"Rory!" Lane cheered.
"Oh Lane! I've missed you!" Rory greeted, hugging her, as they met up in front of the Parking garage next to Kleinfelds. "How is everybody?" Rory continued.
"Good, we're finishing up the album. And the boys are doing alright in school," Lane replied.
"Are you excited?" Lane inquired few seconds later, bouncily.
"I am," Rory replied, adding, "So where's my mom?"
"She's parking the car," Lane replied. The two had driven in together, while Paris had picked up Honor and Rory.
Lorelai stepped up hesitantly taking the last sip of her coffee before tossing the cup to the dumpster at the curb.
"Hi Rory," she greeted hopefully.
"Hi mom," she replied coldly. She'd invited her out of politeness and respect, but with all her will she preferred to avoid the last topic they had discussed. This was supposed to be a happy day for her after all.
"Come on ladies, they're ready for us," Honor called from the doorway.
After taking off their coats and being handed a glass of champagne, the girls walked around the showroom in awe. There was certainly a dress for every woman's dream. Each of them, except Rory, had done this before - all having their own wedding dress in the back of their mind as comparison, with the accompanied memories. Lorelai had had a few even, and she knew that overall the dress didn't matter. What mattered was the guy.
"Anything that caught your eye?" the stylist asked Rory, after ten minutes of browsing.
"That one maybe," Rory said pointing at an embroidered V-neck A-line. "I want something I can have on the entire wedding, so I don't have to change to dance and enjoy myself later, so nothing too big," she explained, thinking practically.
"Oh, this one says Disney Fairy Tale on it," Lorelai gasped at a Rapunzel-inspired gown.
"It's not bad, maybe," Rory replied.
"I always had a thing for these sleek and simple ones," Paris referred to a smooth fabric sleeveless fit-to-flare. For a moment the thought did cross her mind, that perhaps she'd get to wear something like this again someday before she brushed the thought aside.
"I love these bohemian ones, but back then when I got married, - god, that was ages ago - they weren't trendy so now I just have to watch everybody else get married in these. Plus my mom would've hated it," Honor professed, adoring the All Who Wander series.
"Tempting," Rory commented, laughingly. However, the dress was certainly one of those things she wasn't going to choose to specifically annoy someone else. This was for her.
Rory tried on a few dresses before liking something enough to show the others. The first one was an Anna Campbell pinkish strapless A-line Avery dress.
"Wow," Lorelai exclaimed. Her daughter looked indeed like a princess.
"You look spectacular," Honor commented, sipping her champagne .
"Maybe a bit too pink and I am not sure I want strapless - that'd scream for jewellery and I know how Emily would get with that," Rory hesitated.
"You're recalling the tiara incident?" Lorelai said, trying to engage in conversation with Rory.
"Yep, that's the one," she replied, trying to focus on the dresses, "Emily tried to set me up with a bunch of Yale Alumni once, made me wear a really heavy diamond tiara and necklace, before parading me," she added, explaining to the group. "While the evening was terrible, Logan was there to pick up the pieces," she added nostalgically, recalling the events with a weak smile, before returning to the dressing room.
The next dress she tried on was the embroidered V-neck she noticed before, but she just wasn't sure. It took a few more dresses, even one short one, to find something she liked.
She wore an ivory sleeveless satin fit and flare dress with a lace bodice. The button details in the back followed down her spine until the end of the long tail.
"Whose design was this again?" Honor asked the stylist.
"Rita Vinieris," she replied.
"Love the lace back," Honor commented. "'Hot' I believe is the right word," she added.
"How do you feel? Is it comfortable to move around in?" Lane asked.
"Feels good," Rory replied, touching the lace details.
"I can't imagine dancing with that tail though," Paris commented.
"True, I guess it's pretty similar with anything this length," Rory said.
"There are a couple of tea-length alternatives to try, if you want?" the stylist offered.
"Why not, if we still have time?" Rory said.
"Of course there is time," the stylist agreed, before leaving the showroom in search for some tea-length alternatives in the back.
"Now this could be something," Rory replied from the dressing room, after a few minutes, as the stylist brought out two other models.
The dress was an A-line, slightly longer in the back than in the front, but the top resembled that of the Rita Vinieris piece she'd tried on before, a similar lace bodice with tiny buttons running down her back.
"I know that look," Lorelai said.
"Is this it?" Honor asked excitedly.
Rory was quiet, taking her time. It indeed was the one. It felt comfortable yet smooth on the skin. She knew Logan would love it too - it was a little innocent at first look, with a touch of seductive lace and the meticulous detailing in the back.
"Now you just need a killer pair of heels," Paris added.
"And flats for later," Lane added practically.
There was just Lorelai's dress to go, and she'd decided to give her the freedom of choice. Most of the decor was still undecided, so she could just play around her color. Their tastes were not too far off so there was no reason to worry. She chose a stormy blue tea-length A-line with a chiffon skirt and similarly to Rory's dress it had a lace top, that suited but looked modest next to the wedding dress.
After lunch the group walked back to the garage, Rory catching up with Lane in the front, Honor spilling on embarrassing childhood details about Logan to Paris following them and Lorelai reluctantly dragging. She certainly didn't want to leave without having a proper chance to talk to Rory.
"Rory, can we talk," Lorelai finally addressed her, just as they were reaching the parking garage, as Lane and Honor already entered the building.
"Lorelai, are you sure you want to do this today and here?" Paris interrupted raising her eyebrows, knowing how bad Rory's panic attack had been.
"Am I now only allowed to talk to my daughter her therapist present or something?" she huffed.
"Mom, I am not going to talk to you when you are like this," Rory said angrily, it was clear from Lorelai's voice, that her opinions hadn't changed.
"Maybe doing this with the therapist isn't such a bad idea, you should consider it," Paris suggested to them both.
"But today, I just want to go home, I'm tired," Rory concluded, walking inside.
Paris glanced apologetically towards Lorelai once more, before following Rory inside.
