"Lorelai, do you think you've done a good job as a parent?" Cara asked, explaining, "This is not aimed as a judgment, I just want to get your viewpoint."
"I guess, she's grown - fed, washed, educated," Lorelai replied.
"But if I understand correctly, you do doubt her ability to make good decisions?" Cara asked.
"I am not exactly the model of good decisions myself, so I guess I expect her to have learned that from me too," Lorelai explained, half jokingly. "But I don't mean that all her decisions have been bad, far from it, she's done mostly really well," she corrected.
"Mom, you may have made a few errors in judgement, mistakes if you want to call them that, but you've shown me also that it is okay to make them and learn from them, and mistakes are not the end of the world," Rory jumped in.
"But I feel like I could help you avoid making some of those mistakes," Lorelai said to Rory.
"I could've stopped you making a few mistakes when I was still living at home," Rory began. "It wouldn't have mattered what I'd said, you would still have made them," she continued.
"Yes, but you were the kid," Lorelai said.
"I was never just a kid, mom. We were, we are, friends first and mother and daughter second," Rory replied.
"Who are we treating here again?" Lorelai turned to Cara, beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"How did it go?" Logan a few days later.
"Some of the questions were hard, but I think I did okay," Rory said, giving an overview of her last final of this semester on Media Development and Future Visions.
"I'm sure you did," he replied. "Listen, I asked Thea to send me some sites that we might be interested in, we can take a look at them later," he suggested.
"Okay, that was fast," Rory said, sounding a little surprised.
"It's a long process, Ace, we get the land we like, make sure it has all the utilities, get an architect involved, hire a contractor, and then the actual building. We probably won't be packing until July or August at the very least," he explained.
"But I actually think I need to talk to you something before I get this process started," he added. He had a nasty feeling that what he had to say had the potential derail some of their plans, or at the very least upset her.
"What?" she asked, expectantly, beginning to worry.
"You know, I talked to Mitchum at Christmas, and I am sorry I delayed telling you what I learned, but you probably understand why," he began. "I asked him why he decided to fund your proposal. Not that I have any doubts in your capabilities, but I just had this nasty gut feeling about his motives," Logan explained.
"So what did he say?" she asked, already sensing in the bottom of her stomach that she was not going to like the answer.
"He thinks well of you, he really does think you are smart and capable, that's not the issue," he began trying to describe the issue as calmly as possible. "But you being involved with me was definitely a factor. He basically thought it'd be a good way to get you involved in the HPG so the two of us could one day take over running it," Logan explained, wanting to say more, but he hesitated, observing her.
Rory paced around the room, feeling nauseous. Her heart pounded and she looked a little pale.
"Come on, let's lay down on the floor," he suggested, noticing her glazed eyes and one tone lighter shade, trying to get her to relax before she got any worse. Moving positions was one of the techniques to stop this as he'd learned.
Rory didn't really realize what was happening exactly, but she followed Logan's instructions. Seconds later the two of them were spread out on the floor, Logan out of solidarity.
"Just breathe, Ace," Logan repeated.
Rory was breathing steadily within minutes, blood rushing back into her brain. She could recall Mitchum's words from back when he had offered him her first internship - 'Who cares why you got the opportunity? It's here, and life is about making the most of everything you're handed. Well, this is being handed to you. Now, what are you going to do about it?'. Mitchum was clearly still Mitchum.
"I did figure that me being with you or at the very least having been with you would be a factor," Rory replied after several minutes. She didn't like admitting that, even to herself, but she had been grasping at straws.
"He probably thought you did too," he commented.
"But us running it? Is he completely insane?" she lifted her upper body slightly, leaning on her elbows.
"Feel like a marionette yet?" he inquired.
"I do," she agreed. This was what Logan must've felt almost his entire life.
"That's just the way he is," he sighed.
"So let me get this straight, the point of me editing self-help books and memoirs is what exactly?" Rory inquired.
"I guess just to see what else you can do and get you involved in the company, getting you ready to move up shortlisted," Logan explained.
"Should've guessed sleeping with you was the way to move forward in this field," Rory said, trying to make a joke, adding, "But joke aside, I really do hate this. My colleagues are all going to hate me, if they don't already - first the engagement, I am sure they know by now, then my leave of absence, next this?"
"Bosses are always hated, just not in front of them," he tried to lighten the mood.
Rory punched his arm playfully, adding "Not funny!"
"Can I come over to talk?" Paris texted finally. It had been just over two weeks. She's tried to wrap her brain around her feelings, reasons for being so scared and the things she'd be able to offer him, while being terrified of the situation.
"In 40 minutes, just trying to get Leah ready for bed," he replied, aiming not to show Leah any of the excitement he felt in his stomach. Getting a toddler to sleep on a deadline was a combination of strategic planning, luck and being extremely boring.
30 minutes later he paced around his front porch, wearing just a scarf over his wool sweater waiting for the familiar white Mazda to pull up. God, I've missed her, he thought.
The headlights approached a few minutes later, a familiar small figure stepping out. He leaned against his porch post, tucking his hands in his pockets, as she walked up.
"You intend to stay out here while we talk?" she asked casually. Finn clearly looked uncomfortable and cold.
"I just couldn't stay in there, waiting," he replied before standing up straight and opening the door for her, adding quietly, "But let's try to keep it quiet, she just dozed off."
"I know the drill," Paris whispered. Any parent did.
"I..," she began, being interrupted by Finn's almost exactly similar stutter.
"You go first," she suggested.
" I just wanted to say that I am sorry for putting pressure on you like I did. I'm just impatient, I like clarity…," he began, not being sure what more he could say without scaring her further.
"I was, well I am, scared. But I wouldn't be if I didn't have feelings for you. I do," Paris said.
"And I do too, I wouldn't have asked you otherwise," he added, with a weak smile.
"I haven't changed my mind about Morocco, I am sorry, if that's what you were hoping for," Paris said, "but, I want to have you over for dinner, I want you to get to know my kids, but still slowly okay?" she added, hoping this small gesture would be enough.
"Thank you," Finn replied. He knew he needed to learn how to be patient with her thinking back to Rory's words.
"Finn, you should know where this fear is coming from. And I did therapy over this for years, I thought I was done, but frankly this whole Doyle thing really got my insecurities up again. The type of family I grew up in was hard-working, very demanding and with a lot of conflict. Nothing physical, thank god, but it wasn't far off," she tried to explain.
"Paris, you don't..." Finn began, seeing a teardrop gather in her eye.
"The instability persisted for the better part of high school, they were on again - off again, cheating, lying, competing with each other, involving me in their lies, and to make it worse it was all over the press," she added, trying to look up to shed the tears. She was glad that her breakup with Doyle had been fairly civil, but the fact that it still had occurred, still upset her. Having their father just pick up and move across the country like that, it still hurt the kids, whether they realized it or not at the their age.
"A kid should never ever experience something like that, and I know I am not my mother and you are not my father, but just the way a breakup can hurt, I remember that feeling as if it happened yesterday, and I aim to protect my kids like a lioness if I have to," she added, sounding empowered.
"Come here, love," he said pulling her up close and wrapping his arms around her, allowing her to let go of the tension she carried.
