Disclaimer: Amy Sherman-Palladino is the owner of the playground, but I am playing in her sandbox!
A/N: Please don't hate me.
Chapter 9: L.A. Woman
Well, I did a little down about an hour ago
Took a look around, see which way the wind blow
With a little girl in a Hollywood bungalow
Are you a lucky little lady in the City of Light
Or just another lost angel?
-The Doors
Logan had been Finn's best friend since the Australian had been pawned off to New England when he was fiteen. Finn had showed up to his new boarding school, full of misguided anger due in no small part to what he thought was his dad's unforgivable betrayal, and proceeded to raise all kinds of hell. Then the first class ended and Finn thought he had finally met the one person in the world who maybe resented their father as much as he did his.
He was wrong. Logan hated his father way more than Finn hated his own. But that was neither here nor there. Logan was his best friend. And that's why he was going to hell for hoping that Logan never received his messages (though nothing but pure speculation and maybe 9 years of knowledge about said best friend led him to believe anything was happening). Yes, Finn was hoping that the very beautiful girl next to him had her heart smashed to pieces in 2.3 seconds.
(Un) Fortunately, Logan was either being a good boy or had received Finn and Rory's messages in time. Finn would bet $100 (but nothing more, he wasn't much of a gambler, and if he lost it all betting how would be pay for alcohol and cigarettes?) on the latter.
"Hey, Ace." Logan smiled as he pushed his chair away from his desk and glided over to pull his girlfriend into a deep kiss. "I've missed you," he murmured in her ear as he pulled away, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
Finn stuck his bottom lip out. "No kiss for me, mate? I drove your beloved across the country for you."
"And you'll be rewarded in kind," Logan teased as he reached out to hug his best friend.
"Nice suit."
"As my father always said, dress for the job you want."
Finn left that one untouched. "Working hard, mate?"
Logan gave him a look. "Yeah, I've been in meetings all day, first time I've been able to touch this insane amount of paperwork left on my desk. I thought that being the boss meant that I was able to pawn my tasks off to other people, imagine my surprise when it means I do more than drink coffee and read page six."
"Real work? That's it, I'm changing my major," Rory teased. When Logan laughed and slipped his arm around her waist, Finn had to physically keep himself from rolling his eyes.
"So, mate, where do you keep your stash of whisky around here?" He opened up a few drawers, finding nothing but papers.
"At the hotel bar, Finn."
"Banishing me to the hotel so soon?"
"I made reservations at this great sushi restaurant at 10." Logan kissed Rory once more before walking back over to his desk.
Rory's smile dropped slightly. "You still have work to do?"
"News never sleeps, Ace," Logan replied teasingly. "Plus, I have to finish up some stuff if I want to come in late tomorrow."
"So you think you'll be coming in late tomorrow?" Rory asked innocently. "Presumptuous of you, Mr. Huntzberger."
Logan groaned. "Don't tease me, Ace, that's not fair."
"I can go," Finn offered as he looked at his friend and road trip partner stare at each other.
"No you-" Rory started to say, but was cut off by Logan's sharp, "That'd be great." He smiled at Finn. "Why don't you go get acquainted with the office manager? She was just telling me how much she loves the theater."
"Oh, blow me, I'm never telling you anything again," Finn pouted. He stole one last glance at Rory, and then shut the door behind him as he left the room. The last thing he heard was her laugh as he pulled his cell phone out.
"DuGrey," Tristan barked into the phone.
"I think Rory Gilmore is a succubus," Finn replied.
"Finn?" Tristan leaned back in his chair. "How did you get this number?"
"I have all your contact info, just in case you break Steph's heart."
"Oh really, Mark Richards, do you really think you could take me?"
"Your knowledge of Australian pop culture will never cease to amaze me."
"You think you're the only one with information? And for the record, I think she may be a siren," Tristan replied.
"A siren? Mate, you've clearly never heard her sing."
"You've fallen under her spell, haven't you? The one that will ultimately lure your ship into the rocks."
"That is the worst sex metaphor I've ever heard."
"It's not a metaphor, I'm pretty sure she's literally been sent here to kill us." Tristan paused. "Is that why you called me? Because you realized that you have feelings for Gilmore? Finally?"
"Let's take this in two parts," Finn started.
Tristan snorted. "That was dirty."
"Shut your mouth. I called you because I figured you would understand above, say, Colin."
"That's because Colin has human feelings for one person, and even then it's only half the amount of general loathing he has for the human population," Tristan replied. "And don't tell Stephanie about any of this?"
"In our moment of bonding, and you think I'd ruin it by telling Stephanie that you might have looked at a different girl in a less than chaste way before you met her? No, that is all your hot mess."
"And what's the second part? I am just shaking with anticipation here."
"Finally? What's this 'finally' business?"
"Stephanie called you being in love with her months ago. She even took a bunch of stalker photos of you staring at Rory at the pub."
"I'm not that obvious. And now I need to ask your wife why she feels the need to stalk me."
"Yes you are. And she does it because she's twenty kinds of crazy. She does it to everyone. That's how she knows everything."
"Damnit, I thought she was just blackmailing someone."
"You wish it were that simple. She prefers to do her dirty work herself."
"Why would you willingly commit yourself to that?"
"She's great in bed."
"I can hear your self-satisfied smirked from here, DuGrey."
"And I can feel your sexual frustration from here. The best advice I can give you on Rory Gilmore is to stay the hell away from her. She is the most aggravating, oblivious person on this planet. She will ignore your advances and charms and money and anything else you can throw at her until she's all you can think about. Then you'll move somewhere else and forget about her until she shows up dating one of your best friends."
"That seems a little extreme," Finn deadpanned.
"Just wait."
"I'm telling Steph about this entire conversation, in case you were wondering."
Tristan let out a long suffering sigh. "Of course you are."
"Trust no one, Frohike," Finn mocked back. "Anyway, thanks for the non-advice. I must make my leave now."
"Thanks for wasting my time," Tristan managed to get in before Finn hung up on him.
"I hate that guy," Finn informed Rory and Logan as they joined him in the hallway.
Rory laughed. "I've said the same thing about Tristan. I still can't believe what a jerk he's being to Stephanie."
Logan raised an eyebrow at Finn. "And he called you to talk about it?"
Finn just shrugged. "So second dinner?"
"And third and fourth," Rory happily confirmed. "But if you steal off my plate again, I can't be held responsible for my actions."
"This is a fight I'd like to see," Logan chimed in as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
"My ninja skills are legendary," Finn bragged. "And that's skills with a 'z.'"
"In which circles?"
Rory laughed. "Finn is just asking for a chopstick in the eye."
"I'd wear an eye patch. Pirates are hot right now. Just ask Rory."
"Finn!" Rory hissed. "You swore you'd never tell anyone about that."
"It slipped out," Finn replied innocently as the elevator arrived. "Meet you at the restaurant, Huntz?"
Logan pulled Rory in for a kiss. "Wouldn't miss it."
Rory stared out the window of Finn's penthouse suite in the Viceroy. The beach was in front of her, but she could see lights from the piers on either side. The sound of the waves lapping up against the sand was both new and soothing.
"What are the lights out there?" she asked, turning to face him slightly while she pointed to the blinking lights half a mile or so out into the ocean.
"Oil rigs," Finn replied as he put a few shirts in the closet.
"I didn't realize California had so much oil."
"Most people don't. There is a huge refinery in Long Beach, which is south of here. There are oil derricks all along PCH and out at sea." He came over to stand next to her. "When I was younger, my mum told me that they were carnivals at sea. I'd stare at them every time we drove PCH back home and just imagine what kind of wonderful parties were happening at these carnivals."
"That sounds like something my mom would tell me," Rory mused.
"Finding out what they actually were was more traumatizing than that whole Santa Claus bit." He backed up a bit as he found his hand wandering down to rest seemingly rest at the small of her back. This was just getting out of control. "Why don't you take a picture for your mum while I get freshened up for dinner?"
"Good idea." She paused. "Wait, I left all my clothes in the car."
Finn smirked. "I pilfered this from your suitcase earlier." He held up a red dress with an a-line cut, white cardigan, and white flats.
Rory's jaw dropped. "Thief! Charlie Croker!"
"But it looks good, right?" He glanced back at the outfit. "I left it to your discretion about whether to go with a belt or a necklace."
"Which one do you think, Anna Wintour?"
"A small, brown belt would cinch the waist and accentuate your curves," Finn answered seriously.
Rory shook her head. "How do you know this much about women's fashion?"
"I consider women very fascinating. I appreciate them, I enjoy their company, why not try to understand the things they enjoy?"
"You are just full of surprises."
"I'm an international man of mystery. Now get ready, we spent too much time staring at the carnivals and now we're going to be late."
"There's so much to do here!" Rory exclaimed as she flipped through the guide book she'd purchased before leaving Stars Hollow. "I bookmarked all the places I need to go with blue tabs, all the places my mom wants me to go with red tabs, and all the places with yellow tabs are the ones that I'd like to go to, but aren't necessary."
"That's a lot of blue tabs," Finn observed.
"The Getty Center, Griffith Park, the La Brea Tar Pits, the cemetery, the wax museum. I could go on."
"What are some of Lorelai's places?"
"Walk of Fame, Sunset Boulevard, driving down Mullhulland at sunset – which is really more of a theme than a place, the Chinese Theater, the Promenade. And to stalk as many celebrities as possible, of course."
"I just assumed that was a given."
"I don't even know where to start though. Maybe I should take one of those star tours with the maps and stuff?"
Finn barely looked at her from the driver's seat. "Most of the places on those star's maps are fakes. Besides, you're more likely to meet someone while shopping or eating, two things I highly suggest doing in Hell-A." He hit the steering wheel in frustration as he saw brake lights ahead. "Fucking of course there's traffic on the 10!"
"Why did you put a definite article in front of the highway name?"
"Because it's a definite place. We're definitely here, aren't we? There is definitely traffic and we are definitely in it at the moment. If you get out of the car, you're not thrown into a void. This freeway that we're on is a definite place."
Rory started laughing. "I'm pretty sure no Angeleno has ever given that much thought into every day speech about the difference in the way people from the east coast versus the west coast talk."
"Actually, we discuss it every other Tuesday in our weekly best coast meetings."
"Something tells me that doesn't actually exist."
"I can neither confirm nor deny that, as I can't spill trade secrets to the enemy."
Rory paused for a moment as she took in the surroundings. She was here, in infamous LA traffic going to what was sure to be a glamorous restaurant with her road trip partner and her boyfriend. She'd just driven across the country with someone she could comfortably call a friend now. She took a good look at him. He was tense, probably because of said traffic. He kept alternating fiddling with the radio and griping about the traffic.
"Why do you hate LA?" she asked suddenly.
"What makes you say that, love?"
"You're incredibly tense here. Whenever someone makes mention of your family living in LA, you quickly correct them. In fact, you've been tense since we left Logan's office," she pointed out.
Finn sighed. "I am not a big town guy. I love my adventures, but I also enjoy going into a bar and have everyone know my name and my drink order. My life is Cheers, and I like it that way. Plus, LA sucks and the beaches in Newport are better," he added as an afterthought. "How about this, love? We'll do touristy things all day today and tomorrow, and then Thursday and Friday we'll hit up my neck of the woods. Sound like a plan, doll?"
Rory beamed at him. "You mean you'll finally show me why you're being so uppity and pretentious about this place?"
"If you're good," he teased.
They arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes after the agreed upon time, which Finn assured to Rory was early. Logan was already there, sitting at the main sushi bar and chatting with a redheaded woman that Finn vaguely recognized as someone from his office. Finn felt Rory squeeze his arm as they got closer and the woman laughed at something Logan had said, lightly touching his shoulder.
"Starting the party without us, Huntzberger?" Finn asked as they arrived, hoping he came off as teasing and jovial. The way Rory slightly pinched him, however, seemed that he did not.
"A party without my two favorite people isn't really a party at all, is it?" Logan replied back with the same bite that Finn had. He got up and held the chair next to him out for Rory, who graciously took the seat after a quick kiss from her boyfriend. The fact that the seat left was next to said redheaded young lady meant that Logan had most likely set this up as an impromptu double date, which normally would delight Finn except for his recent taking to brunettes.
"Finn, I want you to meet Claire, from my office," Logan introduced. Finn could feel the pride rolling off his best friend. He wondered if his old connect still had the same number. His life was already turning into a Bret Easton Ellis parody and he'd been in LA for less than a day.
But instead he kissed her hand and murmured an introduction, catching Rory's gaze on the way. If she looked hurt, she turned away too quickly for him to be sure. "And I'm sure you've heard all about my lovely road trip partner, Rory Gilmore," he added. As the girls made their introductions, Finn whipped his phone out and typed out a quick text to his old guy.
"Sake bombs?" he asked after he closed his phone. Rory started her usual protests, but Logan answered over her.
"Eight sake bombs," Logan ordered and smiled triumphantly at Finn.
Claire put her hand on Finn's thigh.
Rory was drunk. Claire had convinced her to move on from sake to a bottle of champagne with her. If Finn had seen any jealously in Rory, it was as empty as the bottles in front of them. Logan was loudly telling a story about running into Bruce Willis at a party and how he convinced him to steal a handle of Ardbeg from the bar while Logan distracted the bartender. Then they spent the rest of the night on the beach getting hammered and reenacting scenes from Die Hard.
Finn watched Rory giggle and ask Logan why he hadn't told her that story before, but he brushed her off and ordered two Japanese scotch's from himself and Finn, all the while assuring Finn that Japanese scotch was in fact something that he needed to try.
She was the cutest drunk Finn had ever seen.
Claire had resumed the placement of her hand on his thigh. He was ready to tell her to get lost, but Rory laid her head on Logan's shoulder and he kissed her forehead and murmured something to her that made her smile, so it was time for Finn to man up.
Right at that moment, his guy got back to him with an address and nothing else. And Claire looked like the type of girl that would party. Maybe he'd convince her to invite her roommate she'd been bitterly complaining about. Rory wasn't that type of girl. But Claire was. And maybe that's all he deserved.
Finn looked over one more time to the happy couple. This time Rory didn't look away when they caught eyes. He wanted to knock Logan out and take her back to his hotel. Delete his guy's number, whisk her away south.
But instead he tucked a strand of hair behind Claire's ear and let his hand trail down her back. He whispered hot breath into her ear, "Ready to get out of here, love?"
She smirked back at him and he figured she'd look better from behind. "I thought you'd never ask."
This time Finn didn't miss the hurt on Rory's face as he stood up and held his hand out to Claire as well. "I just have one stop to make, darling. Your place or mine?"