Rory barely noticed the chill air as they exited the restaurant, probably a result of the veritable mountain of curry that was still burning the roof of her mouth, but then it could also be a result of the fact that Logan had barely missed an opportunity to be in some kind of physical contact with her since they had entered the restaurant. The casual handclasps, the hair tucking and definitely the meeting of lips all combined to raise her internal temperature to a pleasantly toasty setting. Now his hand was resting on the small of her back as they walked toward the car and the tingle shot clear to her toes and sent a disconcerting hum to playing in her head. She felt giddy...she was sure that was the only word that fit.
He opened the door for her and she climbed in with a small smile feeling a bit like she was floating about a foot above the ground on some cushioning cloud of euphoria.
"Where to next Miss Daisy?" his voice broke the magical spell for the moment.
"The York good sir." She glanced at the clock in the dashboard "If we make good time we should be there right on time for the second movie.
"To the theater we go."
The look on his face was absolutely priceless. Rory smiled, a self-congratulatory smile as he stared up at the sign with a look that bordered on little boy in a toy store and felt a little thrill as he grasped her hand again secretly enjoying the familiarity of his affection.
Logan stared up at the sign on the Marquee and he felt his mouth drop...not a sensation it was entirely familiar with; he was rarely surprised and never enough to show it. Yet here he was, pleasantly astonished by the ingenious girl standing next to him. He turned that wide-eyed look on her and caught the twinkle in her eye, the sly smile.... she got him, another thing to chalk up on the new experience board.
"What can I say, I saw it and I thought of you." Her smile was curving towards delighted.
He looked up at the sign again and wasn't sure whether to be entirely flattered or slightly unnerved that she knew him almost as well as his closest friends, after a pause he decided to take it as a good omen, no girl he had dated had ever made the effort to actually know him. "Well we can't let an opportunity like this go to waste." He held out an arm " Shall we."
Her smile warmed him from the inside out and he felt a little like he was walking on some less than solid surface about a foot above the pavement.
Several hours and many red vines duels later they ambled out of the movie theater blinking slowly as their eyes adjusted to the glare from the streetlights.
Logan thoughtlessly grasped Rory's hand and pulled her towards him until she was close enough to wrap an arm around. He felt a tiny shiver against his side and wasn't entirely sure whether it was from him or from her.
"An entire film festival, dedicated to the late great Peter Sellers...only one word for it...genius, pure genius." Logan was uncharacteristically ebullient about the matter and Rory hid a self-satisfied smile.
"I believe that you may have mentioned that.... about 211 times in the last four hours. Not to rain on your parade or anything but it is getting a tad redundant, maybe we should just make a recording and you could play it on endless repeat for about 6 hours straight." She shot him an amused look but he continued to ramble as if she had not interrupted.
".... And your performance...masterful, a regular one woman show, brilliant, funny, insightful, I definitely give it a thumbs up."
She cocked an eyebrow at him "Planning to put in for an assignment change and become the Arts reviewer for the Daily News?'
"Only if you get to be my Co-reviewer because the side show is the best part. I especially liked the re-enactment of the ninja sword fight using red vines."
She shrugged modestly "What can I say, I have a talent for improvisation with snack foods...it takes skill and practice to parry with a red vine and should not be attempted at home by the untrained. Sadly I was at a distinct disadvantage without my usual mocking partner, I did the best I could but I assure you the two woman show is a must see hit."
He cast a playful smile in her direction "Perhaps one day, should I be deemed a worthy apprentice you will impart your mocking wisdom to me and I could be your humble side kick."
Rory put on her best Buddha face "Well grasshopper you do have potential and perhaps I could be persuaded to teach you the Zen of movie mocking, you are resourceful, I bet that you can come up with the right form of persuasion."
He stopped abruptly on the sidewalk and spun her to face him with a deft twist of the arm. "I believe I will take that bet Ace."
Before she had time to do more than blink his hands were cupping the sides of her face and he was covering her lips with his own. She stumbled back a step with the onslaught and her back met the side of a building. His lips were soft, persuasive, at first, until she started kissing him back and then they quickly lost all semblance of control. Their tongues dueled and he pressed her back against the wall kissing her as if he were a starving man being offered a meal. Finally the need for oxygen overcame the passion racing through their veins and Logan pulled back far enough to suck in a breath and meet her eyes. They panted in sync for short time while Rory tried to remember what the hell they had been talking about before this assault on her senses had scattered her wits to the four winds. The rush of oxygen to her brain made the halo of light around the streetlights seems to spin as a random thought finally clicked into place in her beleaguered brain. Right.... persuasion.
Her voice was a little rough "I was thinking a banana split but that works.'
He looked at her blankly for a full breath before comprehension dawned and she was forced to laugh at their pathetic state "God, I feel like someone just came along with a big eraser and wiped my entire brain clean of any coherent thought."
He let his forehead fall to rest on hers and his voice matched the incredulous sentiment "I second that, boy, who needs alcohol when I have you to turn my brain to mush every time you get within ten feet. I'm going to contacting the Surgeon General first thing tomorrow, you definitely need to come with a warning label; addictive and lethal in large doses."
She grinned up at him now having regained at least a modicum of stability "You know I think that maybe one of the sweetest things you have ever said to me."
His answering smirk was classic Logan "Does that mean I get the job?"
She patted him on the cheek "Sure Huntzberger, you can be my side kick any time."
"In that case may I suggest one modification to the plan?"
"Geez, give the guy a bit part and suddenly he wants to see his name in lights." She crossed her arms and tried to look admonishing but failed utterly at his teasing wink.
"Maybe we should practice this mocking sport in a slightly more private place where the other movie going patrons don't threaten bodily harm and dismemberment every five minutes. "
She rolled her eyes "Sure, and while you're at it why not run on over to Pamplona and tell the folks that there won't be any bulls involved in the running of the bulls this year because, well by gosh it might be dangerous and someone might get hurt."
"Fine, easy for you to say, you can just flutter your eyelashes and the brute who wants to beat you to a pulp dissolves into a helpless lap dog. Me, I'm not exactly the coquettish type."
She put her hands on her hips "Oh please, I bet you can flutter your eyelashes with the best of them."
"Yes, perhaps, but it seems a lot better for my life expectancy not to try it with a brute...you know I considered by some to be quite fetching and I wouldn't want said hulk to get the wrong idea." He pulled open the car door for her and let her climb in before he leaned down with one arm still on the door and gave her a little peck on the check "after all, I'm taken."
He shut the door softly and the words that had just tripped so blithely off his tongue rang in his head.... what the hell had gotten in to him? He groaned as he rubbed his hands over his eyes because in truth he knew exactly what had gotten in to him.... Rory Gilmore.
It wasn't hyperbole to say that Logan practically set the gold standard for mastery of proper first date behavior, hubris perhaps but not unsubstantiated. He had a painstakingly perfected protocol, a recipe for success and in the years since he had first had his heart broken this canon had rarely failed him. He had reduced the bit of romantic theater that was a first date to a smooth and seductive science. It was art, the right words, the right setting, the right amount of flatter and flirtation and the intimation that perhaps the current lucky object of his attention might in fact be THE woman who could tame the tempestuous Logan Huntzberger. Up until recently that insinuation had been pure fiction as no woman since Rebecca had gotten anywhere near that tender organ known as his heart.
Then the girl of the hour had crashed right into his happy little existence. She had reduced his infamous shield to shards, had questioned and insulted everything about the facade that he had worked so hard to project to the rest of the world and he found himself curious. Everything that attracted all those other women to him like moths to a flame she spent less than half a second casting dispersions on and dismissing as he had stood by stunned and he watched his legendary image reduced to dust. Despite this plethora of reasons to the contrary he found himself drawn to this pariah. He was certain it was some greater being's idea of a cosmic joke.
It was irksome to find himself on a rather frequent occasion comparing some passing pretty girl to Rory and although in sheer physical beauty they might be her equal they all seemed to somehow come up lacking. This could be dismissed as the tell tale signs of infatuation. Infatuation he wasn't too worried about, infatuation was temporary, like getting a cold. You might feel a little under the weather for a few days but then you got over it and went back to everyday life and next time you encountered it you were immune.
Then the unthinkable had occurred. This morning had tipped it. Knowing that she had spent the night in Stars Hollow and would therefore be absent from their daily coffee ritual he had come prepared, settled into his customary chair, envisioning peace and quiet and a solitary reading of the newspaper. Just because he could, he read the comics first.
He realized half way through the first panel that it wasn't nearly as much fun to read them first when someone wasn't bugging you constantly and making outrageous threats about your dire peril if you did not hand the funnies over immediately. It took the fun out of a good chortle on Bill the Cat's behalf when there was no one on the other side of the newspaper trying in quite annoying fashion to read over the edge of the paper and figure out what exactly you found so amusing. Deciding that today just wasn't a funnies sort of day he set down the comics and moved on to the front-page feeling strangely unsatisfied. He was barely through the first article when he lifted his head to discuss the topic in a manner that in short time had become practically second nature only to find the chair opposite him regrettably empty.
It hit him. Not in a blinding flash of epiphany but rather as if he had been aware that something was following him, gaining on him for sometime and he had only just now turned his head and caught a clear glimpse of this stalker. He missed her. One morning without the routine and he missed her. There was a moment of gut clenching certainty that told him that any notion he had of escaping this little entanglement unscathed had been obliterated forever.
For the first time in a very long time, he wanted a girl to be there, to be a part of mundane, every day life, he still shied away from the N word, need, but he knew he was tiptoeing dangerously close to that line where solid earth became quick sand.
He wanted her to be here for their coffee ritual even after the obligatory month was up and he wasn't sure how close he was to that objective. He might have her for the moment but he knew with a prescient moment to of clarity that the trouble with Rory Gilmore was not going to be in getting her; it was going to be in keeping her. At least he had a chance tonight to show his strengths, if there was any part of a relationship that he was good at, it was the first date.
He supposed, given his prowess that he had considered this night a slam-dunk...but even he hadn't expected this. This slide into the fantastical, the way his heart had not stopped racing since he had laid eyes on her... the fact that every touch, however slight sent had his breath catching. Whenever he set eyes on Rory he felt a little like he had just taken a curare tipped dart to the heart, the mystical blue eyes with their paralyzing intensity, the angelic face, that sharp tongue all combined to come precariously close to tripping his blithe tongue and left him feeling half dazed and delirious. He felt drunk, that kind of hazy world not quite coming in to focus kind of intoxication that sat on that little ledge between happy go luck tipsiness and dizzy room spinning, don't remember dancing on the bar naked drunk...he hadn't had a single alcoholic drink the entire night and he felt drunk. He was taken.... whether he liked it or not.
He realized that he had been standing outside the car for too long. He shook his head a little to clear it before opening his side of the car.
Rory slouched into the soft leather and took a deep breath after the door closed on her. She tried not to think about those words hanging in the air near her ear. She hadn't felt like this in....well she wasn't sure that she had ever felt like this to be honest but she wasn't ready to think about what those words meant. She wasn't sure what to say as he slid into the seat next to her, so she opened her mouth and improvised "What next?"
His hand dropped from the ignition and he turned to look at her "Well Ace, I figure we have two choices, we can call it a night, end on a high point or we can get that banana split you mentioned."
There was a short silence as she weighed the option, it was only midnight "The night is young, I am sort of in the mood for a midnight snack anyway so why not have some company?"
He rolled his eyes "How it is even physiologically possible for your to be hungry after the trenchers of curry and samosas you consumed, not to mention the red vines, the popcorn, the sweet tarts and the Reeses pieces. I don't know how you are even standing."
"Yes, but this is ice cream and coffee we are talking about, ice cream melts you know so it can fit into deceptively small places and coffee is more like a constituent of our blood chemistry than an actual beverage. Besides banana splits are good for you."
"Alright Miss Epicurean I'll bite, how is a banana split good for you?' He stuck the keys in the ignition and pulled away from the curb.
She gave him a flabbergasted look "Okay doubting Logan lets look at the facts, not only are there bananas, which are filled with all sorts of potassium and other vitamins, there are strawberries, cherries, nuts...I mean frankly I'm surprised they aren't listed in Andrew Weil's books as one of the wonder foods and I haven't even mentioned the ice cream yet, I think the slogan says it all 'it does a body good."
"You realize that slogan is about milk right.... not ice cream?"
"Purely semantics...I mean would you call an ice cube and water different just because they happen to exist in different thermodynamic states?"
"I see you are back to using chemistry to defend your eating habits."
She gave him an exasperated look "Hello, what other use is there for chemistry?'
"Well, you could use it to try to understand complex phenomenon that make our world function."
She smiled triumphantly "Exactly...like how ice cream and milk are actually the same thing just in different physical states."
He glanced over at her with a chuckle "And your mother buys this argument?'
She looked shocked "Buys it? She is the original inventor of the Gilmore Girl food pyramid...she taught me everything I know. You don't seriously think that I was just born an idiot savant of the snack food kingdom do you?"
He raised both hands "Fine, I surrender."
She smirked "And who said an old dog couldn't be taught new tricks?"
They found an all night diner and their luck held when the waitress announced that they did indeed have a fantastic banana split on their menu. The waitress headed off to fetch the keg of coffee they had requested and Logan tuned his attention back to her actual words rather than the rather melodic cadence of her voice.
She was explaining the tricky science of ice cream and coffee to him...."You see there are a lot of factors that must be considered when determining the order of ingestion. Let's say it is a cold night like tonight, well there is no need to forgo the icy goodness of Rocky Road when you can just drink the coffee afterwards and warm up your insides and snap, equilibrium is restored."
"I'm sure not even Nernst would disagree with you." He nodded solemnly.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise "Better watch out Huntzberger, I think your mask is slipping."
"I thought we were past the mask stage."
She looked slightly off balance at this remark but plowed onward. "So, lets say it is a hot summer night, well then obviously the order would have to be reversed, hot coffee and then cold ice cream to cool you off. Now that's the simple part, consider now the confounders, what, for example does one do with iced coffee or fried ice cream or heaven forbid, an afogato (ice cream and coffee together) or coffee flavored ice cream, as you can see these are very complex issues. I am expecting the world summit on coffee and ice cream to be held any day now and then perhaps there will be a consensus on these all important decisions."
Rory's banana split and Logan's slice of pie arrived. Logan had long since ceased his amazement at the amount of food that Rory could seemingly inhale but her utter ecstasy as she dug into the whip cream covered confection was still just a little bit mind boggling. She just gave him a cheerful smile "What can I say, kissing makes me hungry. '
He shook his head "from my observations I would say that hungry is your reaction to almost any activity...or lack of activity for that matter. You do realize that we just spent four hours sitting in a dark room without any appreciable movement or calorie burning?"
"Hey speak for yourself Mr. Entropy, mocking takes energy. I'm refueling, one never knows when the next mocking opportunity will come along and it is best to always be prepared."
"What ever you say Jabba, but this time there is no way I am offering to carry you."
She snorted as she took a big bite of chocolate drenched ice cream. They ate for a few moments in silence before she began to gaze rather covetously at his pie.
He finally grinned at her and pointed at his pie "Would you like a bite?"
Now she was all deference "Oh, sure, I guess, if you insist.... as a favor of course."
"How beneficent of you."
"Hey, I'm here for your brother." He almost snorted coffee up his nose at that complete fabrication.
"The soul of charity."
She sighed gravely "Yeah, my mom is always telling me I'm too nice for my own good."
"I see that we have entered the fictional part of the evening."
She took a sip of her coffee and leaned back to give him a considering look "Speaking of fiction. I believe I recall some mention of a story behind the infamous Fiji incident."
"Ah, yes, I wondered how long it would be before you recalled that ill advised promise" he hummed to himself for moment contemplating the best telling of a story which evinced his less than stellar character.
"I'm beginning to think it is of false advertising, one big PR scam to make you look all dangerous and exciting."
He cocked an eyebrow "Did it work?"
She put a hand to her chest "oh not on me, but I'm sure the husband hunter out there put in the plus column.... it's always a feather in the cap of a hunter that brings down a dangerous animal."
"I'll keep that in mind. This, however, was not propaganda, as my father is a little too fond of reminding me of it when ever the mood strikes him...which is far too frequently for my taste." He sighed and rolled his coffee cup between his hands then looked across the table at her, not quite meeting her eyes "suddenly I'm wishing this were something a little stronger than coffee."
Rory cocked her head at him "that bad huh?"
"Bad, I guess you could say that...one of those moment's that has you hoping for Alzheimer's to set in and erase all the salient points from your memory banks."
Rory's voice was soft now, serious "Worse than say sleeping with your married ex-boyfriend?"
His head came up and he took in her solemn face before he cracked a slight smile "Point taken...guess its best to get all the skeletons out of the closet."
She patted his hand on the coffee cup "I think that's a good plan...besides Alzheimer's would never work, it mostly affects short term memory. I suppose you could go with amnesia but it seems a shame to erase a lot of good memories just to get rid of one bad one."
His lips curved "Well damn, there goes my back up plan. Well, I guess if we are doing the whole clean slate thing I'll kill two birds with one stone since telling you about how I came to be acquainted with the bunch of lunatics that I call friends is sort of intrinsic to the whole boat sinking incident. It's true what they say I guess that the sins of one's youth do have a way of catching up with one despite the best of attempts to evade them.
Let's see, I'd say that as with most my stories of great folly it seems only right to start with Finn. My older brother is fond of saying that I was the golden child, the apple of my mother's eye.... until that star-crossed day that I met one Finley Morrison, only child, as it turns out only adopted child, of the venerable Grant and Patricia Morrison formerly of Tasmania but having come, by way of Sydney, Australia to reside in Greenwich, Connecticut. You might recognize a little enterprise run by his parents by the name of Morrison Enterprises. "
Rory held up a hand to staunch the flow of information "Wait, let me catch up here. Finn's family runs possibly the largest publishing firm in the English speaking world?"
Logan sounded thoughtful "I believe that it is only the second largest publishing company."
"Oh right, silly me.... and his name is Finley?"
"I wouldn't repeat that to him unless you have a death wish, he tends to be a bit sensitive about the name. "
"And he's from Tasmania?"
"The original Tasmanian devil in the flesh."
She laughed "How strangely appropriate.... okay, so how is that you came into contact with this young fiend?"
"Given the obvious connections between our families in the publishing world I suppose it was only a matter of time before I happened to end up in the sandbox with young Finley at the tender age of 5."
"I thought Finn said you were only three..."
"In case you haven't noticed Ace, our fine Finley has a bit of a fluid understanding of reality and therefore finds it rather difficult to hold to concrete structure like times and dates and such. Besides, he does so love to exaggerate my prowess as a young lothario. In truth, I believe that I was very nearly the well behaved angelic child of legend until the advent of young Faust." He tried to look upstanding.
Her voice dripped with clear incredulity at his claims of innocence. "Yeah right, I'm sure your halo was lofty, given that it was held up by those horns." She snickered.
"You wound me Ace. Although I will admit that perhaps I did have a rather large independent streak fairly early on."
"Independent? Is that what they are calling it now?" she interjected but he ignored her.
"Unfortunately for my parents their intentions for me to have a fine upstanding young friend with similar background and family pedigree went horribly wrong when Finn and I made our acquaintance. He won over my nanny with one beatific smile and the race was on, our alliance in mischief has really never ended and I am sure to this day my parents rue ever coming into contact with the Morrison heir." He smirked a little "He is rather good scapegoat I must say, I appear rather mundane in the shadow of our jester friend Finn. The great thing about Finn is his sort of like a terrorist organization...he actually enjoys getting credit for naughty deeds, a character trait that has served me well over the years. A mutually beneficial partnership you might say."
"I have no doubt that the two of you have formed quite an unholy alliance over the years. Its probably a wonder that either of you is alive to tell the tale." She rolled her eyes picturing the world being taken by storm by the two young hellions.
"That's where our find upstanding friend Colin comes into the picture. I'm quite certain that the odds of our continued existence would have been considerably less had we not fairly soon after our initial encounter come to meet one Colin Bradshaw, a level headed, slightly priggish bloke even at the unfledged age of 6."
"Colin Bradshaw, as in THE Bradshaw?" her voice hinted at amazement.
He nodded "I take it you've heard of his illustrious elders as well." He could see out of the corner of his eye that her mouth had dropped open.
Her voice was a touch awed "Who hasn't heard of Simon Bradshaw, quite possibly one of the greatest playwrights of our time?"
"Also the egomaniacal philandering ass of the century.... but the critics never fail to leave that out of the glowing reviews in the Times. Too lowbrow for the literary folk I suppose. Alas, that has also not stopped Colin from forever attempting to curry his father's rather capricious favor. Ian was smart enough to walk away on his own terms and thumb his nose at dear old dad a long while ago but Colin hasn't quite got the gumption for that. I believe that exact predicament is what led to his inclusion in our little band of rabble-rousers, in fact I dare to say that he was well on his way to being one of the argyle clad parishioners of our friend Doyle's church of ladder climbers when he was dragged off that path by an unfortunate incident that led to the start of our friendship. You see Colin by nature is not a problem child; he is a peacemaker, a straight-line walker who for most of our young childhood wanted nothing to do with our always brilliant but often impetuous schemes.
Then one fateful day pious, conscientious Colin stumbled into a classic dilemma. He made a life altering tactical error. He fell in love with a girl. Now to appreciate this story you have to understand this wasn't just any girl, this was the belle of the fifth grade, one golden ringlet endowed, blue eyed Stephanie Chase, the prettiest, sweetest girl that our unlucky Colin had ever laid eyes on. It's really quite a parable on the havoc that love can wreak in even the most staid of individuals. Our intrepid Colin took one look at young miss Stephanie standing atop the jungle gym ruling her kingdom of adoring subjects and he was lost, in truth I'm not sure we've found him yet." There was a pause as Logan considered this comment.
"Now our dear Stephanie may give Shirley Temple a run for her money in the cherubic countenance department but as I'm sure you have realized looks can be quite deceiving.
Colin's ardor was from afar for a while but then one cataclysmic day he saw his opportunity to win the affections of this princess. She was waiting outside the school because her nanny was running late to pick her up and looking lost and forlorn as only a bored Stephanie can look, I've seen grown men melt into a pathetic puddle at her feet with that look and let me assure you our little Colin was no match for such skillful wiles. Like an eager puppy dog he offered to walk her home. So far, so good you are thinking but just wait and you will see the trap that was already sprung. Now don't get me wrong, Stephanie is a very sweet person at heart, but when it comes to her power over members of the opposite sex she is sort of like someone who is born to royalty or to money, its just there and not something you even think twice about using, something that becomes so much a part of who you are that you take it for granted. She wraps every male in her vicinity around her little finger without a second thought, its sort of like breathing to her.... but I'm sure that you are familiar with the phenomenon."
Rory nodded more to herself than to him "I know exactly what you mean, I've watched my mom cast her spell on every man she meets since I was a toddler, I don't think she even realizes she does it but somehow she walks away and leaves them dumbstruck, totally mesmerized.... I think it must be something biochemical."
Logan shot her a calculating look "have you ever considered the possibility that it might be genetic?"
She was clearly confused by the comment "You mean me? I hardly recall members of the opposite sex swooning as I pass or acting as if they are enchanted by my every word so I'm pretty sure that whatever spell casting abilities my mom possesses didn't make it into my gene pool."
He thought back to their first encounter and remembered his own completely disconcerting sense of having come into contact with some fascinating and alluring new life form, enchantment was a rather apt word for it actually. "I wouldn't be so sure." It came out an under the breath mutter and he subsided at her questioning glance, deciding to leave that subject to another day.
"Back to the plight of the desperate. Stephanie was enjoying the company of our bashful paladin as they strolled on this lovely spring day when she suddenly spied some lovely flowers growing in the beautiful garden of a passing house. With a classically covetous eye she asked, every so felicitously, if her companion would retrieve her a bouquet of said blooms. Being the besotted fool that he was, Colin didn't think twice about the trespassing or the stealing of the flowers... that was until he was rather unceremoniously apprehended by none other than Headmistress McGrath, the bane of our young existence, a woman who took rather zealous pride in striking fear into the souls of the young and the helpless. Think Bride of Frankenstein meets Carrie. Now as misfortune would have it this garden happened to be the one passion, the one redeeming thing in this soulless woman's life and young Colin had just tripped happily into this little paradise and ripped out a handful of her prize winning lilies.
Needless to say Colin was having visions of his life passing before his eyes in a frightening blur, or worse yet his father's unpleasant reaction to the news of his perfect son's sin when Finn and I happened along. We were curious as a rule and less concerned with a fall from grace, probably because realistically we didn't have much of a distance to fall. So in one of those impulsive moments that we are so famous for, we decided to come to Colin's rescue. Finn, being the most gifted actor of the bunch and the one most interested in alleviating his own boredom invented an elaborate story about how we had put Colin up to this dastardly deed. It didn't take much to convince Monster McGrath that we were the culprits, we each had an inch thick file of truancies that would more than attest to the likelihood of our involvement in such a stunt. So we took the rap, earned ourselves a week's detention and a rather nasty slap on the wrist and went happily on our way.
I'm not afraid to tell you now that it may possibly have been one of the best decisions we ever made since it would be far from exaggeration to claim that Colin has quite literally saved our collective asses on more that one occasion. Its a wonder actually that he hasn't just left the rest of us to rot in a prison somewhere, but if there is one thing that you can say about Colin its that he is loyal and stubborn and he pays his debts. Now you might not think that such a simple story would lead to our friendship, but I guess fate works in mysterious ways and we ended up finding a nice foil in each other, You might call me the brains of the operation, the mastermind, Finn is definitely the guts and glory and Colin, well he brought a soupcon of much needed common sense and a surprisingly good head for strategy. We saved him from a life of boredom and banality and in turn he has saved us from countless horrors."
"What about Tinkerbelle where does she fit into the clique now?" her voice had taken on the edge of the analytical and he cast a mirthful glance her way.
"You aren't making a mental chart are you?"
She looked slightly guilty and defensive "There is nothing wrong with a good chart.'
"Whatever you say Urkel. You can put Stephanie on the chart as the queen, we pretty much let her play whatever part she wants, not that we could stop her even if we wanted to."
She raised her hand "Point of clarification."
"When did this turn into an interview?" he rolled his eyes.
"About the time that it got complicated enough to require a chart and color coding. Okay, so I suspect from my keen observational skills that Colin is still in love with Stephanie the heartbreaker but what about you and Finn, have you ever succumbed to the magical charms of your queen?" the question was off hand but she was suddenly quite curious about the answer. She had never really detected any chemistry between Logan and Stephanie but both were very good at hiding their feelings so one never really knew and with Finn, well Finn exuded innuendo but she had gotten the distinctive feeling that he and Stephanie were more like brother and sister. There was a long moment of silence and she watched curiously as a little flush crept up Logan's cheeks. Her mouth dropped open slightly in surprise. "You did?"
He cleared his throat "That's actually the perfect segue to the whole Fiji incident as this topic is actually quite relevant to this discussion." He glanced at her quickly and then back down at the dregs of his coffee that he swirled in his cup before taking a long swig. He gave her a slightly sardonic look "Liquid courage without the kick I guess." his voice was sort of distant as he obviously relived the situation "I usually joke and make light of the whole mess but in all honesty its one of the few moments in my life that I truly regret. I've done a lot of things that most people would consider naughty but they are mostly harmless, I guess you could say at worst the only person who usually risks getting hurt is me and that chance I'm usually willing to take. However, I have always prided myself on not being selfish or cruel and on protecting the people I care about. I don't shame easily, mostly because I think most people are so afraid of what other people think of them that they give up living to conform to other people's ideas of a good life but this story is my one shameful secret."
He was silent for a long moment but Rory resisted the urge to comfort him, and instead just waited, he would tell the story his own way if he wanted her to hear it.
He finally began to speak. "Finn and Colin and I have been in cahoots with Steph since that day with the flower scandal. Colin quite obviously has been totally infatuated with Stephanie since the first day they met but they have never dated, mostly out of fear I think. Colin is too afraid to test the dream and see if it is reality and probably afraid of getting his heart broken and Stephanie, well she pretends its because she wants this carefree life and likes casual dating but really I think its because she is afraid she will break Colin's heart or even worse that maybe that dream would be real. Finn and Stephanie are both only children and eerily similar in personality and I think because of that there has never been anything between them but pure friendship bordering on sibling rivalry. I think that Stephanie is the only girl that Finn has ever loved, but he loves her like he would a sister and he would do anything, and I do mean anything to protect her. I've seen that first hand and the wrath of Finn is nothing to scoff at. Now Stephanie and I have an odd relationship, we flirt, we tease, we have even on occasion pretended to be each other's dates...before your arrival of course, but it was always platonic, in fact she has always been a bit like a sister to me as well, protective of me when it comes to other girls getting their 'hooks into me' as she calls it."
Rory nodded and made a considering sound, "That certainly makes more sense of the line comment."
He paused in his retelling "The what comment?"
Rory hastened to explain "When I went to that first LDB event with you she said there was a line to get to you. I couldn't quite figure it out for a while because as far as I could tell she wasn't interested in you romantically, but I think she was testing me."
Logan cracked a smile "Yeah, Steph the guard dog. Luckily she likes you, I never hear the end of it when I date some girl that she hates. She and Darcy are vicious when they gang up on a guy.
Now where was I.... oh yes, all is smooth sailing, pardon the pun, until we decide in one of those spur of the moment too much Guinness on the brain to see the clear idiocy of Finn's plan kind of nights at the pub that we, the intrepid adventurers, slave to the motto of In Omnia Paratus should not while away our youth in a classroom but should embark upon a journey to see the world aboard my father's yacht. Sadly one's wisdom is often impaired for a number of days after a meeting of the minds such as this and by the time this particular caper had started to lose its shine we had set sail on the high seas. In retrospect it was a great adventure, a once in a lifetime experience, as you are so fond of saying. However, one key factor that we had failed to anticipate is that life aboard a yacht in the middle of the open sea can become rather dull. It lacks a certain amount of the stimulation that one is accustomed to in civilized societies. We partied and sunbathed and scuba dove until we were wrinkled up like raisins. We romped on Caribbean islands, climbed mountains and generally lived like the Swiss Family Robinson.... I think we even had a monkey aboard ship for a while. It was all fun and games until the tedium caught up with us. It was several months into the trip that things reached a monotonous nadir.
We were tied up off a small island in the Fiji archipelago called Vanua Levu in the Savusavu Bay, which is this incredible area, filled with natural hot springs. It had been two days and we were all going a little stir crazy when the idea occurred to us to go in one night to visit the hot springs and dinner, dancing and al fresco fun. I'm not sure what devil took us over that evening, perhaps the dangerous effects of sheer boredom on a 20-year-old mind but Stephanie and I were on a roll, teasing, flirting, dancing and generally making fools of ourselves. Finn was particularly enamored of a waitress at one of the bars and so was left behind to fend for himself fairly early in the evening. Colin wasn't feeling that well so after the third bar or so he decided to head back to the boat. This left Stephanie and I to our own devices and so we headed on to the next stop on our self-appointed pub-crawl. Somewhere along the line we lost count of the number of bars and I don't even think we ever even started counting the drinks but soon enough we found ourselves embroiled in a game of strip poker with a bunch of British students who were traveling in the area as well. The game was all in good fun, or at least it started out that way but we were all hopelessly drunk so I'm sure it was like a keg of gun powder just waiting to have the fuse lit. Soon enough a rather lascivious chap from Liverpool who seemed to have quite a ken for Stephanie lit it with a bang. After Steph lost her shirt he made his move, a move that Stephanie found quite repulsive and I being the loyal friend and male companion du jour jumped in to rescue her. She told the letch that I was her boyfriend and that should have been the end of it but the jerk was suspicious, claiming that we hadn't acted like we were together and he wanted proof. He told us he wanted to see us kiss, and not seeing any other way out of the scrape we complied. I'm not really sure what happened next, probably that lethal combination of loneliness, restlessness, long-standing affection and a blood alcohol level way above what is healthy, but when we kissed suddenly in our drunken stupors we were wondering why this particular idea hadn't occurred to us before. Needless to say we convinced the suspicious fellow with our ardent passion and the game ended.
I remember stumbling out of the bar still wrapped up in the kiss, neither of us was thinking past that moment, in that inebriated state there is no tomorrow, there is no best friend who is in love with this girl you are swapping spit with, there is only instant gratification. Steph and I are practically experts at instant gratification. We got lost and backtracked a few times but somehow eventually we found our way back to the boat, it was a testament to our constitutions that we were even standing really. We were giggling and kissing and generally making asses of ourselves on the quarter deck when unbeknownst to us a happy go lucky Finn happened upon us in our amorous lip lock. Now Finn may be amoral in a lot of venues but the one thing he does not tolerate is someone hurting his friends. Finn had enough wits about him to know that if Colin were to discover this extracurricular activity of ours he would be devastated and worse our little confab would be forever destroyed since this was an unforgivable sin. Now here is where the ending may seem less than predictable.... Finn, being Finn chose to take a rather unorthodox route to stopping us and rather than just confronting us he pulled up anchor on the yacht and took to the helm. I'm not sure to this day, and he's not telling, whether his intention was actually to scuttle the boat or just to get our attention by taking to the wheel but the end result was a rather horrendous meeting of coral reef and boat hull which put a rather sizeable hole in our primary mode of transportation. As an attention getter it was rather brilliant. . About the time we were bailing water in an attempt to retrieve our belongings from below decks Stephanie and I came to our senses and realized the stupidity of our actions, sadly a day late and a dollar short to save my father's yacht and our own consciences but at least, Finn was smart enough to stop us before Colin found us."
Rory was silent for a long moment as she digested this information. She took a sip of her coffee and let it swirl in her mouth for a long moment before she spoke. "That's it?"
He looked a little surprised at her calm tone. "Yeah.... that's it, the sum total of my wicked deeds.'
"Nothing between you and Stephanie since that one night?"
He shook his head emphatically "No, that was enough of a wake up call, plus in reality there is no chemistry between us, not the romantic kind, it was clearly a situation influenced by a lot of factors, not the least of which was sheer selfish stupidity."
"What does Colin think happened?" her voice was curious.
"We just told him that Finn was drunk and decided to try to sail the boat.... a version of the truth at least."
Rory seemed to be considering this and her voice was slightly surprised when she commented, "Finn is actually a good guy...despite first impressions. You are lucky to have a friend like that."
Logan smiled ruefully "Yeah, that's what I think most of the time.... don't go spreading that good guy stuff around though, he will never forgive you if you ruin his reputation."
Rory laughed and then cocked her head to one side "Sort of disappointing actually...the story I mean. Here I had this fantastical Robert Louis Stevenson, sort of adventure all worked out in my mind...pirates and gold treasure and fair damsels in distress."
He shook his head in disbelief "I tell you my darkest secret and you are critiquing it for plot line?'
She shrugged "All I'm saying is I'd hold off on selling the movie rights."
He laughed in earnest now "You, Rory Gilmore, are a very special girl."
She narrowed her eyes "I going to choose to take that as a compliment."
"I give you carte blanche to do whatever you wish with it." He winked.
She laughed and then moaned as she pushed away her empty banana split bowl. "God, why did you let me eat so much? It even hurts to laugh."
He looked shocked "Are you kidding? You expect e to stand between you and ice cream...I've seen that look in your eye when you talk about Ben and Jerry and frankly I'm not sure you aren't channeling that girl from The Exorcist."
"Hah hah, funny. Okay Captain Stubing what's next?"
He glared and sighed in a morose manner "See, I knew I should never have told a mocker this story."
"Fine, fine, take all the fun out of it." She looked at her watch and suddenly realized that the story had eaten up the minutes and it was close to wandering right past the wee hours of morning. "Oh my god, I can't believe it is so late.... or maybe so early. I guess we should be heading back."
He threw some money on the table to cover the bill and rose from his seat with a certain panache that had Rory blinking up at him in surprise. "Not quite yet Ace, Come on...I've got something to show you first."
