"Mystery Woman – part 3"

* * *

Lorelai and Rory walked home from the movie in silence until Rory glanced over at her mom and hesitantly asked, "So. . .are you?"

Lorelai had been staring down at the sidewalk, unconsciously chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Am I what?" she replied without looking up.

"Jealous," Rory replied. "Of Leslie."

Lorelai's mouth dropped open as she looked at Rory. She scoffed loudly as if the accusation was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "No!"

Rory tilted her head doubtfully. "Mom. . ."

"No," Lorelai repeated more sternly. "I'm not." She scoffed again and shook her head toward the ground. "Geez."

Rory raised her hands in defeat. "Okay, okay, sorry." They walked a bit further before she added, "It just kind of seems like you are."

"Well, I'm not," Lorelai muttered.

"Well, then. . .are you jealous of Luke?" Rory persisted with the questioning, trying to understand why her mom had been acting weird lately.

Lorelai stopped walking and stared at Rory with a confused look. "Why would I be jealous of Luke?"

Rory turned to her and sighed softly. "I don't know, maybe because. . . seeing him in a relationship and seeing him happy is making you jealous that you're not dating anyone right now and . . ." Rory shrugged as her voice trailed off. "I don't know. . .maybe you wish you were."

Lorelai rolled her eyes and started walking down the sidewalk. "I don't think so."

Rory followed behind her. "Okay, fine."

"Let's just drop it. I'm not jealous of anything or anyone."

"Fine. Consider it dropped."

"Thank you."

* * *

A few mornings later, Lorelai walked down the steps and saw Rory searching around the living room for something. "What's up?"

"Have you seen my biology book?" Rory asked, looking under the couch. "I know I had it on the couch last night."

"Yes."

Rory stood up straight. "You did? Where is it?"

Lorelai walked over to her. "Well, earlier, your English book was talking to your math book, and your English book was being a showoff by using all these really big words that the math book didn't understand, and the math book got really upset and went outside to sulk. Poor thing," Lorelai added with a frown.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Lovely, creative anecdote, but that doesn't explain where the biology book is."

"The biology book is outside consoling the math book," Lorelai said, gesturing toward the front door.

Rory sighed. "No help at all."

Lorelai walked past her toward the kitchen. "That's the second time your English book has done that this week. You should teach him some manners."

"I promise I'll talk to him later," Rory called.

"Good." Lorelai grabbed her purse from the kitchen table and started rummaging through it, looking for her lipstick.

"Aha!" Rory's voice called from the living room. "Found it." She walked into the kitchen with the book, and she glanced at the clock. "Ooh, and just in time, too. I'm gonna miss my bus."

Lorelai frowned. "Aw, no Luke's today?"

"No time, sorry," Rory said as she walked into her room.

Lorelai walked over to the hallway mirror and applied her lipstick. She returned the tube to her purse, then peeked into Rory's bedroom. "All right, I'm leaving."

Rory was standing at the mirror tying her tie, and she turned to Lorelai. "Have a good day."

Lorelai nodded. "You, too. See ya tonight."

* * *

Lorelai walked to the diner, but before going inside, she peeked through the window and surveyed the crowd.

No Leslie, she noted to herself. Not that it surprised her, since she now knew that Leslie didn't live in town. . . but even that knowledge didn't stop her from always keeping an eye out for her.

Lorelai had tried to sit down and have a talk with herself about this new. . .what some would call, obsession. She had thought things out and tried to find some sort of reasoning behind the way she was acting, the way she was feeling. But that had been unsuccessful – she couldn't come up with an explanation.

Well, not an explanation that she was open to accepting.

Her brain had thought up numerous ideas, but she'd dismissed them all. Then she decided to just forget it, to just go on as normal, to let the so-called obsession phase itself out. Just like she did with her Vanilla Coke addiction. Or her obsession with the Game Show Network. She'd grown out of those phases, and she'd eventually grow out of this one. So, until then, she decided to just go with it.

She walked into the diner and sat down at the counter. As she set her purse on the stool next to her, she caught a glimpse of Luke through the kitchen doorway. He was standing at the stove, a spatula in his hand, an apron tied around his waist, his flannel shirt sleeves rolled up to reveal his strong forearms.

Lorelai exhaled softly and glanced down at the counter. She began fidgeting with the button on her leather jacket, and did so until a voice interrupted her. "Hey."

Lorelai looked up and smiled at Luke. "Hi."

He wiped down the section of counter in front of her. "Coffee?"

Lorelai nodded. "And a blueberry muffin."

"You got it." Luke turned around and retrieved the muffin, then set the plate in front of her.

Lorelai glanced quizzically at the muffin. "Hm, it's smaller than usual," she said, holding it up and surveying its size. "It's almost practically bite sized."

Luke raised his eyebrows with amusement. "If that's what you call bite sized, you've got one hell of a bite." He turned around to get her coffee, and when he turned back to her, he was surprised to see that the muffin was gone from her plate – and her puffed-up cheeks tipped him off as to where it had gone. He set the mug in front of her, then shook his head slightly. "God. . . I don't wanna know how you fit that whole thing in your mouth."

Lorelai finished chewing, and as she swallowed down the last of the muffin, she grinned at him. "Impressive, huh? My mouth stretches to accommodate things of all sizes." Lorelai froze momentarily as she realized how crudely that could be interpreted. Oh my God, did I really just say that?

Luke's eyes widened with surprise and he quickly glanced down at his order pad. Did she really just say that? He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Oh. . .well, that's. . ." His voice trailed off, and he busied himself by scribbling something down on the pad.

Lorelai grimaced when she noticed his slight discomfort, and she stammered, "Uh, I didn't mean. . .I just. . .you know. . ." She wrinkled her nose and quickly tried to change the subject. She tapped her fingernails on the counter and casually said, "So, uh, that Leslie seems. . . nice. You know, from the other night at the movies. She was. . .nice."

Luke glanced at her curiously, as if trying to deduce whether she was being serious or not. "Yeah, she is. She's nice," he agreed.

Lorelai nodded. "That's good. . .that's nice that she's. . .uh, a nice person. Nice people are. . .you know, nice to be around." She picked up her coffee and took a long sip, hoping that somehow it would miraculously provide her with another adjective besides nice.

Luke narrowed his eyes at her. "Uh huh." He walked over to the register and flipped through a pile of receipts on the counter next to it.

Lorelai set her coffee down and stared at the mug. After a few moments, she looked up at him and cleared her throat. "So. . . things are good with you guys?" She took another sip of coffee. You know he doesn't want to talk about it, she told herself. So leave him alone before he gets mad at you.

Luke didn't look up as he shrugged and replied, "Yeah, they're fine."

"Good. That's good." Lorelai reached into her purse and pulled out some money. She set it on the counter and stood up. "I gotta go." Luke nodded, and Lorelai took one last sip of her coffee. "Bye."

"See ya." Luke watched as Lorelai grabbed her purse and walked out of the diner, passing Kirk on his way in.

Kirk walked up to the counter and sat in the seat Lorelai had occupied just moments before.

"What can I get you, Kirk?" Luke asked, flipping to a new page in his order pad.

Kirk glanced toward the door. "Was that your girlfriend?"

Luke narrowed his eyes at him. "What?"

"Who was that woman?"

Luke was obviously confused by why Kirk would ask that about Lorelai. "What, do you have amnesia or something? You don't recognize Lorelai?"

"Oh, that was Lorelai," Kirk said with a nod. "Okay. I thought so, but I wasn't sure how accurate the rumor about your girlfriend was."

Luke's eyes widened. He dropped the pad in front of him and leaned forward with both palms on the counter. "What rumor?" he demanded.

Kirk swallowed hard and leaned back with slight nervousness. "Uh. . .the rumor that your girlfriend might bear a slight resemblance to Lorelai. Actually, I heard it was more than a slight resemblance. . .it's that they're practically twins."

Luke scoffed as he stood up straight. "What?"

"Uh, yeah," Kirk said hesitantly. "Patty said – "

"Patty?" Luke interrupted. "You're gonna believe something that Patty says?"

"Well, she does seem to know a lot of info about the town," Kirk said.

"No, she seems to make up a lot of info about the town," Luke corrected him. He slapped his hand on the counter. "Dammit, why is she spreading rumors?"

"So it's not true?" Kirk asked.

"Of course it's not true," Luke spat back. "They look nothing alike."

"Because if it is true, it might be representative of some sort of hidden – "

"It's not true, Kirk," Luke interrupted, holding up his hand for him to stop talking. Luke sighed and turned toward the kitchen. "Caesar, I'm going upstairs for a few minutes." He took off his apron and dropped it on the counter, then walked into the back and went up to his apartment.

He shook his head. She doesn't look like Lorelai. She doesn't. Just because two people have the same color hair does not mean that they look alike. "This whole town needs to be committed," he muttered as he pushed open the door to the apartment.

Jess was at the table eating breakfast, and he watched Luke walk in and collapse on the couch. "What's wrong with you?" he asked as he shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

Luke waved him off. "Nothing. . .just the people in this stupid town are. . ."

"Insane?" Jess suggested.

"Yes."

"What'd they do now?"

Luke took a deep breath and walked over to the table. "You've met Leslie."

"Yeah, so?"

Luke sat down next to Jess and tapped his hands on the table for a few seconds. He looked up at Jess and hesitantly asked, "You think she looks like. . .anyone you know?"

Jess smirked and glanced down at his bowl.

Luke groaned and leaned back in his chair. He stared up at the ceiling and muttered, "Not you, too."

"Sorry, but it's true."

"No, it's not. She doesn't look anything like her."

"What's the big deal?" Jess asked with a shrug. "Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't matter, and the reason it doesn't matter is because they don't look alike," Luke insisted sternly.

Jess thought for a moment, then said, "No, actually they – "

"Go to school," Luke interrupted, pointing toward the door.

As Jess walked over to grab his books, he said, "You know, this might work out good for you. I've heard that doing it with twins is – "

"Jess!" Luke snapped.

"And this might be the closest you ever come to that."

"School!"

Jess smirked as he walked out of the apartment. Luke leaned forward and stretched his arms out in front of him on the table. Did the rumor have any truth to it?

"Do they look alike?" he mumbled aloud. He cocked his head to the side and stared up into space, trying to picture the two women. After a few seconds, he shook his head definitively. "No, they don't."

With that declaration, he pounded his fist lightly on the table and stood up. "They have similar hair, that's it, that's all. Let's just forget about it. Let's not talk about it anymore." He glanced around the empty apartment, then rolled his eyes at himself. "And stop talking to yourself," he muttered as he walked to the door.

* * *

That afternoon, Lorelai was at the front desk of the Independence Inn going through a stack of mail. She glanced over at Michel, who was standing a few feet away working on the computer, and she suddenly remembered something. "Oh, Michel, I almost forgot. Did you call – "

"Yes, I did," Michel interrupted, not looking away from the computer screen.

Lorelai scoffed. "How do you even know what I'm gonna ask?"

Michel turned to her with a sigh. "You were going to ask if I called the repairman to come look at the broken treadmill."

Lorelai gasped with surprise. "How did you know that?"

"Because you've asked me that three times this morning already," Michel responded in an annoyed tone. "And if you ask me it again, I'm going to call him up and tell him not to come just so that you can call him back yourself, and then maybe you will stop asking me that question." Michel huffed as he turned back to the computer.

Lorelai shrugged and turned back to her pile of mail. "Sorry. . .my mind must be somewhere else today," she muttered.

"No kidding," he snickered.

Lorelai leaned forward on the front desk and stared out across the lobby. Her mind was somewhere else. Her mind was on Luke. Her mind was on Leslie. She found herself thinking about them constantly. And – since living in denial was one of her greatest talents – she still didn't know why.

* * *

Luke tried to forget about the stupid rumor, but he couldn't. The thought was always there, in the back of his mind. Whenever a townie walked into the diner, he'd find himself wondering whether they'd heard the rumor.

And then he started wondering if Lorelai had heard it. And if she had, what did she think about it? Did she think that Leslie looked like her? And if so, what did she think it all meant?

But Luke, like Lorelai, still denied to himself, and to anyone who brought it up, that there was a strong resemblance between the two women.

Until Thursday night.

On Thursday night, Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner. It was almost seven, and they'd stopped by on their way home from the video store to pick up some coffees to go. As they were standing at the counter waiting for Caesar to pour the coffee, the bell on the door jingled. Rory turned to see who had entered, and her eyes widened slightly. She subtly nudged Lorelai and nodded toward the door.

Lorelai picked up the coffee cup that Caesar had just placed in front of her, then turned to look toward the door. She swallowed hard as she saw Leslie approaching them. Rory picked up her coffee and took a sip as she gave Lorelai a sideways glance.

Leslie stopped in front of them and smiled. "Hey. . . uh, I don't know if you remember me, but we met the other night. . ."

Lorelai nodded. "Leslie, right?" she asked casually, acting as if she hadn't been thinking about her almost every day since she'd met her.

Leslie gave an impressed nod. "Wow, good memory."

Lorelai tapped the side of her head as she held up her coffee cup. "Yes, well, studies show that drinking a cup of coffee a day can increase memory ability. And since I drink about twelve times that a day . . ."

Leslie smiled. "Wow, that's some super human memory you must have." She stared at them a moment, then shook her head slightly. "I'm sorry, what were your names again?"

"Uh oh. Looks like someone needs more coffee in their diet," Lorelai replied with a smile.

Leslie reluctantly admitted, "Yeah, I guess so. I tend to stick to hot chocolate."

"I'm Rory," Rory piped up. "She's Lorelai."

Leslie nodded and folded her arms across her chest. "Right, right – Rory and Lorelai, now I remember. I meant to say the other night what great names they are. You don't hear those very often."

"Yes, well, we are very original people," Lorelai declared.

Rory turned to her with a smirk. "Well, not really, considering I'm named after you and you're named after your grandmother." She turned to Leslie. "I'm Lorelai, too. Rory's just a nickname."

"Shh," Lorelai hushed her, then turned to Leslie. "You didn't hear that. Just pretend that we're original and not a big family of copycats."

"Uh, okay. . .will do," Leslie replied with an amused smile. She glanced toward the doorway that led to the upstairs, then glanced down at her watch.

Lorelai took a sip of her coffee. "So, I guess you're waiting for Luke?"

"Uh, yeah, we're going to dinner," Leslie replied.

"Sounds good," Rory said. She took a few steps toward the door. "Uh, we should get going, Mom."

Lorelai pursed her lips and shot Rory a look, telepathically conveying, Child, why do you always do this? How am I supposed to learn anything about their relationship if you keep dragging me away at the most inopportune times?

Lorelai sighed softly and muttered, "Yes, going, right." She picked up the video store bag and held it up. "We've got a few hours of Mel Gibson ahead of us."

Leslie smiled. "Sounds good." She glanced past them, and her smile widened. "There you are. I was about to run out and buy you a clock."

Luke had just walked into the diner from the stairway, and he only had a few seconds to assess the situation. Lorelai and Rory. . .were talking to Leslie.

Lorelai. Leslie. Standing next to each other.

For the first time since he'd heard the rumor, he was given the opportunity to compare them face to face. His eyes quickly diverted back and forth between the two of them.

Oh God, he thought. He tried to deny it at first, but after a few double takes, he had to admit it. . .he saw the similarities between the two. They do look alike. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, as if everyone knew what he was thinking, as if all eyes were on him.

Probably because they were. The three girls were all staring at him, and when he saw Leslie walking toward him, he finally snapped back to reality. He cleared his throat and said, "Yeah, sorry I'm running a little late." Oh God, does Leslie see it? Does she see the resemblance?

"It's okay," Leslie replied. "I was just catching up with Lorelai and Rory." She gestured toward them.

"Oh. . .good." Luke swallowed hard and nodded a hello toward them. "Hey."

"Hey," Rory replied.

"Hey." Lorelai stared at Luke and Leslie standing next to each other. Something about the way that Leslie was smiling up at him made a pit form in her stomach. She took a few deep breaths and started chewing on the inside of her lip.

"So, you ready to go?" Leslie asked Luke.

"Oh, yeah, we were just leaving, too," Rory said. "Have a good night."

"Thanks," Leslie replied with a small wave. "Good to see you again."

"Yeah, you too," Lorelai mumbled, waving over her shoulder as Rory pulled her toward the door.

As they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Rory giggled. "From now on, I'm calling her MommyLeslie."

"Stop it," Lorelai muttered, glancing in at Leslie as they passed the diner window.

"Or hey – she likes the name Lorelai. Maybe we could get her to change her name, and then slowly meld you two into one person," Rory suggested.

"Rory, knock it off." Lorelai exhaled loudly and quickened her pace.

Rory quickened hers as well, and after walking almost a block in silence, she said, "You saw it, didn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Lorelai asked.

"Well, you're crabbier than usual after a Leslie encounter, so I'm deducing that you finally saw the resemblance. . .and you hate having to admit that you're wrong, so you're mad," Rory said.

"Why do you have to go around deducing everything?"

"Well, would you rather me go around seducing everything?" Rory asked.

"No, that's my job in the family," Lorelai muttered. "Why do you think we get such fast pizza deliveries?"

Rory made a face. "Too much information." She grabbed Lorelai's arm. "Come on, tell me."

Lorelai stopped walking. She folded her arms across her chest as she turned to face Rory, and then she closed her eyes.

"Mom, it's no big deal," Rory said with a shrug. "You're reading way too much into this – that's why I think you're afraid to admit there's a resemblance."

Lorelai opened her eyes and sighed, slightly curious to hear what Rory had to say.

Rory continued, "I mean, we already knew that he likes you." Lorelai rolled her eyes and shook her head. "So whether he dates someone who looks like you or not, it doesn't change anything. Why are you acting like it's such a big deal?"

"I'm not acting like it's a big deal."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Okay, you're not." They were quiet for a moment, and Lorelai shifted her feet uncomfortably. Rory persisted, "So. . .did you see it?"

Lorelai shrugged and reluctantly muttered, "Maybe. . .just a little bit."

Rory smiled and clapped a few times. "Aha! I knew it."

Lorelai waved her off and resumed walking toward the house. "All right, you don't have to rub it in." Rory, a satisfied grin on her face, jogged to catch up with her mother.

* * *

That night, Lorelai lay in bed staring up at the ceiling. Rory doesn't get it, Lorelai said to herself. Luke dating someone who was like her did change things – in her mind, at least. Before, it was just people telling her that he liked her. But this made his feelings for her seem . . .more real. Because it was something he was doing himself. It wasn't just someone else saying, "Oh, look, he likes you." This was Luke saying, "Oh, look, I like people who look like you." And that did change things.

Lorelai sighed loudly and rolled onto her side. Okay, you finally saw it. . .you finally admitted it, she told herself.

"Now you can try to figure out why it's driving you crazy," she whispered aloud. "Or you can continue trying to let this newfound obsession phase itself out."

Lorelai rolled onto her back again, closed her eyes, and covered her face with her hands. But what if it never phases itself out?

* * *

To be continued. . .

Author's Note:

Thanks to everyone for the reviews. Sorry it took so long for an update. I took a little break from writing, but I'm trying to slowly get myself back into the groove again. :)