"Revolving Satellites Redux" by Gluglug
Chapter Six: Sundae Bloody Sunday
Spoiler Warning/Timing: mid - Third Season
Rating: PG -13
Summary: Lorelai goes to the soda shop to see Luke about a toolbox.
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and all characters are property of The Dubba Dubba Dubba WB, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Amy Sherman- Palladino. They don't belong to me, just borrowing.
A few minutes later, Lorelai finished her breakfast and left the diner. She had some time until her meeting, so she decided to go face Luke. The shop was due to have its grand opening that coming Saturday and it looked almost ready. She walked up to the door of the soda shop and noticed that the shade was pulled half-way down.
Lorelai looked in and spied Luke, the back of his blue flannel shirt and cap visible from the door. She then noticed a manicured hand and a brown sleeve wrapped around his waist, then another arm came from the opposite side and duplicated the action. It seemed that he and Nicole were sharing an intimate moment. A moment later, Taylor and a construction worker appeared from the back room and they quickly separated. Seeing their embrace, Lorelai started to lose her nerve. She was just about to turn and leave when Taylor opened the door.
"Hello, Lorelai, what a pleasant surprise. You do know we're not open yet, right?"
"Hey, Taylor. I was, um, just coming by to ask you when you were having your grand opening. Rory and I delirious with anticipation over having some egg creams."
Taylor handed her a flyer. "Well, here you go. Be sure to tell everyone. I'm having a special offer on Saturday - bring a friend and get a free sundae. It's a limited time offer and you must bring this flyer with you for redemption. So hang onto it, young lady!"
Lorelai read the flyer. "Maybe you should open on Sunday instead - you know a free sundae on Sunday!"
"Oh no, that means I would need to print new flyers, I don't have a line item in my budget for that. But I'll be sure to taking down more marketing ideas at the town meeting, if you'd like to help."
Taylor turned around and walked over to Nicole to sign some papers.
Luke approached the door. "Hey." There he was - talking to her like it was any other day. God, he was cute. Lorelai was tongue tied.
"Hey Luke."
"Did you want to see me?"
Oh yeah, she wanted to see him. "Um, well I came by to ask Taylor about the shop opening, as I'm sure you overheard, but now that you're here, I do have something to talk to you about. Remember when you came to fix the porch rail?"
"Sure, how's it holding up?"
"Fine, you did a great job, as usual. It's real sturdy."
"Thanks."
Nicole grabbed the papers from Taylor, put them in her briefcase and came to stand beside Luke at the door. She was a smart looking, slim, attractive woman with longish light brown hair. She was dressed in a brown suit, very similar to Lorelai's.
"Hi Lorelai, good to see you again. Nice suit, you have good taste."
"Hi Nicole, likewise. Yeah, I guess we have similar taste. I have a meeting with the DAR at the Inn, so I wanted to look respectable." She glanced at her watch. "Oh, it starts in about fifteen minutes so I should get moving. But before I go, um, Luke, you left something at my house."
Luke felt a little uncomfortable, he didn't like the way that sounded in front of Nicole. "What did I leave?"
"Bert. He misses you and feels neglected."
"Bert? Do you have a pet or something?" Nicole asked.
Luke was embarrassed. "No, Bert is my toolbox. Um, Lorelai likes to name inanimate objects - it's one of her many quirks."
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "She named your toolbox?"
Lorelai noticed Luke's discomfort and while part of her enjoyed this, she suddenly didn't want to Nicole to get the wrong idea.
"Oh, I name lots of things, the Tim the toaster, Fred the fridge, Carl the coffee maker, Vince the vacuum, the list goes on and on. Like Luke said, it's a quirk of mine. So anyway, when do you think you can rescue Bert?"
"I'll pick him up when I get a free moment, I'm sure he's in safe hands in the meantime."
Lorelai almost giggled at Luke's seemingly innocent comment, but suppressed it.
Nicole looked at her watch. "Oh, crap, I have a client meeting in Hartford at 9:30, I better get going. Luke, I'll see you later this week?"
He smiled at her. "Looking forward to it." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and watched her walk towards her car.
As Lorelai watched Luke watching Nicole, she felt her heart sink. He was obviously smitten with her.
He turned to her. "So, how was breakfast - I hope Jess was nice to you this morning."
"Oh, he gave us excellent service, although I think the fact that he's dating my daughter has something to do with it. You'd better keep an eye on him, you know - he's planning to take over the diner in your absence."
"I'm not worried. I'll be able to focus on the diner now that I think things are under control." He motioned toward the soda shop and sighed. "You know, I've had to watch Taylor like a hawk, it hasn't been easy."
"Well, you don't look too worse for wear. I thought that dealing with Taylor would've given you a coronary, in spite of your super healthy diet."
"Nicole has had a lot to do with it. Whenever she's around, I don't seem to lose my temper as much. And she's great at managing Taylor, too. She's a miracle worker."
Lorelei nodded. "Seems that way. Anyway, I have to go. When can you pick up Bert?"
"Not sure, when I get a moment I'll drop by."
"This week?"
"This week, next week, whenever. I don't think he'll mind."
"Well, I think he does. I hear plaintive cries in the night, he says "Luke, Luke, you've forgotten me. We've always been the best of buds and now you pretend I don't exist. How could you have forsaken me? Is there another, younger, prettier toolbox you have your eye on?"
Luke shook his head at her in exasperation. "Lorelai, you're a nut job."
"You're not telling me anything I don't already know. Well, if you're not going to do it for Bert, do it for me. Listening to a heartbroken toolbox is making me very sad. Do you want me to be sad?" She pouted at him.
Luke had a hard time saying no to that pout. Beside he didn't want to stand here all day talking about a toolbox's rejected feelings. "All right, I'll try to come by tonight, if not, then sometime this week, ok?"
"Great - Bert's looking forward to it. Hey, it's time for me to court the Daughters of the American Revolution, see ya."
"See ya." Luke stood on the steps of the diner for a moment and watched Lorelai walk away. =========================================================================
A/N: Poor Bert. Now he's a symbol of Lorelai's heart. Thanks for the comments, readers!
Moswen - I appreciated your note - that was a strange coincidence. I'm actually not a Bronte junkie. I prefer 20th century literature and hated WH for the very reasons stated in chapter four.
Chapter Six: Sundae Bloody Sunday
Spoiler Warning/Timing: mid - Third Season
Rating: PG -13
Summary: Lorelai goes to the soda shop to see Luke about a toolbox.
Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls and all characters are property of The Dubba Dubba Dubba WB, Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions and Amy Sherman- Palladino. They don't belong to me, just borrowing.
A few minutes later, Lorelai finished her breakfast and left the diner. She had some time until her meeting, so she decided to go face Luke. The shop was due to have its grand opening that coming Saturday and it looked almost ready. She walked up to the door of the soda shop and noticed that the shade was pulled half-way down.
Lorelai looked in and spied Luke, the back of his blue flannel shirt and cap visible from the door. She then noticed a manicured hand and a brown sleeve wrapped around his waist, then another arm came from the opposite side and duplicated the action. It seemed that he and Nicole were sharing an intimate moment. A moment later, Taylor and a construction worker appeared from the back room and they quickly separated. Seeing their embrace, Lorelai started to lose her nerve. She was just about to turn and leave when Taylor opened the door.
"Hello, Lorelai, what a pleasant surprise. You do know we're not open yet, right?"
"Hey, Taylor. I was, um, just coming by to ask you when you were having your grand opening. Rory and I delirious with anticipation over having some egg creams."
Taylor handed her a flyer. "Well, here you go. Be sure to tell everyone. I'm having a special offer on Saturday - bring a friend and get a free sundae. It's a limited time offer and you must bring this flyer with you for redemption. So hang onto it, young lady!"
Lorelai read the flyer. "Maybe you should open on Sunday instead - you know a free sundae on Sunday!"
"Oh no, that means I would need to print new flyers, I don't have a line item in my budget for that. But I'll be sure to taking down more marketing ideas at the town meeting, if you'd like to help."
Taylor turned around and walked over to Nicole to sign some papers.
Luke approached the door. "Hey." There he was - talking to her like it was any other day. God, he was cute. Lorelai was tongue tied.
"Hey Luke."
"Did you want to see me?"
Oh yeah, she wanted to see him. "Um, well I came by to ask Taylor about the shop opening, as I'm sure you overheard, but now that you're here, I do have something to talk to you about. Remember when you came to fix the porch rail?"
"Sure, how's it holding up?"
"Fine, you did a great job, as usual. It's real sturdy."
"Thanks."
Nicole grabbed the papers from Taylor, put them in her briefcase and came to stand beside Luke at the door. She was a smart looking, slim, attractive woman with longish light brown hair. She was dressed in a brown suit, very similar to Lorelai's.
"Hi Lorelai, good to see you again. Nice suit, you have good taste."
"Hi Nicole, likewise. Yeah, I guess we have similar taste. I have a meeting with the DAR at the Inn, so I wanted to look respectable." She glanced at her watch. "Oh, it starts in about fifteen minutes so I should get moving. But before I go, um, Luke, you left something at my house."
Luke felt a little uncomfortable, he didn't like the way that sounded in front of Nicole. "What did I leave?"
"Bert. He misses you and feels neglected."
"Bert? Do you have a pet or something?" Nicole asked.
Luke was embarrassed. "No, Bert is my toolbox. Um, Lorelai likes to name inanimate objects - it's one of her many quirks."
Nicole raised an eyebrow. "She named your toolbox?"
Lorelai noticed Luke's discomfort and while part of her enjoyed this, she suddenly didn't want to Nicole to get the wrong idea.
"Oh, I name lots of things, the Tim the toaster, Fred the fridge, Carl the coffee maker, Vince the vacuum, the list goes on and on. Like Luke said, it's a quirk of mine. So anyway, when do you think you can rescue Bert?"
"I'll pick him up when I get a free moment, I'm sure he's in safe hands in the meantime."
Lorelai almost giggled at Luke's seemingly innocent comment, but suppressed it.
Nicole looked at her watch. "Oh, crap, I have a client meeting in Hartford at 9:30, I better get going. Luke, I'll see you later this week?"
He smiled at her. "Looking forward to it." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips and watched her walk towards her car.
As Lorelai watched Luke watching Nicole, she felt her heart sink. He was obviously smitten with her.
He turned to her. "So, how was breakfast - I hope Jess was nice to you this morning."
"Oh, he gave us excellent service, although I think the fact that he's dating my daughter has something to do with it. You'd better keep an eye on him, you know - he's planning to take over the diner in your absence."
"I'm not worried. I'll be able to focus on the diner now that I think things are under control." He motioned toward the soda shop and sighed. "You know, I've had to watch Taylor like a hawk, it hasn't been easy."
"Well, you don't look too worse for wear. I thought that dealing with Taylor would've given you a coronary, in spite of your super healthy diet."
"Nicole has had a lot to do with it. Whenever she's around, I don't seem to lose my temper as much. And she's great at managing Taylor, too. She's a miracle worker."
Lorelei nodded. "Seems that way. Anyway, I have to go. When can you pick up Bert?"
"Not sure, when I get a moment I'll drop by."
"This week?"
"This week, next week, whenever. I don't think he'll mind."
"Well, I think he does. I hear plaintive cries in the night, he says "Luke, Luke, you've forgotten me. We've always been the best of buds and now you pretend I don't exist. How could you have forsaken me? Is there another, younger, prettier toolbox you have your eye on?"
Luke shook his head at her in exasperation. "Lorelai, you're a nut job."
"You're not telling me anything I don't already know. Well, if you're not going to do it for Bert, do it for me. Listening to a heartbroken toolbox is making me very sad. Do you want me to be sad?" She pouted at him.
Luke had a hard time saying no to that pout. Beside he didn't want to stand here all day talking about a toolbox's rejected feelings. "All right, I'll try to come by tonight, if not, then sometime this week, ok?"
"Great - Bert's looking forward to it. Hey, it's time for me to court the Daughters of the American Revolution, see ya."
"See ya." Luke stood on the steps of the diner for a moment and watched Lorelai walk away. =========================================================================
A/N: Poor Bert. Now he's a symbol of Lorelai's heart. Thanks for the comments, readers!
Moswen - I appreciated your note - that was a strange coincidence. I'm actually not a Bronte junkie. I prefer 20th century literature and hated WH for the very reasons stated in chapter four.