EMILY: He gets you first, talks you out, and I get two exhausted, empty shells. [notices Richard tip-toeing through the room What do you think you're doing?
RICHARD: I needed to get something out of my study.
EMILY[stands and walks over to him You are supposed to stay in the pool house. That is what we agreed on.
RICHARD: I am in the pool house.
EMILY: Oh, really? Right now?
RICHARD: No, not right now. I told you I had to get something.
EMILY: Well, you should have called, made an appointment.
RICHARD: To go into my own study?
EMILY: You don't live here anymore, Richard. What if I was sitting in the living room stark-naked[Both sad, Rory and Lorelai exchange looks.
RICHARD: You've never been in the living room stark-naked. You've never been stark-naked. We went skinny-dipping one night, and you wore an overcoat.
EMILY: The water was freezing[she follows Richard as he exits
RORY: Crazy.
LORELAI: You said it, Patsy Cline.
"Richard! You're not listening to me, Richard!" Emily followed him down the hall to his study. "You cannot just barge into the house whenever you please! Richard!"
He opened the door to the study and she was directly behind him.
"Well, what would you like me to do, Emily? Sit in the pool house all night unable to work because something that I need is only five hundred feet away?" he asked in a huff as he walked over to his desk, brushing off her behavior as absurd. This was ridiculous. It was one book.
"Yes," Emily stated flatly. "That is exactly what you should do. You do not live here, Richard." He stopped in front of his desk and Emily moved to stand before him, blocking him from getting to the desk. "You should call and make arrangements before you come over."
"This is absurd," he laughed.
"As absurd as the fact that you somehow think I've never been stark naked?" she challenged him.
"Oh come on, Emily, you undress in the bathroom."
"Because I take a shower before bed! You know this, Richard," she spat. "How dare you suddenly try and throw it in my face and use it against me!" She was annoyed, very annoyed. How dare he just walk into the house like he still lived there!
Richard sighed heavily. "What are you doing?" he asked, eyeing her oddly.
Emily's hand grasped the side of her jacket and she was jerking it off her arms. She flung it to the ground in defiance of his ridiculous accusations. "Proving to you that I have no problems with being stark naked!"
Richard huffed. This was ridiculous. There was no way she'd go through with it.
Richard's reaction only angered her further and she unbuttoned her blouse in a fury. Her annoyance with him was quickly rising. Finally releasing her arms from the blouse, she threw it in his direction. In a matter of seconds she kicked her shoes aside and dropped her skirt. Her undergarments were next to go.
It only took a few seconds for the anger to subside a bit and she lifted her nose higher, daring her husband to say something. She had been stark naked many times before. How dare he bring up that one skinny dipping incident?! It was winter and the water was freezing! She would have caught frostbite if she hadn't worn that coat! It had taken over an hour for Richard to warm up again after they got out of the water. Even he had agreed that it was too cold to go skinny dipping. She was twenty-nine and one hundred and ten pounds – her body would have frozen without that coat! So how dare he bring it up now and use it against her!
They stared at each other for a moment, challenging the other to speak first or to make the first move. Richard didn't dare look down at her body. He knew that all would be lost if he did. He wouldn't be able to control himself. It was hard enough to watch her undress and to watch the anger in her eyes. That was what had always attracted him most to his wife, her passion. Seeing her standing there nude in front of him would be too much. It was already hard enough to go to bed without her every night. Looking at her body would only make it worse.
Richard took a step closer to his estranged wife, reaching for her shoulder as he turned her around to face away from him. "You're not stark naked yet," he whispered, brushing her hair from her neck. His left hand rested on her shoulder for a moment as he took in the scent of her shampoo. His hand felt hot against her shoulder and her pulse suddenly began to race. Reaching for the clasp on her necklace, Richard unhooked it and she caught in her hands. "Now," he whispered, "now you're stark naked." Emily closed her eyes at the feel of his breath against her neck. His voice was low and sensual and she couldn't help that her body involuntarily reacted to him.
They remained the way they were, neither moving, yet standing so close together. Richard's hand rested on her shoulder. Emily began to feel self conscious as she stood so close him. They were separated now. This was not appropriate behavior. This was not how she should be acting around him. They weren't together anymore.
Richard brushed his body against her and Emily realized that she wasn't the only one who was turned on. Leaning back again him, she felt his arm circle her waist and moaned lightly at the touch of his fingers against her bare skin. Richard sighed heavily as he held his wife in his arms. It had been so long since he had touched her. Even before their separation they had grown apart. They had been living separate lives for months now. When they still lived in the same house, they had only shared a bed. And even then Richard was always working late or away on businesses more nights than he was at home. He hadn't just held her in his arms in so long.
"You don't live here, Richard," she whispered. Her voice expressed a mixture of annoyance and bridled passion. She wanted him yet she was mad at herself for wanting him. And she was mad at him for having provoked her.
Richard's grasp on her tightened and she could tell that he wanted her as badly as she wanted him. He debated with himself for a moment. She was clearly as turned on as he was. He knew her body as well as his own and he knew when she wanted him. They had an often unspoken bond between them. They needed few words when they were together like this. Neither one of them had to speak or to even think really. Their bodies took over and they would just give into the intense passion between them.
Emily did nothing as she heard the zipper on his pants. And she did nothing as she felt his hand slip between them, guiding himself into her. It was as if they were no longer themselves, but just two people who were somehow still so intensely attracted to each other, despite being so far apart emotionally.
The intensity of it all caught Emily off guard and she collapsed forward against the desk in front of her. It was quick and hard. It was also rather uncomfortable. Yet it was exciting and passionate. It was more passionate that it had been in a long time. The feeling of him thrusting into her repeatedly was more daring and better than it had been for quite a while now. Her head fell forward as her forearms rested against the desk. She could think of nothing but the way that he was moving against her and how his hands clutched her hips as he thrust into her. Neither of them made a sound the entire time, other than a random moan or grunt. Eventually, she heard Richard groan deeply and felt him release inside of her. Emily didn't notice that she had been holding her breath, but she let it out with a final gasp.
As she heard the sound of the zipper of his pants, Emily was suddenly transported back to reality. She didn't turn around to face him. She couldn't.
"This changes nothing," she stated, reaching down to pick up her skirt. Her bra was next to it, thankfully.
As she spoke the words, Richard felt his heart break again. Just moments ago, she had been the passionate woman he had fallen in love and now she was cold and distant again. Somehow he had expected things to change between them. Yet they hadn't. They were still miles apart emotionally even if they had just been so close physically.
As Emily reached behind her back to hook her bra she heard the door close. All she could do was stand next to the desk, half-dressed.
She had wanted that. He had wanted that. And it was good, too. It was like the passion had returned to their relationship. Yet it changed nothing. It changed absolutely nothing. He still didn't get it. Richard still didn't understand why she was so upset and why she had left him. He still didn't understand why she had been so unhappy for months now. How could she have let this happen! Finally she had stood up to him and done something about how bad things were between them. He still thought she was being ridiculous and that her anger would subside, yet he also knew that she was serious about this separation. Or he had been before tonight. Now what was he going to think? Emily closed her eyes, biting her lip. How could she have let this happen? How could she have been so foolish as to let this happen?
Emily finished buttoning her blouse and slipped on her jacket. She leaned against the desk as she stepped back into her stilettos. Pulling her hand away from the desk she felt a shiver run through her body. Everything had changed the moment she had stepped between him and the desk.
Finally exiting the study, she returned to the dining room.
"Are you OK, Mom?" Lorelai asked. Emily looked up at her, almost surprised to see her daughter and granddaughter still sitting at the table. "Dad just stormed out of here. Is everything all right? You guys were gone for a while and we were starting to get worried."
"He doesn't live here anymore, Lorelai," Emily spoke calmly and with a detached voice. She slid back into her seat. "He should have stayed in the pool house." Looking down, she picked up her fork and poked at the piece of meat on her plate.
"Hey, Mom…"
"What is it, Lorelai?" she sighed.
"You have a stamp in your hair…"
"A what?" Emily looked over at her daughter with a confused expression.
Lorelai pushed herself slightly out of her chair to be able to reach the side of her mother's head. "A stamp …" She held out her right index finger, the sticky part of the stamp now attached to it.
"Oh," Emily smiled half-heartedly. "Thank you."
Both Lorelai and Rory looked at each other. Something had changed in the past ten minutes and it didn't seem like a good change at all.
I wrote this months and months ago, back in March/April. Thanks to Cira for her beta all those months ago and thanks to OFG for looking the story over tonight before I suddenly decided to post it. I figured it was time to clear out the files!