Music for the Muse

Rory stared out of the window of the bus watching as other folks scurried around below the window loading equipment and bags into the storage area below. She sipped her Caribou coffee slowly savoring the rich taste. It felt like days since she'd had decent coffee. She had tried brewing it in one of the motels along the road in the pot they gave you in the room. It had been the worst cup of the trip so far. One thing was for sure, motel coffee sucked, but then she'd been raised on some of the best. A wave of homesickness for Stars Hollow hit her so hard that she bit her lip as she inhaled. She missed the comfort of her own home, her own bed, and her books surrounding her. Life on the road left a lot to be desired. She'd spent the last three weeks trying to get used to her new job and surroundings. Following the campaign was not as glamorous as she has hoped it would be. Every morning they briefed her on the Senator's stops and schedule for the day. There were quite a few sites where they wanted to keep a small town feel and only a few press passes were issued. They provided copy of the day's speech, the questions asked, and many reporters wrote and posted their stories based on the information, but Rory felt disconnected. She'd been dissatisfied with her writing so far. Her editor had told her that it might take some time to get into the groove. They were a weekly publication, and so far he'd been satisfied with her editorials, but she wasn't. She hadn't felt that connection to a really good piece like she was used to. She wanted something that really grabbed attention and was thought provoking. Something that would make a person stop and really think about the vote they were going to cast, but so far she hadn't been able to put her finger on that pulse that had come so easily to her before.

She glanced around the bus again, watching as more people boarded and took their seats. She scanned the faces of the people boarding with particular interest this morning. She was anxiously looking for someone. Finally spotting the target of her interest she watched as he strode across the gravel parking lot and boarded the bus. From the front of the bus he stood and began his morning speech.

"Good morning folks we have a lot to cover today, both in agenda and in miles so let's get started. I have today's schedule to go over" he said as he handed out several packets that began their meandering path towards the back of the bus, "and finally", he said holding up a bag, "the mail has caught up with us."

Rory grinned broadly and from the back there were a few sharp whistles. This was the news she had been waiting for. They had been waiting for the mail for four days. The system to get the post to reach them had been set up in a similar manner as a military address, with a drop off point every few days, but at the last appointed stop there had been a disconnect and it hadn't arrived in time. Rory anxiously waited for the day's schedule to be completed so that she could get her mail. She was sure to have some by now. She talked with her mother regularly and emailed her friends, but mail was so much more personal. You could hold something that someone else had held, reread it; keep it around for when you were feeling blue. Sometimes she thought with a dreamy smile there would be a box with some twizzlers and oreo's from her mom, or some goodies from Sookie. She had to hoard those for when she was alone. She'd shared one package with her neighboring reporters and quickly was reduced to crumbs. It seemed other reporters shared both her appetite and iron stomach.

She half listened as the man went into details surrounding the day's stops. There were three today, and they had two more days in Ohio before they drove to catch up with Senator Biden at a rally in Florida. They had planned to spend the next several weeks in swing states, and then the debates would soon begin. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the senator's motorcade passing by followed by the secret service in black sedans. Three of her bus mates were on the senator's bus awaiting a scheduled interview with him. He often scheduled four minute interviews on long drives like today. Rory often tired to imagine what she could ask in four minutes.

Shaking herself back to reality she caught the last few words from the liaison on the day's schedule. Finally he walked up the aisle stopping to pass out mail to people along the way. Rory sat up straight in her seat and smiled broadly at him as he stopped by her seat. He plunked a still full mailbag on the empty seat beside her and started pulling out small bundled items.

"Gilmore, Gilmore, Gilmore, Gilmore, Gilmore," he repeated over and over as he handed her envelopes, postcards, two small packages, and several magazines. Rory eyed the mounting pile as a pirate would treasure. She would be well occupied for today's trip. Just as she thought he was finished he pulled out a large box and handed it to her. It was larger than anything else she had received while on the road, and she paused for a moment trying to remember if she had ordered anything online. She handled the box with surprise. Engrossed in the origin of the package she almost missed the bantering around her.

"How many this time?" called out a faceless voice.

"Who won the pool?" questioned another.

Rory looked up from her loot and tried to figure out what everyone was talking about.

"14 envelopes, 3 packages, and 4 magazines."

"Lucky 21!" she heard someone call out as others groaned aloud.

As the liaison walked past Rory beckoned him closer. "What was all that about?" She asked.

He grinned at her and leaned over towards her. "It's been kind of slow lately, you've only been on the road a little while, and so after you've been here for a while you'll see we look for any sort of distraction we can find. Someone noticed how much mail you get, and they started a little thing. Never seen somebody get so much mail, not with the internet nowadays. We've got pools for just about everything. Keeps us occupied while driving."

Rory blushed and nodded, and the man walked back up to the front of the bus to take his seat. Sliding down further into her seat Rory wondered what the pool was on her staying in this job. She sighed to herself and lifted her eyes to the ceiling of the bus. It was always so hard to fit in. Working with reporters on other papers was so different. There you usually had the common goal of printing the best paper possible, but here no one was exactly friendly. Every one of them was a competitor, for readers, for story ideas and for interview time. Not the sort of place that promoted friendships. It was like being back at Chilton.

Ignoring the chatter around her and returned her attention to her precious mail. She picked up the large box from her lap and examined it more closely. Curiously she looked at its postmark and saw to her surprise that it was from Philadelphia. Her eyes widened as she realized that it had to be from Jess. She toyed with the idea of saving it for last, and then decided she couldn't wait. She ripped off the tape, lifted the flaps and found an envelope with her name on it, a cd, a book and a large box of fig newtons. Rory lifted out the envelope and pulled out several pages of a hand written letter. She opened the box of newtons with her one hand with a skilled move her mother maintained should be on her resume proceeded to eat them while she began to read her letter.

Dear Rory,

I got your post card today and was shocked. A week out of school and a job already, and covering the Obama campaign no less. I guess I shouldn't be shocked at all, that sounds just like you. I was surprised that you left Stars Hollow so soon. I thought you might try to stick around and start up your own version of CSPAN, or improve on the quality of the Stars Hollow Gazette, but it's good to hear that things are going so well for you. How's the Porsche man taking to you being on the road so much? I'm sorry, I promise that I won't get hostile and call him an ass. (Sorry again). I want to stay friends with you and if that means biting my tongue around the pompous, conceited (sorry last time I promise I just need to get it out of my system) arrogant, inconsiderate, mindless, frat boy, boy band wanna be, weak chinned, drunken degenerate, then that's what I will do.

Ok, that's out of my system and I can promise to be civil now.

So how are you? How's the job on the road?

Let me guess, posh accommodations at every econo lodge motel you could ever want to see, endless political speeches about lowering taxes, bad coffee, a constant humming noise on the bus, and lots of used minutes to your mom on the phone. I've taken enough bus trips in my life to be pretty familiar with it. In my opinion the humming noise is the worst, no matter where you sit it seems to penetrate your thoughts, but I don't know. I've never seen you without a steady diet of Luke's coffee, so it may be a tie.

So road trip job, which means about 2 suitcases. How many books did you manage to bring along with you? Let me try to guess. Fountainhead of course. An Austen for when you get lonely, you probably have a book about Obama and one about McCain. I'm betting there's a book that's a collection of letters, probably the John Adam's letters to his wife, and can I hope that mine might be in there among them?

Well I hope you don't mind but I'm sending you another one. It can be your new bus book or door stop, whatever you choose. I wanted you to have one of the first copies. One of the few anyways. We're only putting out about 500, but I have already gotten some calls from some of the bookstores that carried my first book. I'll probably be making a road trip myself at some point to see about stocking it out a little further this time.

So the book is for when you want a break from the fountainhead, and since I know you won't pick up Ernest, I thought perhaps you might read my next one. I won't give the plot away. I hate it when books do that, but you will have to let me know what you think.

So about that humming noise. If you say what humming noise I may already be too late. I've included some music for you on the enclosed cd. It's nothing big, just a collection of some things I thought you might enjoy. I was watching High Fidelity the other night and was struck with the idea.

Send me a copy of your magazine. I know there is probably a newsstand in Stars Hollow dedicated to it by now, and that Kirk is probably manning it as we speak, but I have no intention of walking down main street anytime soon, so you'll have to help me out.

Lastly, Luke called the other night and was concerned that you might not be eating enough fruit on the road. I figured the newtons were the only thing that could get past the Gilmore fruit phobia. Let me know what else I can include and I'll send it next time.

Take Care

Jess

Rory nibbled on the cookie in one hand and reread the letter. She kept coming to the part where Jess called Logan an ass and realized that his insults were pretty near to the truth. It had only been about a month since the break up, and riding on the bus gave her lots of time to dwell on it. Jess's insults about Logan were so close to what she had once called him herself that she gave a little smirk. The rest of the letter had pegged her on just about everything else too, right down to the copy of the fountainhead she had in her laptop bag. Finishing her cookie she reached back into the box and brought out the book and the cd. The cd was labeled "For Rory". She turned her attention to the book. It was thicker than his last one and was entitled The Cornerstone. She ran her fingers lightly over his name on the cover. She was still always so impressed with him and all he had accomplished. She flipped open the cover and stopped at the dedications page.

To the Cornerstone in my life- Uncle Luke

Thank You

Rory smiled. That was really going to embarrass Luke. She wished fleetingly that she could be there to see it. She'd have to remember to ask her mother about it.

She flipped to the back of the book and found an author's note on the back of the book and stared for a moment at the face she knew so well. His eyes looked back up at her with the same intensity that she remembered from when she was in high school. Unbidden a memory of kissing him outside of Luke's diner after a disastrous dinner with her grandmother came to mind. Rory realized she was smiling back at the brooding stare of the author and moved to close the book when on an adjacent page she caught sight of some handwriting. She flipped open the page and found a scribbled message.

Property of Rory Gilmore.

Better return it undamaged or she'll make you read The Fountainhead over and over again.

Rory let out a quick laugh, and shook her head. Honestly, The Fountainhead wasn't that bad. She put the book down on the side of the seat, promising herself that she'd read it once she'd finished going through the rest of her mail. Instead of picking up the next letter however she went back and picked up the cd case and opened it. She pulled out her laptop and put the cd into the drive as she put on her headphones. She rested the laptop on the empty seat, and as she turned, a small bit of paper fell out of the cd case. Picking it up she recognized Jesses handwriting once more. It read:

For Rory, a mix of road trip worthy music by Dodger.

Rory pushed play and smiled brightly as she recognized the first song on the cd as the guns of Brixton. The ever present humming noise was drowned out and she returned to opening the rest of her mail tapping her foot to the sounds of the Clash. She debated for only a moment before reaching for the package from Sookie next; she was starving.

Hi Folks, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. This story will have lots of musical references and so in order to put them together to best explain, I always hope to make a playlist for you of what is on the cd's she's listening to. Word to the wise, another author's prerogative is to use any music I want, so even though the show ended over a year ago, and the timing should only be a month after that, there are just some songs that need to be used here. I'm also going to be following a more current storyline with the election in order to move the story around. I hope to have greater interaction with Jess and Rory in later chapters of a more immediate nature and I will of course be returning to Stars Hollow at some point. Can't continue the story properly without doing that. I'm also looking for a Beta, so if there's anyone out there who would like to get into this story a little more, perhaps help me with some more musical and cult references I would be very interested in speaking with you.

For now, here's what Jess included on the CD for Rory:

Guns of Brixton- The Clash

Breaking- The Music

Riding with the King-BB King

Black and Blue- Kenny Wayne Sheppard

Best of You- Foo Fighters

A current obsession- Lacuna Coil

Barely Listening-Pilot Speed

Dry the Rain- The Beta Band

Rise above this- Seether

Middle Management- Bishop Allen

Time after time- Quiet Drive

Beautiful Day- U2

For those of you wondering why Jess has some of this music, remember the movie High Fidelity- The point of making a good mix tape is to fill it with music of what they would love to hear. If you have never seen this movie, shame on you, go rent it immediately.

Thanks for reading.