AN: SURPRISE!
Thanks to martianmari and her edits you get this part just in time for your Christmas gifts! and... there's probably going to be one or two more chapters than I planned. If you've been re-reading lately I'm sure some scenes will jump back at you, there are a few which written in the same structure as ones in the beginning of this story - with a twist.
February 2018
New York
Honor dropped berry after berry into the mix of fruit in her smoothie maker. Algae looking stuff lay at the bottom of the pile, "Did dad mention anything?"
Logan shrugged, "Just the usual. He's taking me out for lunch."
"Oh," Logan's older sister paused before closing the lid, "Any other special plans for your birthday?"
"I don't make special plans for my birthday, you know that." Logan tried to avoid the subject. Birthdays weren't really something worth mentioning in the house they grew up in, and later in life, Logan's birthdays were… less than fortunate.
"That's idiotic. You can't ignore your birthday, Logan." Honor commented, "No ski trip this year with the guys? You're just staying put at home with Aiden?"
"Nothing's set in stone." Logan tried to throw his sister off his tail. Suddenly he caught on, "NO PARTY."
The blender's loud mixing noise drowned out his passionate argument. Amelia, sitting by the breakfast counter, pressed her index fingers to her ears, keeping her eyes on her iPhone screen. Phoebe, equally bothered by the noise, was occupied with her respective screen too – some trivia quiz game.
Honor paused the Fruit Ninja machine when the liquid smooth texture was to her satisfaction.
"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" Honor dramatically pleaded, "You can't stay home on your birthday, Logan. C'mon, when was the last time you had fun?"
Logan should have never accepted her brunch invite.
"I'm not you. And who says I'm going to stay home?" Logan was too quick to challenge his sister. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, waiting for him to untangle himself out of the lie. "I might go to Seattle."
"Seattle?!" The siblings' banter was interrupted excitedly by an almost identical set of brown eyes. Phoebe was growing into her mother's looks. "You're going for real?"
"I am." Logan decided on the spot.
"You can't just decide that based on an impulse!" Honor was trying not to be upset that her party plans were officially blocked.
Anything to get out of a potential birthday bash organized by his sister. Who knows who she'd invite.
"Might as well make a whole weekend out of it." Logan answered not batting an eye, taking a meaningful mouthful of his respectable smoothie. That wasn't exactly a bad idea considering his birthday was on a Monday.
"Alone?"
"Yes, alone." Logan gave his nosy sister a disapproving look.
"Can I come?" Phoebe batted her eyelashes at Logan flirtily.
"Absolutely not." Honor put her foot down, speaking like a well-practiced parent. "You have school."
"It's the weekend. Plus, my science teacher said we don't have to attend class if we're experiencing science in an extramental way that we can tell the class about." Phoebe responded smartly, before turning to Logan in a plea, "Please?"
"You can't skip school even if your excuse is somewhat educational."
Logan tried hard to keep his smirk and chuckle at bay.
"But Mom," Phoebe whined, "The Seattle Aquarium has an Octopus blind-date every Valentine's Day. And it's that weekend."
"A what?" Logan asked, amused. Phoebe was clearly very motivated to witness said event.
"The Giant Pacific Octopus only mates once in their life, after that they lose their mind." Phoebe barely held her breath while speaking dramatically, "And then they DIE."
Logan watched Honor's face turn green with disgust at Phoebe's detailed descriptions, "The male turns into easy shark and whale prey and the female slowly decays as she feeds off herself while looking after the young."
"Oh my god, that's disgusting." Honor mumbled, "I'm going to give your science teacher a call and give her a piece of my mind regarding the curriculum."
"Nature is not nice." The little girl commented knowingly, looking between her uncle and her mother. "Please, please? It only happens once a year, and that would be so, so cool."
"If it happens once a year, then you can go when you're older." Honor admirably holds back her obvious nausea, "Did you feed your Seahorses today?"
Logan discreetly rolled his eyes at his sister's attempt to change the subject on her second child. He had gotten her a tank full of miniature Seahorses for Christmas.
"I fed them yesterday. They don't need to be fed every day, Mom." Phoebe rolled her eyes at her clueless mother too, "They eat r-e-a-l-l-y slow."
"Well, silly me. What about homework?"
"It's Saturday, I don't have any homework."
"Amelia, what about you?"
"Jeez, Mom." Amelia slid off the barstool, her phone still attached to her hand, "Just say you want us to go so you can ask Logan about Rory."
Honor's oldest could be so blunt and to the point.
"That's one warning young lady, I'd watch my mouth if I wanted to keep my phone." Honor threatened parentally.
"Whatever." The early adolescent rolled her eyes, "Let's go watch TV, Pheebs."
"Please, please, please convince her." Phoebe skipped over to Logan, batting her eyelashes this time with a bribe, "I'll let Aiden play with my vet kit if you do."
"We'll see." Logan winked, not really promising anything.
Phoebe crashed into his side with excitement, "You're the best!"
"You're my favorite." Logan smiled down at her, ruffling her hair, which she quickly smoothed back before skipping out of the room.
"There are no favorites!" Honor interjected scoldingly, and once the girls were out of earshot clarified, "She can't go with you to Seattle."
"Chill, Honor," Logan raised his glass to his mouth again, "I didn't think she would."
"You also said you wouldn't get her those horses for Christmas and you did." Honor accused. "I don't trust you."
"Technically they aren't horses. They are pipefish." Logan corrected before torturously teasing, "And I'm not telling you anything."
Honor's eyes grow bigger with obvious curiosity, "Oh, come on!"
~w~
Logan pulled back the paper wrap on the hotdog bun so Aiden could eat easily. The heavily dressed boy was hungry and impatient, his feet kicking in anticipation of food.
"There you go." Logan said, standing back up and taking in the frozen sight of Central Park. "Don't forget to chew."
"Same as you at this age." His father's voice came from behind, the older man holding two more hotdogs, "Hungry like a wolf."
"He gets it from his mother." Logan countered back, accepting his own choice of lunch. Mustard, no sauerkraut, a touch of mayo.
"Does he now?" Mitchum's gloved hand brushed snow off the bench. Wordlessly expecting his son to occupy the seat next to him.
"Yeah." Logan replied, with a touch of melancholy. Finally, the younger man settled in the free spot between his father and the stroller positioned at the end of the bench.
For a few minutes, each Huntzberger male chewed on his respective hotdog. Two sitting on a bench, one in a stroller, feet dangling in the air.
"You know, Logan," The media mogul said between bites of street food, "The right woman to have kids with doesn't necessarily have to be the love of your life."
Logan kicked the snow with his foot, "I wish you'd stop saying that."
"It's a great big world, and she's just another girl. That's all I'm saying. Don't let it stick to your heart so much." Mitchum munched on his hotdog, "I'm turning sixty-five this May."
Logan choked on his last bite, the food going down the wrong pipe. The sudden commotion caught Aiden's attention, who examined his dad from his buckled position.
Only his father could give harsh, unwelcomed relationship advice and in the same breath pivot the conversation back to himself.
"Shouldn't be a surprise to you."
"It's not." Logan wiped his mouth with a napkin, then used a fresh one to wipe the red smudge of ketchup from Aiden's nose. The boy used his hotdog free hand to wave the intrusion off.
"It's time." His father declared, "I fulfilled my part of the deal: the first year of his life uninterrupted, and an extra two years. Now it's your turn."
Logan holds in a sigh. His gaze fixed on Aiden's dangling feet while he devoured the iconic New York food. A news-guy choice of food. Logan couldn't remember which cartoon had cemented the image in his mind.
Superman maybe.
"When?"
"I'll be announcing it on my birthday." Mitchum fished an envelope out of his inner coat pocket. "I got you something. Happy birthday."
"What.." Logan looked at the printed certification, puzzled, "You bought me a star?"
"You can't buy stars." Mitchum corrected dismissively, "You can name one. Barbara Ann said you can look yours up on the App. I don't understand any of it."
A boyish teasing grin takes over Logan's face, "You bought me a star."
"Don't let it get to your head." Mitchum ordered and crumbled the wax paper wrapper in his hand once he polished off the last bite. "I can still ask for my money back."
"No, it's nice." Logan admits, "Thanks."
"You're welcome," Mitchum replied, "Now you can't say in your memoir I never got you anything nice."
~w~
Aiden's longing gaze followed Logan's back until his father slipped out the door, phone in hand. Rory found herself doing the same thing. Something was off about him; she couldn't tell if their dynamic was off or if it was something else.
Aiden lost the will to play with the toys spread out in front of him.
"How about we have a tea party?" Tracey the psychotherapist suggested to the blonde boy.
The boy silently nodded in agreement, as usual.
"Aiden, do you want to invite someone to play tea-party with us?" The professional asked again in a warm tone as she laid out the items for a tea party from the play-picnic basket.
Tracey had tried this tactic before, asking direct questions that allows him agency. Rory continued to watch his reactions, looking at the whole treatment process with fresh eyes, after the psychotherapist sat with both Logan and her to explain the main purpose of the treatment is to equip Aiden with a sense of control and confidence.
The boy had very little of it in his life, going back and forth from one household to another.
The boy silently nodded in agreement, again.
"Good," Tracey praised with an easy smile, "Who do you want to invite? Monkey?"
Aiden shook his head no. In previous sessions, he always invited a huge stuffed Jungle Book monkey doll to sit with him and the therapist at their tea party or other games.
"Do you remember that I don't understand very well without words? Do you want to invite Monkey to eat cookies with us at our tea party?"
Aiden's eyes remained cast down at the various items spread on the table. "No."
"Very good. Well, that's alright. We will only do what you want. Is there someone else you want to invite instead?" She asked after encouraging his cooperation further.
"Mommy."
Tracey's eyes discreetly met Rory's, who was sitting a little farther away in the room. Rory's hands trembled, her grip on the camera not providing the usual reassurance it offers as her eyes brimmed over with tears.
Aiden had never said 'Mommy' before.
"Oh! What an excellent choice! I'm going to give Mommy and you an extra cookie. And a tissue." The therapist cheered loudly, wordlessly motioning for Rory to come over and contain her emotional reaction, "Mommy will pour us more tea."
"C-offee."
A sniffle escaped Rory at Aiden's correction. Planting a wet kiss on the boy's cheek, Rory's tissue-free hand found its way into Aiden's hair as she sat down in the extra small chair. His blonde hair sticks up wildly on his head like his father's used to when she first met him. He needs a haircut.
"Good boy. Coffee is great." The edges of her voice cracked, "Are the cookies any good?"
Xx
Her tissue wet and crumbled in her palm, fist pressed to her collar bones, Rory Gilmore leaned against the wall outside the playroom in the children's clinic. She left Aiden with Tracey after a few minutes of playing tea party to get a grip.
Mommy.
"What's wrong?" Logan's brown eyes bore into her worriedly. "What are you doing outside?"
He had stepped outside earlier, reluctantly taking an urgent call. She could tell he was pissed off about the interruption when he excused himself in the middle of their session.
"Aiden said 'Mommy.'" Rory looked at Logan, but not really seeing him. The word jolted a mixture of every possible feeling all over again, as if she was still processing, "He said mommy. He meant me."
She was still too caught up in it to fully register that Logan had closed the distance between them.
"Of course he meant you." Logan said softly, no surprise in his voice, his fingers brushing across her bangs in a familiar gesture.
Saying mommy was a real breakthrough. Logan suspected Aiden could actually pronounce the word long before he actually did. They've been secretly practicing it for months. But the boy kept quiet when Rory was around.
"He never says Mommy. He never says Mommy, and he said Mommy…" She repeats herself, "And he meant me. He wanted me."
"We've been practicing at home." This new information didn't seem to give solace, as the tips of Logan's fingers collected the tears running off her cheekbones. Her fingers curled over his, hanging on his touch, "Rory, don't cry."
But she cries.
Rory Gilmore cries into his shoulder like she hasn't cried since she stood on her mother's doorstep, tightly clenching her only child in her arms in the middle of the night.
~W~
New England
"Well don't you look nice. Dressed up and all." Lorelai commented on Rory's dress choice as the maid took their coats away.
"We always have to dress nice for grandma." Rory tried to sound nonchalant despite the fact that she had consciously made an effort.
"A-ha," Lorelai murmured, "grandma really cares about seeing just the right amount of cleavage."
"The dress passed the twenty minute rule." Rory smoothed unseen wrinkles on her dress under her mother's skeptical glance, "If it's still on your mind after twenty minutes, then you have to buy it."
She hadn't even removed the tags yet. She wasn't even sure why, on a whim, she had chosen to buy a flattering red dress that emphasized all her assets. Or to wear it tonight.
"Yes, I know. I invented that rule," Lorelai commented, a suspicious expression crawling onto her face, just before the bell rang, "Saved by the bell."
Lorelai went to open the door and spare the maid; after all, they were right next to it. But her daughter grabbed her arm.
"Be nice." Rory warned.
"Who says it's him? It could be your dad."
"You know it's him," Rory said pointedly, "Dad is always late. Logan is always on time to drop Aiden off. Be nice." Rory repeated, "It's his birthday."
"I'm always nice," Lorelai was stalling to see if her daughter could be baited into providing a better explanation than that. She wasn't stupid.
"We had a moment… a few days ago," Rory squirmed in admission, "And I.."
"A moment." Lorelai echoed back.
"Yes, a moment, and it's nothing."
It wasn't nothing. It was a big, humongous, enormous yet small moment all at once. Very private, yet unfolding on full public display. A combination of circumstances which left her feeling rather embarrassed and confused once it was all over.
Logan, with his usual cool, seemed rather unfazed by it.
"How is 'a moment' nothing?" Lorelai asked, puzzled; answering the door entirely forgotten.
Rory rubbed her left wrist nervously.
She'd let her emotions get the better of her. Logan had smelled good, his arms felt safe around her, the familiar murmur of his voice soothing her. Rory felt awkward for breaking down on his shoulder like that.
The doorbell chimed again.
"What are you two doing standing around whispering? Someone is at the door." Emily Gilmore opened the door to reveal the two Huntzberger heir apparent on the other side.
"There he is! The most handsome man in the whole wide world!" Lorelai whistled flirtily at the sight of father and son. Aiden was wearing his signature goggles over a beanie hat and a kids sized leather jacket identical to his father's. "No offense Logan."
"Hello Logan," Emily greeted the man at her front door coldly before making her excuse to leave, "I have to check on the chicken."
Rory rolled her eyes at her grandmother's frosty greeting and her mother's over-the-top cheer.
A faint smile crossed Logan's face briefly at the ceremonious greeting. The usual round of goodbye kisses and 'be good' orders and 'have fun' wishes quickly unfolded before Aiden transferred himself into Lorelai's arms.
"No chocolate before dinner!" Rory called after her mother's back. Her arms wrapped around the dress with the right amount of cleavage, protecting herself from the cold breeze coming through the door.
"Ha," Logan commented dryly as they're left alone at the Gilmore's doorway, "Is it me or have the Penguins just marched through here?"
"She's probably mad because she found out we smoked weed in the pool house." Rory banters, riding on the vibes of his joke, "It airs out poorly." Rory breezed through the explanation, sparing them both the recollection of the referenced event, "So… all set for Seattle?"
"Yep."
"Say 'hi' to everyone for me." She offers a timid smile.
"Will do." He nods and hands her Aiden's overnight bag. "Have a good weekend."
She takes it, the accidental touch as the bag switches hands almost makes her wish his attitude was less formal.
"Logan," She calls as his back starts to turn from her, her grip on the fabric straps tightening, "Happy birthday."
He gives her a well practiced smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes; Logan doesn't find his birthday worth celebrating. "The dress is pretty. Lose the tag."
Rory is glad the air is cold enough to hide her rising blush. Once his back is sufficiently turned and she closes the door, her free hand reaches to grab the offending price tag.
Uff.
~W~
New York
"Isn't he too little to be playing chess?" Rory asked the man sitting crossed legged on the carpet. Her nose hovering over the rim of her coffee cup, inhaling the beverage's intoxicating aroma.
She was surprised to find the kitchen cupboard fully stocked with her favorite kind of Nespresso pods.
It's Pizza Monday, and Rory had shown up early because her workday with Myles was cut short due to a crisis in the set up of his new gallery.
"You're never too young to start." Logan responded confidently, as he continued setting up the black chess pieces on his side of the board. Instructing Aiden to mimic his placements on the other side. "Always anticipate your opponent's next move and plan two ahead."
"Right." Rory commented at his overachieving mindset, "I'm pretty sure there's no point in teaching chess to a toddler who is barely three."
Once finished positioning the pieces in the correct order, Aiden lost interest in the board and moved away to play with some other toys. Taking the two white knight pieces with him.
"Probably," Logan glanced up at her, "Do you play?"
"My grandfather tried to teach me a few times when I was in high school." Rory admits, "I'm really bad at any kind of competitive sport."
"I know." Logan snorted, a strangled laugh, but gestured at the board invitingly anyway.
"Where did you get it?" She asks, taking a seat opposite him.
"It's Aaron's board. Chelsea sent it for my birthday." Logan explains, while Rory can't help but feel the muscles of her back tense uncomfortably, "We used to play. I was always black."
Logan's voice is laced with underlying emotion.
"Aiden likes the knight best." Logan felt the black horse-shaped piece in his hand, "He would always reach to grab them in the middle of the game. He liked to chew on them when he was teething."
Rory smiles at his story, "I didn't know that."
"We played when I told him you were pregnant with Aiden." Logan admits softly, "The first time too."
Rory's soft smile turns watery, not quite knowing what to say. The loss they experienced before Aiden remained mostly quiet and unspoken, and this rare sharing of tidbits of his relationship with Aaron Rosen caught her by surprise.
Logan's gaze moves away from hers, his eyes looking unfamiliar. Was he about to cry? When Logan was sad in the past, he turned broody, reflective, and withdrawn. She has seen the silent disappointed look in his eyes oh so many times, but it has never transformed into moisture.
Logan places the horse-shaped piece back into place, the action jolting her to respond.
"Logan?" Rory hesitantly reached for his fisted hand, the unexpected contact making him flinch initially, but as her hand remained in contact, Rory watched the slow motion of their interlacing fingers.
In the corner of her eye, Aiden plays by himself not too far away, completely oblivious to the shift in their conversation. Or maybe not. Turns out Aiden is hyper aware of the nuances between his parents.
"I'm sorry." She says gently, not really sure which loss she's referring to.
A shaky, shallow breath escapes the blonde man who fathered her child.
For the first time, with Logan Huntzberger's hand in hers laying against Aaron Rosen's chess board, Rory Gilmore felt needed.
~w~
May 2018
New York
"What's that?" Viola glanced at the sketchbook with interest.
"It's nothing," Rory quickly put the sketchbook away in her bag, brushing it off, "I'm just goofing around with some things."
She wasn't ready to show the new comics to anyone yet, feeling it was a little on the childish side. And disorganized. Anyway, she wasn't even sure it was something. Just an idea that kept nagging at the back of her mind until she just had to open the notebook and draw it out.
"Okay, what's good here?" Viola asked, looking up and down the menu. They decided to meet at a restaurant not too far from the Huntzberger Group headquarters. In a way, it was odd to meet her for lunch and see her wearing her professional clothes.
"I don't know, Logan said this was a nice place."
Because small talk is something they are getting good at.
"Oh, that reminds me. Look what the mail guy left at my office today." Voila retrieved a thick, gold-leafed card out of her laptop case. "You're going to be there too, right?"
"Ah, I don't think so." Rory looked at the postcard-sized invitation Viola was talking about and tried not to squirm in her seat. Mitchum's birthday. "Logan and I are not like that. Huntzberger obligations don't apply to me."
It was odd reciting Logan's repetitive words back to her friend.
"Right, you're not like that." Voila tutted out skeptically, "You should still come - open bar and all. So how are things?"
"Things are normal." Rory replied evenly, normal being the operative word. Lorelai's birthday went by without a glitch. Rory's work with Myles was going well. Other job opportunities kept popping up.
"With Logan, I mean." Viola said after kindly listening to Rory's little ramble, "You know, after that chess thing."
"Things are normal." Rory repeated with a shrug. The incident was just that, a one-off incident. Neither of them mentioned it again. They kept their Aiden routine to a tee. They met for Monday night dinner regularly. Nothing out of the ordinary has registered on the radar. No drama. "I think we got the hang of this co-parenting thing."
They were friendly. Just friendly in the most ordinary way possible. And that was…. fine.
xx
French chanson music and smartly dressed people filled the room from wall to wall. Some conduct business chit-chat, others hitting the bar or mingling away in the carefully decorated space. Glancing at the crowd, Rory is instantly reminded of her first attendance at a Mitchum Huntzberger birthday bash. Her first dip into the Huntzberger universe.
A blush crawled up her skin as memories flooded her. The night had started with Logan's hand on her elbow, giving her the tips to navigate the crowd, followed by a hunt for midnight cheesecake. Only to end in a mess of bed sheets in the Greenwich Village apartment.
Rory knocked back the first flute that came her way and instantly grabbed another, looking for the promised friendly face. Hugo was here the last time, no reason for him not to be this time too. Viola was definitely here somewhere. Colin as well probably, maybe with Alicia.
The female singer just started singing 'Une Belle Histoire' along to a rhythm guitar when Rory spotted her redhead friend inspecting the appetizers.
Xx
"Ah, Viola, I see you've found my favorite daughter-in-law." Mitchum Huntzberger's voice barged uninvited into the conversation between the pair of friends and Hugo.
The redhead nearly choked on her champagne as Mitchum's strong voice continued,
"I didn't like the first one very much. What a fresh mouth that one had on her. Thank goodness for small miracles! Rory, you look fabulous by the way." Mitchum made a spectacle of kissing her cheek, then nodding at Hugo in acknowledgement. "Hugo."
Viola raised her eyebrows in question behind his back, making a face at Rory.
"Later," Rory mouthed at the redhead.
"Mitchum," Hugo greeted the media mogul politely before turning to Rory, "I wasn't aware that... I assume congratulations are in order?"
To most people, Logan's reappearance on the East Coast, armed with a plus one, was a shock. Or so Emily Gilmore said.
"Oh yes, you should see the beautiful offspring these two produced." Mitchum accepted the best wishes on her behalf proudly. "Where is our boy? He seems to be avoiding me."
"Are you guys back together?" Viola mouthed discreetly at Rory, barely containing her surprise.
"My guess is as good as yours." Rory shook her head, an answer fitting all questions simultaneously.
"Still can't catch that firefly, Mitch?" Hugo teased the media's top guy.
Mitchum and Logan were like two clock hands chasing each other as they worked the room. Logan ticking faster. Rory had noticed the never-ending game of cat-and-mouse the moment she set foot in the venue.
"I better go find him." Logan's father announced, ignoring the other media man's remark, "Come find me later, I'll introduce you to Bob."
"Will do." Rory lied. She had no desire to be Huntzbergered again.
"Glad you're here." The man squeezed the top of her arm warmly, "Make sure you don't leave before the announcement. It's a big night for the family."
Rory nodded, flashing her best society smile. "Of course."
She had absolutely no idea what he meant.
Xx
Logan Huntzberger is a chameleon. His ability to assume and shed the appropriate persona was something Rory Gilmore envied. He wore it well, as if he was born to be the life of the party, the most important man in the room.
In a way, that's exactly what he was.
Rory's eyes followed the fixed smile on the blonde's man face as he worked the room: shaking hands, patting shoulders and cracking jokes. Shining brightly like a crazy diamond as people gawked and greeted him. He looked in his element, cool, collected, charming.
But Rory knew better. He hated every minute of it.
She last sees him talking to Natalie, his right-hand woman and trustee. When she glances his way next, he is no longer there.
Xx
The red embers from the tip of the cigarette colored the tip of his nose.
"I wish you'd stop taking my picture." His rough voice slurred from deep inside his lungs.
The man dressed in a black suit, tailored to fit him perfectly, leaned one leg on the back wall outside the party venue. The suit was just smart enough to be considered presentable, yet still sported a fashionable cut to indicate unorthodoxy.
It never fails to surprise her how much thought Logan puts in the fine details.
"You're photogenic when you smoke. You're always photogenic." The photographer determines. Her favorite pictures of him are the ones she snaps when he's preoccupied and unaware. Which is rare. "But you shouldn't."
"Stress smoking runs in the family." His brown eyes look directly at her, expecting her to say something more. Maybe scold him. "What are you doing here?"
Rory ignores his question. It doesn't take a genius to deduce he isn't thrilled with her attendance. "I guess congratulations are in order."
"I'm not taking over just yet," Logan says, taking a long drag of the white stick. The smoke swirls off, playing in front of his face, as he breathes out, "Let's not rush the inevitable."
Logan was determined to stall it as much as possible.
"But he just announced…" Rory gestures back towards the inside.
"He hates this song. I personally requested they play it." Logan references the jazzy, stripped down version of 'My Favorite Things' that comes from the inside," It's not exactly like he's retiring to Mallorca overnight, is he?"
"How long have you known about this?"
"It's the dynastic plan. Pretty much all my life." Logan says dryly, "More specifically since my birthday."
Rory stands there for a moment, the wheels in her head trying to place the new information into context. It explains some of his recent restless, wired and distracted behavior, but of course there were other factors too…
"I need to get back inside." Logan stumps the end of the half smoked cigarette under his polished shoe.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Her question lingers in the air unanswered, "You're taking over a multi-billion dollar family business, didn't you think that's something I should know about?"
"I didn't know we're telling each other stuff now." His tongue tutted spontaneously before he regained composure again, "We're not together, remember?"
"That's besides the point." Rory Gilmore hates it when he turns her own words against her. "You don't think that this is something that I should hear from you? You didn't think this is something we should be talking about?"
"No." Logan corrects her, "Huntzberger obligations are the things that I need to do professionally, legally, and the public persona I need to maintain for the sake of the family business. You and Aiden are absolved. My personal life remains private and off limits." Logan looked at her seriously, "I know you don't always understand the concept of privacy and would readily trade it - but I don't."
Rory looked at him pointedly, not appreciative of his indirect dig. "That's unfair."
"You have nothing to worry about - I factored you in, I looked out for your interests. It doesn't affect you. I made sure that it doesn't."
"You factored me in? You looked out for my interests?" Rory is trying to grasp his reasoning, "What does that even mean? God Logan, can we stop playing pretend that maintaining separate identities works? It doesn't. There's no way in the world that this doesn't affect me. Or Aiden. This affects all of us!"
Logan huffed, shaking his head at her in disagreement. Acting as if she doesn't understand. "This is not your business. And what are you even doing here, you're not supposed to be here."
"I was invited. Tell me," Rory challenged him, "Tell me, how exactly doesn't this affect me?"
"Because you're not a Huntzberger!" He snapped.
"Then make me one!" Rory Gilmore threw her hands up in frustration.
The meaning of her words slowly registers on her face as he stares at her with speechless, breathless, wide-eyed surprise.
"I…" Rory finally found her voice, "I…I didn't..."
He just stands there, blinking at her in disbelief. Oozing vulnerability.
"Logan, your seven minute break is up." Natalie's voice rang over their motionless stance. Rory looked back at the woman who organized this man's day to day life. Natalie looked sheepishly apologetic.
Oh what terrible timing.
"Be right there," Logan assured his assistant, slipping back into his his professional suit, "I have to get back inside."
The image of the soles of his polished shoes, and the fitted back of his suit contrasting his lighter hair as he fled up the stairs remains burnt on her brain.
~W~
Seattle
Entering Current's offices was like stepping back in time. It was quiet, as it naturally was after 6 PM. It was Rory's first stop in the search for the man she was after.
It's been so long since she last visited, but at a first glance, everything looked the same. Shiri's unoccupied desk was disorganized. Beauty products placed randomly on top of the work surface. The big plant was still there, a golf club sticking out of its large leaves.
The floor layout hadn't changed much, floor-to-ceiling glass pretty much everywhere, except for the walls covering the majority of Logan's old office. Rory stopped at the door, peeking inside to see the yellow couch still standing there, without much sign of use.
She had spent countless hours napping on that piece of furniture while pregnant.
"I thought it would take you longer to come." Ben's voice jolts her out of her memories, and she turns to look at Logan's tall best friend.
Rory wets her lips, "I need you to talk me through the dynastic plan."