Inside the Thai place, called Madam Mam's, it was warm. That was the
first thing that Rory noticed. The sudden heat that hit her face and then
becoming absorbed in her skin. That and it was extremely busy, the second
thing that Rory noticed. Lots and lots of people. Madam Mam's was small,
probably half the size of Luke's, and with the heat and the people it gave
Rory a slight feeling of claustrophobia. With her tiny arms (one wrapped
in a thick cast) she pushed her way through the people with difficulty
toward the back where she saw a sign that said "restrooms".
Surprisingly, there was no one in the girl's bathroom at all. It was relatively clean and exiting the stall Rory looked herself over in the mirror while washing her hands. Her hair was wet, but not completely and her skin seemed paler than usual, Rory thought. She touched her face with her bony fingers underneath her eyes and rubbed small circles on her face.
Her appearance was relatively the same as it was yesterday and the day before. For some reason, Rory expected some transformation of self. But there was none. She cocked her head to the side, debating whether or not she was pretty, if Jess thought she was pretty when the door opened startling Rory.
"Sorry about that." The man looked about mid twenties or late twenties, Rory couldn't tell..................he had shaggy hair, blondish, but dirty and greasy and it was unattractive so long. Hanging right before his shoulders. He had dark circles underneath both of his eyes.
"Um.........this is the girl's restroom." Rory tucked her hair behind her ears and then folded her arms across her chest. Awkwardly.
"Oh I know, it's just the guy's bathroom has this gigantic long line. You don't care do you?" He pointed to an empty stall and smiled at her, which only made Rory feel worse. His teeth were yellow and if one looked hard enough you could see the bacteria forming in between them.
"No go ahead." Rory shook her head and took a few steps toward the door which he was standing in front of. The man made no effort to move.
"Do you go to St. Agnes?" The man smiled again and adjusted the front of his long maroon leather jacket which was a size too big for him, and Rory realized how skinny he was. And that his gray hooded sweatshirt zipped up underneath his leather coat also hung loose on his wiry frame.
"No I don't." Rory wasn't used to this. And a terrible feeling formed in her gut, tearing at her insides.
"Cause I have a little sister who goes to school there. You two could be twins. So pretty." Another smile and Rory knew she had to leave. Now.
"Well I have to go...........I am, uh........... I am meeting someone. My boyfriend." Rory bravely took the rest of the steps to brush past him and her hand got to the door but he forcefully shut it. It didn't occur to her that Jess wasn't her real boyfriend. Dean was, who was back in Stars Hollow calling her house.
"I just want to talk to you. What's your name? I bet it's real nice and soft. Just like you." His hand went up to touch her wet hair and Rory took a step back away from the strange man.
"I am sorry but I really have to go." The panic was evident in her voice. "I am late and I have to leave." She inhaled and then exhaled deeply. The man took a step forward while rubbing his chin, smirking at the poor girl.
"You know I saw you hurry in here. You brushed right pass me and I knew like that-," he snapped his fingers. Rory closed her eyes hoping in her innocent mind that he would be gone when she opened them. He was still there.
"Oh my God." Rory thought about screaming. If she did would someone rush in and save her? Would Jess?
"-that this...," he pointed back and forth to Rory and then himself and then Rory again, "...was going to happen." Rory blinked back tears. Now was not the time to cry. Now was the time for bravery. For the gifts and strength of Buffy and Jennifer Garner to somehow transport into her small body.
And suddenly she was saved.
The door opened and a middle aged short Asian woman walked into the restroom ignoring the skinny tall man in there and the petrified girl whose face was as white as the cracked paint on the walls. She walked right into the middle stall in between Rory and the man, and shut the door. Rory saw her opportunity and ran.
As she brushed by him she heard, "Hey where you going?" Her legs moved fast and her arms were strong as she ran out of the tiny Madam Mam's into the cold New York air. Let Freedom Ring.
Jess was waiting for her. He had been worrying but thought there was probably a long line or something. He knew in certainty that girls always had longer lines for the bathroom. And what if he went inside and he missed her and she came out and he wasn't there? What if she panicked? It was best to stay there and wait.
When he saw her running out of the restaurant he took a few steps toward her confusion on his face. He could see she was upset. Horrible explanations filled his mind.
"What's wrong?" Rory ran in his arms and started crying in his shirt. "What happened?" Rory shook her head and sniffled. She was a young girl again. Wanting her mommy, crying over a big bad man who tried to touch her.
The man came running out only moments after Rory buried her head in Jess' shirt.
"Wait up!" He was going to yell something else when he saw Jess, and Jess saw him too......... for what he was.
Greasy hair, skinny, dark circles under the airs, horrible skin, clothes from the early nineties. This guy was a junkie. This guy was a bum. This guy was a rapist. This guy had a knife in his pocket. This guy had skid marks on his arms. Jess pulled away from Rory and put her behind him, handing her the record and back pack............... his eyes never leaving the man's face.
"Can I help you with something?" Jess took a few steps toward him. And Rory saw how small Jess was compared to the tall man standing a few feet from the entrance to Madam Mam's. Rory had never seen Jess like this. This aggressive angry Jess that would be beat the shit out of someone if he wanted to. "We gotta problem here?" Jess stopped a few feet from the guy, his stance and demeanor obvious in its meaning.
Rory did nothing but watch. She felt like everything was happening too fast. Things were amazing before and now they awful.
The man looked at people passing on the street and at Jess who looked ready for the kill. "No problem." He pulled his gray hoodie over his head.
And like that, he was gone.
Jess stood there for a moment, watching him disappear into the rain and the masses of people walking down the street, and then turned back to face Rory. He hurried to her, his face serious. He had no idea what had actually happened between this guy and Rory. Maybe he should have just started swinging, he second guessed. Sucker punched him for looking at Rory the wrong way.
"What happened?" Jess tried to look Rory in the eye but she was avoiding him, wiping away tears.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Did that guy do something to you? Did he touch you?" Jess stammered over the last sentence. He didn't know what he would do if he had.
"No, but it was........."
"What?"
"I can't explain it." Rory yelled in frustration. At everything. At all the things that had gone horribly wrong that day. And now she was yelling at Jess.
"Sorry, jeez. I'm just trying to understand what happened here." Jess was sure to not be condescending. He was just worried. Something had happened with Rory and he didn't know what.
"Me too."
"So talk to me."
"Well I went into the restaurant. Went into the restroom."
"Okay." Jess nodded.
"And afterwards, I was looking in the mirror and he walks in." The memory of looking at her reflection and seeing the door swing open was there in her mind. The dread of knowing that there was a man, and she as a girl alone. It was as if it was happening all over again.
"And you were fully clothed at this juncture?"
"Yes."
"Thank god."
"Any ways......he walks in saying that the guy's bathroom was long."
"That's bullshit." Jess shook his head.
"I know."
"We never have lines. Girls' bathrooms are the ones with the crazy lines."
"I know."
"Was there anyone else in there with you?"
"No."
"Aw man." This is where it gets bad, Jess thought, this is where I screwed up
"Yeah, and then he started asking me about school-"
"School?"
"My uniform." Jess knew that guys liked girls in uniforms. It was a fetish for a lot. It irked Jess to think of men looking at Rory in her uniform and thinking sexual things about her. It must have been the uniform that attracted his sick perverted attention, Jess thought.
"And then I tried to leave, I did, but he wouldn't let me."
"What did he do exactly?"
"He put his arm on the door when I tried to open it."
"He didn't grab you?"
"No but he did try to touch my hair."
"Your hair?"
"He was saying that it was soft and other things."
"What other things?" Jess raised his voice. He wanted to know exactly what happened. What he had said to Rory.
"I don't know!? That I was nice and then he started going off about how he saw me when I walked in. And I thought about screaming but I guess technically he hadn't really done anything and I would just look stupid."
"So what happened next?"
"This woman walked in and I ran out, and that's when you saw me."
"That's it." Jess sighed in relief.
"Yeah that's it." Rory realized that nothing had really happened at all. She had just overreacted. She felt the tears come again when Jess leaned in and kissed her, softly. Just to let her know that things were alright and that he was there for her.
"Listen, let's get out of here. We were really lucky tonight. I don't want to think what could have happened."
"Lets not." Rory leaned in and kissed Jess again. In the middle of the street in Times Square. This is the person I have become, she thought as Jess dove tentatively into Rory's mouth.
"Alright. You ready to call it a night?" Rory's eyes were still closed when Jess spoke.
"Definitely." Rory and Jess walked to the curb side by side silently. Jess raised his hand at yellow cabs that swooshed by and did not stop. Everyone of them had someone in the back seat. Rory put her backpack on and hugged the record in her arms. It had stopped raining as hard but, but she could see water falling down the side of Jess' face. She felt she should say something then, that they had been silent too long. "Some night."
"I'll say." Jess looked over at Rory and nodded. Her hair getting wetter and somehow, though he didn't think possible, her eyes getting bluer.
Surprisingly, there was no one in the girl's bathroom at all. It was relatively clean and exiting the stall Rory looked herself over in the mirror while washing her hands. Her hair was wet, but not completely and her skin seemed paler than usual, Rory thought. She touched her face with her bony fingers underneath her eyes and rubbed small circles on her face.
Her appearance was relatively the same as it was yesterday and the day before. For some reason, Rory expected some transformation of self. But there was none. She cocked her head to the side, debating whether or not she was pretty, if Jess thought she was pretty when the door opened startling Rory.
"Sorry about that." The man looked about mid twenties or late twenties, Rory couldn't tell..................he had shaggy hair, blondish, but dirty and greasy and it was unattractive so long. Hanging right before his shoulders. He had dark circles underneath both of his eyes.
"Um.........this is the girl's restroom." Rory tucked her hair behind her ears and then folded her arms across her chest. Awkwardly.
"Oh I know, it's just the guy's bathroom has this gigantic long line. You don't care do you?" He pointed to an empty stall and smiled at her, which only made Rory feel worse. His teeth were yellow and if one looked hard enough you could see the bacteria forming in between them.
"No go ahead." Rory shook her head and took a few steps toward the door which he was standing in front of. The man made no effort to move.
"Do you go to St. Agnes?" The man smiled again and adjusted the front of his long maroon leather jacket which was a size too big for him, and Rory realized how skinny he was. And that his gray hooded sweatshirt zipped up underneath his leather coat also hung loose on his wiry frame.
"No I don't." Rory wasn't used to this. And a terrible feeling formed in her gut, tearing at her insides.
"Cause I have a little sister who goes to school there. You two could be twins. So pretty." Another smile and Rory knew she had to leave. Now.
"Well I have to go...........I am, uh........... I am meeting someone. My boyfriend." Rory bravely took the rest of the steps to brush past him and her hand got to the door but he forcefully shut it. It didn't occur to her that Jess wasn't her real boyfriend. Dean was, who was back in Stars Hollow calling her house.
"I just want to talk to you. What's your name? I bet it's real nice and soft. Just like you." His hand went up to touch her wet hair and Rory took a step back away from the strange man.
"I am sorry but I really have to go." The panic was evident in her voice. "I am late and I have to leave." She inhaled and then exhaled deeply. The man took a step forward while rubbing his chin, smirking at the poor girl.
"You know I saw you hurry in here. You brushed right pass me and I knew like that-," he snapped his fingers. Rory closed her eyes hoping in her innocent mind that he would be gone when she opened them. He was still there.
"Oh my God." Rory thought about screaming. If she did would someone rush in and save her? Would Jess?
"-that this...," he pointed back and forth to Rory and then himself and then Rory again, "...was going to happen." Rory blinked back tears. Now was not the time to cry. Now was the time for bravery. For the gifts and strength of Buffy and Jennifer Garner to somehow transport into her small body.
And suddenly she was saved.
The door opened and a middle aged short Asian woman walked into the restroom ignoring the skinny tall man in there and the petrified girl whose face was as white as the cracked paint on the walls. She walked right into the middle stall in between Rory and the man, and shut the door. Rory saw her opportunity and ran.
As she brushed by him she heard, "Hey where you going?" Her legs moved fast and her arms were strong as she ran out of the tiny Madam Mam's into the cold New York air. Let Freedom Ring.
Jess was waiting for her. He had been worrying but thought there was probably a long line or something. He knew in certainty that girls always had longer lines for the bathroom. And what if he went inside and he missed her and she came out and he wasn't there? What if she panicked? It was best to stay there and wait.
When he saw her running out of the restaurant he took a few steps toward her confusion on his face. He could see she was upset. Horrible explanations filled his mind.
"What's wrong?" Rory ran in his arms and started crying in his shirt. "What happened?" Rory shook her head and sniffled. She was a young girl again. Wanting her mommy, crying over a big bad man who tried to touch her.
The man came running out only moments after Rory buried her head in Jess' shirt.
"Wait up!" He was going to yell something else when he saw Jess, and Jess saw him too......... for what he was.
Greasy hair, skinny, dark circles under the airs, horrible skin, clothes from the early nineties. This guy was a junkie. This guy was a bum. This guy was a rapist. This guy had a knife in his pocket. This guy had skid marks on his arms. Jess pulled away from Rory and put her behind him, handing her the record and back pack............... his eyes never leaving the man's face.
"Can I help you with something?" Jess took a few steps toward him. And Rory saw how small Jess was compared to the tall man standing a few feet from the entrance to Madam Mam's. Rory had never seen Jess like this. This aggressive angry Jess that would be beat the shit out of someone if he wanted to. "We gotta problem here?" Jess stopped a few feet from the guy, his stance and demeanor obvious in its meaning.
Rory did nothing but watch. She felt like everything was happening too fast. Things were amazing before and now they awful.
The man looked at people passing on the street and at Jess who looked ready for the kill. "No problem." He pulled his gray hoodie over his head.
And like that, he was gone.
Jess stood there for a moment, watching him disappear into the rain and the masses of people walking down the street, and then turned back to face Rory. He hurried to her, his face serious. He had no idea what had actually happened between this guy and Rory. Maybe he should have just started swinging, he second guessed. Sucker punched him for looking at Rory the wrong way.
"What happened?" Jess tried to look Rory in the eye but she was avoiding him, wiping away tears.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Did that guy do something to you? Did he touch you?" Jess stammered over the last sentence. He didn't know what he would do if he had.
"No, but it was........."
"What?"
"I can't explain it." Rory yelled in frustration. At everything. At all the things that had gone horribly wrong that day. And now she was yelling at Jess.
"Sorry, jeez. I'm just trying to understand what happened here." Jess was sure to not be condescending. He was just worried. Something had happened with Rory and he didn't know what.
"Me too."
"So talk to me."
"Well I went into the restaurant. Went into the restroom."
"Okay." Jess nodded.
"And afterwards, I was looking in the mirror and he walks in." The memory of looking at her reflection and seeing the door swing open was there in her mind. The dread of knowing that there was a man, and she as a girl alone. It was as if it was happening all over again.
"And you were fully clothed at this juncture?"
"Yes."
"Thank god."
"Any ways......he walks in saying that the guy's bathroom was long."
"That's bullshit." Jess shook his head.
"I know."
"We never have lines. Girls' bathrooms are the ones with the crazy lines."
"I know."
"Was there anyone else in there with you?"
"No."
"Aw man." This is where it gets bad, Jess thought, this is where I screwed up
"Yeah, and then he started asking me about school-"
"School?"
"My uniform." Jess knew that guys liked girls in uniforms. It was a fetish for a lot. It irked Jess to think of men looking at Rory in her uniform and thinking sexual things about her. It must have been the uniform that attracted his sick perverted attention, Jess thought.
"And then I tried to leave, I did, but he wouldn't let me."
"What did he do exactly?"
"He put his arm on the door when I tried to open it."
"He didn't grab you?"
"No but he did try to touch my hair."
"Your hair?"
"He was saying that it was soft and other things."
"What other things?" Jess raised his voice. He wanted to know exactly what happened. What he had said to Rory.
"I don't know!? That I was nice and then he started going off about how he saw me when I walked in. And I thought about screaming but I guess technically he hadn't really done anything and I would just look stupid."
"So what happened next?"
"This woman walked in and I ran out, and that's when you saw me."
"That's it." Jess sighed in relief.
"Yeah that's it." Rory realized that nothing had really happened at all. She had just overreacted. She felt the tears come again when Jess leaned in and kissed her, softly. Just to let her know that things were alright and that he was there for her.
"Listen, let's get out of here. We were really lucky tonight. I don't want to think what could have happened."
"Lets not." Rory leaned in and kissed Jess again. In the middle of the street in Times Square. This is the person I have become, she thought as Jess dove tentatively into Rory's mouth.
"Alright. You ready to call it a night?" Rory's eyes were still closed when Jess spoke.
"Definitely." Rory and Jess walked to the curb side by side silently. Jess raised his hand at yellow cabs that swooshed by and did not stop. Everyone of them had someone in the back seat. Rory put her backpack on and hugged the record in her arms. It had stopped raining as hard but, but she could see water falling down the side of Jess' face. She felt she should say something then, that they had been silent too long. "Some night."
"I'll say." Jess looked over at Rory and nodded. Her hair getting wetter and somehow, though he didn't think possible, her eyes getting bluer.