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July 23, 2010

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"Rory!" Jordan shrieked, running toward her old friend in baggage claim. "I got your email and I wasn't even sure if it was true! I'm so happy you're back."

Rory smiled as Jordan enveloped her in a hug, patting her friend's back good-naturedly. "Yeah, it's been a while."

"So what was it like? Working for her?" Jordan asked, looking around.

Rory cleared her throat and pointed to a little boy about eight feet from Jordan's right. "That what you're looking for?"

"Yeah. Andy, come meet your Aunty Rory."

Rory knelt down to greet the little boy. "How old are you, Andy?"

Jordan rolled her eyes as Andy held up a full hand. "He's four, don't listen to him," Jordan said, ruffling Andy's hair.

"He's adorable, Jordan," Rory said, getting back to her feet.

Jordan smiled. "You're mom said to tell you she's so sorry she had to be out of town and couldn't greet you, but I promised to take care of you until she gets back. Something about a bad shipment of vegetables and... someone with a weird name. Cookie?"

"Sookie," Rory giggled. "She must be freaking out."

"Sounded like that." Jordan shrugged. "So you're going to come back to my house, and tell me all about what it was like working side by side with Christiane Amanpour in the middle of nowhere for over a year!"

Rory laughed. "We weren't in the middle of nowhere, Jordan. We were in eastern Australia most of the time."

Jordan sighed, grasping one of Rory's suitcases as it came around the carousel. "You're still using your college suitcases?" she asked, before shaking her head. "And you're totally missing the point, Rory. You got your dream job. You got to work with your idol!"

Rory smiled, pulling her other suitcase from the carousel as she rolled her eyes at Jordan. "You know, sometimes dreams are supposed to stay just that, Jordan. I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything in the world, but it made me realize something, too."

"What's that?"

"That sometimes, what you think is lacking from your life, is right there in front of you."
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"Oh my God, you have no idea how much I've missed the deep dished pizza here," Rory admitted as she stuffed a quarter of her slice of pizza into her mouth, talking around the food.

Jordan grimaced. "Could you tell me after you've swallowed? I'm trying to teach Andy manners, not eliminate them."

Rory laughed and swallowed the bite, shaking her head. "Jordan Danvers teaching someone manners?" Rory teased, "I don't believe it."

Jordan smiled, holding up her left hand. "Jordan Ryan, Rory."

"Huh. I'll have to meet him."

"Well, he's away right now on business. But you'll have time later, I promise. We got married last September."

"God, it's been so long."

"And you? I think I saw something sparkling on your finger when you were getting off the plane."

Rory blushed. "Oh, it's nothing..."

"Who is he?" Jordan asked, reaching across the table to pull Rory's hand into view. "Holy sh-" She froze, glancing over at Andy. "Schism."

Rory giggled. "Holy schism? Well, at least it makes sense, although it's been a while."

"Evading the topic."

"Um. I met back up with an ex in Australia. He'd taken over his dad's newspaper conglomerate and was personally covering the story there."

"Huh. Newspaper conglomerate?" Jordan's mouth fell open. "Are you talking about Logan Huntzberger?"

Rory nodded. "Yeah, we're engaged. Kind of."

"I think the rock would disagree with the kind of," Jordan muttered, still admiring Rory's diamond. "That's got to be worth more than my house."

Rory shrugged. "It's not that formal, you know. It was kind of a spur of the moment proposal, more to piss off his dad than anything else."

"Sounds like Logan."

"Yeah."

"And you're happy? You're in love with him."

It was shrug city, apparently. Rory shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Or at least he makes me happy, so... it's not like I have lots of options, you know?"

Jordan frowned. "Yeah..."
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"Oh, Rory, I should probably warn you..." Jordan started but trailed off as they approached her front door.

Rory frowned. "What is it?" she asked, admiring Jordan's house. It wasn't anything like the Ashford mansion, and it wasn't imposing, but it was Jordan's. It was nice to see her friend had been able to thrive without her family's support.

"Well, uh, my brother was kind of, you know, uh-"

Jordan didn't get any further though, as the front door swung open and Andy cried out, "Uncle Tristan!" as he charged at the blonde man.

Suddenly Rory's feet seemed to forget how to work. She stood rooted in place, one foot slightly in front of the other, mouth agape and pupils dilated.

It was almost funny. Rory had thought after the stories they'd covered about the Republican uprisings in Australia, and the civil war torn cities they'd entered, she'd become immune to adrenaline surges.

But now, as all the muscles in her body tensed and her blood started racing, she wanted to flee. It was funny, really, how seeing a man you'd once thought you loved could be scarier than trolling a war zone or being escorted at gunpoint through the streets of the once-safe Brisbane.

Shit.
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