It Was Never Really Goodbye - Gilmore Girls

Chapter 9

Logan looked around the room. He had mostly been catching up with his friends throughout the night, but he made time for chatting with others in the business too. It was one of the less desirable parts of nights like this. His father had just made the announcements about him and Rory. You could tell that some were shocked, but no one had looked upset. That at least made it easier for him to believe that the board was really ok with the coming changes since they all looked happy.

He hadn't said much to his mother, but he noticed that Mitchum had been spending more time with her tonight than he usually did at events like this.  Typically they just parted ways, if they even arrived together, and weren't seen together at all during the event.  It was no secret that both had had their fair share of affairs throughout the years.  It wasn't unusual in their society.  There were very few couples like Richard and Emily Gilmore.  His parents definitely weren't like them.  For most high society couples, you didn't even think about divorce.  There were prenups and tons of money at stake, so, instead, you just had discreet affairs.  Usually, they were even with other friends. 

Watching his parents tonight though, it really did seem like maybe they were rekindling the love that they once had for each other.  He was happy for them.  Sure, they had had many, many differences over the years, but a kid never wants their parents to be unhappy.  He was hopeful for everyone involved with these new circumstances that had come about. 

Lord knows, he hadn't expected to be working with Rory.  Granted, it wasn't a surprise that she could work for HPG in some way or another, but it was still a shock that his father had picked her for the position that he had.  He thought about everything that he told him. 

His father had approached him and explained a bit of what he had been thinking when he chose her.  Rory was one of the few people around her age that still truly appreciated journalism as it had been.  She was also young enough to see that without evolving, it would die.  She done impressive things while working Hugo, too. He had to admit that his father knew what he was doing...he was definitely right about her having the right combination of that for this position and department.

He watched Finn dance with Rory. He knew that they were close but hadn't realized that it was this close. Finn was her date of course, but he had hardly left her side all night.

He decided it was time to show everyone that they were ok with being around each other again. He walked up to her and Finn right as the song ended. "Could I steal you away for a dance?"

Rory looked at him and then at Finn, who just nodded. "Sure. You are my boss after all."

Logan smiled, god he had missed her. It may prove incredibly hard to be around her. "I think I might like this."

She rolled her eyes, "So now that everyone knows, how do you really feel about all of this?"

"Honestly? I'm excited!"

"Not gonna miss California?"

"What? Girls in bikinis as far as the eye can see, surfing, suntanning year-round?"

"To name a few."

"Nope, not really my thing...this always felt more like home to me."

"What about your company there?"

"I've still got my stake in it, I worked too hard to give that up. I'm just more of a silent partner now is all."

"I'm really proud of you Logan."

He had always known that. Of all the people that he needed to hear it from, she was the most important. Of course, she had never held back, she always told him. "Thanks, that means more coming from you than anyone else."  He realized that they might be saying too much, so he just focused on the dancing. 

When the song ended, she looked up at him, "thank you, Logan."  She kissed his cheek.  They made their way to their friends and stayed there for the rest of the night.  He had spent so long avoiding everything to do with Rory, that he had forgotten how much he truly enjoyed her company, relationship or not.  Maybe he was wrong, maybe this could be easy. 

—————————————

Rory did her best to focus on her friends  throughout the evening, but she couldn't help thinking about Logan.  She was a little worried about him taking over when he first told her.  She knew he would do an amazing job with HPG, there was no doubt in her mind.  What she worried about was if something happened like last time.  She knew that it hadn't been easy for him to walk away, but it ended up being a good thing for him. 

The best part about this whole thing, in her opinion, seemed to be that Mitchum had to step down for his health, and he was very serious about doing just that.  She didn't think he would be hovering around as much because of it.  She knew that it would be worse for Logan if he stepped down but was still around all the time. 

Rory noticed that her friends stayed close to her all evening.  She knew that they had worried about her coming this evening.  She was still a little frustrated that they hadn't told her Logan would be there.  When she arrived and saw him, she was fairly certain that her night was going to be terrible.  When she found out that she would actually be working for Logan, she was pretty worried. 

However, being around him tonight, had reminded her that they were friends first.  Maybe it was never really that innocent between them, but they were both committed to that now.  She was confident that they would be ok together.  Working for Logan would probably be easier than working for Mitchum. 

They eventually left the party as it was winding down and ended up at an all night diner.  All of the girls went to the bathroom after ordering, to change their shoes to ballet flats and take their hair down.  It had become a little ritual in college that they resurrected when they grew close again.  It went right along with ending up at the diner.  It made these society events more bearable...all they had to do was make it to the end and then they could all relax together afterward. 

Stephanie was the first to ask what they had all been dying to all night.  "So, how do you feel about all of this with Logan?"

Rory knew it was coming.  "I don't know.  I'm still a little shell shocked, if I'm honest, but I think it's all going to be ok.  I know that it might not all come easy right away, but we never had a problem working together before."

Juliet laughed a little, "do you really think you can stay away from each other?"

She took a deep breath, "I don't know.  I can't go through that again, so we're going to have to."

Rosemary just nodded and whispered, "I don't think any of us want to see you two in that kind of pain again."

Stephanie looked up, "but why does it have to end in pain?"

Rory looked at the three of them, "why wouldn't it?"

She couldn't talk about it anymore and the girls could tell that too.  They all finished up and went back out to their table with the guys to wind down and eat.