8 years in the life

Chapter 4

In the morning, Rory woke up with the sound of Paris talking to Doyle. They were having breakfast at the kitchen counter.

"Hi, sleepy head! I didn't hear you come back last night. Need some Advil?" Doyle asked with a sympathetic tone.

"Yes please, with coffee. I think I definitely forgot how it was to drink with these guys," Rory stood up painfully and walked toward them.

"These guys? Who was with you besides Robert?" Paris asked.

"After dinner, we joined Finn for drinks"

"He's in Boston too?"

"Well, if I understood correctly his family company has an office here so he's part-time in Boston but it seemed he used to live here for a while."

"So, tell me, Gilmore, what is the Globe offering you, Paris didn't want to tell me"

"They proposed me to write a series of articles about other democratic countries starting with Europe. Kind of comparative political systems, and I would be able to go over there to interview people"

"Nice! And you know just the right guy to help you through it for your research."

"I do?" Rory looked at Doyle with a raised eyebrow.

"Semple. Well, I guess he's even better now but when we were in Yale, he received the Clark Prize for the best senior essay on comparative politics and got the Patterson grant to do the research for his senior essay in France. He's fluent in French. I think he lived in France for a while. You know the guy graduated summa cum laude and is a Phi Beta Kappa, right? He wrote for the Yale Daily News when he was a freshman but he stopped because he needed more time to double major."

"Well, it seems that I don't know him that well. He applied for a grant? I don't think he needed the money."

"No, but this grant is really prestigious and it opens doors that you couldn't go through otherwise. So, when will you know for the job?"

"Bill told me he'll call me today, I guess this afternoon. What about you Doyle, how do you like the Herald?"

"I guess I'm OK, I'm now a junior editor for local politics but I still have to write which is good. So, I was just waiting for you to wake up so I could say hi but I have to go. Hope to see you soon then." He hugged Rory, kissed Paris and left.

The girls spent the morning drinking coffee and chat. It was like being college roommates again and it was good. Rory tried not to think too much about the job. After all, she had time as she was still working for Hugo at least until the democrat convention in August. While Paris was in the shower, she called her mom to keep her posted on the job but avoided telling her about Finn and Robert. She wasn't ready for a lecture about how they were unfitted for her world. Actually, she was pleasantly surprised how grounded they became and in particular by Finn. He appeared to take his job very seriously and she was impressed that he was climbing the ladder of the company step by step to learn the work. At Yale, they always looked as if partying was all they could do. She only knew Robert for a year as he graduated with Steph a year earlier than the Stooges. 

Although raised in a wealthy high society family, Robert always had trouble to fit in with his classmates. Maybe because he lived in Asia and Africa where he grew up with kids from different countries. His best childhood friends were French so when his parents went back definitively to New-York City, he asked to go to boarding school in France with his pals. His family agreed only until his junior year of prep school. They thought his chance to get into an Ivy League college would be better if he would attend Trinity School in Manhattan. There, he quickly learned that straight-A students weren't the most popular guys. So, he always was very low profile regardless of the fact that he graduated valedictorian. At Yale, he didn't have to study much: he was a very fast reader and he didn't have to do it twice for remembering everything. That also helped him a lot with poker. He used to win all the time except that night when he was introduced to Rory at Logan's. He was so distracted by trying not to stare at her that he couldn't concentrate on the game.

Rory was packing her bag to leave for Washington when her phone rang. She nervously answered.

"Rory Gilmore"

"Hey Rory, it's Bill. If you're still OK the job is for you."

Rory kept herself from squealing.

"Thank you so much, Bill!"

"So, when do you think you could start?"

"Well I just have to talk to Hugo and I'll let you know. I was supposed to leave for DC to cover Hillary Clinton speech."

"Ok, so in the meantime, I'll send you the contract by email and I'm waiting for your call. Welcome to the Globe Rory."

"I'm really thrilled Bill, thank you for trusting me."

Rory was overwhelmed to start a new era in Boston. She was leaving the loneliness of the campaign trail and the smell of cheap hotel behind her. She started to make a mental list of what she had to do in order to start this new life. She first called Hugo. He was quite comprehensive and she only had to cover the Hillary Clinton event for him, which meant that in three days she would have the freedom to start her new job. She then sent a text to Paris, her dad, Robert, and Finn and called her mother while she was in the cab taking her to the airport. In the plane, she started her to do list on which the first point was to find a place to live. Paris and Doyle's couch couldn't be permanent. While finding a place, she could also stay with her dad. She definitively wanted an apartment of her own where she could come back to and find her books, have her clothes in a closet and not a suitcase, somewhere she could call home. She was also excited to go to Europe and started to think about the research she would have to do. In her hotel room in DC, she ordered room service to be able to start to work right away. When she opened her email, she had already received her contract. After a brief look at it, she forwarded it to her dad. Then she dove deeply into some research for her European assignment when the buzz of her phone broke her concentration.

"Rory Gilmore"

"Congratulations Reporter Girl!" she heard from two voices. She glanced at the clock 9:30 pm.

"Thanks, guys. You sound buzzed." Rory laughed.

"Just a little, we were celebrating your new job and that we are happy that you came back into our lives."

"Shouldn't you wait for me to do that?"

"Promise we'll do it again when you'll be back kitten. When will it be?"

"I should be in Boston on Monday to meet my editor and sign the contract."

"OK, so celebration dinner on Monday with Finn and myself. Text me your address and we'll pick you up. See you Monday!"

"OK bye," Rory smiled. It was definitively fun to have reconnected with them.