So this story is a long one, probably not for everyone for that same reason. There's a lot of build up to get to action. But I do believe it needs some background to understand the possibility of this seemingly unlikely coupling.
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Jess and Odette - First Meeting
Jess' head throbbed a little, needing a glass of water but he felt reluctant to move from the warmth of the bed. As his eyes peeked around the room, unwilling to fully open, he found himself in a bedroom that was clearly feminine just by the pile of throw pillows that now were tossed around the room,not really being able to make out a lot of details this time of night. It was still dark outside, and he really hadn't meant to sleep over.
A naked back lay besides him, her spine showing as it curved, her knees pulled up, the blanket slightly draped over her hips. He closed his eyes, for just a few minutes, trying to recall what had led him there.
It had been a long day at the office for both Jess and Logan, forming a game plan for future developments of Truncheon, now owned by the Huntzberger Publishing Group, including the possible expansion to New York in the coming months. He'd grown accustomed to his business-self, the role he was supposed to carry more and more in recent years - finding the perfect balance between his own style and what was acceptable by the corporate world. But in a way, it felt somehow age appropriate to him, like this was him growing up, and whether that came though writing another book or wearing suits and dress-shirts and controlling his behavior, it didn't really matter - he still knew how to be true to himself. If he wanted something more from his life, moving forward this was the way to do it.
Jess didn't really understand why Logan had insisted on bringing him over for dinner. Sure, it was nice of him to take him to dinner, like he often did with business associates himself, and he'd told him that Rory was going to be there, without specifying the context. But that raised a whole other round of questions - why on earth would this guy want the three of them at the same table? The last time, though it was over a decade ago, hadn't exactly gone that well. It was putting it mildly that he didn't have a very high opinion of the guy on a personal level. Logan Huntzberger was an excellent businessman and for that he put up with him, not that he had a choice with the ownership change. He had nothing against seeing Rory of course, it had been a while since he'd seen her face to face. But the whole thing just seemed odd, like it wasn't casual, but like he was bringing him to see her on purpose.
"Hey!" Rory greeted Jess as him and Logan stepped through the front door of a Greenwich village red-brick townhouse. The house was something along the lines he'd expected from a Huntzberger - antique furniture pieces and large original paintings already catching his eye on the walls.
The kiss that Rory gave Logan next clarified at least some of the context, which he had already assumed. But surely this wasn't just about rubbing that in. Years had passed, Rory and Jess were friends, colleagues - they'd had their moment and that was something in the past.
"Hi," Jess replied, adding, "Good to see you, you look... better," honestly. Rory had looked a little lost when he'd seen her at Luke's wedding - sad and defeated. But he hadn't dared to ask about it, feeling like it wasn't his place. Now she looked like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and he couldn't help but to wonder how much of that was Logan's doing. If that really was the case, the man did deserve some respect.
"Hello," another woman greeted Jess, and for someone he was seeing for the first time, rather familiarly. The slim figure of a blonde woman, with an intoxicatingly vibrant fragrance, invaded his space, and before he had any hope to react, had laid small pecks of kisses on both of his cheeks, leaving a faint trace of her warmth on his face. He was a little taken aback by that boldness, however the motion seemed nothing in particular to the woman in question.
"Jess, this is Odette, Odette, this is Jess," Logan introduced the two.
Jess nodded in return, observing her. She wore a yellow eyelet blouse along with tight fitting blue pants, finished off by a fierce pair of heels.
"Odette is a friend of ours. And publicly she's Logan's wife...for the time being. But actually I am," Rory explained, hesitantly, as if afraid of Jess' judgement.
That sentence made Jess almost cough.
"Huh," Jess replied, raising his eyebrows slightly in surprise. This sounded crazier than some telenovela. Rory - married? Married to Logan? Bringing him here did make a little bit more sense now, come to think of it, if they'd wanted to announce this. But this whole arrangement was unusual to say the least. But before he had the chance to respond, Logan jumped in.
"I know it's weird, but I assure you - it's very temporary. Don't worry we haven't gone mormon or anything," Logan explained, laughingly, almost apologetically. He really didn't owe Jess an explanation, but it made Jess feel a little special that he would think that.
"Well, as long as it works for you and everyone is happy, who am I to say anything," Jess noted smugly, shrugging with his words. They were all adults after all, surely they knew what they were doing. For a moment he glanced at Rory to register her state of mind in this, and there was nothing he could see in her face that would say that she wasn't okay with this arrangement.
"Come on," Rory led him towards the living room. The room was long but narrow, the windows looking out into the street, but shaded by majestic olive green velvet curtains. He was a little surprised at the selection of art in the room - first of all, there was a lot of it but everything seemed to be curated - spotlights placed in the right places. They were minimalistic nudes, abstracts, photos of buildings and patterns and the largest, taking up almost the entire height of the room - a complex piece of string art in black and white. Clearly the place had character. But he didn't particularly recognize the eclectic style he knew to be along Rory's taste. Maybe she'd changed too?
"You want a drink, Jess?" Logan asked, as Jess took a seat in the armchair closest to the window. Rory sat across from him onto the couch.
"Scotch, neat," Jess replied. The evening was too weird to handle sober, already the thought of that burn in his throat relaxed him a little.
"Odette? Rory?" Logan asked, as he poured Jess's drink and handed it to him.
"Thanks, man," he replied, taking a large sip.
"I'll just grab a La Croix," Odette said, walking over to the cabinet herself. Definitely French - Jess thought based on that 'cr' pronunciation. Jess watched a pair of fine heeled legs step confidently across the room towards the bar fridge - definitely a pleasant sight.
"Maybe a spritzer for me," Rory replied.
"Coming right up," Logan said, as he was pouring himself a scotch as well.
"It's a nice place you've got here," Jess commented, as he looked around the tastefully decorated room, with the art on the walls being the main spectacle.
"It's Odette's, we're moving soon," Rory replied to his surprise.
"Nowhere far I hope," Jess replied, casually.
"Upper West Side," Logan replied, returning with Rory's drink to sit next to her. There was notable chemistry between the two, their bodies adjusting accordingly to the other's position, almost organically. Huntzberger may have been a jackass in college, but he certainly had something that worked for Rory, even Jess could see that.
"So you're an editor, as I've understood, Jess?" Odette asked, sitting at the armchair closest to him, legs crossed parallelly.
"Among other things," he replied.
"What would those other things be?" Odette inquired further. She had gone without attending social events for a month now, trying to keep a low profile, and while she hadn't really admitted it to herself, she kind of missed the socializing, and she appreciated the company.
"I write," Jess stated, feeling proud of himself but wanting to remain humble. He'd written five short novels, all a little dark and melancholic, nordic noir, but more about the angst than the violence.
"And he manages a publishing house," Logan added, acknowledging how well Jess truly had done for himself, leaving the HPG out of it for now. Truncheon was doing fairly well on it's own, it was mostly just the original owners who had wanted an out to try their hand at some other ventures and caved when his father had made them a decent offer.
"Also true," Jess confirmed, his low tone humming as he mused. He didn't feel like the deserved a lot of credit for that, he was never trained to do any of that. All he knew was what he'd picked up from Chris and Matthew, managing it was hardly what he would've called it, even though that's what his new title claimed he did.
"I'll go and get us some snacks," Rory said, as she rose and headed towards the kitchen.
"And you guys went to high school together?" Odette inquired, as if piecing together the information. She'd learned already from Rory that she knew him from back then, before the guys had gotten there, but she was curious to what that actually had entailed. Rory had seemed a little nervous and she'd wondered why. Jess' opinion of what she was doing seemed to matter a little too much to Rory if he just was a nobody.
"Not exactly," Jess replied, "we just lived in the same town, a very small town," Jess emphasized. "Different high schools," he added, recalling momentarily the craziness of Stars Hollow. He didn't want to linger on the fact that there had been more, it didn't seem relevant on this occasion.
"So what's it like to grow up in a small town? All I've ever really known are big cities," Odette continued, as Rory returned, offering everyone pepperoncini deviled eggs and avocado endive cups with salsa.
Jess had almost expected Rory to carry the conversation, being the one in the room that actually knew him, but there were a lot of things in this evening that he hadn't expected.
"I grew up here actually, Stars Hollow was an attempt to alienate me from an undesirable crowd," he replied, surprising Odette. He'd been hanging out with some sketchy people, drinking, skipping school, had a few run-ins with the police even but nothing too dangerous. He eyed at the selection Rory was offering.
"Deviled eggs - really Rory?" he smirked, glancing over the tray, taking one anyway.
"What did I miss?" Odette asked, feeling lost by that last comment.
"I don't know what he's talking about," Rory tried to play innocent, but clearly she was a little amused by that comment. She took her seat next to Logan again.
"I have no proof of course but I'm pretty sure this sweet innocent woman devil-egged my car with her mother once," Jess elaborated, with a crooked smile.
"Interesting choice of ammo, Ace," Logan said, along with a smug smile.
"Did you deserve it?" Odette asked directly, sounding amused. Clearly the relationship between Rory and Jess had been an interesting one.
