Disclaimer: Totally don't own these characters, or this world. I just like to be a part of it. I give all credit to the writers of this fantastic show for the dialogue I've borrowed.
Author's Notes:
Apologies for any grammar errors in this, but my usual beta is caught up in wedding planning, and as such, is skipping the real world for a while. So, I'm beta-less, and on my own.
Thank you all so much for the wonderful feedback so far! I'll try to post a new chapter every few days, or, as time will allow me.
Two and Three
That damn purple fuzzy alarm clock. There were so many curse words for the alarm clock floating through her brain at the moment. Normally, there would have been more, but she hadn't had any coffee yet. This was shaping up to be a horrible day. And now, here she was, freezing her ass off because of the damn fuzzy alarm clock, and she and Rory were horribly late, and lost. She was so flustered, that she barely registered the brief conversation of a kind man telling them where to go. So much so, that when the interaction ended, and she felt Rory's arm on her own, dragging her away, she chocked up the interaction as simply another reason to thank her baby blues. They always seemed to get men to help when she needed them the most. However, when the man's hand appeared in front of her, and he continued talking, she paused.
"Um, I'm Ian Jack. My daughter Julia goes to school here."
There wasn't time, she knew that, but the manners engrained in her from childhood took over, and she reached for his hand to shake. "Hi. I'm Lorelai Gilmore. Um, this is my daughter, Rory."
"Your daughter? Really?
As soon as the question was asked, her always short attention span began to wane. She had been through this conversation before. Many times. Sometimes the baby blues were a blessing, sometimes they were a curse. "Yup."
"Wow, that's great. Uh, I mean, daughters are a great thing."
"We're big fans."
"Yeah. Uh, yeah. So, is your husband here? I'd love to meet him."
Yup. Definitely had been through this conversation before. "I'm not married."
"Ah."
"I'd love to meet your wife though."
"I'm divorced."
Hmmm. Maybe this was turning into a different conversation. "Shame."
"Yeah."
"Excuse me. I really gotta…"
Rory's voice broke through her dissection of the current situation, and she slightly returned to reality. "Right! We gotta go meet the big guy, and I gotta, uh, get back to work." With Rory beside her, she started to walk away, but Ian called after her.
"Oh, where do you work?"
The giddy feeling of a man hitting on her drove her back towards Ian. She had no other excuse other than she loved the attention. She always loved attention. "At an Inn. The Independence Inn. I run it."
"Really?"
"In a different outfit, of course." The sound of his laugh was music to her ears. Even in a ridiculous outfit, she could woo in the men. It made her feel on top of the world. It made her feel good about herself.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Lorelai. Good luck in school, Rory. I'll tell Julia to look out for you."
"Great, thanks."
"See you."
As he walked away, she couldn't help herself. She had to watch. And it made her smile. This day was looking up. "What a nice, nice man."
"You're feeling pretty good about yourself right now, aren't you?"
"Yeah." She really was.
"Do you want me to get you a mirror?"
Oh god. Her outfit. It was ridiculous. She just talked to a cute guy while wearing an absolutely ridiculous outfit. It was an outfit that she more than likely wouldn't have even worn at home with no one around. What was she thinking? "I'm back. Let's go."
…
As she drove back towards Stars Hollow, she felt slightly sick to her stomach. It was fairly regular for her to embarrass herself in one way or another, but it was rare to have it happen twice in rapid succession. First, in front of Ian, and then because of Emily, in front of Headmaster Charleston. The sickness quickly flipped to anger. Emily. It was Rory's first day at school, and Emily was already making it out to be a nightmare. There was no way Friday night dinners were going to be survivable, and she wondered how many drinks a week would result in her being considered an alcoholic.
When the exit to Stars Hollow entered her field of vision, she sighed deeply, and turned off. Suddenly, her need for coffee trumped everything she was feeling. Her dry cleaning could wait. Work could wait too. At this point, she wouldn't make it in before lunch, so, what was the point in rushing now?
As the familiar view of the town square came into view, and the beacon of the Luke's sign just ahead, she suddenly felt a little bit lighter. Soon, she would have coffee. She parked the jeep right out front, and walked into the diner, plopping herself down at the counter in front of Luke. A loud sigh escaped her before she could stop it. She had been sighing all morning, and at this point, only coffee would make anything better. "I already had the longest day of my life, and, oh look, it's only ten. How nice."
"There's no coffee."
There weren't words for how deep her stomach dropped. "That's not funny." Was he kidding?
"I can give you herbal tea."
He better not be kidding. "This is not an herbal tea morning. This is a coffee morning."
"Every morning for you is a coffee morning."
"This is a jumbo coffee morning. I need coffee in an IV."
"I can give you tea and a Balance bar."
The hairs on the back of her neck were starting to rise, and her heart was starting to race. "Please, please, please tell me you're kidding."
"I'm kidding."
Ok, good. She didn't have to kill him. Didn't mean she liked him at the moment though, but she at least didn't have to kill him. "You're sick."
"Yup."
"You're a sadist, you're a fiend!" He was walking away from her, but it didn't matter. Her blood was pumping. Nothing was going to stop her. She was getting riled up…but then he came back with a pot of coffee. "You're pretty."
"For here or to go?"
As much as she wanted to stick around, because there really was something about the building that made her feel calmer, she really needed to get her clothes and get to work. "To go, please."
"You wanna know what this stuff does to your central nervous system?"
"Ooh, do you have a chart? 'Cause I love charts."
"Forget it, kill yourself. So what happened this morning that was so awful?"
Oh yeah, back to the bad morning. So much for talking to a pretty person. "Rory started Chilton."
"Really?"
"Yeah." As soon as she answered, she noticed he was looking at her strangely. And it was starting to bother her. As much as the other looks she got this morning bothered her, Luke looking at her like this was really getting to her. "What?"
"That's how you dress to take Rory to Chilton?"
Of course. "No, but…"
"I mean, that's a fancy school."
"My clothes were at the cleaners, and I had the fuzzy clock and it didn't purr on time."
"It didn't purr?"
"It's fuzzy. It purrs." Ok, back to hating him. This was the last thing she needed this morning. "You know what, never mind. I gotta go. I had a plan, damn it."
She barely heard his response as she hightailed it out the door, on the way to get her clothes.
…..
Once back at the Inn, she threw herself into work. She had to – she was half a day behind. And of course today was the day when guests were being impossible. Her encounter with Ian that morning had resurfaced her thoughts about Luke and where they could possibly go with…whatever it was they had. But then, he had been kind of rude to her that morning. It was all so confusing. She was tempted to sneak into her office to think when Michel appeared behind her.
"Once again, your faithful pooch is here to say, please come back to the desk, someone needs to talk to you."
Icicles made their way up her body as the possibilities of who it could be raced through her mind. One person in particular made her skin crawl. "It's not my mother, is it?"
"It's possible."
She looked over to the front desk, praying she wouldn't see Emily, and when she saw the back of a man in a well-tailored suit, she smiled to herself. Well, well, well. But first, Michel. "It's possible?"
"There's a resemblance."
"Hm." She took off towards the desk, going over the many ways this encounter could go in her mind. "Hi."
"Is this a bad time?"
"No, not at all. What are you doing here?" Other than clearly showing you've fallen into the Lorelai Gilmore trap.
"Well, I had to meet an associate for lunch and he was coming up from New York, so I thought, why not meet him at a beautiful inn?
Hmmm, maybe for once, she miscalculated a man's intentions. "Well, good. Enjoy your lunch."
"Thanks, I will."
"Ok."
"And I was also wondering if maybe I could take you out to dinner sometime."
There it is. "We're a little food-obsessed, aren't we?"
"Well, it's the company more than the food that interests me."
Oh boy. It was always exciting when she knew her flirting skills had made a direct hit, but it was always a letdown when the man caved so easily. She craved a challenge. Maybe that's why Luke always came to the forefront of her thoughts. Sure, he caved in that they were sleeping together occasionally, but he wasn't falling at her feet. This guy, however… "I'm flattered."
"Is that a yes?"
"That's a…you're a dad."
"And you're a mom, although, I'm still finding that really hard to believe."
"No, I mean, you're a Chilton dad." And there was the whole reality that she possibly was about to enter a relationship anyways. Maybe.
"Oh, that sounds bad."
"Not bad, just tricky. You know, Rory just started there, and I think I should let her fall in with the bad crowd before I start hooking up with the PTA."
"Well, I'm not on the PTA."
"Oh, see, there you go. I can't date anybody not on the PTA."
"Look, it's just a casual dinner."
"Sorry." He wasn't getting it. She needed to put physical space between them, so she walked around to the other side of the desk.
"Ok, I'll tell you what. I'm going to China for a week on business, and when I get back, I'm gonna try again."
"China, wow."
"Impressed?"
"No. Rome, I'd be impressed. China, I'm just, "China, wow."
"Ok, Lorelai Gilmore, General Manager. I'll talk to you soon."
"Have a safe trip."
"I will."
As Ian walked away, she felt Michel appear beside her, and just like this morning, she couldn't help but watch him walk away. She might not be willing to date him, but, she could still appreciate a fine ass. "He does that so well."
…..
The need for coffee, and the interaction with Ian drove her to the diner before she went to pick up Rory. She had told Ian that she was turning him down because he was part of Chilton, and while that was a very valid reason for not wanting to date him, the more pressing reason was because her mind was too jumbled about Luke. Him being there for her the week before when she needed advice about going to her parents was amazing, and she was slowly coming to the realization that she was ready for someone to always be there for her like that. She still wasn't sure it was Luke, but it could be. And Ian's invitation to dinner sparked a need to find out where Luke was in his head in regards to whatever they had going on. But, since she was too scared to come right out and ask him, she intended to just subtly work it into conversation and see how he reacted. Also, she just really wanted to show off to him how good she looked compared to the disaster of the morning.
Ignoring Patty, both because she was a little irritated at the comment and also because she was on a mission, she breezed across the street, and through the door of the diner, almost colliding with Luke.
"What are you doing here?
"See, now, that's why you were voted Mr. Personality of the New Millennium. Where's your crown?" Her words came out harsher than she had intended, but deep down she was also hoping Luke would have said something about her outfit, rather than ask why she was even there.
"I just mean you don't usually come in at this time."
"Well, I have to pick up Rory from school." Surprisingly, Luke filled her a cup of coffee without the usual fanfare he'd been giving her all week. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
"No lectures?"
"My blood sugar's low. I'll eat an apple and get back to you."
She inwardly smiled at his words. The weird attitude he'd had this week was slipping away to his normal sarcasm. Clearly, it was the perfect time to subtly drop into conversation the possibility of her dating and see how he reacted. "Hmm. God, this has been one hectic, bizarre day for me."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. This morning with the being late, and my mother with her existing. Oh, and this father…this father from Chilton, he, uh, drove out to the inn all the way from Hartford just to ask me out."
"Really? You going?"
His peaked interest didn't escape her, but she still wasn't sure as to if it was peaked because he didn't think she'd be dating, or if it was peaked because he didn't want her to. "No. He's got a kid in school with Rory, and the whole thing just seemed a little weird."
"Oh, good."
Wait, what? Did he just say that? "Good?"
"Yeah, I think it's good that you turned him down."
She could feel butterflies starting to swirl in her stomach. Luke really didn't want her to date. "Ok."
"I mean, he's probably old, right?"
"Old?"
"Yeah. I mean, he's got a kid in high school."
"Well, so do I."
"Yeah, but you were young when you had Rory. Most people aren't that young. Most people are, uh…"
"Old."
"Yeah."
"Like this guy who asked me out."
"But, you're not going."
"No, I'm not going." When she saw him nod and look down at his order pad because he couldn't make eye contact anymore, she smiled. Maybe he did want something more.
During the entire drive to Hartford, her spirits were flying. What had started out as a pretty crappy day, was quickly turning into being the day where everything might have started. She stopped for triple caps, easy on the foam for her and Rory, because if she was flying this high, Rory might as well be too.
And on the drive back, to bring Rory's spirits up after her bad day, a suggestion of pizza with Lane was tossed out, and happily accepted.
Later that evening, with Rory's spirits successfully lifted, and the diner in their sights, she decided to just flat out ask Rory if dating Luke would be ok. If Rory ok'd it, she was ready to move forward with Luke. As Rory talked about Paris, they got closer and closer to the diner until they were right in front. If there was any place to have this discussion, this was the place, with Luke himself wandering around inside.
"Hey, what do you think of Luke?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, do you think he's cute?"
"Oh, no. No way."
She felt her stomach drop. Was Rory telling her no? She had to press forward. "No way what?"
"You cannot date Luke."
Oh no. She needed to start covering why she brought up Luke's cuteness. "I said nothing about dating Luke."
"If you date him, you'll break up, and we'll never be able to eat there again."
"I repeat, I said nothing about dating Luke."
"Date Al from Pancake World. His food stinks."
"I cannot believe what I'm hearing. Al's food does not stink, Al stinks."
"Well, either way, he's the better option than Luke."
Unaware of the heartbreak she just caused, Rory moved ahead in the direction of the house, while Lorelai held back a bit, blinking back tears. If Rory wasn't ok with her dating Luke, she couldn't move forward with him. She could never be with someone Rory didn't approve of, and she had been so sure Rory would approve of Luke. She loved Luke. Breathing a heavy sigh, she moved to catch up with her daughter, completely oblivious to Luke opening the door behind her, and watching her walk away.
…..
After Rory's request for her to not date Luke, she had been forcing herself to pull her emotions back. It was fairly simple, because Luke seemed to be in a bad mood as well, and neither had any sort of conversation lately – banter or more personal. And today she was just in a bad mood. The wedding was a nightmare, and here she was, sitting waiting for some sort of acknowledgement from Luke that he heard her order, as Rory talked about how great of a time she had with her grandfather that day. What was this world coming to? Was Rory actually getting along with her grandparents? What did this mean? And where was Luke? She called to him again, getting irritated that he wasn't around to break up this conversation she was currently having with her daughter. But, he was nowhere around, and Rory was getting more and more excited about her recap of her day. The more Rory was talking, the more she was losing her appetite. It was like her worst fears were coming true – Rory was being pulled into the world she had purposely turned her back on.
Here was Rory, moving forward with her life, finding new adventures, when the one adventure that intrigued Lorelai – the one with Luke – was denied to her. She had waited for seemingly forever, and waited so long, that, with the roadblock put up in front of her, maybe it didn't make sense to be with Luke. The deep thoughts were overtaking her, and all she wanted to do was run.
Finally, finally her cheeseburger arrived, but she had completely lost her appetite.
"I thought you were starving."
"Things change. Move on."
As she watched Rory put her new golf hat on again, she was dimly aware that her thoughts on dinner that night were an eerie metaphor for her current relationship status with Luke.
