Jess and Julie
Rory Gilmore was not known for spontaneity. Save for ditching school to go to New York, dropping out of Yale and stealing a yacht, she had never done anything totally crazy. So there she stood outside of an apartment building in Philadelphia. She wrung her hands nervously, wondering what the hell she was doing there. She had a week off from work, so she decided to drive home to Connecticut. Philadelphia had been an unplanned stop. She had gotten the address from Luke, who grudgingly handed it over.
She saw someone come out of the building and she walked in, pretending to have forgotten her keys. She climbed up the stairs to the third floor and made a left. She knocked on the door gently.
A woman, more of a girl, really, since she was so short, opened the door. Her green eyes looked at Rory inquisitively.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Oh," Rory fumbled, "I must have the wrong address."
"Who are you looking for?" the redhead asked.
"Jess Mariano," Rory answered slowly.
"This is the right address. He's not home right now. Would you like to come in?" the woman asked politely.
"Sure," Rory replied. Crap, he has a girlfriend, she thought.
"Sorry about the mess," the woman apologized, picking up empty boxes, "We just moved in a week ago. Everything was so hectic after the wedding."
"The wedding?" Rory nearly choked upon noticing a silver band on her left ring finger.
"Yeah. Are you a relative?"
"Yeah, Rory Gilmore. Jess's uncle married my mom," she replied.
"Oh, Jess mentioned you a few times. You have a great taste in books, except for the Ayn Rand thing," she chuckled, "I'm Julie."
"Jess and Julie," Rory mumbled.
"Yeah, we alliterate. How sickening is that?" Julie made her way to the kitchen, "Please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink, coffee, tea?"
"Coffee would be fine," Rory answered, her mind still reeling. Wasn't it just two years ago she kissed Jess at Truncheon?
"We've got espresso, American, Colombian, take your pick," Julie had opened a cupboard.
"American's good," Rory said.
"The espresso is to die for, though. I bought it in droves when I was in the Czech Republic last year for my year abroad," Julie said.
"Oh, study abroad, sounds fun."
"Yeah. Both my parents are professors at Columbia. I went to Columbia too. Graduated early, and here I am," she grinned, handing Rory a cup of coffee.
"Wow, Columbia."
"Yeah, you went to Yale, right?" Julie asked.
"Yep. I took a few months off, then went back," Rory answered.
"Cool. If you want to wait for Jess, feel free to stay. I sent him out for food, so he should be back soon. You're welcome to stay for dinner," Julie said with a smile.
"No, I should get going. I'm driving back to Connecticut to visit my mom. I just wanted to see how my, erm, cousin, was," Rory said.
"I insist you stay for dinner. It's going to be dark out soon. You could spend the night. We have a spare room," Julie said, "Of course right now it's for all the books Jess and I have nicked from Truncheon."
"No, like you said, it's getting dark. I'll be home in a couple of hours, anyway. It was nice meeting you," Rory said, standing up.
"It was lovely to meet you, too," Julie replied, walking Rory to the door.
"Thanks for the coffee," Rory said.
"No problem. Don't be a stranger. You're family," Julie grinned.
"Whoa, he's married?" Lorelai stared at her daughter in shock.
"As of a week ago, apparently. Mom, you should have seen her, she's gorgeous," Rory sighed dejectedly.
"She can't be that pretty," Lorelai offered.
"Oh, but she is," Rory snorted, "She's kind of short and has red hair and really big green eyes."
"Is she an elf?" Lorelai asked.
"Mom," Rory groaned into the pillow on her childhood bed.
"Ror, sweets, he's obviously moved on. So should you," Lorelai advised.
"I thought we could have a chance, y'know? I should've done something sooner after I rejected Logan's proposal," she sighed.
"Hey, you took that time to soul search, and figure out what you want in life. I say this is great. You can close the Jess book for good. Go out and meet someone new. I need to have a talk with Luke. He could've said the little hoodlum was married," Lorelai said.