Finding Home

Chapter 1

Rory sighed as she exited the hotel elevator and proceeded to the ballroom where today's event was being held to find a seat.  If there was a bright side to these events, it's that they were in a much nicer hotel than normal because all of the campaign events were being held in the same hotel over the week, so they were staying onsite.  She was in Chicago for 5 days for a series of campaign events and fundraisers.  After 16 months on the campaign trail for the Obama campaign, she was more than ready for November.  Just two more months to go.  She loved her job, but living in suitcases and never spending more than a few days at a time in any one place had quickly grown old.  She was grateful the the beginning of her journalism career, and her pieces were always well-received.  A few had even been picked up by the AP, which made Hugo, her boss, extremely happy with her work, but she was ready to have some place to call home and put down some roots.

The campaign trail had been good to her.  She had started on the trail fresh out of college and freshly broken-hearted in May of last year, and getting into the routine on the trail and throwing herself into her work had helped her begin to pick up the pieces and move past her heartbreak slowly.  She had been devastated when Logan had given her an ultimatum and walked away at her graduation, and part of her had believed that he would eventually come crawling back, but he never did.  They hadn't spoken or seen each other since that fateful day.  While she had initially felt conflicted over whether or not she made the right decision, she now knew that she had indeed been correct in turning down his proposal.  She had needed time to establish herself in the journalism world, and she wasn't ready to get married.  After many months of intermittent wallowing and occasional tears, she finally had put herself back together stronger than ever.  She'd even been on a couple of first dates when she'd been home for breaks and had dated one of the other reporters on the bus briefly.  They all felt like something was missing, but that was okay.  She wasn't itching to settle down.  Perhaps when she was able to make a home after the campaign trail she would meet someone right.

Rory was pulled from her thoughts as the introductions began, and she shifted into reporter mode, switching on her digital recorder and taking notes frantically as Senator Obama began to outline his plan for his first 100 days if he were to win the presidency.  She may be tired of being on the trail and living out of suitcases, but she loved every minute of covering the Presidential-hopeful.  He had a way of captivating the audience, and he was easy to relate to.  She'd even had an opportunity or two to do one-on-one interviews with him for stories, and those had been widely syndicated.

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The Westfield Chicago was abuzz with excitement and there was hardly a moment of peace this morning.  They were booked to capacity, thanks to the events they were hosting this week in relation to the Obama campaign, and the lobby was a never-ending parade of guests, press, staffers, and paparazzi.  Finn had flown in for the week to ensure that everything went off without a hitch.  He had gone to work for his family's company after graduating college two years ago, and he found that he really enjoyed the family business.  He got to travel and plan events and even managed to enjoy the business side of the job, pouring over projections and budgets and proposals.  He had matured, as had his college buddies, and while they all still enjoyed occasional nights spent drinking and partying, they were all now responsible adults who contributed to the family businesses.  Gone were the days of constant drinking and women, long-since replaced by early mornings in the office, board meetings, and managing multi-billion dollar companies.

Logan Huntzberger, one of his best friends, had finally returned to Huntzberger Publishing Group, and was working with Mitchum to move their newspapers and other holdings into the 21st century.  After his disastrous breakup with Rory, he hadn't lasted long in California before his father wooed him back to the family business.  Logan was thriving in his role at HPG as Vice President of Media and Acquisitions.  His personal life left much to be desired after he'd stupidly given Rory that damn ultimatum, but his friends hadn't been able to convince him to try to win Rory back, no matter how hard they tried.  He was currently dating Stacey Fallon, who Shira had been trying to set him up with back when Rory and Logan were still together, and he was being pressed constantly to propose in order to strengthen the family name.