A/N- Thank you to each one of you who reviewed this fic. I see all your comments and smile like an idiot.
ReadandLive, thank you for giving me all this valuable feedback and helping me improve this story for our fandom.
Rory was sitting in her office after that eventful conference. She could feel Logan"s eyes on her the entire walk back to her office. She couldn"t focus on her work. She couldn't bear to be around Logan and not be able to go up to him and talk to him. But she couldn't do that here. This was her workplace. This was one place her thoughts were free of Logan and now he had personally invaded the place.
California had been good to Logan. Logan Huntzberger always had confidence oozing out of him, but now he seemed to be even more confident but humble at the same time. Rory observed he gained more muscle. Rory knew that Logan lived an active lifestyle, he was out for running as regularly as he could during the year he lived in New York. Rory knew he liked riding the bike and he tried to sell her Palo Alto through hikes. But it now seemed like Logan was hitting the gym way too often for the body he was rocking.
Mathew was showing around Logan and introducing him to some important writers in the department who had been around for a long time. She wouldn"t be included in that she was her department"s newest recruit.
Rory peeked from her computer to see if she could catch a quick glimpse of Logan, and there he was talking to one of the writers. He was friendly and professional at the same time. Rory could see his smile perfectly from where she was sitting he was listening carefully to what George was saying nodding his head. His body language was very professional. He was standing very confidently and giving all his attention to the conversation he was having. Rory couldn't help but wonder how good he looked in this light blue shirt he was wearing. Did his new girlfriend pick it out? Did she know everything about him now? Maybe she was also into running and hikes like him and they went on hikes together and bonded on their mutual love for exercise in the Californian sun. An interest Rory didn't share with Logan. Did she know that he hated wearing formal shirts and couldn't wait to wear his polo t-shirts as soon as he got home? Did she know Logan better than her now? Rory"s vision started getting blurry thinking about it.
Rory got surprised when Matthew entered her office and started introducing Logan.
"And this is Rory Gilmore, our newest staff on board" Matthew said walking in her office with Logan.
Rory quickly tried to get over her feeling and looked up at Logan, staring directly at her.
"Hi, yes I know Rory Gilmore. You must be a fine judge of character Mathew if you have Rory on staff here". Logan said looking intently at Rory, with a smirk on his face.
"You two know each other?" Mathew asked Rory with a confused look on his face.
"Ah, yes you see Rory and I worked together at the Yale daily news, she made a fine editor. And we went out for a while". Logan said casually. I asked her to marry me and she said no.
"Yes. Hi Logan. How are you doing?" Rory got up from her chair and shook hands with Logan. All she wanted to do was hug him, but she couldn"t put her heart on the line again. At this moment she had no right to do that. She had to remind herself that he had moved on. He was dating and happy.
As soon as Rory got up from her chair Logan gave Rory a once over. Rory looked... hot. She had always been effortlessly beautiful with her blue eyes and porcelain skin but right not all he could think about was how hot she looked and why didn't she ever look like this when they were together. Logan looked at her finger to see any sign of an engagement ring and at the absence of one, found himself releasing a breath, he didn't even know he was holding.
"I have been good. How have you been?" Logan asked Rory confidently, that smirk never leaving his face. I haven't been good. Work had been good all these years but I haven't been the same.
"I have been good as well". Rory smiled and sat back down on her chair.
"Wow, so you two know each other that"s good, so Logan do you want to go over the training plan for tomorrow?" Mathew asked Logan feeling a weird tension in the room and not wanting to make things any more awkward for anyone, especially for himself. His boss being his staff writer's ex had to be a conflict to interest somewhere right?
"Sure, let"s get going", Logan started going out of Rory"s office but he couldn't leave without having the last word. "So Rory, I"ll see you tomorrow?" Logan told Rory and went on to carry his day.
Hearing Rory from Logan"s lips had always been weird for her. He had always called her Ace, but she guessed that she was going to have to get used to it. Rory was a little confused with what he said at the end, to say the least. Was he flirting with her? He couldn't be. But Rory wanted to wipe that smirk off of his face so bad. Rory knew that smirk, that smirk was when Logan was being Logan at his best when he was thinking of naughty things to do to her when he was planning a big blowout with his friends.
Rory was interrupted by Tara walking into her office.
"He is so hot. Has he always been this hot?" Tara asked sitting on Rory"s desk.
"That"s Logan Huntzberger for you". Rory replied turning around to look at her computer"s screen.
"Wow, that man has got some serious looks and that body? I can"t believe you said no to THAT man". Tara asked Rory.
Neither do I. Rory thought to get herself. But she replied "I was too young Tara, too young to be married. And I didn't ask for a breakup. I just wanted some time to figure out my next step. He didn't want to wait for me. You know the whole story, why are you making me say it all over again?"
"Yes, Yes I know. I am sorry. I kind of got distracted by his hotness."
"Tara, I am not in the mood for this." Rory replied typing on her computer, hoping Tara would take the hint and stop talking about Logan that way.
Rory knew Logan was hot. Everyone could see how handsome he was, but right now she needed not to focus on his hotness but her article which she needed to submit in two days and hadn't even started.
"Okay, Okay. I am leaving but just saying I am sure you are glad we worked on your outfit this morning and makeup." Tara winked, getting up from the desk.
"Yeah, I am happy about that." Rory said gratefully that she at least had the opportunity to be mentally prepared to see Logan at the office today and of course she was dressed to impress, even though she wouldn't admit it to anyone.
Rory wondered if Logan knew she was going to be at the office today. He had to know, she would have researched everything about her next assignment had she been at his place. But then again Rory was the planner and Logan worked on his intuition.
Rory was halfway through her research for her article, when she heard Kevin calling her name.
"It must be some article if you couldn't hear me calling out your name twice." Kevin said from the doorway.
"I am just researching right now." Rory told Kevin.
"Are you ready for lunch? Everyone is already at the cafeteria." Kevin said.
Rory looked at the time and said, "Yeah, sure let"s go."
"You look hot today. Do you want to meet for drinks after work?" Kevin said grinning at Rory.
"Maybe another time, I have to get back home to some work." Rory said.
"You work too hard." Kevin said trying to convince Rory to go out with him tonight. She looked hotter than ever today.
"Well, it is what it is." Rory said smiling.
Rory on her way to the cafeteria with Kevin and was looking to see if Logan was around.
"Looking for someone in particular?" Kevin asked Rory, his forehead furrowed.
"No, just looking around for Tara." Rory lied.
"She"s already there." Kevin informed.
Rory walked into the cafeteria with Kevin, went to get food for herself, and sat down at the table where all her office friends were sitting.
"Rory so what did you think of the new boss?" Brian asked Rory.
"Umm" Rory squirmed in her chair uncomfortably. She did not want to lie to her friends about knowing Logan but also didn't want any hostility from her other co-workers who might assume things between her and Logan and possible favoritism. Things were good at work, everyone was civil if not friendly but telling everyone about her history with Logan might complicate things for her. She did not want that. Rory was wondering what to say to evade answering the question when Kevin spoke up.
"Well I for one think, he is a big phony. The guy hasn't worked a day at NYT or HPG and now is suddenly heading this big change apparently." Kevin said air quoting Big change. "What happened to work your way up. I bet he doesn't even know what it takes to run a newspaper and fails at this new change miserably. I mean just because your dad is a newspaper genius doesn't mean you are too." Kevin finished confidently.
Next to him, Rory was agitated at what Kevin was saying about Logan. "Kevin, do you even know the guy? Before you go passing judgments on what he is and how he is going to fail like an omnipotent god maybe you can wait to see his work." Rory said staring dead at Kevin. She couldn't let Kevin just badmouth Logan, even if it meant defending him more than she would have liked in front of her co-workers.
"I know guys like that, who think they are super smart and deserving just because they come from rich families. I met plenty of them in college." Kevin added not wanting to back down and getting irritated so as to why Rory was defending this guy she didn't even know.
"Well, he is not like that. He has more talent in his pinky than you have in your whole body. Maybe that will teach to not pass judgments on others that quickly." Rory seething in anger.
"And you know what he is like how?" Kevin asked Rory. Getting more and more irritated as to why she was defending the guy so much.
Rory suddenly felt uncomfortable and thoughts about lying were looking like a good idea by every second now. But she
knew it was a direct question and she had to answer it honestly.
"Rory didn't you say, Logan and you went to Yale together?" Tara added trying to save Rory from having to open up about something that she didn't want to.
"Yes, I went to Yale with him. We were on the paper together. And just for your information Kevin, ill have you know that his articles were always exceptional." Rory getting a little agitated that Kevin wouldn't drop it. They didn't need to know that Logan and she dated.
"So you worked at the college paper together and now you think you are an expert in Logan Huntzberger?" Kevin questioned Rory.
Being together for 3years with Logan, living with him, being in a long-distance relationship with him and if that isn't enough, being almost Mrs. Logan Huntzberger must make her an expert on Logan Huntzberger.
"I am just saying, I know Logan is a good guy and he is going to be pretty amazing at whatever he is going to introduce. So be patient and reserve your judgment for after you have given him enough time to interact with everyone and do whatever he is here to do." Rory said.
"Looks like you are pretty eager to spend the time with him." Kevin said looking angrily at Rory not willing to give up.
Rory considered getting up from the table and walking away. But that would only make her look guilty for whatever Kevin was accusing her of and she didn't want any rumors like that in her workplace. So she replied calmly, "Well Kevin, it doesn't harm anyone if you could be kind to others, instead of being a jerk all the time."
She focused her attention back on her food. Not wanting to argue anymore. She felt protective of Logan. She would always feel protective of Logan and defend him when anyone tried to imply that he didn't have it. Because Rory knew he had it. He always had so much potential, even when he was running away from his family business. Rory saw it the day when they were running low on time at Yale Daily News for getting the paper out and how Logan handled everything like a boss. She knew that day, he was meant for great things and she would be damned if she let someone like Kevin who didn't have an ounce of talent when compared to Logan, tarnish his reputation at NYT before Logan even had the chance to prove himself. Rory knew that Logan did well for himself in California but this was HPG, he needed to excel here. This was his destiny and going to be his legacy. She couldn't let Kevin bad mouth Logan.
Kevin couldn't understand why Rory was so pissed at it what he said about Logan. It bothered Kevin that he couldn't understand as so what drove her to defend Logan so hard. But he knew it wasn't worth destroying whatever relationship he had cultivated with Rory. It took him a long time to get Rory to open up to him, not that she was sharing her deepest darkest secrets with him but he was hopeful that Rory would come around and they could take their relationship to the next level. Kevin liked Rory. He was only physically attracted to Rory when they started sleeping together but the more time he spent with her and around her, the more he liked her. Rory wasn't making it easier for him to get close to her and letting him get to know her. The first few times they slept together, he kept asking Rory out for breakfast but she kept declining. Until one day when she gave in but even then it had been hard for him to take her out on a date ever since. He wasn't going to give up though. Whatever wall Rory had built around her, he was determined to break it down.
"Whoa, Whoa. I didn't mean to start this big fight between you two." Brian said raising his hands in the air as if to placate any animosity that arose between Rory and Kevin due to his question.
"It"s fine Brian, I am sure Rory"s stance would change once she got to see the guy in action." Kevin said with a smug smile which only infuriated Rory more.
"The only stance I would be changing anytime soon is my stance on being friends with judgmental assholes like you. Rory said looking at Kevin.
"Ror come on, I am sorry if your feelings got hurt. I didn't mean it like that." Kevin said trying to calm Rory down. If he wanted to win this girl, getting her angry was not the way to go".
"I think you meant exactly what you said but whatever. Let"s talk about something else. So Brian any chance Tara convinced you to take us for that underground club?" Rory asked trying to get the attention off her and on to something everyone could contribute in.
"What types of writer you guys think I am? First Tara and now you too Rory." Brian huffed feigning offense.
Tara pulled Rory aside into her office after lunch. "You okay? That was some heavy-duty defense at lunch today my dear friend." Tara scrunched her eyebrows as to read Rory"s expressions.
"Yeah, I am fine. I just lost it for a minute there you know. Brian was being such a big asshole and I didn't particularly find it endearing that he was being so judgmental." Rory closed her eyes, trying to calm down thinking about what went down at lunch.
"Because of Logan". Tara clarified.
"What, no." Rory lied.
"Kevin has always been an asshole. I know you don"t pay much attention to him until Friday night drinks. But he is always this judgmental. You just couldn't bear to hear it today because it was directed at Logan." Tara said, trying to gauge Rory"s reaction to what she said.
"Well, I don"t know. Maybe? We were together for a long time. I care about him. I always will, I have never denied that." Rory said irritably at the fact that she was being made to say this out loud.
"Okay, don"t get mad at me just checking up on you". Tara said.
"Yeah, I know. I am sorry Tara. I am still a little annoyed at Kevin. I don"t like it when people hurt my friends". Rory said apologetically. Rory couldn't believe whatever emotion Rory felt compelled with to argue with Logan outside her dorm room 5 years ago, were the same emotions today making her argue for him.
"Fair, enough. But Rory, Kevin is one of us. If you guys were to end up on bad terms, things would be awkward for all of us in the group." Tara said.
"No, why would end up on bad terms. There is nothing for us to end. I think I have been very clear to him, that I am not looking for anything more." Rory assured Tara.
"Rory, these things don"t always go as per the plan." Tara said squeezing Rory"s arm gently.
Rory went to her office and sat down on her chair and closed her eyes. Trying to process everything that happened at the office today. She was mentally exhausted from having all these emotions and feelings from seeing Logan and then having that argument with Kevin at lunch.
She couldn't into arguments about Logan with her co-workers. Otherwise, they would eventually start suspecting something between her and Logan and she was not prepared for that. She liked working here. She would have to find a way to co-exist with knowing that she would have to see Logan all the time now. It would be difficult but she would have to do it. She didn't have any other choice.
But if she had to see him regularly, the least she could do was go shopping, find some clothes and try to look her best. Rory took out her daily planner and started writing. Go shopping on Saturday.
A/N - Do you like this chapter? I promise the Rory and Logan interaction that you are waiting for is just one chapter away. Promise.
Please rate and review. It helps encourage me to write more.