Author's Note:

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, Ugly Betty, or Anything to do with AA.

Chapter 37

AA and Daniel Mead

Two years later…..

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"Hi, my name is Logan and I'm an Alcoholic," Logan said confidently.

"Hi Logan," a crowd said simultaneously.

"How long have you been sober?" John, the leader of the group, said. Logan sighed and smiled broadly.

"One year today," Logan said proudly. The crowd in front of him broke out in enthusiastic applause. John put his hands up in the air and smiled just as broadly as Logan.

"Okay, okay that is enough people," he said cheerfully, "let's listen to Logan." Logan looked down at the ground, he was embarrassed.

"I don't really have anything else to say," he said bashfully. John shook his head.

"Nonsense, being sober for one year is quite the achievement. Give your fellow alcoholics some advice. Tell them how you got to this point and who helped you through these hard times." Logan nodded.

"Okay uh, after my wife…. Left me I developed a drinking problem that was later pointed out by my friends, family, and psychologist. At first I didn't think I had a problem, but one night I found myself… Trying to kill myself while I was drunk and I realized how much I was scaring my friends, family, and psychologist." He paused for a moment while the group laughed at his joke. After the laughing died down he continued. "I sought out help and wound up in an AA meeting, where I denied my problem at first, but later came to terms with it. The people who helped me get through this were my friends Colin, Finn, and my siblings. My mother and my late father helped me as well." Logan stopped for a moment to recompose for a minute because he was on the verge of tears. He had grown close to his father in the past three years and about three months ago he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer. There was nothing they could do and they said without Chemo, he would only live another two months. Mitchum chose not to go through Chemo and spent the rest of his life spending time with his family. In a week Logan was going to take over as CEO of the entire Huntzberger Publishing Company. And he was scared to death! Logan stepped down from the podium and the crowd clapped and cheered. Logan knew his father would have been proud of him.

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Rory sat in the waiting room and bit her lip. She always bit her lip when she was nervous. She was there for a job interview. The job was at Mode Magazine, the most prestigious Fashion Magazine in the world. Rory knew nothing about fashion, but the job was being the assistant to the editor. The editor just happened to be the son of the CEO of Mead Publishing. Mead Publishing owned dozens of magazines and since newspapers were now out of the question (because Huntzberger Publishing Co owned all the decent papers) Rory decided to try magazines on for size. The job she was interviewing for would not be permanent, but it would get her noticed. If she got close to the future CEO of the company, then maybe she would have a shot of getting a writing job someday in the future. Rory wanted to make her way from the bottom to the top. She wanted to earn her position.

"You can go up now Miss Gilmore," the secretary said sweetly. Rory returned the smile and headed for the elevator. She pressed the number 12 and waited for her floor. When the doors opened Rory walked into a funky modern office. Everything was white and there were random splashes of color on some objects. Rory approached a circular desk where a disgruntled blonde secretary was standing.
"Um, I'm Rory Gilmore I'm here for the assistant job interview," Rory said quietly. The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"You and twelve other girls," she sneered. Rory was taken back by her rude tone. Why were all secretaries in publishing so snotty?

"Oh well okay," Rory said taking a seat next to an extremely stylish interviewee. "Hi," she said sweetly to the stylish woman.

"Hi," the woman said in a snotty tone. The woman's eyes traveled to Rory's clothes. Rory felt extremely self conscious and the woman sneered at her wardrobe. The woman turned her attention back to her "Cosmo" magazine. Rory was distracted by the cover. There was Logan Huntzberger with his trademark smirk. The head line said "Most Eligible Bachelor in New York." Rory scoffed, Bachelor her foot. She hadn't seen Logan in almost three years and he still refused to divorce her.
"Um, Miss Gilmore?" A small voice said. Rory looked up to see a plump Hispanic woman standing before her. She had red glasses, thick brown eyebrows, was poorly dressed, and her teeth were covered with metal braces. Rory stood up and smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt. The Hispanic woman looked her up and down and sighed.
"Alright come on in, we'll give you a chance," she said heading towards an office. Rory followed her hesitantly. What did she mean by give her a chance? She entered the room and saw a man rocking in a computer chair. His eyes were closed and he looked frustrated.

"Uh, Daniel?" The woman said softly. The man in the chair, apparently named Daniel, opened his eyes. He quickly shut them again in frustration.

"Betty," he whined, "I told you, I can't have an assistant that I'll end up sleeping with. I want some one like you." The woman named Betty rolled her eyes.
"Gee thanks," she said sarcastically. Daniel's eyes shot open and he stood up and headed towards Betty. He put his hands on her shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, that's not what I meant. What I meant to say was I want an assistant who has enough self respect not to sleep with me," he said sincerely. Rory rolled her eyes. This guy was extremely cocky.

"Um, excuse me," Rory said gaining the attention from the two people, who seemed to have forgotten she was here.

"Uh sorry, you can leave now," Daniel said sitting down in his chair. He started flipping through some paper work. Rory looked over towards Betty who shrugged. Rory walked towards Daniel with confidence. She knew how to take care of cocky, stubborn, multi billion dollar heirs. She stood beside him and took the papers out of his hands. He looked up at her and raised his eyebrows.
"Uh, what are you doing?" He asked completely puzzled. Rory sighed.

"I came here for an interview and I would like to have it," she said in a final tone. Daniel stared at her stunned. Rory could tell no one had ever dared to speak to him like that ever. He shook his head and gestured his hand towards the seat in front of him.

"Okay, sit," he said sounding defeated. Rory sat down and took out her résumé. She handed it to Daniel who placed it beside him without even looking at it. This annoyed Rory.

"Aren't you going to look at it?" She asked. Daniel shook his head.
"I want to ask you some questions first," he said in a condescending tone. Rory nodded. "First where did you go to school?" He asked robotically.

"Yale," Rory said nonchalantly. Daniel looked up at her and seemed intrigued.

"Yale? That's quite a school," he said. Rory nodded.

"I know, I went there," she said pointing out the obvious. Daniel opened her résumé. He must have decided she was worthy enough to be his assistant.
"You were journalism major?" He asked. Rory nodded. Daniel sighed and put down the file. "Well… You're extremely over qualified. Rory shook her head.
"I know, but I want to start with a clean slate. I want to earn any future positions I might acquire. I want to work my way up from the bottom," she said confidently. Daniel gave her a small smile that she had seen some where before.

"Well then, it's not my job to stop you from working you way up from the bottom," he said in a slightly condescending tone. He stretched out his hand for her to shake. "Welcome to the team." Rory took his hand and blinked. Was he serious?

"Really?" She asked amazed.

"Really?" Betty asked thoroughly confused and worried.

"Really," Daniel said flipping through the documents from before. Rory took this as her cue to leave and headed out the door. Betty trailed behind her.
"Uh could we get you number?" She asked hastily. Rory nodded and wrote down her number. "Okay, you start Monday," Betty said obviously she didn't agree with Daniel's choice. Rory gave her a strange look and headed out of the office, passing the fashionably dressed woman from before. Rory smiled and stopped in front of her. The woman looked up and smiled smugly at her.
"I got the job," Rory whispered. The woman's face dropped and Rory walked away happily. She was finally following her dream.