"You can stop here at the corner," Jess said to the cab driver.
"Here?" The cab driver pulled over.
"Yeah this is fine." Jess pulled some money out of his pocket and paid him.
"But we're not there yet." Rory looked at Jess, her eyes full of questions.
"I know that. Trust me." Jess raised his eyebrows as he spoke. He got out of the cab because his side was nearest the sidewalk and he pulled Rory out with his hand.
"Okay," Rory said as she slid over the seat and out the door.
Rory didn't really trust Jess. She wanted to, she thought as they walked down the street with him step in step.
Jess' hand slid naturally around her back, his arm resting on her hip, the sides of their bodies touching completely, intimately. Like a couple, natural and warm and good. Rory snuggled into him and would have slid her arm around Jess' back and kept it there if it wasn't for the damm cast.
Rory knew that Jess wasn't the same kind of guy as Dean, and she liked that about him. He was darker, intelligent, and more complex. If she gave him her heart like she wanted to, he could easily break it. It was a matter of faith and trust. How could Rory trust someone she hardly knew, someone so secretive and unwilling to let his guard down. She looked at Jess then, willing him to look her in the eyes. And with that look her faith would be restored. Or willing him to give her another magical kiss. But Jess was looking ahead. His face was unreadable, stoic.
Rory wanted to trust Jess but the voices of her mother and the town were burned in her mind, reminding her that she was just a small town girl and he was a big city boy.
Jess was bad. Jess wasn't the type of guy to stick around for very long. He was the kind of guy that left you heartbroken without saying goodbye.
But since Jess was holding her close to him and he had kissed her so softly and so well, that those thoughts were pushed aside.
"Okay there is going to be huge crowds and people saying things to you but just stay close to me. Alright?"
"Alright, Dad." Rory leaned her head into his body.
"Hey. Things can get scary in the big bad city."
"You know I am not the small town girl you think I am." At least I don't want to be, she thought.
"Sure you're not." His sarcasm was at times infuriating to Rory.
"I am not!" Rory protested. Jess shot her a look of disbelief. "I'm not. I'm just a teensy bit sheltered. And-and it's not like I'm not well-read." Rory was getting defensive.
"You certainly are." Jess looked at her and smirked. He thought she looked cute when her eye brows burrowed together when she was upset. Like just then.
They were walking down a dark street past theatres and restaurants. Rory knew they must be getting close because she could hear the crowds of people. She felt like she was at a concert walking around before you got to the arena and sat in your seats or at a baseball game when you are walking around the stadium but not yet seeing the field or the players.
They turned the corner and suddenly Rory was hit with the most lights she had seen in her entire life.
"Wow." Rory couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked at all the billboards and the advertisements several stories high and at the crowds of people. The lights.........Rory had never seen anything as huge in her entire life. "We're in Times Square!"
"I think we have established that." Jess was watching her face, smirking.
"Look there's Times Square!" Rory pointed to the famous intersection and Jess laughed.
"Is your cool level going down because you're with a tourist?" Rory looked at Jess and took a step closer to him. He didn't move.
"Cool level?" Jess thought Rory usually came up with better ones than that.
"Hey, my brain isn't functioning as well because it is so overwhelmed that it is in Times Square right now."
"Well in that case." Jess leaned in and kissed her softly. And it was very good. "C'mon, let's walk around."
Rory and Jess walked amongst the busy crowd. Rory felt like a small child and hated that, but she was also a bit overwhelmed. They said very little. Rory's eyes were wide staring at everything and Jess watched her look at everything. He kept looking at her face, at her reaction to everything. It was quite entertaining for him.
"Look there's TRL!" Rory pointed at the building with MTV logos everywhere on it.
"The anti-christ of good music." Jess said sourly looking up.
"Hey, I bet you can see shows all the time, living in the city and everything." They continued walking past TRL headquarters passing venders selling jewelry and I heart NY t-shirts.
"I'm not exactly a card-carrying member of the Carson Daly fan club, Rory."
"I meant concerts, not TRL." Rory looked at the biggest McDonald's she had ever seen, two stories high crowded with people.
"Oh, well then yes there are lots of great shows."
"Every night?"
"Yep. Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Kris Roe?" Jess asked knowing that he hadn't.
"No. Oh my god I love the Ataris." Rory tried not to stare at three drag queens in tight shiny dresses and platform heels passing them.
"Yeah, he was just sitting in a booth, in this diner near Gramercy Park by himself, smoking a cigarette, reading."
"What was he reading?" Rory looked at Jess waiting for his answer.
"Watch the scaffold." Jess pulled Rory away to safety from the scaffold right in front of her and around a homeless guy who was sleeping under it.
"Thanks. What was he reading?"
"Funny pages." They passed more venders selling sketches of famous people. John Lennon. Marilyn Monroe. Elvis. Both Jess and Rory noted that they were not really of the celebrities, but of a famous photograph taken of the celebrity that had been reprinted in calendars, postcards, and posters and sold to the masses. It was an important distinction for both of them.
"Seriously?"
"As a heart attack."
"Kirs Roe of The Ataris was reading the funny pages in a diner in Gramercy Park and I wasn't there sadly."
"Well it was two years ago. So while I was in a diner smoking reading Albert Camus on a rainy Sunday, you were probably frolicking in a field during the annual Stars Hollow Picnic, having a gay ole' time."
"You know it has been a while since my last frolic." It started to rain as Rory finished the last of her sentence.
Thick drops of water fell upon them, getting them wet and interrupting their lovely walk and conversation. Unexpectedly and rather unpleasantly. Rory didn't know the next time she would ever come to Times Square. She wanted to keep looking around.
Jess cursed himself silently. Usually he could tell when it was about to rain, he could smell it in the air. Which is rather respectable considering he was brought up in the city. Where there were no sky lines. No impending darkness visible in the distance. But Jess hadn't foreseen the bad weather. He thought the electricity in the air was Rory's doing. But he gave her too much credit.
"C'mon." Hand in hand they hurried to shelter. The nearest of which was the shelter of a theatre playing "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard. They stood under the lights of the over-hang next to the ticket booth where an elderly man stared at the crazy teenagers. Rory breathed heavily touching her now wet hair and Jess avoided looking at her white wet blouse.
"Here." Jess handed her his jacket and looked away. It was suddenly cold.
"Thanks." Rory's hair was matted down on her head and some of it stuck to her face. When she put the jacket on, she had some trouble since her cast was so bulky.
"It's getting pretty late." Jess looked back at Rory and decided it was time to go back to his apartment. He couldn't avoid it forever.
"What time is it?" Rory zipped up the jacket and smiled at Jess' curly wet hair matted down. I bet this is what his hair looks like when he gets out of the shower, she thought. Then was surprised at her own inner monologue.
"10:30." Jess ran a hand through his hair and Rory smiled, she couldn't help it, it was as if he was reading her mind.
"We should head in. This excellent adventure is nearing its conclusion." Jess was actually thinking the opposite. It was when they were alone in the apartment that the real adventure would begin. Not that he wanted to sleep with her, he did, but he wasn't going to......................not tonight he told himself, not while she is still with Dean. But she would see his apartment, spend the night there. He was apprehensive and excited about it. And Jess was rarely excited about anything.
"You stay here. I'll go get us a cab."
"We're not taking the subway?"
"No."
"Wait." Jess stopped and came back.
"What?"
"I.............uh............I have to go to the bathroom." Now Rory really did feel like a little girl. She was embarrassed and she looked at her shoes. Her school girl black and white shoes, from the fifties.
"Oh................Well they won't let you go here. Go inside the Thai place next door." Jess pointed as he spoke.
"Okay." Rory nodded and handed Jess her back pack and the record. She turned and walked away and Jess watched her increase the distance between him and her, in his jacket which was big and her school girl skirt which was not. They were going back to his place and now Rory was wet and would need a change of clothes. He looked back out toward the city.
People were opening up their umbrellas that they wisely carry on them at all times, some were hurrying to shelter like Jess and Rory had done. The streets were slowly emptying. And at the same time it was all beautiful. The rain falling fast and the lights shining and sparkly through it all, several stories high. But it was nothing new to Jess. He had seen similar scenes many times, and he knew he would see more.
Rain falling on busy city.
His mind was elsewhere.....................on the lips of a blue eyed beauty ........................on the small visible part of her transparent blouse......................in his apartment with the door closed and her legs wrapped around his waist.
It would be a long night, he thought.
"Here?" The cab driver pulled over.
"Yeah this is fine." Jess pulled some money out of his pocket and paid him.
"But we're not there yet." Rory looked at Jess, her eyes full of questions.
"I know that. Trust me." Jess raised his eyebrows as he spoke. He got out of the cab because his side was nearest the sidewalk and he pulled Rory out with his hand.
"Okay," Rory said as she slid over the seat and out the door.
Rory didn't really trust Jess. She wanted to, she thought as they walked down the street with him step in step.
Jess' hand slid naturally around her back, his arm resting on her hip, the sides of their bodies touching completely, intimately. Like a couple, natural and warm and good. Rory snuggled into him and would have slid her arm around Jess' back and kept it there if it wasn't for the damm cast.
Rory knew that Jess wasn't the same kind of guy as Dean, and she liked that about him. He was darker, intelligent, and more complex. If she gave him her heart like she wanted to, he could easily break it. It was a matter of faith and trust. How could Rory trust someone she hardly knew, someone so secretive and unwilling to let his guard down. She looked at Jess then, willing him to look her in the eyes. And with that look her faith would be restored. Or willing him to give her another magical kiss. But Jess was looking ahead. His face was unreadable, stoic.
Rory wanted to trust Jess but the voices of her mother and the town were burned in her mind, reminding her that she was just a small town girl and he was a big city boy.
Jess was bad. Jess wasn't the type of guy to stick around for very long. He was the kind of guy that left you heartbroken without saying goodbye.
But since Jess was holding her close to him and he had kissed her so softly and so well, that those thoughts were pushed aside.
"Okay there is going to be huge crowds and people saying things to you but just stay close to me. Alright?"
"Alright, Dad." Rory leaned her head into his body.
"Hey. Things can get scary in the big bad city."
"You know I am not the small town girl you think I am." At least I don't want to be, she thought.
"Sure you're not." His sarcasm was at times infuriating to Rory.
"I am not!" Rory protested. Jess shot her a look of disbelief. "I'm not. I'm just a teensy bit sheltered. And-and it's not like I'm not well-read." Rory was getting defensive.
"You certainly are." Jess looked at her and smirked. He thought she looked cute when her eye brows burrowed together when she was upset. Like just then.
They were walking down a dark street past theatres and restaurants. Rory knew they must be getting close because she could hear the crowds of people. She felt like she was at a concert walking around before you got to the arena and sat in your seats or at a baseball game when you are walking around the stadium but not yet seeing the field or the players.
They turned the corner and suddenly Rory was hit with the most lights she had seen in her entire life.
"Wow." Rory couldn't think of anything else to say. She looked at all the billboards and the advertisements several stories high and at the crowds of people. The lights.........Rory had never seen anything as huge in her entire life. "We're in Times Square!"
"I think we have established that." Jess was watching her face, smirking.
"Look there's Times Square!" Rory pointed to the famous intersection and Jess laughed.
"Is your cool level going down because you're with a tourist?" Rory looked at Jess and took a step closer to him. He didn't move.
"Cool level?" Jess thought Rory usually came up with better ones than that.
"Hey, my brain isn't functioning as well because it is so overwhelmed that it is in Times Square right now."
"Well in that case." Jess leaned in and kissed her softly. And it was very good. "C'mon, let's walk around."
Rory and Jess walked amongst the busy crowd. Rory felt like a small child and hated that, but she was also a bit overwhelmed. They said very little. Rory's eyes were wide staring at everything and Jess watched her look at everything. He kept looking at her face, at her reaction to everything. It was quite entertaining for him.
"Look there's TRL!" Rory pointed at the building with MTV logos everywhere on it.
"The anti-christ of good music." Jess said sourly looking up.
"Hey, I bet you can see shows all the time, living in the city and everything." They continued walking past TRL headquarters passing venders selling jewelry and I heart NY t-shirts.
"I'm not exactly a card-carrying member of the Carson Daly fan club, Rory."
"I meant concerts, not TRL." Rory looked at the biggest McDonald's she had ever seen, two stories high crowded with people.
"Oh, well then yes there are lots of great shows."
"Every night?"
"Yep. Did I ever tell you about the time I saw Kris Roe?" Jess asked knowing that he hadn't.
"No. Oh my god I love the Ataris." Rory tried not to stare at three drag queens in tight shiny dresses and platform heels passing them.
"Yeah, he was just sitting in a booth, in this diner near Gramercy Park by himself, smoking a cigarette, reading."
"What was he reading?" Rory looked at Jess waiting for his answer.
"Watch the scaffold." Jess pulled Rory away to safety from the scaffold right in front of her and around a homeless guy who was sleeping under it.
"Thanks. What was he reading?"
"Funny pages." They passed more venders selling sketches of famous people. John Lennon. Marilyn Monroe. Elvis. Both Jess and Rory noted that they were not really of the celebrities, but of a famous photograph taken of the celebrity that had been reprinted in calendars, postcards, and posters and sold to the masses. It was an important distinction for both of them.
"Seriously?"
"As a heart attack."
"Kirs Roe of The Ataris was reading the funny pages in a diner in Gramercy Park and I wasn't there sadly."
"Well it was two years ago. So while I was in a diner smoking reading Albert Camus on a rainy Sunday, you were probably frolicking in a field during the annual Stars Hollow Picnic, having a gay ole' time."
"You know it has been a while since my last frolic." It started to rain as Rory finished the last of her sentence.
Thick drops of water fell upon them, getting them wet and interrupting their lovely walk and conversation. Unexpectedly and rather unpleasantly. Rory didn't know the next time she would ever come to Times Square. She wanted to keep looking around.
Jess cursed himself silently. Usually he could tell when it was about to rain, he could smell it in the air. Which is rather respectable considering he was brought up in the city. Where there were no sky lines. No impending darkness visible in the distance. But Jess hadn't foreseen the bad weather. He thought the electricity in the air was Rory's doing. But he gave her too much credit.
"C'mon." Hand in hand they hurried to shelter. The nearest of which was the shelter of a theatre playing "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard. They stood under the lights of the over-hang next to the ticket booth where an elderly man stared at the crazy teenagers. Rory breathed heavily touching her now wet hair and Jess avoided looking at her white wet blouse.
"Here." Jess handed her his jacket and looked away. It was suddenly cold.
"Thanks." Rory's hair was matted down on her head and some of it stuck to her face. When she put the jacket on, she had some trouble since her cast was so bulky.
"It's getting pretty late." Jess looked back at Rory and decided it was time to go back to his apartment. He couldn't avoid it forever.
"What time is it?" Rory zipped up the jacket and smiled at Jess' curly wet hair matted down. I bet this is what his hair looks like when he gets out of the shower, she thought. Then was surprised at her own inner monologue.
"10:30." Jess ran a hand through his hair and Rory smiled, she couldn't help it, it was as if he was reading her mind.
"We should head in. This excellent adventure is nearing its conclusion." Jess was actually thinking the opposite. It was when they were alone in the apartment that the real adventure would begin. Not that he wanted to sleep with her, he did, but he wasn't going to......................not tonight he told himself, not while she is still with Dean. But she would see his apartment, spend the night there. He was apprehensive and excited about it. And Jess was rarely excited about anything.
"You stay here. I'll go get us a cab."
"We're not taking the subway?"
"No."
"Wait." Jess stopped and came back.
"What?"
"I.............uh............I have to go to the bathroom." Now Rory really did feel like a little girl. She was embarrassed and she looked at her shoes. Her school girl black and white shoes, from the fifties.
"Oh................Well they won't let you go here. Go inside the Thai place next door." Jess pointed as he spoke.
"Okay." Rory nodded and handed Jess her back pack and the record. She turned and walked away and Jess watched her increase the distance between him and her, in his jacket which was big and her school girl skirt which was not. They were going back to his place and now Rory was wet and would need a change of clothes. He looked back out toward the city.
People were opening up their umbrellas that they wisely carry on them at all times, some were hurrying to shelter like Jess and Rory had done. The streets were slowly emptying. And at the same time it was all beautiful. The rain falling fast and the lights shining and sparkly through it all, several stories high. But it was nothing new to Jess. He had seen similar scenes many times, and he knew he would see more.
Rain falling on busy city.
His mind was elsewhere.....................on the lips of a blue eyed beauty ........................on the small visible part of her transparent blouse......................in his apartment with the door closed and her legs wrapped around his waist.
It would be a long night, he thought.