Disclaimer: Non of it is mine…
A/N: Sorry, sorry sorry for not updating in such a long time!! You know, I always thought that those writers used the word 'Writers-block' as an excuse for not updating… But believe me… it's real!! So, now I'm kinda over it, but I'm not sure if the story chapter worked out right… Just read and see….
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Chapter 5
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Cause I miss you, body and soul so strong that it takes my breath away
And I breathe you into my heart and pray for the strength to stand today
Cause I love you, whether it's wrong or right
And though I can't be with you tonight
And know my heart is by your side
*Daniel Bedingfield*
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Chapter 5
If Not Today…
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What is this? Rory thought as she looked at the bulletin on the window of her favourite supermarket.
It was kinda like the little grocery store there was in stars hollow.
It was owned by a grumpy old man, who had a lot in common with Taylor. The owner of Doose's market. She was appalled by the store closed. It was the only place in the whole town she bought her coffee.
Coffee was a very serious deal. You couldn't just trust it to anyone. And Dale, the grumpy owner of the supermarket, owned the only two hands in New York she trusted her coffee with. She read the pamphlet hanging there.
" Due tot circumstances this store will be closed for an undecided amount of time. Thank you for understanding."
Thank you for understanding? What the … She didn't understand. How could they do this to her? Where the heck would she find her coffee now? She just stood there for a second thinking about what she was going to do. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Miss..." She heard a men say. She turned around to see a men stand behind her. "Maybe you could try the one across the street."
She pouted her lips and looked at the man. "But they don't have Dale's special blend of coffee!! And how could I possibly drink another blend?" The man looked at her. "Aww, I see. Well, there's this shop around the corner, and it has great coffee. You should really try it. U might like it."
She considered it for a second and then looked at the guy gratefully. "Yeah, thanks. I Guess I could try it. It's better then no coffee at all."
As she walked into the direction that the guy pointed in she looked around. There it was, a little tiny place, called Big Joe's Coffee store.
It looked great!! She wondered how she could have lived here in New York for so long without noticing it. It looked like one of those old-fashion grocery stores from Italy. She instantly loved it.
She walked up to the window and looked at the window display. It had big barrels in it. Filled with… YEAH!! With coffee!! This big Joe obviously shared her love for coffee.
Quickly she ran to the door. As she opened it a lot of stumbling was heard from a room behind the counter.
"Be right with ya, be right with ya!!" she heard a male voice with a very strong New York accent say. "If I can get this god damned box out of the way, that is…" After a lot of cursing, and even more stumbling, a man appeared. He looked like he had just survived a life-threatening storm. His hair was messy and his close were wrinkled and dusty.
Rory looked at him suspiciously. "Are you Joe? Big Joe…? You own the shop, right?" He looked at her proudly. "Yeah, that's me. Joey Anthony Saporito the third. My grandpa build this shop with his own bear hands. When he died it was passed over to my father, and when he died, it was passed over to me. So yeah, now I am the owner…" He snapped out of the rambling and looked at Rory cautiously.
"Who did u say u were?"
Rory smiled at him sweetly. "Rory Gilmore, sir. Coffee lover since birth." She reached out her hand to shake his. He looked at her distrustingly, once more. But then decided that she was good people. He shook her hand, and leaned on the counter. "So Rory Gilmore, coffee lover. With what can I serve you on this fine day?"
"Well, Joey Anthony Saporito… I would like some of your best coffee please."
And just as Joe was about to answer her, the bell above the door rang. Telling that someone just entered the store. Rory turned around to look at this person, just as that curtain someone looked up. Their eyes met and locked. "Ow my God!!" was the only this that came out of Rory's mouth.
"Holy crap" was the only thing that came up in the guy's head.
"I think I'll just go search for some of that coffee…" Joe smirked. "Aww, love, what a wonderful thing." He said to himself as he walked into the backroom again.
Jesus Christ!! Tristan thought to himself. Was there time left to run? No of course not DuGrey!! Just talk to her. Say something smart and funny. Dazzle her with your smart remarks!! "Hi" he said.
Ow my god!! Rory kept repeating in her head. What should I say to him?? Aww, come on Gilmore!! You're never speechless, so why shouldn't you just start a conversation? "Hey" she said. "Also getting some coffee, huh?" Tristan nodded. "Yeah, I've never seen you here before though" "That could be right, I've never been here before today." Tristan looked at her. She was beautiful. Just as beautiful as he remembered her to be. If not ever more beautiful.
Rory looked at him. Damn, he was gorgeous!! She noticed the grocery bags he held.
"Did some shopping for u and the wife?"
Stupid Rory!! That sounded as if you cared!!
Tristan looked at her with a weird look in his eyes. "Uhmm… I did some shopping yeah. The fridge was as good as empty so I thought I'd get some food. It was either that or starving. So I picked the first. My roommate was out to find a job."
"With roommate you mean your girlfriend?" Rory asked. It didn't matter if he thought she cared, because she did. If they hadn't been standing in this coffeeshop, with the owner spying on them from behind the curtain hanging as a separation between the store and the backroom, she would have jumped him, hugged him to death and kissed him until one of them ran out of air. But they were standing in this shop. And Joe was indeed standing behind the curtain, glancing at them. So the best she could do was find out if he really was living with a girl, or if he was still available.
"Uhmm… I wouldn't exactly call Josh my girlfriend. I don't think either of us would really like to spend a bed together, let alone kiss each other." He made a face as he thought about that. "Don't get me wrong, He's my best friend and I really like him, but that's just a bit too much." Rory laughed, she had heard enough. There was no girl living with him. She felt an intense happiness glide over her body. She felt so relieved.
"Well, it was just a thought. It is possible! A lot of time has past you know? Nobody knows how your sexual preference is going to be after military school…" Tristan grinned at that remark.
"Well, Let me tell you that I'm straight enough to notice that you look great." Hope stirred up in Rory's mind. "My, my Tristan. You are not only heterosexual but you also have great taste. Who would have thought??" She smiled at him teasingly. But I have to say, that boot camp worked out well for you." She said as she was checking out his body.
With an uncomfortable smile Tristan put down the groceries. Why was she acting as if she liked him? Didn't she know anything? Didn't she know that she replanted the hope that died long ago?
"Where did that Joe go?" He therefore asked.
Joe, alarmed when he heard his name, grabbed a bag, quickly filled it with some coffee and then rushed out of the backroom. "Well, miss Gilmore, here is your coffee." He looked at Tristan and took his order. After Rory and Tristan paid and said goodbye, they walked out of the shop together. As they stood there silently Rory gathered all of her courage. She took a deep breath as she turned around to face him. She looked at him looking at her. In his eyes she saw a whirlpool of emotions. She took another deep breath and then forced herself to say the words. "Tristan…would you… maybe… we could…" This wasn't working. She tried again. "Would you maybe want to come with me to have a cup of coffee?" Please say yes, please say yes.
"I'm really sorry, Rory. But I really need to get home." He didn't but he was just so afraid to fall for her again. He looked at her. He could see the hurt of his rejection in her eyes just as she lowered her head to face the ground. God, that hadn't been his intention. He was such a jerk. 10 minutes after they meet each other again after almost 10 years, he is already hurting her again. How did he do that?
He reached out for her chin, and brought her head up slowly. Forcing her to look at him. "But I'd really like to another time. Maybe I can call you?" He saw the hurt faint from her eyes. "Yeah sure. She reached in her purse and found a busness card. She handed it to him and told him to call her as soon as possible. They said goodbye and Tristan started to walk away. But just as he reached the corner, he heard her call his name. He turned around and saw her running up to him. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him tight, as she whispered in his ear: "I'm really glad to see you again, I've missed you." Then she gave him a soft and sweet kiss on his check and turned around. He looked at her walking away in astonishment.
With every step she made, he felt himself falling a little bit more. With every second he looked at her, he was falling more and more in love with her. And that had been just the thing he wanted to prevent.