking to him and she wondered if she would be able to approach him. She was going to give up and heading to exit the room when she felt his gaze on her back, and turned around to see that while he was still conversing with two people, he was looking for her eyes. She slightly raised her hand and started to slowly walk down toward him. She could hear him trying to close the conversation. He finally handled his business card and dismissed them. He smiled at her and walked to her.
"What a nice surprise," he said with his deep voice tone. Rory suddenly launched herself at him, hugged him and let his scent reel in her. He closed his eyesand realized that he was sniffing her hair. 'That isn't awkward' he thought to himself.
"How long are you staying in Boston?" she asked barely loud enough to be heard. She was actually slightly impressed by this new Robert. He had always been confident, but this time she was witnessing him in his professional environment.
"I'm going back to DC this afternoon, as you heard I wasn't supposed to attend the conference so I have to get back to the White House. Do you have time for a quick lunch?" He looked at her expectantly.
"Sure, the next session doesn't start until 2 pm."
It had been two years that they hadn't see each other besides the awful encounter in the restaurant, but the weirdness almost instantly left for their closeness to take back its place.
"How are you?" he smiled at her. "Everything's good?"
"Everything's good," she answered beaming at him. He had his look in his eyes and at the same time they were serious with sparks that would made people think he was about to burst laughing.
"You? How is life treating you? You look well. Do you still run?" She did find him even more attractive and he had not pull out his glasses yet...
"Yeah, I guess you know… It's not easy to lose a bad habit. I now have to get up at 5 to run my ten miles before getting to the office. It's the only moment that I get for myself, after that I'm at the office by 7:30."
"You were wise to choose to live not far from the White House. I'm still at the Jamaica Plains apartment, but I never took another roommate," she reported. He probably knew that, but she felt that as it was the first time in two years that they were talking face to face, she wanted to start fresh. "I didn't think I could share it with someone else, so now I have a very nice guest room if you ever come to Boston. Colin has already used it." Robert beamed at her and put his glasses on. She exhaled and looked back at her menu.
"I'm sure he did." He felt the awkwardness of their encounter slowly lifting up. Still, he was perusing the menu, not looking at her, too scared of his emotions.
"So, how do you like your life in DC?" she tried to have him talk about him.
"You know, there are lows, but the highs more than make up for the long stressful working days, the panic intrinsic to deadlines and possible derailments. Even if I don't, I can see how some people could become addicted to the adrenaline."
They ordered and once he had locked eyes with her, he wasn't able to move them away anymore. He told her that he was always reading the Globe before the New-York Times or the Washington Post and that his workmates were making fun of him and never forget to leave him the paper version on his desk. He knew by then that his resolution to move on from her had vanished. Reading her gaze, he could see that something was bothering her. He had developed this skill when they were roommates and she knew she wouldn't be able to get past him.
"Rory, we don't have much time left before I have to catch my plane, so if you wanna talk…"
She pondered for a few seconds but after all, who could be a better listener?
"Sure… Actually, I would like to run something by you." she gave him a quizzical look.
For the first time, Rory confided to someone that she was starting to have doubts about working in a newsroom. The presidential election campaign had started but Rory sensed that she didn't feel the same excitement as she used to have whenever she was assigned to a new story. Most of the time she was on autopilot mode. Apart from some special investigations, it always was the same process. She felt guilty not feeling the same passion anymore. The only satisfying moment was the writing. Thankfully, she loved the editorial part of her work. She came to the conclusion that she still needed to write, but not as a reporter anymore. Nevertheless, in her head, it wasn't very clear yet.
"What about politics? Do you still like politics?" he asked trying to decipher what was going on in her mind.
"I do," she answered wondering where he was heading.
"Have you ever thought about speech writing? I know numerous politicians that would kill to have someone like you. The bottom line is that you're a born writer and an amazing story teller. I'm not surprised that you're not that excited about reporting anymore. To tell you the truth, I've always thought that your true calling was to write fiction, but knowing you, I guess you wouldn't like to take the risk to only be a writer, at least not right now. Then I would suggest that you find a job as an editor in publishing. A lot of writers started as editors. Use the network that you already have in politics to be an editor for political books or nonfiction. Do I have to remind you that we have a very good friend that could help you?"
"I don't want to ask Logan for anything."
"Why? He'll do it right away you know, not because you guys dated, but because he knows that you're an amazing editor. You used to be his." Robert smirked at this memory.
"It's not because of Logan, well not only him, it's Mitchum."
"I see, I can ask for names around me if you need me to. Would that be okay with you? Just names, I won't ask anyone to put a word, don't worry."
She nodded "That would be nice, thanks Robbie." His heart clenched hearing her nickname for him. He remembered too well that she used it only when they were by themselves.
"Rory, one last advice that I got from others, never leave a job without another, and I would add, above all when you got a good one like yours."
"Thanks Robert, don't worry, I won't leave my job on a whim, you know me," she smiled at him.
"I'm sure you won't. Rory?"
"Yes?"
"Keep me posted? Don't be a stranger, I'll always pick up your call. I'll send you some names." He smiled and put his hand on hers. Electricity instantly went all over her body and she closed her eyelids just to keep this moment a little longer.
"I promise I will," she answered.
She was so shaken up that she didn't even notice that he had taken care of the bill. They walked to the conference center, their hands slightly brushing. Once they were in front of the building, he put a peck on her cheek and held her fingers. They couldn't say a word, but was it really needed?
After he left, it dawned her that they'd only talked about her. Damned she'd missed him, he was the best listener, but moreover he was the only person she could felt so at ease with.
He thought that maybe he should have told her that he was planning on leaving the White House, that he could eventually coming back to Harvard for teaching, that maybe they could be in the same city again. But he didn't. They only had an hour and she needed to talk and he loved that she asked him for advice. When they were roommates, they could share everything without judgment, fear, awkwardness. He knew that she had confidence issues, in particular about her creativity and that's why she always preferred reporting or editing to creative writing. But when he worked with her on her comparative politics pieces, she had shown him her incredible writing skills. She had told him than since she could read, her deepest dream was to be a novelist. Nevertheless, she was so rational that she never allowed herself to do it, thinking that there were so many good authors that it wasn't worth it adding another book that would be covered with dust in libraries. Actually, when Jess wrote his first novel she thought again about it but quickly shoved the idea under the rug.
He looked at her heading back to the conference then hailed a cab. Before the car left, he searched for her one last time and saw her entering the building. He sighed. I'm fucking cursed in wanting her.
This little hour that they had spent together had been maddening to her. All her thoughts were upside down, about him, about her job and she was more confused than ever. She thought that, again, his scent of Habit Rouge had clouded her brain. She had trouble concentrating on the afternoon session. She put her hand on her cheek where he had laid his lips and closed her eyes.
A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! They are deeply appreciated.
The great anonymousgg16 edited this chapter.
