Disclaimer: I don't own anything - characters belong to Amy Sherman Palladino
a/n: ok, this might have been one of my favourite chapters to write and I have a feeling it will just get better from here. To all of you who have told me (a lot of you in reviews to Amelia Lane) how you really weren't sure you would like this but have fallen in love with the story - THANK YOU. That means so much to me that I've swayed your opinions. This chapter includes my 100,000th word for this story, which is kind of fun and exciting? No? Read, review, check your PMs because I try to respond and those chats are so fun.
Chapter Thirty
"Logan, don't send me the credit card bill this month!" Rory laughed as she returned from her afternoon with Honor and let herself into the apartment. She had no less than six bags in her hands, and that didn't even count the items that were being shipped back to California. "Evil Honor, evil, evil Honor and her evil Huntzberger ways! How does she do that? It's like…one minute I'm walking around and I happen to look at a jacket or a skirt or pants…and then the next minute, I'm buying it. Evil, evil, evil Huntzberger. Evil Huntzberger. Evil Honor!"
"Evil Huntzberger ways?" Logan emerged from the kitchen and gave Rory a lingering kiss before he took the bags from her hands, "I thought you loved the evil Huntzberger ways."
"Only some of them," Rory kicked off her boots and leaned against the counter, "I feel like I'm out of shape! Am I out of shape? I've been chasing kids for years, how am I out of shape? I literally feel exhausted fro shopping."
"Well, spending a day shopping with Honor is not for the faint of heart," Logan agreed. "Red or white?"
"Something sparkly," Rory told him. "You know, I am the daughter of Lorelai Gilmore, my Grandmother, Emily Gilmore, may she rest in peace, she could shop with the best of them, she once almost bought a plane…after I moved out and went back to Yale, Grandma almost casually purchased a jet. My Gran, Lorelai Gilmore the First…she even knew how to keep up…and here I am, exhausted after six hours with your sister. Gran would be ashamed of me, and Grandma…it would be the only thing those two ever agreed on. Lorelei Leigh Gilmore…failure at shopping!"
"I am surprised you lasted six hours," Logan returned with two glasses of champagne, "did you have fun?"
"I did something…"
"Please say you and my sister didn't get matching tattoos or something? Honor used to want a tramp stamp with Tinkerbell, you can't trust her with something going on your body permanently."
Rory laughed as they clinked their glasses, "no. I am still pure, free of tattoos, and if you're good, I'll let you check later, if you keep giving me champagne, it might even be sooner rather than later, but you'll have to play nice to find out."
"You promise?" Logan grinned, "because I have been a very good boy."
"I'll bet you have," Rory laughed, "how was your work stuff?"
"Boring, dry…I think we're going to have to do a restructure here, so that is what my Dad wanted me to look at. He wanted someone in the office on a Saturday so that none of the staff would know what was coming. We don't want people getting paranoid and freaking out unnecessarily if things can be salvaged."
"Sounds very James Bond-esque. Covert ops on a Saturday at the office," Rory winked.
"So what did you get?" Logan rolled his eyes at her James Bond comment. His time at the office had been dry and boring, he just hoped that they could salvage as many jobs as possible. He had loved London when he was there, and some of the staff was still the same, so he hardly wanted to see those people without a job.
"A wedding dress," Rory blushed, "is that weird? I know…I know we don't have any plans made, but your sister, she wanted to go shopping, and she made these plans, and I saw the dress and it was the dress, and she…she wanted to gift it to me. It was too much, I told her it was too much, but she wouldn't listen and it was so beautiful…so I…"
"You got a wedding dress."
"Are you mad?"
"Well, you plan on wearing it when you marry me, right?"
"That was the plan, but I'm still holding out for Johnny Depp? I think William and Kate are pretty committed at this point, I would hate to still be waiting for him."
Logan nodded his head and played along, "of course, I understand that when Johnny finally comes to his senses, things will be different…but until then…you plan on marrying me?"
"If you'll have me," Rory smiled and kissed him.
Logan grinned against her lips and his hands made their way to her hips, "might have to work on the kissing," he told her as he felt for the hem of her shirt. "A dress, really Ace. You're making this hard."
"Or," Rory countered with a wink as she lead him back to the couch and pushed him gently onto the soft surface, "am I making it easier?"
"If you," Logan pulled her into his lap, "think I'm letting you marry Johnny Depp, you have another thing coming for you."
"But he has an eye patch," Rory laughed as Logan peppered what little was accessible on her neck with kisses.
"That is Jack Sparrow, you want to marry a fictional movie character? Come on Ace, dream bigger."
"You know," Rory giggled as Logan swiftly lifted her cashmere dress over her head and her hair fanned out over her shoulders, "we should," a small gasp escaped her lips as his lips found her clavicle, "talk about the wedding."
"Wedding, mhmm," Logan laughed as his hands found the clasp of her bra, "wedding to Rory, good."
"Logan!" Rory laughed, "come on, I want to talk about the wedding plans."
"You are in my lap, wearing nothing but your underwear," Logan pulled her closer to him, "and you want to talk about the wedding? You think I can focus on anything other than taking that last shred of clothing off of you to talk about…what? Salmon puffs and champagne fountains?"
"We get to have a champagne fountain?" Rory giggled.
"Only if we talk about it after I'm done with you?"
"If you insist."
xxx
Logan swallowed as they stood in the foyer of his house in Palo Alto, "you weren't kidding on the shopping thing, were you?"
"Is it alright that I sent them here?" Rory smiled sweetly. They had been home in Encino for a week after returning from London and Rory had agreed to let Perry's sister watch the kids for the weekend because she was worried about losing out on her aunt time once they moved.
"Do I have a choice in the matter?"
"Who brought them in here?"
"I got a call from my assistant earlier that they got a call from someone saying they had to accept some packages personally, so she came…and accepted the…" Logan gestured to the crates in front of him, "these are…crates…"
"How did they get here so quickly?" Rory thought out loud. "The woman said it could take up to eight weeks…it's barely been two."
"Something tells me my sister said Huntzberger a lot?" Rory nodded her head in response, "so…you finally snapped and have decided to enjoy the life of luxury. What did you buy?"
"New luggage."
"This is new luggage? Your luggage came in crates?"
"Well, a couple are rolling luggage, and then…well…I was telling Honor how my Grandmother used to have the beautiful Louis Vuitton trunks for travel, and they are with my Mom now, which seems silly because she doesn't travel, and so we…"
"Honor convinced you to buy a Louis Vuitton trunk?"
"Trunks," Rory cringed, "hence the crates."
"You know Rory," Logan crossed his arms in front of his chest, he was trying to look serious but he couldn't help but burst into laughter, "this is literally the last thing I ever expected you to do. Ever. I think I thought it would be more likely you would go ahead and buy that Bahama you keep talking about."
"Are you mad?"
"Did you sleep with Johnny Depp to get it?"
Rory shook her head, "but I did use the Amex."
"Well then I'm glad." Logan kissed her, "why don't we get these open, and then we will figure out how to store them, and then I have to go into the office."
"Not the office," Rory pouted.
"How do you think we're going to pay for your little freakout here if I don't go to work."
"What is the point of marrying a billionaire if you have to do all of this work," Rory rolled her eyes.
"I thought you weren't with me for my money."
"Nope, just your looks, wine pouring ability and your incredible sexual prowess."
"You've been holding onto that one for a while, haven't you? Throwing prowess into a sentence? Naturally it had to be about me in bed," Logan laughed and then returned his focus on the enormous wooden boxes in front of him. "How do we open these crates? I don't think I own the necessary tools to make this happen."
"You're telling me there isn't a tool room somewhere in this place that I don't know about?" Rory laughed as she pulled at the wooden box.
"No, I have a nasty habit of just having someone come and fix problems instead of actually doing it myself," Logan retorted. "And up until a few minutes ago, I didn't have to worry about my fiancee blowing all my money on Louis Vuitton."
"I got clothes too."
"Louis Vuitton clothes?"
"Who do you think I am? Kim Kardashian?" Rory rolled her eyes, "no, we went to Harrods, they had some really tasteful spring stuff."
"Well thank god, I've been meaning to talk to you about how not tasteful your wardrobe is," Logan laughed. "So…we don't have the stuff to open the box…unless you think a kitchen knife will do the trick?"
"Well then, lets go."
"Where are we going?"
"There has to be a Home Depot around here somewhere?"
"Home Depot?"
"Hardware store? Orange roof…orange aprons…orange carts…is this ringing any bells?"
Logan shook his head, his lips in a straight line for a moment before he spoke, "for what?"
"To buy a thingamajig."
"A thingamajig?"
"Oh stop repeating everything I say and get in the car!" Rory told him as they made their way back out to the car. Rory got in the passenger seat and pulled up the GPS. "I'm guessing you don't know where the Home Depot is?"
"I think I've driven by it. Orange roof, orange carts, orange aprons…" he smirked.
"So smart, but so out of touch," she spoke softly with a laugh, "a pry bar! That is what we need!"
"A pry bar? Do you have a criminal record I don't know of? Do you burgle in addition to grand theft boating?"
"We do not talk about that," Rory glared at him.
"Sorry, I just…what do you possibly know about pry bars?"
"Luke had one, he said it was good for…prying." Rory thought back to all of the times Luke had fixed things around their house growing up, or all of the times that he had to break something in order to get in to fix something. It really was a miracle that the Gilmore Girls survived as long as they did without Luke.
Logan laughed as the Bluetooth in the car began to ring, "I have to…" he saw the name come up, Tom Anders, "we're trying to buy him." Rory nodded her head, she understood. She had certainly been monopolizing Logan's time lately between the trip and then his staying in Encino with her, the last she could do is support that he had to take work calls. "Huntzberger."
"Logan, it's Tom."
"I see that man, how are you doing? Good week?"
"I've had better, I've had worse. I understand you were on a vacation?"
"Where'd you see that?" Logan made a face and looked at Rory as they drove.
"My wife saw it on Instagram? She follows you? Or maybe your wife? Your sister? Something about shopping and how it is illegal how attractive you two are…her words, not mine."
"Must be my sister or my fiancee," Logan laughed, "yes, we got away for a few days while her kids were with their Dad. I didn't miss anything from you, did I? Before you continue, I should let you know, my fiancee, Rory Gilmore is on this call, we're just in the car running some errands before I head into the office for the afternoon."
There was a chuckle on the other end of the phone, "That is no problem at all, and no, you haven't missed anything at all. Glad to see someone is getting to enjoy the fruit of their labour. So I'll get right to it. I have some concerns about your merger with Huntzberger Publishing. I'm not sure how you, as a company that has championed social media and and such a vast presence in media and technology can manage both. You've always been known for having your hand on the pulse of what is happening at LHM. Will that change when you start running HPG?"
Logan shook his head, it always came back to his father. "Look, Tom, I appreciate where you are coming from, but the decisions we have made about Huntzberger Publishing and Logan Huntzberger Media are truly meant to benefit both organizations. It will be years before I take over for my Father, and what my Dad and I are really hoping to do is make sure that we can guarantee credible news on all media platforms. I know that your app primarily deals with ads, but if LHM and HPG are supporting each other, you can be sure that your customers, your users are getting an interface with vetted sources and content. You aren't going to get some bullshit that detracts from your site. Your site is about connecting lawyers with customers, divorce lawyers specifically, nation wide…do you want a credible source populating your ads, or do you want PornHub somehow getting in there because of someone's search history?" Logan paused, "not to mention, like it or not, the work HPG does, the papers we own, that is so linked with the media. Dad bought a cable news network a few years ago…we can't separate print and online media. They are entwined, what better way to deal with that than have it all in house?"
PornHub, really? Rory mouthed to him from the other seat, Logan shrugged and Rory shook her head.
"So you will still be actively controlling the media portion of the company?"
"Look, my Dad is the news man, trust me, he wishes it were me, but it's not. So he will be there until they have to wheel him out, and we have a great executive team, so while I will be the public face of the company, I will remain attached to our media work. Logan Huntzberger Media will always be run by Logan Huntzberger."
"I have your word."
"You have my word, and like I said, Rory is here listening, so if anyone would hold me to it, it would be her."
"I promise," Rory piped in with a laugh.
"We'll talk more at the office, but I think we are going to be moving ahead within the next couple of months."
"Call any time you need Tom." Logan hung up the phone, "sorry."
"What was that about?" Rory asked, she wasn't particularly involved in the day to day of Logan's work.
Logan turned on his turn signal to turn into the Home Depot parking lot, "well, Tom is developing a web platform and app that is basically geared towards individuals looking to leave their spouses. Rather than going and finding a lawyer, being seen leaving the building, or googling it and hoping you don't get a shitty attorney, his app will have a database of lawyers within certain zip codes, their prices, their bios and information, everything you would want to know when you first met with the lawyer, but without actually having to meet them. I would like to see a section of verified reviews, that way you get an idea of whether or not someone can take on the kind of case you have. He wants to launch in SoCal first and then expand the market. Obviously getting into New York, South Florida, places with high divorce rates is the goal."
"So how does it make money?" Rory asked.
"Well, it's twofold," Logan explained, "and this is where Tom needs us. He has the idea, it is good idea, but my company makes sure that it becomes a great idea. So we'll infuse him with some capital which is necessary to have his development team continue working on the site and the app. The way it makes money is the advertising, and also the subscription fee of sorts. It isn't truly a subscription fee, but more or less, the site would hold the retainer and future payments for the lawyers, the lawyer doesn't get paid until certain steps are met in the divorce agreement, and then money gets released. It guarantees the lawyer gets paid, and that satisfactory work is done. Then we take 10% of that money as our processing fee, well, the app does…but because we would own part of the app…"
"You are capitalizing off of people getting divorced? Icky."
"Not me personally Ace," Logan laughed, "I'm just providing liquid assets and my people…and if I may say so, they are the best in the business."
"Well now you're just obsessed with yourself," Rory shook her head. "So what do you get out of it?"
Logan was unbuckling his seatbelt as Rory grabbed her purse, "well, in exchange for an agreed upon amount of funding, LHM will retain ownership of a percentage of the company. In the case of Tom, he wants forty million to get rolling, and I want a 40% share."
"So for you to think this is a good investment, you must think he is sitting on a billion dollar idea?" Rory did the calculations in his head.
"Putting that Yale education to good use," Logan nodded, "yeah, we think if we can work the kinks out and apply it to other types of lawyers, eventually being able to showcase full service firms…it would be like one stop shopping for all of your legal needs. Big business needs that kind of stuff."
"Wow."
"What?" Logan asked as he grabbed a cart and the two began walking the aisles.
"You're smart."
"Thank you?"
"No," Rory laughed, "I've always known you were brilliant, and for the record, you are a born news man, but to see you so passionate about something so dorky…it's fun. Like when you first went to London…work dork?"
"Work dork lover," Logan leaned and kissed her temple. "So you say we need a slim jim?"
Rory rolled her eyes, "a pry bar."
"Yes, for all of our prying needs." Logan smirked as they made their way up and down the aisles. "I need to tell you something?"
"Good? Bad…were you a burglar?"
Logan laughed, "no, but I'm thinking of buying Hugo out."
"Hugo isn't for sale."
"He needs the money, Ace."
"Did he tell you that."
"Well he didn't put up a billboard that said Logan, I'm for sale."
"That would be prostitution, which I think is still frowned upon," Rory told him before looking at him seriously. "You can't just swoop in and buy the publication I work at."
"Well…HPG…I kind of do do that."
"You just told Tom that you weren't interested in publishing," Rory countered, "remember, you will be a symbolic figurehead. Your Dad is still in charge of the publishing world."
"Rory, why is this a problem for you?"
"I don't want to work for you," Rory told him honestly. Working for Hugo was the one thing she had that was hers. She had done it on her own and she was proud of herself.
"You wouldn't be working for me."
"Would someone with the last name Huntzberger sign my paycheques."
"Not literally," Logan told her, he regretted bringing this up in the middle of Home Depot, but he had made his bed, now he needed to lay in it.
"Figuratively then. Figuratively, would you and your Dad be signing my cheques?"
"Yes."
"Then I don't want it."
"Ace, he needs the capital…the other option is, he shuts down within the year. I think we can save this."
"We? Mr I'm not a news man."
"It could be fun."
"Logan, that is my job, it's not just something for you to throw money at."
"So you buy it," Logan countered.
"What?"
"Buy it, invest in it…whatever. You have the money, you have the assets."
"I'm not just…can we please just circle back to the fact that Hugo isn't for sale?"
"Rory, I talked to Hugo, he is open to being bought, or taking on an investor for a share of the company. He just isn't wandering around with a for sale sign around his neck. He has kids, private school, college will come up soon…he can't be haemorrhaging money into this."
"Don't make an offer," Rory told him, "I am asking you to wait and we can talk about this…not in the middle of a hardware store."
"I'm sorry I brought it up, bad timing."
"I still love you, because you're cute and I think you will look really good with a slim jim."
"Pry bar."