It was another quiet, normal day at Luke's. Which meant it was actually
neither quiet nor normal, as Lorelai loudly argued with Luke over the
health effects of her coffee and Kirk, having regained his once stolen
trophy, proudly attempted to position "her" to her best advantage, all the
while sending reflections of the morning light around the diner. This
action of course excited all the resentment you could expect, since it was
early, so people were grunting at him inarticulately, but enthusiastically.
So no one noticed when a new customer entered and sat at the counter. She looked quietly around her with a quick, sardonic eye, and began to peruse a menu (does Luke's even have them?)
Having quickly made a decision, she folded the menu. When she glanced up, she met Rory's eye and grinned. Lorelai had just convinced Luke to give them one last cup of coffee for the morning, and Rory was standing up to go catch the bus.
Rory smiled back distractedly, and looked over her shoulder as Jess came down.
Uncharacteristically, Jess was carrying a bookbag. Rory met him with a shy half-smile and pointing at it said, "Decided to accessorize this morning?"
"Yeah, I decided I'd been a minimalist far after it had gone out of style, so my statement had either been made or was going completely unheard, both of which were pointless." Looking up, he realized that Lorelai and Luke had arrested their banter to stare at him with shocked expression. "Come on, I'm walk you to your bus," he added, avoiding their looks.
After they left, Luke and Lorelai just exchanged a confused gape, and suddenly became aware of the tasks in which they were supposed to be engaged. Luke turned his attention to the girl at the counter as Lorelai grabbed her purse and headed out the door.
"What can I get ya?" Luke asked her.
*****************************
Perhaps now would be a good moment to describe Eliza, for that was her name. She was mid-twenties, of a slight, athletic build, with neatly bobbed brown hair. Her big brown eyes danced in her heart-shaped face, varying between cold satiricism and warm empathy, with a perceptive quality that belied her age. Her hands were long, thin, and graceful. She dressed with a quiet flare-bold colors, simple lines. Today, she wore a bright red ribbed sweater, brown slacks, and red shoes.
So much for our description.
******************************
Luke had never exhibited either a curious or a creative talent (apparently, he hadn't even been creative enough to form trysts in high school, considering his shock that Jess and Rory would), so he was relatively unperturbed by the appearance of this newcomer. She hung around much of the day, contentedly reading. She left before the afternoon rush, wandering around town without really being noticed. But her appearance at the town meeting that night created a stir.
There were whispers and stares. Miss Patty directly addressed her with many curious questions, to which polite and slyly evasive answers were given.
Taylor of course called the meeting to order exactly on time. As he began his first order of business, congratulations about the success of the Dance Marathon, Lorelai and Rory came in, Lorelai complaining loudly about her feet.
Taylor sighed. "Lorelai, if you can't get here on time, at least you can come in quietly and not disturb the schedule."
Lorelai smiled. "But Taylor, when I tried to get on the schedule, you denied me time."
"Giving you time to complain about the ridiculous shoes you wore to the dance marathon and how much they hurt your feet would be a waste, Lorelai."
"But you already have."
Taylor looked appalled and quickly returned to his minutes. The meeting was punctuated by the usual kinds of episodes, with Taylor insisting that he remain supreme controller of all events and vying with Lorelai to be the pivot of all conversation.
Towards the end, he welcomed newcomers and looked pointedly at Eliza. She arched her eyebrows at him, inclined her head politely to the town in response to the recognition, and declined to speak. In fact, even as she was cornered by townspeople after the meeting adjourned, she was evasive regarding her particulars.
But she quickly followed Taylor.
Lorelai noticed. She nudged Rory, who nodded. Rory turned to Jess, who had sat with them, and said, "I'll see you at the diner later." Then, they followed Eliza.
She made her feet slap the pavement, in contrast to her usual quiet pace, in order to attract Taylor's attention. He of course turned around in annoyance. Lorelai and Rory halted in the background.
"Look, young lady, attending our town meeting without participating in it is rude enough, but disturbing the peace afterwards is unacceptable."
The girl drew herself up quietly and smiled. "Taylor, you are the most OCD individual I have ever met, and that's an achievement. In fact, I'd like to study you. I think you'd make an interesting subject."
"OCD? I am not obsessive compulsive. You don't even know me."
"Taylor." There was just a hint of firmness to it, like the girl was pushing him to listen to her.
He looked at her sharply. "I'm not going to stand here all night listening to this. I have things to do in the morning, and I need to go to bed." Then, something seemed to grab his memory. "Study me? Who are you?"
"You don't remember, do you? But you're exactly the way Mom described." There was an aggressive kindness to this comment, like she was driving herself to do something that she knew would cause pain, and over which she was insecure herself, but which she was adamantly determined to do nonetheless.
Taylor's jaw dropped. She had hit her mark. "Elizabeth?"
Lorelai and Rory beat a hasty retreat to Luke's.
So no one noticed when a new customer entered and sat at the counter. She looked quietly around her with a quick, sardonic eye, and began to peruse a menu (does Luke's even have them?)
Having quickly made a decision, she folded the menu. When she glanced up, she met Rory's eye and grinned. Lorelai had just convinced Luke to give them one last cup of coffee for the morning, and Rory was standing up to go catch the bus.
Rory smiled back distractedly, and looked over her shoulder as Jess came down.
Uncharacteristically, Jess was carrying a bookbag. Rory met him with a shy half-smile and pointing at it said, "Decided to accessorize this morning?"
"Yeah, I decided I'd been a minimalist far after it had gone out of style, so my statement had either been made or was going completely unheard, both of which were pointless." Looking up, he realized that Lorelai and Luke had arrested their banter to stare at him with shocked expression. "Come on, I'm walk you to your bus," he added, avoiding their looks.
After they left, Luke and Lorelai just exchanged a confused gape, and suddenly became aware of the tasks in which they were supposed to be engaged. Luke turned his attention to the girl at the counter as Lorelai grabbed her purse and headed out the door.
"What can I get ya?" Luke asked her.
*****************************
Perhaps now would be a good moment to describe Eliza, for that was her name. She was mid-twenties, of a slight, athletic build, with neatly bobbed brown hair. Her big brown eyes danced in her heart-shaped face, varying between cold satiricism and warm empathy, with a perceptive quality that belied her age. Her hands were long, thin, and graceful. She dressed with a quiet flare-bold colors, simple lines. Today, she wore a bright red ribbed sweater, brown slacks, and red shoes.
So much for our description.
******************************
Luke had never exhibited either a curious or a creative talent (apparently, he hadn't even been creative enough to form trysts in high school, considering his shock that Jess and Rory would), so he was relatively unperturbed by the appearance of this newcomer. She hung around much of the day, contentedly reading. She left before the afternoon rush, wandering around town without really being noticed. But her appearance at the town meeting that night created a stir.
There were whispers and stares. Miss Patty directly addressed her with many curious questions, to which polite and slyly evasive answers were given.
Taylor of course called the meeting to order exactly on time. As he began his first order of business, congratulations about the success of the Dance Marathon, Lorelai and Rory came in, Lorelai complaining loudly about her feet.
Taylor sighed. "Lorelai, if you can't get here on time, at least you can come in quietly and not disturb the schedule."
Lorelai smiled. "But Taylor, when I tried to get on the schedule, you denied me time."
"Giving you time to complain about the ridiculous shoes you wore to the dance marathon and how much they hurt your feet would be a waste, Lorelai."
"But you already have."
Taylor looked appalled and quickly returned to his minutes. The meeting was punctuated by the usual kinds of episodes, with Taylor insisting that he remain supreme controller of all events and vying with Lorelai to be the pivot of all conversation.
Towards the end, he welcomed newcomers and looked pointedly at Eliza. She arched her eyebrows at him, inclined her head politely to the town in response to the recognition, and declined to speak. In fact, even as she was cornered by townspeople after the meeting adjourned, she was evasive regarding her particulars.
But she quickly followed Taylor.
Lorelai noticed. She nudged Rory, who nodded. Rory turned to Jess, who had sat with them, and said, "I'll see you at the diner later." Then, they followed Eliza.
She made her feet slap the pavement, in contrast to her usual quiet pace, in order to attract Taylor's attention. He of course turned around in annoyance. Lorelai and Rory halted in the background.
"Look, young lady, attending our town meeting without participating in it is rude enough, but disturbing the peace afterwards is unacceptable."
The girl drew herself up quietly and smiled. "Taylor, you are the most OCD individual I have ever met, and that's an achievement. In fact, I'd like to study you. I think you'd make an interesting subject."
"OCD? I am not obsessive compulsive. You don't even know me."
"Taylor." There was just a hint of firmness to it, like the girl was pushing him to listen to her.
He looked at her sharply. "I'm not going to stand here all night listening to this. I have things to do in the morning, and I need to go to bed." Then, something seemed to grab his memory. "Study me? Who are you?"
"You don't remember, do you? But you're exactly the way Mom described." There was an aggressive kindness to this comment, like she was driving herself to do something that she knew would cause pain, and over which she was insecure herself, but which she was adamantly determined to do nonetheless.
Taylor's jaw dropped. She had hit her mark. "Elizabeth?"
Lorelai and Rory beat a hasty retreat to Luke's.