"Hey Ace," Logan called, finally having finished a project he'd been stuck with all week. He was walking home that evening, feeling he needed both the fresh air and exercise to clear his head, speaking to his headphones.
"Hi," Rory replied, just finishing up her book proposal in the study, which was still in a permanent state of chaos.
"It's finally finished," he cheered, feeling victorious and relieved.
"Good, I was almost thinking you'd dropped off the face of the Earth or something. It could've been anyone typing those texts to me," Rory commented, taking a sip of coffee that had been standing on the desk next to her, only to realize it was cold. Being caught up in her work she'd completely forgotten about it, yet she continued to drink it.
"So how's life?" Logan asked, walking along the dark wet streets lit in colorful Christmas lights.
"Pretty good, went to therapy again this week. So far so good. I'm just finishing up the book proposal and I even got a job," Rory listed. Therapy was going slow and steady - so far focusing rather on the present than the past, which she preferred, it wasn't too painful.
"Now I feel bad, I was supposed to look into the job thing for you, and I completely forgot about it, I'm sorry," he said apologetically. He'd been so busy, and because of knowing that he could always support her if she needed it, he had to admit it hadn't been a top priority in his mind, when Mitchum had again pulled rank and thrown Logan into a project that had been abandoned by another one of his employees that had quit the week before. "What's the job?" he asked, hoping she wasn't too upset about that.
"I actually spoke to Jess, and he said they'd have some things for me, I knew you were busy and I didn't want to bother you," she said.
"I wish you had, you're always a welcome distraction," he sighed.
"So essentially I'll get to try my hand at editing a bit, which is pretty cool," Rory said cheerily.
"You'll do great, I'm sure," Logan commented. Working for Jess was almost like working for the HPG in a sense, and that's what he preferred in a way - he was sure that Jess was at least going to treat her with respect and pay for the quality he was getting. "And he told you to write a proposal?" he continued.
"Yeah, he told me that with non-fiction it's the way to go, not writing the whole thing first," she explained.
"Well he knows what he's talking about. Despite our differences in the past, he knows what he's doing, so I believe you are in good hands," he replied.
"Sounds like you've been busy, you sound good too," he commented. It was beginning to sound like the Rory who had been lost and insecure about her career just months ago, was finally beginning to morph, reminding him more and more of Rory who once took over Yale Daily News just hours before the deadline. "Just don't over do it, do something fun for a change," he advised.
"I did discover a cool second hand bookstore in Portland, they're having a clearance sale or something and I've been stopping by when I go to therapy. Hey, and I even got asked on a date there," Rory boasted a little.
"Oh really? Do I have competition?" he laughed. This was so much like the way they used to talk when they'd first done long distance - the familiar banter, texts and phone calls. It was as if the time in between hadn't happened and for a moment that feeling carried.
"Don't worry, you're still the leading contender, but you know, it's a nice compliment to get when the guy is not a complete sleazebag," Rory commented.
"Rory you look amazing even without trying, all the guys in Maine would be out of their minds not to want to date you," Logan smirked.
"Maybe when I was 23," Rory sighed, a little disheartedly. Her self-esteem wasn't too bad, it was realistic. A few wrinkles on the forehead and crow's-feet at the corner of her eyes - that's what time did.
Logan stood in the middle of Pulbrook & Gould surrounded by flowers and decor or all possible variety, his hands in his pockets, staring at a blank spot in front of him. He wasn't really paying much attention to what was going on around him. He jolted out of it a few minutes later, realizing Odette was giving him a stern look. Odette was being dragged around the place by Shira and Abigail, their wedding planner, clearly beginning to lose interest herself. He was likely not the first man who had stood at this place completely indifferent to the choice of flowers at his wedding, yet he wondered how many of those men had in fact been completely indifferent to the actual wedding itself. He pulled himself out of his haze, realizing this wasn't exactly pleasant for Odette either.
"So have we decided anything yet?" he asked, looking at his watch, wanting to make it clear to his mother, they had places to be, hoping to get out of this obligation sooner rather than later.
"We're thinking classic champagne roses or slightly more colorful roses, ranunculus, phloxes," Abigail explained, gesturing towards some samples.
"Which one do you prefer, Odette?" he asked, placing his hand on the small of her back to keep up the act.
"Roses are nice, but maybe a little too boring, I don't know, what do you think?" Odette said, making a face at him.
"I agree, more color is better," he agreed hastily, realizing that the sooner he played along, the sooner they'd get out there.
"And now we need to decide on the bridal bouquet and centerpieces," Abigail instructed.
"Can't they be the same?" Logan replied.
His question was followed by a choir of laughter from Shira and Abigail, Odette simply shrugging. "Oh, Logan, you're hilarious," Shira added.
It was perhaps ten minutes later when Shira and Abigail were deep in conversation with the florist.
"By the way I figured out a new strategy to do this," Odette whispered into his ear. "Pick things you wouldn't actually want to have at your real wedding," she added with a wink.
"You're ingenious, you know that right," he smirked, wondering how he managed to have two so sensible women in his life.
Rory was just making herself a couple of pop tarts in the kitchen when she was surprised by the ring of the doorbell. She hadn't heard the doorbell being rung once in this house - Catherine and Logan both letting themselves in. She checked over her outfit, having not yet showered that morning, still in her usual legging and sweater, whether it was at least stain-free. Shrugging at the thought - would it really matter out here? - she opened the door to find a courier.
"I have a delivery for Ms. Rory Gilmore," he said.
She signed and the man handed her a large bouquet of roses, dianthus and lisianthus and a sleek black box with a pink bow on it.
"Oh wow, thank you," she said, having signed for them.
She closed the door behind in, shivering slightly at the cold that had gotten in. She searched for a vase in the upper cupboard in the kitchen finding something suitable, filled it with water and placed the flowers on the counter. They smelled nice. She was sure they were from Logan, who else really knew she was here and would do this?
She pulled off the pink ribbon and opened the box, finding a dark navy jewelry box inside. She already felt a little terrified of the contents. Logan was always an amazing gift giver, recalling the Birkin bag among other things, but now, years later, was that really where they were at?
She opened the box and found a long white-gold diamond pendant. At least it was modest and small, but most likely expensive nonetheless. Inside the box she found a note.
"You still take my breath away. I love you."
Rory's felt a sense of butterflies for a moment, it didn't matter that it was a little by the book, it still worked, making her feel a little special, despite wanting to claim he didn't need to do it.
She checked the time, noting Logan was still probably at work. She closed the velvet box, tossing the surrounding package away, and took it upstairs, along with her pop tarts. The thing that stung a bit, even though having convinced herself that she was fine, was that she really didn't know when she'd get to actually wear it. How long until she could actually go out with him? She placed the necklace into her dresser, and headed for her study, wanting to do something else that would distract her. She'd spent all of yesterday on the book Jess had sent her, and while the task wasn't too difficult, it certainly wasn't easy reading, hence she'd promised herself to do it roughly 50 pages at a time, the timeline permitting. She'd even sent her proposal to Jess a couple of days ago, still waiting to hear his comments on it. And she really wasn't in the mood to start writing just then. Instead she felt like she needed to clear the room, with her plot scheme already pictured to her phone, she rolled it up placing it in the corner and began placing the books, old papers and albums she'd left laying around the room back into their place into the built-in cupboard in the study. She was just about to reach the top shelf, trying to jump slightly to nudge them into place, when one of the albums dropped to the floor, some of its content falling out from between the pages, the glue already brittle. She began picking them up, noticing pictures of Logan and Honor as kids at the back yard of the very house. She sat herself down on the floor, cross-legged, curious to what more the album withheld. Logan had never really explained in great detail, other than having been largely raised by a team of nannies, what his childhood had been like, making it even more interesting of a discovery for Rory.