Settling

July – August 2017

New York

As soon as Rory opened the door, she immediately covered Hayden's ears. The hammering, drilling, and other various constructions sounds were quite jarring. As she made her way through the work site, she noticed large panels of words being placed on the walls. "Those are my words, " Rory thought to herself. She passed by a group of workers who were busy testing a screen with footage of an interview with Mark Burnett. "I helped edit that interview." Rory again thought to herself. It was then that she spotted her lunch dates, Moses and Helen. They saw Rory and quickly walked over, greeting her enthusiastically and fawning over the baby. Together they left the project site to go to lunch. "Wow", Rory gushed as they walked to the restaurant down the block, " everything looks incredible."

"It does, doesn't it?" replied Moses. "It's really exciting to see it all come together."

It was the first week of August, one month before the exhibit studying the intersection of politics and popular culture was to open. After all the work, the long and intense hours editing copy, seemingly endless meetings, and dealing with polite yet hostile interview subjects, it was all coming together. Seeing the what she was able to accomplish made Rory tear up a little.

They arrived at the restaurant and settled in. The conversation flowed from work to kids, to family life and work again.

"So Rory, you're in New York to find a place to live? Are you going to start working soon?"

"Logan's leave ends soon, and he's in the process of buying a bigger place. I might stay with Paris for a while. I am job hunting right now. I do have a job prospect, but I am looking at other options as well. If you know of anyone who is hiring, please let me know."

Moses and Helen look at each other.

"What?" Rory asked.

Helen replied, "What a perfect segue! Sam? The person for whom you took over? He's done with his treatments and it looks like he is going to make a full recovery..."

"That's wonderful!" Rory interjected,

Helen continued, "...He's doing well, so much so that but has decided to retire."

"Really?"

"His last kid is set to graduate from college at the end of this school year. He was planning to work for another five years, but after this scare, he and his wife decided it's time to retire and enjoy life." Moses continued.

"Wow, so where does that leave you?" Rory asked.

"Well" Moses explained, "Helen here has been promoted to Content Director."

"Helen! Congrats!" Rory said

"Thanks!" Helen replied,"This position is all about client development and administrative stuff. Not as a creative, but then not as much arguing." She added with a wink.

Moses continued, "Malik, will be taking the Associate Director role, he will be overseeing the projects directly. Which leaves his current position, Project Lead, open."

"Really?" Rory asked cautiously.

"Rory?" Moses asked, "Would you like to be our new Project Lead?"

Rory smiled. Oh, what luck she thought to herself. "I don't have to think about it, yes, yes, I would love to join you."

Now that her employment question was answered, Rory turned her attention to housing. The news of the job sped up the urgency for Rory to find a place to live. She and Logan decided to extend their stay in New York until she found a place and by day three she found modest 2 bedrooms, 1 bath apartment in a small building in the West Village. The owner, it turned out, was promoted and moved overseas, leaving a vacant apartment and a desperation to sell. With her significant downpayment and a pre-approved loan, Rory's offer was made and quickly accepted, with a closing date set two weeks away. By the time September rolled around, Rory was ready to move and start her life as a New Yorker.

After accepting the job with MN Designs and finding a place to live, Rory went back to Stars Hollow to start packing up for her move. It was no easy feat seeing that she was nomadic for so long. She had to retrieve boxes from storage, from her mom, and Paris and Lane's houses. Then there was the sorting. Stuff that she let go because it was time, clothes that no longer fit her postpartum body, books that she had not read in years (the hardest part.) Then there was Hayden's stuff. Because they were splitting between two households, Logan and Rory not only had to sort through and split his items, but also make lists of things that they both needed in their respective places.

By the second weekend of September Rory was ready to move. With Lorelai in tow, the two of them packed up what they could in the Lorelai's car and then followed the moving truck to Rory's new place. By early afternoon, the movers had unloaded Rory's things, giving her and Lorelai the afternoon and night to unpack. Logan and Hayden dropped by about late-afternoon to see the progress. While the furniture was set up (thanks to the movers) unpacking boxes proved to be the bigger challenge than anticipated. Along with being overwhelmed, Rory was hungry and getting impatient. Seeing this Logan and Lorelai volunteered to go to the grocery store; they knew better than to stay around Rory when she was in this mental state.

Logan, Hayden, and Lorelai walked to the store two blocks away. Upon arrival Logan and Hayden split up from Lorelai, he went to get groceries, while she grabbed dinner from the prepared food section. When she was done, Lorelai found him and Hayden standing in the middle of the cereal aisle, talking to a woman. As Lorelai walked up to them she heard the woman say, "So Logan if you are free tonight, we are meeting at 8 pm. It should be fun!"

"It does sound like fun. Unfortunately, this is my weekend with Hayden so I will have to pass." Logan responded.

It was then Logan realized that Lorelai was standing next to them, which made him feel a bit panicked. "Hi", she said extending her hand to the woman, "I'm Lorelai."

"Justine, nice to meet you." She said shaking Lorelai's hand.

Logan added, "Justine here is a rising editor in the publishing/print division." "

Oh, that great! Do you specialize in any area?" Lorelai asked.

"Young Adult Fiction," Justine replied.

"Teenage angst, how fun!"

There was an uneasy silence.

Logan broke the silence. "Well, we better get going. See you at the office, Justine."

"Yea, great to meet you." She said to Lorelai, "See you at work Logan!"

Lorelai, Logan, and Hayden walk away.

While standing in line waiting to pay for their groceries, Logan started to explain, "Justine and I work together."

"Yes, she said so," Lorelai said a bit confused. "She and some of her friends are meeting at an event tonight and asked if I wanted to join them.

"Oh, and you have Hayden. Damn kids really can cramp your style?" Lorelei said jokingly with a wink.

"Yes, it's true," Logan replied cautiously.

"Logan, you don't have to explain anything to me. If you wanted to go out with her, that's your business. I mean, you're a grown man, and I am not your mother."

"It just I don't want Rory thinking that I am trolling for women at the grocery store."

"Even if you were, unless you were using Hayden to pick up girls or neglecting him while you went on your conquests, it's not any of her business."

Lorelai looked at Logan seriously, "Logan you are entitled to a life, right?"

The three returned with groceries and dinner. Afterward, Logan and Hayden left for the night while Lorelai and Rory continued unpacking. They worked into the night, finally taking a break at midnight.

"Ugh!" Lorelai exclaimed when she sat down for a break, "for two people you have a lot of stuff!"

"Huh, and I got rid of stuff too!"

" You know, initially I wasn't too excited about this place, but it's grown on me. This is great Rory, I'm really happy for you kid."

"Thanks. After all those years of being nomadic, here I am a career woman with a stable job, with a kid, and my own apartment. Predictability. I am finally an official adult."

'That you are. So how far is Logan from here?" "30-minute walk, 10-minute drive."

"Not bad. So, what's going on with you and Logan?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rory, the man is still very much into you. I am just wondering where you are feeling wise."

"I'm not sure."

"Seriously? After all this time you are still not sure? I mean if I didn't know better I would think you were a couple. You have been playing house pretty convincingly for the last three months."

"Yes, there has been a lot going on. I just started my job, I am moving in here. I, myself, am finally getting settled. I can't think about anything else right now. I like the way things are now with us. God, I don't need this pressure!"

"Hey, this is not pressure, ok? I am just wondering."

"Why?"

"Today at the grocery store, Logan ran a colleague from work. The woman invited him out. He turned her down and was adamant about letting me know that. He looked and sounded guilty."

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him who he talks to or goes out with is none of my business and that he was entitled to a life."

"Oh. Well, that's true."

"I don't know Rory. God's honest truth? I feel sorry for the guy. I feel like you need to do something and do something soon; either reciprocate his feelings or let him go. This limbo thing is torturous for me to watch! I can't imagine how it is for him to live it."

"What do you want me to do mom? I honestly can't make a decision. Things are stable for me once in a long time. This is the problem with us, we are never on the same page. He wants to get married after college and I am not ready so we break-up. We meet up again years later, but he is engaged and I am a mess, so we have an affair. Now we have a baby together and he is ready and I am not again. It just seems we are never in sync when it comes to our relationship. And by the way, we had this discussion months ago, I told him that he should go and live his life not base that aspect of his life on me."

"Ok then..."

"Ok, then what?"

"Ok then, you have everything under control. You are zen, you are the go in the flow. You accept that if he found someone else tomorrow, you would be ok with it?"

Rory was silent.

"Ah, I thought so." said Lorelai, "Look, my intention is not to pressure you; I get needing to do things in your own time. But, I worry. I just don't want you to wait so long that you lose him and regret it later. If you really feel that you don't belong together, then let him go so he can find happiness. However, if you love this man, truly love him, then try to find a way. Life is short Rory. If you have an opportunity for love, true love, then you should take it and revel in it as much as you can. There's nothing better than being with the person who is truly for you."