Chapter Fifteen
Everything was not fine for another Lorelai Gilmore. Rory sat at her desk at the Yale Daily News, fingers flying across the keyboard. Every five minutes, her lips would form a delicate moue and she would erase the offending words from her screen with a frustrated whimper. She would shake her head, grimace again, and then resume typing. She had never found it so hard to write something in her life. Words had always come easily to her; it had been a necessity growing up with Lorelai Gilmore for a mother. She had mastered the quip at five years old. By seven, she had become fluent in sarcasm. At ten, she became proficient in double entendre. Verbal had been her thing. At age twenty, however, it was fast becoming obvious that the emphasis was on 'had'.
The article currently occupying her screen was on the state of the rebuilding efforts from the devastation caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami that had struck Indonesia. She could find no tactful way to quip and no caustic word agreed with the subject of her piece. The starving homeless of Medan cared nothing for her clever witticisms; Merpati Chadaya Sunmosu certainly would not appreciate a good tongue-and-cheek jest in the middle of her description of the poor distribution of relief aid amongst the backwoods villages.
Rory paused for a moment and thought about Merpati. She had seemed so shy and unassuming when she had entered the Yale Daily News bullpen with the ad calling for tsunami survivors to step forward to give their accounts. She seemed a kindred spirit to Rory: eager but timid, more comfortable with books and studying than adventures and parties. However, the girl who sat across from her while she gave her story as she sipped a smooth chai tea a month after agreeing to the interview seemed anything but. That Merpati was poised, resolute, steeled with a confidence born of seeing and enduring hardship. Rory envied her resolve and fortitude—things she knew she sorely lacked. Could she hope to write a story of this woman's life when she herself had never truly lived or had adventures?
The answer stared back at her from her blank screen.
Rory shook her head in defiance one last time and redoubled her efforts. She would finish this article even if it killed her. She growled in frustration as her fingers furiously typed once more.
"Something wrong, Ace?" Rory grinned and leaned back into the kiss Logan offered her. Now, this was a welcome distraction. She gestured angrily at her offending screen and her boyfriend's eyes dutifully followed. "What? It looks fine to me."
Rory's shoulders crumpled in defeat. "That's the point! It's not supposed to be fine. It's supposed to be a heart-wrenching account of the rebuilding efforts in Indonesia."
"It looks pretty sad."
His boyish grin brought a smile to her lips despite her frustrations. Perhaps that was his intent. "I don't want it to be just sad. A foreign correspondent doesn't want just sad. They inspire, they provoke, they demand change. This thing does none of those!"
"Hey, I only read a little bit, and I'm already angry."
"Oh really?" She giggled and pressed ordered the file to print.
"Yeah. In fact, I'm going to convince my dad to donate a million or two to the cause."
"Well, in that case, my work is done." Rory laughed.
"Then so is mine." He stood suddenly and held out his hand to her. "C'mon." He gently pulled her to her feet, and kissed her palm chivalrously, sending lightning coursing down her arm and spine. She loved these little playful gestures of his.
"Where're we going?"
"Logan grinned and put a finger to his lips. "It's a secret." They laughed together and ran out of the newsroom. The laughter lasted until they were outside in the sunshine and reality settled in. Logan Hunztberger had a way of keeping the real world at bay and creating a place and time where only they existed. "Is this going to be a long secret? Because, I have class in forty minutes and I…"
"Relax, Ace. It's a short secret." He conspiratorially looked around the grounds and nodded in satisfaction before grinning and kissing Rory on the lips. "That's it."
"That's the great secret?" Rory cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. He nodded and she smiled. "Good secret." She pursed her lips to kiss again, but the motioned turned into a pout as the blond boy pulled suddenly away.
"There's one more thing. You said you wanted a new job, and I thought that it'd be great if you could work for a newspaper."
"It would be great, but you need a degree."
"Or an internship." His grin threatened to devour his entire face.
"What?"
"I talked to my dad, and he's starting a new paper in Stamford. He said he'd give you a shot."
"What!"
"Ain't nepotism grand?" He chuckled and whirled her around as she shrieked in joy. "Is that a good thing?"
"Yes! Yes! Oh my God this is great!"
"And…"
"There's more?" Rory could not believe her ears. The day just kept getting better and better. First her mom and Luke were together, and now the internship. What more could there possibly be? What could her boyfriend do to top this gift?
"It pays. Not a lot. But enough to pay for gas."
"This is amazing Logan! Thanks!" She laughed as he whirled her around again. "Thank you, Logan. You are the greatest." She sobered again, as reality knocked once more. "Wait. When does it start?"
"In a week. He will work around your school schedule, too." His grin turned rueful. "My father values a good education."
"Okay so my schedule. That means I can…" She glared at Logan indignantly as he laughed. "Hey I need to figure out how this is going to work!"
"Does the planning need to start this minute?"
"Well I suppose not."
"Okay, so, let's get you to class and then go celebrate after." She nodded distractedly as she started to fidget with her purse. "We'll go to that Indian place you like." She nodded again and he exhaled heavily. "Ok, do it."
"Hunh?"
"Go ahead, call her." He grinned as she blushed in embarrassment. "I know you want to. He kissed her in parting. "I'll meet you after class."
Rory grinned and quickly took out her phone.