Lorelai pushed open the door to "Java"... her new home, she thought
sardonically to herself. Well, maybe her new home... home away from home,
that is. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that this was a step
in the right direction. She was doing this for herself; this was something
that was hers. This place that she found. It had nothing to do with Jason
Stiles. Nothing to do with Emily Gilmore. Nothing to do with Stars
Hollow. Nothing to do with Luke Danes.
She was having trouble ignoring that tickling feeling in her nose that she often got before crying, and she put her head up slightly higher, so as to maybe assure herself that she could do this. Take this step. Do this one thing completely on her own. Because that is how she felt she was. On her own. Alone in so many ways. So she told herself that she had to do something so she wouldn't die because of this new state she found herself in. She decided to embrace it instead. That first step into "Java" for her was a start to her new life in a way. Post-Rory leaving for school. Post-the Jason Stiles romance that wasn't. Post-friendship with Luke.
This was the first time she'd really been out of the house in two weeks. She'd been spending all her time with Sookie and Logan (the baby's name after Sookie met the nice, handsome doctor that ended up delivering him when the midwife situation just didn't work out) at her house, waiting for The Dragonfly to get going. Rory would come home on weekends and try to cheer her up too. But no one really understood what happened. Why they had to cheer her up. She wasn't divulging much. Oh, she was still Lorelai- nuts, watching movies with anyone who would sit with her, and laughing and going off about things like the sexual preferences of the lead characters in Dr. Strangelove, and her theories about Sofia in relation to The Godfather trilogy. But she wasn't the same, and anyone who knew her could see that.
All anyone knew was that Lorelai had a seemingly normal Sunday night---date with Jason, followed by a return-trip to Stars Hollow.. but it obviously wasn't normal. She hadn't seen or talked to Jason since, and she wasn't leaving the house. She was also----Rory mentally noted, starting to panic for her mother's condition-----scouring papers for any mention of coffee houses in the local vicinity that were known for good coffee. At dinner one night, at Lorelai's, Sookie made a joke about tattling to Luke that Lorelai was thinking about fancying someone else's cup of coffee, but Lorelai made it extremely clear that it wouldn't be wise.
"You mention me, or my quest for a decent cup of my lifeline to that man in flannel down the street, I will force you to sit through six sittings of The Postman. Kevin Costner's The Postman. Six times. That's six, Sookie, as in over twelve hours of Kevin delivering mail, being pensive and manly with his mailing task---"
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything to Luke."
Lorelai smiled at her best friend at that moment, and looked back down at her plate, and Sookie took the moment to share a very concerned look with Rory.
But a few days ago, she actually was able to get some of her pent up feelings off her chest. She was sitting in her living room with Sookie, while they simultaneously painted each other's toenails. She was feeling pretty good that day, and shared with her friend a piece of her heartbreak from that fateful Sunday.
"Well Jason wasn't working for Richard Gilmore, oh no, he was working for HIS father. He was using his position with my dad to get information to his old man, so to beat him out. He was dating ME, as a sort of insurance policy, I think. So people wouldn't think he wasn't serious about business with my father. Because why would anyone betray the father of the love of their life?"
"You two were loves of each other's lives?" Sookie asked, doubtfully.
"Just making a point here, Sookie, work with me. Anyway, he was putting on an act the whole time. I wouldn't be surprised if he never actually shared my passion for muting those old black and white Samurai pirate films and making up my own dialogue."
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised either."
"I showed up early for dinner, a maid let me in and I walked into the office, and he didn't see me. He was on the phone with his dad and I heard more than necessary if you know what I mean."
Lorelai got a distant look in her eyes, like she was back in the night for a moment. She shuddered and shook herself from the thoughts.
"Scum," Sookie said.
"Definitely scum," Lorelai agreed, bobbing her head once for emphasis.
"Definitely an 'I Love Lucy' moment," Sookie said.
"Definitely," Lorelai agreed again, and picked up the remote, turning on a tape that was in the VCR. "I mean if ever anything was to restore one's hope that love is easy and beautiful and doesn't completely and truly suck and suck all the life out of you it is this show. This show here. But it's odd, because in real life, Lucy and Desi? Major love sucks moments."
"Definitely," Sookie agreed.
They kept painting each other's toenails, enjoying the sitcom together. Lorelai laughed at the show, and laughed with her friend, but she just felt... Unlike herself completely. Nothing was real. She felt like her life had crumpled. The most important things were there, sure, Rory and Sookie, and they always made her happy. She knew her life would go on, and she'd be okay, because they were in it. But still, she'd lost another friend, who was like a best friend, the same night she'd lost a boyfriend. But she knew, deep down, which loss hurt more. It hurt so much it physically seemed to weaken her.
But now, this was over two weeks later, and Lorelai felt strong. She felt like she could do just about anything. And she was dying for a good cup of coffee. She had been standing at the door to "Java" now for almost a minute, not sure why she was fearing this so much.
"Walk in, sit down, drink," she told herself. "Come on, you look damn good today too!" she added as an afterthought, thinking it might help. And it was true. As her first official day out of her house, she made sure to do this right. Start this new part of her life right. She put on a cute black skirt that went down to her knees, with black go-go boots, and a blue turtleneck sweater. She put on natural-colored make up, and wore her hair natural and wavy. With renewed confidence, she finally marched over the counter, smiling in self-assurance, and tapping her fingernails on the counter top due to nerves.
The man behind the counter was talking to a co-worker when he noticed this loud presence before him. He stopped mid-sentence and turned to her, a half-smile on his face. "Wow, you look ready to go."
"Oh, I am. Ready to go. And go far. Like strap me to a rocket ship and send me to Venus, far. Really far. I am definitely ready to go and I'm talking a lot aren't I? Okay, then I'll just have one cup of coffee to go," she said, smiling.
"I'm not sure you should have coffee," he said, as he grabbed a cup.
"You're not gonna tell me it's bad for me and will kill me, are you?" she asked, still smiling, but starting to feel a little sad, as her mind found itself thinking about someone she tried very hard to never think about.
"Nah, I drink it myself. I just meant you look pretty caffeinated already."
"Are you serious!?" she exclaimed, suddenly feeling happy again.
"Well, yeah, you're jumping around like a bean. A coffee bean."
"No, no, not about that. You drink coffee?" Lorelai asked.
He poured her cup of coffee and smiled. "Uh, yeah. Sort of comes with the territory I guess."
"You really do," she said, more to herself.
"No one's ever really questioned me on this before," he said, looking intrigued by her honest shock. He grabbed another cup and poured coffee into it. "Here," he said, handing her her cup. "Cheers," he said, and touched the tip of his coffee cup to hers. Proving that he was a man of his word, he drank a sip at the same time as her, while she watched him like this was the most fascinating thing ever.
Remembering herself, she reached for her wallet.
"This one's on the house," he said.
"But---"
"I can tell you've never been in here before. Sort of a new customer initiation. We do it with all the newcomers. Really. Put that away," he said, and she obliged.
She was smiling and then all of a sudden stopped. "You know, my last friendship with my Coffee Guy didn't work out."
He looked at her like she really WAS strapped to a rocket headed for Venus at that moment.
"Just letting you know," she said.
"Okay, well, thanks. Good to know. I'll keep that in mind. My, uh, my last friendship with a Coffee Bean didn't really work out either."
"Really?" she asked.
"No, I'm just trying to keep up with you."
She smiled and shook her head and took another sip. "This is good," she said. He smiled again and tried to stifle a small laugh.
Meanwhile in Stars Hollow... At Luke's...
Luke was wiping down the counter in auto-pilot, when he heard the bell over the door jingle. Instinctively his head flew up, hopeful. This had been his reaction to the bell for the past two weeks. He always looked up, saw who came in, felt that familiar feeling in his chest that at first he called indigestion, but now realized was an emotional feeling. He felt as if someone was stretching the muscles in his chest sideways, and then he went back to work, and waited for the feeling to subside.
He couldn't understand it. She seemed okay when he told her. He said that Nicole had jealousy issues. That they wanted a family. That all she wanted was for Lorelai to hang out less. He made it clear that she should still come by everyday. That he would love for her to come by every day. Every day. And he hadn't seen her once since then. "But she smiled, said she understood, and agreed," his mind told him. He thought he didn't understand. But he did. He hurt her. And she wasn't coming back.
Jingle went the bell again, and he looked up to see Nicole come bounding happily in. That happiness at seeing her at the end of a long work-day just wasn't there lately. He told himself it was because he was tired. And a little sad. But that he would get over it.
"Hey sweetie," she said, kissing his cheek.
"Hey," he said, in what he thought sounded friendly and casual. "Oh, hold on a second, I just have to get something from the back."
He quickly made an exit into the kitchen. He saw a crate toppled over, lying upside down, and went and sat on it and thought about what he always thought about. The days that had passed since "that day", which is what he'd come to refer to it as, in his mind.
Rory would come in every time she was home from school and tell him about everything Yale-related and have a cup of coffee. One cup. And she wouldn't take one to go. He'd offer and she would say she was fine.
Sookie, Jackson and Logan sometimes came in. They'd eat or just come in for dessert, and talk to Luke, but they never mentioned her. No one mentioned her. And neither did he. It was like she had died. Nicole had said that this agreement wouldn't be taking Lorelai out of his life completely. He couldn't imagine her being out of his life completely. And Nicole knew that. That's why she said that. Yet that was the case. She was not in his life at all. Life was just going on without her. It was his life sans Lorelai, and he was having trouble eating and sleeping and getting that feeling out of his chest that seemed always to be there. The bell at the diner used to just annoy him, if anything, if he even noticed it. Now it meant pain. The sound of the bell went hand-in-hand with the pain that followed.
Sitting on that crate, he thought about yesterday. Sookie and the baby came in. Sookie wanted some tea, which she had become quite fond of since childbirth. It helped relax her.
"What are you reading?" Luke asked, looking at Sookie's book, which read Preparing for the SATs.
"Just working on comprehension of big words and whatnot. You can never start too early."
"He hasn't even said 'mama' yet. But no, this is good, I'm sure when he does start talking, 'mama' and 'zoology' will be said in the same breath," he said, glancing at some of the words on the page she was turned to.
"This isn't just for him. I don't wanna be the type of mother who can't answer all those questions that kids ask. Like if he asks where rain comes from, I wanna be able to say.." she stopped, and her facial expression turned to one of sheer panic.
"You're not sure where it comes from, are you?" Luke asked.
"I should be focusing on the simpler things!" she exclaimed, shutting the SAT book. "If I can't explain the simple things, he'll NEVER come to me for things like the Theory of Relativity!"
"Ah, yes, the age we all get to when we sit our parents down, begging to know more about the Theory of Relativity," Luke said, smiling a little now.
He wasn't sure why, but he embraced all his moments lately with anyone who had anything to do with Lorelai. He felt like he was communicating somehow with her, by communicating with them.
Sookie's cell phone rang, and she looked at Luke, who indicated that it was okay. He wasn't letting anyone use their phones in his diner except Sookie and Rory these days. And he knew why. He hoped that maybe she was the voice on the other end. The voice, which, if he really tried, he might hear. But it never was her. Until yesterday. But all he could hear was Sookie's end.
"Hey, sweetie... no... I don't think so.. yeah, that's a good idea. You should do it!... you have to leave your house..."
Although Luke wasn't facing Sookie, he knew she looked up at him to see if he might be listening. He made himself, with his back to her, appear to be so wrapped up in something he wasn't listening at all. He squatted down, to look at the mechanical parts of the coffee maker more closely, all the while listening intently. Even though Sookie probably didn't know that. She lowered her voice a little.
"You haven't left in like ten days, you need to get back out there, among the people... I think it sounds good. Sounds like a plan.. Yes....well, sweetie, the man's a complete, heartless scum, using you like your some kind of cheap Barbie doll or prostitute or BOTH and, and then breaking up wi.."
Sookie suddenly realized that maybe she shouldn't be having this particular conversation in the diner.
"Well you get the picture. We'll be right over," Sookie said and hung up. Luke didn't look back at her. She eventually said her goodbyes and left.
She hadn't said it was Lorelai, but he instantly knew who was on the other end of that call. He'd thought that when a call would come from her, he'd feel good again, like she was there, in a way. But the information he'd gathered from the conversation only served to worsen that feeling in his chest, not make it better. At all.
He finally got up and walked back out to the main room of the diner. Nicole walked up to him, looking confused.
"Well, where is it?" she asked.
"Where' what?"
"What you had to get in the back room?" she clarified, indicating to his empty hands.
He thought for a moment. "I guess I forgot it in there," he said, and walked back behind the counter.
And in another small town close by-----
It was two hours after Lorelai had left "Java" and she was returning, running up to the counter, happily.
"You! What is your name!?"
The same guy from before, had smiled when he saw her come in. "Apparently it's Coffee Boy, why?"
"No, I need your real name. I'm having one of those moments, the kind where when you tell someone you should address them, and not by a nickname, but by their real name, unless their name is something horrible like Hezekiah, but then he just calls himself Jack, then you say Jack, so blah blah blah.. And I truly feel that when telling this news to the person who provided me with the fuel that gave me the energy to go and get this wonderful piece of news, I should have a name."
"What's the news?"
"When I was walking down that street, you know the one over there, and then over there?" she asked, pointing for emphasis out the window.
"Milton Street?"
"Sure, okay. So I was walking down Milton Street, and saw this man painting a fence and I started to remember how much I used to like painting when I was younger. And once, when I was like nine, I painted a fence with my uncle. I really loved doing it. And well, I'm gonna be an odd painter!"
"A what?" he asked, laughing.
"Well I mean, I'm gonna get odd jobs painting-related, of course, in this town. Mr. Jamison is going to employ me on this venture. It'll be a great outlet for me and help me pay a few bills for now!"
She could barely control her excitement. Her first day on her own was going good. It was actually going good. She felt good. Mostly good, anyway. For now. And that, in itself, was a good sign.
He started pouring her, and himself, a cup of coffee. "An odd painter, huh?"
"Yes!" she said.
"Cheers," he said, touching the tips of their cups together again, sharing the drink with her, again. "And congratulations."
"Now I'm really ready to go," she said, smiling at him.
"I can see that. Well, one thing's for certain, you'll definitely be odd," he joked and she squinted her eyes at him.
He held out his hand. "Tom," he said.
She shook his offered hand. "Lorelai," she simply said back.
She was having trouble ignoring that tickling feeling in her nose that she often got before crying, and she put her head up slightly higher, so as to maybe assure herself that she could do this. Take this step. Do this one thing completely on her own. Because that is how she felt she was. On her own. Alone in so many ways. So she told herself that she had to do something so she wouldn't die because of this new state she found herself in. She decided to embrace it instead. That first step into "Java" for her was a start to her new life in a way. Post-Rory leaving for school. Post-the Jason Stiles romance that wasn't. Post-friendship with Luke.
This was the first time she'd really been out of the house in two weeks. She'd been spending all her time with Sookie and Logan (the baby's name after Sookie met the nice, handsome doctor that ended up delivering him when the midwife situation just didn't work out) at her house, waiting for The Dragonfly to get going. Rory would come home on weekends and try to cheer her up too. But no one really understood what happened. Why they had to cheer her up. She wasn't divulging much. Oh, she was still Lorelai- nuts, watching movies with anyone who would sit with her, and laughing and going off about things like the sexual preferences of the lead characters in Dr. Strangelove, and her theories about Sofia in relation to The Godfather trilogy. But she wasn't the same, and anyone who knew her could see that.
All anyone knew was that Lorelai had a seemingly normal Sunday night---date with Jason, followed by a return-trip to Stars Hollow.. but it obviously wasn't normal. She hadn't seen or talked to Jason since, and she wasn't leaving the house. She was also----Rory mentally noted, starting to panic for her mother's condition-----scouring papers for any mention of coffee houses in the local vicinity that were known for good coffee. At dinner one night, at Lorelai's, Sookie made a joke about tattling to Luke that Lorelai was thinking about fancying someone else's cup of coffee, but Lorelai made it extremely clear that it wouldn't be wise.
"You mention me, or my quest for a decent cup of my lifeline to that man in flannel down the street, I will force you to sit through six sittings of The Postman. Kevin Costner's The Postman. Six times. That's six, Sookie, as in over twelve hours of Kevin delivering mail, being pensive and manly with his mailing task---"
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything to Luke."
Lorelai smiled at her best friend at that moment, and looked back down at her plate, and Sookie took the moment to share a very concerned look with Rory.
But a few days ago, she actually was able to get some of her pent up feelings off her chest. She was sitting in her living room with Sookie, while they simultaneously painted each other's toenails. She was feeling pretty good that day, and shared with her friend a piece of her heartbreak from that fateful Sunday.
"Well Jason wasn't working for Richard Gilmore, oh no, he was working for HIS father. He was using his position with my dad to get information to his old man, so to beat him out. He was dating ME, as a sort of insurance policy, I think. So people wouldn't think he wasn't serious about business with my father. Because why would anyone betray the father of the love of their life?"
"You two were loves of each other's lives?" Sookie asked, doubtfully.
"Just making a point here, Sookie, work with me. Anyway, he was putting on an act the whole time. I wouldn't be surprised if he never actually shared my passion for muting those old black and white Samurai pirate films and making up my own dialogue."
"Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised either."
"I showed up early for dinner, a maid let me in and I walked into the office, and he didn't see me. He was on the phone with his dad and I heard more than necessary if you know what I mean."
Lorelai got a distant look in her eyes, like she was back in the night for a moment. She shuddered and shook herself from the thoughts.
"Scum," Sookie said.
"Definitely scum," Lorelai agreed, bobbing her head once for emphasis.
"Definitely an 'I Love Lucy' moment," Sookie said.
"Definitely," Lorelai agreed again, and picked up the remote, turning on a tape that was in the VCR. "I mean if ever anything was to restore one's hope that love is easy and beautiful and doesn't completely and truly suck and suck all the life out of you it is this show. This show here. But it's odd, because in real life, Lucy and Desi? Major love sucks moments."
"Definitely," Sookie agreed.
They kept painting each other's toenails, enjoying the sitcom together. Lorelai laughed at the show, and laughed with her friend, but she just felt... Unlike herself completely. Nothing was real. She felt like her life had crumpled. The most important things were there, sure, Rory and Sookie, and they always made her happy. She knew her life would go on, and she'd be okay, because they were in it. But still, she'd lost another friend, who was like a best friend, the same night she'd lost a boyfriend. But she knew, deep down, which loss hurt more. It hurt so much it physically seemed to weaken her.
But now, this was over two weeks later, and Lorelai felt strong. She felt like she could do just about anything. And she was dying for a good cup of coffee. She had been standing at the door to "Java" now for almost a minute, not sure why she was fearing this so much.
"Walk in, sit down, drink," she told herself. "Come on, you look damn good today too!" she added as an afterthought, thinking it might help. And it was true. As her first official day out of her house, she made sure to do this right. Start this new part of her life right. She put on a cute black skirt that went down to her knees, with black go-go boots, and a blue turtleneck sweater. She put on natural-colored make up, and wore her hair natural and wavy. With renewed confidence, she finally marched over the counter, smiling in self-assurance, and tapping her fingernails on the counter top due to nerves.
The man behind the counter was talking to a co-worker when he noticed this loud presence before him. He stopped mid-sentence and turned to her, a half-smile on his face. "Wow, you look ready to go."
"Oh, I am. Ready to go. And go far. Like strap me to a rocket ship and send me to Venus, far. Really far. I am definitely ready to go and I'm talking a lot aren't I? Okay, then I'll just have one cup of coffee to go," she said, smiling.
"I'm not sure you should have coffee," he said, as he grabbed a cup.
"You're not gonna tell me it's bad for me and will kill me, are you?" she asked, still smiling, but starting to feel a little sad, as her mind found itself thinking about someone she tried very hard to never think about.
"Nah, I drink it myself. I just meant you look pretty caffeinated already."
"Are you serious!?" she exclaimed, suddenly feeling happy again.
"Well, yeah, you're jumping around like a bean. A coffee bean."
"No, no, not about that. You drink coffee?" Lorelai asked.
He poured her cup of coffee and smiled. "Uh, yeah. Sort of comes with the territory I guess."
"You really do," she said, more to herself.
"No one's ever really questioned me on this before," he said, looking intrigued by her honest shock. He grabbed another cup and poured coffee into it. "Here," he said, handing her her cup. "Cheers," he said, and touched the tip of his coffee cup to hers. Proving that he was a man of his word, he drank a sip at the same time as her, while she watched him like this was the most fascinating thing ever.
Remembering herself, she reached for her wallet.
"This one's on the house," he said.
"But---"
"I can tell you've never been in here before. Sort of a new customer initiation. We do it with all the newcomers. Really. Put that away," he said, and she obliged.
She was smiling and then all of a sudden stopped. "You know, my last friendship with my Coffee Guy didn't work out."
He looked at her like she really WAS strapped to a rocket headed for Venus at that moment.
"Just letting you know," she said.
"Okay, well, thanks. Good to know. I'll keep that in mind. My, uh, my last friendship with a Coffee Bean didn't really work out either."
"Really?" she asked.
"No, I'm just trying to keep up with you."
She smiled and shook her head and took another sip. "This is good," she said. He smiled again and tried to stifle a small laugh.
Meanwhile in Stars Hollow... At Luke's...
Luke was wiping down the counter in auto-pilot, when he heard the bell over the door jingle. Instinctively his head flew up, hopeful. This had been his reaction to the bell for the past two weeks. He always looked up, saw who came in, felt that familiar feeling in his chest that at first he called indigestion, but now realized was an emotional feeling. He felt as if someone was stretching the muscles in his chest sideways, and then he went back to work, and waited for the feeling to subside.
He couldn't understand it. She seemed okay when he told her. He said that Nicole had jealousy issues. That they wanted a family. That all she wanted was for Lorelai to hang out less. He made it clear that she should still come by everyday. That he would love for her to come by every day. Every day. And he hadn't seen her once since then. "But she smiled, said she understood, and agreed," his mind told him. He thought he didn't understand. But he did. He hurt her. And she wasn't coming back.
Jingle went the bell again, and he looked up to see Nicole come bounding happily in. That happiness at seeing her at the end of a long work-day just wasn't there lately. He told himself it was because he was tired. And a little sad. But that he would get over it.
"Hey sweetie," she said, kissing his cheek.
"Hey," he said, in what he thought sounded friendly and casual. "Oh, hold on a second, I just have to get something from the back."
He quickly made an exit into the kitchen. He saw a crate toppled over, lying upside down, and went and sat on it and thought about what he always thought about. The days that had passed since "that day", which is what he'd come to refer to it as, in his mind.
Rory would come in every time she was home from school and tell him about everything Yale-related and have a cup of coffee. One cup. And she wouldn't take one to go. He'd offer and she would say she was fine.
Sookie, Jackson and Logan sometimes came in. They'd eat or just come in for dessert, and talk to Luke, but they never mentioned her. No one mentioned her. And neither did he. It was like she had died. Nicole had said that this agreement wouldn't be taking Lorelai out of his life completely. He couldn't imagine her being out of his life completely. And Nicole knew that. That's why she said that. Yet that was the case. She was not in his life at all. Life was just going on without her. It was his life sans Lorelai, and he was having trouble eating and sleeping and getting that feeling out of his chest that seemed always to be there. The bell at the diner used to just annoy him, if anything, if he even noticed it. Now it meant pain. The sound of the bell went hand-in-hand with the pain that followed.
Sitting on that crate, he thought about yesterday. Sookie and the baby came in. Sookie wanted some tea, which she had become quite fond of since childbirth. It helped relax her.
"What are you reading?" Luke asked, looking at Sookie's book, which read Preparing for the SATs.
"Just working on comprehension of big words and whatnot. You can never start too early."
"He hasn't even said 'mama' yet. But no, this is good, I'm sure when he does start talking, 'mama' and 'zoology' will be said in the same breath," he said, glancing at some of the words on the page she was turned to.
"This isn't just for him. I don't wanna be the type of mother who can't answer all those questions that kids ask. Like if he asks where rain comes from, I wanna be able to say.." she stopped, and her facial expression turned to one of sheer panic.
"You're not sure where it comes from, are you?" Luke asked.
"I should be focusing on the simpler things!" she exclaimed, shutting the SAT book. "If I can't explain the simple things, he'll NEVER come to me for things like the Theory of Relativity!"
"Ah, yes, the age we all get to when we sit our parents down, begging to know more about the Theory of Relativity," Luke said, smiling a little now.
He wasn't sure why, but he embraced all his moments lately with anyone who had anything to do with Lorelai. He felt like he was communicating somehow with her, by communicating with them.
Sookie's cell phone rang, and she looked at Luke, who indicated that it was okay. He wasn't letting anyone use their phones in his diner except Sookie and Rory these days. And he knew why. He hoped that maybe she was the voice on the other end. The voice, which, if he really tried, he might hear. But it never was her. Until yesterday. But all he could hear was Sookie's end.
"Hey, sweetie... no... I don't think so.. yeah, that's a good idea. You should do it!... you have to leave your house..."
Although Luke wasn't facing Sookie, he knew she looked up at him to see if he might be listening. He made himself, with his back to her, appear to be so wrapped up in something he wasn't listening at all. He squatted down, to look at the mechanical parts of the coffee maker more closely, all the while listening intently. Even though Sookie probably didn't know that. She lowered her voice a little.
"You haven't left in like ten days, you need to get back out there, among the people... I think it sounds good. Sounds like a plan.. Yes....well, sweetie, the man's a complete, heartless scum, using you like your some kind of cheap Barbie doll or prostitute or BOTH and, and then breaking up wi.."
Sookie suddenly realized that maybe she shouldn't be having this particular conversation in the diner.
"Well you get the picture. We'll be right over," Sookie said and hung up. Luke didn't look back at her. She eventually said her goodbyes and left.
She hadn't said it was Lorelai, but he instantly knew who was on the other end of that call. He'd thought that when a call would come from her, he'd feel good again, like she was there, in a way. But the information he'd gathered from the conversation only served to worsen that feeling in his chest, not make it better. At all.
He finally got up and walked back out to the main room of the diner. Nicole walked up to him, looking confused.
"Well, where is it?" she asked.
"Where' what?"
"What you had to get in the back room?" she clarified, indicating to his empty hands.
He thought for a moment. "I guess I forgot it in there," he said, and walked back behind the counter.
And in another small town close by-----
It was two hours after Lorelai had left "Java" and she was returning, running up to the counter, happily.
"You! What is your name!?"
The same guy from before, had smiled when he saw her come in. "Apparently it's Coffee Boy, why?"
"No, I need your real name. I'm having one of those moments, the kind where when you tell someone you should address them, and not by a nickname, but by their real name, unless their name is something horrible like Hezekiah, but then he just calls himself Jack, then you say Jack, so blah blah blah.. And I truly feel that when telling this news to the person who provided me with the fuel that gave me the energy to go and get this wonderful piece of news, I should have a name."
"What's the news?"
"When I was walking down that street, you know the one over there, and then over there?" she asked, pointing for emphasis out the window.
"Milton Street?"
"Sure, okay. So I was walking down Milton Street, and saw this man painting a fence and I started to remember how much I used to like painting when I was younger. And once, when I was like nine, I painted a fence with my uncle. I really loved doing it. And well, I'm gonna be an odd painter!"
"A what?" he asked, laughing.
"Well I mean, I'm gonna get odd jobs painting-related, of course, in this town. Mr. Jamison is going to employ me on this venture. It'll be a great outlet for me and help me pay a few bills for now!"
She could barely control her excitement. Her first day on her own was going good. It was actually going good. She felt good. Mostly good, anyway. For now. And that, in itself, was a good sign.
He started pouring her, and himself, a cup of coffee. "An odd painter, huh?"
"Yes!" she said.
"Cheers," he said, touching the tips of their cups together again, sharing the drink with her, again. "And congratulations."
"Now I'm really ready to go," she said, smiling at him.
"I can see that. Well, one thing's for certain, you'll definitely be odd," he joked and she squinted her eyes at him.
He held out his hand. "Tom," he said.
She shook his offered hand. "Lorelai," she simply said back.