SPOILERS - None.
SUMMARY - Same as the other chapters, PG-13
DISCLAIMER - The WB, Amy Sherman-Palladino, et al owns it all.
A/N: Thank you to my regular readers/reviewers (you know who you are by now) - I love you guys!!! Your kind words and encouragement fuel the engine of my imagination! A/N: Yes, I know the NYTimes doesn't have a 'music' section, but work with me folks.
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Chapter Twenty
I walked into the offices at 8:30 and set my bag and newspaper on my desk in the newsroom bullpen. As usual, the office was buzzing with activity and people and noise, all of which makes me crazy. Give me a nice quiet corner of the room and I'll be happy. Thank GOD I don't spend much time here. And Bill respects that about me. Since I'm not in the office very often, he never saw the need to give me my own office. I've been known to duck in and hide in his if I'm ever stuck here for more than a day or two. I walked down the rows of desks, dodging people and mail carts along the way until I got to Brian's desk. Brian was my best friend in the city, as well as the music reporter for the Times, making us good buddies for the nightclub scene.
"Hey," I said as I sat down in his guest chair across from his desk. He was typing away with his headphones on full blast and didn't even notice me there. "Hey!" I said a little louder, this time slamming my hand down on the desk at the same time. He jumped as if I had just smacked him or something.
"Jesus Christ, Jess, you scared the shit out of me!" he complained as he took his headphones off and shut off his CD player. He reached across the desk and we shook hands.
"Nice to see you, too," I smirked, picking up the jewel case from the CD and examining it non-chalantly.
"So, where the hell have you been this time?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, already glad for a break from his column.
"Well, first London, then a quick trip home, then St. Lucia," I said, quickly skipping over the 'home' part.
He looked over his glasses at me with a skeptical look. "Excuse me? Home?"
I set the CD case down and looked at him. "Yeah. Stars Hollow."
"Wow. I never thought I'd hear you use the words Stars Hollow and home in the same sentence. What's going on?" he looked at me even more skeptically, his eyes falling onto my hands which were still on the CD case. I followed his gaze down to my hand and knew that he saw the wedding band. "Um, Jess, is there something you need to tell me?"
I let out a breath. Geez, this is going to be hard. I'm sure that Brian would have wanted to be there. Hell, he would have been my best man. "Well, I sorta got married," I stammered.
"What?! You're married?!" he yelled, standing up, getting the attention of the people sitting around him.
"Geez, Brian, calm down," I said, motioning for him to sit back down, while looking around sheepishly at all the people who had heard him and were now staring at us.
"I can't believe this, when, how, WHO? Oh please don't tell me it's that model-chick Brenda, she's a wacko!" he said with concern.
I laughed. "Brenda is definitely a wacko alright, she left me a bunch of messages on my machine, but she's not the one. Brian.I married the only girl.the only person I've ever loved," I said seriously.
"Rory?" he hesitated, still staring at me, looking even more confused. "But you haven't spoken to her or seen her for years! How on earth did this all happen?"
I could tell he had a thousand questions. "Listen, I've got to meet with Bill at 9, so how about we talk about it later, okay? Did you get that invite for the opening of that club on 25th? How about we get some dinner at Luigi's then hit the party tonight. I'll fill in the blanks," I smirked.
"Sounds cool. I'll stop at your place around 7?"
"Great, see ya," I said and headed back to my desk.
"Congratulations, pal!" he said as I left. I turned back to him and shot him a genuine smile, to which he responded by mocking that I had shot him in the chest, falling back in his chair with his hands over his heart with a shocked look on his face. I shook my head and waved him off, laughing. I walked back to my desk and picked up my finished article from the printer and headed for Bill's office. Before I could get in the door, Heather rushed up to me, giving me a hug and a kiss.
"Oh, Jess, I'm so happy for you! Look at you! All tan and happy!" she gushed. Sometimes she reminded me of Lorelai. They both had the same penchant for coffee and talking incessantly.
"Thanks, Heather.look, I need to get to Bill, so." I felt a little weird with her display of affection. We've always kidded around, but she knows I'm not a touchy-feely kind of guy.
"Oh sure, he's waiting for you in his office," she said gesturing behind her. I gave her a nod and headed into his office, closing the door behind me.
"So, are you a married man?" Bill stood up and extending his hand and we shook.
"Yup," I answered, sitting down.
He sat down and laughed. "You know, for a writer, you're a man of very few words most of the time!" he commented and we both laughed at that. "So how's the story coming? Did you get the photos yet?"
"Well, here's my first draft of the story, the photos should be here by fedex this morning, so I'll stop by after lunch and we can pick out some to send to editing, okay?"
He looked at his calendar. "Yeah, that should be fine. Oh, and don't forget, we need a wedding picture for the weddings and engagement section too. And a write-up, so you'd better get cracking on that too," he said and I gave him a look with my eyes rolled. "Yeah, yeah, but Heather won't stop bugging me about it, and she'll start on you if you don't put it in there," he said with a laugh and I joined him in it.
"No problem," I said, getting up.
"I'll look this over and we'll talk later, after the pictures come," he said with a dismissive look.
"No problem," I repeated and left the office. I got back to my desk and opened a new document to start to write my wedding announcement. I just sat there and looked at the blank screen, the cursor blinking at me. Writer's block? Geez, Mariano. It's not a novel, just the facts.
Jess Mariano and Lorelai 'Rory' Leigh Gilmore were married on June 16
on the island of St. Lucia. In attendance were the bride's mother,
Lorelai Danes and the groom's uncle, Luke Danes.
Mrs. Mariano, 24, is a political correspondent with CNN in Washington
D.C. She graduated from Harvard University suma cum laude in 2007
with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and is pursuing her Master's
Degree at Georgetown University. She is the daughter of Lorelai
Gilmore and Christopher Hayden. The bride's mother owns and operates
the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. The bride's father.
Huh. I don't have a clue what Rory's father does. She really never spoke about him. I think he lives in Boston, that's all I remember. Well, that'll give me a good excuse to call her. Okay, moving on,
Rory is the grandchild of Richard and Emily Gilmore of Hartford,
Connecticut.
Mr. Mariano, 25, is a travel writer for the New York Times in New York
City. He graduated from CUNY in 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in
Creative Writing and is pursuing his Master's Degree at Columbia
University. He is the son of Elizabeth Mariano-Copeland of New York
City and James Mariano of Venice Beach, California. The groom's
mother is a paralegal for Mark Millenium Partners in New York. The
groom's father is a restaurant owner in Venice Beach.
The couple will reside in Arlington, Virginia.
Okay, that was weird to write out. I highlighted the entire announcement and pasted it into an email note. I dug out my journal and put in Rory's email address at work. I added a sentence at the top of the note: "Hey Mrs. Mariano, I'm putting together our 'official' announcement and wanted to be sure I got our stories straight. You'll need to fill in the blanks on your dad, I can't remember what he does - he lives in Boston, right? I'm waiting for our pictures, they should get here today, I'll email some to you. I miss you more than ever. I love you, Rory. Jess. I hit the send button and watched the note disappear, and sighed. Just a few more days. I pulled out the enormous pile of receipts from my briefcase and spent the balance of the morning working on my expense report. I chuckled when I looked at the receipt for the hotel in St. Lucia. I wonder if Bill would be willing to foot the bill for the wedding? Nah. That's my business. I've never been one to ask for handouts and I'm certainly not going to start now. And what's $2,000 in the scheme of things. It was worth it. I grabbed a quick sandwich from the cart that came around the offices and when I got back to my desk there was a return email from Rory.
Hey Dodger - It looks great. You should think about being a writer or something, huh? I actually graduated in 2006, but the rest is fine. My dad is an advertising executive for L'Oreal in Boston. I miss you so much it hurts. Talk to you tonight, my love. Rory.
I leaned back in my chair, putting my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. Yeah, it hurts. It's going to make traveling, leaving her, just harder and harder to do once we're together, I can just tell. A person clearing their throat woke me from my daze. "Excuse me, I need you to sign for this," a young guy from the mailroom was holding a Fedex package.
"Oh, sure, sorry, I zoned out there for a minute," I said with an apologetic smile. I signed the clipboard and he handed me the package. "Thanks," I said as the mail guy left. I opened the package and pulled out two packages of photos and two CD's with the digital pictures. I went straight for the envelope marked 'Mariano'. The pictures were perfect, reflecting the glow of the candles, the sunrise, even the picture he took of the pile of shoes on the sand was great. There was a great photo of Luke and Lorelai, I'll have to have copies made for them. I pulled out the CD and put it in my computer, hitting 'reply' to Rory's note. Rory: The photos are here! They turned out great, make sure you send them to your mom. I wish we were there again. Love you, Jess. I attached a couple of the pictures, knowing the files were too large to be able to send all of them.
I took the best one of Rory and I standing under the archway right after we were married. It was the most 'portrait' like one we had. We were holding hands, smiling for the camera. I addressed an email to both Brian and Heather and sent the picture to them. Then I made the picture my computer wallpaper. Doing it just made everything that has happened seem so much more real. I heard a squeal come from the end of the hall, then thundering footsteps. "Oh my GOD! You two are so cute!!" Heather gushed. I turned four shades of red as everyone at the desks around me stood up to see what was going on. Heather grabbed the rest of the pictures and 'oohed and ahhed' through them.
"What's going on?" asked Barbara Walker, the society editor, having heard the gossip around the office that I had gotten married.
"Oh, you just have to put Jess's wedding in the paper this week!" Heather replied before I could say anything.
"Do you have a write up?" she asked me, ignoring Heather.
"Yeah, I can email it over to you with a photo if you want," I conceded, somewhat reluctantly. Only inside I was glad. This will be a great way to get the word out, without me resorting to telling everyone in person.
"By end of day today if you want it in the Sunday edition," she said quickly and headed back to her office. For the society editor, you'd think she'd be a little nicer. Strange how that works. I made the edits and sent it with the picture to her right away.
I picked out a couple pictures from the other wedding and brought the whole package to Bill's office. He was happy with the article and even happier with the pictures, especially the ones of me and Rory. "Looks great, Mariano. Get those shots to the photo editor so we can get it laid out for the Sunday magazine. And email the story with the edits I gave you over to the production people. Great job," he said warmly. "As always," he added.
"Thanks," I answered, a little embarrassed. I went back to my desk completely happy. 'I'm dancing on the inside' I remember saying to Rory at the dance marathon. And that's how I felt. I pulled out my palm pilot and got the number of my apartment super, letting him know that I would be leaving. He seemed a little too happy to hear that I was leaving, telling me that he's had ten people call in the last few days looking for apartments right away. At least I wouldn't have to pay for another month's rent, so that worked out great. I told him I'd be out by Sunday noon and he said he'd fax the papers over right away. Whew, that was easy. I made the edits to my story and sent it off to the production editor for the Sunday magazine, then walked the photos down to the photo editor. I loved walking around that area, there were so many great photographs - people, buildings, war coverage, celebrities, it was always something different. And this time it was my photo on the table. Eww. Weird. I went back to my desk and packed up my stuff, giving Heather a quick wave as I left. I stopped at an office supply store on my way back to the apartment and got a stack of moving boxes. I got home, kicked of my shoes and put a CD on, ready to tackle an hour or two of packing before Brian came over. I jumped in the shower at 6 and, as usual, Brian was early, ringing the bell at 6:40. I finished buttoning up my black shirt over my black dress pants and answered the door.
"Hey," he said, walking in and heading straight to the fridge for a beer. He opened it and took a sip and walked into the living room. "Um, I'm guessing there's something else you need to tell me?" he said, gesturing to the boxes of books that were sitting in the middle of the room.
I took a beer for myself and stepped into the living room. "Yeah, well, Rory lives in D.C., and Bill doesn't have a problem with me working remotely, so."
"Oh, man! This sucks!" Brian interrupted. "First I loose my babe-hunting partner, and now you're moving? Man, this sucks," he said sinking down onto the couch.
"I'll be in D.C., it's not like I'm moving to Asia or something. And anyway, I'll be coming up for meetings and stuff. I can always crash at your place and we can go out," I said, suddenly feeling bad for letting down my best friend.
"Yeah, but no babe hunting, so where the fun in that?" he laughed. "Hell, you can just reflect them off of you over to me! Hey, this might work out great for me!" I laughed at that. Brian was a nice guy, not exactly what women think of as a 'hunk', but he's smart and has a great sense of humor that women love once they get to know him. "So.when's the big move?" he asked.
"Well, actually, I was hoping to hit the road on Sunday. You up for a road trip?" I asked, hoping that he would be okay with that.
"Yeah, sounds great! I'm dying to meet this girl, see if she's everything you've always said she is, so sure, I'm there!"
"She is. Believe me, she's perfect," I stated simply. We went to my favorite Italian restaurant and then took a taxi to the new club. The place was overcrowded with what some would call the 'beautiful people', there were some celebrities and the media was all over the place. Brian grabbed two glasses of champagne off a tray that was floating through the room.
"Congrats again, pal," he said, shouting above the noise of the people and the music, clinking his glass to mine.
"Thanks, Brian, you're a great friend, I want you to know that," I said, also having to yell over the din.
We maneuvered around the place the best that we could. Brian looked like a kid in a candy store, while I found myself averting the smiles of the women who were checking us out. Geez, I wonder if that's how I've made women feel in the past. I grew more and more uncomfortable with the stares and was relieved to find a relatively quiet and uncrowded spot to stand and drink my drink while Brian went out on the dance floor with a leggy blonde. My mind just seemed to shut down, drowned in the noise and the music, and I just stood there, oblivious to everything around me.
"So, isn't this a small world? It must be my lucky night," I heard a female voice purr in my ear while her hand ran along my cheek and then down my arm. I jumped in surprise.
"Geez!"
.end of Chapter 20
Who is it?
A/N: Thank you to my regular readers/reviewers (you know who you are by now) - I love you guys!!! Your kind words and encouragement fuel the engine of my imagination! A/N: Yes, I know the NYTimes doesn't have a 'music' section, but work with me folks.
*************************************************************************** **************
Chapter Twenty
I walked into the offices at 8:30 and set my bag and newspaper on my desk in the newsroom bullpen. As usual, the office was buzzing with activity and people and noise, all of which makes me crazy. Give me a nice quiet corner of the room and I'll be happy. Thank GOD I don't spend much time here. And Bill respects that about me. Since I'm not in the office very often, he never saw the need to give me my own office. I've been known to duck in and hide in his if I'm ever stuck here for more than a day or two. I walked down the rows of desks, dodging people and mail carts along the way until I got to Brian's desk. Brian was my best friend in the city, as well as the music reporter for the Times, making us good buddies for the nightclub scene.
"Hey," I said as I sat down in his guest chair across from his desk. He was typing away with his headphones on full blast and didn't even notice me there. "Hey!" I said a little louder, this time slamming my hand down on the desk at the same time. He jumped as if I had just smacked him or something.
"Jesus Christ, Jess, you scared the shit out of me!" he complained as he took his headphones off and shut off his CD player. He reached across the desk and we shook hands.
"Nice to see you, too," I smirked, picking up the jewel case from the CD and examining it non-chalantly.
"So, where the hell have you been this time?" he asked, leaning back in his chair, already glad for a break from his column.
"Well, first London, then a quick trip home, then St. Lucia," I said, quickly skipping over the 'home' part.
He looked over his glasses at me with a skeptical look. "Excuse me? Home?"
I set the CD case down and looked at him. "Yeah. Stars Hollow."
"Wow. I never thought I'd hear you use the words Stars Hollow and home in the same sentence. What's going on?" he looked at me even more skeptically, his eyes falling onto my hands which were still on the CD case. I followed his gaze down to my hand and knew that he saw the wedding band. "Um, Jess, is there something you need to tell me?"
I let out a breath. Geez, this is going to be hard. I'm sure that Brian would have wanted to be there. Hell, he would have been my best man. "Well, I sorta got married," I stammered.
"What?! You're married?!" he yelled, standing up, getting the attention of the people sitting around him.
"Geez, Brian, calm down," I said, motioning for him to sit back down, while looking around sheepishly at all the people who had heard him and were now staring at us.
"I can't believe this, when, how, WHO? Oh please don't tell me it's that model-chick Brenda, she's a wacko!" he said with concern.
I laughed. "Brenda is definitely a wacko alright, she left me a bunch of messages on my machine, but she's not the one. Brian.I married the only girl.the only person I've ever loved," I said seriously.
"Rory?" he hesitated, still staring at me, looking even more confused. "But you haven't spoken to her or seen her for years! How on earth did this all happen?"
I could tell he had a thousand questions. "Listen, I've got to meet with Bill at 9, so how about we talk about it later, okay? Did you get that invite for the opening of that club on 25th? How about we get some dinner at Luigi's then hit the party tonight. I'll fill in the blanks," I smirked.
"Sounds cool. I'll stop at your place around 7?"
"Great, see ya," I said and headed back to my desk.
"Congratulations, pal!" he said as I left. I turned back to him and shot him a genuine smile, to which he responded by mocking that I had shot him in the chest, falling back in his chair with his hands over his heart with a shocked look on his face. I shook my head and waved him off, laughing. I walked back to my desk and picked up my finished article from the printer and headed for Bill's office. Before I could get in the door, Heather rushed up to me, giving me a hug and a kiss.
"Oh, Jess, I'm so happy for you! Look at you! All tan and happy!" she gushed. Sometimes she reminded me of Lorelai. They both had the same penchant for coffee and talking incessantly.
"Thanks, Heather.look, I need to get to Bill, so." I felt a little weird with her display of affection. We've always kidded around, but she knows I'm not a touchy-feely kind of guy.
"Oh sure, he's waiting for you in his office," she said gesturing behind her. I gave her a nod and headed into his office, closing the door behind me.
"So, are you a married man?" Bill stood up and extending his hand and we shook.
"Yup," I answered, sitting down.
He sat down and laughed. "You know, for a writer, you're a man of very few words most of the time!" he commented and we both laughed at that. "So how's the story coming? Did you get the photos yet?"
"Well, here's my first draft of the story, the photos should be here by fedex this morning, so I'll stop by after lunch and we can pick out some to send to editing, okay?"
He looked at his calendar. "Yeah, that should be fine. Oh, and don't forget, we need a wedding picture for the weddings and engagement section too. And a write-up, so you'd better get cracking on that too," he said and I gave him a look with my eyes rolled. "Yeah, yeah, but Heather won't stop bugging me about it, and she'll start on you if you don't put it in there," he said with a laugh and I joined him in it.
"No problem," I said, getting up.
"I'll look this over and we'll talk later, after the pictures come," he said with a dismissive look.
"No problem," I repeated and left the office. I got back to my desk and opened a new document to start to write my wedding announcement. I just sat there and looked at the blank screen, the cursor blinking at me. Writer's block? Geez, Mariano. It's not a novel, just the facts.
Jess Mariano and Lorelai 'Rory' Leigh Gilmore were married on June 16
on the island of St. Lucia. In attendance were the bride's mother,
Lorelai Danes and the groom's uncle, Luke Danes.
Mrs. Mariano, 24, is a political correspondent with CNN in Washington
D.C. She graduated from Harvard University suma cum laude in 2007
with a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and is pursuing her Master's
Degree at Georgetown University. She is the daughter of Lorelai
Gilmore and Christopher Hayden. The bride's mother owns and operates
the Dragonfly Inn in Stars Hollow, Connecticut. The bride's father.
Huh. I don't have a clue what Rory's father does. She really never spoke about him. I think he lives in Boston, that's all I remember. Well, that'll give me a good excuse to call her. Okay, moving on,
Rory is the grandchild of Richard and Emily Gilmore of Hartford,
Connecticut.
Mr. Mariano, 25, is a travel writer for the New York Times in New York
City. He graduated from CUNY in 2007 with a Bachelor's Degree in
Creative Writing and is pursuing his Master's Degree at Columbia
University. He is the son of Elizabeth Mariano-Copeland of New York
City and James Mariano of Venice Beach, California. The groom's
mother is a paralegal for Mark Millenium Partners in New York. The
groom's father is a restaurant owner in Venice Beach.
The couple will reside in Arlington, Virginia.
Okay, that was weird to write out. I highlighted the entire announcement and pasted it into an email note. I dug out my journal and put in Rory's email address at work. I added a sentence at the top of the note: "Hey Mrs. Mariano, I'm putting together our 'official' announcement and wanted to be sure I got our stories straight. You'll need to fill in the blanks on your dad, I can't remember what he does - he lives in Boston, right? I'm waiting for our pictures, they should get here today, I'll email some to you. I miss you more than ever. I love you, Rory. Jess. I hit the send button and watched the note disappear, and sighed. Just a few more days. I pulled out the enormous pile of receipts from my briefcase and spent the balance of the morning working on my expense report. I chuckled when I looked at the receipt for the hotel in St. Lucia. I wonder if Bill would be willing to foot the bill for the wedding? Nah. That's my business. I've never been one to ask for handouts and I'm certainly not going to start now. And what's $2,000 in the scheme of things. It was worth it. I grabbed a quick sandwich from the cart that came around the offices and when I got back to my desk there was a return email from Rory.
Hey Dodger - It looks great. You should think about being a writer or something, huh? I actually graduated in 2006, but the rest is fine. My dad is an advertising executive for L'Oreal in Boston. I miss you so much it hurts. Talk to you tonight, my love. Rory.
I leaned back in my chair, putting my hands behind my head and closed my eyes. Yeah, it hurts. It's going to make traveling, leaving her, just harder and harder to do once we're together, I can just tell. A person clearing their throat woke me from my daze. "Excuse me, I need you to sign for this," a young guy from the mailroom was holding a Fedex package.
"Oh, sure, sorry, I zoned out there for a minute," I said with an apologetic smile. I signed the clipboard and he handed me the package. "Thanks," I said as the mail guy left. I opened the package and pulled out two packages of photos and two CD's with the digital pictures. I went straight for the envelope marked 'Mariano'. The pictures were perfect, reflecting the glow of the candles, the sunrise, even the picture he took of the pile of shoes on the sand was great. There was a great photo of Luke and Lorelai, I'll have to have copies made for them. I pulled out the CD and put it in my computer, hitting 'reply' to Rory's note. Rory: The photos are here! They turned out great, make sure you send them to your mom. I wish we were there again. Love you, Jess. I attached a couple of the pictures, knowing the files were too large to be able to send all of them.
I took the best one of Rory and I standing under the archway right after we were married. It was the most 'portrait' like one we had. We were holding hands, smiling for the camera. I addressed an email to both Brian and Heather and sent the picture to them. Then I made the picture my computer wallpaper. Doing it just made everything that has happened seem so much more real. I heard a squeal come from the end of the hall, then thundering footsteps. "Oh my GOD! You two are so cute!!" Heather gushed. I turned four shades of red as everyone at the desks around me stood up to see what was going on. Heather grabbed the rest of the pictures and 'oohed and ahhed' through them.
"What's going on?" asked Barbara Walker, the society editor, having heard the gossip around the office that I had gotten married.
"Oh, you just have to put Jess's wedding in the paper this week!" Heather replied before I could say anything.
"Do you have a write up?" she asked me, ignoring Heather.
"Yeah, I can email it over to you with a photo if you want," I conceded, somewhat reluctantly. Only inside I was glad. This will be a great way to get the word out, without me resorting to telling everyone in person.
"By end of day today if you want it in the Sunday edition," she said quickly and headed back to her office. For the society editor, you'd think she'd be a little nicer. Strange how that works. I made the edits and sent it with the picture to her right away.
I picked out a couple pictures from the other wedding and brought the whole package to Bill's office. He was happy with the article and even happier with the pictures, especially the ones of me and Rory. "Looks great, Mariano. Get those shots to the photo editor so we can get it laid out for the Sunday magazine. And email the story with the edits I gave you over to the production people. Great job," he said warmly. "As always," he added.
"Thanks," I answered, a little embarrassed. I went back to my desk completely happy. 'I'm dancing on the inside' I remember saying to Rory at the dance marathon. And that's how I felt. I pulled out my palm pilot and got the number of my apartment super, letting him know that I would be leaving. He seemed a little too happy to hear that I was leaving, telling me that he's had ten people call in the last few days looking for apartments right away. At least I wouldn't have to pay for another month's rent, so that worked out great. I told him I'd be out by Sunday noon and he said he'd fax the papers over right away. Whew, that was easy. I made the edits to my story and sent it off to the production editor for the Sunday magazine, then walked the photos down to the photo editor. I loved walking around that area, there were so many great photographs - people, buildings, war coverage, celebrities, it was always something different. And this time it was my photo on the table. Eww. Weird. I went back to my desk and packed up my stuff, giving Heather a quick wave as I left. I stopped at an office supply store on my way back to the apartment and got a stack of moving boxes. I got home, kicked of my shoes and put a CD on, ready to tackle an hour or two of packing before Brian came over. I jumped in the shower at 6 and, as usual, Brian was early, ringing the bell at 6:40. I finished buttoning up my black shirt over my black dress pants and answered the door.
"Hey," he said, walking in and heading straight to the fridge for a beer. He opened it and took a sip and walked into the living room. "Um, I'm guessing there's something else you need to tell me?" he said, gesturing to the boxes of books that were sitting in the middle of the room.
I took a beer for myself and stepped into the living room. "Yeah, well, Rory lives in D.C., and Bill doesn't have a problem with me working remotely, so."
"Oh, man! This sucks!" Brian interrupted. "First I loose my babe-hunting partner, and now you're moving? Man, this sucks," he said sinking down onto the couch.
"I'll be in D.C., it's not like I'm moving to Asia or something. And anyway, I'll be coming up for meetings and stuff. I can always crash at your place and we can go out," I said, suddenly feeling bad for letting down my best friend.
"Yeah, but no babe hunting, so where the fun in that?" he laughed. "Hell, you can just reflect them off of you over to me! Hey, this might work out great for me!" I laughed at that. Brian was a nice guy, not exactly what women think of as a 'hunk', but he's smart and has a great sense of humor that women love once they get to know him. "So.when's the big move?" he asked.
"Well, actually, I was hoping to hit the road on Sunday. You up for a road trip?" I asked, hoping that he would be okay with that.
"Yeah, sounds great! I'm dying to meet this girl, see if she's everything you've always said she is, so sure, I'm there!"
"She is. Believe me, she's perfect," I stated simply. We went to my favorite Italian restaurant and then took a taxi to the new club. The place was overcrowded with what some would call the 'beautiful people', there were some celebrities and the media was all over the place. Brian grabbed two glasses of champagne off a tray that was floating through the room.
"Congrats again, pal," he said, shouting above the noise of the people and the music, clinking his glass to mine.
"Thanks, Brian, you're a great friend, I want you to know that," I said, also having to yell over the din.
We maneuvered around the place the best that we could. Brian looked like a kid in a candy store, while I found myself averting the smiles of the women who were checking us out. Geez, I wonder if that's how I've made women feel in the past. I grew more and more uncomfortable with the stares and was relieved to find a relatively quiet and uncrowded spot to stand and drink my drink while Brian went out on the dance floor with a leggy blonde. My mind just seemed to shut down, drowned in the noise and the music, and I just stood there, oblivious to everything around me.
"So, isn't this a small world? It must be my lucky night," I heard a female voice purr in my ear while her hand ran along my cheek and then down my arm. I jumped in surprise.
"Geez!"
.end of Chapter 20
Who is it?