Chapter 3

The Reunion

"So do they actually lei you as soon as you get off the plane?" Rory asked her mother on the phone.

"Actually, they do. But they are really cheap leis that scratch your neck. If you walk about 20 more feet you can buy nicer ones." Lorelai said.

"So how many of those did you buy?" Rory asked knowingly.

"Well, I just had to buy one for you, and Patty, and Sookie…okay, really, I bought one for just about everyone in town." Lorelai said with a laugh.

"So did Luke freak out?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, he did not think that Kirk needed a lei, but I argued his case, he caved."

"So how is the resort? As nice as the pictures?"

"Better! You have no idea how blue the water is here. Luke and I lay outside by the ocean every morning. Yesterday when we were not in our room we went scuba diving and the day before we went sailing. We have so much to do, that it is a good idea we are here for the month."

"I am so jealous. I am sitting here trying to find a job and you are out sitting on the beach with your husband." Rory pouted.

"Speaking of jobs, how is the search going?" Lorelai asked.

"I had an interview a couple days ago at the Gazette." Rory said.

"Oh the gazette! So that means you would have to stay in Stars Hallow?" Lorelai asked hopefully.

"Yes, but I don't know how long I will keep it. The Gazette is not my idea of first class journalism, nor will it get me my overseas correspondent title anytime soon."

"How was the interview anyway?" Lorelai pried, knowing full well that Logan worked there.

"Well, Logan did the interviewing, so that was weird, but I kept it purely professional." Rory lied.

Rory thought back to the interview of a few days back…

Flashback

Rory knocked on the office door reading: Logan Huntzberger-Editor in Chief.

"Yeah, come on in Ace." Logan yelled to her.

"Uh, hi. I have a 2pm interview." Rory said, attempting to maintain an air of professionalism.

"Of course, please have a seat." Logan said as he stood and extended his hand to shake hers. "Well, lets just cut right to it eh?" Logan said.

Rory awkwardly toyed with her portfolio as Logan shuffled through his papers and extracted her résumé.

"Okay, I see that you were editor of the Yale newspaper? That is quite impressive." Logan said, pretending to not know anything of her past.

"Thank you." Rory said. "The editor before me thought well of me, he knew I could handle the responsibility. I brought some of my best pieces with me for you to review." Rory told him, handing over the portfolio.

"Oh yes, thank you." Logan said as he started leafing through the enormous collection, not really reading any of them, but nodding his head and making noises of agreement anyway.

"Oh come on, you are not even reading them!" Rory broke her role-playing to yell at him.

"I don't have to." Logan said, finally looking her in the eye. "I have read all of these."

"Oh. Okay." Rory said, looking at her nervous hands in her lap.

"Right, well, I just have a few questions for you then." Logan said, closing the binder. "How do you feel you will be able to contribute to our paper?"

"Well, I grew up in Stars Hallow, my family lives here, and this town means everything to me. Ever since I was a kid, I have participated in every event that this kooky town has thrown together. I have subscribed to this paper since I could first read, and I know that my love for this town will show through in my writing."

"That is all every touching, but I do need someone who will write unbiased pieces for the paper. I don't want fluff kid, I want hard-hitting news." Logan said, playing the part of macho editor to the T.

"Ha, you then obviously don't know this town." Rory glared at him. "Stars Hallow does not have any 'hard-hitting news,' we have bake sales and town meetings. We have plays and fundraisers. The most controversy this town has seen is when they installed the stop light ten years ago."

Logan nodded his head as he listened to Rory's speech; he answered her diatribe with another question. "What do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses?"

"I think that one of my major strengths can also be interpreted as a weakness. I am very determined and I don't stop until I get what I want. This can impact my interactions with others, and I am working to correct this problem. This determination has opened many doors to me, but it has also cut me off from many people." Rory said.

"Can you give me an example of this?" Logan asked her.

Rory thought about it for a minute and replied: "My senior year at Yale was supposed to be perfect. I had just found out that I made editor of the paper, I was set to graduate Magna Cum Laude and my summer internship was scheduled to lead to a full time position at the paper. I got so enraptured in all of this success, and I was so focused on the Yale paper, that I abandoned those that loved me. My boyfriend at the time ended up cheating on me and I was left devastated. What hurt me most was the knowledge that it was my fault. I had pushed away everyone who loved me because I was too determined to succeed both at the newspaper and at school. At the time I was so determined that these people came second to me." Rory said, tearing up.

"You blame yourself for your boyfriends infidelity?" Logan asked her.

"Not completely, but in a way I do. I know that I was not there enough. We no longer attended school together, so we needed to work harder to see one another. I was way too distracted to give him this extra time, and I know that he felt this strain."

"Are you saying that you wish you were not so determined?" Logan asked her confused.

"Not necessarily. I wish I could learn to balance my determination and manage to give writing as much attention as the rest of my life. I think that is another reason why I want to work here. I know that Stars Hallow will offer me an opportunity to figure out my life and give me time to focus on my friends and family, I have not been the model daughter or friend over the past year."

"Okay Rory. Thank you for coming in. I will get back to you early next week with an answer." Logan said standing up and shaking her hand once again.

Rory gave him a small smile and left the office. As soon as she was out the door, she allowed the tears that were threatening to fall wash down her face. She silently wiped them away and headed to Luke's for a cup of coffee and a chat with Jess.

"So do you think you will get the job?" Her mom asked, shaking Rory out of her reminiscing.

"It is hard to tell. I mean, he told me about the job, so I would think that means he wanted to hire me…but the interview was…awkward."

"I wouldn't worry about it kid. I think if he knows what is best for him he will give you the job."

"But I don't want the job just because he once dated me!" Rory argued.

"Yes, but you also don't want to lose out on the job because you once dated him. Besides, unless Tom Brokaw decides to come out of retirement, I think you are probably the most qualified for that position."

"Well hopefully things won't be too weird." Rory said. "Anyway, I will let you go. I don't want to interrupt your honeymoon to listen to my guy problems."

"Never-fear my child, I will always drop everything to listen to you."

"Thanks mom. I will talk to you next week."

"Bye Rory. Good luck!"

Rory set down the phone and looked at her watch. She sighed as she read the time: 5:30pm. It was still a little early to have dinner, but she was bored and wanted to get out of her house. She put her shoes on and slowly made her way to Luke's.

The bell chimed as she made her way to the counter. Jess looked up from his book and smiled.

"Hey, I have not seen you for a couple days. I was starting to worry." Jess said to her as he poured her a cup of coffee.

"Yea, I have not really been in the mood to see people." Rory said.

"I get it. I would not want to see most of these people too, but unfortunately I have to work. But seriously, if you want to talk…"

"Oh no, it is okay. I think things are going to be fine."

"Right. Well, the next time you get in a funk and don't want to talk to the crazy townsmen, feel free to call me up, I will deliver."

"Thanks Jess. That means a lot."

"Anyway, enough of the seriousness. What can I get you? The usual?"

"Yeah, um, just a hamburger and fries."

"Coming up." Jess said as he put the order in.

Her food came after a few minutes and she happily dug into her burger. After she finished, she pulled out her wallet to pay Jess.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Jess told her.

"Oh no Jess please let me pay." Rory argued.

"No, I know you are unemployed right now, it is on the house."

"I have money though." Rory said. "Please, at least let me pay for your tip."

"Sure, you can tip me by taking me out for dessert after I get off." Jess said with a smile.

"You want me to take you out?" Rory asked.

"Yeah, I don't want you to stay in this funk. I will sacrifice my evening to help cheer you up. So swing by around 8 tonight and we can go get some ice cream."

"This feels like déjà vu." Rory said to him.

"How so?"

"Let me see if I get this right…" Rory said after a minute. "We are in a diner, you have ice cream here."

Catching on, Jess responded. "Yes, but we don't have cones."

"Okay, so if I treat you to ice cream…"

"In cones" Jess interrupted.

"Then we will be even?" She asked him.

"That should be fine."

"I am driving this time." Rory told him.

Jess laughed. "How about we walk instead? I don't want to risk any broken limbs."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense. The soda Shoppe is right next-door. Anyway, I will see you at 8. Thanks again Jess." Rory said as she made her way to the door.

Rory rushed into her house as she heard the telephone ring. She was out of breath as she finally reached the phone.

"Hello?" Rory said as she breathlessly answered.

"Can I please speak to Rory Gilmore?" An unrecognizable female asked.

"This is she." Rory answered.

"Hello Miss Gilmore, this is Suzanne calling from the Gazette. I have Mr. Huntzberger here for you." Suzanne said.

"Oh okay." Rory responded.

"Please wait while I connect you." The line went dead as she transferred her to Logan.

"Hey there Ace." Logan said.

"Hi Logan."

"I was calling to offer you the position. You were by far the most qualified, and the rest of the staffers were quite taken by you."

"Really? That is great. Thank you."

"So you accept the offer?" Logan asked her.

"Yes, I do. When do you want me to start?" She asked him.

"Well, since it is Thursday…hmm, is Monday too soon?"

"No, Monday is perfect." Rory said.

"Okay, great. We get in the office at 9am."

"I will see you then." Rory said to him.

"Unless…" Logan started.

"Yes?"

"Unless you wanted to go out for dinner tonight to celebrate?" Logan asked her.

"Oh. Um, well, I already ate, and I have plans anyway."

"Right. Well, if you change your mind…" Logan said.

"I already promised Jess that I would treat him to Ice cream."

"Oh yeah, Jess. Sure. Well, um, have fun then. I will see you on Monday." Logan said.

"Yeah Logan, I will see you on Monday." Rory sighed as she hung up the phone.

Rory hoped that things would start to normalize between her and Logan. If their work relationship was going to function, they really needed to establish some sort of neutral ground.

Rory read her clock once again. 6:35just enough time to take a nap before she met up with Jess. Rory set her alarm clock for 7:30 and immediately fell asleep, the events of the past few days had left her not only irritable, but also exhausted.

Okay guys, there you go. I hope you all enjoyed it. I am working on ideas for future chapters, but please R and R and let me know what you are thinking!