The rest of the day dragged on. I managed to get some work done during the rest of the morning, repeating to myself what Les had said, we moved on. But when it came time for me to sit in on a lunch meeting, my head was anywhere in the conference room. He was in the city. He was here, and I hadn't heard from him. Of course I haven't heard from him. Why would I? He probably doesn't even know that I'm here. The meeting was over before I could even get myself together to focus.

I grabbed another cup of coffee before heading back to my desk, making a mental to do list on my way there, but when I sat down I found myself on the internet, searching for details about Logan's press conference. I shouldn't be doing this; I should be able to continue to be proud of him from a distance. It's at four o'clock. Two and a half hours. In two and a half hours I could see him. His picture had been around over the years, press releases, charity events, everywhere a successful business man should be. But he would be speaking this time. I would hear is voice. Oh my god. I'm pathetic. Get it together, Gilmore. I needed back up.

"I'm sorry, who is this? I'm not sure I heard you correctly. My daughter? That can't be, she never calls."

"Ha ha. I'm sorry I haven't called lately."

"Well fine, I'm sure you can make it up to me somehow. Maybe with a trip home on a certain day of the week… perhaps a Friday?"

When Emily had found out that Mom and Luke were back together she was not exactly thrilled, but after what happened with my dad, she was uncharacteristically accepting. When they decided to get married, she acquiesced to a Stars Hallow wedding, on the condition that she got to host a cocktail party in their honor. But when Mom got pregnant, Emily was back in true form, insisting on being involved, sometimes overly, in the baby's life, even insisting that Luke and baby Landon join her at Friday night dinners, under the pretense of being owed for all that she and Richard had missed out on with me when I was young.

"Sure Mom… just probably not this Friday."

"Ooooh is there a boy? Do you have a date? Please tell me you have a date."

"Mom!"

"Oh come on! You are the most boring single, New Yorker on the planet. I'm supposed to be living vicariously through you, now that I'm a wife and mother."

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you've been a mother for twenty-six years. And anyway, life isn't so boring lately. "

"Low blow on the twenty-six years, kid. So what's going on?"

"Logan is in New York."

There was a stunned pause before she finally came up with "Well, yea… that is really not boring."

I filled her in on everything… the dream, everything that's been running through my head all day, my debating about whether or not to watch the press conference. She didn't say anything for a minute. My mother being caught speechless made me feel a little better about my freak out.

"So, how long is your pro-con list?"

"C'mon Mom. After all of that, all you can come up with is a joke?"

"I was only half joking… I just assumed that you had made a list about seeing him."

"Seeing him? I was only talking about watching the press conference."

"Really, Rory? You and I both know that's not all this is about. "

"Even if I was thinking about seeing him, I wouldn't even know where to start."

"You'd probably have to start with how you feel about him."

Her words hung in the air for a minute and then hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn't do it. That box was closed. Les was right, he left and I deserved better. I decided not to call him years ago, why should I decide differently now?

By the time I hung up with my mom, after hearing all about Luke taking Landon on his first fishing trip and getting the latest on the inn – the spa was doing very well, I was committed to forgetting about the press conference and refocusing on work for the rest of the day.

I put my efforts solely into finishing my latest assignment, and for the first time all day was actually productive. I was so engrossed, in fact, that it was after six o'clock when Leslie showed up at my desk demanding that I wrap it up so that we could stop back at my apartment before we headed out for the night.

When we were on the train I told Leslie that I had managed to get my head on straight and taking me out for the night really wasn't necessary.

"Honey, I'm really proud of you for telling yourself that you handled all of this in less than a day, but let's be real. I've moved on from Ben's cheating ass… repeatedly… but once in a while I still have flashbacks to the nightmare he put me through. And, lets face it, he's nota majorly successful business man that unexpectedly reappeared in my life like he-who-shall-not-be-named is. Admit it, you need a drink."

"Fine." It had, after all been an exceptionally long, emotionally draining day.

"That's my girl! Besides, I plan on gussying you up and pumping you with enough liquid courage to send you home with somebody who will really take your mind off things."

I shook my head. I had no intention of going home with anyone tonight, but I appreciated that her heart is in the right place.

By the time we had climbed the four flights of stairs and made our way inside I realized I hadn't eaten anything since that lunch meeting that afternoon. I looked in the fridge and saw some leftover Chinese food from the other night… in true Lorelei fashion I stuck it in the microwave for a few minutes and let Leslie know dinner was ready.

I turned around to find her rummaging through my makeshift closet before she thrust a black dress in my face. She stopped for a minute to munch on some Kung Pao chicken, then continued to buzz around the little apartment, turning on the curling iron in the bathroom, pulling shoes out from under my bed and taking the liberty of finding herself something to change into.

"Is all this really necessary to go to McConnell's?" It was our go-to place for post work drinks, just uptown from the office, and it definitely did not require a little black dress and heels.

"Look good, feel good. Here, drink up… you'll thank me later." She put a bottle of water in my hand and pushed a chair into the bathroom. "Sit."

She busied herself curling my hair, while I followed her instructions about the water because I knew she was right. While she took the curling iron to her own hair I applied some eyeliner and mascara... If we're going to do this, I might as well do it right.

Once we were dressed and checking out our handy work in the full length mirror that stood against the wall, I had to admit, Leslie was right again. Her look good, feel good theory did have me feeling a little more confident, though I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of admitting it out loud. We bundled up to head back to the train, as ready to 'hit the town' as I would ever be.

We walked into the bar, grabbed a table and ordered our usual, a round of gin martinis with a twist and an order of fries. It was pretty busy for a Thursday night, music up a little louder that a regular weeknight, but I didn't mind. We go our drinks and Les immediately raised her glass, "To my beautiful, brilliant friend, deserving of guy who treats her right!" I bowed my head and raised my in turn, "Likewise!" And we drank… and drank.

After three martinis and just the right amount of greasy fries I was powerless to fight against Les dragging me out on the dance floor… pulling a Christina and Meredith she had decided we needed to 'dance out' the day.

A half an hour, one more martini, and Leslie's failed attempt to set me up with an actor on the verge of his 'big break' later, I was ready to call it a night. It took some convincing, including a reminder that we did have to work tomorrow, to get her to head out, but we finally made our way towards the door at about quarter after twelve. On our way out we ended up having to weave our way through a big group going the opposite direction. Les grabbed my hand in an effort to not get separated and led me out the door, making some joke about being fish swimming upstream. As I laughed, I bumped shoulders with a guy on his way in and turned back to shoot him an apology.

He had turned back too, and when I met he's eyes, I froze. The blond hair, the deep brown eyes… the smirk. It felt like I had been hit by a truck instead of person.

"Ace?"

** I do not own any characters or content relating to Gilmore Girls **

A/N - This and the next couple of chapters are a little more dialogue heavy. What do you think?