I'm back with my second fic! And what a better name for it than...well, just read it above, will you?
Since I'm on vay-cay, big relief sigh, I'm back on the writing business...I hope ya'll like it!
What you need to know for this fic:
- It's 1998, I'm trying to use only realistic references due to the time, I've done some research...
- Lorelai and Christopher are married, don't worry...I don't like him either...
- Rory is only 4.
- Lorelai is a lawyer, graduated from UCLA.
I think that's all...as the fic runs I'll add more info...
Any questions feel completely free to ask!! Your doubt, other people's doubt so...
Last but not at all least:
give a shout out to the perfectness of my beta duo:
MrsDionysiousOGall
OzDust
A Second Chance Is a Once-In-A-Lifetime Thing
Uneventful flight and lost with coffee in the end of the world.
It was 1998, a year she certainly wouldn't forget.
Nope, it was too eventful for that to happen, because that was the year that she finally found herself, the year when she found out the meaning of life--nope, not the Monty Python film...And she found it in the most uneventful place and with the craziest people; way too paradoxical...
Well, go figure...
But a number of unbelievable events unveiled themselves, and before I tell you the end of this story, there was the beginning of it all...
It all started with a phone call, as many stories do, though this particular call had been dreaded for quite some time now...It was the day that The boss called her. It was a good call, professionally speaking; she would have been very happy about it if it wasn't for the little girl she was responsible for, her four-year-old daughter: Rory.
Lorelai Gilmore was 28 years old, a well-known lawyer, a divorcée (well, almost), mother and coffee devotee; together these added up to a busy full-time job. Throughout the years, she had become quite the professional and could handle the predicaments of life gracefully but, and here comes the reason why dreaded describes the dreaded phone call, she had managed to participate actively in her law firm without traveling too far or staying away for long periods far from her family. Now her boss had made it very clear that she had no choice about the traveling; she would have to do a little field research for the firm and for that she would have to travel to the opposite side of the country, the East Coast. And, as if she hadn't been unlucky enough, she would have to leave sunny homey Cali to go back to the place that held all her childhood traumas and the ones responsible for it; she was going to Hartford, Connecticut.
She liked to think that she was ok with going away (oh-so-far-away!) from her kid; that it was safe to leave her in Chris's care and that they would both survive the separation, but the truth was that she was not ok with it.
In fact, she was trying to hide her panic while she reviewed Rory's daycare schedule for the thousandth time with Chris.
"Lore, would you calm down?" He rested his hands on each of her shoulders to calm her. "I already know Rory's schedule by heart. And, even if I forget..." He was almost interrupted by a frantic Lorelai but managed to be faster. "Which won't happen, but if for some reason, I do, there's still all the copies that you strategically left around the house, in my wallet, on the fridge...even my secretary knows what time I have to pick Rory up!"
"Maybe...maybe I overreacted a little..." She smiled, embarrassed; of course Chris would know how to look after his own daughter...
"Where did you ever get that impression?" he sarcastically asked. "Everything will be fine; you don't have to worry about a thing!"
Lorelai looked questionably at him.
"I pinky swear!" Chris offered her his pinky.
"Oh, NOW it's serious. I mean, if you pinky swear!" She mocked him, but still accepted his pinky, and a pinky-pledge was made; the deal officially closed.
Lorelai started to subconsciously collect some of Rory's toys, which were spread out in the living room, a natural nervous reaction. She was ready to leave on her business trip, but she didn't seem to ever leave...
Suddenly the powerful realization hit her, that she would be away from her baby for three whole weeks, and she just had to sit down on the couch.
"Do you want me to take you to the airport?" Chris asked with concern, sitting next to her. "I could take you, you know? And this way you could say goodbye to Ror at the airport instead of...now..."
"Nah...I think it's better this way...I don't wanna have an emotional meltdown in the middle of LAX..." She smiled weakly. "I'd better say adieu to mini me..."
She stood from the couch and walked towards Rory's room, and knocked on the door that was quickly opened. A miniature version of Lorelai threw herself into her mother's arms.
"Mommy!" Rory yelled, exasperated.
"What happened, hun?"
"You're leaving..." she whined, "Who's taking me to Jenny's house, now?"
Jenny was Rory's best friend from kindergarten.
"Daddy can take you..." Lorelai tried to make the four-year-old understand that she wasn't being abandoned. "And mommy will be back before you know it."
"Like when you leave for Booba's?" Rory questioned her mom, those crystal-blue eyes shinning curiously.
Lorelai had to smile at her little girl; Booba was what Rory called her work place.
Like any four-year-old, Rory was in a world of her own, full of secrets and incredible personalities; each day she would 'be' a different person. Today she was happy being Ariel, the Little Mermaid.
She had on her mermaid costume and held Colonel Cluckers tightly; it wasn't easy for a stuffed 'chicken' to live underwater…
"Maybe a little longer than when I go to Booba's…" Lorelai answered Rory; she couldn't lie to her other half.
Rory simultaneously furrowed her brows.
"Longer…" the little mermaid said in an unhappy tone.
"Yeah, about three weeks…" Lorelai had to tell her the truth, even though Rory was too young to have a real perception of time.
"Three?" Rory asked, showing three little chubby fingers to her mom, proud that she knew the number.
Lorelai nodded affirmatively and smiled proudly at her little angel.
"Mommy, but I'm four." She adjusted her hand so that she was now showing four little fingers.
"Yeah, you're right…three weeks is nothing…besides, I know that my big girl is gonna behave, right?" Lorelai kneeled in front of her baby girl.
Rory quickly nodded her head.
"I'll be a good girl, mommy!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Lorelai had to hug her, lifting her in the air while the little girl giggled. "I love you."
"I love you too!" And she kissed her mom on the cheek.
Lorelai looked at her watch and was surprised at how fast the time had passed; it was already time to leave.
She put Rory back on the floor and hugged her some more, "Mommy has to go now..."
She gave her a final kiss and stood to leave.
But Rory seemed to finally realize the meaning of 'departure', for now her facial expression became saddened and tears started to roll freely down her pink cheeks.
Her arms stretched out in front of her and she ran after Lorelai's departing silhouette. "Mom...mmy!"
She sniffed as tears continued to fall; she used Colonel Clucker's wing to wipe her runny nose.
"Aww, hon..." Lorelai gathered her precious treasure in her arms; that only resulted in the worsening of Rory's frantic sobs.
"Don't leave...mommy..." Rory said whiningly then locked her arms around Lorelai's neck.
Lorelai looked at her watch again, she had to go.
She moved to the living room while soothing her baby. "I'm coming back...I would never leave you, kiddo..."
She grabbed a handkerchief from her purse and wiped Rory's nose, then kissed her cheek sweetly.
"Did you know that princesses, like yourself, don't cry when their mommies travel?"
That seemed to seize Rory's attention.
"Really?" she asked, still not fully recovered from her crying-fit.
"Yeah, especially Ariel; she's the bravest of all the princesses!"
"I'm Ariel today, mommy!" Rory reported, excited again.
"Really?" Lorelai acted surprised.
Rory only nodded affirmatively.
"See, so you don't have to cry." Lorelai gently stroked her tears away. That seemed to calm the little girl; she gave her one more kiss and was about to step out of the house when she heard Chris's voice:
"Lore!" she turned around. "Could you think about...it?"
He didn't want to say it, but she knew what he was talking about.
He had told her that he didn't want a divorce, that he still loved her and wanted a complete and happy family.
She had already thought about it.
It had been an easy decision to make; it had been very clear, to her at least, that they had no future... They had had a beautiful past but...some things just have to end some day.
Don't get her wrong when she says it was an easy decision to make; she hadn't been thoughtless or mad, it was just the sudden knowledge that seemed to have rested in the back of her mind and never left. Divorce just felt like the next natural step after that.
"I'll think about it," she told him.
And she smiled because he smiled.
Some things just have to end someday.
"Bye!" She left before Rory had time to react; she hated to leave like that.
She got into her car and arrived at LAX in a flash; it even made her question if she had been teleporting. But the truth was that time seemed to fly because she couldn't stop thinking about Rory; she missed her already. It had only been an hour and she already missed her dearly, how would she ever survive three weeks?
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Her flight was uneventful, and that was a good thing because who wanted an eventful flight, right?
Who would want to have a plane crash and end up on a weird, lost island? Well, not her, for sure.
She hadn't been able to sleep at all on the flight, so she just stared at her reflection in the window, observing the heavenly set-up of fluffy clouds surrounding her.
As soon as she left the plane, the wintry Connecticut weather welcomed her; that was one of the few things she missed about this place: how a person could feel the four seasons change throughout the year. She had not felt that nice chilly wind since she ran away to California, just her and Chris, in what seemed a lifetime ago.
The young couple had, after much careful planning and dreaming, finally run away on prom night to a place they judged perfect for their future lives: California. And the reason they had picked that particular state out of the other 49 available was because of the totally opposite characteristics it had compared to their previous home, that and the obvious physical distance...
Lorelai took a deep breath, coming back from her trip down Memory Lane, and prepared herself for the task ahead of her, both professionally and emotionally...
She got her luggage and moved to the car rental kiosk, where her car keys were already waiting for her.
She left the airport and sped to the Hartford area; she had to check into her hotel and start work.
The sooner she started working, the sooner she would go back home...
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Lorelai had been in Connecticut for a week now and was not even close to finishing her field research...
One of the firm's top clients had decided that he was going to sue a little Connecticut inn because he had received poor service during his three-day stay there.
The field research consisted in finding out the true accuracy of the lawsuit that this important client was considering. Especially since he had a tendency of suing everyone he met; in fact, rumor was that a good part of his personal fortune was a direct result from all his lawsuits…
Therefore, she was staying at said Inn. She hadn't been mistreated yet; of course, there was that really moody guy at the front desk, but he was French, so…
She called Rory every night and so far, she seemed to be the one most desperate to go home. Who would have ever guessed that her four-year-old kid would handle separation better than her own mature, older self?
She wasn't complaining...far from it. Though she had to admit that she felt a little neglected by the fact that her daughter handled it so well: it made her feel a little...unwanted. She knew that that was a stupid assumption but she couldn't help it if she felt that way...
It was now eight o'clock on--for a change--a chilly morning. The cool Connecticut weather had already lost its charm and it was beginning to annoy her, especially in the mornings...
She had been dressed for a few minutes but had returned to the warmness of bed as soon as she realized that her fancy new corporate suit wouldn't keep her warm enough. She would never admit it out loud but she had become a 'California-girl'; she wasn't taking the cold too well…she used to always brag to her beach-y friends that they wouldn't know real cold until they moved to a northern state. And now, she was being a chicken and hiding under the covers.
After gathering some courage, she was ready to face the cold; the firm had conveniently asked her to represent them at a meeting in the area, and since she was bored to the nines, she was glad to do so.
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She was usually good with new places, maps, etc…she normally never got lost, but today, apparently, was a different day.
Lorelai had been lost for almost an hour and although she knew she couldn't be too far away from the Inn, she didn't seem to find herself either…
And whenever she thought she wasn't lost anymore, she saw that damn sign again… She tried to blame it on the mocha rented Jeep, but deep inside she knew it was her own fault.
Finally, after going around in circles for some time, she decided to try her luck and turned right into a secondary road.
It was getting dark and the road, that was completely surrounded with tall trees, which, she was sure a very pretty sight during the day, became quite scary now…Suddenly, horror movie flashbacks flooded her mind and she found herself looking for an old man carrying a chainsaw…She had to convince herself that this was not Texas and that people in Connecticut were much too cold to leave their homes and murder passers-by.
It was then that she saw a lighted, blue sign reading "Welcome to Stars Hollow". Maybe someone could give her directions, maybe they had restaurants; she would kill for a burger and a gallon of good coffee…
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There wasn't much to this Stars Hollow town, a few right turns and you'd've seen it all…
But she had to admit that it had a certain charm about it…it was cute and fluffy…and adorable and…she arrived at the town square and saw the sign 'Luke's' hanging from a…diner!
There's food in this town after all! That thought invigorated her.
And if there was food, it was bound to have some nice people that could help her with directions, right?
The minute she stepped out of the Jeep, the balmy breeze reminded her that, yet again, she wasn't dressed appropriately…she would have to go shopping…too bad she hated shopping, wasn't it?
After she read 'coffee' on the little diner's window, she ran towards it. Coffee seemed like an excellent reason to run…
People curiously watched the new stranger speed up to Luke's, while all sorts of rumors were being created about her.
Lorelai was a little surprised by the noise from the bell on the door as she walked in: how corny was that? Didn't these people know that they had an electronic version of those? But then she looked around the little corner diner; it was totally different from anything in California. She didn't know, however, that the 50s were back…and it matched the green truck parked in front perfectly!
Her Cali friends would go crazy in a place like this; none of the chairs or tables matched, there were no curtains and…at least there was a small flower vase on each table…and the colors! They probably weren't aware that trendy coffee shops were supposed to follow the 'clean' style, but then again…there was nothing trendy about this place.
She decided she would sit at a table near the window; she liked to observe the people walking by.
A man approached her holding a small notebook and pen and asked, "Ready to order?"
"Sorry?" Lorelai had been roused out of her daze.
"Your order…" the man answered impatiently, like it was a very hard task to repeat himself to the new costumer.
"Oh…I'm sorry, I haven't looked at the menu yet…" She offered him a friendly smile as she reached for the menu that rested on top of her table.
The man turned without saying a word.
It was the first time in Lorelai's life that a man hadn't tried to be nice to her…that intrigued her…
"Hey!" she called to his retreating form; he slightly turned his head.
There was a second of uncomfortable silence; Lorelai hadn't quite thought of what she was going to say once he turned.
"Yeah?" he asked, indicating that he was still waiting for her to say something. Seriously, this city had the ability to produce and attract all sorts of crazy people.
"Coffee!" she exclaimed a little louder than she intended, "I need coffee and…on the window…"she pointed at the glass window. "It says you have coffee!" She smiled, content with her logic.
The strange man only nodded and moved behind the counter.
How could he have no reaction? - She thought.
He calmly brought her a humongous blue mug filled with the best-smelling beverage in the universe and dropped it in front of her.
"Thanks…" she answered a little shyly after he had shown no emotion; was he a zombie?
He only nodded again; it was almost like he was challenging her to make him react.
He took a rag from his back pocket and started to rub one of the many already-clean tables.
It was then that Lorelai took a sip from the most wonderful coffee that she had ever tasted in her entire life. "Oh. My. God!" she yelled, suddenly overtaken by the unbelievable greatness of the perfection of that small-town coffee. She even closed her eyes, thinking that in that way she would taste it better.
"Are you ok, Miss?" a heavy male voice asked her.
She opened her eyes to see a concerned pair of dark blue eyes staring at her, really close to her by the way… It was the first full sentence he had spoken.
She smiled back at the guy; it was nice that he was concerned about a complete stranger, "I'm fine, in fact I'm great!"
The man frown his eyebrows, questioning.
"This is the BEST coffee I've ever tasted! And believe me when I tell you that, my friend, cuz you're talking to one of the world's greatest coffee experts!" Lorelai took another gulp from the cup, "Mmmm, yep, the coffee gods have smiled upon you!"
"Good," was the only thing the man said after she confessed her love for his coffee.
That woman was starting to annoy him.
"Is your burger as good as your coffee?" she asked, seeming truly interested in the answer.
"I don't eat red meat, but people seem to like it…" he shrugged.
"Are you one of those health freaks?" Lorelai asked, surprised that a diner owner would say such thing. So far, that was the only trait that he shared with Californians. "You're wasting the best years of your life with granola bars! Carpe diem, baby!"
"Being healthy will grant me the incredible task of getting to 40, unlike other people…" The woman had really gotten on his nerves, questioning his eating habits while hers were obviously disgusting.
Lorelai was quiet for a second, surprised by the long--for him--and meaningful statement.
"Hey, was that personal?" she pretended to be offended.
"I…I'm…" he said uncomfortably.
She laughed at him; he was an easy man to vex; maybe now she would have something to do until her firm gave her the 'ok' to go home.
He realized that she was just messing with him. "Wanna a burger then?"
He seemed to sober up; no way would he be a joke material to some crazy newcomer.
"Yeah, nothing green on it though…" She contorted her face just mentioning vegetables.
He nodded then turned before she could see the discreet smile that had crept upon his face. What a total basket case had the winds brought to town…
"I'm Lorelai, by the way," she added as an afterthought. How could she have shared her love for coffee and everything greasy without ever introducing herself?
"Luke," he said simply from behind the counter, after announcing the order to the cook.
"Right," she looked at the sign hanging on the door. "Should've figured…"
He fixed his cap a little shyly. "I'm not very creative with names…" he explained.
Lorelai grinned at him. "I can't really talk about original names…I named my daughter after me; I just felt like I deserved the honor, ya know?"
He didn't know how to answer to that; he neither had a daughter nor had named the diner to honor himself… "I think my case was just a lack of imagination…"
She noticed how the stranger looked cute when he had his 'I'm thinking' face on; in fact, the stranger was very cute and she couldn't help but notice his serious badonkadonk butt!
"Is my burger gonna take long?" Lorelai was starting to feel impatient with hunger.
"I'm gonna check…" Luke went into the kitchen to find out about her order.
Lorelai was left almost alone in the diner; she had no other option but to look out the window again. She saw a bearded, chubby old man frantically talking to a woman right in front; the man moved his arms around like he was conducting an orchestra at the speed of light; the woman smiled and nodded once in a while. After a few seconds, the woman gave the elderly man a final smile and quickly walked into the diner.
"Honey, I'm home!" the young pretty woman announced to no one in particular, and so it seemed until Luke came from the kitchen with Lorelai's dinner and said woman hugged him fondly.
"Rach, I'm working…" Luke said, ignoring her hug.
"I'll help!" she said, moving to the back of the counter and grabbing an apron; she returned, taking the order from Luke's hand before he could even realize what happened. "Whose food is this?" she asked a bedazzled-looking Luke; after many years of dating Rachel, he was still surprised by how helpful she could be when she wanted something.
"Rachel, what have you and Taylor been discussing?" The screws starting to turn in his head; he had seen them talking in front of the diner.
"Nothing…" she answered slowly; Luke looked at her sternly. "Okay…well, he told me that if I convinced you to put up some of the 'Stars Hollow Appreciation Day Festival' flyers on display then…he would give me the official town photographer job…" She looked at him sweetly. "And you know that I really need it!"
"Now's not the time to have this conversation," he said in a low voice that was meant so people couldn't hear him, although Lorelai heard them loud and clear.
"Okay!" Rachel tried to hide her disappointment; she knew when she had just lost a battle, "whose food is this?" She nodded at the plate she had been holding.
"It's Lorelai's," Luke answered simply.
"Whose?" Rachel asked, curious that her grumpy boyfriend had said someone's name instead of his usual: 'the customer on the right' bit.
"Lorelai." He pointed at the beautiful woman staring out the window.
"Oh." Rachel was intrigued and a little worried that Luke, her boyfriend, had befriended such pretty competition; she took the plate to the woman. "Here, enjoy." She wore an amicable smile on her face.
"Thanks," Lorelai answered, already shoving fries into her mouth; those were good fries…
Rachel walked back to her boyfriend and pulled him towards the storage room so they could be alone.
"Rachel, I've already told you that I'm working…" His tone was on edge.
"Do you know her? From where? How long?" Rachel questioned, as if on a mission to find the truth.
"What are you talking about?" Luke asked, a little lost; he thought she would want to argue with him about putting up those ridiculous flyers…
"About the woman?" she spoke a little louder.
"What woman?" he asked, now completely lost.
"The woman wearing a summer suit, for Pete's sake! The one who must be really cold, because that outfit is completely weather inappropriate, the one I've never seen before!" Rachel yelled in the middle of a jealous fit.
"Oh," he seemed to, finally, sense her jealousy, "are you talking about Lorelai?" He found his girlfriend's new behavior funny…
"Yeah," she snorted. "Loh-re-lai!" she spoke in a high-pitched voice, as if making fun of the newcomer.
"I just met her…" he acted nonchalantly.
Rachel didn't look happy with his response.
"In fact, I met her today, minutes before you came in…" He approached her and touched her arms, moving his hands up and down to soothe her.
"And how do you know her name?" Rachel asked, not entirely convinced yet.
"She told me." He received a doubtful look from her. "Really, I never asked."
"Mmmkay…" she smiled again. "Back to work then…" She pulled him toward the noisy diner.
When they returned, they found Lorelai sitting at the counter, engrossed in conversation with Caesar, the help Luke had hired over the summer. She had a plate of apple pie in front of her that seemed to quickly disappear.
Rachel felt calmer after witnessing that scene; the woman apparently spoke to everyone, nothing to worry about then…
They went back to work; after all, it was one of the busiest hours in the diner.
They were busily running around, writing down orders, refilling coffee cups when all was interrupted by a loud, electronic sound. People started to look around, trying to find the source of such an unpleasant sound, when they heard the newcomer talking into some sort of new electronic device.
"Hello?" Lorelai asked into her cell; she was conscious of how many stares she received from the people in the diner. Cell phones were still a little new in California; she could only imagine how they were here, in the smallest city in the world.
"Hello, Mrs. Hayden!" came her boss' voice from the other side of the line.
"Oh, hi Mr. Davenport." She was hoping that it was her daughter calling her, "how are you, sir?"
"I can't complain, how about yourself, Lorelai?"
"I can't complain either." Why was her boss calling her? She really hoped it wouldn't be to announce that she had to stay longer than they had talked about. "Although it is a little cold up here," she laughed into the phone.
"Oh, then I have some good news for you!" he announced over-excitedly.
That made her fear what he would say next.
"Really?" She tried to sound equally enthusiastic, as she discovered that the whole diner was observing her and her incredible new gadget.
"I was going over your reports…and I think it's time for you to come home," he stated simply.
That made her unsure about her situation at the firm, was that a good thing?
"I think your job there is done," he added.
"I could do some more research, sir. If necessary, of course!" She tried to demonstrate her willingness to stay, his intentions still unclear to her.
"We have enough; we need you here in L.A." His tone was lighter, he was smiling.
Thank God.
"It's a deal, sir. When should I go back?" And she noticed that she was breathing again.
"Well, since the material for Mr. Rich's suing was insufficient to start any legal action, I would like you to stay there for another two days, then you can attend another of our local office meetings and fly back." His deep voice continued, "You could give them some guidance; I don't know if they know what they're doing, they are very efficient, but a little new to practicing law. I know you can help them."
"Of course, it'll be my pleasure." She was using her serious lawyer voice.
"And I also know that you're probably missing little Rory dearly!" He gave her one of his deep-throated laughs.
"Yes, sir, I am. You know it's been the first time we've been apart…" Lorelai said, a little emotional.
"It will be over soon; see you Monday at the office!"
"But I'll be back on Friday; don't you want me to show up on Saturday?"
"No, I think we can manage to survive without you for another day; I don't want be responsible for Rory's trauma caused by a distant mother!" And he guffawed again; she could feel her cell shaking.
"Thank you, sir. That's very generous of you."
"You're welcome, dear. Now good evening!"
"Good evening, see you on Monday!" She had a silly smile plastered on her face when she turned off the phone.
She was going to see Rory!
And she was going to see Chris too… She would be obliged to talk to him this time, she had promised him after all; it would not be fun to tell him the truth.
That everything was over, for good.
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