"So here we have a newly remodeled mid-century modern, 4-bedroom with 2.5 bathrooms. There are three bedrooms upstairs and one down here. The garage has two spaces but since it is mid-century it is more like 1.5 spaces in today's terms. The asking price is a bit much according to my preliminary estimate, but I am sure it can be negotiated. It comes partially furnished, everything you see is included. The backyard is on the small side, but suitable for a small playground," Logan's realtor said, having acquainted herself with Rory's wishlist.
"Thank you Thea, I think we'll just look around a bit and we'll ask if we have any questions," he replied.
Rory and Logan wandered through the light and airy living room with a vaulted ceiling into the bright sunroom and from there back to the kitchen.
"Isn't this a bit much?" she asked Logan. "It's not much smaller than the Hartford house. Sure the living room is less grand and there's no pool-house, but four bedrooms seems like overdoing it a bit," she added.
"I guess Thea just has her standards set high. She asked me twice if that was really the budget you were working with, being used to slightly different numbers. But don't mind her, even if she's a little snobbish, she knows what she is doing." he said. "But I think the place looks pretty good actually," he added.
"Sure, but four bedrooms? What am I going to do with four bedrooms and a sunroom?" she asked.
"Well you might want a study if you are working from home, so that's already three bedrooms. One extra for Lorelai or Emily to come over, whoknows," he said, feeling it was way too soon to discuss their own hypothetical children.
They continued upstairs where the master bedroom took up half the space of the entire upper floor continuing out as a balcony overlooking the backyard. To Logan's eyes this was all very sensible and modest. It was sort of refreshing to picture himself living in a place that was just simple and had no excess luxuries like marble floors or greek columns. Rory, who despite having now lived for more than a year at the Hartford house, still considered it excessive comparing almost anything she'd look at to Lorelai's place, the home she grew up in - where the living room barely fit more than a couch set and the kitchen doubled as a dining room. Cramped felt cozier, not necessarily having to be filled with people or stuff, in order to feel homey. And she knew there would be days when she'd be alone in her house - Leah at Finn's and as she grew older probably more and more out with her friends, boyfriends and eventually she'd move out. Logan, while a welcome living companion in her new house, she knew too well that he'd continue to have an apartment in the city and a few other real estate holdings around the country and some in Europe, and would continue to work like he always worked - slightly addictively and travel regularly.
"I like the view," she added, referring to the small glimpse of the Atlantic visible from one of the smaller bedrooms.
"Not half bad, is it?" he said with a sigh. What he also noticed was the high fence surrounding the property, it was bordered with a high Northern White-Cedar hedge, which would conceal the yard and house well from unnecessary eyes. While he had had it fairly easy with the press so far as Mitchum had taken care of the worst fallout surrounding his divorce, he knew too well that the pictures Honor had sent him, could be just the light ripple on the water. There was a reason, after all, why his parent's Hartford house had video surveillance and guard dogs. Whether he liked it or not, his wealth and reputation made him a public figure. He hoped it wouldn't come to it, but he wanted to make sure Rory maintained her privacy.
They looked at a few more places in between, among them a cookie-cutter house belonging to a gated new community and an apartment on the 4th floor without an elevator, which Rory didn't even begin to climb. One of the apartments was located nearby campus which reminded him quite a lot of his own college apartment by style, except this time it held two bedrooms and a nook for a desk in the living room. He was fairly certain that this was what Rory had been looking for. Low maintenance, functional and simple. But somehow he wanted more for her, he wanted her to move on from the college mind-set and shift towards something the two of them could share, where to be a family.
"So what did you think?" Rory asked, as they sat back into the car, noticing Logan had grown awfully quiet during the last showing.
"Well it ticked all the boxes, but I don't know. I somehow picture you in a house," he said hoping it'd plant a seed in Rory's brain making her realize she perhaps too wanted something more. "Just imagine Leah having the possibility to play in the backyard. Here you'd end up taking her to the park every time she wants to play. When Honor's kids were a bit younger and she stayed in the City she was dragged off by her boys at least twice every day," he described, turning on the engine.
"That's a good point," she agreed. Leah was just about to turn one, just barely getting a hang on walking, but already now appreciated a good playground.
The next listing they saw was a two-story red brick Colonial that Thea had described as 'a real bargain with good bones'. Those it did indeed - the entrance hallway was grandiose with a wide curved staircase leading to the second floor. From the hall, or perhaps you could even call it a lobby, double doors opened to both directions, one leading to the study and the other to the dining room and from there through another set of double doors to the living room. The kitchen needed some work but the size of it was something only Sookie might have appreciated.
"I wouldn't have a clue what to do with a kitchen this size," she pondered out loud.
"I've seen you cook," he added, teasingly.
"Maybe like ten times, and cooking Leah puree doesn't count," she corrected.
"Well maybe you'll start," he suggested.
"I'm 33, Logan, I'm an old dog, you can't teach the old dog new tricks," Rory huffed jokingly.
"Are you sure? You don't look a day over 25," he laughed, giving her a kiss.
"Let's go look upstairs," she suggested.
Upstairs there were three bedrooms, each with their own on-suite. Rory had too much of a flashback to the Cheshire Cat Inn they'd visited once with Lorelai, to really picture herself or Leah living there. Logan could see it in her face.
"Bit too much for you?" he inquired.
"A bit is an understatement," she laughed. "Did I ever tell you about the road trip I took with my mom once? There was an inn that I think had the same exact wallpaper. We considered escaping in the middle of the night as we felt the flowers were moving in on us," she recalled.
"Well that is just what interior decorators and contractors are for," he suggested.
"True, but I am terrible at making those decisions and honestly I don't think I'll have the time. Mitchum sent me the contracts and basically I ought to start as early as mid-July. I'd like to be set up before that," she explained.
"Let's go then, it seems like you've made up your mind about this one," he sighed, gesturing towards the stairs.
"I hope there was something you found interesting today, if not, I can send you a selection of listings tonight and we can do another round of viewings later this week or in the beginning of the next," Thea offered.
"I'll think about it and let you know," Rory said plainly.
"What time do you have to be back?" Logan asked as they reached the car, checking his watch.
"Not for a few hours," she replied.
"I have my laptop, we can browse and talk about the listings if you are up for it," he offered. He had been taking a lot of time off these days to be with her, and while he did so gladly, taking another full day for house hunting in the near future seemed impossible to squeeze between his meetings he had already postponed.
"Sure, we can go grab a cup of coffee somewhere," she agreed.
Twenty minutes later the two sat on a relaxed rooftop patio, each with their cups of coffee.
"So, did you like any of the places we saw today?" he asked, pulling up the e-mail Thea had sent them with the details the day before.
"The one with the vaulted ceilings was nice, I just thought it may be a bit too big," she recalled.
"And then there was the apartment near campus," he stated.
"That was just move-in ready, really clean and simple, but probably not ideal for Leah," she commented.
"Not a fan of flowery wallpaper?" he laughed, moving on to the next listing.
"Not in this lifetime," she replied seriously.
"I actually think you really should consider the one with the vaulted ceilings. It was simple, not too flashy, some extra room for now, but I think it's better to have a little extra than a too little. Plus I liked how the place was very private. No neighbours looking over the fence," he explained.
"I think it is kind of nice to have a sense of community, neighbours. I loved having Babette next door growing up," she said, nostalgically.
"But it's not the year 2000 in Stars Hollow. Things are a little different now," he said with a sigh.
"Sure we're adults and we know how the world is a bad place and we know better to have our wifi protected," she said almost laughingly, feeling he was worrying for nothing.
"Listen Rory, I think I need to show you something," he began, opening his messenger and opening the link Honor had sent him. "As you see here, the press has gotten an interest in me again," he added.
"Oh, wow…" she reacted, not really knowing what to say. The pictures were seemingly harmless and that even more felt odd to her. Why would anyone be interested in the two of them casually spending time together?
"It could be nothing, they could just forget about it if something more interesting comes up, but this may also mean that there'll be a rise of curiosity here in the States as well and they might start asking questions about us. There's no reason to stress about it now, I've lived with it before. You should just know that there may be people whose intentions are not all pure, so you need to be a little careful who you talk to and it might not be a bad idea to be a little prepared to protect your family," he explained, giving her the crash course about life in the public eye. Before Odette he had just been a wealthy businessman and mostly photographed while attending red carpet events and galas. However once Odette, who had an entire reputation of her own, had moved in with him in London, the media had really taken an interest in the happy couple, following them while they went about their lives. He had hoped he had shaken it off with Odette, but apparently at least some of the paparazzi still remembered him.
"And you think I should choose a place to live where it would be possible to keep our lives private," she concluded, having connected the dots in her head.
AN: It'ś been a little quiet from your side, and I hate to be the on begging for reviews, but it would be good to know whether you guys are still reading this and what do you think. And to those who began reading this and loving Finn and now think this is turning out to be a ROGAN, I can honestly say I haven´t fully decided yet.