A/N: Thank-you everyone who read, reviewed, and hello to those of you who've subscribed.
Chapter 2: An Occasional Dream of Mine
She was late. Gathering all her papers off the grass… how did they end up there? No matter, she was running terribly late! The Subway train! Was that Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne? She was so late, this was not a good start for her new job, were these seats made of Mallomars? Oh god, she was so late. Where had her papers gone? And why was her briefcase filled with Luke's Special Omelets?
"Rory?" a voice called out to her. She turned her head and there sitting on the subway seat next to her was Jess, but he wasn't Jess, he was the kid that her mother hated from all those Proactive commercials with the fake pimples.
"I'm sorry Jess, I would love to talk but I'm terribly late," She got pushed around in her seat as the train stopped, "And this is my stop."
"Rory," Jess put his hand out to reach for her arm, "Your appointment's with me."
Rory looked at her watch, the hands weren't moving, but were pointed to 'Jess' which had replaced the number 3 on the dial.
"Rory," The kid smiled Jess's crooked smile.
"Rory, doll, wake up," Her mother poked and prodded her in bed.
She opened her eyes, "Omelets…I'm late!"
"Are you in fact carrying Ted Mosby's child?" Lorelai sat on the bed, "You better tell me how you met, dammit!"
Rory wiped the sleep from her eyes, and pushed her mother's index finger out of her face.
"Mom?" Rory was confused for a second, "You're in New York."
"Well, I'll be damned," Her mother looked around the room shocked, "And here I was thinking this was Emerald City, I knew I shouldn't have trusted those dancing and singing midgets in Hartford!"
"I didn't know you were coming, you didn't steal a pair of slippers off a corpse did you?" Rory smiled.
"No, these were off a Skeleton on 5th," Lorelai stuck her foot next to Rory's face, "I got your message, and of course your Grandmother would insist on hiring you professionals, but since I had already planned to take the day off to help you move… here I am!"
"You knew Grandma would hire movers for me," Rory pulled the covers back up.
Like a magician, Lorelai pulled the comforter off the bed in one swoop, "And now for my next trick, I will attempt to saw my lovely daughter in half!"
Rory groaned, and curled up into a ball.
Her mother grinned, "Now that you're up, Ms. Golightly shall we?"
Rory begrudgingly got up and Lorelai made her way to the kitchen, "And, let's stop by that good coffee place too."
Rory opened a box labeled 'bedroom-clothes #2' and took out a pair of old jeans, and a light tank. Summer was winding down, but the city was still going through a quasi heat wave.
"Where's the syrup?" Lorelai called out from the kitchen.
"I don't have syrup!" Rory turned off the light in the bathroom, and toweled her face.
"This is unacceptable, how are you supposed to have frozen waffles without syrup," Lorelai masked her disappointment.
"We can get syrup on the way back." Rory put on her shoes.
"Fine," Lorelai sniffed the air.
Rory stood in the doorway, "What'd I tell ya?"
"Definitely a Thai takeout vibe."
"Oh, I want some pad thai."
"Is there a place nearby?"
Rory grabbed a takeout menu from the doorknob handle and waved it in the air.
"New York is so cool," Lorelai gushed as she grabbed the menu on her way out the door.
"It's open twenty-four hours"
---
"You know, you could just call her back," Matthew stood in front of Jess's workspace, "God forbid you actually talk to the girl."
Jess put his phone back into his pants pocket.
"Don't you have shelves to put up?" Jess crossed his arms.
"Hey, I'm only looking out for your best interests, listening to a message for the 60th time isn't healthy…for anybody," Matthew put his hand on Jess's shoulder, a reassuring gesture.
Jess looked at Matthew, "Will you go unpack the last of the boxes, already?"
Matthew smiled, "I'm just saying…" as he walked into the front part of what was Truncheon Books, NYC, "It's been two months."
Jess took out his phone, his voicemail still on the line…he hit the '3' on the keypad.
"Oh, that was fast…" the message began, "Well, you're probably busy and stuff, what with all the moving and things like that…I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to be in Stars Hallow for the summer. So, I'll be …in Stars Hollow…and um, it was good to see you…this message probably sounds stupid. I'm going to stop now."
His crooked smile faded as his cell phone screen flashed 'One Missed Call, Ellie.'
Just then Matthew walked back into the room, "Yeah, yeah he's around here somewhere…"
Jess internally groaned.
Matthew covered the phone with one hand and mouthed "ELLIE"
Jess shook his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry Elle, yeah, I'll tell him you called…yeah…alright. Of course not. No. Alright, I promise. Fine, I won't sell my soul to the dispassionate of Manhattan," he ended the call and was thoroughly relieved.
Jess slumped over the desk.
"She really hates Manhattan," Matthew nicked the apple off of Jess's desk.
"So, I've heard," Jess's voice vibrated over the pile of invitations and envelopes announcing Truncheon Books, NYC's launching party.
"Have you told her about the offer that studio suit made?" Matthew wiped the apple clean on his shirt.
Jess mumbled something incoherently that sounded like an expletive and then a 'no.'
"Have you sent her an invitation?" Matthew bit into the apple.
"She knows about it."
"But have you sent out the formal invitation?"
"What's it to you?"
"I'm just trying to figure things out," Matthew wiped his mouth with his sleeve, "On the one hand – there's Ellie, and she's great, don't get me wrong…but it just seems like she's…"
"Gone off her meds?" Jess blurted out.
"I was going to say upset about you spending so much time in New York," Matthew smirked, "But more or less."
"I don't know," Jess began, "I need some coffee."
Matthew threw the apple core into the garbage, "There's a really decent place around the corner."
Jess's cell buzzed again, it read: 'One new voicemail'
"Maybe something stronger than coffee?" Matthew offered.
---
"Oh, what about Pizazz and Stormer?" Lorelai offered.
"I never liked Pizazz's surly demeanor," Rory commented as they walked a few buildings down to the good coffee place.
Lorelai fanned herself, "But I look best in black sequins!"
Rory reconsidered, "You do."
Lorelai stopped in front of a consignment store window, letting Rory walk a few paces ahead, "Rory, look!"
Rory whipped her head around, her mother left behind, "Something shiny?"
Lorelai's eyes took in the creation in window, a strapless black sequins mini-dress paired with sequins embellished Louboutins, "Very very shiny, very very made for me!"
Used to getting sidetracked by her mother's penchant for shiny window displays, Rory asked, "Where would you wear it to?"
"Um, Grocery shopping!" Lorelai instantly exclaimed, "Grab David Beckham and start calling me Vicky B."
"Where else would you wear it to?"
"Everywhere."
"Like…"
"Like everywhere!"
Rory wanted so badly to be in her nice air conditioned apartment in her nice soft bed, "Let's get coffee first, then you can try it on, on our way back."
Lorelai gasped, "Well…alright, as long as you promise!"
"I promise," Rory took her mother's hand and lead her across the street to the coffee shop.
Not even a few seconds in the cafe before a familiar face greeted them, "Lorelai?"
Catching both Lorelai and Rory by surprise, Lorelai jumped causing an old man to release his cane in mid-air, it crashed to the floor.
"Oh, my, god!" Lorelai smiled widely.
---
"Are you coming in or not?" Matthew took cover in the shade of an awning.
Jess was tapping his cell phone against his temple, maybe if he tapped enough times he could meld what he wanted to say into a text message and send it neatly in 160 characters or less.
"Give me a minute," Jess stood on the corner near the coffee shop, "This has been bugging me."
Matthew exhaled, "Bugging you? It's bugging all of us!"
Jess gave Matthew the look, "What are you saying?"
"Nothing, I'm staying out of it!" Matthew waved the white-flag, "Are you coming in or not?"
"Give me a sec," Jess pressed the buttons to unlock the cell phone, "I have to make a call."
A/N: Please Review, let me know what you think. Thanks.