Chapter 2: The Last Laugh

As Rory stared at her computer screen she couldn't help the droll smile that appeared on her face. She chuckled at the memory of the group of boys having entire conversations without using the letter e. The whole experience had not been what she had expected after all the cloak and dagger theatrics. She had imagined more danger, maybe some minor lawbreaking, definitely not intellectual word games and vintage safari outfits. In some ways the truth was more dangerous.

She had expected to find a group of rich and privileged youth who broke the law just because they could, had expected to find something she could expose and ridicule. Sure, it was still a hedonistic game, but there was a certain poignant elegance to it, an old world charm that appealed to her more than she had expected it to.

However, that didn't mean there was any shortage of stories to tell and she rubbed her hands together thinking about her article. This was going to be fun.

She was smiling as she crafted the words to describe the group who advertised themselves as daredevils but mostly acted like eccentric intellectuals carrying on some tradition of silliness for nothing but the thrill of it. She figured that only at a place like Yale would such a group hold such an honored place in local lore.

Really, it shouldn't have surprised her, given their few bantering interactions so far that Logan had been right at home in the midst of that world...practically their king. She grudgingly admitted to herself that she had enjoyed it as well. In a weak moment she might even acknowledge that it was possible that she had underestimated Logan but she would never admit that aloud even on pain of death. Clearly there would be nothing gained by padding Logan's already fat ego...Master and Commander indeed.... she snorted to herself just remembering his cocky grin. He was just the kind of guy who liked to push people's buttons, taunt and tease until they were on the edge of civility and cloak it all in that arrogant charm of his. Well, she thought, two could play that game. Just wait until he saw her article...then they would see who got the last laugh.

She was still thumbing through her handwritten notes when she heard an insistent knock on the door that broke her concentration. Who could that be? She wasn't expecting any visitors at the moment. Maybe it was someone looking for Paris, who knew what religious icon she had riled up this time. She was pretty sure that any day now they were going to find burning crosses outside their dorm window.

Grudgingly she walked to the door and was a little irritated when the door swung open to a deserted corridor. She looked around quickly and then noticed the items lying in front of her door, her confiscated camera, a gorilla mask and a bottle of champagne. Unbidden, another smile quirked her lips.

Picking up the items she flipped quickly through the pictures on her camera realizing that Logan must have had someone take a picture when they were on top of the tower. When she got to the one of the two of them holding hands as they jumped her stomach did a funny little flip as she remembered that strange tingling she had felt when he grabbed her hand. She quickly blew it off though when she realized where her mind was going.... it was just a side effect of the exhilaration and fear of the jump...nothing more. She had Dean, her first love, why would she ever feel anything other than annoyance for some condescending, irritating , spoiled little rich boy? Just because he could string two sentences together in a mildly amusing manner didn't mean that she would fall victim to his conceited charm. Sure, he was easy on the eyes but that definitely didn't outweigh the "I'm God's gift to women" attitude he so proudly displayed. Scoffing at the mere thought she dropped the mask and champagne onto a nearby table and headed back to her story, filled with gleeful anticipation at the prospect of getting his goat for good.

She was still chortling to herself an hour later as she finished a rough draft of her article. She was definitely going to enjoy seeing Logan's face when he read her take on the infamous Life and Death Brigade.

Her phone rang and she mindlessly grabbed for it, her eyes still glued to the computer screen, with one hand she flipped it open not bothering to glance at the caller id first. She instantly regretted it when she heard the voice on the other end of the line

"Rory?"

She groaned inwardly "Hi Grandma, how are you."

"I'm fine dear, I just wanted to call you to invite you to a dinner party that we are having in your honor. I didn't trust your mother to pass on the information without a lot of artistic license so I called you myself. It will be Friday night starting at 7 pm, I already have a dress picked out for you so you don't need to worry about what to wear."

This should have set off warning bells but she was only half listening, still preoccupied with the wording of her first paragraph. "Sure Grandma, what's the occasion?"

"Your Grandfather and I thought it would be nice to introduce you to some of our friends who are Yale alumni and their children, several of them attend Yale with you now."

She was slightly taken aback by this but accepted the fact that she couldn't stop her grandmother's attempts to meddle in her social life, she figured in the end it was easier to just play along...it was only one night out of her life, how bad could it be? Besides she was actually thrilled to hear that her grandparents were at least speaking with out the aid of their go betweens.

"Sure, Grandma, that sounds really nice. I'll be there with bells on. See you, Friday."

Dropping her phone on the bed she quickly shut down her laptop, if she hurried she would have just enough time to run to the Daily News office to turn in a rough draft to Doyle before her afternoon class.

She reached the newsroom out of breath, a cup of coffee clutched in one had and her bag and coat precariously balanced in the other. She nearly ran smack into someone and raised her head to apologize still struggling to catch her coat before it fell. When she saw who it was that blocked the doorway she just huffed in exasperation. "You again...why is it that whenever I am in a hurry you seem to be the one in my way?"

Logan, now known in her internal dialogue as the bane of her existence, just quirked an eyebrow at her as he moved aside to let her pass. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to take the hint and followed her as she wound her way through the newsroom to her desk "You know Ace we really have to stop meeting this way or I am going to start thinking that you are stalking me....or "tracking" me as you so eloquently put it."

She dumped her load on the desk with a grunt and plopped into her chair flipping the screen in front of her on as she tried valiantly to ignore the irritating boy in front of her. After a few minutes of squirming under his mocking gaze she gave up and looked up at him.

"Alright...you have proven that you can out wait me, what do you want Huntzberger? Are you hounding me for a reason or are you just bored without your entourage of playmates? Please just tell me so we can get this over with and I can get back to work. I really haven't budgeted enough time this afternoon to amuse you." She gave him what she thought was an intimidating stare.

He leaned in slightly "Ace, I'm wounded, and here I thought we had formed a special bond." He stepped back and looked surreptitiously around the newsroom "But don't worry, I understand if you aren't ready for the rest of the staff to know how you really feel about me. That you can't resist my boyish charm. I wouldn't want them to be jealous anyway. So it will just be our little secret for now." With a little conspiratorial wink he stepped back whistling softly as he retreated to his own desk.

She was flabbergasted for a second, the nerve of him insinuating such a ridiculous notion. What had she done to deserve this torture? All she could hope was that he would get bored with tormenting her and move on to his next victim soon. She really did not have room in her already chaotic life for his nonsense or the crazy notions that seemed to come with it.

Suddenly the tune he was whistling clicked in her brain, it was the song from the Life and Death Brigade event. She rolled her eyes at him as he parked himself behind his desk and raised his feet to his desk. He sent one last supremely cocky grin her direction before laying his head back on the chair, apparently intending to catch a little cat nap. She waited until his eyes closed but couldn't quite stop the tiny hint of amused smile that quirked her lips.

The smile dropped from her lips when Doyle came charging towards her desk. "Gilmore, what are you doing?" he practically hissed "I would have sworn that you were just flirting with Huntzberger over there and let me tell you that would not make me happy."

Rory just sent the melodramatic editor a perplexed look "What are you talking about Doyle? I don't even like Logan and I was most definitely not flirting with him and why, if I may ask, is it any of your business anyway?"

Doyle leaned forward as he said in a half whisper "Come on Gilmore you aren't that dense, don't tell me that I have to explain how things work around here. All it takes is one screwed up relationship in a newsroom to seriously throw off the balance of power. I have no need for theatrics. I like my nice ordered newsroom. Plus, any time you spend here flirting with Huntzberger is time that Huntzberger spends here...in my newsroom, taking up space and making me have to waste valuable time sucking up to daddy's little troublemaker over there. You know I don't like wasting my time....do you understand where I am going with this Gilmore?"

Rory gave him an exasperated look "Doyle, I swear, I don't even like the guy and I am certainly not planning on having theatrics over him any time in this lifetime."

She grabbed the stack of papers that had just finished printing and thrust them into his hands as she rose from her desk. She gathered her things and gave Doyle a last comforting pat on the shoulder .

"Don't worry chief, I'm sure he has the attention span of a gnat, he will get bored soon and move onto wrecking some other piece of daddy's property, then you will have your little kingdom back just as you like it. Now here is a draft of my article, I know its still rough but let me know what I can do to make it better. Thanks Doyle."

She breezed out the door but not before Logan opened one eye and said in a mock injured tone "A gnat huh? I'll have to remember that one next time you ask me to be your star anonymous source. Happy writing Ace."