Achieving Goals -Chapter 6
When Logan returned to New Haven, Rory was the only one at the apartment. He was thankful. They needed to talk uninterrupted. She was sitting at the kitchen bar with her laptop, a pad, pencil, books, highlights, and papers scattered everywhere. Is that a crayon? She was studying. Finals were next week.
"Hey," He said, getting her attention. He had been leaning against the door frame for a good minute. She looked up and smiled at him.
"Nice to see you alone. The apartment is quiet." He said. She nodded her head. Then she went back to turning pages in a book, stopping every now and again to highlight something. Looked at his watch. It was almost lunchtime. He would order them some lunch. Maybe he could talk her into taking a break for lunch, so they could talk.
After he ordered pizza, he called down to the front desk and told them he ordered pizza and it was okay to send it up. He went to his office and opened his laptop and books and started studying. He too had finals. Although his finals didn't matter, it wasn't like it would prevent him from getting a job, but he wanted to do well on his finals. He wanted Rory to be proud of him.
He was into his studying, when the doorbell scared him when it rang. He jumped up. He didn't want to disturb Rory's studying. She was closer to the door, so she reached it first. She was surprised to see the pizza guys. She turned to look for Logan. He was right behind her. She took the pizza, and he tipped the boy. He also gave him a look that told him not to even think about it. Rory had on a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts and a tank top that didn't quite make it to the top of her shorts. She looked hot, but he was the only one that he wanted to notice.
"I thought you could use a study break. Gilmores needs fuel. I learned that a long time ago." Logan said as they headed to the sofa and coffee table. "Besides, I want to talk to you about something." She looked back at him. She was trying to figure out if he wanted to talk about something serious or did he want to talk about plans for tonight. She nodded at him.
"I need to talk to you too," she said as she grabbed a slice of pizza and a napkin. Logan sits a soda down in front of her on the coffee table. He popped the top on his and her sodas. Logan nodded.
"You go first." He told her. She nodded. Then swallowed the bite of pizza, followed by a sip of her soda.
"My dad wants me to meet him in New York tomorrow. He wants me to look at his apartment and the Hayden Law Firm apartments. Decide which apartment I want to use while I am at school." She took another bite of pizza, giving herself time to look at him. She needed to know what he was thinking.
"Do you know where they are located?" Logan asked. Chris knew she was living with me. Does he not want her to live with me in New York?
"He gave me the addresses. I looked them up. They are all about the same distance from school. One of them has a coffee shop on the ground floor of the building. It is the penthouse. Has lots of amenities; pool, gym, private terrace, such things." She told him. "One is a townhouse with a backyard." Rory told him. Logan was eating pizza and nodding. "I think I will rule that one out to begin with. Too much house. "
"What about the other?" He asked, biting into the pizza. She nodded as she swallowed.
"The other is also a penthouse. I think it is too big." She said, taking a sip of her cola. He nodded for her to go on.
"It has 5 bedrooms. I don't need 5 bedrooms." She told him. He nodded. He didn't think 5 bedrooms were too much. She was just going to be using the apartment while she was in school. Just a couple of years.
"I am going to be assigned to the New York office or one of the New York papers. Dad has not decided which yet. He wants me to take a tour of them sometime before graduation and give him my input." Logan told her as he wiped his mouth.
"You were wiping your mouth, did you say he wants your input?" Rory asked. Her eyes were wide. Logan laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, I have a lot to tell you, but first we need to talk about you right now," Logan told her. "Does your dad have a problem with us living together? We can live in one of HPG's apartments or in my family's," He asked her.
"Do you want us to live together?" She asked. He looked at her. He couldn't believe she asked that.
"Rory, I love you. I want us to have a life together. I am not, nor are you, ready to be married, but that is a goal that I hope we can achieve together when the time is right." He told her. She sat there. She wasn't sure what to say or what to do. She wanted to jump up and kiss him. This is what she wants too, but she wants to achieve so much more than to just be his wife.
"Logan, I love you too," she told him. She stood up and kissed him. "I need some air. I am going for a walk." She headed to the door.
"Rory," Logan called for her. She turned around and smiled at him. It was a genuine smile.
"I won't be gone for long. I just need to process this information. I promise we will talk when I get back." She told him. He nodded.
What has he done? He had scared her. He knows she fears losing her identity. He could have led with that. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. He is pacing around the apartment. He needs to call Honor. He picks up his phone, then he decides that is not a good idea. He still has the phone in his hand. He hit the button before he could talk himself out of it.
"Honor, hey, I have messed up. I don't know what to do. I have really messed up." Logan was not giving Honor a chance to say anything. Honor jumped up and grabbed her purse. She was going to her brother.
While Logan was on the phone with Honor, Rory came back in. He didn't hear her because he was ranting to Honor, and Honor was trying to calm him down. When he turned around and saw her standing there, he told Honor he had to go. He ended the call.
Honor was standing at her car, with her hand on the door, when he ended the call. She just stood there. Josh pulled up while she was standing in the driveway.
"Honor, are you okay? Where are you going?" He asked. She shook her head. All Logan said before he hung up was that Rory was back. Honor started telling Josh about what happened.
Meanwhile, back in the apartment in New Haven:
"Rory, you're back," Logan stated. Rory smiled at him.
"Yes, I know. I told you I would be back." Rory told him.
Logan began to apologize to her. She stopped him.
"I need to talk for just a minute, then we can discuss our goals and what we want to achieve." She told him. He nodded.
"Logan, I love you... One day, I think I would like to be your wife. I think that you and I are on the same page. When I say wife, I do not mean Shira or Emily. I want us to be equal partners. I want us to achieve our goals together. But I can not even think about being Mrs. Logan Huntzburger until I figure out who Rory Gilmore is." She was trying to read him. She was trying to figure out what was going on in his head.
"Logan, I know I am not explaining this correctly, but you have known me for three years. You know I want to establish myself as a journalist. People already think that I am with you for your money and what you can do for me professionally. I know, I know, I shouldn't care what people think." She stopped and took a breath.
"A couple of days ago, I was not sure you wanted a relationship outside of college. I feared you would want to break up after graduation. I was miserable. I was having a hard time picturing my life without you in it." She told him.
"But don't misunderstand me. I love you. I want you in my life, but if you decide today that is not what you want, I will survive. I'm sure it won't be easy, but I will survive." She was looking him in the eye the whole time she was talking to him. She couldn't hold his stare any longer. She was afraid she was going to cry. That is why she took a walk. She needed to get herself together.
She turned to walk toward the bathroom. If she concentrated hard enough, she could make it to the bathroom before the tears fell. The speech she gave was good. It was true, but it would be hard to lose him. But she had to make it on her own. She had to make a name for herself before she could give herself completely to him.
She almost made it to the bathroom before he grabbed her. He turned her around, so that she was facing him.
"You have had your say, now it is my turn... I love you, Rory Gilmore. I will marry you when you are ready. I will help you as much or as little as you want as long as I, no, we get to come home to each other every night. If you find a job in Ten-buck-two, I am sure I can find a paper for Mitchum to buy. I will follow you." She was full-on crying now. She loves him so much. Why couldn't she be one of these girls that was happy just being his wife? No, she didn't want to be one of those girls. She wanted to herself.
He held her while she cried. After a few minutes, she went to clean herself up. They were going to sit down and talk about the next year. They decided to take it one year at a time.
They stayed up most of the night talking. They decide to both go to New York tomorrow. They will meet with Chris. They would discuss Logan moving in with Rory, if it was okay with Chris. The two of them living in one of the HPG properties would not work. Rory did not want to be that girl that lived off her boyfriend. Besides, Mitchum and Shira could drop by at any time.