Chapter 148
Feburary 1st, 2006
"Dad, I have to be straight with you about something," Rory began, worriedly, as she stood at the hallway of Logan's New Haven apartment.
"Oops," Christopher replied, sensing something coming.
"No, it's just… today was a weird day. It started really great, with me getting voted editor in chief of my school paper," Rory explained.
"What? You did? Oh, boy, Rory, that's amazing!" Christopher reacted.
"Thank you, it is. It's just, Paris, my roommate Paris… she was the editor. Um… but when she found out that I was made the new editor, she threw me out," Rory continued.
"What? You want me to talk to her?" Christopher replied, for once acting very parental. He had no idea how much every small thing he did like that mattered to Rory.
"No it's fine. It's just that I had no place to go, so I moved in with my boyfriend," Rory explained.
"Oh," Christopher replied, the earlier enthusiasm growing cautious.
"In there," Rory nodded towards the door
"Your boyfriend," Christopher repeated, the concept still sounding foreing to him.
"You actually met him once," Rory added cautiously.
"I did?" Christopher asked, not quite recalling the encounter.
"At grandma's vow renewal. He was the guy…," Rory began to elaborate, really not wanting to bring that embarrassing occasion up.
"Right," Christopher realized.
"Yes," Rory sighed.
"When I walked in, and you two…," he added, hoping he didn't have that image in his head.
"Exactly," Rory replied.
"Okay, well.. Uh… why don't we open the door so I can see what my daughter living with her boyfriend looks like?" Christopher said, wanting to ease Rory's nervousness.
The visit went well. Unbelievably well. And Christopher surprised Rory truly by being the 'cool' dad who didn't grill Logan one bit, instead ended up judging the guy by a very interesting jard stick. The two really seemed like they could be good friends had they been the same age.
"So, what do you think?" Rory asked her father hesitantly as they'd ordered their burgers at the Rich Man's Shoe about an hour later.
"Think about what?" Christopher replied, taking a sip of his light beer, behind a little distracted by all the flirty glances he was getting in this place. He had to say he was kind of flattered.
"Logan? Us living together?" Rory asked. She hadn't told Lorelai yet, but was going to just as they finished their meal. But she almost felt like her father's tentative judgment was a good start to begin to understand how badly Lorelai might take this. She knew her mother didn't like Logan much - and that might have been an understatement, hence she was never too eager to tell her about the details of their relationship, worried she'd just focus on the negative. It was way more Rory's business, and her business alone, than any of her former relationships had been. She wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing.
"Ah…," Christopher exhaled. "He seems like a cool guy," he explained. "I don't know him that well yet so it's not that easy to give a full lenght review on him, I guess. And sure, it was a big surprise that you're living with him, but I guess, under the circumstances I get it and if you're fine with it… if you're ready for it, then I'm fine with it if you are," he explained, sounding a little nervous. "At least I've met him now and I know it isn't some dump you're living at, so I don't have to worry about you," he added more lightly.
Rory didn't particularly enjoy the fact that she was living at the expense of Logan like this. She already knew how this was somehow equal and she worried about what people might think. She was scared this might tip the balance in their relationship - like she somehow owed him for living with him. It was uncharted territory and she was anxious, despite loving the idea of sharing his bed every night and being around each other a lot. She almost wished her dad would've said something along the lines of 'and if it doesn't work for you, you know you can always ask me to help get you a another place', almost as a backup, but clearly her father wasn't that insightful to understand the thinking process of a woman who'd been raised with a strong and independent female role model.
Christopher noted Rory being a little thoughtful, but he wasn't too sure what it was about.
"Well, at least he's not some drug dealer or some guy ten-fifteen years older than you," Christopher tried to lighten the mood by joking.
Rory laughed, in part from relief. Supposedly it was good that Christopher couldn't add womanizer to that list, which was certainly a more valid concern from the past. Rory knew Logan's faults, but also the perks, better than either of her parents hence she knew which properties she didn't want her parents to know in great detail about. But supposedly, at least so it seemed, with her father - the most important thing was that he treated her well and kept her safe. She also knew Logan showed up when she needed him to support her and he respected her. Maybe this was indeed going to work out?
March 27th, 2022
"Bye Em, have a nice day!" Christopher finished talking to Em who was already eager to join Logan outside with Loki and handed the phone over to Rory, who'd put the phone on speaker when he'd called. He didn't call every week, but recently it was this way more often than not. Rory felt it was kind of nice to be in touch with him more regularly, almost as if making up for lost time.
"So dad, how have you been?" Rory inquired, finally having her dad all to himself, as she saw Em pull on her coat in the foyer and head out. It was great seeing Logan and Em getting along great again, they had their own little things - jokes and topics by now.
"Good, all good," Christopher replied in a satisfied tone. "I've started to step back a little on the job front, training some younger colleagues to take over," he shared.
"Oh," Rory reacted, having not really expected that. It was something men approaching retirement did, people in their 60s or later, definitely not someone who looked as fit and healthy as her dad. "Everything's good right? Healthwise?" Rory just had to ask.
"Oh yeah," Christopher replied, adding, "fit as a fiddle," hating the phrase as it came out of his mouth.
"Good," Rory exhaled, with relief.
"I just want to grow old differently than my dad did, you know? I don't want to sit in on boring board meetings weeks on end or have to go on week-long business trips. Sure I'll still be in the loop, I have my contacts - I'm not quitting it as a whole but I just want to sit back and enjoy life while I can," he explained.
"Well - if there's anyone who can afford that it's certainly you. And honestly, I think it's great," Rory replied, with a light shrug.
"Yeah, I figured what's the point you know - if not just doing what I've always wanted to do," Christopher threw his thought process in the air.
"I guess," Rory replied, hesitantly. "As long as it includes treating the people you love with respect," Rory added, biting her tongue. She'd been meaning to bring it up somehow, and this was the best situation she could think of, thinking back to the conversation she'd had with Gigi a few weeks ago.
"Of course. Wait, what does that mean?" Christopher replied, sounding puzzled at her accusatory tone.
"Well Gigi seems to think you're having an affair. And while I am all for you figuring out your life and enjoying it, you, sneaking around behind Lana's back while she's busy caring for her parents or whatever… I dont think it's something Gigi should be witnessing," Rory explained.
"Whoa, whoa…," Christopher reacted. "I'm not having an affair," he added, sounding genuine.
"Oh," Rory replied. "Good," she added, feeling a little confused.
"Wait, Gigi think's I'm having an affair?" Christopher said, still not believing she'd actually said that.
"So she said," Rory replied, not going into the specifics.
"Wow…," Christopher exclaimed, and blew out a lungful of air.
"Well whatever it is… I think she just feels like you're hiding something and maybe that added to it, so whatever it is just talk to her," Rory suggested.
"Okay, I guess I'd better," he agreed, though sounding a little reluctant. "Hey, by the way - you haven't talked to Gigi in the past few weeks, have you?" Christopher asked.
"We've texted a bit, mostly wedding stuff," Rory replied. There wasn't a whole lot left to figure out, but small dramas still happened such as the florist she'd picked for their alternative selection of wild flowers going bankrupt. So Gigi had helped Rory scout for some new alternatives. "Why?" she asked, realizing it was an odd thing to ask.
"Something weird happened the other day, and honestly, I don't really know how to address it without her accusing me of spying on her or being controlling," Christopher described, honestly sounding clueless in the matter.
Rory listened tentatively, becoming genuinely curious.
"I had this meeting downtown, and I knew it was the same building where she has her internship thing… she's been there a couple of times by now and she says she's enjoying it," Christopher began. "So I got out of my meeting, texted her to meet me for lunch, and she texted back that she was busy and couldn't, which was fine… Except... when I headed out I passed the cafeteria downstairs and I saw her having lunch with some guy. I mean the guy was at least a good ten-fifteen years older than her," he added, sounding a little disgusted. "So first I figured it was just some guy he worked with, maybe talking to her over lunch about what projects they were working on or something, but as I left…I just got a clearer look at them for a second or two, and honestly I wish I'd rather not have seen it. I am pretty sure she was flirting with him, you know, physically," he added, not wanting to go into more detail than that.
It was hard enough accepting Gigi was grown up, and frankly it was a lot harder than it had been with Rory for some reason, but at the same time he always had given Gigi a lot of liberties too.
"You two…," Rory replied, shaking her head. She wasn't sure even if what her dad had seen was real, or maybe he was just imagining it, but she somehow knew better than to panic or support his panic. But it was the fact that he was telling her, that caught her attention the most. "Sometimes I think you guys are so lucky to have been able to spend this much time together, living together, growing together. I genuinely envy Gigi for having grown up with you sometimes...," she admitted, and added quickly, not wanting him to dwell on it - "But I don't understand why you guys can't just talk honestly about these things. I'm sure she'd tell you if you asked, and clearly you have some explaining to do to her as well… And fine, I'll talk to her too, but I am not sure it'd be my place to go telling on her to you if she does talk," Rory replied.
Rory wasn't sure how she was even going to bring this up, but she was determined to look into it, even if took calling Colin just in case. She wanted to keep her sister's trust, but she was curious who the man had been just the same. At least she was glad the man hadn't been Colin, as surely her dad wouldn't have said it, had it been him, as he had met him before. And that age difference really would've already been rather frightening. Maybe her dad had just imagined it? Maybe the guy just looked older than he was? Maybe it was someone taking advntage of Gigi? She couldn't help but to worry about her sister despite wanting to just believe it was a misunderstanding. If it was something - she could almost blame herself as she'd gotten her that internship.
