Chapter 9 – New Forays into Old Adventures
While this writing I had my own soundtrack that inspired me, my choices are not necessarily what Amy Sherman Palladino would choose however I think the emotions invoked by the songs fits my theme and chapter.
Soundtrack Chapter 9
1. Jump by Madonna
Note: Unfortunately fanfiction dot net doesn't react well to youtube hyperlinks; as a result I am unable to provide direct links to the songs here.
May 9, 2009 – San Francisco.
It was a gorgeous Saturday morning in San Francisco, the streets where bustling with the activities of shopkeepers, eager shoppers, tourists and general San Francisco buzz.
The sun lit the sky shining so brightly against the blue skies. The sunrays that cascaded from the sun were soft and beckoning almost as it bounced against the street surfaces.
Not too far from Union Square Rory and Logan were walking out of their hotel onto the streets that led to the square.
"This is insane! My head hurts and the sun is killing my eyes. Why are up this early again?" groaned Logan.
"Gosh you sound like Finn!"
"I can't believe that I can't party and drink the way I used to. This is a disgrace. My adoring public can not hear of this atrocity."
"That's because you are a work dork! And did I just hear you say your adoring public?"
They both shared a grinned as they remembered the origins of "work dork".
"So, where to first my dear tourist?"
"I thought we could start with the cable cars and then go from there. According to my research the nearest cable car stop is a few blocks from our hotel, we are currently on the path to Union Square so it shouldn't be too far from it; let's just check the map to be sure."
They both looked at the map Rory was holding, checked the navigations to the nearest cable car stop and made their way towards it. As they approached the cable car stop, they noticed that it was full and the conductor was yelling that it was about to set off.
"Come on Ace let's make a run for the cable car."
"What…? Logan you know I don't do exercise plus I haven't had adequate cups of coffee in me and why don't we just wait for the next one?" whined Rory
"Powell Street lines are notorious for being crowded and consequently there tends to be a long wait for the next ride. We have a lot to accomplish in a short time for your article and there is no guarantee we will get the next one."
"Ace you haven't been to San Francisco if you haven't made a run for or jumped into a cable car, it'll be fun. And I'm sure it'll be a good cure for my hang over which means I won't be a bear with a sore head all day."
"Come on Ace live a little." He concluded as he shook her shoulders in encouragement.
Rory felt an eerie sense of déjà vu, but she chose to shrug it off and replied in a grumbling fashion, "Ok"; and then muttered, "Why do I let you drag me into these things?"
They ran towards the cable car. Logan jumped into the cable car and as Rory tried to follow suit the cable car began to move, causing Rory to run after it. Just before the cable car began to pick up momentum across the hilly streets of San Francisco, Logan grabbed her hand and pulled her into the cable car.
They looked at each other and burst out laughing, with Rory chuckling, "Trust this to happen when I'm with you." The excitement and laughter was contagious, that the conductor and some of the other passengers where laughing in unison at their mini adventure. Logan and Rory continued laughing whilst trying to catch their breath from sheer exhilaration of the moment.
What came next was unexpected; if someone had asked Rory afterwards why she did it she wouldn't be able to decipher what prompted her actions. Maybe it was the build up from the past month or maybe it was the current moment because somehow without trepidation, fear or a thought of the impact of what would follow, Rory kissed Logan.
Logan was immediately taken aback for a second but then returned her kiss. He kind of guessed that the dance they had been doing around each other would come to a head soon and had often wondered which one of them would make the first move.
The kiss ended as quickly as it had happened. As they parted from the kiss, Rory looked at Logan searchingly and he gave her a warm smile in return.
"Hey Rory look at the view it's awesome! Pictures of this could be a good feature in your article."
"Wow, spectacular!" agreed Rory as she began to fully take in the view of San Francisco's landscape as the cable car descended down a hilly street. It was indeed awesome as Logan described, you could see the blue colour of San Francisco's skyline merging with the blue of the sea. Against that there was a back drop of the bay in front and then town houses to its left and right sides. She got out her camera from her back pack, hung it around her neck and began to take pictures.
About 45 minutes later the cable car came to its final stop at the Aquatic Park which was near Fisherman's Wharf. They got out of the cable car and walked towards Fisherman's Wharf. At Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf they bought tickets and boarded the next ferry going to the Golden Gate Bridge via Alcatraz.
The ferry trip proved to be really interesting, insightful and a good way for Rory to take her mind of the kiss temporarily. She made notes as the commentator pointed out and described the many key areas of San Francisco's history which included landmarks such as "Alcatraz", "The Gold Rush", "Levi's Strauss", "The History of San Francisco's Chinese Immigrants", etc. This provided Rory with loads of notes and additional pictures for her travel piece.
As the ferry went past Golden Gate Bridge, Logan mentioned to Rory,
"If you like we can walk across the bridge in the evening. The view of the city from up there is spectacular if not magical and would be a good addition to the photos you already have."
Rory smiled in agreement to his suggestion and replied, "That sounds good."
After the ferry ride, they took the North Beach walk tour and then from there went to China Town. They explored China Town until they were tired and hungry that they decided to stop and get something to eat at a nearby restaurant. By the time they exited the restaurant, it was around 6pm. Rory spotted a store across from the restaurant and dragged Logan into the store to help her pick souvenirs for Finn, Lorelai and her grandparents.
In the store Rory got a carried away looking at oriental dresses instead of buying souvenirs. While looking at the dresses, a lady who reminded Rory of Mrs Kim approached her and asked if she needed any help. Rory asked if they had the purple oriental dress (that she was currently looking at) in her size. The Mrs Kim look alike at this point practically yelled at her that purple was not her colour and told her wait here and then disappeared to the back of the store. She came back a few minutes later holding a turquoise dress and said, "Try this one" and with that promptly pushed her into the a curtained out section of the store which she assumed was the changing room.
Rory pulled back the curtain of the changing room after trying out the dress; stepping out in search of a mirror as there was none in the cubicle she had just exited. Her entrance into the store from the changing room was met with collective gasps from the store's occupants.
"Is that a good gasp or a bad gasp" said Rory uncomfortably as she looked at Logan.
"You look stunning Ace."
"Really?"
"Most definitely", he returned smiling.
"What did I tell you, even your husband agrees. You need to see yourself in a mirror," said the Mrs Kim look alike as she dragged Rory to another part of the store where there was a mirror.
Rory glanced at herself briefly in the mirror, blushing profusely in remembrance of Logan's and the Mrs Kim look-alike's comments earlier and then hightailed back to the changing room.
A change of clothes later, Rory was carrying a handful of souvenirs, the dress, a matching bag for the dress that had been pushed into her hands by the Mrs Kim look alike as she made her way to the cash register. Following the exchange of funds, laden bags and the ring of the cash register Rory and Logan made their way out of the store. Rory also took a picture of the Mrs Kim look alike to show Lane when she returned to Stars Hollow.
"You up for a little exercise Ace?"
"I just ate Logan, plus you know the rule about Gilmores and exercise?"
"This is not an exercise per se, just a walk across the bridge to get those pictures I was telling you about. We should be able to capture the sun set and the city lights from the there beautifully; you still up for it?"
Rory nodded. With that, they made their way to the Golden Gate Bridge, with Logan carrying all the bags.
The panoramic views from the Golden Gate Bridge were breath taking, Rory was either clicking away at her camera or being dragged hand-in-hand by Logan as he excitedly spotted things he thought she could take photos off or write about.
The moment and the view were magical; Rory felt like Wendy to Logan's Peter Pan. They were running around a lot (whilst holding hands) or could be seen there jumping up and down moments in excitement at almost any little thing amidst laughter. It was as if a different air existed on the Golden Gate Bridge, like a fairy dust. At one point Logan got up on the ledge of the bridge and shouted "I am the king of the world", which caused a few people to look their way and thereby causing Rory to do a quick dive and dragged him of the ledge which resulted in them breaking into more laughter at his high jinks. It was typical of Logan to do something so stupid but cute.
The air held a musky scent akin to this morning's in the cable car. Rory without thinking for the second time that day kissed Logan again, this time he didn't hesitate or pause but kissed her with as much gusto.
In a few years from now when she looked back at this moment Rory might ask herself what caused her to do it, but right now she had no inhibitions and just had a keen sense to jump. So as kiss came to a pause (so that they could momentarily grab some air), Rory said the first words that came to her mind without processing them and it was:
"Logan Huntzberger, will you marry me?"
PS: I don't know if it is possible to jump on the ledge of the Golden Gate Bridge, I was having a Titanic moment when I made this up.