Chapter Seven – Concrete Bed

Wednesday morning was much more hectic than Tuesday. It was also true that I slept for most of Tuesday morning seeing as it was the aftermath of the movie night disaster. Wednesday started much earlier and it was just as unappreciated as ever. Four hours of sleep is seriously not enough to function on, but if Rory and I wanted to make it back to London in time to interview those editors it usually means that you should be there before the interviewees.

After the interviews we had three hours to pack whatever we needed for Rome and then an hour to get to the airstrip. Seeing as we were flying the Huntzberger jet it wasn't nearly the problem that flying commercial would be but being there on time was still probably a good idea. I had gotten left behind before and that experience was not a pleasant one for anyone; so as not to repeat said incident showing up well before was a very good idea.

"So Ace, are you ready to conduct your first professional interview?" I said half-jokingly.

She blanched. "Wwhat? Who said anything about me doing the interview? I was just supposed to watch! I don't even know what you're looking for!"

I decided to keep up my little charade. Stressing out Rory Gilmore was more than fun. "Of course you do Ace! You know the qualities you look for in people: hardworking, dedicated, innovative, quick-thinkers," I said seriously ticking them off on my fingers, watching her face drain of colour. At that I broke down and gave up with my slightly childish prank.

"Relax Ace," I said pulling her into a one armed hug. "I was just pulling your chain. I'm conducting interviews and you will be sitting in the corner taking notes like the Ace Reporter you are and then after all the candidates you will give me your input. Sound good?"

She breathed a sigh of relief. "That sounds perfect," she said before hitting me in the arm hard.

"Ow! What's with the abuse Gilmore?" I yelped.

She crossed her arms across her chest. "That was for stressing me out. Gilmores do not like being stressed."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't think anyone likes being stressed," I muttered under my breath.

Unfortunately for me, this comment was heard and warranted another slap. I winced. That one actually hurt. Resigning myself to the annoyance that accompanied her presence, I sighed and guided her into my office to ready ourselves for the appearance of the first editorial candidate.

By lunch time we had interviewed five people and I was starting to get discouraged. No one seemed in the least bit suitable for the job. In fact, every single one of them had been whack-jobs. It was actually quite amazing that that many freaks could all want the same job.

"How is it possible that so many weirdoes could want this job?" Rory asked incredulously, still reeling slightly from the exit of the previous candidate.

I just shook my head in agreement. It was quite impressive the level of incompetence we seemed to attract at this establishment. For being one of the highest rated papers in the area, you would think that we would only get the highest calibre for interviewees but apparently this was not the case.

"Why don't we get some lunch and discuss the good points of each candidate that I can't actually seem to remember at the moment," I said stretching my eyes wide trying to remember anything positive about the nightmares that had traipsed in and out of my office.

Rory giggled. "It wasn't that terrible. I mean, it was pretty bad, but it wasn't that bad. But food sounds great. I'm absolutely famished," she said with a slight lisp that was almost the exact replica of the second man to interview that morning.

I laughed outright. "Alright then, let's get you some food before you turn into a pumpkin."

"Oh my god!" she gasped. "Logan Huntzberger just made a Disney reference!"

"Yeah, yeah. You can marvel at the fact that I am not a complete failure while we find food," I said rolling my eyes. There is absolutely no way that you can grow up with an older sister and not watch Disney Princess movies. It just doesn't happen.

Rory's eyes lit up. "Can we go to Benny's? Ooh! And can we invite Jake? I want to get more embarrassing Logan Huntzberger anecdotes out of him."

I just rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you still have the phone number he gave you. If he wants to come, I'm not going to stop him; although it may be personally damaging to agree to this," I said resigned to another day of incessant mocking.

Rory squealed and gave me an exuberant hug around the neck. "Yay! I'm going to call him now and tell him to meet us in fifteen minutes at Benny's. Get ready to leave Huntzberger, because we leave as soon as I'm done making the call. I'm hungry!"

I rolled my eyes and called after her, "You're always hungry Gilmore! Tell me something I don't know."

When she reappeared around the corner five minutes later she grabbed my wrist and pulled me out the door. "I am not always hungry. I always have capacity to eat and will not turn down food when offered. But I'm hardly always hungry," she said almost pushing me down the street.

"Could have fooled me," I muttered shaking my head but continued unresistingly down the street toward Benny's restaurant.

When we arrived five minutes later in front of the small steakhouse-bar we found Jake already waiting for us. Apparently, he was even hungrier than Rory, or just starving for our divine conversation. Yeah Right. I wasn't sure what Rory had told him, but there was no way that this lunch would pan out in my favour.

"Jake!" Rory cried and threw herself into his arms. "I'm so happy you could come! Now let's eat because I am starving!" She settled herself at the table and opened up a menu. I could already see her creating a list in her head of the foods that she was going to order.

"Hey Man," I said reaching out to shake Jake's hand and then I slid into the chair next to Rory. "You better sit down and decide what you want to eat because at this rate Ace here will have already ordered and we won't have even opened our menus."

Jake just grinned. "I gathered as much from the lightning speed at which she's skimming the menu."

"I can hear you both you know," Rory said dryly. "I'm hungry, not deaf. And I need to read the menu carefully or I'll end up ordering more food than I'll eat. And even though that really isn't necessarily a bad thing in general we're going to Italy so the food would probably go bad while it waited for me to get back."

Both Jake and I stared. I had never seen someone say quite so much on one lungful of air. It was actually quite impressive.

Rory looked at Jake impatiently. "Are you even going to sit down? I'm ready to order, so if you don't park your butt soon, we'll be eating without you." At this, Jake hastily lowered himself into the seat across from me eyebrows raised in a silent question to which I replied with a shrug. It was just one of Rory's quirks and although I had only known her three days I was becoming well acquainted.

I had just decided what to order when the waitress came out to take our order and I was thankful for that. I just couldn't deal with another "hurry up you can't keep a Gilmore Girl hungry" rant. A morning full of incompetents was enough to drive anyone to insanity. I was surprised that Rory herself hadn't brought up the subject. But then again, she had to deal with hunger first, my problems second. This was a dramatic change for me, seeing as I was used to living with my father who had no problems making me forgo meals entirely for the sake of work.

"Sir, are you ready to order?" A voice penetrated my thoughts and jolted me back to the present. When I looked around the table, I found Rory glaring at me, the waitress looking at me impatiently and Jake looking on in not so silent amusement.

I shook my head slightly to clear it. "Of course. I'll take the Suicide Wings and a small Greek Salad please," I told the waitress.

"Anything to drink?" she asked noting my order on a pad in her hand.

"Just water please." I said.

Jake's eyebrows rose if possible even further into his hairline. I guess it was slightly odd that I didn't order a beer or something but I could feel a headache coming on and a beer could only aggravate that. Well, unless you're Finn. And then, the philosophy is that a Foster's fixes everything.

"You do know that you should really drink a beer with those if you want the full experience. Water is really not the optimal choice to compliment Suicide Wings. And as I assume you've eaten here before I would have guessed that you've already figured that out. So I'll shut up now."

I was expecting a comment regarding my lack of drink but oddly enough, it wasn't Jake who made a commented, but Rory. It wasn't the comment I was expecting at all, although, since it was Rory I should have expected it.

I heard a snort from the waitress as she completed writing down my order and began to walk away. I just let my eyes close. 'I'm glad I'm causing everyone amusement, even if it is at my own expense,' I thought.

"Thank you for your generous input," I told Rory dryly. "And yes I was aware that beer does compliment the wings, but I want to get through the afternoon sober. As much as I would like a drink right now, if the people we interviewed this morning are any indication, I'll need all my wits because if I get myself even slightly shit-faced right now, I'm liable to hire someone who is completely inappropriate and then my dad will shoot me. Hell, I would shoot me," I said.

Rory giggled. "That could be problematic. Well then, that's fine. Jake and I will drink for you. I'm not sure I could get through the afternoon without a drink. This morning was terrible."

"God," I groaned. "Don't even remind me. All I can think of is that man who showed up in that bright pink velour suit."

Jake choked. "Pink velour suit?" he stuttered before bursting out laughing. "Damn! Why don't people like that come to me for interviews?"

"You're extremely lucky they don't," Rory said with a shudder. "Pink suit man was freaky."

"But not as freaky as the creepy lady," I interjected.

Rory chuckled. "Only for you. I found her immensely funny."

I glared at her half-heartedly. "Seriously Ace, she was wearing what looked like a magician's hat and some cloak thing. I swear, I thought that Harry Potter was going to come bursting into my office after her asking for his clothes back. And she didn't know anything about the news business! She was talking absolute gibberish. Half the time I wasn't sure that she and I were talking the same language. I swear to god that at one point she mentioned marriage, but I hoped to God I was hearing things."

Rory just grinned evilly. "Nope. She definitely mentioned marriage and how adorable your children were going to look. And then she made some very odd comment about your 'black cloak' and I could only assume she was talking about your jacket. What was with that?" she asked confused.

I snorted. "I have absolutely no idea but I seriously can't wait for this whole ordeal to be over. These people are freaking me out and personally I think that the sooner we have an editor, the sooner I can be with sane people again."

At that moment, the waitress brought out the food so our conversation was interrupted and a blissful calm came over the table. Although my taste buds may not have agreed with me there, the food was a welcome interruption because it caused a reprieve in the reprisal of 'Logan bashing' that Rory seemed so fond of.

"So Jake, tell me about your magazine. It sounds really interesting. Do you get to meet a lot of really cool bands?"

Jake laughed in response. "I don't know how interesting the work itself is, but I do enjoy what I do. Meeting bands is just a plus for me. There are so many awesome underground and undiscovered bands out there and I really want to be the person to discover them and give them a chance to make something with their music. I truly believe that music can make a difference in your life and if you don't have all the music to choose from you've lost out."

"I understand completely what you mean. I don't have a musical bone in my body but the freedom that even listening to music gives me is amazing," Rory replied. "Music is expression at its most basic and complex. At least, that's what my best friend Lane says."

"She sounds like a very knowledgeable girl. I'm guessing she's the connoisseur and you picked it up by lots of direct contact." Jake said teasingly.

Rory smiled wryly. "It's true. Lane has always been obsessed with music and is even in a band back in Connecticut. I was sadly almost as bad as this loser over here before I met Lane. Although, anyone with Lorelai Gilmore for a mother can never be as bad as that, it's just not possible."

Jake perked up. "She plays in a band? What kind of stuff does she play?"

"Yep. Hep Alien. She's been in the band for four years and I think they're still on tour right now. I don't know anything about a specific type of music that they play but they're a very versatile group that can play anything and make it sound really good. I haven't been to see them in over a year but Lane said that they've been playing small clubs and stuff but they haven't really attracted any interest from labels yet." Rory said.

"That sounds really interesting. I wouldn't mind hearing them in concert or even a demo if you have one," said Jake.

"I actually might have the demo that Lane sent me last month back at my apartment so I'll be sure to get that to you. It would be a little hard for you to hear them live unless you were planning on flying to Connecticut, and although I love Connecticut, it seems a little unethical just to fly out there to listen to a band." Rory said with a laugh.

"Well then, the demo for now sounds great. But if Logan ever plans on heading back to Connecticut I'll be sure to tag along to listen to your friend play."

"If I ever plan on heading back to Connecticut? Good Lord Jake, you'd think I wanted to stay here forever," I teased. "But if you really want to come the next time I go back I have a business meeting in New York with my father next month and my mother is planning a huge party which I'm sure she would love for you to attend," I said taunting.

Jake visibly shuddered. We both loathed being near my parents and avoided it at all costs. "I think if I do go the concert will have to be on the same night. So give Shira and Mitchum my regards and tell them I had a previous engagement but it was wonderful for them to invite me," Jake said in a syrupy voice.

Rory's laugh broke through our conversation. "God, you two are worse than my mother."

"Is that good or bad?" I asked. "Because last time I checked, being like Lorelai was a good thing."

"It is," Rory assured me. "But it's funny to hear you guys talk about seeing your parents the same way my mother does. And I'm sorry Jake but the concert is the night before the party."

"And how do you know that?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Because I'm invited of course," Rory said with a 'duh' look on her face.

"Good!" Jake broke in. "Then we can all go together! First to the Hep Alien concert and then to the blazing fires of Hell."

"Well doesn't that sound pleasant," Rory said with a bemused smile.

"Huntzberger parties are always a riot. And never in a good sense." I said.

"Well I guess I'll get to see that for myself next month wont I?" Rory said with a falsely bright smile. "At least now I know that both of you will be there, so the night won't be completely awful."

"We'll hope for the best." Jake said meeting my eyes over the table and snorting in laugher, not believing for a second that it could be anything but awful.

I cast a glance at my watch and sighed deeply dreading what I was about to go back to.

"Time to go already?" Rory said pained.

I nodded reluctantly. "The next person comes in twenty minutes so we should probably get back relatively soon."

"Let's settle the bill then and get back to the torture chamber," Rory said flagging down the waitress.

"Very funny Ace. I'm already finding this hard enough you don't need to help my imagination come up with anything worse to compare this day to," I said pulling out my American Express Black Card.

"Lunch courtesy of Mitchum?" Jake asked with a grin.

"Hell yes. He's putting me through this crap with the editors and this stupid crisis in Rome so I think he can manage paying for our lunch," I said rolling my eyes.

"I'm not sure I feel comfortable letting you pay for my meal again Logan," Rory said with embarrassed defiance. "This last couple of days seem to be nothing but you paying for my food and coffee. And as much as I appreciate it I'm used to doing things for myself."

"Don't worry about it Ace," I said trying to console her. "This is your week courtesy of HPG, meals included. It's not that big of a deal I enjoy paying for your food. It amuses me to feed you just to watch you consume the amounts of food that you do."

Rory shot me a glare. "That is a horrible reason for paying for my food as well as being slightly insulting."

"I didn't mean it that way," I insisted while hading my credit card to the waitress. "I think it's kind of cute. I have never met a girl who actually eats and I like it." I said with a shrug.

Thankfully Rory kept her mouth shut after my little heartfelt confession. It was already embarrassing enough for me to admit any of that to her. I was getting closer to admitting to her that I liked her and it was freaking the hell out of me. On the other hand, I knew that I had to tell her soon, regardless of Tristan Dugrey because I knew that otherwise, I wouldn't tell her at all. I knew that this was my one chance and I couldn't let any person get in the way of the one thing I wanted more than anything else in the world. I just hoped that I wasn't throwing my heart away because I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to get it back.

Hey Guys, okay so second try at posting this chapter because of plagiarism concerns hopefully those are fixed. Sorry I took so long with this update but I seriously haven't been online in over a week. I'm not really going to use that as an excuse regardless if it's true. I've also had a heck of a time writing this chapter and I'm still not exactly sure if I should bother posting it. I have made changes to the original document on my computer but I've decided not to post them until the whole fic is done. But that doesn't mean that I won't start implementing changes right away. One such is the use of Huntzberger Publishing Group instead of Huntzberger Media Corporation because of details that are now apparent as of 4.17. I am terribly sorry if there are still mistakes concerning consistency with events that took place in the show.

I also have a small favour to ask. Anyone with ideas concerning things to do in Rome are appreciated. No idea is unworthy. You never know what may happen while in Rome. lol.

Thank you for reading the fifth instalment of my pride and joy. I hope you enjoyed it.

SingingSailor