Disclaimer: If I was in any way affiliated with Gilmore Girls, Amy Sherman
Palladino, The WB, or anything else, this thing would not be here. Besides,
I'm a broke teenager.
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, I really appreciate them. The parts with Will were funny? Hehe. I wasn't even trying when I was writing it, I was just thinking about the guy that Will is named after. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and the positive feedback, it is really appreciated! Oh, sorry if the title for this chapter is a little weird, but I couldn't think of a better combination.
Time Heals All Wounds?
Chapter Three: Another Day, Another Dollar and Date
Since she had taken the day off on Friday to be with Jess, Rory was able to begin working on the article over the weekend when she was not spending time with Jess, which was rare. Then, to the dismay of Rory, Jess, and Will, the weekend came to an end and another workweek was about to begin.
Will: Can't I take a mental health day?
Rory: No.
Will: But I'm going to go insane if I go to work tomorrow.
Rory: Going to? Aren't you the one with a room reserved at the local mental institution. I mean, I seem to remember a nice room with padded walls.
Will: Ah, yes. The happy place. You can run into the walls of your room and just bounce off of them. I was glad when they allowed me to decorate a little. The monkeys on the walls are fun to talk to when it gets really quiet.
Rory: Monkeys? I thought that you had oompa loompas.
Will: That's your room. Your room has oompa loompas eating candy and drinking coffee. Don't you remember all of the work that went into creating that?
Rory: All right, back to reality now because I am beginning to believe that we actually belong in an institution right now.
Will: (sarcastically) You mean that was all pretend?
Rory: Just like Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and Hanukah Harry.
Will: Damn.
Rory: Welcome to reality, it bites.
Will: Hard?
Rory: Dirty!!
Will: That's me.
Rory: Change of topic now...how's Brian?
Will: Good. This weekend was fun. We went to upstate New York for the weekend for a break from the city. Got a couple of nice glares from the local homophobes. I love how people can be so damn closed minded. I mean, deal with it people! It's my life and let me love the way I want to.
Rory: I think you got yourself your next op-ed.
Will: Yeah. I'll wait until there's something that I could tie it in with.
Rory: Didn't you mention something about that bookstore opening up only carrying books relating to homosexuality. Like varying from civil rights to art to general history of discrimination. (A/N: I remember hearing something on the news a little while ago about a shop like that in NY closing, but I couldn't really remember specifics.)
Will: Thank God for your memory. I better go start working now while I remember.
Rory: Wait, did you just volunteer to go work? Am I hallucinating?
Will: Well, taking drugs with hallucinogenic properties could have that effect on a person. Next thing you know, you'll be seeing pink elephants dancing in tutus.
Rory: Interesting mental picture, thanks.
Will: No problem. All right, I need to go since I'm already starting to forget.
Rory: Yeah, I should probably work on my article too.
Will: That shouldn't be too hard. You know that story inside and out. It's just a matter of not exposing your love for Jess in the article.
Rory: Go work!
Will: Yes mom.
Will walks over to his room and sits at his desk to begin working on his laptop. Rory takes her laptop and sits on the windowseat to work on her article about Jess and the book.
Rory: (mentally) He was right. I don't want to fill this article with my feelings for Jess, but Mr. Dunlay said that I should use my emotions while writing this. I'll just write and then go over it later.
Rory began to type furiously since she had a good idea of how she wanted the article to go and what to include in it. She only stopped to proofread, answer the phone that was beside her, or to get more coffee. After working for a while, Rory had written down everything that she had in mind and found the article to be of a decent length. After proofreading it, Rory decided that she would stop working for the night since she was satisfied with the result of her day's work.
Rory: (calling to Will) Hey, how's it going in there?
When Rory received no answer, she walked over to Will's room to find him asleep at his desk with his head near his laptop.
Rory: (says quietly) Poor guy.
She walks over to his desk and turns out his lamp, but leaves his laptop on. She notices that Will had done a lot of work that day and is afraid that if she does anything to the computer that something would happen.
Rory walked out of Will's room and curled up on the couch to see what was on television that night.
Rory: (flicking through the channels) Ugh, more boring infomercials. Yes! Lifetime movie! Just as she was comfortable watching the movie that was on Lifetime, the phone rang and Rory jumped up so that she could answer it before it could wake up Will.
Rory: (on the phone) If you aren't my mom, why on Earth are you calling me?
Jess: I feel so loved.
Rory: Oh, hey, sorry about that. It's been a long day.
Jess: What happened? Everything okay?
Rory: Yeah, everything's fine. I've just been working all day. I had a good idea about the article and I worked on it for awhile before I decided to take a break.
Jess: (sarcastic) Sorry I'm causing so much stress.
Rory: It's not you, don't worry. Just general complaints about work.
Jess: Okay. At least it wasn't me.
Rory: So, how was your day?
Jess: Boring. I had to do a stupid interview. It's only the beginning of the media circus and I'm already sick of answering the same stupid, pointless questions.
Rory: Just write down the answers to the basic ones and take a copy with you. That'll save you some time.
Jess: Gee, that'll make the interviewers love me.
Rory: Well, you'll always have one on your side.
Jess: Thank you Sap girl.
Rory: Making the world a better place to freely express your affection every day.
Jess and Rory continued to talk for awhile until Rory couldn't suppress her yawns anymore and Jess told her to go to bed. Soon after hanging up the phone, Rory climbed into her bed and fell fast asleep.
~*~ The Next Day ~*~
Will: (walking out of his room) Tell me you have coffee made.
Rory: Don't worry. There's already some poured into your mug.
Will: You take such good care of me.
Rory: Yeah, well I don't want to hear your complaining so I finally learned.
Will: Hey, I learned that from you and Lorelai.
Rory: Not again...
Will: (looks at the clock on the microwave) Crap! I need to go change.
Rory: Hurry up, we need to leave soon.
Will: (shouting from his room) Why did you let me sleep so long?
Rory: You looked so happy sleeping on your desk with that little puddle of drool.
Will: Hey! I do not drool!
Rory: Did you have a nice trip? I hear denial is wonderful!
Will: (walking out of his room) Shut up! At least I still have some of my sanity left.
Rory: I don't miss mine.
Will: Let's go, I don't feel like getting yelled at again.
Rory: Fine.
The two grab their travel mugs, which are filled to the top, head out for the office building to begin another week.
Will: (talking to himself in the elevator with Rory) Making money. No complaining. Making money. No complaining.
Rory: Keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll work one day.
Will: At least the first part is true.
The elevator stops and the two part ways.
Will: Call me if you get bored!
Rory: Don't I always?
Will: See ya at lunch!
Rory: Bye!
Rory walks over to her desk and sits down to go over the paper work that was waiting for her. Her co-worker and friend, Lucy, walks over to Rory.
Lucy: Hey. Tell me your weekend was better than mine.
Rory: Hey. What happened?
Lucy: (leaning against Rory's desk) It's more like what didn't. I just sat home all weekend. I bonded with my television and made two friends, Ben and Jerry.
Rory: Awww, Luc, sorry about that. But it's always fun to have a weekend of bonding with those guys.
Lucy: I guess so. It was very relaxing.
Rory: There's nothing like watching hours of TV with those two guys.
Lucy: Enough about lazyfest, what did you do?
Rory: Well, remember how I had to interview J.M. Danes on Thursday night?
Lucy: (curious) Yeah. What happened?
Rory: Well, it turns out that J.M. Danes is Jess Mariano, who I dated when I was younger, and the book was about us and Stars Hollow.
Lucy: Why does all of the interesting stuff happen to you? What else? I know there's more.
Rory: Well, after dinner, we went back to the apartment and hung out with Will for a little before he went to see Brian. Instead of watching 'Donnie Darko' we, well, you know...
Lucy: Ror, that's great. Tell me more, tell me more. Sorry, I watched 'Grease' this weekend.
Rory: It's okay. Well, the next day, I took the day off and hung out with Jess. And that night was, well, a repeat performance of the previous one. I, um, also told him I loved him after he told me about how he couldn't get over me over the years and said that he still loved me.
Lucy: Damn, your weekend totally kicks mine's ass.
Rory: I can't believe all of that happened. I keep thinking that it's a dream and that I'm going to be brought back to reality soon.
Lucy: Don't wake up! So, you guys are together now right? I know it's a stupid question.
Rory: Yeah.
Lucy: Are you still doing the article though? There's just a slight conflict of interest now.
Rory: Mr. Dunlay was happy with the news. He thought it would give the article that extra boost of emotion or something like that. Plus he thought it would be good promotion wise for the Times.
Lucy: Wow, you are so lucky Ror.
Rory: Yeah, I guess I am.
The two hug and Lucy goes back to her desk. Rory goes back to work and is interrupted when a flower delivery man comes over to her.
Delivery Man: Leigh Hayden?
Rory: Yes, that's me.
Delivery Man: I have a delivery for you from a Mr. Mariano.
Rory: (takes the flowers and signs for them) Thank you.
He leaves and Rory looks for a card in the bouquet. She soon finds an envelope tucked in between the flowers.
Jess: (voice over since Rory is reading the note that he wrote) Ror, Here's to wishes coming true. Be at your desk at 12:00. Love, Jess
Lucy: (hurries over to Rory's desk when the delivery man leaves) Tell me those are from Jess.
Rory: (she finishes reading the note and looks up) Yeah.
Lucy: Lucky girl.
Rory: Thanks. I gotta call my mom! I never told her about Jess.
Lucy: I'll leave you alone.
Rory: Thanks.
She picks up the phone and quickly dials the number for the inn.
Lorelai: Lorelai Gilmore Danes.
Rory: Mom! I have so much to tell you!
Lorelai: Mini-me! Okay, shoot, not literally, but you know what I mean.
Rory: Well, remember that book I told you about?
Lorelai: Something heart, yeah.
Rory: Well, when I went to interview the author, J.M. Danes, it was Jess.
Lorelai: Your Jess? Rebel without a cause Jess? Stars Hollow's resident bad boy Jess?
Rory: (cuts off Lorelai) Yes!
Lorelai: Whoa, small world.
Rory: Yeah, so anyway, we spent a lot of time together this weekend, one thing led to another, and now we're together.
Lorelai: Oh this is so great! I gotta tell Luke!
Rory: Listen, mom, I gotta go and take care of some things, I'll call you later, okay?
Lorelai: Sure sweets and congrats.
Rory: Thanks mom, I love you.
Lorelai: Love you too, bye.
The two hang up and Rory dials another number.
Will: My savior.
Rory: Flowers!
Will: Huh?
Rory: He sent me flowers!
Will: Damn, he's whipped already.
Rory: He's coming here at lunch, sorry, but do you mind if I take a raincheck on lunch today?
Will: It's okay. Spend some time with your man.
Rory: Thanks! See you later.
Will: Bye.
Rory hangs up the phone again and begins to read over what she had written the previous day for her article. While she was working on the article, Mr. Dunlay came over to her desk.
Mr. Dunlay: How's everything going with the article?
Rory: Good. I actually have a first draft written.
Mr. Dunlay: Great. Print me out a copy and I'll read over it.
Rory: (pulls some papers out of her bag) Here you go. I printed a few copies before.
Mr. Dunlay: Good. I'll read over this now and get back to you later.
Rory: Thank you Mr. Dunlay.
He leaves and Rory goes back to her work. She continues to work for a while and soon, Mr. Dunlay comes back to her desk.
Mr. Dunlay: Great article. Look over my comments and I think that you'll have an amazing story Hayden.
Rory: Thank you.
Mr. Dunlay: No, thank you. That is the greatest article that I have read in a long time.
Rory: (looks at him in shock) Really?
Mr. Dunlay: Yes. The combination of your emotions with the standard content made this article amazing. A couple more articles like this and I might have to watch out for my job.
Rory: Thank you Mr. Dunlay. That means a lot to me.
Mr. Dunlay: You're a great writer Hayden. Don't limit yourself. I'd like to read that as soon as you revise it.
Rory: No problem sir.
Mr. Dunlay leaves Rory again to let her work on her article again. His comments were mainly minor ones. They focused on lengthening or shortening certain parts of the article and basic comments on grammar and things like that. Rory didn't notice that the time was passing by so quickly and soon it was five to twelve.
When Jess walked into the office building, he went to the front desk and asked for Will since he still wanted to try to surprise Rory. He was directed to go up to the fourteenth floor.
After he got out of the elevator, Jess walked over to the receptionist and asked where he could find Will.
Receptionist: Go to the left and continue walking toward the back of the room. You'll find his desk toward the back and the corner.
Jess: Thank you.
Jess walked to where the receptionist and directed him to go.
Jess: Will.
Will: (looks up from his computer when he hears his name) Hey Jess.
Jess: Having fun?
Will: (sarcastically) Tons. She's on the fifteenth floor.
Jess: Mind reader.
Will: Nope, not this time. She called when she got the flowers.
Jess: Ah. Thanks for your help. Try not to hurt yourself working.
Will: It's too late, my brain already hurts.
Jess: Then go and eat lunch. Find Brian. Do something.
Will: I think I'll do that. Thanks man. See you later.
Jess leaves and heads toward the elevators, but decides to take the stairs instead. When he reaches the fifteenth floor, he doesn't bother to ask where he could find Rory since the floor is less crowded and he easily spots Rory working at her desk.
Jess begins to walk over toward Rory who does not notice him like her co- workers who begin whispering about the unfamiliar man walking toward Rory.
Jess: (now he's near Rory's desk) Break time.
Rory: (surprised) Jess! It's 12 already?
Jess: Actually, it's a little after. I stopped to say hi to Will.
Rory: I lost track of time, sorry. Let me just get my stuff together and we can go.
Jess: Take your time.
Rory: (she's done arranging things on her desk) All right, let's go.
Jess takes Rory's hand and they walk over to the elevators. They get in one and go down to the entrance/exit level.
Rory: So, where are you taking me?
Jess: You'll see.
Jess flags down a cab and he and Rory get in. Jess tells the driver an address.
Rory: (pouting) Please, can you tell me?
Jess: Just wait for a little more.
Rory: (pout and puppy eyes) Pweaseeeee.
Jess: That look is evil. It's unfair that you have that power.
Rory: No it's not. It's a gift!
Jess: Gift, curse, whatever makes you happy.
Rory: Meanie.
Jess: Just call me Oscar.
Driver: We're here.
Jess: (pays the fare) Thank you.
The two exit in front of an apartment building.
Rory: I am now officially confused.
Jess: (takes her hand) Come on.
Rory: I don't really have a choice do I?
The two get into the elevator and go up to the top floor of the building. When the doors open you see a hallway leading to one door. Jess leads Rory toward the door and then he opens it.
When the door opens, you see an apartment with bookshelves lining the walls, except for one that is made up off all windows and an entrance to a balcony.
Jess: I haven't cooked for you in a long time.
Rory: (still taking in her surroundings) Jess...
Jess: That's my name.
Rory: Thank you.
The two embrace and kiss briefly.
At about a quarter to one, Jess and Rory leave the apartment since Rory has to get back to work. By one, they are back in the Times building and are waiting in the elevator. The doors open and the two walk hand in hand to Rory's desk.
Rory: (turns to Jess) Thank you for today. That pasta was amazing.
Jess: No problem.
The two kiss and are interrupted by Mr. Dunlay walking toward Rory's desk with a document in his hands.
Mr. Dunlay: Oh, sorry, to interrupt.
They pull apart.
Rory: (faces Mr. Dunlay) Sorry sir.
Mr. Dunlay: It's all right.
Rory: Oh, sorry. Mr. Dunlay, this is Jess Mariano, my boyfriend. Jess, this is Peter Dunlay, my editor.
Jess: (shaking Mr. Dunlay's hand) Nice to meet you sir. I guess I should also thank you for assigning Rory to write about my book.
Mr. Dunlay: It's nice to meet you. I should thank you for leading her to write such an outstanding article.
Rory blushes at the comment about her article and Jess simply gives her hand a gentle squeeze.
Jess: I should get going. Call me later okay?
Rory: Sure.
The two kiss briefly.
Jess: (says quietly) Love you, bye.
Rory: Love you too.
Jess walks away and leaves Rory to talk to Mr. Dunlay.
Mr. Dunlay: I hope you don't mind, but I read over your second copy.
Rory: Oh, it's no problem sir. What did you think?
Mr. Dunlay: Fantastic work. There are still some small errors and ideas that I wrote, but on the whole it's practically flawless.
Rory: Wow, thank you.
Mr. Dunlay: (hands her the copy that he wrote on) Here you go. Great work.
Rory: (takes the copy) Thank you sir.
Rory then works on the article for the rest of the day and only stops when Will comes over to her at the end of the day.
Will: One down, four to go!
Rory: Come on, I need coffee.
Will: Don't have to tell me twice.
Rory and Will exit the building head start the familiar route to Coffee Addicts Anonymous. After ordering from Brian, the two head off toward their usual corner table only to find that someone is sitting there.
Rory: Only God can sit here.
Will: I don't see angels hovering around you dude.
Jess: (looks up) There's one right next to you.
Will: Did that line ever work for you?
Rory: Tell me that some females have brains.
Jess: (now joined by Will and Rory) Sorry. I've seen that line work before.
Rory: I am officially ashamed to be a female.
Will: Maybe, if you had a couple thousand bucks lying around, you wouldn't have to worry about me being on the other side. You would actually have a chance to get into these wonderful pants.
Rory: (sarcastically) Tempting.
Jess: If that happened, I would have no choice but to join you people on 'the other side.'
Will: (singing to a random tune) Party in whose pants? Party in Will's pants!
The three laugh at Will's little song.
Brian: (he's walking over with coffee since he has his break) What did he do now?
Will: (pointing at Rory) She started it.
Brian: (fakes being surprised) Rory! I'm shocked!
Rory: I just said that I was ashamed to be a female after Jess said a crappy pickup line. Then Will said that I should get a sex change so I don't have to worry about being embarrassed by other females. After that, he said that then I would actually have a shot with him since I would then be a guy with a girl's brain.
Jess: (interrupting Rory) Then I said that I would have no other choice but to join them on the other side so I could be with Rory or the male version of her.
Rory: Then Will started to sing, 'Part in whose pants? Party in Will's pants!'
Will: I can't help that I'm irresistible.
Brian: (laughing) How do I put up with you?
Will: (goes to speak but is cut off)
Rory: Don't answer that. I don't need anymore dirty thoughts.
Jess: You have enough dirty thoughts for all of us.
The four laugh at what Jess said. Brian stays for about fifteen minutes, but leaves when his break is over.
Will: (now that Brian is no longer sitting next to him) My bum is all alone, my bum is all alone.
Rory: Well, Tom Green, it's been nice but I want to go back to the apartment. Jess, I want you to read over the article and tell me what you think.
Jess: Sure.
Rory: (she's standing by the table and mouths to Will) Stay with Brian tonight.
Will: (mouths back) Pants party tonight!
Rory laughs at what Will said and Jess looks curiously at her wondering what caused the random outburst.
Jess: I have a feeling I don't want to know.
Rory: Smart boy. I trained you well.
Jess: Don't compare me to a dog, please.
Rory: Fine, you're a bunny instead.
Jess: On second thought, a dog is okay.
Rory: Did bunny threaten your masculinity too much?
Jess: (grins) Shut up.
Rory: Ha! I got you!
Jess: So, how about that article.
The two leave Coffee Addicts Anonymous and soon find themselves walking into Rory and Will's apartment.
Rory: (walking into the kitchen) Want anything to drink or eat?
Jess: Didn't we just do that?
Rory: I'm a Gilmore!
Jess: At least you admit it.
Rory walks back over to Jess who is sitting on the couch flicking through the channels in search of something decent to watch on TV.
Jess: I have just reached the conclusion that the TV sucks.
Rory: Dirty!
Jess: (sarcastically) Gilmores. Junk food addicts with sick minds. What's not to love?
Rory: At lest you know why.
Jess: So, is there really a copy of the article or is this just an attempt to get me into bed?
Rory: (smiles) Now why on Earth would I try to get you into bed? Actually, it's both. I want you to read the article and tell me what you think.
Jess: So you aren't just after my body.
Rory: Hate to disappoint you.
Rory looks through her bag and finds the file that contains the different versions of her article. She takes out the latest copy.
Rory: (hands the article to Jess) Here.
Jess: (he reads over the article and his face remains expressionless) Wow, Ror, that was great. Think of a positive adjective and that was it.
Rory: Really?
Jess: It's amazing. What did Mr. Dunlay think?
Rory: That's the final copy. It's gong to be printed this weekend.
Jess: Someone has a workfree week then.
Rory: Yup. He told me that after I sent in the final copy I could take the rest of the week off since there isn't really anything else I could do. Before I left work with Will I had him read over it and he thought it was perfect.
Jess: This calls for a celebration.
Rory: What do you have in mind?
Jess: (kisses Rory passionately) I think you know.
A/N: Well, this is a good spot to end this chapter. If I kept going, I would end up with another 16 pages in Word. Please tell me what you think! I like seeing the little Review Alert message in my inbox. I'll update as soon as I can but I have a big test coming up that I have to do well on. Damn school. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review! Reviews make me go faster!!!!
A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, I really appreciate them. The parts with Will were funny? Hehe. I wasn't even trying when I was writing it, I was just thinking about the guy that Will is named after. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and the positive feedback, it is really appreciated! Oh, sorry if the title for this chapter is a little weird, but I couldn't think of a better combination.
Time Heals All Wounds?
Chapter Three: Another Day, Another Dollar and Date
Since she had taken the day off on Friday to be with Jess, Rory was able to begin working on the article over the weekend when she was not spending time with Jess, which was rare. Then, to the dismay of Rory, Jess, and Will, the weekend came to an end and another workweek was about to begin.
Will: Can't I take a mental health day?
Rory: No.
Will: But I'm going to go insane if I go to work tomorrow.
Rory: Going to? Aren't you the one with a room reserved at the local mental institution. I mean, I seem to remember a nice room with padded walls.
Will: Ah, yes. The happy place. You can run into the walls of your room and just bounce off of them. I was glad when they allowed me to decorate a little. The monkeys on the walls are fun to talk to when it gets really quiet.
Rory: Monkeys? I thought that you had oompa loompas.
Will: That's your room. Your room has oompa loompas eating candy and drinking coffee. Don't you remember all of the work that went into creating that?
Rory: All right, back to reality now because I am beginning to believe that we actually belong in an institution right now.
Will: (sarcastically) You mean that was all pretend?
Rory: Just like Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, and Hanukah Harry.
Will: Damn.
Rory: Welcome to reality, it bites.
Will: Hard?
Rory: Dirty!!
Will: That's me.
Rory: Change of topic now...how's Brian?
Will: Good. This weekend was fun. We went to upstate New York for the weekend for a break from the city. Got a couple of nice glares from the local homophobes. I love how people can be so damn closed minded. I mean, deal with it people! It's my life and let me love the way I want to.
Rory: I think you got yourself your next op-ed.
Will: Yeah. I'll wait until there's something that I could tie it in with.
Rory: Didn't you mention something about that bookstore opening up only carrying books relating to homosexuality. Like varying from civil rights to art to general history of discrimination. (A/N: I remember hearing something on the news a little while ago about a shop like that in NY closing, but I couldn't really remember specifics.)
Will: Thank God for your memory. I better go start working now while I remember.
Rory: Wait, did you just volunteer to go work? Am I hallucinating?
Will: Well, taking drugs with hallucinogenic properties could have that effect on a person. Next thing you know, you'll be seeing pink elephants dancing in tutus.
Rory: Interesting mental picture, thanks.
Will: No problem. All right, I need to go since I'm already starting to forget.
Rory: Yeah, I should probably work on my article too.
Will: That shouldn't be too hard. You know that story inside and out. It's just a matter of not exposing your love for Jess in the article.
Rory: Go work!
Will: Yes mom.
Will walks over to his room and sits at his desk to begin working on his laptop. Rory takes her laptop and sits on the windowseat to work on her article about Jess and the book.
Rory: (mentally) He was right. I don't want to fill this article with my feelings for Jess, but Mr. Dunlay said that I should use my emotions while writing this. I'll just write and then go over it later.
Rory began to type furiously since she had a good idea of how she wanted the article to go and what to include in it. She only stopped to proofread, answer the phone that was beside her, or to get more coffee. After working for a while, Rory had written down everything that she had in mind and found the article to be of a decent length. After proofreading it, Rory decided that she would stop working for the night since she was satisfied with the result of her day's work.
Rory: (calling to Will) Hey, how's it going in there?
When Rory received no answer, she walked over to Will's room to find him asleep at his desk with his head near his laptop.
Rory: (says quietly) Poor guy.
She walks over to his desk and turns out his lamp, but leaves his laptop on. She notices that Will had done a lot of work that day and is afraid that if she does anything to the computer that something would happen.
Rory walked out of Will's room and curled up on the couch to see what was on television that night.
Rory: (flicking through the channels) Ugh, more boring infomercials. Yes! Lifetime movie! Just as she was comfortable watching the movie that was on Lifetime, the phone rang and Rory jumped up so that she could answer it before it could wake up Will.
Rory: (on the phone) If you aren't my mom, why on Earth are you calling me?
Jess: I feel so loved.
Rory: Oh, hey, sorry about that. It's been a long day.
Jess: What happened? Everything okay?
Rory: Yeah, everything's fine. I've just been working all day. I had a good idea about the article and I worked on it for awhile before I decided to take a break.
Jess: (sarcastic) Sorry I'm causing so much stress.
Rory: It's not you, don't worry. Just general complaints about work.
Jess: Okay. At least it wasn't me.
Rory: So, how was your day?
Jess: Boring. I had to do a stupid interview. It's only the beginning of the media circus and I'm already sick of answering the same stupid, pointless questions.
Rory: Just write down the answers to the basic ones and take a copy with you. That'll save you some time.
Jess: Gee, that'll make the interviewers love me.
Rory: Well, you'll always have one on your side.
Jess: Thank you Sap girl.
Rory: Making the world a better place to freely express your affection every day.
Jess and Rory continued to talk for awhile until Rory couldn't suppress her yawns anymore and Jess told her to go to bed. Soon after hanging up the phone, Rory climbed into her bed and fell fast asleep.
~*~ The Next Day ~*~
Will: (walking out of his room) Tell me you have coffee made.
Rory: Don't worry. There's already some poured into your mug.
Will: You take such good care of me.
Rory: Yeah, well I don't want to hear your complaining so I finally learned.
Will: Hey, I learned that from you and Lorelai.
Rory: Not again...
Will: (looks at the clock on the microwave) Crap! I need to go change.
Rory: Hurry up, we need to leave soon.
Will: (shouting from his room) Why did you let me sleep so long?
Rory: You looked so happy sleeping on your desk with that little puddle of drool.
Will: Hey! I do not drool!
Rory: Did you have a nice trip? I hear denial is wonderful!
Will: (walking out of his room) Shut up! At least I still have some of my sanity left.
Rory: I don't miss mine.
Will: Let's go, I don't feel like getting yelled at again.
Rory: Fine.
The two grab their travel mugs, which are filled to the top, head out for the office building to begin another week.
Will: (talking to himself in the elevator with Rory) Making money. No complaining. Making money. No complaining.
Rory: Keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll work one day.
Will: At least the first part is true.
The elevator stops and the two part ways.
Will: Call me if you get bored!
Rory: Don't I always?
Will: See ya at lunch!
Rory: Bye!
Rory walks over to her desk and sits down to go over the paper work that was waiting for her. Her co-worker and friend, Lucy, walks over to Rory.
Lucy: Hey. Tell me your weekend was better than mine.
Rory: Hey. What happened?
Lucy: (leaning against Rory's desk) It's more like what didn't. I just sat home all weekend. I bonded with my television and made two friends, Ben and Jerry.
Rory: Awww, Luc, sorry about that. But it's always fun to have a weekend of bonding with those guys.
Lucy: I guess so. It was very relaxing.
Rory: There's nothing like watching hours of TV with those two guys.
Lucy: Enough about lazyfest, what did you do?
Rory: Well, remember how I had to interview J.M. Danes on Thursday night?
Lucy: (curious) Yeah. What happened?
Rory: Well, it turns out that J.M. Danes is Jess Mariano, who I dated when I was younger, and the book was about us and Stars Hollow.
Lucy: Why does all of the interesting stuff happen to you? What else? I know there's more.
Rory: Well, after dinner, we went back to the apartment and hung out with Will for a little before he went to see Brian. Instead of watching 'Donnie Darko' we, well, you know...
Lucy: Ror, that's great. Tell me more, tell me more. Sorry, I watched 'Grease' this weekend.
Rory: It's okay. Well, the next day, I took the day off and hung out with Jess. And that night was, well, a repeat performance of the previous one. I, um, also told him I loved him after he told me about how he couldn't get over me over the years and said that he still loved me.
Lucy: Damn, your weekend totally kicks mine's ass.
Rory: I can't believe all of that happened. I keep thinking that it's a dream and that I'm going to be brought back to reality soon.
Lucy: Don't wake up! So, you guys are together now right? I know it's a stupid question.
Rory: Yeah.
Lucy: Are you still doing the article though? There's just a slight conflict of interest now.
Rory: Mr. Dunlay was happy with the news. He thought it would give the article that extra boost of emotion or something like that. Plus he thought it would be good promotion wise for the Times.
Lucy: Wow, you are so lucky Ror.
Rory: Yeah, I guess I am.
The two hug and Lucy goes back to her desk. Rory goes back to work and is interrupted when a flower delivery man comes over to her.
Delivery Man: Leigh Hayden?
Rory: Yes, that's me.
Delivery Man: I have a delivery for you from a Mr. Mariano.
Rory: (takes the flowers and signs for them) Thank you.
He leaves and Rory looks for a card in the bouquet. She soon finds an envelope tucked in between the flowers.
Jess: (voice over since Rory is reading the note that he wrote) Ror, Here's to wishes coming true. Be at your desk at 12:00. Love, Jess
Lucy: (hurries over to Rory's desk when the delivery man leaves) Tell me those are from Jess.
Rory: (she finishes reading the note and looks up) Yeah.
Lucy: Lucky girl.
Rory: Thanks. I gotta call my mom! I never told her about Jess.
Lucy: I'll leave you alone.
Rory: Thanks.
She picks up the phone and quickly dials the number for the inn.
Lorelai: Lorelai Gilmore Danes.
Rory: Mom! I have so much to tell you!
Lorelai: Mini-me! Okay, shoot, not literally, but you know what I mean.
Rory: Well, remember that book I told you about?
Lorelai: Something heart, yeah.
Rory: Well, when I went to interview the author, J.M. Danes, it was Jess.
Lorelai: Your Jess? Rebel without a cause Jess? Stars Hollow's resident bad boy Jess?
Rory: (cuts off Lorelai) Yes!
Lorelai: Whoa, small world.
Rory: Yeah, so anyway, we spent a lot of time together this weekend, one thing led to another, and now we're together.
Lorelai: Oh this is so great! I gotta tell Luke!
Rory: Listen, mom, I gotta go and take care of some things, I'll call you later, okay?
Lorelai: Sure sweets and congrats.
Rory: Thanks mom, I love you.
Lorelai: Love you too, bye.
The two hang up and Rory dials another number.
Will: My savior.
Rory: Flowers!
Will: Huh?
Rory: He sent me flowers!
Will: Damn, he's whipped already.
Rory: He's coming here at lunch, sorry, but do you mind if I take a raincheck on lunch today?
Will: It's okay. Spend some time with your man.
Rory: Thanks! See you later.
Will: Bye.
Rory hangs up the phone again and begins to read over what she had written the previous day for her article. While she was working on the article, Mr. Dunlay came over to her desk.
Mr. Dunlay: How's everything going with the article?
Rory: Good. I actually have a first draft written.
Mr. Dunlay: Great. Print me out a copy and I'll read over it.
Rory: (pulls some papers out of her bag) Here you go. I printed a few copies before.
Mr. Dunlay: Good. I'll read over this now and get back to you later.
Rory: Thank you Mr. Dunlay.
He leaves and Rory goes back to her work. She continues to work for a while and soon, Mr. Dunlay comes back to her desk.
Mr. Dunlay: Great article. Look over my comments and I think that you'll have an amazing story Hayden.
Rory: Thank you.
Mr. Dunlay: No, thank you. That is the greatest article that I have read in a long time.
Rory: (looks at him in shock) Really?
Mr. Dunlay: Yes. The combination of your emotions with the standard content made this article amazing. A couple more articles like this and I might have to watch out for my job.
Rory: Thank you Mr. Dunlay. That means a lot to me.
Mr. Dunlay: You're a great writer Hayden. Don't limit yourself. I'd like to read that as soon as you revise it.
Rory: No problem sir.
Mr. Dunlay leaves Rory again to let her work on her article again. His comments were mainly minor ones. They focused on lengthening or shortening certain parts of the article and basic comments on grammar and things like that. Rory didn't notice that the time was passing by so quickly and soon it was five to twelve.
When Jess walked into the office building, he went to the front desk and asked for Will since he still wanted to try to surprise Rory. He was directed to go up to the fourteenth floor.
After he got out of the elevator, Jess walked over to the receptionist and asked where he could find Will.
Receptionist: Go to the left and continue walking toward the back of the room. You'll find his desk toward the back and the corner.
Jess: Thank you.
Jess walked to where the receptionist and directed him to go.
Jess: Will.
Will: (looks up from his computer when he hears his name) Hey Jess.
Jess: Having fun?
Will: (sarcastically) Tons. She's on the fifteenth floor.
Jess: Mind reader.
Will: Nope, not this time. She called when she got the flowers.
Jess: Ah. Thanks for your help. Try not to hurt yourself working.
Will: It's too late, my brain already hurts.
Jess: Then go and eat lunch. Find Brian. Do something.
Will: I think I'll do that. Thanks man. See you later.
Jess leaves and heads toward the elevators, but decides to take the stairs instead. When he reaches the fifteenth floor, he doesn't bother to ask where he could find Rory since the floor is less crowded and he easily spots Rory working at her desk.
Jess begins to walk over toward Rory who does not notice him like her co- workers who begin whispering about the unfamiliar man walking toward Rory.
Jess: (now he's near Rory's desk) Break time.
Rory: (surprised) Jess! It's 12 already?
Jess: Actually, it's a little after. I stopped to say hi to Will.
Rory: I lost track of time, sorry. Let me just get my stuff together and we can go.
Jess: Take your time.
Rory: (she's done arranging things on her desk) All right, let's go.
Jess takes Rory's hand and they walk over to the elevators. They get in one and go down to the entrance/exit level.
Rory: So, where are you taking me?
Jess: You'll see.
Jess flags down a cab and he and Rory get in. Jess tells the driver an address.
Rory: (pouting) Please, can you tell me?
Jess: Just wait for a little more.
Rory: (pout and puppy eyes) Pweaseeeee.
Jess: That look is evil. It's unfair that you have that power.
Rory: No it's not. It's a gift!
Jess: Gift, curse, whatever makes you happy.
Rory: Meanie.
Jess: Just call me Oscar.
Driver: We're here.
Jess: (pays the fare) Thank you.
The two exit in front of an apartment building.
Rory: I am now officially confused.
Jess: (takes her hand) Come on.
Rory: I don't really have a choice do I?
The two get into the elevator and go up to the top floor of the building. When the doors open you see a hallway leading to one door. Jess leads Rory toward the door and then he opens it.
When the door opens, you see an apartment with bookshelves lining the walls, except for one that is made up off all windows and an entrance to a balcony.
Jess: I haven't cooked for you in a long time.
Rory: (still taking in her surroundings) Jess...
Jess: That's my name.
Rory: Thank you.
The two embrace and kiss briefly.
At about a quarter to one, Jess and Rory leave the apartment since Rory has to get back to work. By one, they are back in the Times building and are waiting in the elevator. The doors open and the two walk hand in hand to Rory's desk.
Rory: (turns to Jess) Thank you for today. That pasta was amazing.
Jess: No problem.
The two kiss and are interrupted by Mr. Dunlay walking toward Rory's desk with a document in his hands.
Mr. Dunlay: Oh, sorry, to interrupt.
They pull apart.
Rory: (faces Mr. Dunlay) Sorry sir.
Mr. Dunlay: It's all right.
Rory: Oh, sorry. Mr. Dunlay, this is Jess Mariano, my boyfriend. Jess, this is Peter Dunlay, my editor.
Jess: (shaking Mr. Dunlay's hand) Nice to meet you sir. I guess I should also thank you for assigning Rory to write about my book.
Mr. Dunlay: It's nice to meet you. I should thank you for leading her to write such an outstanding article.
Rory blushes at the comment about her article and Jess simply gives her hand a gentle squeeze.
Jess: I should get going. Call me later okay?
Rory: Sure.
The two kiss briefly.
Jess: (says quietly) Love you, bye.
Rory: Love you too.
Jess walks away and leaves Rory to talk to Mr. Dunlay.
Mr. Dunlay: I hope you don't mind, but I read over your second copy.
Rory: Oh, it's no problem sir. What did you think?
Mr. Dunlay: Fantastic work. There are still some small errors and ideas that I wrote, but on the whole it's practically flawless.
Rory: Wow, thank you.
Mr. Dunlay: (hands her the copy that he wrote on) Here you go. Great work.
Rory: (takes the copy) Thank you sir.
Rory then works on the article for the rest of the day and only stops when Will comes over to her at the end of the day.
Will: One down, four to go!
Rory: Come on, I need coffee.
Will: Don't have to tell me twice.
Rory and Will exit the building head start the familiar route to Coffee Addicts Anonymous. After ordering from Brian, the two head off toward their usual corner table only to find that someone is sitting there.
Rory: Only God can sit here.
Will: I don't see angels hovering around you dude.
Jess: (looks up) There's one right next to you.
Will: Did that line ever work for you?
Rory: Tell me that some females have brains.
Jess: (now joined by Will and Rory) Sorry. I've seen that line work before.
Rory: I am officially ashamed to be a female.
Will: Maybe, if you had a couple thousand bucks lying around, you wouldn't have to worry about me being on the other side. You would actually have a chance to get into these wonderful pants.
Rory: (sarcastically) Tempting.
Jess: If that happened, I would have no choice but to join you people on 'the other side.'
Will: (singing to a random tune) Party in whose pants? Party in Will's pants!
The three laugh at Will's little song.
Brian: (he's walking over with coffee since he has his break) What did he do now?
Will: (pointing at Rory) She started it.
Brian: (fakes being surprised) Rory! I'm shocked!
Rory: I just said that I was ashamed to be a female after Jess said a crappy pickup line. Then Will said that I should get a sex change so I don't have to worry about being embarrassed by other females. After that, he said that then I would actually have a shot with him since I would then be a guy with a girl's brain.
Jess: (interrupting Rory) Then I said that I would have no other choice but to join them on the other side so I could be with Rory or the male version of her.
Rory: Then Will started to sing, 'Part in whose pants? Party in Will's pants!'
Will: I can't help that I'm irresistible.
Brian: (laughing) How do I put up with you?
Will: (goes to speak but is cut off)
Rory: Don't answer that. I don't need anymore dirty thoughts.
Jess: You have enough dirty thoughts for all of us.
The four laugh at what Jess said. Brian stays for about fifteen minutes, but leaves when his break is over.
Will: (now that Brian is no longer sitting next to him) My bum is all alone, my bum is all alone.
Rory: Well, Tom Green, it's been nice but I want to go back to the apartment. Jess, I want you to read over the article and tell me what you think.
Jess: Sure.
Rory: (she's standing by the table and mouths to Will) Stay with Brian tonight.
Will: (mouths back) Pants party tonight!
Rory laughs at what Will said and Jess looks curiously at her wondering what caused the random outburst.
Jess: I have a feeling I don't want to know.
Rory: Smart boy. I trained you well.
Jess: Don't compare me to a dog, please.
Rory: Fine, you're a bunny instead.
Jess: On second thought, a dog is okay.
Rory: Did bunny threaten your masculinity too much?
Jess: (grins) Shut up.
Rory: Ha! I got you!
Jess: So, how about that article.
The two leave Coffee Addicts Anonymous and soon find themselves walking into Rory and Will's apartment.
Rory: (walking into the kitchen) Want anything to drink or eat?
Jess: Didn't we just do that?
Rory: I'm a Gilmore!
Jess: At least you admit it.
Rory walks back over to Jess who is sitting on the couch flicking through the channels in search of something decent to watch on TV.
Jess: I have just reached the conclusion that the TV sucks.
Rory: Dirty!
Jess: (sarcastically) Gilmores. Junk food addicts with sick minds. What's not to love?
Rory: At lest you know why.
Jess: So, is there really a copy of the article or is this just an attempt to get me into bed?
Rory: (smiles) Now why on Earth would I try to get you into bed? Actually, it's both. I want you to read the article and tell me what you think.
Jess: So you aren't just after my body.
Rory: Hate to disappoint you.
Rory looks through her bag and finds the file that contains the different versions of her article. She takes out the latest copy.
Rory: (hands the article to Jess) Here.
Jess: (he reads over the article and his face remains expressionless) Wow, Ror, that was great. Think of a positive adjective and that was it.
Rory: Really?
Jess: It's amazing. What did Mr. Dunlay think?
Rory: That's the final copy. It's gong to be printed this weekend.
Jess: Someone has a workfree week then.
Rory: Yup. He told me that after I sent in the final copy I could take the rest of the week off since there isn't really anything else I could do. Before I left work with Will I had him read over it and he thought it was perfect.
Jess: This calls for a celebration.
Rory: What do you have in mind?
Jess: (kisses Rory passionately) I think you know.
A/N: Well, this is a good spot to end this chapter. If I kept going, I would end up with another 16 pages in Word. Please tell me what you think! I like seeing the little Review Alert message in my inbox. I'll update as soon as I can but I have a big test coming up that I have to do well on. Damn school. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please review! Reviews make me go faster!!!!