"Mum! Have you seen my red sweater?"
"Um, no comment..."
"Hey give that back! I only just bought that last weekend with Jess!"
"Rory, this sweater perfectly compliments my red heels. You can't wear heels like these without a bright red, show-off-your-boobs type sweater! It makes sense."
"You don't make sense. Tell me then mum, why did you own those red heels before even knowing that a sweater like this existed?"
"Ah hah but I did! I bought these heels along with many others because I knew one day my well-trained daughter would buy the perfect sweater that I could borrow because she would see how insanely hot I look, and if she had any inherited fashion sense at all, could not possibly spoil the perfect outfit!"
"Note to self: Never argue with a Gilmore"
"That's the spirit! By the way, there's a message from Jess on the phone. If you're going shopping, maybe you can go and seek out a sweater for my new wedges. Hmmm I'm thinking, midnight black, low-cut, velvet. You'll know when you see it. I've taught you well!"
Arghh…remind me why I love you?"
"I have mad, brainwashing skills…and I'm Lorelai Gilmore. Explanation enough."
"Agreed. Bye Mum!"
"See ya hun."
"Good morning Lorelai"
"Uh, hi Mother"
"Lorelai, I would like to come up and visit today. I don't have any other plans until this evening and I think it would be nice to come and see you and Rory. I was thinking we could have lunch."
"Look mum, I have to work but if you wanna see Rory, she'll be home and…"
"Great, I'll be there at 11.30am. Make sure to tell Rory," Emily added.
"Hmm yea, I'll do that now Mum," Lorelai said indignantly.
"Alright, well I'll see you soon, or rather see Rory soon."
"Mmmm bye." Lorelai slammed the phone down abruptly and swung around to face her friend who knew only too well who that was.
"Shit Sookie, my mum's coming to visit today. I have to tell Rory."
"Here." Sookie handed Lorelai the phone after already dialing the numbers of Rory's cell phone.
"Oh shit. Rory must have her phone turned off." Lorelai concluded after a few rings before getting her daughter's out-of-date voice mail message. "It's not like she can't handle mum but seeing her unexpectedly is not exactly a nice surprise."
"Don't worry about it. I think it's nice she wants to see Rory." Sookie said, always trying to look on the bright side of these situations.
"No, it's weird. She's up to something. God, I don't know why Rory would have her phone turned off! I already tried ringing home. She must be out with Lane. They're working on this boy-impressing project. Lane likes this guy and Rory's helping her get him."
"That sounds cute." Sookie said, stirring her beefy lentil soup.
"Yeah, but not the right day to be doing anything like that. I can just imagine what mum will have to say."
At the Gilmore residence
"OK, now that we've bought all these essentials, let's go through this again." Rory said, ready to help her friend.
"Rory, are you sure this is working? I mean do I look…pretty?" Lane said hopefully, looking over at the bottles of beauty products laid out on Rory's dresser.
"Lane you look beautiful. Now let's run through the lines. Just pretend you love me." Rory instructed, brushing the tangles of Lane's dark hair.
"I do love you, Rory." Lane said matter-of-factly.
"Heh, I know, I know. But I'm your 'man' now OK. Concentrate."
"OK, OK. Here goes." Lane said, clearing her throat.
"Hey don't we have biblical studies together?"
"Ah, hi. Yeah I think we do." Rory imitates.
"Oh well I'm Lane. It's nice to meet you," she said, holding out her hand in welcome.
"Nice to meet you, Lane. Say that's a nice outfit." Rory said conversationally.
"Heh thanks. You picked…I mean, my friend Rory helped me pick it out" Lane explained, knowing that Rory was enjoying this.
"Well, she must have good taste in clothes." Rory said smugly.
"Very. Um…hey I was just gonna get some lunch. Would you like to come?"
"Sure I'd love to." Rory said, happy that her friend had found a way to be in control of this conversation.
"Great, thanks. I mean…cool." Lane said a bit anxiously.
"Lane just relax." said Rory calmly.
"Am I doing okay? I mean I've never done this before. I don't wanna screw it up."
"Lane you're doing great. Just go with the flow." Rory said, smiling at her friend's hesitation that so frequently reminded her of her own past experiences.
"You don't know how much I appreciate you doing this for me Rory. Its just I've never felt this way before about anyone." Lane admitted.
"I know exactly how you feel." Rory said, her mind lingering to Jess.
"It's like you're in their world now and…"
"Pretend you're talking to him again. It'll help." Rory advised.
"Right. Um its like, I feel I'm in your world now and I want you to know how happy that makes me." Lane said, picturing her crush's face plastered on Rory's.
Meanwhile, calling through the front door…
"Rory, Rory, are you there? Lorelai said you'd be here. Rory!"
With no answer, Emily decides to check the living room, before turning her attention to the muffled voices she can hear floating in from Rory's room.
"I feel I can speak my mind with you. You're everything I've ever wanted, you know?"
"I feel the same way Lane," Rory says back, encouragingly.
Emily pokes her head through the door, not quite understanding, and wondering who this strange person 'Lane' is, never having heard a name quite so different.
"I need you more than anything in my life. You are my life now. The truth is, I…I think I love you." Lane says clearly, after a little hesitation.
"Lane! That's so great!" Rory screams, happy to know her friend has finally fallen in love.
She clears her throat happily and adds, "I love you too, Lane," happiness easily spreading across her features.
Lane smiles and the two share a hug, both knowing that Lane is ready to use these lines for real.
"Oh. My. Gosh. This can't be true." Emily screeches softly to herself, looking away from the room in disgust.
She turns back to Rory's room only to see the two girls still embracing each other with genuine affection before scrambling for her handbag and heading out the front door gob smacked.