A/N: Thanks for the latest reviews, folks. Always happy and grateful to see your thoughts :)
(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)
Chapter 4
"Hey, Ace? You doing okay in there?"
Logan tapped on the bathroom door and Rory immediately opened it, knowing he wasn't going to quit until she did.
"What I'm doing is the best that I can," she complained, reaching around to her back to fight some more with her dress. "Stupid zipper!"
"Come on, turn around," Logan advised, gently moving her hands away so he could fix the zipper for her.
At least, that was what Rory thought he was going to do. When the zipper finally shifted, travelling decidedly downwards instead of up, and his lips landed on her neck, Rory bristled and moved away.
"Logan, stop," she complained sharply. "We're late already. If you're going to help, then help, but we do not have time for screwing around."
She didn't mean it quite as harshly as it probably sounded, but it didn't matter. Logan looked wounded as she turned to glance at him, and immediately, Rory felt bad.
"I'm sorry. It's just... I really, really do not feel like going to a party tonight," she admitted, pushing her hair back over her shoulder. "I know we have to go, I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't, it's just I have a headache and I could do without it. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take it out on you."
"Hey, it's okay," Logan assured her, turning her around again and actually zipping the dress up this time, before smoothing his hands over her shoulders and down her arms. "I'm sorry that you don't feel great and that we have to put in an appearance at this publishing party, but I promise, we won't stay long, and when we get home, I will do whatever it takes to help you relax and feel better," he promised. "Sound good?" he asked with a winning smile, the moment she turned to look at him.
"It doesn't sound bad," she admitted, "thank you."
"No problem," he replied, leaning in to briefly kiss her lips. "You look stunning, by the way."
"Well, you clean up pretty nicely yourself," she told him easily, since it was always true. "So, let's just go, get this over with."
He took a hold of her hand, lifted it to kiss the back, and then led the way out of the apartment. Rory went slightly less than willingly, already looking forward to the part when they would be returning home, the whole event behind them.
"You know you don't have to come to this thing if you don't want to," Jess told Francie for what had to be the fifth time. "It's probably going to be boring."
"And give up the chance of networking, free wine and cheese, and the opportunity to make every woman there jealous with my stunning dress and amazingly handsome boyfriend? Um, that would be a no," she told him smartly. "I want to go to this party, Jess. I delayed a business trip for this party, so we're going."
Sometimes, it was just easier not to fight with her. Most of the time, actually. Not just because she paid the larger part of the rent on their place or because he stood a better chance of getting laid if she got her own way. Jess really wasn't a fan of confrontation at all. Mostly, he preferred to walk away from it. With Francie, he found the simplest thing was to give in to her, at least on the more minor stuff.
Thankfully, the event wasn't too far away, an easy walk, if not for Francie's insistence on wearing shoes that were not at all conducive. Since she was paying for cab, Jess let it be, and soon they were standing in amongst a lot of other people in cocktail dresses and monkey suits, most of which were probably about as thrilled to be at the event as he was, which was to say, not at all.
"Oh my God, do you see who that is over there?" Francie gasped, gesturing frantically towards the opposite corner of the room. "That's Logan Huntzberger. He's the heir to the whole of Huntzberger Inc. That family have their fingers in so many pies!"
"Huntzberger?" Jess echoed, frowning hard. "As in Huntzberger Book Superstore?"
He barely got the whole question out, before Francie was literally dragging him by the hand, presumably to meet the asshole owner of the company that could very well put Jess and his friends out of business before year's end.
"Excuse me, Mr Huntzberger? Hi, I'm Francie Jarvis..."
Jess hung back the moment she let go of his hand to shake with the other guy instead. He had no desire to meet this jerk, not least because he might say something he shouldn't, or do something worse, like put his fist in his face. That just wasn't going to help anybody, not in the long-term anyway.
Focusing on the nearby buffet table instead, he reached for a crab puff at the same time as somebody else, his hand landing on top of hers and startling them both.
"Sorry," she said at the same time he did, their gazes locking the second they each looked up.
"Jess?"
"Huh."
Of course, he recognised her. Those blue eyes and that sweet smile had been burned onto his brain for almost a week now, ever since she came into Truncheon and bought a copy of his book. Jess never thought he would see Rory again, in a place the size of New York and everything. Sure, she said she might come back to the store someday, but like he told her at the time, he had no idea how long the place could actually survive once the big-league competition arrived. Now, here she was, smiling at him across a plate of crab puffs. Sometimes, the universe was just funny that way.
"Wow, this is just... I never even thought about you being here," she said, shaking her head even as she grinned at him. "I mean, of course, it makes sense that you would be. You guys publish books as well as selling them, and write them, in your case."
"I only wrote one so far," he reminded her, "but yes, we publish. Uh, how did you end up at this...?"
It was as far as he got with the question, when suddenly some guy appeared, putting his arm very firmly around Rory's shoulders. It took Jess a second to realise he had seen him before, very recently, and that Francie was suddenly there too. The blond dick was smiling too much as he made introductions between Rory and Jess' own girlfriend.
"Francie here is in distribution. She has some really amazing ideas, you two should really talk."
"Oh, okay." Rory nodded awkwardly, looking sideways at Jess. "Um, Logan, this is..."
"This is my guy, Jess Mariano," Francie introduced instead, her hands on both his shoulders as she leaned too heavily into him. "Published author, owner of a small press, and a book store too. I mean, nothing like the empire your family has, obviously, but I couldn't be prouder of him."
Jess' shrugged her off and bit his lip hard so as not to say something harmful to anyone's future career. He cared about Francie enough not to screw up her business connection with Huntzberger, or anyone else for that matter. Still, he could use her not suddenly making it seem like they were love's young dream just to look good in front of other people. It wasn't something he was at all comfortable with, more so than ever because he would rather Rory hadn't have known he was involved elsewhere. Not that it mattered. The way Logan Huntzberger was all over her, it was pretty damn clear she was very involved. Way involved.
"Well, as you can probably tell, Rory and I are together," Logan explained to Francie, "but let me assure you, that is not why she's one of the high-flyers in Huntzberger Inc. What this woman doesn't know about books is not worth knowing. She was always the perfect fit for the publishing division. You know, she's opening our new Book Superstore right here in town?"
Rory flinched horribly the moment those words were spoken, then made her excuses to walk away. Jess watched her go for a second or two, then could no longer resist the urge to follow. He said nothing to Francie, convinced she wouldn't even notice he left for as long as Huntzberger was in front of her. Jess' own focus was solely Rory Gilmore, who he caught up to just as she slipped out onto the balcony, far away from the bathroom she had professed to need so badly.
"You wanna tell me what just happened?" he asked, as he stepped out next to her.
She startled at his presence, one hand at her chest as she took a couple of deep breaths.
"I'd say I'm sorry, but seriously, what the hell?" Jess asked her just a little more angrily than before. "You come into my store with these kids that aren't yours, supposedly a brother and sister you're taking care of, you make a big deal about my book, flirt like a pro, and all the time you're what? Sizing the place up for a takeover? Figuring out how fast you can shut us down?"
"No, I didn't... I would never..." Rory shook her head, clearly struggling to find the right words. "I came into your book store because it looked like a great place and because the kids wanted to. They really are my half-sister and half-brother, I didn't tell you any lies!" she said crossly.
"But you conveniently forgot to mention that you're the one opening the discount book store right around the corner?"
Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times, but she clearly didn't have an answer for that. It should've made Jess feel triumphant somehow, but it didn't. He felt as sick on hearing his own question as she looked when she couldn't answer it. He may actually have felt even worse for seeing the pain in her eyes from his accusations, even if they were true.
"You know, just because I work for a big company, doesn't mean I don't appreciate the little stores. I do. I don't want to put you out of business, Jess, I really don't."
He probably should have had a smart answer to that, but he didn't. Maybe it was the heat of moment, the shock still coursing through him from seeing her here, finding out she had a boyfriend and that she was the person most likely to take away his livelihood in the next few weeks or months. Maybe it was more the tears building in her eyes and the fact he very nearly believed that she really was telling him the truth right now. It certainly would have been easier to be mad at her if she wasn't.
"Whatever," he said eventually, turning on his heel and walking away before things got any worse.
She told him she had a headache and that she was going home, whether he wanted to or not. Logan hadn't argued, just made sure she had money for a cab and carried on talking with Francie Jarvis. Rory wasn't sure if anything was going to happen with them, be it business or pleasure, and in that moment, she couldn't even care.
All she wanted was to go home, to get away from all the horribleness of the party that she never wanted to go to in the first place. When she arrived back at the apartment, she considered calling her mom, venting about everything that had happened, and getting both sympathy and perspective in return. She changed her mind when she realised how late it was and tried instead just to go to bed and sleep it off.
By two a.m., Rory was more frustrated than ever. She couldn't sleep. She tried to read and to watch TV, but just couldn't settle to anything at all. She vaguely wondered why Logan hadn't come home yet, then realised that was a topic best left well alone. Reaching for her laptop, she suddenly had a new plan in mind.
There was always one person she could take her troubles to at any time of the day or night, and he wouldn't mind at all. He may not respond immediately, but Rory knew that if she poured out everything she was thinking and feeling into an email, she would probably sleep better when it was done. Then, sometime later, she might just have a sympathetic and/or constructive response too, thanks to NYC360.
Settling down against the pillows, Rory was set to type it all out of her system. She got a real surprise when she opened up her CoffeeGirl84 inbox and found she already had an email waiting for her.
You ever get yourself into one of those situations where someone makes you so mad and you really want to go crazy at them, but you just don't seem to have it in you to be as mean as you want? I'm a New Yorker, I can hold my own in a fight (I'm actually talking about a verbal confrontation right now, FYI) but sometimes, you're just so overwhelmed, nothing smart comes to mind, until ten minutes after you walk away, when suddenly you know exactly what you should've said. I hate that. I hate that this person has made me feel this way, and I know the whole thing is not even worth it, and that none of this is even going to make sense to you, but I had to tell somebody. Had to get it off my chest, you know? Really hope you don't mind.
Rory sighed, hit reply, and immediately started a response.
I don't mind at all. Honestly, you can vent to me any time, my friend, just so long as you don't mind returning the favour. I swear, I couldn't feel any worse than I do right now, and the worst part is, it's all my own fault. Just the other day, I did a stupid thing, completely the wrong thing. I knew I was doing it and I did it anyway, and now, it's come back to bite me in the butt, because don't these things always do that? I'm lashing out at all the wrong people and digging myself a hole that it's probably going to end up being impossible to get out of. How stupid is that?
With her hands hovering over the keyboard, Rory paused and thought for a moment. She couldn't give him details, she didn't really want to. It was enough to confess her sins in a vague way and know that, somehow, he would understand, just like always. He would give her the same comfort that she had given to him when he felt bad about acting foolish in his own way. It was just what they did for each other. They were just always there.
Okay, subject change, because I don't want either one of us coming out of this feeling worse than we do already. How goes the great Austen re-read? Given how fast you tear through books, I'm going to guess you're done by now, or close to it anyway. Do you still have great disdain for Fanny? Did you fall in love with Elizabeth all over again? Did Katherine come off any more sympathetic this time around?
I'm sure you'll be happy to know that, even though I only read one Hemingway when our little challenge was set, before wandering off back into some old favourites, plus a couple of new things I couldn't resist, I have since got my hands on The Garden of Eden, and do you know what? It is not half bad. I'd say you're a bad influence on my reading habits, but how can I possibly believe that when you're opening my eyes to great new things, or even just old things that are new to me?
Well, at least I'm ending this email on a happier note than it started, and hopefully, being praised for your literary taste, as well as knowing you're not alone in feeling bad tonight, will actually make you feel better too. It's certainly helped me to get some stuff off my chest and just ramble about books for a while.
How weird is it that my greatest comfort right now is writing to a guy I never met? I'll leave you to ponder on that one for a while and I'll probably do the same, at least for as long as I can stand to stay awake at three in the morning!
With that, Rory signed off her email and hit send, not even daring to read through and risk any editing. She was beyond tired at this point, and in any case, she knew NYC360 would forgive her any minor errors or stupid things she may have said. He always understood, that was kind of the point.
To Be Continued...