Disclaimer: I own some of the characters in this story, but that's all. Nothing related to Gilmore Girls belongs to me. I don't know who owns GG now, but whoever it is: Lucky you!
A/N: You have NO idea how happy I am that this chapter finally is done!!! It was so hard and so much work and at some point I really wanted to just give up. But than I remembered you nice feedback and I said to myself that I'm gonna do it and I can make it work and at some point this chapters gonna be finished. And ... tatatataaaaa ... here it is!!!
Big, big, BIG thanks to my reviewers. I love you guys!!!
What can I tell about the new chapter? Let me think ... a little more Lit in here. And the time moved on so it's a couple of weeks/a few months later then the last chapter. Just so you know and don't wonder.
For the rest of the chapter just one word: ENJOY:D
Sorry for the long wait! "me is sorry"
Love and Peace,
Sony
Summary: Total AU - Lingueglietta was the name of the little, strategic hamlet he lived in and were he grew up. Little did he knew that soon a little eddy wind should blow into his life. And she carried the name Lorelai Gilmore. LIT
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Lingueglietta
Chapter 3 – Figli miei!
Her Italian had become so good in the last couple of weeks that she no longer had any problem to understand somebody. She wasn't that good in speaking herself, but got better from day to day. Actually she hardly spoke any English anymore. Only when she was on the phone with somebody from the States, or when tourists asked her for the way. It looked like she no longer was looking like a tourist herself.
The work became more from day to day, too. Nevertheless nearly every evening Rory found the time to go to the small restaurant and enjoy the unbelievable variety of pasta, pizza and several other delicate Italian meals.
The waiters already knew her by name, the little table was reserved and as soon as she entered the restaurant a glass of Chianti was prepared for her. Even if they weren't comparable with one another, the Mariano reminded her somehow of Luke's Diner in Stars Hollow.
Sometimes she even met the good looking Italian then they sit together at the table, which she already called "the Rory-Table", ate dinner and talked lively about God and the world. It was funny, but they still didn't even know the name of the other.
However, this evening she didn't have the time for a visit to the restaurant. Frederika had invited her for pizza in the small hometown of her friend. The pizza-baker would be nobody else then Nonna Katalina. And Rory was already looking forward to finally meet the old lady.
They would meet up with Riks's twin sister, her husband and Nonna Katalinas grandson, all of which she'd never met - at least, that was what she believed.
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Soon after Rory knew better.
Eight o'clock – on the second – the bell rang and Rory opened the door, just to find the sparkling blue eyes, the impotently grin and the blond hair of none other then Matteo Rovelli in front of her.
Why didn't she think about the possibility that her co-worker could be Frederika's brother-in-law? Life always consisted of coincidences.
Joanna, Riks twin-sister, turned out to be an extremely kind person, too, and the American already knew that she would really enjoy this evening.
Much laughing and twenty minutes later Matteo parked his car in front of a rustic, tasteful house beside a big vineyard and a few hundred feet away from the center of Lingueglietta. The wind already carried over a wonderful smell from the garden behind the house.
"Kids! Finally! It's about time! You're late! I was afraid the Pizza would burn!" The voice belonged to an old lady who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Nonna Katalina! Why are you always mad with me? What did I do to you that you always insult me?" Matteo teased her and playfully grabbed his shirt right over his beating heart.
"You're a hoodlum, Matteo. Just like my damn grandson!" she told him off, but on her face was a small smile.
The young man laughed hard, because now he knew – out of The Nonnas sentence – that Jess wouldn't be there. Probably something urgent came up.
"Nonni, may I introduce?" now it was Frederika's turn to grin and only seconds later Rory was in front of the old lady, "This is Lorelai Gilmore, a friend from the United States. Just today we discovered she's also Matteo's colleague from the Guggenheim."
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Nonna Katalina. I heard a lot about you." The young woman smiled and shook hands with the lady.
"Lorelai, indeed, the pleasure is all mine. And now let's eat!" The Nonna nodded, smiled once briefly at Rory and than turned around.
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The young American never thought that a simple dinner like the one of the old lady and her husband could be so much fun.
Just moments after the small group sat down at the table an old man stepped from the vineyard into the garden und called out a happy "Ciao, figli miei!" Frederika whispered in Rory's direction that this man was Papa Giorgio. He welcomed everybody with a warm handshake but when he reached the young woman he stopped.
"A new face, if I'm not wrong." He smiled.
"Indeed", Rory smiled back, "I'm Rory. Rory Gilmore."
"Good evening, Rory. I'm Giorgio Mariano", he introduced himself and finally shook her hand too. But on her face appeared a curious look.
"Did you say 'Mariano'?" She wasn't sure she heard right. Papa Giorgio nodded. And Rory started to smile slightly.
"What a coincidence! The name of my favorite restaurant in San Remo is 'Mariano'." Her smile never left her features, but she was – again – kind of confused when suddenly all the others started to laugh.
"Child, that's nice to hear. I'm happy every time someone tells me they like my grandson's restaurant." Nonna Katalina interrupted the laughter with a small smile of her own and a short nod. Afterwards she turned to the rest of her guests and "ordered" to finally start eating.
Rory was very much surprised to say something against it and started with her Pizza.
But – of course – Matteo wasn't as wise as the American and wanted to know (again in a teasing voice) if they shouldn't wait for Hoodlum No. 2 because Mr. Owner-of-the-restaurant still wasn't here.
For that he got hit on the hand with the wooden cooking spoon and a very dark glare from the old lady. He still grinned but didn't make the mistake twice to say something about Nonni's grandson.
Finally everybody was eating. And – for her – it was the very best meal since … ever.
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The following day was a Saturday and the head of the young American felt like it would burst in thousand pieces. Papa Giorgios wine was a marvelous droplet, but definitely had its side-effects. The last time she counted the empty bottles the previous evening she listed twelve of them. More proof for the hard-drinking Italians.
Although her pain was bad, Rory rolled out of bed around lunch-time. She took a long, very refreshing shower, threw in two pills against the headache, dressed herself, grabbed her copy of "Anna Karenina" and rushed out.
Five minutes later Rory marched through the doors of the restaurant, greeted Zappo and Bernardo and seated herself at "her" table. It looked like she was the only costumer at this time.
Her place was situated in the shadows and a small breeze blew on the terrace, which she was thankful for because it was freakin' hot. Her eyes traveled once again over the sea. She could see – in the far distance – the white sails of all different kind of boats, but she too recognized that the traffic on the main road along the port was slow-moving.
"Today you're an early guest. You know, it's not even three in the afternoon?" In the last couple of weeks she learned to remember this voice. It wasn't very hard to remember though.
With a smile Rory turned from the ocean to the attractive Italian, who stepped just seconds ago to her table, two glasses of wine in his hands. One of the glasses found its place in front of her.
"Grazie, but I think I have to refuse today. I'm sorry." Her smile turned into a grimace and she pushed the glass a little away from her.
"No Chianti today?" he was curious, "Hard night?" It was his turn to grin. She saw it and thought that it was one of the first things she ever noticed about him.
In this moment she remembered the funny coincidence the evening before and with a happy laugh she started to tell him.
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Jess sat down in the chair opposite from her, because he liked to spend time with this woman. She was funny, intelligent and – another great point – really attractive. Could a man wish for more?
Jess never was the sort of man who had every weekend another woman in his bed. Sometimes a little flirt, a short adventure, another broken heart on his list, but never in an exaggerated way.
It was this point, too, which showed that Jess never believed he was made for a "real" relationship. Better: a long lasting relationship. There was not one woman in the last couple of years with who he could have imagined to be together with for a long time - in his opinion, and that was the opinion that counted.
But since he met this amazing woman, since he spent almost every evening with her, since he recognized what a smart and interesting whirlwind lived in this woman who appeared almost innocent, since this moment he started to imagine to build something more solid, more stronger with another person.
Just a second ago she told him that she wouldn't drink any wine today and Jess was curious about what she wanted to tell him.
"You're not gonna believe this, but life consist of coincidences." She smiled and asked Zappo at the same time to please bring her a new bottled water.
"You don't have to tell me that. I'm an Italian. Every Italian believes that life only consists of coincidences." It was his turn to give his waiter an imperceptible sign that their meal would be on the house. Bernardo nodded.
"That's good to hear", she smiled again and continued, "Yesterday I met the grandmother of the owner of this restaurant."
Jess nearly choked on his wine but steadied himself fast and looked at her innocently. This disclosure took him really by surprise.
"You don't say … That's really a coincidence. How come you met this woman?" He sounded interested but was careful to don't drop his mask. He liked this little game where she didn't know that HE was the owner himself.
"My friend Riks was born in the same village as Nonna Katalina." She sounded so happy and at the same time she took a bite of her delicious hors d'oevre. A second later a little sigh was heard.
While she ate her first bites Jess tried to imagine how she would react when he would tell her that it was himself who they were talking about.
"I can tell you this woman is the embodiment of a grandmother. My whole life I wished for a granny like her." On her face was a broad smile and she took a sip of her water.
The American in front of him met his grandmother through a young woman named Riks but he never heard of someone called Riks although he should've grown up with her. But he pushed this thought away and concentrated on the important things of this conversation.
Little Miss United States met Nonna Katalina eye-to-eye. And she liked her. Normally when people met his grandmother they told him that the Nonna was a domineering, know-all, aggressive woman with whom someone couldn't really talk to because you were in danger to get hurt. Physical as psychical.
He just finished this thought when she looked up from her meal and smiled at him. Jess saw a gleam in her blue eyes he never saw before.
It was this moment he told himself for once and all that this woman definitely was something very special.
TBC
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Ciao, figli miei. - Hello, my children.
