Chapter 6
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but Tristan's cat (Circe) and dog (Sundae)…and maybe more characters that I will later create.
Author's Note: It takes me forever to update, except for today! Two chapters in two days, I think I just set my record. I JUST finished exams today and now I am officially a second semester SENIOR!!! So now I will be updating more regularly ( I hope), but not every day regularly. Thank you so much to everyone who has read my story and reviewed it and to those who just read it, you all rock. Oh I wanted to mention the whole Tristan's pets to clear up any confusion people might have. Circe (which is the name of a Greek sea siren) and that is his cat. Sundae (the name of my beagle, who is sleeping right here on my left) is his dog, a beagle. Also, I am a loser and couldn't figure out how to do all italics and indenting but I'm chill now so it's all good…sorry about my not being comp smart forever. I am now! Yeah sure.
Recap: Tristan is about to go into Luke's and Paris' date with Jess just finished (even though both are in different time frames, I am going to catch them up, don't worry).
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Tristan tied Sundae up to a post outside Luke's and pulled his shirt over his head. I am so glad that getting 'in' with the town isn't going to be hard. Those women are amusing, smart, but undeniably amusing. The little one made it sound like she wanted me to over hear but not to the point where she was being obvious in getting my attention. Now the other one, she was out for obvious. Ah, I can still feel her scary gaze on me. I need to remember to keep my shirt on while I'm running. She looks like she wants to eat me up. He walked up to the door of the diner and felt a group of eyes on him from inside and outside the diner.
Ms. Patty and Babette were making their way over to him as if they were trying to win the gold medal for speed walking. The other people from Patty's class were catching wind of the new person and were looking on curiously. From inside the diner Rory looked up as she was pouring coffee for Kirk. This guy is not from here. Who is he? Why does he look familiar? Eh, I think I'm just coffee deprived. Or just depraved, I can't decide which. As Rory was thinking Kirk was watching her pour his coffee past the allotted 2/3 mark. He was just about to yell at her when he looked outside, since she was obviously fascinated with something out there.
"Oh a new person!" Kirk announced which caught Rory unawares and she jumped, splashing some coffee onto Kirk.
"Kirk, I am so sorry…I didn't mean to. Oh gosh, what am I going to do? I feel horrible. Are you ok?" Rory jabbered on, obviously flustered because she was paying attention to that man outside. Rory mentally shook herself, getting back to normal. "I will get you anything you want on the house." She smiled at a ruffled Kirk.
Kirk was mumbling under his breath for about thirty seconds before he answered Rory. "Hey, don't worry about it Rory. I know you didn't mean to do this on purpose. Only your mother would do something that horrible. And I would love to have buckwheat pancakes with Canadian bacon and blackberry syrup." Kirk smiled very pleased with himself. If he was going to get a free meal it was going to be the best free meal. Rory just rolled her eyes at Kirk's antics.
"Sure, right away Kirk." Rory laughed as she walked away. The bell on the door shook, announcing someone's entrance. Rory looked up with a smile on her face, expecting to see Ms. Patty and Babette walking in talking about gossip or something interesting that happened at their yoga class that morning. Those two always were first to the diner after that class because they want to have their pick of tables. Rory rolled her eyes just thinking about them. Me and my eye rolling, I am turning into Luke more and more each day. Pretty soon I will be wearing flannel and a backwards hat and have a five o'clock shadow…now that would be a little bit hard…
Rory's thoughts were interrupted by her brain processing who exactly came into the diner. It was that new guy. A rather good looking new guy. And Ms. Patty is right behind him. She approves too. Rory realized that she had been staring so she turned towards the nearest table and refilled their coffee. I am so smooth. Look at me being all cool. HAH.
Rory saw that the unidentified guy was still standing there in the middle of Luke's. Is he waiting to be seated or something?
And at the same moment Tristan was thinking, do I just go and sit down or something? There is no sign telling me to or not, but I guess I should move because the ladies that 'told' me to get in here are right behind me. I don't know how much I want them standing so close.
Rory walked up to Tristan and told him with a smile, "You know you can sit down. Pick a table, any table, or even the counter." Tristan looked down at this adorable almost pixie looking face. Very nice looking. I am definitely starting to like this town.
"Actually I wish I could stay and eat but I left my dog tied up outside and I don't want her to get dehydrated or stuck out there for awhile." He leaned in towards Rory and with a conspirator's wink said, "I also don't want her to get mad at me. Living with a mad female is not my cup of coffee." And at that Rory laughed.
"Isn't the phrase supposed to be 'not my cup of tea?'" She mocked.
"Tea is so overrated. And I like tweaking colloquial phrases so that they're my own. And, tea versus coffee, no competition. Hello, I mean you are, it looks like, running a diner, you should know these things."
Rory rolled her eyes. "Good detective work. Yes I am running it. I also agree about the coffee-tea thing. The Boston Tea Party Sons of the Revolution had the right idea, dump all the tea into the harbor." When she got a lovely smile and quiet laugh out of Tristan she said, "I know this is totally against my dad's policy but he's not here so you can bring your dog in here. I hope she's not too big."
"Sundae is a beagle. Don't ever let her hear you call her big. She is very sensitive. I think it's all that daytime television."
Rory laughed, walking with him to the door so she could get a peak at the dog. "I'm sure she watches Young and the Restless and As the World Turns. I bet she is hoping that Carly's baby is really Jacks. Sure I believe you. " Rory rolled her eyes again.
"I will be right back. Do you think you could reserve a table for me and my gal Sundae?"
"I bet you have always wanted to say that, huh?" Tristan nodded, laughing as he went outside.
He untied the leash and crouched down to Sundae's level, "Now you need to be polite. I don't want people thinking that I raised some kind of animal. God I'm funny today. Ok, but whatever you do, No barking. I don't even want to deal with whining." Sundae just looked up at him and wagged her tail. She led him back into the diner. The smells were calling to her. "I am so asking for trouble," Tristan thought aloud.
Rory had just dropped off her orders with Caesar in the kitchen, promising that she would join him in a few minutes. She saw "the new guy" bring his dog through the door. The dog, her name is Sundae, Rory thought, looked as if she had gone to heaven. People were eating food all around her. Rory just shook her head and laughed.
"So is this the woman in your life?" Rory asked as she walked up to the man and his dog.
"Actually she is one of two women in my life. The other one is Circe my tabby cat. Sundae, meet the Luke's-diner-owner-lady." Sundae sat down and held out her paw.
"You taught her to take that cue? Either you have way too much time on your hands or you have a really smart dog, maybe a little of both. Hi Sundae, I'm Rory, it's a much shorter name."
While Rory was cooing over how cute Sundae was while she was shaking the dog's paw it hit Tristan. Rory. That name sounds so…Gilmore. This is…I'm right…story! When he could get back his voice after realizing who she was he said, "Hi Rory, I'm Tristan." He waited to see if she recognized him.
Slowly but surely, Rory realized who he was. "Tristan. As in Tristan DuGrey? Chilton? Yale? Paris' ex-husband and prize writer?"
"Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You are Rory Gilmore, Paris' elusive best friend, went to Chilton, Yale, and moved from Boston to here so you could take care of your step dad's business. Obviously his business is Luke's. So how are you? I don't think that I have seen you since, well I don't even remember. It's been awhile."
Rory, who was still crouched down with Sundae, straightened up to her full height, which only made her come up to Tristan's collar bone. I still feel short. That's what I remember about him. I was always so short. "I am doing fine. I love the small-town feel. Oh and you were right on all accounts. I don't think I have seen you since sometime during college. We just kept missing each other. How are you doing? And what are you doing here?" Both Tristan and Rory fail to notice that they are still in the doorway of Luke's and that they have a audience, Patty and Babette are front row-center.
Rory was learning all of the information that Babette and Patty were going to get out of Tristan but now they didn't need to do anything but sit back and admire the beautiful young people flirt. "Well I am here because I wanted to get away from the City and I am writing a piece." He didn't want to get into the story yet because he wanted to get into her confidence first.
Patty spoke up, interrupting the reunion, "So doll, how long are you going to be staying here? Where are you staying?"
"Ms. Patty, this is Tristan, he used to go to school with Paris and me at Chilton and Yale. He was the one Paris was married to. How was yoga?" Rory tried to change the subject gracefully but couldn't think on her feet fast enough. She gave Tristan a look that said 'hey, I've been up since 5 am, I think I deserve a little credit,' all while he was trying to contain his laughter over her smooth transition.
Ms. Patty took the hint after Babette kicked her under the table, "The class was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of cracking of old bones as we stretched but nothing too interesting. But now I'm hungry. Can you get us our regular Saturday breakfast sweetie?" Rory nodded and motioned for Tristan and Sundae to follow her over to a table in the center of the room. Ms. Patty totally missed the fact that he brought his dog in here. She never misses anything. And across the room Patty was telling Babette how cute it was that Rory bent the rules for the gorgeous Tristan who has a past with her.
As Tristan was sitting down his stomach growled so loudly that Rory heard it from behind the counter. She laughed at him and said, "Hey you want some food? How about I fix you my specialty?" Tristan nodded emphatically. Rory grinned and brought him a cup of coffee. "Here ya go." He looked at the coffee and then back at Rory with a quizzical look. "What?" She pushed the coffee cup closer to him, "You said you wanted my specialty, so, here it is."
Tristan rolled his eyes. "Of course I want coffee but, my stomach growling doesn't usually mean that I am thirsty." He retorted sarcastically. Then, he looked up with puppy dog eyes, "Can I have pancakes and eggs and bacon? Oh yeah and orange juice and water in a dish."
"Do you want the orange juice and the water in the dish together? Or separate?… I am just kidding. I am just so funny, I crack myself up. I'll be back soon with the drinks and a little something for your pretty little woman." Rory walked away with a smile on her face. I remember how much I enjoyed talking to him on the phone, after I would help him with French. He is an amusement. And Sundae is just adorable. I can't believe that I didn't recognize him. Well, I never did really see him at Yale. I was a recluse when he and Paris started dating. I also went my own way because I wanted to find my own path at Yale and not be under Paris' or Chilton's wings. Eh, I can't go down memory lane and work at the same time, the lunch rush is coming in and Ms. Patty's yoga class is waiting to be waited on. Ah, too much to do, but Jess said he was coming down this weekend, he'll be a good distraction and a help.
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Jess picked Paris up around 10 that same morning, while Tristan was fast asleep on his couch in Stars-Hollow. He came bearing hot coffee and muffins. Paris was definitely taken-aback by extremely nice and very-Jess gesture. She was so excited to go to Stars Hollow with Jess and be able to get to know him better. His unconsciously nice gesture set the weekend off to the best start.
"Morning you." She said smiling. She then leaned over and gave him a little hello kiss.
"Mmmmm…If I thought that I was going to get that kind of greeting, I would come over every morning. I brought you coffee and muffins. I wasn't sure what kind of muffin you wanted, so I got two of everything. We can eat whatever we don't eat for breakfast during the car ride."
"You brought me food, you are so nice." Paris leaned over and kissed him again, this time longer.
"How did I guess that the way to your h…you is through food. I am good." He grinned.
"What can I say? I lived with a Gilmore for too long. Coffee and food are my life. And you are very nice in the morning, very chipper. You are not my friend, we are in a fight." She joked.
Jess, playing along, looked taken aback. "What? We aren't friends anymore? We're in a fight?"
"Do you enjoy repeating me?"
Jess looked up at the ceiling and blew air out of his nose, like he was a snorting horse. Paris laughed, "Yeah, I don't do mornings and you are all cute and happy, makes me sick. Now please could you hand me some coffee." Paris asked in a fake-stern voice. Over the years she had learned to have fun and not take everything so seriously, work was always serious, but never weekends. They are sacred relics of fun and letting loose. Paris was letting loose this weekend.
"Eh, I'll think about it…How about we just head out now and eat in the car. I want to get back home to check on Uncle Luke because his back is still acting up from when he hurt it and Rory went back home to take over the diner." He called Stars Hollow home. Last night Rory and I gossiped about my date and about who Jess was in high school and before I met him. He certainly has changed a lot from what she told me. Paris was thinking with a soft smile. Jess just looked at her quizzically, wondering what she was thinking about that could make her smile so beautifully. Little did he know that she was thinking of him.
They got into the car and finally got outside of the city. The coffee was long gone and the muffins were half way finished. The pair was discussing the pros and cons of Fair Trade coffee and its affects on the economy of large coffee producing countries that do not get exempt from import/export tariffs. Both Jess and Paris had a lot to say. However, Paris wasn't her normal, 'let's badger the opponent until I win' self. She listen to and agreed with some of Jess' view points but still held steadfastly to her own ideas.
After about an hour and fifteen minutes the couple agreed that they needed music. But, they couldn't agree on what music to listen to. Paris wanted some old school rock, like Aerosmith or Bon Jovi, but Jess wanted some old Nirvana or Sublime. They just couldn't come to an understanding. Paris gave in finally because Jess did the face with the sad eyes, not like a puppy but like one of those harp seals with the big watery sad eyes. She also was planning on giving in since he was driving and bought breakfast. So they rode the remainder of the trip singing to Sublime and all the fun and sexually connotated songs.
"I didn't think that I could stand Sublime for that long a period of time but hey, I'm still here and not insane. You learn something new everyday."
"Early in the morning, rise into the street…Jenny's 12 years old and tomorrow…April 26th, 1992, there was a riot on the…lovin' is what I got…" Jess ended his little compilation with a smile of victory. "I do know what I am talking about when it comes to music. Uncle Lukey didn't raise no foo."
Paris laughed as his attempts to be…god knows what he was trying to pull off with that statement.
After 3 hours in the car, they made it to Stars Hollow. First, they went to Luke and Lorelei's house to drop off their stuff but no one was home. The door was still open but no body there. Paris and Jess then assumed that everyone would be at Luke's getting lunch or checking up on Rory – Luke didn't want to give up the diner but he had to because of his back. The pair walked over to Luke's and saw that the lunch crowd was indeed huge today. Rory'll probably need my help in there. There are a hell of a lot of people for a Saturday, but I can handle it, I did work there for years.
Jess held the diner door open for Paris and when they got inside Paris looked around to see if she could see any familiar faces and she did. "Tristan, what are you doing here?"