"Lorelai, Hunny. Slow down." Patty hollered, hurrying after the speedy brunette.
"Sorry Patty, I didn't see you there." Lorelai apologised, coming to a stop and waiting for the overweight yet lovable townsperson to catch up.
Patty finally reached Lorelai's side, slightly leaning on her for support as she caught her breath. When she'd regained control over her lungs Patty stood up straight and patted Lorelai's shoulder softly and they set off together, heading to Lukes.
"So what was it you wanted Patty?" Lorelai was just stepping through the diner's door when unexpectedly it was pushed from the opposite side and forced her back down the steps. Luckily Miss Patty had seen the man on the opposite side of the door and threw her arms out, helping her friend stand again.
"Oomph" Lorelai said as she just caught herself before completely flattening the dance teacher.
"You alright?" Patty asked as she steadied Lorelai on her feet.
"Yeah, fine. Nothing I can't handle. Would've been better to almost get knocked off my feet in other shoes though. These were my favourite pair." Lorelai looked down pitifully at her broken stiletto heel. They were the perfect black stilettos. They had tiny, black, leather bows on the outside of each ankle and were high enough to accentuate everything she wanted but not so much that she couldn't walk.
Miss Patty had too been looking at Lorelai's broken heel, reminiscing about when she had played Adelaide in a bus tour of Guys and Dolls, she got to wear black heels like they were going out of style and she sure did work them but there was a difference between the heels she had worn and Lorelai's. "My, they sure do look expensive doll."
Lorelai pulled the shoe off and held it in her hand as she reached down to pull the other off of her foot. "They had better look damn expensive." Lorelai said bitterly as she checked the heel with a pout on her face.
That's when Patty caught sight of the inner heal. On said inner heel was a tag. On said tag was a name. Said name was a mister Jimmy Choo. "Jimmy Choo? Darling how ever did you afford these?" Surely enough, if Lorelai could afford a pair then so could Patty. That wasn't to say that the rounded woman could walk in them but they sure were pretty to look at. Maybe even pretty enough to replace husband number four's picture on the mantle and that was saying something, number four had always been her favourite.
"I couldn't afford them."
"Well then however did you get them?" Patty pried, always ready for some town gossip.
"Luke got me them for my birthday last year." Lorelai finally entered the diner, heels in hand and sat down at a table, closely followed by Patty.
Putting her broken shoe on the table she settled back into the seat. It was only the second time she'd come in the diner since her and Chris split up and it was sure to be an awkward encounter.
Luke finally walked up to the table, pen and order pad in hand. "What can I get ya?" he asked monosyllabically.
"Two eggs over easy, a side of hash browns, bacon and pancakes." Lorelai ordered and looked over to Patty, waiting for the woman to order.
"Oh, I'll just have a coffee." Patty requested kindly.
"Coffee Lorelai?" Luke asked and finally looked up from the order pad, catching a glimpse of the heels on the table top. "Get hose off of there." he demanded as he shot a glare at Lorelai. "I know you hate the blisters they give you but this is a diner. I mean come on Lorelai." Luke huffed as he went to the kitchen to put her order in. When he turned around and saw them still sitting on the table he again hollered over to the couple. "I meant it Lorelai."
"I know you meant it but they're broken." Lorelai said as she looked up at Luke with the puppy dog eyes and a pout on her lips.
"Well how did you break them?" Luke asked.
"I tripped." Lorelai stated pitifully.
"Well be more careful."
"Can you fix them Luke, please, please, please?" Lorelai pleaded as she put her hands together.
"Fine. Give them here." He said as he came around the counter, grabbing the heels by the toes and swung his arm around to check the damage. He then spotted the tag and his eyes bugged out. He glanced over at Lorelai and then walked over to her with anger firing through him. "Do you know what these are?" he demanded.
"Of course I know what they are. They're my favourite heels and they're broken."
"Yeah, they're the shoes I bought you." Luke said angrily.
"I know this! That's why I like them but they broke and now I need you to fix them."
"You obviously have NO idea how much I spent on these. They're not for everyday Lorelai, these are good shoes. You wear them out on dates or to a show or something, not to work." By this point Luke was fuming, she obviously had NO idea of how much personal turmoil buying those shoes had caused him. He hadn't spent that much money at one time on any item of clothing or bodily wear in a long... well ever really.
"Well shoes are for wearing Luke; if you didn't want me to wear them then you shouldn't have bought them for me!" Lorelai yelled as she stood up and went to grab her hand bag then thought of how stupid she would look, storming down the street without any shoes on.
"I think I should get a say in whether you wear thousand dollar shoes around town or not!" Luke yelled right back.
Both of them stood there, breathing heavily in each other's faces. Luke's angry confession of the shoes price soon deflated Lorelai's angry mood. "You spent a thousand dollars on a pair of shoes for me?" Lorelai asked softly.
"Yeah, well you wanted them and you work hard... you deserved them." Luke said and then excused himself to go deal with Lorelai's shoes.
"So..." Miss Patty said as she looked over at Lorelai and smiled faintly.
"So..." Lorelai repeated. "You were going to ask me a question?" Lorelai enquired as she went behind the counter to get her own cup of coffee.
"Yes darling. I was wondering if you still had those lungs on you." Patty smiled and was obviously trying to charm Lorelai.
"I have the same lungs I've always had Patty. What do you want them for?" Lorelai inquired as she came to sit back at the table with a full, steaming mug of coffee.
Patty smiled and leaned forward, whispering conspiratorially and the brunette's eyes widened and she leaned forward a little more to hear the robust woman. "So," began Patty, "Babette and I are going to be performing next Thursday and we need an opening lady. We we're wondering if you could help us?"
Luke had walked back from up stairs and was standing next to their table and had overheard Patty asking Lorelai to sing before them. He tried to hold himself back but he just couldn't help the comment that spurt forward. "Seriously, you're asking her?" Luke said as he held the broken (soon to be fixed) heel in place.
"Yes she's asking me." Lorelai said defiantly.
"Patty, don't ask her, she can't even sing in the shower." Luke said as he leaned into the now separated women.
"I've heard her before Luke and she was great." Patty said as she patted Lorelai's hand. "So hunny, what do you say?"
Lorelai looked up at Luke and smiled slightly, turning back to Patty she nodded her head, "Yeah, I'll do it."
"Thank you. Thank you so much. We'll see you at seven o'clock Thursday night at KC's." With that Patty ran, or trotted out of the diner in the direction of Babette and Morey who were sitting on the bench in the middle of the town square and the two women began to talk and gesture wildly.
"So you're really going to do this?" Luke asked as he tested her heel.
"Yes I'm going to do it!" Lorelai replied haughtily as she snatched her repaired shoes out of Luke's hands and slipped them on her feet.
"Whatever. I'll be there, you know, the one in the back laughing." Luke said with a deep laugh at his own joke.
"Ha, ha, very funny." She said as she exited, not paying.
~~Thursday Night~~
Lorelai stood up to the side of the stage, nervously shifting from foot to foot as she waited for her cue. All week she had debated what song to do and finally decided on a song that she thought was completely appropriate for her at that time. So there she stood after the cue had been made. Standing in a pair of tight jeans, her Jimmy Choo's and the baby blue scoop neck shirt he loved so much, just waiting for everybody to quiet down.
When everybody was quiet she stepped up to the microphone. "Hi everybody, I'd like to dedicate this song to someone special. You know who you are." Lorelai said, smiling to herself as the music began.
It's funny how
The walk of life
Can take you down
Without a fight
So many years
Can leave behind
Regretfully until it's time
To realize that moment
When you turn around.
I'm coming home
To breathe again,
To start again
I'm coming
From all the places
I have been
With nothing
But a voice within
That calls me…
Calls me home
Back in the day
When I was younger
I was so lost and proud
I've gained the world
But if I never
Compare of what I've heard
In the quiet morning
When the earth holds still
I'm coming home
To breathe again
To start again
I'm coming
From all the places
I have been
With nothing
But a voice within
That calls me…
Calls me home
Calls me home
I'm coming home
To breathe again
To start again
I'm coming home
To breathe again
To start again
I'm coming
From all the places
I have been
With nothing
But a voice within
That calls me…
Calls me home
When the song finished she looked at Luke who was sat in the corner. He hadn't laughed at all, actually he sort of looked like he was going to cry. After blowing him a kiss she left the stage and smiled to herself as she strutted out of the front door and heard heavy footsteps behind her. That's it, come home to me...