What happened last time:
They got back to Palo Alto around 1 Am. Logan and Finn went to Logan's place and the girls went back to Rory's. Rory knew she had to be up in 6 hours so she need to sleep. She heard her phone go off right as she was about to sleep.
-Don't worry Ace. I won't let anyone or anything come between us. Night babe.
-I know. Talk to you later. I have my interviews tomorrow!
Thank you for your reviews! They keep me going!
Rory woke up at 6 AM because she heard Georgia in the bathroom. She decided to go ahead and get up since she had a busy day ahead. She noticed that G had already started coffee so she went to her laptop. She had two emails from the newspapers and they both confirmed their appointments. She added the appointments to her google calendar. It was helpful because it was synced to her phone.
Rory in the office 8 AM
Rory walked up to her desk and saw there were flowers on her desk. She grabbed the card and read:
Sorry for the loss of your grandfather
Your friends at the Palo Alto Daily News
Rory went to Bill's office and checked in with him. She knocked on his door and heard him say 'Come in'
"Bill, how are you?"
"Hayden. Are you ready to go back to work?"
"Yes I am. Thank you for the flowers. They mean so much for me."
"You're welcome. How long will you be in today?"
"That's one thing I wanted to talk to you about."
"Well come in, I'm just editing some pieces."
"I received two emails this weekend. One from the New York Times and one from Chicago Tribune. They both want to meet with me about open positions within their papers. I know we just talked about more work. I am interviewing with them this afternoon. I wanted to talk with you about a higher salary and other options within this paper."
"That's funny that you mention that. I have this ready for you."
He handed her a binder with a promotion and all the details. She was now offered dental and medical benefits, her salary would increase by 30,000 which means she would make $95,000 per year. She would still have her column and could post on that daily if she wanted but on top of that would also be able to write about social events happening around the city. She would have to be in the office 4 days a week unless she was chasing a lead one of those days. She also has 2 weeks of paid time off for whatever she needed, which would help when she had to leave on Thursdays once a month for meetings on the east coast.
She looked it over more and looked up at Bill.
"Bill, this is an amazing offer. I am going to entertain all these offers and I will get back to you."
"You take all the time you need Hayden. I hope you choose to stay with us. Are you staying in this morning or working from home?"
"I'm going to wrap a few things up here then at lunch I'm going to go home. I have friends from the east visiting. My sister is checking out Stanford and has an interview with the dean."
"Well good luck to her. Hopefully she gets in."
"She's already in by early admission, she just wanted to check it out before making her final decision."
"Congratulations then. We are all going out to Charlies friday. If you choose to stay with us, come and I'll buy you a drink.
"I'll let you know sir. Thank you."
Rory went to her desk after her productive meeting and texted Logan:
-Talked to the boss and he had a folder ready with my raise and promotion. I'll let you know about the details of chicago and new york. Talk to you later
Rory put her phone down and did some research for her next column. She was going to write about the good details of the boat and her movie night. She just wanted to make sure she had the right names. Her desk phone rang and she answered it
Hayden here.
Lorelai Leigh Gilmore Hayden how is it that your father knows more about your life than I do?
What do you mean mom?
Ummm...your job offers?
Oh that. I was going to wait to tell you until I figured which one I was going to choose.
Well I think it should be the Times.
Mom, you just say that so I'm closer to home. I'm in the office, I'll call you when I go to lunch. Love you.
Rory was busy working when Jack, one of her coworkers walked up to her.
"Hello Hayden. I'm sorry to hear about your Grandfather. He seems like he's a great man. I googled him after I read your article."
"Thanks Bill. He was. Sorry I was gone all week."
"We've been there. So how are you adjusting?"
"I'm doing good. Just trying to do some research on my next column."
"Well I'd love to take you out to dinner this weekend. Maybe you can write about our dinner there."
"Thank you for the offer but..."
"Rory, look up. look who just walked in." Maureen said running up to her. "He's too cute. Sorry for interrupting Jack.
"I can't look up right now Maureen. Who is it?"
"The youngest Huntzberger."
"Oh." Rory said with a small smile on her face. She could already hear people hustling around.
"Hayden, get back to me on that dinner will ya?" Bill said walking back to his desk.
Rory looked up and Logan was walking in the office.
Bill walked out at the same time and walked up to him. "Good morning Mr. Huntzberger. How I can help you today?"
"Oh I'm just here helping my dad out. He wanted me to check out the office on a whim. Plus I'm friends with one of your writers. So I figured I would say hi at the same time." Logan said to him looking around the room. He saw Rory looking at her computer and walked over to her.
"Hello Miss Hayden." Logan said looking at her name plate.
Rory held up one finger so she could finish the sentence.
"Miss Hayden. Please acknowledge our guest" Bill said flabbergasted that one of his reporters would blow Logan off like that.
"Bill, it's fine. I like when I see our writers doing what they do best."
Rory looked up and smiled at him.
"Hello Mr. Huntzberger. How are you this fine morning? Did you sleep well?"
"I did. Not as long as I wish, my friends kept me out very late but it was worth it."
"Same here. Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Yes. You seem like you know this place well. Bill, can you spare Miss Gilmore here for a while so she can show me around?"
"I can sir. Hayden, is that alright with you?"
"Of course sir."
Rory and Logan walked around and you could tell it took everything for Logan not to kiss her. She showed her some of the reporters and told him what their jobs were. They got onto the elevator and were alone finally.
"Hey Ace." Logan said to Rory and kissed her.
"We have about 4 floors to go until we get to the big dogs desks." Rory said kissing him back.
"So are we together here? Or are you just a little minion."
"How about we stay secret until I figure out if I'm staying or not."
"Works for me."
"Hey I didn't know you dad owned this paper."
"He bought it last month."
"I heard about that. i was supposed to go to the meeting but it didn't happen."
"Yeah Mitchum had to reschedule multiple times then Straub's death. So he sent me. That's one condition of my return is that I visit the papers on the west coast occasionally."
"Gotcha. What are you doing for dinner tonight?"
"Finn. He wants to go out to some Vietnamese restaurant. The waitress is a redhead. What time are you taking lunch though?"
"I think I'm just going to grab something and go home. I have my interviews at 1 and 230 then I'm going to call my dad. I'll let you know how they turn out though."
"If you and the other girls want to come out tonight I don't see a reason why."
"Well I think G is staying at the dorms tonight so it'll just be Lane and me."
"That's fine. I think Finn has a thing for Lane anyway."
"Oh that would be crazy." The elevator opened to Logan's stop and they walked off.
"Well Miss Hayden, thank you for helping me navigate and get to know some writers. I hope to see you later in the week."
"Yes sir, I'll be here Tuesday and Wednesday."
Logan almost kissed her but he turned it into a handshake. Rory could already hear the whispers behind her.
Rory decided to take the stairs up and call Lane.
"Hey Lane. How's the day of relaxation going?"
"Great. I hope you don't mind but I used skype to see the boys."
"Of course. How are they?"
"Good. I don't think they care if I come back. Lorelai let them ride Cletus."
"She spoils them. What do you want for lunch? I'm going go grab something on my way home."
"No I'm cooking for you. I went downstairs and asked Frank where the closest grocery store was and he called the car for me and I picked up groceries for lunch and dinner. You've done so much for me, it's the least I can do for you."
"Aww you're so sweet. Well for dinner we can either go to Vietnamese with the boys or have dinner at home. G is staying at the college."
"I'll cook tomorrow then."
"I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. If you need anything else, take. What's mine is yours."
"Thanks Ro. I'll talk to you soon. When are you leaving?"
"12 or so. It takes 5 minutes to walk."
She made it back to her desk and Bill came up.
"Do you know Mr. Huntzberger?" He pressed.
"His family is friends with my family." She answered.
"His dad bought us last month because the current owners wanted to move to Thailand or something. Apparently he broke off from his family. So I read though. I didn't know they were back together."
"I don't know more than you do." Rory lied.
"He seems to be drawn to you. What days will you be here?"
"I'll be here everyday but Friday. My sister is leaving early Saturday morning so I'm going to spend Friday with my sister and friends."
"Sounds good. I'm going to get you a couple of leads. I know you want more even if you don't stay with us. You can work on those this week."
"Can I send you my newest column tomorrow and maybe get it in Wednesday as well as Friday?"
"Yes ma'am. I'll send those leads via email. Can you have two stories done Thursday as well as your columns?"
"Of course sir."
Rory got those leads via email about 10 minutes later. He gave her a story on the closing of a 150 year old restaurant, a story of a couple that has been married for 90 years tomorrow and Ralph and Vivian were married when they were 14 and 12 respectively which was customary that century.
It was 11 so Rory decided to look up the contact information for the couple, they lived at Twin Oaks Assisted living. She called them and set up an interview for 9 AM tomorrow. She wrote down a list of questions she was going to ask them and when she looked up it was 12:15. She quickly saved her information on her portable USB and left for the day. She made sure she had her press credential and let Bill know she was leaving.
She ran up the street and walked into her lobby. She looked and it was 12:30 and she still had to get her questions ready.
Lane made BLT's for lunch so she hurried and ate those and set herself up in her office. She left her cell phone in the living room and told Lane not to let anyone or anything disturb her while the door was closed.
She looked and was sitting at her desk and used her office phone to call Andrew at the New York times at 12:55.
"Andrew Stephenson speaking."
"Hello Andrew. It's Rory Hayden. How are you?"
"Great! I'm glad you called. Do you want to do this on the phone or via Skype?"
"I can do either."
"Let's do Skype. That way I'm hands free. My name is andystephensonnytd."
Rory opened her skype and called him. When he answered he was an older man, mid 40's, greying hair that was blond at one point.
"Hello Miss Hayden. How are you doing today?"
"I'm great. How are you sir?"
"Wonderful. Please call me Andy. I hope to be your boss soon. Tell me, I see you applied for the fellowship right after graduation. You were one of the final candidates. I also see your writing has improved since college. You worked with Hugo Grey?"
"Yes. He needed someone to go on the campaign trail for Barack Obama. I was there for almost 2 years when I decided that I wanted a home base. I applied at a few papers and heard back from Palo Alto Daily. I've been here since."
"So you have dedication. I see you went to Harvard. Did you ever think about grad school?"
"I considered it but never applied. I wanted to start writing for a daily right away."
"Ambition. I admire that."
"Thank you."
"Did you want to talk about specifics?"
"That's great. I'm ready when you are." Rory got her notebook ready.
"Ever the reporter. I like that already. Well let's start out. I've already scanned all the documents into my computer and I'll email them to you."
Andrew did that and Rory opened them.
"Your starting salary is $97,000 and will increase by 3% every year. You would be a reporter for our City Beats. You would cover strikes, new schools, people, plays etcetera. You would have press credentials. In the beginning, you would have the stories assigned to you but after a trial period, we will let you start finding stories yourself. There is more information listed in the paperwork. Do you have specific questions?"
"Yes. I currently live in California. Is there a moving stipend? Also, are there apartments or condos close to the office available?"
"Yes, we would help you make your transition as smooth as possible. We have a moving company on credit that is located nationally so you would set up moving with them and they bill our office directly. You would be responsible for your housing but we know the realtor companies here so we could set you up with someone in regards to buy or renting. Anything else?"
"Yes. I have a monthly family obligation on different Fridays. Is it going to be difficult to leave for those? Some months they'll be just down in Hartford so I will just need that Friday off but some meetings might be held in different cities so I might need to leave on Thursday for those meetings. Is that going to be an issue?"
"You said it's once a month correct?"
"Correct."
"That won't be an issue. I'd like advance notice of course."
"I will find out when the next meeting is at the current meeting so there will be a few weeks notice."
"That's wonderful. Is there anything else that you can think of?"
"Not right now, I might call or email you with questions throughout the week. "
"When will I hear from you in regards to your answer?"
"You will hear back Friday afternoon. Thank you so much for this offer. It has given me much to consider."
"I look forward to hearing from you."
Rory looked at the clock and realized it was 2:15. She only had 10 minutes to get ready for her next call. She ran into the living room and talked to Lane for a minute and make more coffee.
"Oh my god! The Times is offering me full moving coverage and I'll start out at what I'm making now and get a raise yearly." Rory said to Lane.
"That's awesome." Lane replied. "I made you coffee. I knew that you would need one before your next call."
"Did anyone call?"
"Your mom. I answered and told her that you were talking on the phone. She said to call back after you were done for the day."
"I know she wants me to take the times just because of its location but I don't know. I'm going to see what Chicago says. Thanks for the coffee. I have to call Chicago!"
Rory got to her desk and called Gregory Stone at the Chicago Tribune.
"Gregory Stone."
"Mr. Stone, It's Rory Hayden. How are you today?"
"Miss Hayden. I'm glad you're calling. How is your day?"
"Great."
"Do you want to talk on the phone or online?"
"Let's set up skype. You can call me or I can call you."
"My name is gregginchicago. Give me a few minutes and I'll call you."
Rory waited 5 minutes and called Greg.
"Good afternoon Miss Gilmore. You certainly are beautiful How has your day been? It's almost 3 in California isn't it?"
That comment made Rory feel a little uneasy but she decided to go ahead with the interview. "It's been good and yes sir it is."
"No need for Sir. We are relaxed here. Please call me Gregg."
"Thank you Gregg. How has your day been?"
"Very busy. You know how Mondays are at a paper."
"I have a few articles I'm working on now so I know the feeling."
"So Miss Gilmore. I suppose you want to know what we can offer you that California can't."
"Please call me Rory and I would like to know what the Tribune can offer me."
"Okay Rory. Well we are going to start you off at 90,000 and you will remain at that payscale until you have been here 90 days and then you will receive a 5% biannual raise. We want you to be the lead reporter with our political beat. You really brought the campaign trail to life last year. I couldn't imagine being on the road for so long but I felt like I was traveling with you. We will give you a travel allowance because we want to know what's going on at major rallies. That doesn't only mean presidential. That is also for the state of Illinois. We want to know about the governor's rallies and the major cities in Illinois. You would be required to be on the job or in the office 21 days of the month so that will require the occasional saturday but that includes your travel. So if you have to travel a day to get to a location that's one day that you're required to be in the office. Do you have any questions about specifics?"
"I have a few. I currently live in California. Do you have relocation allotment?"
"Unfortunately we don't have that worked into your contract right now but I believe I can get it there. How much do you have to move?"
"I have a 3 bedroom penthouse but it's not terribly full. It would require a truck to move."
"That can work. I'll add that addendum. Do you have a home fax?"
"I do. The number is 515-222-2222. Let me switch it on."
"The information that you need is there. Any other questions?"
"Yes. I have to have one Friday a month off and occasionally Thursdays due to family obligations. How possible is that?"
"I'm not sure. They're pretty strict on the 21 days of work. What is the obligation?"
"I'm not at liberty to say yet."
"I'll note that in your file."
"Thank you for all this information Gregg. I'll inform you of my decision on Friday."
"I look forward to hearing from you Miss Hayden. Thank you for calling today."
Rory went back to her living room and noticed it was only 3. Lane must have stepped out because she was nowhere to be found. That call didn't last as long as the call with the New York Times. She started her Pro Con list for the three job prospects.
Chicago Tribune:
Pro-New adventures in Chicago
Con-Political-blech!
Pro-High Salary and benefits
Con-They can't work with the Hayden schedule.
Pro-They said they would add the travel
Con-It's not in the contract yet and Dad said never to believe anything that's not in print
She thought in her head the the Tribune was out of her pool. It didn't feel right when she was talking to him anyways.
She was going to start her list for The Times when her phone rang. It was Logan.
"Hey Ace. How did the interviews go?"
"They went good. I think I've already decided against the Tribune. So it's between PADN and NYT."
"Well Ace, I say you put your Pro Con list down and come out to dinner. We already picked Lane up for coffee. I was just giving you more time for your interviews."
"Perfect. I'll be ready in 20 minutes. Are you coming here?"
"I'm already here. Let me in!"
Rory put the phone down and saw Lane, Logan, and Finn outside with dinner.
"We figured you'd want a relaxing night." Logan said to Rory after kissing her. "I didn't know what you'd want so we just got one of everything."
"Two of some of my favorites." Finn said. "The redhead was off so we didn't see the need to stay."
"Great idea. I have to call my dad though. I told him I'd call him when I got done with the interviews." Rory said to the group.
"Call him." Logan said. "We'll set up in here and wait. Just a warning, I'm starving so we might start without you."
"That's fine. I think I'm going to grab some and eat in my office. I hope you don't mind. I won't be there all night. I just want to tell my dad everything and start on my column. I told Bill I'd have something ready tomorrow and I have an interview first thing in the morning."
"Why don't you grab your laptop after you call your dad and work on the column out here?"
"That'll work. I'll be out soon."
"I'll be here." Logan kissed her again.
Rory sat down at her computer and called her dad.
"Hey dad."
"Hey kiddo. I wondered when you would call."
"I'm nervous dad."
"Well let's start. Did you talk to your boss?"
Rory went through her three offers. She didn't add her thoughts into that, she wanted her dad to be completely objective.
"Well did you boss say anything about an annual raise?"
"No but I can talk to him about that. He said to keep him in the loop. He doesn't want to lose me. I actually have a couple of extra assignments I'm working on now."
"That's great. I think we can automatically cut out Chicago. They don't seem to work with you on much."
"That's what I though. Plus he was...well different."
"What do you mean?"
"When I first got on skype, he called me beautiful. I thought it was really unprofessional."
"It is. So it's between New York and California?"
"Yes. Hey dad? Mom's not with you right? I don't want her to know my decision until it's official."
"No I'm at the office. She's at home."
"Thanks. I don't want to keep her out of the loop but this is more your thing than hers."
"Of course. I'll respect your decision."
"So what do you think?"
"Well I think they both are basically offering the same thing, just in different areas."
"I know. I also think that California isn't going to tie me down to one area. I still have my column plus he's given me a few different things to write on."
"I think you have your decision but it's going to be up to you totally."
"Thanks dad. I'll let you know when it's final."
"Love you kid. You're amazing. Regardless of where you write you're going to be excellent."
They hung up after a few minutes of chitchat and Rory got her laptop and brought it to the living room.
"Hey Ace! I wondered when you were coming out. We started the first Hangover movie. I'm afraid Finn's getting ideas." Logan said laughing.
She saw Finn on the phone in the corner of her eye. "Colin, it's Finn. I'm here with Logan, Rory, and Lane. I've officially decided. Whichever one of us gets married first is going to have a bachelor party in Las Vegas."
"Oh ya? Let's see what the girls think of that when the time comes."
Rory sat down and started on her column. Hopefully it would be in Wednesday's paper.
Good evening California! I'm writing to you from the comfort of my couch! I'm finally home. I know it's only been a week but going back to Stars Hollow makes me realize that, even though I grew up there, I also grew up in Palo Alto. So much of my life has changed in a week and I've barely had time to catch up. I can't wait until you hear the news. You are going to see a bi-line with my name soon! Keep an eye out! I'm not going to tell you what I'm writing so you'll have to read it all to see! My friends and I are watching movies so now I want to know, when you sit down on the couch and watch a movie, what is your go-to-movie and snack? My go-to-movie definitely depends on my mood. When I am in a great mood I watch a funny movie. Currently I'm in a great mood so we're watching The Hangover. We have Vietnamese and redvines. I know it's a weird combination but it's really genius if you think about it. Salty and sweet mixed into one. I'm looking forward for you to reading my next articles! I'm signing off for now! See you in a few days!
Rory checked the article over a few times and made some adjustments and emailed it to Bill. She finally could focus her attention to the movie.
It was almost over by the time she was finished work and she realized it was almost 8 and she hadn't called G.
"Has anyone talked to Georgia yet?" Rory asked.
"I did about 2 hours ago." Lane answered. "She was about to eat dinner on campus. She was staying with a pre law student, Mary I think she said. She's going to stop in tomorrow to get a couple more outfits but I think she said she's going to stay for a couple of days. She really likes it there."
"That's good. I'll just leave her alone then. She can call me if she needs anything."
Rory cuddled up with Logan on the oversized chair and they were both getting sleepy. Finn was already asleep on the couch next to Lane.
She shook Logan slightly and told him to come to her bedroom so they could sleep.
When he walked to her room, Rory grabbed a couple of blankets and covered Finn and Lane up. She walked in a Logan was already asleep. She woke him up when she got into bed.
"Sorry I didn't mean to wake up."
"You're fine. I wanted to tell you a story anyway."
"Shoot."
"So I went back upstairs, I forgot for a minute you were leaving at lunch, and went to your desk."
"Oh ya?"
"Yeah, Bill caught me." Rory started laughing. "He asked if I needed anything. I just said that I wanted to see if you were there and to thank you for showing me around."
"That's funny."
"I think he suspects something."
"Well I have something to tell you. I think I'm leaning towards staying here. I love working here and I love that Palo Alto is far enough away from my family but it's close enough that I can see them, plus I feel at home here."
"Good. I'm glad that you feel at home. I just have one question. Was I on that list?"
"You were in my mind but I also knew that we would last even if I transferred to New York. Chicago was off the board before I finished the interview. He was creepy plus wouldn't budge on how many days I had to work a month."
"What do you mean creepy?"
"Before I answer that question, do you own that paper? Is he going to be fired?"
"No and no. I just wondered." Logan said chuckling.
"He called me beautiful."
"Well he's right there."
Rory looked up at Logan and smiled. They started kissing. The kissing got more and more intense.
Logan looked at her. "Rory if you want to stop we can."
"No. I want to do this."
"Are you sure? I don't want to do anything you don't."
"I'm sure."
"Okay. If you want to stop, let me know."
They kept going. An hour later they were breathless lying next to each other, breathing in sync.
"I think I'm officially in love with you Lorelai Hayden." Logan said with a breath in between each word.
"You what?"
"I'm serious. We've only known each other a week but I love you. I don't see anything but you in my future. I don't want to mess this up."
They kissed and fell asleep around midnight.
OK I'm going to do a time jump after this to next Friday (the party). There will be an intro paragraph saying about the week but it's going to start with her flying back home.
Thank you for reading. Please review!