It was after Logan's second update from his cell phone that Rory found herself on a bustling floor that seemed filled with people working on the international section of the newspaper. Logan's message had relayed his frustration at the length of time he had been in there, but also gave a glimmer of hope that he would be out in an hour and the next message should be to get together. Rory smiled at the message, put her phone in her pocket and stepped onto the sixteenth floor. Immediately she her ears were bombarded with place names from all over the world. Someone in the far corner of the room yelled a need for the gross domestic product of Morocco, a desk near the front was talking in what Rory thought was Japanese to someone on the phone and the man who just stepped by her on the way to the elevator was using his blackberry and muttering something about 'those damn North Koreans'. Rory had only been on the floor for moments but she already felt like this was where she wanted to be.
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Logan had just sent Rory another text message about his progress, or lack thereof, in his emergency meeting. There was a problem in the Sydney offices that wasn't easily rectified. Overnight the editor of the paper had unexpectedly died and now there was an internal power struggle to see who would succeed her. Logan was aghast at the situation, bickering over power when the integrity of that paper and in the larger scope, Huntzberger Media was at stake. From what Logan had ascertained so far was that there were two groups involved in the power struggle, one was loyal to the former editor and wanted the status quo, however stagnant, to be kept. The other was a more passionate group, wanting to the paper to become more slanted with political leanings. The two other men in the room with Logan had tried for the past 90 minutes to come to some sort of agreement that would allow the paper to be run as it was for the next two days, until high end representatives of Huntzberger Media could travel to Sydney to rectify the situation. Neither group was satisfied with the mention of two relatively new and powerless people at Huntzberger Media who were supposed to mediate the disagreement.
Logan sighed as their attempts to negotiate fell on deaf ears. He knew what both groups wanted, Sydney, while being a relatively successful venture in the Asia-Pacific region was lagging far behind the Tokyo, Seoul and Taipei braches, but those branches had seen visits from Mitchum which had bolstered their status in the region with the business community. After a fourth volley of teleconference name calling between the two groups in Sydney and the now slouched over men joining Logan in the room it was time for Logan to take charge of the situation.
"Listen guys, this is Logan Huntzberger. If you can keep the paper running smoothly for the next two or three days, I'll make it over there personally to oversee the transition. I'm not sure what that transition will be, but I'm positive it will be a hell of a lot better than all this arguing going on and if you are all as talented as you yelled to be than if nothing can be agreed to no one will have difficulty finding other employment. I'll be there in three days, until then keep things going as if Miss Cartright were still there. She was your editor, and a great one at that. Do her proud. Do we have an understanding?" Logan asked.
"Yes sir."
"Agreed, Mr. Huntzberger."
"Good. Until then," Logan pressed end on the phone that was on the table the three sat around and stood up.
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"That was very impressive Mr. Huntzberger," one said.
"Indeed. I've never seen anything like that."
Well that sealed it Logan thought. These two were just sucking up to him. He was sure that what he did was nothing special; it was what any good executive would do.
"I'm sure that's what Mitchum would have done. You two are so alike; Mitchum sure raised a good one."
Internally Logan was laughing, rolling his eyes, and angry all at the same time. He knew what he did was not what his father would have done. His father would have fired anyone who didn't accept the succession of power and who tried to sabotage the paper. He would have done it over the phone and had no reservations about it. If the paper would have been short-staffed Mitchum would have just made everyone work until the paper was done as normal and fired anyone who didn't produce as desired. The negotiation tactics used by Logan had very little in common with his father's. Logan was angry at the implication that he was like his father, he tried so hard not to be. He was able to brush it aside as the two men just trying to ingratiate themselves and not realizing how hard Logan had tried to disassociate himself with Mitchum, Logan thought that he might just have to try harder to show them that he didn't hold his father with the same regard as they did. Finally Logan didn't know what to think of the raising comment. Even the people on the board of directors knew Mitchum's lack of parenting skills and how he had no desire to acquire them. The only conclusion Logan could draw was that these two men were relatively new to Huntzberger Media and maybe not as indoctrinated as once thought.
"I wouldn't be so sure, Dave," Logan said to the taller man as they stood up getting ready to leave. "You heard my solution, so Jeff, Dave, do you think you will be able to make the trip to Sydney with me?"
Both men looked surprised, "but sir, surely you don't need us. You're a Huntzberger, they'll listen to you."
"Look guys, I want you two there, I need you two there. With the three of us heading negotiations we'll be able to come up with more ideas, we'll be able to juggle more things at once. It will just make things easier, and to do that I need you to realize that even sometimes mighty Huntzberger's need help. So I'm asking you both: Will you help me?"
Dave and Jeff didn't hesitate in agreeing to help Logan and both of them left the room with a wide grin on their faces. They not only got a trip to Sydney during the summer in Australia, but they also got to assist the future CEO of Huntzberger Media, and while they had heard stories of people who traveled with Mitchum to be let go soon after, neither Dave nor Jeff held the same fear with Logan.
Logan, however, was decidedly less enthusiastic. He didn't really want to have to fire a large swath of people his first week on the new job, and he didn't want his efforts to fail causing his father to lash out at him. Mostly Logan was concerned how Rory would take this, since it was mid-week and Rory would be back at Yale he didn't think it would go badly. Though, he did suggest the trip and this was only his first week at his new position and already he was going to a different hemisphere. Logan wanted Rory to see this as a freak occurrence, a result of an unexpected situation and not something that was going to be routine. Logan's relief at the end of the meeting was tempered with thoughts of how Rory would feel about it as he entered a message in his phone saying to meet him in the lobby in five minutes. Logan exited the room and walked to the elevators, ready to leave the offices, ready to be with Rory for the remainder of the day and ready to see her reaction to his Sydney trip that may interfere with any plans she had for them next weekend.
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Author's Note: Six more chapters remain, I just wanted to get a brief view of what Logan's work in the office was like in this story and how it impacts his life, and that will be further expounded upon in the next two chatpers I think. I hope everyone enjoyed this update, it was fun writing. As always, reviews are appreciated. Happy reading.