Chapter Five: The Town
"Patty! Patty!"
"I'm in the middle of a class!"
"You've got to hear this! It's about Luke and Lorelai."
"What? Ladies, fifteen leglifts. Now, tell."
"I just came from the diner. Everyone just came from the diner! Oh, my gosh, I'm out of breath."
"Just tell it!"
"Lorelai comes in, and Luke is very standoffish, very gruff, you know how he gets, except he's never with Lorelai. She cracks some joke, and Luke just ignores her. And then they get into an argument about a kiss."
"A kiss?! He kissed her?"
"No, she kissed him."
"Oh my god."
"That's not even the best part! So, Lorelai says, 'Luke, I told you, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it.' She says her emotions have been all churned up since her father died."
"Poor little lamb."
"Well, she's been following Luke around the room when she says this, and he's getting more and more annoyed. He's got that look, ykno, the one he usually gets when Taylor comes in."
"Ooo, bad sign!"
"So he spins around, practically knocks her off her high heels, and says, 'Okay! I get it! You're very, very sorry! Now will you please leave?'"
"He said that to her?"
"Lorelai can't believe it either. She's shocked, her baby-blues are tearing up, and she asks him, 'How can I make it up to you?'
"And he grumbles, real quiet, 'Stop apologizing.'
"She says, 'What?' And he doesn't answer, but she's starting to figure out that there's something to figure out! So she asks him, 'You're mad that I said I'm sorry?' He doesn't answer her again. Just keeps slamming the sugar containers around. Then Lorelai says real quiet, 'Why are you mad that I'm sorry?'
"So Luke says, 'I'm not. I didn't mean . . . it's nothing.' Well, you can't throw Lorelai off a trail once she's caught a scent. She says, 'No, you meant something. Luke . . . this doesn't make any sense. You're not mad at me for kissing you, but you're mad I'm sorry . . .? Luke, what's going on? Will you please tell me why you're mad at me?'
"And he suddenly looks up and just yells, 'Because I'm not sorry it happened!'"
"Oh my god! What did she say?!"
"She was too stunned to say anything, like she was gonna faint. The diner was completely silent, except for Kirk, who dropped his spoon. Luke looked like he was frozen in headlights. And Lorelai was trying to figure out what he just said."
"Dense, dense girl."
"So while she's standing there without saying anything, he starts charging like a bull to the kitchen."
"Oh no."
"Then Lorelai says, 'Luke.'
"And he turns around, and they just stand there for a second, like it's a showdown. Then she walks towards him -- very purposeful -- and throws her arms around him, and kisses him! Just like that! And then she says, 'I'm sorry.' And he starts to get all annoyed -- you know that face he makes -- and she says, 'I was an idiot for being sorry.'
"And Luke says, 'Forgiven.'"
end
~*~
Feedback appreciated at ofnone2153@aol.com. A million thanks to my
beta reader Ann.
A/n: This story was originally supposed to be a much larger work . . . but most of the other chapters sucked. These parts, however, seemed to stand out on their own, almost as if they were a story within a story.
The concept of the shifting first person narrative came from The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, which I highly recommend. All my other stories are like just one of each of these chapters; Kingsolver showed me how to string together a bunch of small stories to construct a larger picture.
I was a little wary to do the ninety degree shift in the plot (such as there is). I was deathly afraid of the story coming out as hurt/comfort (grogg) or as one of those stories that uses a horrible trauma as an excuse to get two characters together. I like to think I sufficiently separated Richard's death from the javajunkieness, but that is really up to you, isn't it?
As always, thanks for reading! - K
www.gurlpages.com/ofnone