Sorry about the delay…again. Hopefully you guys like this chapter. It's kinda just a filler chapter to give a little back story on the magazine and what is going on with Rory's work life. The next chapter (hopefully to be up before Thanksgiving) will be the date with Logan, so stay tuned!
It's almost 2 by the time Rory finally makes it back to the office. She breathes a sigh of relief when no one jumps her at the elevator asking how the meeting went.
Rory is dazedly walking to her office, forming the first draft of a pros and cons list on this dinner in her head when she hears Jane yell, "Hey! Rory wait a minute!"
Oh my god she is going to ask about the lunch. Does she know about mine and Logan's relationship? She was probably googling him and found out about the engagement or lack thereof and she is totally goi...
Rory's internal rant is interrupted when Jane catches up to her and hands her a stack of papers
"Hey. I almost missed you come in. You're mom called. She tried calling your office phone but you were obviously out at lunch, and she said you weren't picking up your cell, so she called me and told me you have to call 'your giver of life' or else she will make you 'watch Riding the Bus with my Sister during your next movie night'…I assume you know what all those things mean. She had me repeat that last part so I could tell you her exact words." Jane finished out of breath and looking kind of scared.
"She knows I hate that movie!" Rory says more to herself than to Jane "Okay thanks Jane. I will call her back as soon as I sit down. I guess I had my phone on silent during lunch."
Rory smiles at Jane and they both walk away. Rory adding 'my mom and Logan do not get along' to her mental pro-con list.
When she sits at her desk, Rory gets out her phone to call her mom, but sees Dylan, Kate, and Shane walking towards her office. She decides to send her mom a text instead, making a mental note to call her later.
They aren't even all in the office yet when Shane says "Well how did it go? Did Huntzberger want to invest?"
"Yeah, are we going to be able to get some more furniture? This place kinda looks like a giant warehouse that we are running a drug ring out of." Dylan says
"Well, I think we can probably start looking for some more furniture, and also some people to sit in that furniture." Rory says to the group
"Are you serious?! HPG is going to invest in Paperless?!" Kate says loudly enough to hear from across the entire office.
"Yeah. Apparently HPG was about to arrange a meeting with us right when I called them. They have had an eye on our project for a while now." Rory says as she pulls out the contract Logan gave her at lunch. "Logan already had this contract drawn up for us to look at. He told me to look it over with you guys and our legal team and to get back to him when we make a decision."
"Well what decision is there to make? We have to agree to partner up with HPG." Shane says as Rory hands the contract to Dylan.
"Cool your jets, Shane. We have to look over this completely before we sign anything. We can't get ourselves into a situation where we could lose this company at any second." Kate calmly explained to Shane as Dylan handed her the contract.
"Kate is right. We need to be really careful about this. I know having HPG as a partner is a dream situation, but we can't get screwed here. If I remember correctly, Logan had a deal that went sour on him right after he graduated. It lost him and HPG a significant amount of money." Dylan says
"That was not totally Logan's fault!" Rory says without even thinking
"How do you know? Weren't you still in school when that happened? I can't imagine the intimate details of that deal spread around Yale..." Dylan looking at Rory as if he knows something is up
Oh shit. They just thought I was acquaintances with Logan. Well of course they do Rory. You never told them about the almost-engagement!
"Oh. Um. We had some mutual friends and uh… they told me about the deal…" Rory says unconvincingly
"Mutual friends? This doesn't seem like something mutual friends would just share willy nilly!" Kate says, staring Rory down as she does
"Well. Uh. Logan and I kept in touch after he graduated…" Rory says trying to get out of telling the whole story of her and Logan. "He told me about it when we saw each other at a friends birthday party…"
"Why would he tell you that at a party if you guys just knew each other from being on the paper together?" Shane asks with a look of confusion on his face
"Uh. Well. You see…" Rory stutters, trying to think of something to say
"Okay Rory. Spill it. How could you possibly know that deal wasn't his fault?" Kate says
Come on Rory! You can still get yourself out of this…use that Ivy League education and lie your way out of this!
"Logan and I dated…" Oh my god did I actually just say that?
"Come again?!" Kate yells at a decibel that could probably be heard 22 floors away
"You and Logan what?!" Dylan and Shane say at the same time with a look of astonishment plastered on both of their faces
"Uh yeah. We dated and that is how I know about what actually happened with that deal…" Rory says, not making eye contact with anyone
"Jesus. How long did you date?" Dylan asks, forcing Rory to look up from her desk
"Well, we dated for almost 2 years…"
"TWO YEARS?!" Kate yells at a slightly lower volume this time. "That is a long term relationship, Rory. You were in a long term relationship with Logan Huntzberger and you didn't think to mention that anytime in the 4 years we have known you?!" Kate says looking a little hurt
"Wait. Wasn't he engaged or almost engaged to someone a few years ago? I remember hearing about a girl turning him down when he proposed. That must have been pretty soon after you guys broke up." Shane says trying to piece things together in his head
"Actu…" Rory starts to say, but before she can get it out, Kate screams again
"NO FUCKING WAY. YOU ARE THE GIRL THAT TURNED DOWN HIS PROPOSAL?!"
"Yes…" Rory says finally looking at Kate, Dylan, and Shane. "And that is why I was so hesitant to meet with him about becoming a partner."
Well this is not how I wanted to tell them about Logan and me. Actually, I would have preferred that they never found out...
"Rory, how could you not tell us about this? One of us would have gone to the meeting if it was something that you thought could have been a problem." Dylan says
"I didn't tell you guys because I have been trying to get that day, and Logan out of my mind for the past 4 years. I was trying the whole 'out of sight, out of mind' thing, but let me tell you what, that does not work. At all."
"God Rory. What happened between you two?" Shane asks
"I just wasn't ready. We were in love, and I totally imagined us being together forever, but it was always in the hypothetical. We hadn't even discussed the possibility of marriage, so when he proposed at my graduation party I was totally taken aback…I couldn't even give him an answer that night. When I finally told him that I couldn't accept his proposal he gave me an ultimatum: all or nothing. I couldn't do that. I had just graduated and I had this wide-open future ahead of me. I didn't want to be held back by a husband…even one who would have encouraged me to do whatever I wanted. He didn't want to wait for me and I couldn't jump for him, so we ended it. A few days later I found out I would be going on the Obama campaign, and you guys can fill in the rest from there." Rory looks up and sees her Dylan, Kate, and Shane all just looking at her.
Kate is the first to speak up when she says "Wow. Rory. I can't believe you held that in all this time. You know you could have said something. We would have understood."
"Yeah, I know guys. I just wanted to try to work through it myself." Rory says, feeling like a huge weight has been taken off her shoulders. "Now enough about my personal issues with Logan. He offered us a deal and we need to decide if we should take it. I looked at it briefly on the way back to the office, and it seems pretty fair. We might have to change a few things, but on the whole I think it is a great deal."
"Okay. Well why don't we all take a look at it this afternoon, and we can send it to the lawyer at the end of the day. We can set up a meeting with her tomorrow, and see what she thinks about it." Dylan says, switching his attention back to the contract in front of them
"That sounds good to me." Shane says
"Me too." Kate echoes
"Okay great. You guys look it over, and I will email Anne to set up a meeting with her tomorrow, and let her know the contract will be sent over later today." Rory says getting up from behind her desk to go make a cup of coffee. How did I just have that conversation without a cup of coffee?
"Cool. I'll take it first and send it over to Shane when I am done." Kate says as everyone starts to walk out
"And I will give it to Dylan when I am done. Good meeting, team!" Shane says, getting a much-needed laugh from the group as the three of them leave Rory's office
"Rory? Are you okay?" Kate asks once the guys leave the office
"Yeah. I'm okay. Thanks Kate" Rory give Kate a small smile as she leaves her office, and brings the fresh cup of coffee to her mouth.
Well that could have gone worse. Rory thought to herself as she sat down at her desk and started emailing their lawyer when her phone started vibrating on her desk.
"Rory! My long lost daughter!" Rory hears as she puts the phone to her ear
"Hi mom. I need some serious advice…"
Sorry for the lack of Rogan, but there will be plenty in the next chapter! Let me know what you guys think, and don't forget to favorite/follow/review :)