Chapter Four
The annoying glare from the copier tortured Rory's eyes. As she fed
paper after paper into the hungry machine, she sighed in boredom.
Well, at least photocopying was better than filing. An unpredictable
and stubborn piece of paper jammed the temperamental machine. There
was a grinding sound before Rory's copying efforts came to a halt.
Great.only an hour into this internship and she had already broken
the copier! Maybe filing was better after all.
It was just a minor problem, nothing to get upset about. Copiers jam
all the time. The source of the inconvenience is uncovered and life
proceeds as usual. Simple.
A young, dark-haired man noticed the damsel in distress. "Paper
jam?" He remarked.
"Yeah, kinda." Rory answered sheepishly.
The young man briefly looked at the machine; then he opened the front
cover. The "culprit" was uncovered and unceremoniously discarded in
the waste paper basket. The nameless Lancelot closed the front
cover. "There, it should work for you now. All you have to do is
hit the start button again."
"Thanks." Rory replied.
"No problem." The young man answered. He flashed her a smile before
proceeding to cross the news bull pen.
His helpfulness reminded her so much of Dean. Yet, his physical
appearance was very much like Jess.
Stop this Gilmore! You're here for this internship, to prove
yourself. You don't have time to think about your problems with Dean
and Jess. The inner voice scolded.
The inner voice was right. She was spending the summer working for a
newspaper. That was what she needed to focus on.
When Rory told her grandparents about the internship, their reactions
were eerily predictable. Richard Gilmore offered a "well, done".
Okay, so this paper wasn't the New York Times or The Washington Post,
but it was a fine opportunity for Rory to become the next Katherine
Graham. Emily Gilmore wrinkled her brow before questioning Rory
about the kind of accommodations that she would have living in
Chicago this summer. Rory explained that arrangements had been made
for the internship recipients to stay in the University of Chicago
dormitory. Emily didn't like the idea. The elder Gilmore had read
about what goes on in college dorms these days. Lack of supervision.
Drugs. Drinking. Emily described the dorm experience as if it were
the modern day equivalent of Woodstock. Rory assured her grandparents
that she would be okay.
Somehow Rory couldn't imagine that Katherine Graham jump started her
journalistic career making tons of copies! The teen hoped that this
internship would be about more than just copying and filing. She had
written articles for "The Franklin", Chilton's school newspaper. She
wanted to learn about writing for a newspaper not operating a copier.
Rory remembered that Mr. Diaz had asked her to copy another stack of
documents that he would leave on his desk with a yellow post it note
marked "copy". After Rory finished her initial copying task, she
proceeded to Miguel's desk. Just as she was about to retrieve the
stack, she noticed the blinking cursor on Miguel's computer. Her
curiosity was whetted when she saw what looked like the beginning of
a story the reporter was working on. "Chicago's Unsolved Mystery:
Who is Gary Hobson?" was the title of the piece. Rory began to read
the story. So focused was she on the story that Rory didn't see the
man walking towards her.
"What do you think you're doing?" Miguel asked in an unfriendly tone.
The annoying glare from the copier tortured Rory's eyes. As she fed
paper after paper into the hungry machine, she sighed in boredom.
Well, at least photocopying was better than filing. An unpredictable
and stubborn piece of paper jammed the temperamental machine. There
was a grinding sound before Rory's copying efforts came to a halt.
Great.only an hour into this internship and she had already broken
the copier! Maybe filing was better after all.
It was just a minor problem, nothing to get upset about. Copiers jam
all the time. The source of the inconvenience is uncovered and life
proceeds as usual. Simple.
A young, dark-haired man noticed the damsel in distress. "Paper
jam?" He remarked.
"Yeah, kinda." Rory answered sheepishly.
The young man briefly looked at the machine; then he opened the front
cover. The "culprit" was uncovered and unceremoniously discarded in
the waste paper basket. The nameless Lancelot closed the front
cover. "There, it should work for you now. All you have to do is
hit the start button again."
"Thanks." Rory replied.
"No problem." The young man answered. He flashed her a smile before
proceeding to cross the news bull pen.
His helpfulness reminded her so much of Dean. Yet, his physical
appearance was very much like Jess.
Stop this Gilmore! You're here for this internship, to prove
yourself. You don't have time to think about your problems with Dean
and Jess. The inner voice scolded.
The inner voice was right. She was spending the summer working for a
newspaper. That was what she needed to focus on.
When Rory told her grandparents about the internship, their reactions
were eerily predictable. Richard Gilmore offered a "well, done".
Okay, so this paper wasn't the New York Times or The Washington Post,
but it was a fine opportunity for Rory to become the next Katherine
Graham. Emily Gilmore wrinkled her brow before questioning Rory
about the kind of accommodations that she would have living in
Chicago this summer. Rory explained that arrangements had been made
for the internship recipients to stay in the University of Chicago
dormitory. Emily didn't like the idea. The elder Gilmore had read
about what goes on in college dorms these days. Lack of supervision.
Drugs. Drinking. Emily described the dorm experience as if it were
the modern day equivalent of Woodstock. Rory assured her grandparents
that she would be okay.
Somehow Rory couldn't imagine that Katherine Graham jump started her
journalistic career making tons of copies! The teen hoped that this
internship would be about more than just copying and filing. She had
written articles for "The Franklin", Chilton's school newspaper. She
wanted to learn about writing for a newspaper not operating a copier.
Rory remembered that Mr. Diaz had asked her to copy another stack of
documents that he would leave on his desk with a yellow post it note
marked "copy". After Rory finished her initial copying task, she
proceeded to Miguel's desk. Just as she was about to retrieve the
stack, she noticed the blinking cursor on Miguel's computer. Her
curiosity was whetted when she saw what looked like the beginning of
a story the reporter was working on. "Chicago's Unsolved Mystery:
Who is Gary Hobson?" was the title of the piece. Rory began to read
the story. So focused was she on the story that Rory didn't see the
man walking towards her.
"What do you think you're doing?" Miguel asked in an unfriendly tone.