After lunch, Rory responded to Stewart's text that she could meet him that night. Two hours later, he text her back that his work schedule changed and he would need to go to the hospital after all. He would be there for 72 hours, so the soonest they would be able to meet was Monday evening. Rory had the evening all to herself. She called a girlfriend from work who she joined for drinks and dinner. The weekend was shaping up to be pretty low-key.
On Saturday morning, Logan walked timidly into the Lorelei Gilmore Astronomy Building at Yale University. Mark and his team HAD landed the contract. The installation had to be done at lightning speed. While the install was happening, they discovered a crucial box that was forgotten in New York and they had to have it. Mark took advantage of Logan's previously promised 'Call me if you need anything.' Logan scooped up the needed box and zipped down to Yale. He hoped to slip in and out of the building undetected, much like he intended to do the following weekend. Once he found the planetarium, he delivered the requested box and headed down the hall to get the heck out of dodge. Then he heard a familiar voice - he glanced into an open door and saw Rory on a stage practicing what looked like her speech for the following weekend in the auditorium. She was amplified because she used the microphone so her voice went through him. The lighting had been set to mimic how it would look on the night of the event, so he could see her but she couldn't see him. He stood at the door and listened for a while. He felt a little creepy just watching and listening, especially since she was unaware of his presence.
Rory's appearance had not changed since the last time he saw her. She was just as beautiful, but her features were maybe a little more defined. Her long hair was tied back in a ponytail. She wore a dark gray V-neck t-shirt, jeans and red low-top converse. She had little to no makeup and maybe lip gloss. Rory looked exactly like he remembered. As much as he wanted to leave, he couldn't. He wanted so badly to talk to her, just to say hello - to be in her orbit for a little while. So he stood rooted to the spot for a while longer and watched.
A couple minutes later, she became obviously frustrated with her speech and scrubbed her face with her hands. She grabbed her bag on the floor next to the podium and immediately headed for the door. She walked directly up the aisle where Logan stood. He needed to make a split-second decision - stay or go? Talk to her or not?
"Logan?" Rory asked as she got to the doorway and saw him standing there.
"Hey, Ace," he said with his famous smirk.
Rory gave him a huge smile, "Its so good to see you!" She stepped right up to him and gave him a hug. Logan hugged her right back and temporarily got lost in the smell of her hair.
"Its great to see you too," he said after giving her a friendly kiss on her cheek.
"What on Earth are you doing HERE?" she asked.
"Its a long story, but I'm involved with a company that is installing new projection equipment for the planetarium," he said sheepishly. "I'm not stalking you or anything. I thought the building would be empty and then I heard your speech so I wanted to say hello."
"Oh, man. You heard my terrible speech? It needs work!" she said in her usual self-deprecating way.
"Your speech is fine. I liked the joke about deGrasse Tyson," he replied.
"Thanks, still it needs polishing," Rory said with a shy smile. "So how are you? I've heard good things."
Logan nodded, "I'm good. I'm back in the city, I'm happy, doing my own thing."
"That's terrific. You deserve it," she said fidgeting as though she didn't know what to do with her hands.
"I'm sure you have plans, but do you maybe have time to get coffee?" Logan asked her.
"So... I'm super hungry. Would you have time for lunch instead? Its okay if you don't. I just haven't eaten since yesterday - and I've been looking forward to..."
"Rich Man Shoe?" he asked.
"How did you know?" she asked with a grin.
"Because we only had about two thousand burgers from there. I would have been shocked if you were on campus and didn't drop in." Logan smirked at her.
"You really have time? I don't want to ruin your whole day," she said apologetically.
"No, I literally have nothing planned for today. I would love to have lunch with you," Logan said honestly.
She picked up her bag and they walked out of the building in silence.
Finally he broke the silence and asked, "This is crazy, right? I don't know why I'm shocked to run into the person who's name is literally on the building AT that same building, but I am."
Rory gave him a mischievous smile, "You mean the building with the big ass letters?" It was the same thing they joked about for a year before they broke up.
Logan laughed, "Yep, that's the one!" He looked over at her and said, "But I'm so glad to have run into you." He held the door open for her as they walked in and found a booth - the same booth they previously shared with Jess actually.
A server came over and gave them menus and took their drink orders. Once she was gone, Logan noticed that Rory wasn't wearing her engagement ring. Logan finally broke the ice and said, "So, I met your future husband - the doctor at Presbyterian. Nice guy."
Rory gave him a tight smile. "Right, I heard about that. You met someone on the street who needed to go to the hospital?"
Logan nodded, "It was the weirdest day ever. I met this woman on the street - she went into labor. Her husband was in another state on business - they were new in town so she had no one to come to be with her. She was clutching my hand when the ambulance picked her up and the next thing I knew, I was riding over there with her. It was insane. She went into labor early - I learned about Lamaze - but she and the baby were both fine. One her husband arrived and I knew she was okay, I left," he said animatedly.
Rory asked, "And she was a complete stranger?"
Logan nodded emphatically, "Yep! It was so awkward but I just thought about Honor - if she was alone in a new city, I wouldn't want the one person who was nice to her to just up and leave, so I stayed. But now I have their phone numbers. I might text them soon and say hello. I feel like we're connected now."
Rory chuckled, "I guess you were super-glad when her husband arrived?"
He nodded vigorously. "SUPER-glad," he said with a laugh. Then he asked, "So what's it like being engaged?"