DISCLAIMER:
I own NOTHING!
I love reviews if you would like to leave me one. :-)
I started writing this story about a month ago, and just randomly decided to publish it, so I am currently re-reading everything that I have thus far, making edits and changes, and publishing each chapter as I go. I have quite a bit written so far, but I am also dealing with some writers block, so hopefully by re-reading and editing everything, I'll figure out where to go with this and get it finished. If anyone has any ideas of something they would like to see happen, please feel free to let me know.
8pm
Columbia Presbyterian Hospital
New York City, New York
"What kind of favor?" Rory asked as she sat down on the couch in Logan's office, next to where Logan had just collapsed in exhaustion.
"It's a really big one. And I know you, your first instinct is going to be to say no, absolutely not. But I need you to really hear me out on this one. It's important, and I think it is a great opportunity for both of us."
"Ok, you've piqued my interest . . ."
"I need you to take an extended leave of absence from work, and take over HPG."
"What!?"
"I know this isn't what you wanted. You hate HPG, and want nothing to do with them, I know. And I normally would never ask this of you, in a million years. But you're YOU, Rory. I need someone to take over for my Dad, and I have zero interest or desire to do it. Plus, the hospital needs me, and I can't take myself away from here for that long. I need someone at HPG that I can trust to run things while my Dad is recovering, and I don't trust anyone there to do a good job, and not shove a knife in my back. It wouldn't be forever, and I'll be right there to help you. Any time I'm not here at the hospital, I'll be right there in the office with you. And I'll be there for every board meeting. I won't let anyone hurt you. I just really need you to take over for my Dad. It is such a great opportunity for you. You know how prestigious HPG is. I know you have an amazing job at the times, that you love, and you've worked your ass off for. And I would never ask you to give that up. But you've been taking time off for your injury anyway. Just think of this as more time off, with much better pay. And then when my Dad is able to come back, you'll still have the times to go back to. Or, if you decide that you actually do like HPG, you can have any position you want with the company. I'm sure I can wrangle it so that you are the one taking over for Dad when he eventually retires, like I was originally supposed to before I walked away. I know that you like to earn things, and you don't like anything handed to you. But this is literally the offer of a lifetime, and I really think that you should take it. If anything, running HPG will look amazing on your resume, and you can literally go walk into any newspaper, anywhere in the world when you are done, and be begged to run the place. I really think that this is good idea. I would never ask you to join the family company unless it's what you really wanted, but this is your chance to stick it to my entire family. Every single one of them who has never thought that you weren't 'good enough'. This is your chance to step in as their boss, and show them all who you really are."
"I don't know Logan . . . That is a lot to taken on."
"I know it is. But I will be right there with you. I'm going to put in for a couple weeks of emergency family leave right now. We need to jump on this immediately, before the board finds out that Dad had a heart attack, and has the chance to start planning his removal. Please, will you do this for me?"
"You'll really be there with me? You hate that place!"
"I know. Trust me, I want nothing to do with HPG just as much as you don't. But in all honesty, this is our chance to secure our future. Dad still has it in his head that someday I'll grow up, and get over this whole doctor thing, and go running right back to the family business. There isn't a chance in hell of that happening. But if you want to, when Dad retires, you can take over! This is the perfect chance for you to jump in and show everybody what you are made of. You are the perfect person to take over the company if you want to. Dad wants the company to stay in the family, and you taking over does that."
"What kind of salary are we talking?"
"I'll get you at least half of what Dad makes, right now."
"Logan, don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not. I'm deadly serious. The board will eat that up. Dad's replacement will only cost them half of his enormous salary. It's more than double what you make right now."
"Logan, I don't need that much money. I'm happy to stick with what I've already got."
"Trust me, taking over for Dad, you deserve that much money."
"What about benefits? I think I'll loose mine taking extended leave.
"You'll have benefits immediately. Plus, I can see about adding you to my policy thru the hospital. You might have to officially move in with me to do that, but it's definitely doable.
"You promise you aren't just throwing me to the wolves?"
"I would never do that! I honestly think this is a good idea, and an amazing career move."
"I guess, as long as you are there to fall back on, I can try to take over for your Dad."
"Please don't joke with me. I haven't even had to beg you yet."
"Logan . . ."
"Rory, I'm serious."
"So am I. If you are there to help me then I guess I can give it a shot."
"You are amazing Rory! Thank you!" Logan said throwing his arms around her, hugging her tight. "You are such a lifesaver! This means so much to me!"
"You are the ONLY person that I would ever do this for."
"I know." Logan said as he released her from his arms, and gave her a quick kiss, then moved to his desk and powered on his computer. "Do you happen to know of anyone who wants to be your assistant? Because I can pretty much guarantee that you are going to need one. And I would much rather have you pick someone that you like, and is loyal to you, than some ass kisser at HPG that has misplaced loyalty, and I'll have to worry about stabbing you in the back."
"Too bad I can't take Paris with me."
"Now that would be entertaining! But that is actually great thinking. I wonder if I can persuade Doyle. I'm sure a nice hefty salary will reel him in like a dog to bacon."
"That actually isn't a bad idea. Doyle knows the business just as well, if not better than I do."
"Get him on the phone. We need to move fast. I'm going to reschedule your doctors appointment for tomorrow morning, then we can go storm HPG and begin the takeover. The sooner we hit them, the better." Logan said as Rory reached for her phone.
"Hey Paris, it's Rory. Can we come over?" Rory asked as soon as Paris answered the phone.
"Of course you can come over, you have a key. Why would you even ask that?" Paris asked.
"I don't know, because I'm a polite person who asks before she just randomly invades somebody else's home? And I know that it's bedtime."
"Well if you hurry up and get here, I'll keep the kids up a little while longer, and you can kiss them goodnight."
"You don't have to do that, Paris, but thank you. I would actually really love that. We'll be there as soon as we can." Rory told her, then disconnected the call. "Let's go!"
"I said get Doyle on the phone, not let's go get interrogated by Paris." Logan whined.
"I know you did, but Logan, this is a really big decision, and no one should be randomly jumping into it. I think it's better if we all sit down and discuss things together. Doyle leaving the Wallstreet Journal is a joint decision that needs to be discussed with both him and Paris, and shouldn't be a conversation we have over the phone. It's not right. This decision directly effects not just Doyle, but Paris and the kids too. This is their future that we are messing with. Would you appreciate it if someone made a phone call to one of us, completely disrupting our life, throwing everything into chaos without sitting down to discuss everything first? Would you really be ok with that?"
"Dang it Ace, sometimes I really hate when you are right."
"So get up, let's go. We've gotta go tuck the kids into bed."
"How about we tuck me into bed too? I've been up since 5am."
"I'm sure Paris has coffee." Rory said holding her hand out to pull Logan up off the couch.
30 Minutes Later
Gellar-McMaster Residence
Manhattan, New York
"Auntie Rory!" Paris and Doyle's twins squealed when Doyle opened the door to see Logan and Rory standing outside.
"Hey Munchkins! I've missed you!" Rory said hugging the kids.
"Catherine, Bradley, it's time for bed." Paris said walking into the room to greet her friends.
"Auntie Rory, Unca Ogan, will you read us a story?" Catherine asked.
"I would love to! Uncle Logan needs to talk to Mommy and daddy, but I will definitely tuck you in and read you a story tonight. Let's go upstairs. Kiss Mommy and Daddy goodnight." Rory told them.
"Come give me a hug too." Logan told them, crouching down on the floor next to the twins, and holding his arms out.
"Good night Unca Ogan." Catherine said hugging Logan, then moving to her parents.
"Unca Ogan! I miss you!" Bradley said throwing himself into Logan's arms.
"Hey Buddy! I miss you too! You go right to bed for Auntie Rory, ok? I'll come over and play with you guys soon, alright?"
"Ok." Bradley agreed, then hugged his parents, and took Rory's hand and headed upstairs to bed.
"Ok, spill it. What's going on? Why the sudden need to come over?" Paris asked Logan as they watched Rory head up the stairs with the children.
"We have a business proposition for you guys." Logan said with a sigh.
"And judging by that sigh, it sounds exhausting!"
"I'm just really tired. Can we go sit down?"
"That's a good idea. I'll get you some coffee. You guys get comfortable in the living room." Doyle told them.
"Thank you Doyle. I really appreciate it." Logan said following his friends through their house, to the living room.
Twenty minutes later, Rory sat down on the couch next to Logan in the living room, and Doyle handed her a cup of coffee.
"So everything is going good in the love nest?" Doyle asked. "Rory, how's your hand doing? Paris told me you got in a fight with some scissors."
"Yeah, it was nice and embarrassing." Rory answered.
"But I see the end result was beneficial. You look really happy. Happier than I've seen you in years."
"Thank you Doyle. I am. Things are definitely looking up."
"We are really happy for you guys. You've both been a shell of your normal selves for a really long time. I told Paris years ago that we should have just invited you two over, and locked you in a room together for a few hours until you either killed each other, or finally decided to work things out. But she reused to let me do it."
"You know, that might have been kind of interesting." Logan said raising his eyebrows and looking at Rory.
"I don't know, they would probably have been a lot of yelling depending on when they did it. Things might have gotten ugly."
"The uglier the fight, the better the makeup."
"And that right there is enough to make me vomit." Paris said seeing the gooey looks on her friends' faces. "Can we please get to why you two are here now? Because the gooey looks on your faces are just grossing me out.
"We are just glad that you two are finally happy again." Doyle told them.
"So, why the need to come over tonight?" Paris asked.
"Logan has a business proposition for Doyle, and I told him that we all need to sit down and talk about it, because it directly effects you and the kids." Rory told them.
"Well Thank you for being so considerate."
"What's going on?" Doyle asked.
"You both know my history with my parents, and the family business." Logan started. "Well, my Dad just had a heart attack. He's in surgery right now."
"What hospital is he at?" Paris asked. "Are you having him transferred?"
"He's at Columbia with Doctor Levan. He actually had the heart attack there."
"Mitchum and Shira were in the city for a charity event, and Shira tripped down a flight of stairs spraining her ankle. Logan got a call demanding that he meet them at the hospital, and conveniently Mitchum's heart attack hit while we were waiting on x-rays." Rory explained.
"Wow! When the Huntzbergers come to town, lightening strikes!" Paris commented.
"So your dad is in surgery. Is he expected to be ok?" Doyle asked.
"We aren't sure yet. I haven't gotten any updates. I left a note for Doctor Levan to call me as soon as he's got any news. I had Honor take Mom home to her house for the next few days. The tests we ran in the ER showed a large blockage, so it's going to be several hours before we know anything."
"He'll be out of commission for a while. But hopefully with some lifestyle changes, he will be able to recover." Paris told them.
"That's our hope. But since Dad will be in the hospital for a while, that pulls him out of work, and as we all know, that pus the family business in jeopardy." Logan told them.
"Which means that are being forced to step up." Paris commented.
"Kind of . . . Here's the thing though . . . I have zero desire to go back to that life. I've fought way too hard to dig myself out of that hole. You of all people know that, Paris. I've practically killed myself to have a life that I want. There is no way that I want to go back to that hell! But I came up with a plan to give the company what they need without me having to give up everything that I've worked so hard for . . . Dad's entire goal in life is to keep the company in the immediate family, and one day turn the company over to me. But everyone in this house knows that there is no shot in hell of me ever wanting it. But I realized tonight that I know someone who is perfect to take over . . . I asked Rory to step in. Giving her the company keeps it in the family."
"Until you go through a bitter divorce ten years down the road." Paris commented.
"Paris, bite your tongue!" Rory snapped.
"What?! Those things happen. Especially in this day and age."
"Anyway!" Doyle said, interrupting the crazy turn things had just taken. "So Rory agreed to take over HPG?"
"I made her an offer she couldn't refuse." Logan told them. "But if anyone knows what a nightmare that company is, it's me. Rory is going to need a lot of help, and I refuse to throw her to the wolves. She is going to need someone at her side to help her with the daily tasks and operations, so we were thinking that maybe Doyle would be willing to step in as Rory's personal assistant."
"What does that mean?" Paris asked.
"It means that Doyle would be leaving the job he has now, and moving into the HPG offices to work with Rory. Rory would only be taking over for my dad until he eventually recovers enough to go back to work, which will probably be several months. But because it's HPG, we have the option of putting you in a position at any paper in the country. You could have an editor position if that is what you want when Dad steps back in. And because Dad is out right now, it makes me next in line, and gives me the power to hire you on at any salary necessary. I need someone I can trust to be loyal to Rory, and to myself. I don't need to deal with some backstabbing gold digger with loyalty to the vipers in my extended family who is going to fight us over every little thing we try to do. Rory and Doyle already know the business, and have the experience necessary to move the company forward without disruption. So I guess what I'm saying is that I need you to name you price. Tell me what it is going to take for Doyle to bail on the Wallstreet Journal tonight, and start at HPG with Rory tomorrow morning."