Thanks for your comments. lexhuntzberger, you're reviews always make me laugh:) And thanks to those who review all the time, I appreciate it.
OoOoOo
With butterflies swarming in his stomach, Logan swung into her cubicle Monday morning. "Congratulate me. I've just collected my winnings."
"Oooh, wow," she said as her eyes widened at the stack of cash in his hand. "So what are you going to do with it?"
"Well, I thought we could go out and celebrate."
She backed up in her chair, confused. "We?"
"Sure, why not? If you hadn't been cheering for the Titans the whole way, I wouldn't be sitting here with a wad of cash in my hands right now. So what do you say? Long lunch?"
Her hesitation lasted only a second. "Sure."
OoOo
Expertly Logan pulled his car up to the curb in front of the Hyatt Regency.
"I thought we were going for lunch," Rory said, clutching her handbag tighter.
"We are Goofy," he said, but the smile that emanated from his heart said that he wished it was for more than just lunch. He got out and ran around to her side to open her door.
"Well, thank you." She stood from the car and pushed a strand of hair out of her eyes as the breeze caught it.
"You're very welcome." Resisting the urge to reach out and take her hand, he walked by her side to the door where he managed to reach around her and pull it open.
She stepped onto the brownstone floor and hesitated about which way to go next.
"This way," he said, lightly touching her back, which sucked the air right out of his lungs. He pulled the next door open.
"Avanzare?" Rory asked in astonishment. "Logan, are you sure about this?"
But he had already guided her to the check in desk. "Reservations for Huntzberger."
The hostess smiled and picked up two menus from the counter. "Right this way."
Logan was enjoying Rory's surprise immensely as the hostess guided them across the restaurant to a table two feet from a huge blue aquarium teaming with fish of every color.
"When you say 'Celebrate,' you're not kidding are you?" Rory whispered as she took her seat across from him.
"No, I'm not." Even as he opened his menu and located his choice for lunch, he watched her. She sat in awe scanning the menu, and he smiled at the picture she made. It was an image he would remember for the rest of his life.
When the waitress came back, they ordered, and then they were left alone. Rory laid her chin on her hand to gaze into the aquarium.
"Nice, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah."
He watched her, not quite sure that she wasn't just looking at the fish to avoid looking at him. But she looked so mesmerized, he couldn't justify tearing her attention from the fish, so he simply sat and watched her watch them.
Their drinks arrived before she turned her attention back to the table. "Okay, so this is what you're doing with 395 dollars of your winnings. What are you going to do with the other five?"
Logan smiled. "I don't know, maybe I could buy a Frisbee and got to the park.
"Sounds like fun." She took a sip of her Coke. "So when are we going?"
"Who said I was taking you?"
"You took me here. I don't think the park would be such a stretch."
He laughed. "So, did you have fun last night?"
"Yeah, you know I really did."
"You sound surprised by that."
She shrugged. "It's kind of fun to go out and do stuff. I haven't really done very much of that."
"You have recently," he said and immediately hated himself for it.
"Yeah, I have." Her fingers entwined on the table for a second, and then she laid her chin onto her hand and stared at the fish again.
"So, how's that going? You and Brian I mean?"
A small smiled crossed her face. "Good. Great, I mean. Great. He's really sweet."
"But?" Logan asked, scanning her profile.
"I don't know. I just never thought I'd fall for somebody like him."
"Why not?"
"Because his idea of a good time is going out to Kaya," she said with a laugh. "Can't you just see it? Me, at Kaya."
Actually he could see it a little too clearly for his own comfort. "So, why don't you tell him that?"
Rory shrugged. "He's nice, and he's been so understanding about everything." She turned back to the table and took a drink. "Besides, it's not like I've got a lot of other offers lined up, and I'm sure sooner or later he'll come to his sense and call it off."
Logan's gaze fell to the table where his fingers wound themselves through the napkin. "So, what if he doesn't… come to his senses, I mean? What if he doesn't call if off?"
"Well, I could do a lot worse."
The waitress picked that moment to set two salads in front of them. Each lost in their own thoughts, the ate slowly until the salads were nearly gone.
"Sandra asked about you the other day," Logan said, hunting for any topic that seemed safe.
Rory smiled and twisted her finger through one curly lock. "I really should go back down there and thank her. Who would've thought a mere mortal could make so much difference?"
"She didn't do all that much. She just brought out what was already there."
"Uh-huh," Rory said with a sarcastic nod. "And we all believe that."
"Why do you say that?"
"Give me a break. You were as surprised as I was." She leveled her fork at him. "And don't try to deny it either."
"Okay, I was a little surprised, but you can't make a rainbow out of mud."
Her gaze dropped to her salad. "Yeah, well, it was only on the outside. On the inside, still mud."
His forehead furrowed. "What does that mean?"
"It means that at some point, the earth will shift back onto its axis, and everything will go back to how it was before. I'm just getting ready for it now."
Logan stabbed a fork into his salad, knowing in his heart that things would never be how they were before.
OoOoOo
When Logan dropped her off at her cubicle after lunch, Rory sat unmoving for a full three minutes, convinced she had just awaken from a dream. The fish, Avanzare, Logan. Yes, it had to be a dream, that was the only logical explanation for it.
The phone rang at her elbow, and she reached for it, still in the clutches of the dream. "Features, this is Rory."
"Hi," Brian's voice brought her back to reality with one word.
"Hello, you," she said, forcing a smile into her words. "What's up?"
"Where've you been?"
"Long lunch."
"Oh, well, my mom just called, she's flying in on business tonight," Brian said. In one heartbeat the words reached up and strangled the air right out of her lungs. "I thought we could all go out tonight so you can meet her."
"Tonight?" she asked, choking on the word.
"Yeah, how does six-thirty sound?"
"Umm, well, that… that sounds fine," she said slowly as fear clawed its way up her chest.
"Great. I'll see you at six-thirty."
"Okay." She didn't hear the end of the conversation because he heart was pounding too loudly in her ears. As soon as the phone was in the cradle, she was out of the chair. In a breath she was standing in front of Logan's desk in an all-out panic. "His mother's coming."
Logan looked up at her and concern slid onto his face. "Who's mother?"
"Brian's." It was all she could do to get the syllable past the fear.
"When?"
"Tonight. They're picking me up at six-thirty. Oh, my God. I'm not ready for this. What if she hates me?"
"Not likely."
"Yeah, right. Come on Logan, this is serious." The fear was pulling tears out of the back of her skull. "I can't do this. What if I screw up and totally humiliate myself? This is a disaster."
"Okay, wait a minute, let's just calm down for a second." He stood, took hold of her arms, and deposited her in the chair. "Now, it's not like this is the end of the world."
"I don't know about that."
"Well, I do." He pulled the other chair over and sat down facing her. "Okay, the first thing you need to do is breathe."
She took a small, shallow breath that burned her lungs like fire.
"No, a real breath. Come on, one real breath."
Once more she tried, and this breath got only slightly farther than the first.
"You know, if you don't breathe, you're going to pass out before she gets here, and then you won't have to worry about meeting her."
Despite the fear, she laughed at that, and once again oxygen reached her screaming lungs.
"Better." He nodded, and then seriousness took over again. "Now, I'm sure she's a very nice person – not some monster with six heads."
"Yeah, but meeting his mother? Do you know what this means? I didn't think I'd be meeting his mother like for another year or two."
"A year or two?" He laughed. "Well, it's going to happen a little sooner than that."
She closed her eyes in despair. "How did I get myself into this?"
"It's going to be all right. I promise." Gently he wrapped his arms around her. "You'll be great."
OoOoOoO
The only thing left in her closet by 6:15 were hangers. Clothes lay scattered from the bathroom to the bedroom. Nothing seemed right. Too frumpy for Brian, too tight for his mother.
In the bathroom she pulled her hair up and stuck a clip in it. "Better. Okay, I can do this. I just need to focus. Focus." She started out of the bathroom and tripped over a discarded skirt on the floor. "Get a grip."
With a frustrated gaze she went back over her choices, until at last she chose the blue patch dress she'd worn for a Christmas party two years ago. It wasn't great, but once it was on, she had to admit it wasn't bad either. Quickly she pulled a shoe one on as she hoped into the bathroom.
Her free hand opened the medicine cabinet, and she pulled out the little square bottle. Even through the fear and the rush, she smiled. This little bottle had changed more things than she ever thought possible in her life. She sprayed a mist into the air and ducked under it as she had seen her mom do when she was younger.
The thought of her mother brought a familiar pang to her heart, but she pushed it away. She wasn't Lorelai. No, she, Rory had learned from every mistake Lorelai had ever made, and although the odds were totally against it, she had found a guy that respected those lessons.
As she struggled wit her earrings, the intercom buzzed. "Oh, Lord, they're here." In a whirlwind of clothes and shoes, she yanked everything up from the floor and threw it all into her room with one heave. She shut the door and then noticed the purple and beige scarf still caught in the door. With one motion she opened the door, pushed the scarf in, and slammed the door just as the intercom buzzed again.
Her gaze surveyed the apartment critically as she walked through it to buzz them up. "Hello?"
"It's us," Brian said.
The butterflies flitted around her as she hit the unlock button. "Come on up." Nervously she straightened the couch pillow and rechecked her reflection one more time before the doorbell rang. "Okay, breathe."
Oxygen deprivation was a definite possibility as she swung the door open.
"Hi," Brian said, a smile shining form his eyes as he leaned toward her and kissed her cheek. "You look great."
"Thanks." Rory stepped out of the doorway. "Please, come on in."
Brian stepped back for the small woman standing gat his elbow to cross in front of him. She stepped past Rory, who was glad when Brian put his arm around her. Balance and familiarity were in short supply at the moment.
"Rory, this is my mom Joy."
"It's nice to meet you," Joy said, extending her hand with a smile. "Brian's told me so much about you."
Rory's gaze dropped to the carpet even as she fought with her polite side to hold the woman's gaze. "I hope it's not been too bad."
"Oh, no. Not at all. He seems quite taken with you."
"Mom," Brian said, ducking his eyebrow to his thumb in embarrassment.
"It's okay, Brian. I'm pretty sure she knows that already," Joy said, waving him off.
Despite the fact that her lungs felt like they were going to explode any second, Rory laughed.
"Well, shall we go?" Brian asked not meeting Rory's gaze when she looked at him.
"Let's."
OoOoOO
The carpet at Rory's feet felt like clouds. Although unabashedly forward, Joy was much nicer than Rory had expected – no six headed monster at all. And the best part was she more intent on embarrassing Brian than on needling his girlfriend.
"He was always the cutest little thing. He w would take his little spray bottle around and water my plants for hours," Joy said over her pasta. "'My helping' he'd say. 'My helping.'"
Rory glanced at him and smiled. She could picture him running around the plants. His olive skin standing out in contrast to his diaper.
"And let me tell you this boy has got the greenest thumb I've ever seen. I had this plant one time. An azalea or something like that. I did ever blessed thing you could do wrong with that thing. Over-watered it. Under-watered it. Too much sun. Not enough sun. You would've thought I was beating his sister. He'd come home everyday form school and find something I'd done wrong with that thing."
"'Mom,' he'd say, 'if you want to kill it, why didn't you just dump it over in the front yard?'" Joy laughed. "Let me tell you I'd hate to think what he'd have done if he'd have come home to that plant dumped on the front lawn."
"You still have it too though, don't you?" Brian asked.
"Yes, I do." A sad smile crossed Joy's face. "I had to keep something around to remind me of you."
Rory watched the mother-son moment pass between them, and she smiled. "Well, I for one am glad he didn't stay in Denver. The gardens here can use every inch of his green thumb. Did you know he's been working on models?"
"Designs?" Joys asked surprised.
"Yeah, and they're good too. You'd be impressed."
The look on Joys' face said she already was – with more than just her son's horticulture ability. "I'm sure I would be."
OoOO
"I had a nice time," Rory said as he walked her up the steps to her apartment. Joy had politely said it was too cold for her to get out.
"Me too," Brian said. "I think Mom likes you."
"I like her too."
"Thanks for coming tonight," he said softly. "It meant a lot to me." He leaned toward her and brushed her lips gently. "By the way, I love that perfume. What is it?"
"Eternity," she said, ducking in embarrassment.
"It's nice," he said with a smile. "I'll call you tomorrow?"
She nodded as he let go f her hand and leaned in for one more kiss.
"I"ll see ya."
When she made it up to her apartment, the relief flooded over her. She walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. Her nerves needed something after the circus they had been through tonight, so she pulled the apple cider down and set a cup of water in the microwave.
The fact that she had actually survived the evening was such great news that she wanted to share it with someone. The smell of apple cider wafted through the room, and she thought about Logan. He had been there today to calm her nerves and make everything better. He was good at that. The least she could do was thank him.
Trying not to let her head talk her out of hit, she picked up the phone and dialed his number. It clicked on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hello, you," she said softly as her heart skipped a beat. "I just wanted to call and say thanks."
"For what?"
"For not letting me go too crazy today. Joy's nice."
"I'm glad," he said as her microwave dinged. "So you didn't get eaten by the six-headed monster then?"
"Nope." Balancing the phone on her shoulder, she opened the microwave and pulled the steaming cup out. "So, I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah." His voice faded out over the wires. "Enjoy your apple cider."
"I will."
"Night, Ace."
"Night." She hung up the phone and sat down at the table with her cup. Then she looked down and smiled. He knew her too well.
OoOoOO
It was Ground Hog day when Rory walked into Logan's cubicle and made her announcement. "I've decided to ask him to my parents' house."
The pen in his hand skipped across the paper. "Your parents' house?"
"Yeah." She sat down without even being asked, "I mean, I met his mother. That means something right? So I'm thinking, he really should meet my parents before anything serious happens."
Anything serious. Logan didn't like the implications of that phrase at all. "I don't know." He leaned back in his chair and pushed his pen around in his fingers. "This is a big step."
"I know." For a moment her shoulders slumped forward, and then she sat up straight. "But he's a nice guy, and I'm sure my mom and Luke will like him, so what am I waiting for?"
He pulled his hands apart. "Nothing."
She looked at him, and he saw the decision solidify in her eyes. "That's what I thought."
OoOoOoO
"Valentine's Day on Thursday and then going to meet her parents Sunday?" Brian asked in distress when he'd hung up the phone that evening. "Oh my gosh."
"What's the big deal?" Logan asked with a shrug. He was in no mood to be the supportive coach. "She met your mom."
"That was different."
"Why?"
"Because that was her!"
"That's very brave of you," Logan said with a nod.
"I don't know about this." Brian sat down at the table like he was shell-shocked. "I thought we were taking this slow."
"You're meeting her parents, not getting married."
The look in Brian's eyes said that was only one step away.
"Besides, you should be excited about this. It's your first chance to meet the in-laws," Logan said, thinking he was teasing, but it didn't sound like teasing to his own ears. "What were you going to do – wait until you're engaged to meet them like you did with Mandy?"
The name brought both of them crashing back to the table.
"How did you know I never met her parents?" Brian asked as his eyebrows knitted in the middle of his forehead.
Logan shrugged. "You never mentioned it. I just assumed."
Brian nodded satisfied with the answer although the real answer coursing through Logan's brain was that although he had actually been engaged to Mandy, he'd never met her parents either.
"It just seems so strange to be so serious without really being serious." Brian said.
"How do you mean?
"Well, Rory has this thing about taking it slow, and that's fine now. I mean it wasn't at first. At first I thought she was crazy, but then, I don't know, it kind of takes the pressure off, you know? We just go out and have fun, and there's no cloud of expectation hanging over our heads. But this… this gives new meaning to the word 'expectation'."
Logan was fighting his way through the words "taking it slow". It fit Rory like a glove, but it looked more life chafing glass on Brian. "So, by taking it slow…"
"Kissing only, and that's if I'm real lucky."
"And you're okay with that?"
A smile shone through Brian's eyes. "Rory's worth it."
"Then you shouldn't have any trouble with her parents – they'll see how much you love her, and they'll love you for it."