Another Look

Chapter 1

'Every ride has to end,' Rory had kept saying that sentence to herself ever since she'd left the King's Head Inn in New Hampshire on that heartbreaking October morning. She knew too well that while her connection to Logan had been magnetic, neither of them really fit into each-other's lives anymore, and neither of them was willing to alter their lives permanently to change that. She couldn't picture herself in the role of the typical eye-candy who just stood by Logan Hunzberger, marketing CEO of the HPG, attending cocktail parties and red carpet events, while spending most of her alone while her husband spent a significant amount of time abroad or at work, and was constantly surrounded by adoring hordes of beautiful women. At the same time Logan would never have been fully content settling for a life in some mediocre small town in Connecticut, where job prospects for someone of his status were non-existent. He was exceptional at what he did, and similarly to his father whether he liked to admit it or not, success was what made him feel alive. Plus there was the matter of his impending marriage to a perfectly lovely and intelligent woman. Their ride had ended, and it was the right thing to do. They both knew it.

Rory didn't have time to wallow, even though thinking back to that night made her heart wrench. Thankfully, she had a book to write, a welcome distraction, and the first chapters just flew off her keyboard within a few weeks sitting at Richard's old desk in Hartford. She had hardly left the place in two weeks, having food and necessities delivered. The place was huge and even keeping the couple of rooms she used tidy during those days was a lot of work. She'd never thought about the maintenance part of Grandma's and Grandpa's place as they always had a fleet of servants handling those things, but here she was now, all alone. She hadn't left things perhaps the best way with Lorelai, who wasn't in full agreement whether she should indeed write the book she needed to write. But she was determined to change her mind. At the very least she herself just needed to let the story flow through her. The process itself was therapeutic. She'd told herself that if Lorelai said 'no' the second time, after reading it, she would just need to accept it.

It was Friday, and the delivery lines at 8 PM were surprisingly long for that area of Hartford that night. she pulled on some simple jeans and a clean t-shirt before grabbing her keys and headed off. While she'd gone to school in Hartford, she never really hung out there much. This also meant she needed to browse a bit before deciding on a place to eat. Between a row of coffee-shops, a few bakeries, a vegan restaurant and what appeared to be a couple of fine dining establishments she noticed a bar with menu specials written on chalkboard outside. The thought of simple burger and fries was all she needed. While she ate, she felt the change of scenery refreshing and while the bar scene was not truly her thing she found it surprisingly interesting to people-watch while half-seriously browsing her phone. A middle-aged couple at the bar were having an argument over some tequila shots, an interesting way to solve problems, she thought. At the back of the bar group of college students, with Uhart sweatshirts, were celebrating something with jugs of beer. The group had an interesting group dynamic where all the girls seemed to be wailing over the two guys sitting in the back of the booth. She'd seen that dynamic often in Yale, when Logan and his Life-and-Death Brigade friends hung out. All of them wealthy, bound for success and handsome. They pretty much had to drive girls away. Her eyes moved back along the bar only then noticing a lanky hunched figure, slowly sipping his scotch, alone. She almost didn't recognize him. The times she'd seen him in the past years, which was of course less than in their Yale days, he's seemed lively, confident and witty even though almost always under the influence. But sitting at that barstool, Finn looked incredibly sad. Rory grabbed her small beer glass, still half full, and walked over. While he was one of Logan's best friends, and they'd never before hung out just the two of them, she, too, considered him her friend through him.

"Finn, is that you?" Rory asked carefully. His face looked tired, a bit rough and unshaved, small wrinkles showing around his eyes, and his medium-length hair was uncombed.