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I hope you are all having a great week!
Things have been really busy on my end. And to add to the insanity, my husband sucked me into watching the MacGyver reboot with him, so we've spent the last week binging all 5 seasons. It is totally NOT my thing, but it was actually REALLY good! I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good writing and story lines. Plus, for everyone who watches The Resident, you will definitely recognize a few people. My guess is that there are only a handful of actors available for small roles around Atlanta. You should definitely check it out if you've got the time. Personally, I am team Riley. She's my favorite! :-)
Thank you everyone who has posted a review for me to read! I absolutely LOVE reading them! Thank you so much! You guys really keep me going. I really look forward to reading every single one of them. It really means a lot. Plus, the more reviews I get, the more I am inclined to post new chapters sooner. I have several finished right now, so we'll see what happens. ;-)
"Huntzbergers! It is so good to see you guys." Carlos, the head of security said as Rory and Logan headed through the HPG lobby toward him, after finishing Rory's checkup. "Welcome back!"
"Hey Carlos! We were just coming to see you. How are you?" Rory asked.
"I am doing well, how about you? You look incredible! I was just told that you were in the building, and wanted to check in with you guys, and see how everything is going."
"Everything is going great." Logan told him.
"I haven't heard about any disturbances in your neighborhood. I take it everything is staying pretty quiet?"
"It is, but we should probably discuss that. We were just talking about publishing the baby announcement, and things could get insane pretty quickly."
"Would you like to step into my office to talk about it, or would you like me to come to yours?"
"Your office is fine. We are already down here." Rory told him.
"Let's go then." Carlos said, holding his arm out, for Rory and Logan to head toward his office on the first floor of the building.
"What is with all the extra people in the building today?"
"There are interviews going on for some open positions. I believe they are in circulation, mail room, and a writing position for one of the papers housed in the building."
"Logan, did you know about those?" Rory asked.
"I'm not sure. Maybe? Doyle probably does. I've been told about a lot of things lately, and I'm a little sleep deprived, so maybe? Probably?"
"I don't remember either. But no one was expecting us to come in today either, unless you told Doyle or my Grandpa."
"I actually didn't get the chance to tell anyone. Right after you decided to come in today, you asked me to make lunch while you got ready, and keep an eye on Ayribella, so I was a little preoccupied."
"Doyle may know that you are here. I'm not sure if he got a phone call when you arrived. Someone usually lets him know when you drive onto the property, but you've been out for a while, so they may have not remembered to do it." Carlos told them.
"It's not a big deal. You guys don't need to alert Doyle, or anyone when Logan and I are on the property. It's not like anyone actually needs to know where we are." Rory spoke up.
"I like to be alerted when you are here, that way I not only know what is going on, but also, if there is any impending threat to your safety, I know that extra protocols need to be adhered to."
"What kind of threats to our safety? Are there really threats made against us?"
"I haven't had any brought to my attention against you, since you've taken over, but Mitchum had several made against him."
"Half of them were probably from me." Logan chuckled.
"Actually, a few of them did have your name attached to them." Carlos told him.
"How did you even hear about those?"
"I have eyes and ears everywhere."
"Did my Dad have me followed?"
"Every so often, yes, you were. But only when things got chaotic and your safety was of concern. I only had you followed twice, but I know that the guy who was in charge of security before I stepped in, had an large contingency plan in place for your entire family, in case things went south."
"You mean, in case my Dad pissed off the wrong person."
"Pretty much."
"Who did Mitchum piss off?" Rory asked.
"Mitchum had a lot of enemies." Carlos answered.
"I know that there is a mafia boss that hates him. Because of an article that Dad approved for publication, naming some of the guy's family members, there was a hit put out on both my Dad and the person who wrote the article." Logan told them.
"I remember hearing about that. How was that finally resolved?"
"My Dad probably paid the guy a ton of money or something. I have no idea. You know how clueless my Dad can be sometimes."
"I am still learning all the ins and outs of newspaper publishing, but even I know that there are certain last names that you NEVER publish anything about, or even mention the names at all, without their approval. All it takes is a phone call, to get their permission."
"If they like you, all it takes is a phone call. They didn't like my Dad." Logan told her. "I dated a girl from one of those families a couple of times."
"When was that?"
"Right before I met you, actually. She went to Yale."
"Was it Willamena?"
"How do you know Willamena?"
"I had a class with her during my junior year. I had no idea that you dated her."
"I dated a lot of girls at that school."
"Oh I know you did. She just never said anything to me about it. And she knew that we were together."
"Probably because it wasn't a big deal. I think we only went out twice. And Willamena also doesn't gossip."
"I can't believe that I didn't know about you and Willamena."
"Because it's just that big of a deal."
"Wait a second, are you guys talking about Willamena Genovese?" Carlos asked as the group entered the security office.
"You know Willamena?" Logan responded; shock evident in his voice.
"I've met her a few times. It took me a minute to put it together, but I knew that name sounded familiar. There are only so many women named Willamena, and only one related to the five families."
"Have you met her Father?"
"Oh, I've definitely met him. And her Grandfather. I can't believe that you dated Willamena either. She is definitely not your type."
"Right?! Aside from me, Logan's type has always been bimbo." Rory agreed.
"Hey now!" Logan protested.
"I'm with you there. We've all questioned how Logan got so lucky with you, because you aren't at all what anyone expects when they hear the name Logan Huntzberger." Carlos commented.
"For real! You expect someone like his mother. Bottled blonde, brainless trophy wife, with a boob job, right?" Rory asked.
"That is actually exactly who everyone expects. With a ton of Botox and plastic surgery."
"And that is pretty much everyone he dated before me."
"No one expects Logan's wife to be smarter than he is."
"Or more down to earth."
"Are you sure that you married the right person?" Carlos joked.
"Some days I really wonder."
"Would the two of you like to be alone with your hilarious jokes?" Logan asked, starting to get annoyed with being picked on.
"Rory just isn't who anyone expects you to be with. We love her to death. She's the perfect person for you. But she's just not your type. Rory is too good for you."
"Tell me something that I don't know."
"Rory, what were you thinking, hooking up with this clown?!" Carlos joked.
"Other than the fact that he's completely gorgeous?"
"I'll definitely give you that one. He's not a bad looking guy."
"And he makes really pretty babies." Rory beamed as looked to her husband who sat next to her, with Ayribella in the stroller to his right.
"You guys are cute together." Carlos told them, smiling as Logan put an arm around his wife, and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Alright, so you've been talking about publishing your baby announcement?"
"It's been almost a month, so we should probably just do it." Logan told him.
"How much information were you planning to give out?"
"I honestly haven't thought that far ahead yet."
"Well you two never cease to impress me with the stuff that you come up with. Your adventure leaving the hospital was pretty genius."
"That definitely took some skill. Rory's best friend literally stood right in front of the paparazzi, with Ayribella in her covered seat, and they had no idea."
"How have you managed other outings thus far?"
"For Ayribella's first check up, we had our housekeeper walk her into the hospital, and meet us upstairs. We dropped her off in front of the main entrance, and Rory and I went in through the employee entrance in the parking garage. Then we left the same way. We've used the car service whenever we've needed to go out. This past weekend, we went to Boston for Rory's sister's graduation, and other than going out to dinner as a family, and to the actual graduation, we weren't out in public at all. For dinner, we chose a quiet restaurant, and Rory's Dad called ahead and had it shut down except for our family."
"We also had April's party, but no one knew who we were other than that I was April's older sister. Outside of Connecticut and New York, the Huntzberger name isn't popular unless you are in the newspaper business." Rory added. "As long as we are out of town, no one seems to know us."
"That is a definite benefit. The one thing that I can suggest when it comes to announcing your daughter's birth, is that the less information you give, the better. You could simply announce that the next generation of the Huntzberger family has officially made their appearance, and that mother and baby are both doing well. Leaving the public with very little information, gives you a lot more privacy."
"But at the same time, it could cause a media storm with the paparazzi trying to get pictures, and find out whether we had a boy or girl." Logan told him.
"I definitely want to give Ayribella as much privacy as possible, but realistically, how can we even do that? I mean, there are obviously laws about posting pictures of children, but can we realistically not tell the media the sex of our baby, and be safe from a party of nosey reporters convening on our front lawn?"
"You live in a gated neighborhood." Carlos commented.
"We do, but I've seen drones flying around in the past. You never know if it's just a neighbor kid, or if the drone belongs to some creepy paparazzi freak a few miles away." Logan added.
"This is true. So you could announce that Rory gave birth to a healthy daughter, but I probably wouldn't publish any photos. At least not of her face."
"Gloria was telling me a little while ago, that someone from O Magazine called the other day, wanting to interview me. What if we did one of those celebrity baby announcement things where we gave the exclusive to a specific publication?" Rory asked.
"You could do that. Some of those publications will pay you several hundred thousand dollars for an exclusive reveal." Carlos agreed.
"But isn't that pretty pointless, when we literally are the media? Why should we go with one of those publications when we have hundreds of publications of our own, with an even larger readership? Wouldn't it make more sense to just release the information ourselves? Plus, with doing our own release, we have 100% control of exactly what information is made public, and we don't have to worry about anything else being released. Just like we did with our wedding announcement. No one knows that we eloped after only being back together for a couple of weeks, and getting engaged two days prior."
"You guys got married after being engaged for two days?" Carlos asked.
"Two weeks after getting back together following 8 years of no contact."
"Damn you move fast! And here I thought you two had been together for years."
"We were together for 3 years in college." Rory told him.
"Wait, you guys just got married last fall, right?"
"Don't do the math." Logan told him.
"You've only been married for less than 8 months, and you already have a baby." Carlos commented.
"Rory kind of ended up getting pregnant on our first night together."
"And Ayribella was born a few weeks early. Had she gone past her due date, people probably would just think that she was a honeymoon baby." Rory added.
"Which could be another issue we get stuck dealing with."
"I don't believe that you two published your wedding date, so she could still realistically be assumed to be a honeymoon baby." Carlos commented.
"It's not like it should even matter anyway. This isn't 1952. Who cares what people think. This is our life, and she is our daughter." Rory said, annoyance clear in her voice.
"It doesn't matter, I'm just saying that some people are going to have opinions. And I want to shield you for those as much as I can."
"Are you ashamed of getting me pregnant so soon?"
"No, of course not! I would never be ashamed of that. If anything, I am actually pretty proud of it. After 8 years apart, following 3 years of craziness, and you end up pregnant the first night. That takes talent."
"Or dumb luck." Carlos chuckled.
"All that I'm saying is that some of the more conservative readers will do the math, and have some very vocal opinions."
"How soon after announcing that Rory was taking over HPG did the two of you get married?"
"Two days later." Rory answered.
"Was it announced as Rory Huntzberger taking over HPG, or Rory Gilmore?"
"Rory Gilmore."
"Mitchum had his first heart attack back in October, right?"
"Yeah. At the beginning of the month." Logan answered.
"Well, it's just about the end of May. If you can hold off for at least a week before publishing your birth announcement, possibly two weeks, it will officially be 9 months post heart attack for Mitchum, and 9 months since your wedding. If you want to do without people's ridiculous assumptions and opinions, I would say to hold off. Ayribella is only a few weeks old anyway. By holding off, she will be a month old, which is the point when a lot of celebrities finally announce their births. I understand wanting to get the announcement out of the way, and being able to come out of hiding, but if you can just hold of for a little while longer, it will give you that little bit more legitimacy. Other people's opinions shouldn't matter at all. You guys are clearly completely in love with each other, and your wedding obviously wasn't rushed because of a pregnancy. There is absolutely no reason why you should ever have to worry about legitimizing yourselves, but I also understand that the court of public opinion can be extremely brutal, and that you want to shield yourselves from all of the overwhelming scrutiny. And I can't blame you for any of that. I would be wanting to do the same thing, if I was in your position. You guys value your privacy, and keeping the public out of your business is a top priority. So what I suggest, is if you can hold off for at least another week or so I would do it. By not publishing your news until a full 9 months post heart attack and wedding, and then only sharing very minimal information, you will have a lot less judgments and ridicule. I agree with Rory, being that this isn't 1952, and people really need to get off of their high horse. But like it or not, the two of you are both public figures, and everything you do is going to be analyzed to death."
"So in saying that, what do you suggest we do for right now?" Rory asked. "We came here today because there is a board meeting, and I needed to get out of the house."
"Everyone who works here has signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement. They aren't allowed to talk about or share any information about anything that they hear, or see happening inside of this building. That being said, you could send out a company wide email, reminding and updating everyone about the NDA they are all agreed to. You can also include in the e-mail that any questions or comments in regards to anybody with the last name of Huntzberger, are strictly confidential, and that by answering any questions, commenting about the subject, or releasing any information at all, is grounds for immediate termination. That way you are free to move throughout the building, without having to worry about your news getting out. You can also have your board sign an additional NDA, specifically in regards to your family. Most of them are you family members anyway, right? You have them sign an amendment to their current NDA, stating that any mention of happenings inside of this building, is strictly forbidden and could result in the loss of their position with the company, and immediate termination of their position on the board, as well as the loss of company stock and profit sharing."
"It would hit the Huntzbergers right where it hurts the most; their pocketbooks." Logan chuckled.
"I can also give you a security escort throughout the property, making sure that you are able to get to and from your office and the parking garage, without contact with any HPG employees."
"My office is on an open work floor." Rory commented.
"It is, but there has been some remodeling happening while you've been out, and most of the people who worked around you before you went on leave, have been relocated pending completion of the remodel."
"What remodel? Since when is the office being remodeled?"
"You gave your Grandmother permission to redecorate the entire building, a few months ago. How are you surprised by this?" Logan asked.
"Your Grandmother started with your office, and has been working on redoing that entire floor while you've been out. We relocated most of the employees a few weeks ago, while she works to get things finished. A lot of the work has already been completed, but there is still work being done. We received a delivery for that floor this morning."
"So where are we having board meetings if that floor is being redone?" Rory asked.
"The board room has already been completed, as well as your office. Mrs. Gilmore is still working on other areas of that floor, but the important rooms have already been completed. Would you like to go take a look?"
"Yes please! But question, should I be completely terrified?"
"It honestly looks great. Mrs. Gilmore has done an incredible job. Everything is completely different than it was when you left, but it looks a lot better. It is a lot less intimidating, and much more welcoming."
"Before we take a look, I need to make a call to Collin about the NDA issue." Logan told them.
"That's a good idea. He will need to get on that right away." Rory agreed, watching Logan reach into his pocket for his cell phone, then quickly pressed the buttons to call his best friend.
"Logan, what's going on?" Collin asked, answering after the first ring.
"I need a huge favor." Logan told him.
"Is this a best friend favor, or an attorney favor?"
"I need you to send out an kind of an emergency email to all HPG employees."
"What happened?"
"It's kind of a long story. Rory and I are at the office right now. She needed to get out of the house and decided to attend today's board meeting."
"I'm heading over for that in the next half hour."
"We need you to send out a reminder to all staff about the NDA they signed upon employment. Remind them that nothing that is seen or heard throughout the property is to be talked about outside of the office. Specifically anything about other employees or company representatives."
"Is Ayribella with you?"
"Yep."
"You are hiding her birth, yet you took her to a building full of 500 people."
"We were talking about publishing a birth announcement, but we are going to hold off for another week or so."
"So you need me to basically tell your employees to keep their big mouths shut."
"Exactly! And I need it done like ASAP."
"You realize that this is going to cost you."
"And then I need an addendum to the NDA for the board."
"You want me to super glue the mouths of your moronic uncles."
"Pretty much. Carlos mentioned the immediate termination of employment, as well as forfeiture of their position on the board, stock and profit sharing."
"And you need all of this right away, with the addendums signed prior to the board meeting."
"I know, it's a lot. I'm sorry, I should have discussed this with you before coming to the office."
"That would have been a good idea. I'll get the e-mail sent out withing the next ten minutes, and get you an addendum to approve when I get there."
"I don't need to approve it. You're my attorney. Whatever you think is best, is good enough for me."
"Even if it says that you owe me your first born?"
"You can have the second one."
"I'm not so sure that your wife will agree to that one."
"Maybe not, but I'm sure that you can come up with some form of payment that she will be ok with."
"I'll be there as soon as I get your contract done."
"Thank you Collin. I owe you."
"Yeah you do." Collin agreed, then disconnected the call.
"Collin said the e-mail will go out in the next ten minutes, and he will be here with an NDA addendum for the board as soon as he has it ready." Logan said as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
"Have I told you that I think it was a great idea for you to hire outside council to represent the business rather than going with in house?" Carlos asked.
"It was done purely for selfish reasons. My best friend has been my attorney since he started law school. He knows literally everything about me, and is the only person other than my wife that I trust to look out for me. I have very little faith in my father's attorneys. They might be good when it comes to defending the business from lawsuits, but Collin is who I trust to take care of me and my family. I've known him literally my entire life, and he's never once let me down."
"And I have enough blackmail to completely destroy Collin if he were to ever even think about screwing us over." Rory added.
"That's true." Logan agreed. "You have more an enough blackmail to destroy pretty much all of my friends."