Rory surveyed her office, trying not to let out an undignified squeal as she saw her personalized name plate Rory Gilmore-Junior Publisher. She smoothed back her chestnut hair, smiling and nodding while her secretary discussed the view, the new desk, and the wallpaper choice.
Rory approached the desk and touched it, "What should I name it?" She interrupted the secretary's rant.
The girl's eyes grew wide. "Um, well, I'm not exactly sure…"
"How do you feel about Rochester? Or is that a little too ambitious?" Rory asked.
"Yes, yes I suppose that could work…um would you like me to go get you some coffee?" Rory smiled and nodded, then continued to get acquainted with Rochester and the rest of her lovely office.
Jess rushed down the street, attempting to tame his hair with one hand and carrying a disordered briefcase in another. He cursed to himself; last night's sudden inspiration had ended his month long writers block, but he did not do well on 2 hours of sleep. He slid through the automatic doors of the building, stopped quickly to reorganize himself, and asked for his publisher at the front desk. He was led to an adjacent room and smiled when he saw the familiar face of Jane Underwood—the dreaded, sarcastic, incredibly sharp woman who had published his first two books.
She was sitting at her desk, reading and hardly glanced up when he entered. "What sort of nonsense did you bring me this week?" She snapped.
"Hello to you too Jane," Jess replied dryly. Although you would never guess, the two had an unspoken liking for each other, probably because neither of them liked to take crap from anyone.
Jane sighed, pushed what she was reading aside, and accepted Jess's manuscript. They talked over it for a solid hour, both arguing and grudgingly agreeing. "Well Jess, I think this might be a good one," Jane admitted. "Oh," her eyes lit up, "I can't believe I forgot! I hired a junior publisher, and about time too. You're actually going to really like her, I know I do." Jess raised his eyebrows in surprise, wondering what sort of person could win Jane over. "I know; I was shocked too. She should go over this as well." Jane reached out and called a number on the phone, asking her junior publisher to head over to her office.
Rory saw Jane in an animate conversation with a young, dark haired man. She smiled, seeing Jane laugh at something the man said. Then he turned slightly to the side, so she could see his profile. She stopped in her place. Her heart dropped completely to her stomach, launched back up, and proceeded to beat like Lane's drums. Was she going crazy? Was it really him, after all this time? She stood shell shocked for what felt like an eternity, before setting her jaw stubbornly and approaching the room. She took a deep breath, chastened herself with you are not 17 anymore Rory, and entered.
"Ah, hello Ms. Gilmore!" Jess didn't turn. He felt his entire body reeling at the sound of her name. "Rory, I'd like you to meet Jess Mariano, one of our best writers. He goes by his initials J.S.M, so you probably have not heard of him."
"Incredible work," Rory broke in quietly, causing Jess to glance up.
Jane continued, "Jess, this is Rory Gilmore." Neither said a word. Jess still faced the windows showing New York skyline. He could see Rory's reflection staring at his. He was frozen. Jane faltered, "Um, am I missing something here?"
Rory took a step forward, "Hi Jess." Her voice was soft, hesitant. He closed his eyes. Damn her, he thought, damn her for talking like that and doing this to my heart.
Swallowing, he turned. "Hi Rory," he replied. His dark eyes met her dazzling blue and he was lost, just like that, all over again.
Jane cleared her throat. Rory quickly broke eye contact with Jess. "Sorry Ms. Underwood! Jess and I go way back, um, he lived with my mom's fiancé, who is his uncle and owns this really great diner that you should try sometime. Anyways, Jess and I were really close and we dated for a while, I don't know if that's too much information," she turned and directed the rest of her rambles to Jess, "but I haven't seen you in what? 5 years?" He started to smile at her obvious discomfort and rambling, she was too cute when she did that. He nodded, meeting her eyes once more, both of them reliving that moment 5 years ago when she had used him, re-broken his heart.
Jane immediately started exclaiming about the odds and all sorts of crazy things, but all Rory could think about was how good he looked. He had always been so…sexy, for lack of a better word. And what was he thinking now? She tried to meet his eyes again but he had looked adamantly away. Finally Jane realized neither were listening, and after declaring she needed some coffee, she left them alone.
Rory spoke first, "Jess, I am so sorry for what I did to you. I've relived that moment so many times, wishing I had the courage to apologize, but I was scared of being around you…do you think we could just start over? It's been such a long time." Her eyes were pleading.
"Rory," it hurt to say her name, "of course we can start over." He smirked, covering what he really felt. "I forgive you ok, as long as you tell me you're not still with that asshole."
She laughed, "No, we've been done for a year, I've been single since actually."
"Really," he raised an eyebrow, "I've been married twice and have two kids at home. Who would've thought I'd beat you to the alter?"
Her eyes widened, "oh, Jess, that's great. I mean, wow, congratulations. Two times?" She stuttered.
He laughed out loud. "Rory, I'm kidding! I haven't had a serious relationship in about seven years." She laughed too, choosing to ignore the fact that she was his last serious relationship. Had he been waiting for her? No, don't be stupid, she told herself.
Jane came back in to find them talking affably, still awkward but at least not with so much tension. "Alright you two, ready to get to work?" She handed Rory Jess' manuscript and Rory set out to tear it apart. Jane sat back and laughed as Rory and Jess bickered over certain passages, and at times she felt like an intruder as Rory quietly praised Jess' talent while Jess turned bright red.
They decided to go get some coffee, to catch up. They met at a little place Rory had found, and if she declared it acceptable, then Jess knew it would be good. They talked about everything, from Lorelei and Luke (about time, they agreed), to what had happened to them in the past five years.