It wasn't until after dinner that Rory considered unpacking her suitcase. At the start of the campaign she had been vigilant about getting things unpacked as soon as she checked into her hotel room, but she had quickly given up on that. Sometimes she was only in a hotel for a night and unpacking things was just wasting time she could have spent writing. She doubted the people on the trail from the New York Times were unpacking at every hotel, and she was just writing for a small online site.

That was another thing that bothered Rory about her job. She enjoyed the site she was writing for a lot and her boss was a very nice person, but she still wasn't over the fact that she had been passed up for the fellowship at the Times. She felt like she was good enough to be writing for a bigger publication, and it was frustrating when the stats came in and only a couple hundred people or so read her latest article. Some pieces did get a lot more views than others, but it was disheartening to see really low numbers when she was reporting from little towns in the Midwest. Media was moving online, but some sites were still more popular than others and the site she was writing for wasn't one of the more popular ones. No one was checking her stories before they checked CNN.

She didn't regret taking the job, exactly. She had met a lot of interesting people and had been to some really amazing places. Philadelphia in particular had been great. She was all over any sandwich covered in Cheez Whiz, and she had gone to a really cool bookstore while she was there. But she could travel to interesting places in her free time if she had a different job, too. If she had taken the job at the Providence Journal she could have taken a quick trip to Philadelphia or home if she wanted. But most of the places she visited just ran together, a nondescript blur filled with bad coffee and the smell of pen ink. She was getting a lot of experience, but she could have gotten a lot of experience with another job, too.

Rory had made a lot of pro and con lists about the situation and was debating sharing them with someone, but when she reached into the front pocket of her suitcase it was empty. Upon opening the suitcase, it was obvious why. Despite the fact that the black suitcase looked exactly like hers, it wasn't. Instead of her favorite blue sweater and jeans being on top, she was looking at a lot of plain t-shirts and books. Good books, she noted, but books that were not hers. Cursing, Rory checked the tag on the handle. She hadn't done it at the airport because she had assumed no one would be caught dead with a suitcase as ratty as hers, which had been a mistake on her part. According to the tag the bag belonged to a Jess Mariano. After quickly Googling the area code of the phone number listed, Rory discovered that he or she lived in Pennsylvania.

It wasn't a huge deal that she had grabbed someone else's suitcase. She could call Jess and explain what happened and have the suitcase on its way to Pennsylvania by tomorrow. It was an inconvenience, but it was an honest mistake. However, that didn't explain the mystery of where her suitcase was. Hopefully it was waiting for her at the baggage claim in Hartford and she could go get it tonight. Two people couldn't be dumb enough to grab someone else's suitcase on the same day. Rory allowed herself exactly two minutes to bemoan her bad luck (and completely obvious oversight) and then dialed the number on the suitcase tag.

Rory hadn't counted on nobody answering the phone. It rang for a good thirty seconds before clicking to a generic voicemail message. Instead of leaving a message, she hung up. She would call them back every five minutes for the rest of the night if she had to. Rory felt terrible that she had someone else's suitcase and didn't want the message lingering in their voicemail. To her surprise, her phone rang almost immediately after she hung up. It was the number she had just called.

"Hello?"

"Is this Lorelai Gilmore?"

"Yes, who's this?" Rory asked, even though she knew. If the number was right, it was Jess Mariano.

"I'm Jess Mariano. I know you're probably not going to like this, but I accidentally grabbed your suitcase instead of mine earlier at the Hartford airport. I realize that's one of the stupidest things a person could do, but it looks exactly like mine. I didn't recognize your area code, but I'm hoping Hartford was your final destination and not just a layover."

"Oh, thank god," Rory said. "I thought I was the moron who grabbed the wrong suitcase and ruined everything. I've got your suitcase, too. I looked up your area code and it said it's a Philadelphia area code. Are you there now? I can send your suitcase back tomorrow if you give me your address."

"I'm not, no," Jess said. "I'm in Connecticut visiting my family for Christmas. Are you in Hartford? That's not far from where I am. I could return your suitcase tonight if you are."

"No, but I'm only about half an hour away from Hartford so it's not a big deal to drive there."

"Really? So am I," Jess said. "Where are you staying? Maybe we could meet somewhere closer than Hartford if there is a place."

Rory hesitated. Stars Hollow was a pretty small place and not a lot of people had heard of it, but that only made her more hesitant to tell Jess where she was. He was a stranger, after all. It was just a coincidence that they had grabbed each other's suitcases. She didn't really want to give him her location and then have him turn out to be a murderer or something. His suitcase had been filled with books, but that didn't mean he wasn't also a serial killer in his spare time. "Where are you? I'm from Connecticut, so I would probably know of a place we could meet if there's somewhere more convenient than Hartford."

"I'm in Stars Hollow," Jess said. "It's a really small place like half an hour from Hartford. I don't know even know if there is anything else around here. I'm just visiting family."

How was it even possible that this guy was in Stars Hollow too? Stars Hollow got a fair bit of tourism, sure, but it wasn't a huge destination. Rory knew a lot of the families in Stars Hollow too, and she had never heard of any Marianos. Maybe they were new in town or something. "I'm actually in Stars Hollow too," she said at last. "That's really weird. You're right, it's not a big place. Do you know anywhere in town where we could meet?" She wasn't about to go to his house or invite him to her own.

"Do you know where Luke's Diner is?" Jess asked. "I was over there earlier and I'm sure I could find my way back."

Rory almost laughed. She had been going to Luke's practically every day since they had been in Stars Hollow. Luke himself was sitting in her living room with his daughter. "Yeah, I know Luke. Luke's," she corrected herself, not wanting to tell him too much about her life. "Are you busy now? I could meet you there in half an hour if you could meet then." It was only seven, so Luke's was probably still fairly busy. Better yet, Lane would still be at work so she had someone to run interference if necessary.

"It works for me. I will see you in half an hour at Luke's then, Lorelai."

"It's Rory," she corrected him automatically. "I'll see you then."