It was almost like nothing had happened, as Rory sat at the kitchen breakfast nook, really needing that cup of coffee after the second night of sleeping in Finny's bed as that seemed to be the strategy to get the most sleep, when she heard G rushing down the stairs on her way to school.
Finny's fever had decreased already, so Rory hoped it'd just be a three-day sort of thing that didn't need much intervention. Nevertheless Rory was expecting a doctor to drop by today to check on him just in case. Usually when the doctor came, she had a look at all the three kids just in case, to make the best use of the trip, especially considering the twins not really expressing what they felt too well yet. This was one of the conveniences of being a Huntzberger.
Rory's coffee was still a little too hot to drink directly, having accidentally pushed on the wrong water temperature, so she was just smelling it at this point, holding the cup to her lips and blowing on it, desparately craving the taste of that dark gold liquid. She'd put on some low music and at that moment The Japanese House was playing 'Something Has to Change'.
G, just wearing some basic jeans and a short but chunky mohair sweater, put her coffee thermos under the coffee machine, pushed the button and continued to grab herself a bowl of chia pudding from the fridge, and a spoon from the drawer, before sitting down across from Rory with a casual, "Hey."
"So how's the new semester?" Rory asked after the initial nod, having just attempted to take her first real sip of her coffee, being kind of curious whether she was okay with being back at school, having not really spoken to her much about it yesterday. She'd even for some time considered maybe G should stay home for a while, heal, go to therapy a few times, but she realized soon enough that getting on with her life was probably better for her than sitting around thinking about it all the time, beside if it had been her she wouldn't have wanted to miss school either.
"It's okay," G replied, turning around reaching out for her thermos from the coffee machine that had finished, then closing its lid. "There's a lot of English this semester, also psychology which is cool, and I'm taking independent biology research which I can probably link to psych," she shared. It was still her main field of interest, but she was a little confused if someone as messed up as she was, as she was just beginning to grasp, could actually work in a field like that while struggling herself. But she hadn't buried the idea just yet. If nothing else she was just learning about herself and how the brain worked.
"You know if you need any help with the latter, you could ask April. She did her own DNA testing when she was like 13 or something," Rory suggested.
"We'll see, I was more thinking maybe using mice, get them to do something with some treats or something like that. I'm not sure I want to go that deeply into the labs, but we'll see if I can get away with that," she replied, digging into her pudding. She was curious about these subjects, but she was not the kind to do a lot more work than she was really required - while she was smart, things like laboratory analyses always seemed too much for her, her not being the most patient type of person.
It was sort of funny how G managed to sound as if nothing serious had happened, though sure - she wanted her to go on with her life, but they both knew having the Remi issue unravel had been traumatizing, the question just was - to what extent. They'd scheduled a therapy for the next afternoon, to someone really said to be the expert in adolecent and youth issues.
"Did you call dad yet?" Rory asked with some concern and took another sip of coffee.
"I did - but I didn't tell him everything. I don't really know what good it would do if he knew," G admitted, having just talked about the trip without its negatives. Little by little she was missing her father less and less, having accepted that he was away, replacing his presence with Rory's.
Rory really couldn't blame her. She could just picture Christopher flying to Paris and punching Remi, calling the police and causing a big scene. Rory knew about him generally flirting with her, no details, hoping G would tell her when she was ready, but still that was enough for her to hate him. There was no doubt he deserved a good punch, but it wouldn't really help anything. And she really didn't hate Sherry enough to want her to get hurt in the process either, trusting Celeste's gut feeling that Sherry might suffer the most if anything was stirred.
"You know… I'm sometimes so angry at dad. For just going off like he did. He should've waited a few years until you were in college, it's not right that you're dealing with these things, whatever they are, all on your own. That's what parents are for. Parents should be standing up for their kids, not leaving you to just deal. But I know… he's not perfect, trust me, I know..," Rory let out some steam.
"You know, he did ask if it was okay for him to go, right?" G said, surprising Rory.
"Yes, but you don't ask a 16-year-old that. He was pushing his responsibility of making the right call onto you, which shouldn't be your decision. You are not responsible for him being happy and fulfilled or present," Rory explained.
"I've got you, I don't need him" G said, humbly, as if it was no big deal. She wasn't always the first person she felt like talking to - but she was certainly closer in the line than her parents.
Rory wasn't going to ruin their morning to begin arguing with her about this. She definitely needed all the support she could get. But Rory smiled gently being moved by the fact that she considered her important and had expressed it. That was what was different with them - they were sisters first, and even when she was trying to mother her sometimes, it tended to end up more sisterly, thankfully.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you… what time will you be home today?" Rory suddenly recalled needing to ask her.
"4-ish, I think" G replied, not quite sure if Philipa wanted to do something after. "Why?" she asked.
Rory realized there wasn't much point in lying.
"Finn is coming over to see Finny, I just wanted to give you heads up. I can tell him to come at another day or time if that's better," Rory added carefully. She hadn't really agreed on a time with him, afternoons usually were the time that he just ended up showing up, usually sometime after lunch having been visiting various venues around Manhattan since late morning.
G had pretty much expected him to come sooner or later. He'd been such a huge part of the dynamic in this household, it almost felt weird that he hadn't been there for two months already. For a split second she thought about just going to a movie after school and hide out, but she just didn't want to hide, not really. She needed to get past this.
"It's okay," G replied. "Does he know that you know?" she asked, hesitantly.
"No, but I am not sure if I'll keep it that way...," Rory confessed honestly.
"I'd rather you didn't. He doesn't know that I know… that it wasn't that straightforward from his side as he let on.. So I don't know, maybe that'd just stir things up," G discussed, her point of view actually making sense to Rory.
"Maybe.. We'll see," Rory said, unsure what she might say all things considered.
G wasn't going to beg her to not say anything - she was just so sick of asking people to keep secrets and she was keeping enough from various people in her life, thankfully the least from Rory and Celeste.
"Is he bringing her along?" G asked, surprising Rory, who had not known G knew about Charlie.
"No, not this time. In a few weeks maybe," Rory admitted, having heard from Logan that Charlie was moving to New York for Finn. Rory was curious to meet the woman who had won over Finn's heart like that, she wanted him to be happy too, but she hoped G wouldn't get hurt in the process.
G continued to eat her food and Rory to drink her coffee, taking a bite of her banana bread in between.
"I hope you're not torturing yourself over their photos…," Rory added, knowing well what kind of pictures Finn had been recently posting and it was likely that that was where she'd found out about her. Finn's photos were romantic, full of him and her enjoying life, being physical, showing off all the amazing surprises and experiences he'd put together for her, even one declaring how she was moving to New York.
"I'm not, I just saw a few in the beginning and I just checked like once like a week ago," G confessed having had a weak moment in France. "I just miss him, you know - and I don't even mean like that, but just a friend, you know..," she sighed. She was beginning to understand that a part of her infatuation was really just about the company. She hadn't thought things through. Realistically thinking she felt silly for ever having hoped for more than friendship.
"You know under other circumstances I'd maybe suggest that you'd try to be friends but at this point - I just don't think it's a good idea," Rory replied.
"I know…," G exhaled, and finished her breakfast in silence.
"Hey, if Finny is feeling better - do you want to go to Stars Hollow this weekend?" Rory asked, just as G was getting ready to leave, having packed her thermos into her pink backpack. "I could use an extra pair of hands with the kids, so maybe I wouldn't even have to bring Maya along at all," Rory said.
If all went well Finny would mostly play with Evie in Stars Hollow, needing very little looking after. And the twins were becoming more easy to handle during the night, sometimes not even waking. So she desperately wanted to prove to herself she could do it on her own or without nannies, often reading about supermoms who did all this by themselves on a daily basis.
"But you don't have to if you have plans. I just don't really want to leave you all alone here," Rory explained.
"Sure," G replied. It was not like she had other plans, and she agreed with her - she didn't want to be all alone in this big place, she also didn't mind seeing Celeste. G walked over and hugged Rory goodbye, quickly kissing her cheek. Rory hadn't realized how much that simple gesture meant to her and with Logan gone and Celeste far, it was even the physical feel of her that she needed. It felt like she had support too.
Finn had already spent about one and a half hours one-on-one with Finny, playing, as Rory had excused herself to her study on the same floor, to get some work done on Jess' book. Finn really didn't mind, having almost expected his visit to be like that. It almost seemed to Rory that those two had their own language sometimes.
At some point, however, Finny snuck through the door leading to her study, despite Finn's discouragements.
"Mommies have that undeniable draw, what can I do," Finn shrugged, seeing Finny already demanding to get to Rory's lap.
"He's looking a lot better, no more fever," Rory noted, feeling Finny's forehead, feeling relieved. It seemed it was just a small infection that had passed on it's own just like the doctor had said.
Finn sat on the small couch in Rory's study, observing her with him.
"And how are you doing?" Finn asked. The way he said it definitely made Rory think for a minute about his reasons for asking. They'd often talked about life and relationships - anything really, they just didn't do it that often. But just the timing and the way he looked at her made her think that this must've been something Logan had talked to him about. In a way she even felt hurt that there were things perhaps that Logan had preferred to talk to him about rather than her, but deep down she was just glad he had talked.
Rory shrugged. The topic was gentle, and saying she was 'fine' which she was, essentially, seemed to shrug him off somehow in a way she didn't necessarily want to. She was keeping it together, but she was still scared and worried.
"If you want I can take Finny down to Maya - if you want to really talk?" Finn offered, seeing her struggle to reply.
Rory attempted to smile, but it didn't quite come out as believable.
"Alright, Finny, let's go see what Maya is up to, shall we?" Finn took the lead, seeing that Rory did need to talk, really talk, which having a toddler around wasn't really facilitating.
He went to look for Maya in the kitchen, but who she found instead, washing an apple by the sink, was G, having just gotten back from school, her backpack thrown over one shoulder.
"Hey," he said hesitantly, stopping in his path. He noted her changed hair, but didn't feel it was a good idea to make a big deal of it - and frankly he'd liked the blonde on her better.
"Hey," G replied, not quite daring to fully look at him. It was funny, how they'd never actually been in the same room together since they'd talked openly, or at least G had.
It was then Maya emerged from her quarters, adjacent to the kitchen, and greeted Finny cheerily.
"No more fever, it seems he's getting better," Finn explained to Maya. "Rory asked me to bring him over, so we could talk a little," he added to Maya.
Maya took Finny downstairs to the parlor, knowing the bedroom floor was better kept quiet when the twins slept and Rory was working upstairs.
Finn didn't really know whether to stick around and apologize once more, maybe ask how G was, at the same time knowing Rory needed him upstairs too.
"Rory knows, you know," G said as he hesitated.
"Oh..," Finn exhaled, having not really expected that, but in a way he felt relief too - at least she hadn't been alone in her head. He now felt a whole other level of nervousness about heading back upstairs to see Rory.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he said, still not knowing that she knew about his real feelings.
"It's okay - really," G replied, which may have been an overstatement, but she had other issues these days that had shadowed what had been actual a few months ago. "I was hurt, but I know that you did what you thought was right," G added in explanation, once again showing a surprising amount of maturity. The interaction was still hurting her but she saw no point letting it show. She was actually perhaps for the first time really thinking about how Finn might have felt. That he too had been hurting when he'd done what he did.
"Still…," Finn noted, moving uncomfortably from one foot to another.
"I think you look happy with her, I hope it works out," G added, almost as he was about to leave.
"How did you…," Finn began, somehow having not realized that she knew. But the fact that she'd said 'look' was what connected the dots in his head. "I'm sorry - I didn't realize. I never meant to rub it in like that, it just happened and then I just didn't think," Finn said. This was a prime example of Finn actually being a lot less mature in some aspects, like not always thinking how his actions influenced the people around him.
"It's okay, you deserve to be happy," G assured.
"You do too," Finn replied. There were a few seconds of silence, both deep down just wanting to hug, or even say how they'd missed each other, but that was certainly better left unsaid and undone. "Alright, I better go up, Rory needs my ear," he said.
"What's going on with them?" G asked, surprising him again, as he'd already turned to leave.
"I'm not sure that I'm really supposed to say," Finn said apologetically. But he did give her credit for actually knowing it was about Rory and Logan. "I think it'll be okay, but she just needs support - and he too - they've had a tough few months," he added.
"He didn't do anything, right? Cheat or…,?" G asked, not wanting to let him off the hook just yet. She would always have Rory's side in whatever happened.
"No, nothing like that," he replied. "You should talk to Rory about it yourself, I'm sure she'll tell you if you ask," he added.
"Okay," she sighed, and let Finn slip away.
Finn climbed the stairs quietly, needing some time to regroup. Seeing G had been harder than he'd expected, but no - it hadn't flipped his feeling for Charlie. Charlie was real, what G had been was a crush, a cure for loneliness - he just desperately hoped she was as fine as she's said she was. He did care.
The little street in Gaillon, 2nd arrondissement of Paris, looked almost too simple. If it weren't for the automated bollards that controlled each vehicle entering the area in front of the building, or to put it more accurately - buildings, one would've almost not known that the house held anything of value. But as much as Emily had by then read up on the Aubertin family's newest auction house, which was supposed to focus solely on modern art, the place held millions, perhaps even billions, in the form of various masterpieces. Aubertin Enchères were no match for Sothebys or Christies, but they had a very loyal clientele of European customers, and that really was all they desired, at least these days when the reigns were in the hands of Sabine Aubertin a no longer her late husband who'd wanted to use Celeste's marriage to Logan Huntzberger as the means to grow. What her son Henri, Celeste's brother, had done in the couple of years between their father's passing and Henri getting arrested for abuse, forgery and by now also fraud, thing had been fuzzy. While their former activities were continued, the talk in higher society circles were that Henri had also been involved with shadier activities, the art dealing and auction company being a convenient front, but nothing substantial had surfaced for police to make a case with it.
What Emily had learned about Sabine, however, that while she'd spent her life being the quiet participant in her marriage, at least not letting her part really show, had been a quick study in catching up once there was no one else to take the stage. Here the talk was that her assistant, who'd been with her for decades, was the one really moving the chess pieces or at least in part. Emily simply found it difficult to believe that someone with no practical experience could do all that in that quick of a time, thinking back to her own experiences in learning how to live without her husband again.
"This is it," her friend Isabel, with whom Emily had been walking, hands linked, the 150 ft distance from the bollards to the entrance, said, greeting the security guard and doorman with "Bonsoir," and presented the latter with an online invitation. Emily was quite envious of her friend's tech abilities to be frank, having learned a number of things during her stay already. To her, smartphones were still mostly about making calls and checking e-mail.
The interior was surprisingly minimalistic, white walls and hardwood floors, but that was probably intentional considering their modern art orientation. As they handed away their coats, and were given their auction paddles - as this was besides an opening also an auction - even though neither of them had any intentions of buying art that day. It didn't take long until Isabel already began to make introductions seeing a number of people that she knew. Emily was like a fish in the water, her French, while a little rusty, being just adequate for mingling. But while there were a lot of interesting and colorful people attending the event, her attention was mostly focused on the person she was after.
Emily had never seen Sabine in person before, hence she was rather curious to see her outside of photographs. She believed seeing a person in person already gave a lot away how one was approachable, as that really was what she was out to do - get an introduction so she could get a private appointment with her.
They listened to a couple of speeches, one by the executive director of this particular auction house and then a very short greeting by Sabine. The woman looked fragile, not at the highest energy perhaps, but put up an interesting front, wearing a bright colored, blue and red, knee-length dress and yellow tights - wearing the Modrian colors - as if saying that she didn't give a damn. And that was something Emily kind of liked. She would never really go to such extremes herself, but she respected people for not letting opinions get to them.
They auctioned three pieces that night - Jean Arp's Trois objets désagréables sur une figure, which was essentially a dadaistic, or perhaps even surrealist sculpture in the form of a bronze blob and Max Ernst's Sortons: L'instant et la durée. The highlight of the evening was Gerhard Richter's Abstraktes Bild, an abstraction that essentially was just various tones of smudged paint on canvas - but it's excellent composition and color were a good explanation for its nearly 30 million euro price tag.
In celebration of the first auction, and more generally the opening, a cocktail party followed. Emily had probably already made three rounds of the room but every time she and Isabel wanted to pull Sabine aside, someone kept getting there first.
"This is ridiculous. I feel like I'm trying to get an audience at the Versailles," Emily complained to her friend Isabel.
"You want to give up?" she asked with surprise. She didn't know her as the person who gave up on anything.
"Which one is that assistant of hers?" Emily asked, recalling Celeste telling her about Yvette.
It took a few minutes of strolling around the room for Isabel to spot the petite woman who at that evening was wearing a minimalistic black dress with sleeves, definitely unlike Sabine wanting to blend into the crowd. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun in the back and she kept pushing up the dark framed cat-eye glasses she wore onto her nose.
Emily didn't wait around but walked up to the woman leaving Isabel with some of her own acquaintances to whom she'd just ran into, excusing herself.
"Excuse me? I've just got to ask - where did you get that lovely black dress of yours? Sometimes getting the simplicity right is so challenging these days," Emily commented as she reached Yvette. She'd considered going in in French, but she wanted her to know from her accent where she was from, hoping that'd get her taken more seriously.
"Oh, thank you, madam. It's Armani," Yvette replied, almost without an accent.
"My name is Emily Gilmore, it's lovely to meet you…," she left the sentence hanging, hoping to get at least the introduction to Sabine's right hand.
"Yvette Beualiue," the woman shook her hand, a fake smile plastered onto her face.
"Very nice to meet you," Emily said, her smile almost looking genuine. She could sense Yvette wanting to slip away, her body language giving off that she was looking for escapes. She didn't seem to be the woman of many words.
"Listen, I'm not going prevaricate - I'm looking to get a meeting with Sabine Aubertin," Emily said, deciding to just ask what she wanted.
"Mrs. Aubertin is a very busy woman," Yvette replied dismissively.
"Well - so am I," Emily Gilmore fibbed, hating when people considered their time more valuable than hers. After all she very close to Sabine's age - nobody had time to wait around doing nothing in their age. "It concerns Celeste Mariano," she spilled the magic word. She'd considered using 'Odette' - but then again France was full of Odettes, and perhaps in a room full of people the mention 'Odette Aubertin' would've caught too many people's ears.
"I'll ask. Excuse me," Yvette replied swiftly.
Emily waited patiently by the standing table, unable to hide the victorious smile creeping onto her face as she watched the interaction of Yvette interrupting Sabine's discussion, of which she frankly seemed relieved to part from, whispering to her ear and then gesturing with a nod towards Emily while she spoke.
Sabine's face really gave off very little, keeping Emily in suspense until Yvette returned.
"Monday at 2. 8 Rue des 3 portes, just off Place Maubert," Yvette said without further explanations and made herself scarce with a quick polite nod.
Emily didn't know every street in Paris but she knew enough that the Place Maubert was not located in the 16th where Celeste had thought she lived and where she had grown up in. Clearly some things had changed that even Celeste wasn't aware of, though she couldn't be sure - it could've technically been an office she was being invited to. Either way - the mission of getting to her audience, no matter that it was several days from now, as if proving a point about being a busy woman, was completed.