The weeks following the party were a blur for the couple, filled with expectations, obligations and stolen moments. Rory worked hard to find the balance between classes, YDN, society and most importantly Logan; no matter what was going on she made sure that time, alone time, together was a priority. Suddenly people that she had never met before were talking to her, people were gossiping about her and her relationship with Logan, she had never before been under so much scrutiny and it was making her apprehensive. Logan was there for it all, supporting her in every way he knew how. The added male attention drove him insane, but he trusted Rory, he knew that they loved each other but he couldn't stop the jealousy he felt whenever he would see her on campus being pursed by men. Colin, Finn, Steph, Rosemary, Juliet, even Robert were all there for her, making sure that someone was with her at almost every moment.
The photos from the party ended up in the society pages like expected. Her eloquence was praised, she was called charming and humble… a breath of fresh air. There were pictures of her and Logan together at the event, most calling them the perfect couple, and you could even tell in the photos how in love the two were. People wanted to know about their love story, they were followed by photographers, she was bombarded by interview requests and even had to get a new cell phone number to stop some of the madness.
Lorelai was livid about the photos she kept seeing in the papers of Rory and her 'perfect' boyfriend. She didn't know which was worse, the golden couple or that Rory had publicly accepted both the Hayden and Gilmore place in society. The people in Stars Hollow were filled with questions about them, why they hadn't seen her, but Lorelai avoided the subject. Most of the town knew that she and Rory had a falling out, but they didn't know why so gossip had escalated. She had tried reaching out to her daughter only to discover that her cell phone number had changed shortly after the heiress announcement and they angered Lorelai even more. The more time that passed Lorelai had to concede that her original plan of cutting Rory out of her life didn't work, now she needed something else, a different way to convince Rory that she was throwing everything away. Luke noticed the changes in his fiancé, she was angry, bitter, but she still wasn't willing to concede that Rory had made her choices and they were the right ones for her. There two avoided the Rory subject because whenever that name was brought up an argument would occur. Lorelai wasn't willing to accept this new Rory, while Luke still tried to convince her that Rory was just growing up and she should be supported. A strain had developed between the two.
Emily and Francine were the talk of Hartford society and they loved it, Rory was the talk of the upper crust and she was in demand for events, but the two women were very selective in things Rory would attend. The family had agreed that they did not want to stress her with too many added events, she was still a college student and that would remain her priority. Gossip about Emily's confrontation with Shira also spread like wildfire and everyone had questions about what had transpired between these three families. Emily and Francine had taken the 'high-road' which meant saying nothing outright about the rift but whenever the Huntzberger's were mentioned the only one either Francine or Emily would discuss was Honor. The two women knew that Rory cared for the girl, so it was made clear that Rory and Honor were friends and had been from the moment they met, Honor welcomed Rory, thrilled about the couple. Most ladies in society knew of the literal line in the sides and few were willing to side with Shira and anger both the Gilmore's and Hayden's, especially not with the rise of Rory. To these ladies it seemed there would be a new 'Mrs. Huntzberger' and that woman would also hold the power of tow additional families. This new Mrs. belonged in society and there would never be any question to her position. So, society had picked who they were going to back and unfortunately it wouldn't be Shira.
Shira Huntzberger knew that she was the talk of society, and not in a good way. Gossip had spread about her attack on Rory Gilmore, well Gilmore-Hayden, at both a dinner in the Huntzberger home and the Hayden announcement party. It seemed that society was not in agreement that Rory belonged, was accepted, even without the Hayden ties. The families attack on her breeding was considered hypocritical considering Shira's own lack of lineage. There was only one way to attempt to fix this and that was to play nice with Emily Gilmore and Francine Hayden, however that was proving to be difficult since both women avoided her, and Shira's persona non gratis position in society resulted in declining invitations for lunches, dinner, even events. Shira had even tried to reach out to Logan to get him to intervene, but he was insistent that it wasn't his place, she had caused this and the only way forward was to apologize to Rory and convince her that she was actually sincere. She couldn't concede that she was in the wrong, after all it was Elias that started the attack, but she was the one suffering for it. An apology… Shira had considered it but knew it wouldn't be sincere and if Rory also knew, if she didn't accept, then her social position could become even more precarious.
Mitchum Huntzberger was irate at Logan for not telling them that Rory was also a Hayden. If they had known the dinner attack wouldn't have happened, maybe he would have found a 'nicer' way to talk to her at that internship. Rory was a talented writer, not an overseas correspondent like he was told were her dreams, but a feature writer, fashion, events… that she could be. Those options could have fit with a Huntzberger wife, but his father and wife didn't agree, so he tried to destroy her, but that girl had the last laugh. He didn't see her as the type to be as conniving as to have orchestrated that event, but her family, the Hayden's and Gilmore's, they definitely had the societal knowledge to pull that off. It was ingenious, the elder Huntzberger's were all heard insulting Rory Gilmore before that announcement. An announcement that he wasn't sure he believed… there was no surprise on Logan's face as she walked on that stage to make her speech where she made the veiled comment about the family, veiled enough that unless you heard the rumors you wouldn't know she was referring to the Huntzberger's. But the question still remained, how long had Logan known about this connection, because his son was right, Rory Gilmore-Hayden was hidden in plain sight. He knew about the slight ostracism from society events that they were seeing but what bothered him was the business aspects. Before the announcement there were numerous investments and contracts that HPG were working on but since that night a lot of them investors were pulling back, not willing to invest any longer or investing less. It was obvious to him what was happening, no one wanted to go toe-to-toe in business against Edward Hayden. HIG had investments everywhere and people were afraid to go against him, go against the HIG board that seemed to welcome Rory with welcome arms after her showing in London over the summer. Then there was the fact the HIG owned portions of HPG and Edward, or even Rory, could destroy everything he had worked for if they wanted to. With that shuttering thought Mitchum called to arrange a meeting with the only man that could help him, Edward Hayden.
Mitchum and Elias were led into the parlor of the Hayden mansion and were greeted by two men that were unexpected, Christopher Hayden and Richard Gilmore. Neither man rose to greet the new arrivals and the Huntzberger's sat down and accepted the drinks that were offered by the maid. There was a tense silence between the four men, Rory's family silent as they studied the other men. Edward arrived a few minutes later and went to sit down in a chair across from the Huntzberger's, it was a power play, the three men of Rory's family against the two of the family that insulted her. The room sat in silence until finally Mitchum cleared his throat slightly.
"We wanted to come here and try and move forward from this… unpleasantness," he stated.
"Unpleasantness? Richard asked with a raised eyebrow. "I think you are going to need to be a little more specific on what we need to move forward from."
Elias let out a scoff and glared at the other men. "Let's cut the crap, you know exactly why we are here. Are you really going to let this, this girl, ruin years of friendship between these families?"
"This girl, as you so eloquently called her is my DAUGHTER!" Chris fumed. "A girl that did nothing to anyone in your family, the only thing she seems to have done wrong is chose to date your son!"
"We didn't know she was a Hayden," Elias retorted with a slight shrug and Mitchum just ran his hand over his face, this was not going well.
"It shouldn't have mattered if she was a Hayden," Richard boomed and glared at Elias. "As you stated there was years of friendship between just the Huntzberger's and the Gilmore's that you destroyed the minute you told her she wasn't good enough for your family. And you," he turned his fury to Mitchum, "to try and destroy her dreams for what? Your own sick, twisted, pleasure!"
"I didn't say anything that wasn't the truth," Mitchum tried to defend. "She isn't cut out to be a journalist, not a foreign correspondent like you have told us all that she wanted to be. She especially isn't cut out for journalism if she comes running to her family instead of facing the problem by herself."
It was Chris's turn to scoff. "She didn't come running to us about you, yes she told us what you did but only because she is family, and we knew she was upset. She went to London and succeeded in working at HIG and also managed to have a few well received article's published about the charities supported by HIG and the Gilmore's."
"So, I could have tried to word my opinion differently," Mitchum tried to concede.
"Enough!" Edward boomed. "Why don't you tell us why you are actually here. I am sure you are concerned about the stock HIG owns. And from what I hear HPG has lost some possible investments." When neither Huntzberger replied Edward focused a deathly glare on both men. "I will tell you that none of us had anything to do with that, none of us had anything to do with the lack of invitations for events that your family have received. Rory has actually been vocal in not wanting us to destroy you, not because she gives a damn about any of you, she wants to protect Logan and Honor is possible."
"You seriously expect us to believe you haven't said anything to cause these issues," Mitchum stated, his tone disbelieving.
"We haven't said a word," Edward replied his eyes taking on an icy, evil glint. "But you should know that not saying anything can be just as deadly in business. No one in the family has said a single negative this about the Huntzberger's, but we have made it clear that we support the match between Logan and Rory, how thankful we all are for Honor's acceptance and welcome. Hayden Investments have not tried to prevent people from dealing with you, but when questioned we have avoided any question on if we would be investing anything further into your company."
Mitchum and Elias exchanged glances before Elias let out a slight sigh. "Fine, but how do you propose we fix this situation? At this rate you will destroy the Huntzberger name and you sure as hell won't let Rory stay with Logan if that happens."
"That's where you are wrong," Chris replied. "Rory cares for Logan, she is invested in this relationship and we, unlike you, will not meddle in her love life. Those kids will stay together as long as they wont and there will be no interference from her family, the same cannot be said about Logan's."
"We agree to not interfere," Mitchum tried to concede but his comment was met by laughter.
"You already interfered," Richard managed to get out. "From the beginning you interfered."
"We won't interfere anymore," Elias stated. "You have our word that we won't interfere, and we will talk to Shira about her interference as well."
"Not enough," Edward replied. "We need to define interference, and that includes pulling Logan away from here for extended 'business meetings,' and before you say anything neither of them said anything, but I know for a fact that you would try something like that. You won't try and separate them after Logan graduates, no matchmaking attempts, no more underhanded comments about Rory's 'breeding' which we can all agree is far superior to Logan's. But most importantly you all must make amends with Rory."
"You want us to apologize to that girl! We were protecting Logan from who we assumed was someone after his connections!" Elias boomed.
"It Rory was really after connections she would have been more involved in society, she would have allowed Emily and me to introduce her to more people," Richard retorted. "And I would remind you that that girl has a name and you addressing her by anything other than her name it not helping your cause."
"What makes you think Rory will accept our apology?" Mitchum questioned. "Most people would allow this ostracism to continue and definitely not accept an apology for something at you all see as so heinous."
"Because what you still fail to realize is, Rory isn't like most people," Edwards replied. "She is kind-hearted and generous but most importantly she cares for Logan. Despite how much you have hurt her, tried to destroy her, destroy them, she would never allow herself to be the reason for a rift between Logan and his family. If you want to make amends in society, you are going to have to apologize and know that Rory will now if you are not genuine and then she won't accept."
"And she is going to 'fix' everything?" Elias scoffed.
"No, but if she accepts then her family will make it known that we are trying to move past the previous issues and support the relationship," Edward slowly replied, each word annunciated like he was talking to a child.
"Might I suggest a dinner at my house," Richard offered. "That way we can ensure that things go… smoothly."
"We will let you know," Elias replied. He knew that they would have to concede but was not willing to do so without additional thought.
"I need to talk to Shira," Mitchum stated. "While I will apologize for my part in this, I believe her attacks were more… personal."
"Your right about that," Richard laughed. "And she really should not have attacked Rory so close to Emily at that announcement."
"I will talk to Shira and we can set something up," Mitchum said and then stood to take his leave.