Title: Interviews, Memories, and Everything Else
Author: Alysinomo (alysinomo@hotmail.com)
Rating: PG-13
Archived: 9/25/2002
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I forgot this is the first chapter, sorry! I'm not trying to steal anything. Gilmore Girls and the characters belong to Amy Sherman-Palladino and the lovely people at the WB.
Summary: Rory has grown up and is now a successful, 28-year-old journalist for the New York Times. She gets the surprise of her life (and one of her biggest career hurdles!) when she is assigned to interview a brilliant new author, Jess Mariano. What will come of Rory and Jess? Will old memories and feelings resurface?
* * *
Lorelei "Rory" Gilmore sighed heavily. She stared at her laptop, trying to think of something witty to write. With her article due in 8 days, Rory didn't have much time to waste – she still needed to write the damn thing! Never mind edit it. She wasn't sure what angle to take it from, a dramatic perspective? Personal? Straight forward? Humourous? She could certainly take Jess Mariano's story in many different directions; after all he was a rather colourful character.
It was Saturday afternoon, only a few hours before the second Jess encounter. And she was nervous, as hell. Now that she knew what to expect from him, she wasn't sure that she wanted to see him again, to have to relive his memory once again. Yet something about him drew her in, she could put her finger on it. In reality it was so many different things, physical and emotional. Physically, he was perfect. She got starry eyed thinking about what beautiful children they could have. Emotionally, they had such a connection…something that she hadn't experienced with Dean or any of the other guys she had dated. They were so different yet so alike at the same time, a complete contradiction and a complete understanding of one another. Even when they were teenagers they had something special, and it had radiated through once again in their brief meeting.
Rory got up from her desk, tossed her reading glasses onto the clean surface and wandered into her bedroom. Heading straight for her cramped closet, Rory began to rifle through her outfits, in search of something to wear that evening. It seemed a little out of character for her to be so worried about what she wore, but Jess had reawakened the girly girl in her. She grabbed several hangers out of the closet and threw them on the bed, assessing her options. One black dress, one dark green suit, one red dress, another black dress, this one sparkly. She looked over the outfits critically, discarding the inappropriate ones, suit, too businesslike; red dress, screams 'let's have sex'; black dress, too glitzy, she felt as though she should be in "Glitter" just looking at it.
Grinning proudly to herself, Rory pulled her t-shirt over her head and slid her jeans off her hips and onto the floor. She stepped gingerly into the cool, black dress, skillfully zipping it up at the back. She skimmed her body in the mirror, admiring the dress that clung to her yet somehow remained tasteful. Rory's eyes traced over the stretchy fabric, taking in the above-knee hemline and becoming neckline. It was a plain but elegant number, which flattered Rory's figure and made her look quite beautiful. She removed the dress and laid it next a black coat, tights and shoes.
Pulling back on her comfortable jeans and t-shirt, she wandered back to her computer and began to type what would be one of many drafts.
* * *
At 7:59 that night, Rory climbed out of a cab in front of '21 Club.' Unlike her mother, she was nearly always on time and prepared. Paying her fare, she slung her purse on her shoulder and walked into the restaurant.
Rory approached the host,
"Hi. I'm supposed to meet Jess Mariano at 8 o'clock, we have a reservation."
"Of course. Mr. Marino has already arrived; I'll show you to the table."
"Thanks."
As Rory was lead into the dining room, she immediately spotted the familiar dark haired man she had come to see. He looked quite poised and assured of himself, as if nothing ever shook him. She smiled shyly at him, and he returned with a crooked grin. The host pulled seated her, bid them a good meal and told them a waiter or waitress would be arriving to get their drinks shortly.
"So," Jess began, still grinning, "You came."
"I needed the rest of my interview."
"Right."
"So we should continue?"
"Whatever."
Rory went through the familiar procedure of setting up, and then asked Jess another question,
"I have to ask you, did you always want to become a writer?"
"Do you ever just ask questions straight out? Without the little babble thing you do in front?"
"I was not babbling, answer the question." Rory snapped, trying to suppress a grin.
"Aha! She smiles. Stone-cold Rory has cracked."
"I am not stone-cold."
"Oh sorry, ice cube."
"Are you making a rap reference? Because that was just mean. I hate rap."
"I know you do. You have fairly good music taste, except for the Björk faze."
"Faze? Gilmores do not succumb to fazes. We are hardcore fans, and we make snowmen to demonstrate our fandom."
"For a journalist with perfect grammar, you just made up a lot of words in that last sentence."
Rory blushed. "Mom always said I would be a brilliant creative genius one day, like Abba."
"Abba?"
"A quality Swedish pop band from the 70s, 'Mamma Mia' is one of their greatest."
Jess smirked. "I'm aware of who Abba are. I'm more amazed that you measure genius against Abba. I would have thought you to be competing to beat Einstein's IQ."
"That's next on my life to-do list."
"Ahh…Rory Gilmore, conquering the world, one famous figure at a time."
"Of course. Did you expect anything less?"
Jess studied Rory's face for a moment, as if to assess the situation. She shifted uncomfortably, playing with the napkin in her lap. Then he spoke,
"So, tell me about what has happened in the last eleven years."
It was Rory's turn to stare, making sure she heard him correctly.
"Umm…well."
He watched her, giving her his undivided attention. She cleared her throat.
"I went to Yale, the fall after senior year…a few months after you left. I spent four years there, got a degree in journalism, graduated with honors. Then I moved here, to this apartment. I got a job at the New York Times and have been working my way up ever since."
"That's it?"
"There isn't a lot to tell, Jess."
"There's more than that."
"What?! I spent all four years of college buried under a pile of books, I drank coffee, and I went on 3 dates in total through out university. I stayed in touch with Lane, my mom and Luke, I made some new friends. I considered moving overseas. That's it. There really isn't anymore."
"3 boyfriends? Wow. Aren't you the serial dater?"
"Boyfriends? Two of them were dorky teaching assistants and one was this guy a year younger than me!" she wrinkled her nose, "do I really strike you as the dating type?"
He smirked. "Not really."
"Exactly. Now what did you do after high school that could possibly be more interesting than my experience?"
"When I left, I moved in with an old friend for a few months, worked in a bar. I hated it. Sometimes you change more than you realize, when you go back to what you thought was home, it isn't really home anymore."
Rory listened intently. Jess sighed.
"The only real good thing that came out of living in New York again was that I got my idea from my novel."
"Yet you came back."
"I did. I was in Miami for awhile, but I missed the four seasons. Then a publishing company based in New York picked up my book, so here I am again. But it's not so bad this time around."
Rory smiled.
"Really," he said, as if trying to convince her.
"I believe you."
Jess Mariano and Rory Gilmore were lost in each other's company for the next few hours, the interview was completely forgotten. But not too worry, from the way it was going, Rory would have plenty of time to get her interview.
They continued to fill one another in on their lives, what they did and detailed, humorous descriptions of wackos they dated. The time flew and before they knew it, it was 1 o'clock in the morning, and the restaurant was emptying and preparing to close.
Jess, like a gentleman, paid the bill and helped Rory put her coat on. She was pleasantly surprised by the new side of him. They walked out of the restaurant and into the dark New York street. Rory glanced shyly at him and called a cab. She said goodbye and was about to get in when Jess spoke,
"Wait. Rory."
She glanced at him.
"I know this seems like I'm pushing my luck, and I probably am. It's just we had a great night and…I was wondering if you have to come back to my apartment." He ended his question in a sort of breathless way, as if he was nervous about her response. She thought for barely a second before smiling and saying, "Sure."
He climbed into the cab beside her, gave the driver his address and they sped off into the darkness.
* * *
Apparently Jess lived close to the restaurant, for they arrived at his apartment a few minutes later. Jess paid the driver and led her up the stairs. Unlocking the deadlock, he pushed open the door to reveal and small, but neat apartment. It screamed literary with a brown leather couch, tall bookshelves filled to their brims and a small but nice kitchen. 'Jess was doing fairly well for himself,' Rory thought 'his apartment's nicer than mine.'
"So this is it," Jess said quietly, "Here's the living room, the couch that I never should I bought…"
"Why?" asked Rory, amused.
"Because it cost so much money!" he exclaimed, "I thought I needed something half decent and so I ended up letting this snooty guy talk me into whipping out my Visa before I even knew what was happening."
"Must have been ugly."
"It was. Didn't sit on it for a week."
"Ah."
"And over here," he continued, walking over to the bookshelf, "I have attempted to build a collection of books as great as yours."
"I got a head start. When I was actually buying books, you were still stealing from others and returning them at a later date." She smiled. A crooked, nervous grin crossed his face.
And so it continued on for another half hour or so, Jess babbled, Rory listened. Eventually she started to wonder.
"And here is this painting that I got, from an art gallery. Over on 8th Avenue. Pretty cool. Small little place. I wasn't really sure-"
"Jess."
"Yeah?" he replied, turning away from the painting to face her.
"Do you ever shut up?"
He smirked. "Yeah."
"Wanna try?"
"Sure"
She kissed him.
He faltered for a moment, as if he had forgotten how to kiss. For the 3 guys she dated in university, apparently she hadn't forgotten how. Jess' mind caught up with the rest of his body and he regained control of his limbs. He slid his arms around her waist and down to her hips. He opened his mouth slowly, and then slid his tongue into hers.
Rory grabbed at the hem of his button down shirt, tugging it from within his pants. Her fingers fumbled with the buckle of his belt, apparently only the people on TV were experts at kissing someone and undoing their pants at the same time. Jess didn't care how long she took to figure it out, as long as they came off. Hey, he was only human.
As Rory was mastering the art of undoing Jess' pants, he snuck his arm around her back and slid open the zipper of her dress. He slid it off her shoulders and down her body until it was crumpled on the floor. Jess kicked off his pants and pulled away from her.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes!" Rory blushed, embarrassed at her apparent enthusiasm. Oh well, who was she kidding? Wasn't it already obvious that she wanted him? She was the one who started it in the first place.
Jess kissed her again, this time the backed towards the bedroom.
* * *
A/N: And so our little friends decide to do each other. How nice. LOL, I hope that wasn't over the rating, if it is, I'll bump it up. The last thing I want is a Pokemon crazed 8-year-old stumbling upon my sex-implied chapter. I'm sorry if it wasn't very good, I hope you were appreciative and not rolling all over the floor in fits of laughter. I generally write stories about people my age, and I don't know of many 15-year-olds who are having sex, so, I've never had to write something like that. However, I did decide to put it in because I think the story needed it. We're dealing with Rory and Jess as mature 28-year-olds with adult feelings, plus, it'll give me more ammunition for the story at a later date. Please R/R!