A/N: I sorta forgot to write my A/N these past chapters. So: Hey guys! thanks for all you reviewers! All you readers are what keeps me going! Remember: reviewing never hurt anybody (and, yes, I am as desperate as I sound).

Disclaimer: All of the characters who appeared on Veronica Mars belong to the show's creators. I only own all of these new and neat people.

Now, on with the story

Chapter 3

Veronica set behind her desk the next day, ignoring the looks that followed her every move. She turned on her computer, and pulled out her laptop from her bag, turning it on as well. She took a sip from her coffee, and glanced around. Most people staring at her turned to look away as she glanced at them.

She felt angry with herself. Yesterday she let her emotions get the best of her, and this was her reword. She was a grown up, damnit! She should have kept her cool. But hearing Logan's name after so long of trying to avoid even thinking about him… maybe she should cut herself some slack. Maybe.

"Hey, Veronica." Said Clair, grabbing a chair and dragging it to Veronica's desk and sitting on the other side of it.

"Morning, Clair. How are you?"

"Good, really good. How are you? You okay?" she asked tenderly.

"Yeah, I'm great." Off Clair's look she added. "Really, I am."

"If you say so, then I believe you." Said Clair. Veronica really loved this woman. She was the sweetest person ever walk this earth. She reminded Veronica of Meg Manning, only less innocent and naive.

"Hey, is that new?" asked Veronica, motioning to Clair's necklace. It was a thin gold string, and had a gold clover pendant hanging from it. Clair fingered the pendant.

"Yeah, it is. You like it?"

"Yeah, it's beautiful. Real gold?"

Clair nodded excitedly. "Isn't it great? My mom came to visit yesterday, said she found this is one of her drawers and wanted me to have it."

"That's great, sweetie." Said Veronica, smiling at her brunette friend. "How is she?"

"Better. She doesn't like hospitals. Me neither."

"It's going to be okay, Clair. Don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried. I know she'll be okay." Said Clair truthfully. Veronica reached out to squeeze her hand in a supportive manner. Clair seemed grateful.

"I gotta get back to work" said Clair after a moment. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"I am. Go back to work." Clair mock-saluted and walked to her desk, which was situated on the other side of the room. Veronica smiled to herself and drank the rest of her coffee, and got to work.

It was just past lunch. Most people were still out, eating. Very few got back on time and returned to work. Veronica never left the office. She couldn't tear herself from her work. Her phone rang. She finished typing two more sentences and picked up the phone, placing it against her ear.

"Veronica Mars"

"Hey Ronnie." Her eyes widened at the familiar voice, and her mouth formed a surprised O.

"Hi" she said into the phone.

"So, uh… I guess you talked to Mr. Murphy, right?"

"Yeah." She said quietly. Then repeated more firmly. "Yeah, I did. He said you'd call."

"And here I am."

"Right." She said, slightly dazed. His voice hadn't changed a bit. She shook her head slightly, and put on her down-to-business voice. "So, we need to set a date for this interview. If you'd give me a number where I could reach you, I'll call and we'll just have this done with two or three phone calls."

"Actually, I'm coming to New York soon, I thought maybe we could have this done face-to-face."

"Oh." She said, trying to sound less surprised than she actually was. "Well, what is soon?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." She repeated. Oh. My. God. I'm fucked. "Yeah, Tomorrow's great. When are you landing?"

"6:00 AM. I thought maybe I'd come pick you up for lunch, around 13:00"

"Sure. It sounds great."

"Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow, yeah, absolutely." She said with a fake smile. She didn't even know why she was plastering that smile on her face. It's not like he was there to see it. "Well, bye." She said.

"Hey Ronnie…"

"Yeah?" she asked, slightly worried at what he might say.

"It's great talking to you again." She smiled, this time it was genuine.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She said, and then placed the phone in its cradle, with a sigh of relief.

Veronica decided to try planning some questions to the interview. She had interviewed people before, but never like she was going to interview Logan. Her interviews were about politics, about criminal investigations. She was a reporter that people avoided, just like when she was in high school and working for her dad. She asked the hard questions, the ones people didn't want to answer, about corrupted politicians, mishandled crime investigations and bribery. She did not give people an E! True Hollywood stories interviews. She bugged them about what they weren't telling, about a specific case or incident, and she was aggressive. Did Logan really want her to interview him like that? After all, he did say he liked her style. But was that just an excuse? And why did he want her specifically? He could have a reporter who actually knew what she was doing, like Rose. Did he chose her because she knew what he has been through as a teen, or because he wanted to see her again and didn't know how?

She was getting a headache.

"Veronica!" Her head jerked in the direction from which the yell came from. By the tone of Garret's voice he had been calling her name for a while now.

"What?" she asked, as if nothing was wrong.

"Are you alright?" he asked. Garret's brown eyes seemed concerned. His brow furrowed as he looked at her, trying to decide if she was ill or not.

"Sure, I'm fine."

"You were gone for a moment"

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking…"

"About the interview of the decade?" he asked, with a lopsided grin.

"Yeah. I'm not really sure how to do it, Garret. This is so not my thing." As she talked, Veronica picked up a packet of cherry flavored Pez candies and opened it.

"Well, why?" asked Garret, leaning on her table's edge.

"Why?" she asked, popping a Pez into her mouth, and sucking on it gently.

"Why isn't interviewing your thing?"

"Well, that's not totally right." She said thoughtfully, still sucking on the candy. "I guess… interviewing famous people about their life isn't my thing."

"That's not completely true either." said Garret, his grin widening. "After all, you've interviewed many senators, the mayor of New York-"

"Yeah, Politicians." She said, finally giving up on sucking her Pez, and chewed on it instead. "But not movie superstars. This interview is going to be read by every kid over the age of 10. Everybody knows who Logan Echolls is."

"Good point." Said Garret seriously, but Veronica caught the mischievous glint in his eyes. "After all, if you knew who he was…"

Veronica's hand shot to her heart. "Why Garret, I am appalled that you would say something like that! Mostly because the only movies you ever see are based on a book, and even then you make sure to point out all the differences between the book and film." She raised a single eyebrow, challenging him to continue. He merely smirked.

"Guilty as charged." He admitted, and raised both hands in the air, in a gesture of surrendering.

Veronica smiled at him. She liked Garret. He usually knew how to make her feel better. He was older than she was, close to forty, with dark brown hair, and bright brown eyes. He was very lean and very tall. She hated standing next to him. It made her feel tinier than she actually was.

Veronica popped another Pez into her mouth, and this time chewed it as soon as she closed her mouth, not feeling the need to savor the taste of it.

"Tell me Garret, what is the book-of-the-week for me?" Garret, as one of the most popular book reviewers in the New York Times, took it as his mission in life to make sure all his friends in the newsroom actually cracked a book every now and then. In order to make them actually do that, he gave them the books, leaving then no excuses.

"I was thinking about this book, I think you'd love it" he said. "I'll go get it for you."

He returned shortly after that, with a book in his hands. It wasn't thick at all, and Veronica was glad, because she knew that if it were too thick, she wouldn't find the time to start it. When a book was too thick, she could never actually bring herself to sit down and start reading it. This book, she could finish it in two hours, tops.

"What is it?" she asked.

"An amazing book. 'The Five People You Meet In Heaven', by Mitch Albom. Wonderful piece. If you'd like it, I have another one of his books, it's a must read. I think I reviewed it three years ago. You should read it."

"I will" she said. "Promise."

"Good. You need to do something that isn't work related, you little work-a-holic."

"Am not." She protested.

"The first step in solving a problem is admitting it exists."

"Oh, you are so funny, Garret" said Veronica in what she started calling her Betty voice (In honor of her wonderful acting job as Betty in Pen high, when Polly the parrot had been stolen) "And so wise, too. Please be my boyfriend!"

Garret chuckled. "You know, one day I will say yes to that, and then what are going to do?"

"Run for the hills. Screaming" she added, with a smile.

Garret grinned. "Catch ya later, Veronica. Connor is giving us the evil eye. Gotta get back to work" and with that he went to his own desk. Veronica turned to see Connor giving Garret's retreating form the evil eye. When he saw her looking at him he just raised an eyebrow, and tapped on his wristwatch. Then he mouthed 'Get to work' at her. Veronica smiled and turned to her computer.

"I'm burning daylight here" she mumbled, and started typing away on her computer.