Rory Gilmore stepped out of the elevator holding a fresh cup of coffee in one of her hands and a stash of notes in the other.

It was barely 7 A.M. but she was already heading to the office. Breaking the golden Gilmore rule of not waking before the sun again, she thought to herself as she walked into the office.

She was one of the first to arrive, she always was. She loved it here, somehow it felt like a home away from home, something she can be proud and happy for, something she would work for no matter how much of her energy or time it would take.

"Ms. Gilmore"

The not yet familiar voice startled her.She looked at the owner of the voice. The tall blond man stood in the doorway of his office looking as though he's slept at least 12 hours.

How can he look so rested, she thought to herself, must be a coffee addict as well.

"Mr. Huntzberger" she said forcing out a polite smile "you are early this morning".
"I wanted to run a couple of things by you before the meeting this morning. Just some stuff I thought about since last night."

"How was it even possible for him to think about anything? It must have been way past midnight when he got to bed, and he is already in at 7 A.M., plus he must have taken a shower at least, to be looking this refreshed... Oh my god I am rambling, I am actually rambling inside my head, is that even possible?"

"Ms. Gilmore

"Yessss" she snapped out of it and sat down in front of his desk in the same chair she was sitting in a couple of hours before.

She stared at him as he started discussing his newest ideas about the paper and how to make it more efficient.

She knew this whole thing was supposed to be good for everyone. The new owner would provide a secure funding for the paper and maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a second opinion about the run of things, it's not like she was overly confident in her abilities. She still thought it was a wonder to be able to have pulled this off this far.

But still. Here is this guy, what is he? 35? coming in here like he is some hotshot, giving her pointers and negotiating through changes that all felt weird to her, too corporate and too mainstream.

She was focusing on his face. He seemed like he could have been this carefree person in college, the ones she always disliked but envied as well for being able to live for the moment and go through life without feeling the consequences. And now, because of some weird twist of fate or maybe just sheer luck or birthright, he was sitting here.

She wondered if he was even happy to be doing this. He seemed... indifferent somehow... like someone who has accepted the fact that he was put here and did his job, but was there any passion there?

She narrowed her eyes as if trying to see behind his front. But she couldn't, all she could see was this guy sitting there with his confident demeanour, safe in knowing that he would get what he wanted no matter what she thought about the matter at hand.

She wondered about this. Whether he really did always get what he wanted. He seemed like the type. The playboy he would see at her grandparents' parties. The successful businessman with a pretty family for show, but also a couple of girlfriends in tow just in case. She frowned. She didn't see a ring on his finger. But he probably had a girlfriend or two already.

Heck he probably even managed to screw one of them in between leaving the office at midnight and waltzing in here this morning looking like a million dollars. He was probably mind blowing in bed or anywhere else for that matter. Too fucking perfect.

She shut her eyes tight. "I cannot believe your thoughts woman, get your mind out of the gutter" she thought to herself.

"Ms. Gilmore, is everything alright?

She opened her eyes almost as if from a dream.

"Yes of course" she stuttered and tried to replay in her head what he has been saying for the last couple of minutes "uhm, you were talking about the, uhm, photographers?

"Yes, in my opinion and experience, small papers like this benefit from not actually having photographers on the staff" he spoke slowly now trying to reach her.

Her reaction obviously must not have been too excited, as he continued carefully

"Look, your paper is obviously not going to be a competition for the huge papers out there. I think your aim shouldn't be to inform about the latest breaking headlines, but rather give an opinion, a room for thought about the most important issues of the day, which doesn't necessarily involve rushing out the photogs to capture the latest happening."

She looked at him dubious. She was almost mesmerized. He spoke swiftly, rationally, and she was trying to concentrate hard on composing an argument against him. If only she could have finished her coffee, this is a raid

"I think you are aware of that yourself. I think in the past one and a half year that's the direction you have been stirring this paper in and that's the way you write your editorials. I think that it's the right path for this particular paper, but I would encourage you to be more confident about that choice, not back away from it"

Okay. Now he was kissing ass.

Rory sat there bewildered. This guy is actually good

"You've gathered this by reading through all 549 issues of the paper that I edited?" she interrupted.

She was surprised, to say the least. Up to this point she thought of him as a businessman after the money and nothing else. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he did have a talent for this, an appreciation even.

"Ms. Gilmore, my job is to size up the papers that my company acquires. That means finding it's strengths and weaknesses and work to make them better" he paused "if that means making the paper more efficient, profitable, so be it" he smiled.

And there we go again. For a second there she actually thought this was about artistic perfection and not just... well, money. She sighed

"I guess it's your paper now

"But you are the editor"

She smiled hearing the line she gave him yesterday. She had to give it to him, he certainly had a quality of ...charm. He probably knew it too, heck his father probably knew it when he sent him there.

That pissed her off. Was she actually supposed to fall for his charm, to cooperate with him because he was... well, hot?

She shooed off that thought quickly.

"About the photographers. First of all, I don't see the need to employ three of them. And I definitely think you would profit from a cooperation with some of the bigger agencies instead

He certainly had a talent for negotiating, she had to give him that. He seemed to have a practice of persuasion: he blinded you with some thoughtful comment and while you actually felt good about yourself for a second, bamm, hit you with the obvious blow right after

"I see your point about this" she said slowly, glancing at the clock

"The staff meeting?" he asked noticing her concern

"Yeah, if you don't mind" she answered

"Sure"

She smiled as they got up from their seats walking towards the meeting room thinking about this last exchange. It felt reassuring for her. If she had to work with someone through this, at least she liked to know they clicked somehow: him knowing what she was thinking and them understanding each other with so little actually being said.

He certainly was a good person to be filling this job if it had to be filled, she thought.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a long day. Producing next day's paper turned out to be the bigger issue that day. She once again felt like on one of her first days, when she was squirming to meet deadlines, trying to guide people and hold their hands. She felt like she had to tear herself apart to be everywhere at once.

She was glad it was over. All she could think of was getting home, stuffing her face with some food and sinking into a bath

She noticed the elevator door closing as she stepped out of the hallway and leaped in to stop it from departing. She smiled as the doors flung back open and she was able to slide in. Looking up she saw him and blushed

That wasn't very editor-ly of me, she thought to herself but only whispered a "sorry" towards him.

He looked bewildered. He stood there staring at him in the empty elevator going pale, looking as though he's seen a ghost.

"Mr. Huntzberger? Is everything okay?

He took a shallow breath, his eyes still transfixed on hers and opened his mouth slowly to speak

"Yeah, yeah... it's... yeah, everything's great. Long day"

He actually stammered. That was strange. He always seemed so composed.

She didn't have much time to think about this because they were already at the ground floor and with the elevator opening they said their goodbyes.

Maybe he's claustrophobic, she thought to herself smiling. That would be priceless, Logan Huntzberger, hotshot executive, afraid of confined spaces. She chuckled as she exited the building.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

God it felt nice to sink into the hot water and inhale the smell of the bubble bath. This was by far the most enjoyable part of her day. She frowned at the thought of that.

"How pathetic is that?

Being chief editor at age 32 is tough and it certainly comes with some sacrifices. It definitely does not permit a very active social life, which Rory learned pretty fast about a year ago. But this was her priority now. She jumped at her chance to prove herself and yes, it might have meant losing touch with some people and letting relationships deteriorate, but it was something she wanted to try herself at. Something she was ready to do

It felt lonely from time to time, coming home to an empty flat, but she got used to it. Well, she never actually thought of it as a permanent state, but something that would change eventually, when she had time to focus on other things as well

She leaned back letting her head sink under the water groaning. Who was she kidding? Where is she gonna meet someone new? The last new person she met was..

She resurfaced thinking about him

"Logan Huntzberger" she said out loud.

She closed her eyes again and let her head rest on the edge of the tub.

He was certainly an interesting character. She was sure he was so good at doing his job, playing a role, that it was impossible to make out when he was being genuine or just kissing ass for the sake of the argument. He seemed to have excellent persuasive skills that's for sure. He's probably out there persuading some blond bimbo to spend the night with him right now

Her thoughts shifted and suddenly she was painfully aware of the silence inside of her apartment. Sometimes it felt nice, but most of the time it scared her to death.

She sighed. The warm water soaking her skin felt relaxing, and she felt the day's fatigue winning over her.

She brushed her arm with her other hand and imagined someone touching her, soothing her, calming her after the long day.

She tried to remember what it felt like to have someone give her that comfort, the comfort of touch. She remembered kisses, kisses planted on her neck and under her ear, the spot that got her turned on.

Her hand crept lower towards her stomach, then her legs. She imagined the room's silence disappearing with someone whispering in her ear.

She felt a heat inside her body, slowly burning her up.

She let out a low moan.

She felt him kissing her neck, moving towards her chest, feeling her breasts with his hands, massaging them slowly.

She felt his lips finding her nipple, nibbling on it and she moaned again at the thought.

She felt him licking her breasts and sucking on them rhythmically.

She felt a set of fingers finding her clit and circling it applying pressure.

She moaned louder as she felt a finger dip inside her disappearing in her.

She felt her body burning up, these sensations bringing parts of her alive she didn't know were sleeping.

The finger once again massaging her clit seemed to elicit a feeling that spread from her center out into every part of her body and she felt herself being lifted higher.

She was moaning continuously now, lost in the pleasure she was feeling. With a final stalling breath she came, her orgasm sending a tremble through her body. Her every nerve ending seemed to be on fire and she felt like she was floating for seconds before slowly coming down and feeling reality around her once again.

She opened her eyes and felt the water against her skin, already cooling down from the cool air of her apartment.

She took a deep breath and let it out, her sigh echoing in the quiet bathroom.