A/N: Hey everybody! I was thinking of just skipping ahead, but I have to have the morning after the date. That makes it fun! Thanks to all who reviewed! Enjoy!

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Lorelai groggily walked downstairs in her work clothes. She saw Rory sitting at the table in the kitchen with a huge grin on her face. "Why are you so cheery?" Lorelai asked as she grabbed a cup of coffee.

"You came in at like midnight," Rory said as she sipped her coffee.

Lorelai shrugged. "We talked."

"You talk almost every day."

"This was different, I really got to talk to him."

"By really talking, you mean you talked and he listened, right?"

Lorelai shook her head. "Luke said some things."

"Like what?"

"Well, I was complaining of how I'll never get the inn perfect, and he was reassuring me that it already is perfect and he loved it."

"Luke said the word 'love?'"

"No, he said he enjoyed it."

"You know you shouldn't twist someone's words around."

"I haven't had my daily quota of coffee yet, I'll twist my own words."

"So, tell me all about the date," Rory said excitedly.

"Well, I haven't actually finished telling you about the other night."

"Ooh, there's more?"

"And you doubted there was?"

"You're right, never underestimate Lorelai Gilmore."

"Exactly."

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Lorelai and Rory walked into the diner as the morning crowed slowly died down. They sat at a table and waited for Luke to come by.

"Hey," he said as he poured their cups with coffee.

"Hey Teddy," Rory said with a smile.

Luke looked at Lorelai. "You told her?"

Lorelai smiled as she lifted up her cup. "Of course, Teddy, darling."

"I don't want either of you calling me that anymore," he said as he walked away.

"But Teddy, I need your assistance," Lorelai called with a fake country accent.

"Teddy?" Patty asked them from the table next to theirs'.

Lorelai looked at her. "Yeah, Luke made a comment about teddy bears and now we're torturing him. It's enough we're doing it, please don't tell anyone else, I don't want to die before the inn opening."

Patty smiled. "Don't worry, dear, your secret's safe with me." She watched Luke bring food out to someone. "You know, he looks like he could be as cuddly as a teddy bear."

Lorelai nearly spit out her coffee. "What?" she asked wiping her mouth with her hand.

"Well, he does."

Lorelai looked at Luke. She caught his eye and gave him a slight smile. "Yeah, I guess he could be."

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Lorelai walked into the inn with a huge grin on her face. "Good morning, Michel."

"You think the morning is good? I have to come in to work when my poor babies are sick," Michel said with a scowl.

"Ah, cheer up. It's going to be a really good day." She smiled widely.

"Your smiling annoys me."

"Good to know. Now, tell everyone that we're going to have a meeting in my office in five minutes."

"Why should I?"

"Because I'll convince Sookie to make you an egg white omelet," Lorelai said over her shoulder as she made her way to her office.

Once she got in the office, she sat down behind her desk and picked up the phone. She dialed a number and heard it ring twice before someone picked up.

"Luke's," Luke said irritably.

"Someone's grouchy," Lorelai said.

"Taylor."

"Obviously. What did he try to make you do this time?"

"He wants me hang up signs for the dance marathon coming up."

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Isn't that in August, though?"

"September, but he wants the whole town to turn up."

"That makes the dance floor even more crowded," Lorelai said as she straightened some papers on her desk.

"Tell me about it. I keep refusing to put up any stupid signs. He knows I won't go."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not. You can't make me."

"You sound like a baby. See, you made the mistake of showing me you could dance, and now you have to suffer for it."

"I already suffered last night."

"Dirty," Lorelai said with a smile.

"Why do I always set myself up?"

"You like it."

"I don't."

"Fine. Look, I didn't call to bicker. I wanted to thank you for last night. I had a great time."

"Yeah, me too."

"So, what did you want to do next time?"

"I don't know," Luke said. "I guess we could do the same thing."

"Except you'd be picking out the movie?"

"Exactly."

"You know, I heard 'King Arthur' was supposed to start soon. Sounds like a macho movie to me."

"We'll see."

"How's Wednesday?"

"I'm closing. How about Tuesday?"

"That's tomorrow."

"Really, I had no idea," Luke said sarcastically.

"'King Arthur' isn't supposed to start until Wednesday."

"Then we'll see another movie."

"So you want to see 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?'"

"You know, I could probably ask Lane to switch nights."

Lorelai smiled. "I thought so." There was a knock on her door. "Oh, I have to go, staff meeting. I'll talk to you later. Bye, Teddy."

"Bye."

Lorelai hung up the phone and said, "Come on in." The door opened and Sookie entered followed by all her helpers. She sat on one of the chairs in front of Lorelai's desk, her apprentices stood behind her. Michel followed them and sat in the other vacant chair. Tom then entered with his entire construction crew. Lorelai saw Dean enter and imagined ten different deaths for him. Lorelai then surveyed the room with everyone in it and said to Michel, "Couldn't the maids or groundskeepers come?"

"I brought in the people we have issues with," Michel said as he shifted in his seat.

Lorelai sighed and looked at the crowd. "Ok, let's get started. We have only four more days to get everything ready. Sookie, have you decided yet?" Sookie shook her head sadly. "All right, I'll just have to take care of it." She looked at the kitchen staff. "Guys, there's seven of you, and we only have enough money for five. Either two of you can quit or I can fire two of you. That's your choice now who wants to be the better person and quit. We can recommend you to other restaurants or inns. So, who's first?"

"Um, Ms. Gilmore?" a small girl in the middle of the line said while raising her hand.

"Yes, Cassie?"

"Well, I just have to say, I really love it here, and I would love to stay with you guys. See, cooking for me is more of a hobby than a job, and if I was able to stay here, I'd work for free."

"Oh, no Cassie, I can't do that to you."

"No, really, Ms. Gilmore, I find this more of a fun thing than a requirement. I already have a job. I was just waiting to see which place I liked better. Well, I love it here, so I don't need the money."

Lorelai stared at Cassie. "I should really be insulted that you're working for someone else. But, surprisingly I'm not. I feel guilty that I wouldn't be paying you."

"Oh don't be! It's like a dream come true for me to work with one of the greatest chefs on the East Coast." Sookie blushed. "I'm being paid from the excitement of the dishes Sookie creates! It's great!"

Lorelai smiled. "I knew I liked you, kid. You really know how to win your way in."

"I can stay?"

"You can stay. But I'll try to make something for you later on."

"Oh, there's no need," Cassis said waving her hand.

"Ok. Well, one down, one to go." Lorelai stood up to look at the rest of the chefs. She started pacing in front of them. "So, no one's speaking up. Ok, I wish I didn't have to this but," she said raising her hand and pointed at the first person. "Ini, mini, miney, mo, catch a tiger by his toe, if he hollers let him go, ini, mini, miney, mo. My mom told me to pick the very best one and you are it!" Lorelai pointed at each of the people until she landed on the boy standing right in front of her. "Jake."

Jake looked down at his feet. "So I'm out?"

Lorelai said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Jake. You really are good." Lorelai suddenly got an idea. "Hey, weren't you the one who likes to experiment with different kinds of foods?"

"Yeah," Jake said looking up.

"Hmm, so if I got you a job anywhere, you would take it?"

"Of course!"

Lorelai walked over to her desk and picked up the phone as she was dialing the number she said, "You live in Hartford, right?"

"Yeah."

The person on the other line answered the phone. "Hey! What would you say if I said I have a new cook for you?....I'm talking about you hiring a new kid who can cook anything. His name is Jake, he's twenty, and he has really good manners." Lorelai looked over at Jake and gave him a smile. "Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver. You rock, Teddy," Lorelai said. She then hung up the phone.

"Who's Teddy?" Sookie asked.

"Huh? Oh, it's my new nickname for Luke." She looked at Jake. "In a few minutes, I'm going to send you over to Luke's and he's gonna check out your cooking skills, ok?"

"Luke's Diner?"

"The one and only."

"All right! I love using the grill."

Lorelai smiled. "Well, then, you better make sure you're hired." Lorelai took at deep breath. "Ok, now that the staff is settled, Tom, what's new with you?"

"You didn't pay all the money for last week's installment," Tom said.

"I know, we've been a little low."

"There's something you want me to do, huh?"

"Fit the budget. That's all I can give you."

"Fine, I'll have to fire three of my guys, though."

"Can you get rid of the three guys before I send them off?"

"No, they all work too hard."

Lorelai sighed and went over to the construction workers. "I'll do it then." She went to stand in front of one of the guys. "What's your name?"

"Hank," the guy said shyly.

"Hank," Lorelai said with a smile. "Weren't you the on that knocked a whole in one of the bedroom walls?"

"Yes, ma'am, but I fixed it right away."

"Yes you did, but it was still pretty flimsy so I had to get someone else up there to refix your mistake."

"I'm sorry; I'm not very good with walls."

Lorelai sighed. "I know; you're more of a floor guy."

"Yes ma'am."

"Yeah, but I'm still going to have to fire you."

Hank looked down at his feet. "I don't blame you, ma'am."

She smiled at him and went down to stand in front of another worker. "Sal, right?"

"Sam."

"Sorry. You dropped that lumber on Michel's foot."

"I apologized to him. He was just getting in the way, though."

"Yes, he was. But I didn't happen to see what went down, so I'm sorry to say this, but you have to go."

Sam looked at his feet. "Sure."

Lorelai walked down the rest of the line and stood in front of Dean. "Dean."

"Lorelai," Dean said without hesitation. He looked unafraid, but she noticed that his eyes gave away his fear.

She sighed wishing she had a good reason to fire him. "Dean, I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job on the banister, but it does need more sanding down."

She started to walk away when Dean said, "That's it? You're not going to fire me?"

"Why would I do that? You're one of the safest workers here."

"Well I just thought that..."

"Dean, I'm a professional. I don't let personal matters get involved. But if you do screw up, you're gone."

"Ok."

Lorelai noticed the guy next to Dean. "Who are you?"

"I'm Nick."

"I've never seen you before."

"Well then you don't look."

"I've seen everyone else here except you."

"I must've been out of the room when you went in," he said sarcastically.

"I don't really like your attitude."

"I don't really like your inn."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes. "Get out."

"Girly, I'm older than you; I don't have to listen to you."

"Excuse me? You work for me."

"I work for Tom."

"Then Tom will fire you." Lorelai walked back to her desk and sat down. "Ok, all of those who were dismissed, I wish you the best of luck. Everyone else still working here, get to work." Everyone left Lorelai's office so she could calm down. Suddenly there was a knock on her door. "Come in," Lorelai said while massaging her temples. The door opened and in came...

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A/N: I decided to have a staff meeting because I'm probably not going to have a whole lot going on with the Dragonfly. Please tell me what you think by reviewing. Au revoir for now!