"Hey Logan, Hugo is coming in this morning. Did you want to meet with him with me?"
"Do you need me to?"
"Well, we never even talked about it. At the party a few weeks ago, it just popped into my head that he would be perfect to add to the board, and I just dropped it on him, right in the middle of everything. You and I hadn't even talked about it, so I figured we should probably do that now before he gets here."
"I trust your judgment. If you think Hugo would be a good addition to the board, then let's do it."
"You don't want to talk about it?"
"Do you really think that we need to? I like Hugo. He's a great guy. This is your company Ace. You can bring in whoever you want."
"I know, but it's still your family business, so you get to have an opinion on what happens here."
"I think that Hugo is a good choice."
"The one thing I thought of the other day while we were sitting in the hospital, is what about Hugo's business? Would it be a conflict of interest for him to be on the board?"
"I don't think so. Hugo is an incredible businessman. I think having his opinion on everything would be a great addition. He might be a little concerned that we might be trying to buy his online magazine out from underneath him."
"I would never do that. I love his magazine! He gave me the job on the campaign trail. Hugo has my loyalty for life. He was an amazing boss!"
"Well there you go. Just tell him that."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"So you don't want to meet with him with me?"
"Do you need me to? What time is he coming in, because I have a patient in twenty minutes."
"In about an hour."
"I'll black out a couple hours on my calendar, and we can give him a tour."
"Thank you Logan."
"No problem. I'm heading downstairs, do you need me to bring you anything when I come back up?"
"Like what, body parts?"
"I was thinking more like some kind of snack or something, but never mind."
"I'll text you if I start craving anything. Actually, let's order Vietnamese food today."
"You want your usual order?"
"Spring rolls, lemon chicken, and phó."
"That actually sounds delicious! Maybe we should just take Hugo out when he gets here."
"That works too."
"I'll be back when I'm done with my patient."
"Hugo should be here at 11."
"Have Doyle clear a few hours for lunch."
"I will. Love you." Rory said giving Logan a kiss before he left her office, and headed downstairs to the clinic.
*~ * ~ * ~ * 11:15am * ~ * ~ * ~ *
"Hugo, it's great to see you, man!" Logan said as he walked into Rory'soffice.
"Hey Logan! Glad you could make it."
"Sorry I'm a little late, I ended up seeing two patients instead of just one."
"That's ok. How is everything going with the clinic?"
"It's going very well. It's actually been a lot less stressful running the clinic than working in the ER. It's only been a few days, but so far I really love it."
"I can imagine the ER is pretty tough. I'm sure you've seen all kinds of stuff going through there."
"You have no idea." Logan said with a chuckle as he took a seat in the chair next to Hugo, in front of Rory's desk.
"Do you have any favorite stories from your days in the trenches?"
"Not really. I've seen a couple severed limbs, lots of stitches, lots of viruses and concussions. A bunch of torn muscles, kidney stones, broken bones, asthma attacks . . . FDNY has an amazing crew! They usually have the bleeding under control before patients arrive at the ER, and they do a good job with cauterization and packing wounds."
"You don't have any favorite patient stories?"
"Not that I can think of off the top of my head, except maybe the day Rory was brought in."
"And what was Rory brought in for?" Hugo asked looking up at Rory who was blushing.
"I might have knocked my tool caddy off my desk with my coffee cup, and then stupidly reached my hand out to catch everything." Rory told him.
"Her scissors went right through her hand." Logan finished for her.
"Ouch!!! That had to hurt!"
"Like you wouldn't believe!" Rory agreed.
"We hadn't seen each other since we split up, until we ran into each other at a coffee shop that morning. And then a few hours later I'm walking in to see a patient that was just brought in by the paramedics, and I'm reading the intake and treatment information from the ambulance, and the name says Lorelai Gilmore."
"Wow! That's crazy!"
"You're telling me!" Logan agreed. "I was shocked. It was definitely something that I never expected."
"So you guys got back together that day?"
"The next day." Rory confirmed.
"Wow, and look at you two now! You both seem really happy."
"We are." Logan smiled as he leaned back in his chair. "Life just makes sense again."
"I missed you on the campaign trail last year Rory. You were my best writer."
"I missed it, but there was no way I could have gone back out."
"Too much traveling?"
"No, the traveling wasn't too bad. It was mostly the candidates. I just wouldn't have been able to put my all into my work when I felt so strongly conflicted about the two main contenders. The whole election seemed more like a childhood temper tantrum than a presidential campaign. I couldn't stand the constant sniping at each other, and tearing each other down. It was a massive smear campaign with both major parties, and that isn't something that I wanted to be a part of."
"Why don't we go get some lunch." Logan suggested, changing the subject. "Rory was craving Vietnamese food earlier, and we thought we would take you out."
"That sounds great." Hugo agreed. "I love Vietnamese food."
"Fabulous! We are using a car service until the media frenzy calms down. Do you want to ride over with us?"
"Sure. I have the rest of the day free for you guys. Maybe you can give me a tour of your clinic when we get back."
"I would love to." Logan agreed as they all got up, and Rory reached for both hers and Logan's jackets that were hanging from the coatrack next to the bookcase behind her desk.
"So Rory, the other night you mentioned wanting me to join the HPG board, and I can't help but wonder why?" Hugo asked about forty minutes later, as the trio sat in the Pho Grand restaurant in New York city, talking while enjoying some delicious food.
"It's funny that you ask that because I really don't have much of an answer. Ever since stepping in for Mitchum, I've been fighting with aging family members over everything they can possibly think of to argue with me about, and it's really gotten annoying. Every time I turn around, someone else wants to give me attitude, and it's all been completely ridiculous. They pick fights over the absolute stupidest things, just for the sake of fighting, and I can't possibly get anything done with them always opposing everything."
"That sounds like a nightmare."
"It is." Logan agreed. "They used to argue with my Dad too, but they at least weren't anywhere near half as disrespectful to him as they are to Rory."
"I'm done playing nice, and trying to defend myself over every little thing to people who are completely clueless about journalism, and newspaper publishing. These guys have literally only had their positions with the company because of their last name, and they're old as dirt, so I've begun pushing them out. Some people I've been nice to. One of them I managed to convince to retire, and I paid for his move to the Cayman Islands. Another one I basically had to have arrested because he refused to get out of my face. I had to fire him for hostile work environment and insubordination, and then the jerk refused to leave my office, so we had to have security get him out of my face, and then call the police to make him leave the building. It's been completely exhausting!" Rory continued explaining.
"Sounds like it." Hugo agreed.
"Every time I boot someone off the board, I end up with a spot to fill. The first person I removed was replaced by my Grandfather. My Grandpa has run a successful business for over 40 years, and his input has been invaluable. He doesn't know much about the publishing world, but his business experience is exactly the help I've needed. You know my background. I've been writing for years, I worked on the Yale Daily News, and my high school paper, then I worked for you, then The New York Times. I have a ton of writing and editing experience, but not so much with publishing, which is where you come in. You know this industry. You have your own e-paper, and two other successful businesses. I've been racking my brain for several weeks now, trying to think of who I could add to the board that would be a benefit to all of us, and until the other night, I just couldn't think of anyone who I felt would be an asset rather than a hindrance. But then you were at the party, and everything just clicked. You are the perfect person to fill the void. I like you, I know that you can be counted on to actually show up and contribute positively, and you have experience in this industry. You know the business better than I do, and I really think that adding you to the board of directors will not just benefit me, but the company as a whole."
"What all does the job entail?"
"Mostly just showing up for board meetings. My grandpa doesn't always join us in person since he lives in Hartford, but he does join us via video conference. We go over everything that is going on with the company, address concerns, discuss projects, budgets, plans for moving forward, that kind of thing. Anything that is up for debate, or needs a majority vote, the board gets a say in. There really hasn't been a need for a vote on anything since I've taken over because I just haven't seen any reason for it with the changes I've made so far. But I'm sure that things will start to come up as we expand in the future. We are buying more newspapers all over the world, and just acquiring the rights to our first magazine, and we are working on publishing our very first book. There is a ton going on, and I really think that having you on board as we grow will bring a lot of experience to the board, and you would kind of be who I lean on for advice, and direction. You've been doing all of this a lot longer than I have, and I am just learning the CEO position, and I'm definitely not the shark that Mitchum is. Logan has way more experience at this stuff than I do, but he has zero interest in any of it. He's got his medical career, and that's perfectly fine, I would never ask him to give that up. Logan helps me out a lot, and gives me a ton of great advice, but he tries to stay out of the business side of things as much as he can. He's been training me since asking me to step in when Mitchum had his first heart attack, but sometimes it's like pulling teeth with him. Logan hates being at HPG. He's really only here because I am."
"Is this true Logan? You're only here because of Rory?"
"Yep! I've been on the board basically since birth, but I've ditched more meetings than I've been to, mostly to annoy the crap out of my dad, and also because I hate that place! HPG was never somewhere that I wanted to be. It was just something that was expected of me. From the day I was born, it was expected that someday I would take over the company when my Dad finally decided to retire. But it's never been what I wanted for myself. When my Dad got sick, it was expected that I would step in to run things, but I just don't want it. My sister doesn't want it either, but the one person we could think of who we knew we could trust to not run the company into the ground, and wouldn't stab us in the back, was Rory. I begged, and Rory being who she is, agreed to step in. She even got fired from The Times due to conflict of interest because she agreed to help me out. I've been trying to help Rory, and being in the office has definitely grown on me a little bit. It's still far from being my favorite place in the world, but I'm there because it's where Rory is. I can literally sit there all day, just staring at her, and there is no one busting me for day dreaming. I don't have to make up excuses to call her, just to hear the sound of her voice, or to go home early because I miss hanging out with her. I get to spend all day with my best friend, and I love that. Rory of course forces me to actually work, and help her out. She claims this whole CEO thing is a team effort, and that I'm really the one running the show while she's just the pretty face everyone sees, and the name on the company letterhead. But honestly, if it weren't for Rory, I wouldn't be here at all. I help her out because she's my wife, and we make a really good team. But in all honesty, I'm mostly there for the pretty face to stare at. I can think of a million places that I would rather be, and if it weren't for Rory, HPG wouldn't ever be on my list." Logan explained
"As I remember it Logan, you are a great leader, and would have been awesome stepping in for your Dad."
"I've heard that a lot over the years, but it's just not something that I have ever been interested in doing."
"How many board members are there?"
"Nineteen currently, with one spot open, but I'm actually wondering if we really need that many, and if I can somehow downgrade to around ten or twelve." Rory answered.
"Is there a salary that comes with the position?"
"There is, and shares of HPG stock. Most of the board members work in different areas of the office, so their salary for being on the board is built into what they're making working for the company in their various positions. My Grandpa I have an actual salary just for being on the board. He's fully retired, and insists that he doesn't need any financial incentive to help me out, so he's putting the money into a college account and stuff for our baby. I'm the sole heir to my family's estates, so it's not like I really need the money either, but my Grandpa insists on leaving something to the next generation ,so he's got all kinds of various accounts set up for us. I am happy to offer you the same salary, and even negotiate a little more with you, because of your experience. You can give me a number, and as long as it's reasonable, I'll sign off on it."
"What about my magazine. Do you think that would be a conflict of interest?"
"I don't think so. I don't have a problem with you being a competitor. If you wanted me to, I could technically buy you out, and make your magazine part of HPG. Normally, that isn't even something I would consider doing, because we're friends, and I would never go after your company. I would never want to interfere in your business. I loved working for you. You were an awesome boss, and you gave me my start after college. I had an amazing time on the campaign trail while working for you, and experience I wouldn't trade for anything in this world. It was such an adventure and a time of tremendous growth for me. I absolutely loved everything that I did and learned. You took great care of me. You gave me the freedom to jump in headfirst, and really learn how to be a traveling political reporter. It's something that I hadn't ever done before, but it was an incredible, invaluable experience. I can't possibly thank you enough for all of that. It's because of you that I am here today. Working for you helped build my confidence as a reporter, and made me really love my job."
"What if I wanted you to buy my magazine?"
"If that is what you want, then I am happy to do it. It's the least I can do after everything you've done for me. Give me a number, and we'll get it done."
"My readership has started to slip a little bit as people migrate back to bigger names. Especially given the political ramifications of certain public figures screaming 'fake news' about everything. People are basically forced to stick with the major papers because the smaller ones 'can't be trusted' to tell the truth. It's gotten completely ridiculous. The constitution gave us the freedom of press, right in the first amendment. For decades, we've retained the right to freely report the news and circulate opinions without censorship from the government. However, certain politicians and government officials no longer believe in following the rules, and want to dictate everything that goes on in this country. It's only been a few weeks since the changeover in the government, but it's already become my personal nightmare. I've had my reporter verbally attacked, for no reason other than that she asked for clarification on a statement that was made. It's completely ridiculous! Because of the lack of transparency lately, I think it might be best merge with a bigger company, in order to keep the business going, and maintain credibility."
"Did you hear that I turned down going to the inauguration?"
"No way!"
"You know that I was there when Obama was inaugurated. It was such an incredible experience. I was only invited this year, because I'm running HPG. But I couldn't even fathom risking my name and reputation by being a part of that this time. I need to use my position to remain objective, and not appear to accept favors or handouts from politicians. It wouldn't be fair to our readers for me to appear to be anybody's puppet. I believe in the freedom of press, and I will fight with my last breath or keep our papers going and censor free. The only person who I will allow to censor what is published in HPG's papers, is ME! And maybe Logan. It wouldn't be right for it to appear as if I'm in cahoots with any government officials. I won't be going to any government events, or fundraising parties. I need to remain neutral and keep HPG a trusted media source. If any government officials have a problem with how I am doing things, then I am happy to sit down in a public forum with them, to discuss the beauty of the free press. But my loyalty can't and won't be bought."
"See, this is why I like you! You aren't afraid to stand up for what is right, and for what you believe in. You won't allow yourself to be bullied by corporate America."
"Heck no! I wasn't raised that way. I was raised by a single mom, in a tiny town in Connecticut, and I wasn't handed everything on a silver platter the way other kids from more wealthy families were."
"Aka the Huntzbergers." Logan commented.
"I've always been 'the little guy'. I have an obligation to stand up for people just like me, and that isn't going to change any time soon. It's who I am."
"I would love to work with you guys! It would be a pleasure to partner with you Rory. I think we could definitely make a good team."
"Excellent! I am so glad that you think so!" Rory told him.
"You are exactly the leader that HPG needs. They need someone who isn't in anyone else's pocket. Someone who can't be bought. You believe in standing up for people just like you and not taking money from crooked politicians who are only interested in furthering their own misguided agendas. You would make an amazing politician if that is the route you wanted to go someday."
"Yeah, no thank you. Being the CEO at HPG is way more public exposure than I will ever be comfortable with. I have no idea why people are so fascinated with my life. I will never understand why tabloids insist on following us and trying to shove their nose into our lives. I'm a really boring person. I like to sit home and read. I don't even watch much TV. I've never been a party person. I just study and read. I like to keep to myself. There really isn't anything to find with me. What you see is exactly what you get. I don't even buy fancy designer clothes. The only designer stuff I have was given tome by either my Grandmother or a Huntzberger. I'm just that plain girl from the tiny town in the middle of nowhere."
"Moving to New York must have been a huge adjustment for you."
"It has been. I go home to visit as much as I can. I really enjoy the tiny town life. I miss the simplicity of it all. Back home I could walk everywhere, and everyone is super friendly and knows each other. Of course, most of the town is all up in each other's business, but it's not tabloid fodder. People actually care about each other, and look out for you. When I was at Yale and my mom and her husband were dating, and split up for a while, the entire town took sides. It was totally ridiculous! But that's the kind of town it is. They all love each other and so invested in your life that they're basically family, and a break up affects everyone."
"That sounds crazy!"
"It was. It was absolutely insane. No one should ever be that invested in someone else's relationship."
"What about the entire town being upset that they couldn't go to your graduation because each student only got 4 tickets?" Logan asked.
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. The town tried to stage a re-enactment of my graduation because they were all so upset about not getting to be there. They even talked about holding auditions to figure out who would play me."
"Are you serious?"
"I wish I was joking. They put on these crazy fun events that you would just cringe thinking about, but they're so much fun, and it's the charm of living in Stars Hollow."
"They do this annual Spring Fling Festival, and the year I went, the mayor covered the entire town in hay for a massive hay bale maze. Rory was telling me that they usually have game and food booths all over the place, but that year all the event funding was reallocated to the haybale maze. Everyone was pretty pissed, but it ended up being really fun." Logan chimed in.
"That definitely sounds different. I didn't grow up anything like that."
"See, and that is exactly how I was raised. The town is so tiny and invested in everyone else' lives that it's like you have 500 parents. You really couldn't do anything without the entire town knowing about it. My second boyfriend was basically run out of town because we got in a very minor car accident together, and I broke my arm hitting the dashboard. People still hold grudges to this day, and I was 17 when it happened. The guy is now my cousin after my mom married his uncle."
"Small town life sounds interesting."
"It's definitely different. Living in the city, you rarely know your neighbors. We only know one of ours, and it's Logan's sister."
"You live in the same neighborhood as your sister?" Hugo asked.
"My sister and I are super close. I lived with her while I went to medical school, and after Rory and I got married, and were looking for a house to buy, Honor knew the people across the street were selling, and got them to agree to show us the house. We fell in love with it, and having my sister right there is great! We love living so close." Logan told him.
"We all go back and forth all the time. We changed the locks out on the doors to key pad locks, just to make it so we didn't have to carry keys with us. When my entire family comes to town like they did over Christmas, instead of having to put people on air mattresses on the floor, we just put them in a bedroom over at Honor's house. It's super convenient!"
"That's awesome! Going home for family stuff can be such a hassle. There are always so many people all over the place." Hugo commented.
"I never had a big family growing up, so this was my first experience with a family holiday."
"How did you like it?"
"I actually loved it. It was just my Mom and I growing up, and my mom and grandparents were never close until after I graduated from college. We're all pretty close now, and it's actually been really great. I love having them all around."
"That is really nice.! I only have a of couple siblings, but I had a ton of cousins growing up, so things get pretty crazy when everyone gets together."
"I tried my best to skip out on large family gatherings when I was growing up. Family stuff was always more of attack on how badly I was screwing up rather than an actual enjoyable event, so I did everything I could to not be there." Logan added.
"I know what you mean. I had quite a few of those myself. Rory, this was a really good call getting Vietnamese food. I am completely stuffed!"
"Me too! I love it here. I didn't know what to expect when Logan first brought me, but the food is amazing!"
"Do you guys come here a lot?"
"We would if we didn't have a ton of food at home. Every time my parents are in town, my Step Dad spends the entire time cooking, and loads our freezer up with meals for us to just heat up. And Honor has a chef that helps out since Mitchum is staying with her, so we eat there a lot too."
"Your Step Dad cooks for you? That must be nice."
"He runs a diner back home in Stars Hollow, so he's been feeding me most of my life. My mom and I are pretty much junk food fiends, so Luke makes a point of making sure I eat something healthy."
"Luke forgets that unlike Rory and her mother, I actually know how to cook."
"It has to be nice though to not have to do it all the time."
"It is, we really appreciate it. Luke is an amazing cook. And Rory's mom runs an Inn, and the chef there is absolutely incredible! She made all the food for the clinic opening and for my birthday party. Then she spent the morning before she left making everyone a huge breakfast, and cooking us several meals to freeze for later." Logan told him.
"Nice! Maybe I'll have to come eat at your house one day."
"Anytime you want!" Rory agreed.