Ann looked around the plane nervously, hoping there was a flight attendant nearby who could refill her water. Having something to hold onto and drink helped her cope with the fact that she was thousands of feet off the ground in a giant metal box. She had never been a fan of flying, even relatively short distances. She knew that logically the odds of her getting in a car crash on her way home from work were much higher than being in a plane crash, but that wasn't especially comforting when she was in the air.
Next to her, April looked irritated with Ann's fidgeting. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked Ann. That was a good question. Ann had been wondering the same thing since Leslie had announced the trip. Even though she did work at city hall part time, she wasn't part of the parks department.
"Leslie wanted me to come," Ann said. As far as she could tell, that was the only reason she was there. She didn't expect to be a lot of help doing whatever it was the parks department was going to be doing. Honestly, Ann didn't even understand why the entire department had to visit this sister city. She didn't even understand what exactly a sister city was. All she knew was that a couple of years ago their sister city from Venezuela had visited and it had gone very badly, which meant this time Leslie was determined to make everything perfect.
Ann was used to her friend's overachieving, slightly manic nature when it came to projects like this. There was no doubt that Leslie would have everything under control. Even so, Ann knew this wasn't exactly going to be a vacation to a cute Connecticut town. Parks department or not, Ann was prepared to be Leslie's right-hand woman for the week. April didn't look like she cared about how helpful Ann was going to be, though. "Right, I forgot you were her wife," April said. "Sorry, Ben!" she called to his seat across the aisle. "Leslie's really in love with Ann!"
Ben looked a bit bewildered. He hadn't learned to deal with April quite as well as everyone else yet. Ann gave him a little wave and pulled a book out of her carry-on bag. She knew that the best way to deal with April was to just not engage with her at all. As much as she had tried in the past, April very publicly did not want to be her friend. Ann wasn't stupid, though. Despite their conflicts surrounding Andy in the past, she knew that April was a caring person underneath. Otherwise she probably wouldn't have lasted ten minutes in the parks department. Even though Ann wasn't officially part of the group, she liked that Leslie included her. For all of its occasional dysfunction, the parks department had a lot of great people with big hearts. She didn't really get the whole sister city concept, but she knew this Stars Hollow place was lucky.
"What if they're vegetarians?" Sookie cried, rushing out of the kitchen. Lorelai didn't even look up from the payroll form she was filling out.
"They're not vegetarians," she assured her friend. "I asked when they booked the rooms." The Dragonfly often had groups from different businesses staying with them, but Lorelai was particularly excited about this group. Despite not really knowing how having a sister city would affect Stars Hollow, the ripple of excitement that had been spreading through town was infectious. Taylor was losing his mind about the whole thing, which was always good fun. Lorelai couldn't wait for the next town meeting that night. Of course, she could only go if she ever managed to leave the inn.
She was trying to finish all the payroll stuff so her employees would actually continue working for her, but Sookie kept popping out of the kitchen every five minutes to discuss the menus for the week. Which was ridiculous, because Lorelai knew they would change at least three more times before Friday. "What if they're gluten free?" Sookie asked, still hovering in the doorway. "That's a thing now. I saw it on the internet."
"Again, they probably would've mentioned it when they were checking in," Lorelai said. "They're from the Midwest. I think Midwesterners eat anything." Which was anything but a slam, in Lorelai's opinion. They had catered to some seriously picky groups in the past, so it was refreshing that there weren't any dietary restrictions among this group. Not that Sookie actually believed her. "Hey, keep an eye out for Rory, will you?" Lorelai asked, hoping to distract Sookie from the imaginary culinary crisis she was facing. "She said she'd be here this afternoon."
Rory had moved to Boston a couple of years ago, which thankfully was close enough to hurry home for the big town meeting. She had put up something of a fight when Lorelai requested she stay home for the whole week, but it had been worth it. Lorelai knew that whenever Taylor got into a mood like this it meant big things were on the horizon. He hadn't said anything at the meeting the night before, but Lorelai sensed a festival in the air. There was nothing she loved more than a good festival, and she knew Rory felt the same way.
"Rory's not gluten free now, is she?" Sookie asked nervously.
Lorelai had to laugh at that. "Rory, who lives on mac and cheese and pizza? No, I don't think she's gone gluten free." She might live in a big city now, but she was a Stars Hollow girl at heart. And with this new group visiting and her daughter coming home, Lorelai thought that this could be one of the biggest weeks in recent Stars Hollow history. It was certainly big for The Dragonfly. Half their rooms booked for an entire week? Lorelai might actually be able to take a day off or two within the year.
