AN: Again, huge thanks for the reviews you've given me. They give me so much inspiration to continue. And as the holidays are approaching I think I'll be able to do quite a bit of writing.
Chapter 17
October 5th, 2013
"Oh yeah, I think I read about that," Rory discussed, speaking to a senior editor of the Guardian, a short and pudgy, but very likeable, man. "Wasn't he the one who got the George Polk Award last year?" she continued with her small-talk.
"That's right," the man replied, and continued to explain to Rory about the last time he'd met the man they'd been discussing, being joined by another conference attendee.
The difference between small talk in society circles - cocktail parties or weddings and funerals - and at a journalism conference was that here Rory was actually genuinely interested in what people were saying. These were all people who cared about the truth, the means of conveying it and the stories people held. They were doing this on a mission rather than for the money or the benefits. They all knew those sucked, no matter where or how hard you worked. The business was getting more challenging by the year, it seemed - good in-depth stories taken over by click-baits and content marketing. There being more and more job seekers among the many one needed to compete with, while social media had taken control of the news in many ways.
It was as the two other journalists Rory had been talking to dispersed, saying they were going to get something more to eat, Rory was left momentarily alone.
Seeing nobody she was desperately craving to talk to nearby for now, she glanced down at her phone, getting sucked into reading one of the e-mails from her boss, one of her bosses technically, as she was mostly freelancing at this point. She got more work, many deciding to take advantage of the fact that she'd paid her own way to fly to Hamburg to attend a professional conference. She already had three stories lined up about the place and the conference, one about Hamburg's street food from an outsider's perspective. Not all of it was fine writing, but it paid the bills.
"You'd think the red dress would do the trick, but no - it was your voice that I recognized in an instant," a familiar, husky tone said, stepping up to her.
"Logan?" Rory exclaimed, not believing her eyes as she looked up.
"Hey," he replied.
What Rory didn't know was that it had taken Logan a good hour from hearing her voice, then recognizing her, to get away from his conversation partners whom there seemed to be an endless line of, to actually finding the courage within him to talk to her. Logan usually didn't have such problems. But it was an odd event nonetheless - he couldn't just not say 'hello' because of something that happened six years ago, could he? Besides, by now he knew that it wasn't all Rory's fault, despite having blamed her for breaking his heart for quite a bit, having done plenty of self-reflection in between. It was mostly his pride that had ended things, he knew that.
"It's so good to see you," Rory took a step closer without hesitation and hugged him, which took him a little by surprise - but then again it probably shouldn't have. Rory was always affectionate, even to her friends.
Logan took a deep whiff of her scent as the very brief hug, which felt like it had lasted longer than mere seconds, so many memories flashing back into his brain. There was so much of her that he'd missed.
He'd almost thought that Rory hated him, but clearly - it wasn't quite as black and white on her side as well.
"What are you doing here?" Rory managed to ask first, Logan still being stuck in his thoughts from her closeness.
"I'm filling in for my dad, actually," Logan explained, continuing to explain how his father had bigger fish to fry back in London with some lawsuit he'd gotten the company into. But these things happened all the time. Big companies were bombarded constantly, but it was for that reason they had a sizable team of lawyers on standby.
Rory had indeed noticed that the final keynote speaker on the second day was going to Mitchum. But being still a little apprehensive at seeing him she wasn't sure she was actually going to stick around for that part. Well, she certainly was now.
Logan looked so much more grown up now. He'd definitely lost some weight, not that he'd needed to, but he looked handsome, dressed in a slim-fitting suit with a dark blue dress-shirt underneath, his hair cut a lot shorter and styled sleeker than she recalled seeing him last.
"Wow, now I might actually stick around," Rory said out loud, knowing Logan wouldn't mind. Surely he wouldn't, right?
Logan laughed, recognizing the good old Rory in her. She looked good, grown up and like she had her life together, or so he thought. But she was good like that, she was good at leaving that kind of an impression.
"So you're in London now mostly?" Rory inquired, figuring that that was probably the reason she hadn't run into him before this. She'd seen most of her other college friends every now and again in various events, often being given the assignment to attend various galas, society events and conferences.
They continued catching up, telling each other about what they'd been up to without many embellishments, keeping some less than enviable details to themselves. Neither wanted to start that reaquaitance with admitting that they were lonely.
As the next session began they sat at the last row side by side, whispering comments on what they heard to each other, a few times struggling to hold their laughter. God, it was good to really laugh!
"Care to distract me from thinking about my presentation tomorrow and join me for dinner?" Logan suggested as the session ended. The last thing he wanted after an afternoon like that was go back to his lavish but lonely hotelroom.
It was the most natural 'yes', and after discovering they were even staying at the very same hotel, the Steinberger, just at very different rooms, it really left very little room to for arguing about any of the details.
Logan knocked at her door seven minutes after the agreed time, ready to head out to look for dinner, hoping to tick Rory's article assignment on the street food in one go. Logan was sick of fancy dining - and he knew there was no one better to enjoy something as simple as street food with. He hadn't felt this free in years.
By foot they made their way to Wexstraße, where Logan had been told the best places were by the concierge, having wanted to save Rory some research. But he was sure she'd done it anyways.
Walking like this, him dressed largely in the same clothes he'd been before, having just changed his shirt, and Rory in a simple black knee-length dress and a coat over it, brought back a lot of memories. They'd fallen very close to the roles they'd always had in each-other's lives in the matter of a few hours, none of the past issues even mentioned so far. It was as if the slate had been brushed completely clean. They could almost pretend they just met. But they knew each other way better than that - they knew that each look meant, what their choise of words meant, how to get the other riled up just enough so it'd lead to a fun debate.
Logan wasn't that familiar with Hamburg himself, so they were taking in the place together, matching together almost like no time had passed. Wasn't it weird that it felt like that? He would've expected awkwardness, hurt feelings, avoidance - but there was none.
They ate Chinese, a slice of Italian street pizza, Rory topping everything off with waffles even force feeding him a few bites, teasingly. They talked about the world, their friends, joint and others, and their jobs, but never once touching the subject of their personal lives or significant others. Neither wanted to spoil the evening. Had they only known there wouldn't even have been anything to tell that would have spoiled their fun even if they had.
As they walked back, taking the long route, enjoying the cobblestone streets and canals, which were now lit beautifully as it had gotten darker, it was Rory who dared to slip her hand into Logan's, taking him by surprise. He didn't ask what it meant and she didn't offer an explanation - they simply went on as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
They were almost back at the hotel when Rory stopped on a small pedestrian bridge crossing the Herrengraben canal, the bridge edges filled with locked bicycles, reminding her of Amsterdam, and the view of red brick houses and bridges along the way definitely offering a sight that one didn't see every day.
She looked down at the water, but Logan mostly just looked at her. God, she was still gorgeous. There was something about her that got better with age, she seemed to know what she wanted now. She seemed so independent and strong - almost making Logan understand why she had needed to develop into that person without him.
Rory was just about to say something but Logan stopped her, with his firm grasp on her waist pulling her close, and laid his lips on hers, kissing her with everything he had. Time stopped.
Her lips parted, letting his tongue slide inside without hesitance, the kiss growing hungrier. As the kiss parted, both staying close, they asked themselves silently and simultaneously whether this really was a good idea, but how could it be a bad one if it felt so good, so right?
Was Rory just going to go back to her room and write or was she going to jump? You jump, I jump Jack - Rory recalled, this moment feeling very much the same as that time.
Another scenario played in Logan's mind, however.
'I just wanted to make sure you got home okay.' - he'd said.
'Oh, yea, I got home okay," - she'd said, looking incredibly cute in her pajamas. She never needed heels or sexy dresses to look hot, did she?
'So I see,' he'd said, his intentions probably showing through the look he was giving him.
'Thanks for the concern, I appreciate it," she'd said, looking so incredibly innocent Logan almost felt like a big bad wolf.
'It wasn't all concern," he'd admitted, smugly. There were so few girls that could flirt like that without actually saying anything scandalous.
"Show me that room of yours, will you?" Rory whispered then, jolting him out of his thoughts, grabbing reigns.
Not so innocent anymore, was she?
Logan was incapable of objecting, and led her by her hand while hurrying his step to cross the street, being certainly not ready for the evening to end.
October 9th, 2021
Unlike almost exactly eight years ago, this time Logan was a lot less optimistic of how the day would go, as he pulled up in front of Rory's house on Boulevard. Actually seeing her was already more than he'd dared to hope for. More than anything he just needed to see a friendly face. There were few of those amongst his friends who were as good listeners as she'd been.
Logan was pleasantly surprised that she'd actually suggested he come by her house, not meet somewhere in public, for coffee or just in the park somewhere. Maybe she'd actually figured out that he was hoping to avoid an audience while in Hartford?
The house did look a lot like her - a mixture of what she'd grown up in, but with the closeness of the row of shops two streets over. The yard looked smaller, at least from the street. But it had a similar feel to it. It fitted a schoolteacher well, but by assumption Logan could already guess that the house itself didn't really reflect her financial situation, unless of course something had gone wrong on that end.
The swing and a red inflatable bouncy toy on the terrace hinted that she didn't live alone, however. But of course that was already something he knew. It still didn't quite register, though, somehow feeling like he needed to see some proof of it or for her to actually spell it out for him. It was like Rory had lived in between and he'd just stood still, pretending, reminding him painfully of the time passed.
He knocked and waited.
"Hey," Rory said, hastily appearing on the door like a fresh breath of air, wearing a pair of teal blue leggings and a button-up flowery tunic, intentionally having not put a huge amount of effort in to it. But unlike the past few days she'd seen him, she was now actually wearing fresh makeup, just a hint of it, feeling a little embarrassed to show her signs of aging around him, and had decided to forgo the glasses.
She was nervous, more so that she tried to show. But knowing that some of the things she might tell him weren't the easiest, she'd figured her home was the best place for that.
"Hey," Logan let out a deep exhale, feeling relieved. Seeing her seemed to calm him. She had that good energy about her, even when she herself was nervous.
"Come in," she invited, gesturing him inside and closed the door behind him. "This is it, there's not much to it. Just big enough to fit the two of us and our books," Rory continued, gesturing towards her study and the book shelves that stood high in nearly every room. She needed to put it out there that it was just the two of them, not that she dared to hope much, not that she knew enough to hope for anything. But she certainly didn't want to be defined by the potential presence of Jess, who wasn't in her picture. "Small enough so I can handle it, and well… it's just all we need," she added, being quite happy with the place herself.
The furniture was a pleasant mix and match, many of the items bought from Kim's antiques, a few bookshelves built by Jess or Luke by hand. It didn't need to be a house from an interior decor magazine, it needed to be a home. And that she had certainly done well, right at the nesting stage of her pregnancy with Em. The place was mostly in neutral colors, her pink study chair and Em's favourite red armchair adding color, the monkey lamp and an occasional movie poster livening things up with some humour.
Logan looked around, observing her books and pictures on the sideboard - mostly of Em, Lorelai and Luke, and one of Jess and Em. Logan didn't quite even recall the guy's name, just that face belonged to an ex of hers whom he'd gotten into a bit of an argument once - hell that was more than a decade ago and he hadn't been too sober at that point. He knew they were friends but the question in the air wasn't fully answered just by the picture - he wanted to hear everything from her mouth.
While Logan looked at her place, Rory looked at him, the person only looking familiar to her when he spoke or moved - his gestures were still the same, while his appearance was way more rugged, his clothes, while still looked like they were made for him, were the kind she'd rarely seen him wear - a simple pair of dark grey jeans, a black henley shirt and a leather jacket over it.
"Take a seat - anywhere. Coffee?" Rory said, hurriedly, realizing that she'd probably been quiet for too long simply looking at him, and headed for the kitchen as if escaping.
"Sure," Logan called after her, turning to her, but saw her fleeing already. He took off his coat, laying it on top of the couch, feeling a little warm. He didn't hurry by sitting down, however, finding the glimpse into her life, like a still life, quite fascinating on its own.
Rory returned to the doorway a minute later, it really had taken her no time at all to put the coffee on. She didn't want to wait in the kitchen, despite being annoyingly nervous to go back to him.
"Or maybe you'd like something stronger? I should've asked," she added, seeing Logan, who had picked up a recent book she'd been reading, still standing in the living room.
"I'm fine, you go ahead if you want," Logan replied to Rory.
Rory walked over to the dining room where she had a high cabinet with glass doors, most of it filled with books, but one shelf left for well disguised drink selection amongst other decorative items. Just a bottle of whiskey, some rum and a cognac, with respective glasses next to a couple of wine glasses. She clearly wasn't much of an entertainer in this place.
"Okay, fine, I'll have one too," Logan relented, seeing the way Rory was shaking as she poured herself that drink. He wanted to be able to just step close to her, place his hands on her shoulder from behind, kiss the back of her head, assuringly, hating to see her so scared.
"I'm nervous too, you know," he said instead, pushing the thought of doing anything that could cross a line out of his mind.
"I don't even know why...," Rory tried to laugh, and handed him a glass.
"Well I can tell you why but I'm not sure it'd make much of a difference," Logan replied, taking a sip. He had his own reasons, and he didn't know all of hers.
Rory took a large sip herself, knowing that she'd probably need another one, not planning on going anywhere that afternoon.
Rory didn't need to ask him why, she could, in part, guess, even if it wasn't entirely accurate.
"So how have you been?" Rory asked, sitting behind the dinner table, instead of going back to the living room.
"Uh… where do I start? How much do you know?" Logan asked, unsure where to begin and joined her. He knew he should probably start from way back, but he wasn't sure that was really what she was asking, whether that was indeed something she wanted to know. She hadn't ever before, at least.
"I know about your dad, the accident. And Finn told me that you changed course since May or something - not much more than that," Rory replied, plainly.
"Right, " he exhaled, and got ready to tell a story that was long overdue.
