The door to the elevator finally opened and Rory walked absent mindedly towards her desk. All hope of forgetting about Logan Huntzberger was gone now. She couldn't ignore him anymore, not now that she remembered exactly how his lips felt on hers and exactly how her body sang when he touched her. She remembered now just how alive she felt in his presence- but was it enough? Was that feeling enough for her to give up all the hopes and dreams she had for her and Jess?
"So, I take it things with Logan went well?" Sue asked with a raised eyebrow as Rory sat down at her desk. "I guess I was worried for nothing," she gave Rory a wink.
"Why do you say that?" Rory asked, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Oh well the goofy grin on your face for one thing," Rory shot Sue an annoyed look but Sue ignored her. "Oh and also, you've got sex hair," Sue pointed an accusatory finger a Rory.
"I do not have sex hair," Rory said with a hint of defensiveness and a hint of worry in her voice simultaneously. "You can't have sex hair without having sex."
"Come on. You can tell me," Sue said, keeping her voice low. "You had sex in the elevator, didn't you?"
"No!"
"The bathroom in the lobby?" Sue asked hopefully.
"I didn't have sex with Logan; at least not within the last two years," Rory defended herself.
"Than how to do you explain the sex hair?" Sue asked, smirking.
"I don't have sex hair," she insisted.
Sue reached into her purse and pulled out a makeup compact. Opening it up, she held it front of Rory's face.
Rory looked at herself in the mirror. Besides the fact that her lipstick was slightly smeared, her hair was tousled and messy and a chunk of it was sticking up where Logan had run his fingers through it. "Oh my god, I have sex hair," Rory exclaimed a little too loudly. She noticed people nearby turn their heads to look and she lowered her voice. "I have sex hair and I didn't even get to have sex." Rory frantically patted her hair down and tried to smooth it out.
"Well that's disappointing. I was looking forward to hearing just enough about it to feel completely satisfied but not quite enough to get totally grossed out... But something did happen right? Because you look a mess and positively aglow all at the same time."
"OK, well maybe something happened," Rory reluctantly admitted.
"Oooh, oooh , tell me," Sue exclaimed as though she were a five year old on a sugar high.
Rory rolled her eyes. She knew her friend wasn't going to go away without details so she reluctantly gave in. "OK, there may have been some kissing."
"Kissing? That's it?" Sue asked disappointedly.
"Well, perhaps there was a bit of groping as well," she admitted, once again her thoughts drifted back to the encounter on the elevator.
Sue smiled. "Much more entertaining," her voice got more serious. "So does this mean you're choosing him?"
"No...maybe...I don't know," Rory admitted. "Jess makes me happy but Logan makes me feel alive, you know? Only I can't trust Logan, I don't think I'll be able to take having my heart broken like that again.
"Didn't Jess make the same mistakes? And you gave him a second chance."
"But Jess changed. He'd gotten a job and written a book. He'd really made a stable life for himself and he proved that he could be trusted not to make the same mistakes again. Plus, I wasn't risking so much by giving him a second chance. Logan is exactly the same as he's always been and if I make all these sacrifices to let him back into my life, back into my heart...I'll just be totally crushed when he leaves again."
"When he leaves? What makes you so sure that he's going to leave?"
"There are two things about Logan Huntzberger that I know haven't changed. One, he's still a playboy. I tried to break him of the habit once and it worked for a while but then he left and now he's right back to his old ways. So maybe he'll try the commitment thing again, and I don't think he'll cheat on me but who's to say he won't get bored and dump me again? Two, he's daddy's little puppet. He told me himself, he goes wherever his father sends him and he may be here for now but one day soon he'll be shipped off to Timbuktu and I'll be left all alone again."
"Honey, I'm sorry," Sue said sincerely.
"I really would love to give him a second shot. I mean the feelings are all still there but I just don't know if I can; I don't know if I can give it all up on a whim. I love Jess, I can be happy with him, so why would I want to give that up?"
"So you're choosing Jess than?"
"I guess, but..." Rory began.
"Oh no, not another but."
"How can I be with Jess when I can't stop thinking about Logan? It was hard enough trying not to think about him before but now..." Rory ran a finger softly over her lips where Logan had kissed her. "And Jess is gone right now. He said I needed time to figure out how I really felt. Maybe he was right. Maybe I should use this time. Maybe I can see Logan once or twice and give him a chance to prove himself, right?"
"If that's what you think is best, but you know that when you say 'give him a chance' that doesn't mean..."
Rory cut Sue off. "I know I can't sleep with him," she said rolling her eyes at her friend.
"Not if you're still thinking of trying to work things out with Jess...So, now about that present..."
Rory's mind flitted back to a different portion of her elevator experience- it's possible someone may have left something for you... "Wait, how did you know about the present?"
"Please, you're man thinks he's so slick? A room full of reporters and he thinks he can slip a little blue box into your desk without anyone noticing." Sue shook her head, pretending to be disappointed in Logan.
Rory laughed a little but suddenly stopped. "Wait, did you say 'little blue box?'" she asked, her eyes growing wide with excitement.
Sue nodded her head. "Second drawer down," she informed Rory.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Rory scolded as she opened the drawer and pulled out the box. Sure enough it was a little blue Tiffany's box. Rory smiled brightly.
"This way was much more fun...now open it already."
Rory slowly pulled the top off of the box and peaked inside. She gasped, taking in the exquisit jewelry before her. "They're amazing." she said, fingering the earrings. Each one consisted of six pear cut, pink sapphires surrounding a blue sapphire to create a flower. They hung on a stem of white gold.
"Wow, you soooo need to pick him. You may not have had sex on the elevator but those earring are way better than an orgasm," Sue gasped.
"Sue, I can't just pick him because he has good taste in jewelry," Rory said even though she knew her friend was joking.
"And the funds to back it up," Sue added with mock seriousness.
"I know you're not that materialistic."
"Yeah I know too, but it's fun to pretend I am," Sue said, still gawking at the earrings.
Rory returned her attention to the jewelry as well. They were magnificent, there was no doubt about that. "Oh, there's a note," she said noticing a piece of paper between the earrings and the cotton padding.
"What's it say?"
Rory began to read out loud. "Dear Ace,"
"Ace?"
"I'm his Ace reporter," Rory said, smiling goofily.
"Aww, that's cute."
"Yeah. So anyhow..."Dear Ace, I read somewhere that sapphires provide clarity and inspiration. You've always been an inspiration to me, thought I'd try and return the favor. Happy birthday. Love, Logan," she finished reading.
"Wow, this guy is good."
"Yeah, almost too good," Rory added. Man, he really wasn't going to make this choice easy on her.
Rory fished through her purse for the keys to the apartment. It had been a very long day and she was completely and thoroughly exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She just wanted to go inside, take a shower, order some Chinese food and pass out on the couch while watching a movie.
She had been thinking long and hard all day about the Jess/Logan situation. What did she want and what was she willing to give up to get it? The truth was that she wanted it all and she didn't know how she was going to choose between the sense of security and contentment and family that she had with Jess and the feeling of excitement and rush of adrenaline she had when she was with Logan. She didn't want to think about it anymore, at least not until she'd had a chance to rest and recharge. She had finally accepted the fact that Jess was giving her time and she was actually glad. She needed it more than she had realized.
She found the keys and pulled them out. She went to stick them in the lock but found the door was already open. She knew she hadn't left it open all weekend when she was at her mother's. Reaching back into her bag, she grabbed the mace she kept with her ever since she had moved to the city. She slowly opened the door and walked into the apartment.
"Hi Rory."
"Jess, you're back."