I know, I know... the last chapter was a big tease, but here it is... finally!

I shed my coat and scarf as I walked inside and looked around; I didn't see him. I looked at my watch; it was almost ten after one… of course I was late. He wouldn't have left already, would he?

Not at the bar, not near the window, then I looked around the corner, and in one of the booths sat a man, concentrating intently on the screen of the phone in his hands. I couldn't see his face, but the purposefully-messed blonde hair on his head left no question… Logan.

I took one more deep breath while I had the chance and walked toward him. I was practically standing right in front of him, but he hadn't yet noticed I was there. How can a lunch be awkward before it has even begun? I had to say something…

"Busy day?"

He looked up, visibly startled. True to form, he quickly found his composure, "Well, I'm a busy man, every minute counts… I was supposed to be meeting someone at one." He glanced at his watch and back at me with a hint of a smile on his lips. "I was starting to think you were standing me up."

You're the one that said you would have deserved it. I thought better of the comment, returned his smile and shrugged my shoulders, "Here I am."

"Are you going to sit?" He looked at me expectantly, and then held up his phone, "I'll be done in just a minute."

I nodded and slid into the booth across from him, watching him as he typed into his phone. He was still tan from California, he made the same face as he always did when he was concentrating, and he… He was looking back at me. He had picked up his head sooner than I expected, and a smirk spread across his face when he caught me staring at him. I need a quick save…

"Working on Sunday?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Says the girl who I caught in the office on a Saturday."

I stifled a smile. He always had an answer for everything. He had told me before that the fact that I challenged those answers is what first attracted him to me… Why couldn't I find a witty retort this time?

I was relieved to see that someone had approached the table to place a drink in front of Logan. Scotch neat, of course. Looking up, I saw that it had been Sam who set the drink down. Les and I had pretty much been regulars at McConnell's since we started working at The Post, and I had come to discover that Sam is to McConnell's as Luke is to the diner… It seemed as if he never left, and did pretty much everything. His official job was bartender, but he also tended to play host, wait tables, and occasionally fill in in the kitchen… a well-a well-rounded employee.

"Hey Ror, can I get you anything?"

"Um…" I thought nothing of Sam referring to me by name, but Logan was looking at me quizzically. "Maybe just menus?"

"Sure thing… Just gimme a sec, looks like somebody just saddled up to the bar."

"Thanks, Sam."

"So, you come here often?" Logan mocked as Sam walked away.

"That sounded like a cheesy pick-up line…" I thought I was playing along, finally falling into a familiar banter, so I was taken aback by his response.

"No… those would never work on you, Ace." His tone suggested he was serious, but his eyes were soft.

He just looked at me for a second. I didn't know what to say, again.

Thankfully Sam had shown up with the menus. Thank God. "Sam… I think I will take that drink, after all."

He nodded and quickly returned, haven shaken up a gin martini with a twist.

I noticed that Logan had watched this whole exchanged with his eyebrows raised, "Well… you two seem pretty chummy..." I was surprised to find that his tone was almost accusatory. Wait, was he jealous? There wasn't even anything to be jealous about… but still.

He eyes were locked on mine; waiting for me to respond to what hadn't really been a question. I shook my head, "No… no, Leslie and I are just in here a lot…" I couldn't explain why I suddenly felt the need to justify that, "…it's only a few blocks from the office."

"Leslie?" He answered his own question, "Your friend from the other night, the blonde…" he trailed off for a second before continuing, "Not a fan of mine, I take it?"

I bit my lip and I found myself to suddenly be focused very intently on the table. I knew he was talking about the way she had led me away the other night. "She just…" Thinks you're a jackass for disappearing to California? Thinks I deserve better than you? I finally finished with, "…cares." It was the truth, just maybe not all of it.

Logan was visibly tense as he took a sip of his drink, and an uncomfortable silence had fallen between us.

I took a sip of my martini, hoping for another interruption, but Sam was occupied at the bar, and the rest of the place was pretty quiet.

As quickly as he had seemed to let his guard down, he regained his composure. He cleared his throat, sat up straighter and picked up the menu. His voice was lighter, but still not quite his usual, confident tone, "So, you're the regular… What's good here?"

I was so caught up in my own thoughts that I didn't respond right away… Why it would matter to him if Leslie didn't like him? Had I imagined his jealousy toward Sam? How could he change gears so quickly?

"Ace?"

I snapped back to attention. None of our interaction since we had literally run into each other had been normal, not for us… but hearing him call me Ace was like a flash of who we used to be.

"What? Oh. Um… the burgers are good. Good fries."

"Well that one I could have guessed for myself."

I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I would never expect you to frequent a place with sub-par French fries… It's been a long time, Ace, but I know some things never change."

He had caught himself off guard that time. His eyes gave him away… He must not have meant to say that last part out loud. He quickly took the last swig of his scotch, and looked around. "So, is your friend coming back around any time soon?"

Right on cue, Sam appeared at the table to take our order, once again saving us from another awkward silence. He looked at me first, "Ror?" and then at Logan, "Friend of Ror? Did we make decisions?"

Logan spoke to him, but was looking at me, "Well, I think Ror and I will have a couple of cheese burgers… extra fries." The way he emphasized 'Ror' went unnoticed by Sam, but it was clear to me that he had been mocking him; I definitely had not imagined that one. There was nothing going on between me and Sam, but even if there was, Logan would have no right to be jealous about it.

Before Sam walked away he asked if we wanted another round. I still had half of my martini in front of me, but Logan's glass was empty. We simultaneously answered; he with a "Yes" and I with a "No".

Unclear of what we wanted from him, Sam waited for clarification. Logan's eyes were still trained on me, and he flashed a smirk before he replied, "Another Macallan's, and a club soda for the lady." This time he was clearly making it a point to prove that he knew me well.

On my way here I had come to terms with not knowing what to expect, but the knot that was forming let me know that I was not ready to address all that we had been just yet. Deciding that the present was a safer topic than the past, I tried to pick up a conversation.

"So, are you getting settled in the city?"

His smile from a second ago faded fast, and he shook his head, "Still kind of living out of a suitcase..."

Is he going to elaborate? After a second it was clear that he was not… "But you must be doing well with your company expanding and all?"

This time he responded with a nod, rather than a shake of his head, "Yea, bigger and… well, you know…"

He looked down into his glass, again showing no signs of go into detail.

What is with the vague answers? And why didn't he seem happy? His company just went transcontinental; the Logan Huntzberger I knew would be reveling in his success. Up to this point I had still been optimistic about how this lunch was going… it was nervous and awkward, but up till now it hadn't been painful, and at this rate it would be going downhill, fast. Change the subject...

"How's Honor?"

I was relieved that he looked up at the mention of his sister. "She's good. She and Josh are upstate, out of Hartford, but still pretty much living that life."

I was glad that she was in his life, being pretty much his only ally he had in their family.

"And Lorelei?" He was participating in polite conversation... A step in the right direction.

"She's still Lorelei…" I couldn't help but smile thinking about my mother and her antics. "And I have a brother!"

"What?" When I saw his rightfully surprised expression, it occurred to me how much had happened since we had stopped being us… How much he had missed. Relieved to finally have something to talk about, I continued rather enthusiastically, "Yea, Landon… he's two. Much to Emily's disappointment, my mom and Luke reconciled right after I left for the campaign. They finally got over their stubbornness, got married and…"

I stopped dead in the middle of my sentence and looked away from him. One step forward, two steps back… I should have kept talking, tried to glaze over it, but I felt a pang of guilt mentioning marriage in front of Logan. I don't know why… I questioned my decision to say no for a long time… but now, having experienced things, living in New York, having a career, I knew I had been right. I shouldn't feel guilty about not being ready to settle down at twenty-two, but right now, I did.

"...they're really happy."

"That's great. Good for them." I knew he meant it, but my guilt crept up again when I looked up to see that the smile on his face was half-hearted at best.

As Sam placed our fresh drinks on the table, I realized that I was even more unsure of where this was going now, than I had been before I sat down. He had zig-zagged from joking to serious. In round about ways, he had acknowledged what we once were, but was clearly uncomfortable when I accidentally stumbled into that territory. He didn't seem to want to go into detail about his own life…

His phone buzzed next to him on the table; he checked the screen, and took a drink from his glass. "I should take this, do you mind?"

I shook my head; he grabbed his phone and answered as he got up from the table. Honestly, I was relieved. I needed to breathe and try to come up with a plan that wouldn't compound the uncomfortableness of the situation. Something neutral…

He seemed to come out of nowhere when he returned to his seat and put his phone down again.

"Work?" Since it had come up naturally, maybe work would be a safe topic now…

He exhaled, "Yea…" and took another swig of scotch. Apparently I was wrong…

"Well this is very Don Draper of you… taking calls and day drinking…"

He actually smiled this time as he nodded. "I told you Ace, I'm a busy man."

I finally relaxed a little… I was relieved to find that the actual Logan was hidden in there somewhere.

Our meal finally arrived, delivered by a waitress, not Sam… Good. We did not need to open that bizarre can of worms again.

We ate in relative silence for a little while, only broken up by Logan's approval of my burger recommendation. By the time we had finished, I was starting to wonder if we would ever start talking again. I finally drank the last of my martini, and as I put the empty glass down I noticed that he was looking… more like watching me.

"Your hair is longer."

Instinctively, I ran my hand through my hair, a little surprised by his acute observation. "Yea… When I came to the city… I hadn't really found a good place to get it cut, so I let it grow out a little… but I kind of liked it, so…" I was rambling like a teenager.

"It looks nice. I like it."

I managed a smile that I hoped would pass for a thank you, and looked away.

He laughed… maybe the scotch was finally loosening him up. "You never were good at taking a compliment, Ace…" I continued to avoid his eyes, trying not to blush. "…I mean it. You look good… The city agrees with you." I finally looked up at him… he was being genuine, even sporting a real smile.

"Well… thanks... I tend to agree with it as well." Are we finally on track for a real conversation?

"How is The Post treating you?" I was curious about why he would bring up my work, given his reluctance to discuss his own, but I wasn't going to risk derailing our interaction now.

"It's going pretty well…" I told him about starting as low woman on the totem-pole at The Post after the campaign. I told him about talking my way into that first big article, and how I was up to pretty regular bylines, though from what he said yesterday about following my writing, he must have already known that. I even told him what I had only just decided myself, about looking into doing freelance writing.

He was smiling again, another real, honest smile… It was good to see him smile. "That's great, Ace. I'm proud of you."

I couldn't help but smile back. I was having another flashback feeling, to the old us… when I was actually his girl to be proud of.

"You should be proud of yourself too, you know. They could do an E! True Hollywood Story on you… Yale Slacker to Major Success." I gestured as if I was seeing the words on a marquee… I was hoping to finally get something out of him, or maybe even a laugh, but I settled for the smile that played along his face. Talk about not being able to take a compliment.

We just sat there in silence for a while again… he was clearly still not interested in talking about his own work, but for the life of me I couldn't understand why. In all of the interviews and press releases I had read, he always spoke proudly and passionately about his company. And it had only grown over the years, surpassing practically every expectation that the industry had laid out. Even Mitchum had to be proud of him by this point… Mitchum.

How could this not have occurred to me before? Expanding to New York meant great things for the company, but for Logan it meant being back near his father. Suddenly I had gone from confused about Logan, to worried about him.

"Are you okay?"

He was surprised by my question…I guess it was a little sudden. He cleared his throat again before slapping on a smile and replying, "Yea. Why wouldn't I be?"

He had been right before, some things never change. He may have matured professionally, but deep down he was the same old Logan. He had always used his charm and good looks as a convincing disguise for his insecurities. I was on the short list of people who had ever seen through it, a list that I imagine has only gotten shorter as his accomplishments have grown.

"I don't know, you just…" I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with that, but his phone rang again before I could continue.

"Hey, it's getting late and I need to take this…" It was his not so subtle hint that our 'clear-the-air' lunch was over. Did he suspect that I was finally on to him? He pulled out his wallet and threw some cash on the table as he stood up.

"Logan…" I half scolded him for putting out more than enough to cover the whole bill.

He waved me off. "Don't worry about it. I'll see you around, Ace." And just like that, he grabbed his coat from the booth and answered his phone as he walked away.

I was stuck for a second, almost dumbfounded. This was all his idea; he wanted to meet, to talk. And just when things might have gotten serious he walked away… A habit of his. I picked up all of my belongings, waved to Sam as I headed out the door.

Over the course of lunch I had heard the rain subside, but now that I was standing in the ally I found that it was back in full force. I managed to open my umbrella before getting too soaked, and made my way to the street.

I turned left towards the subway station, but stopped when I heard my name.

"Rory!" I turned around. It was Logan, standing in the rain, in front of the open door of a black town car. He held his hand up to shield his face from the water, and shouted over the rain, "I'm sorry!"

** I do not own and characters or content relating to Gilmore Girls, or any other entities mentioned**

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