CHAPTER 9

Hours passed since Tristin lost his cool. He was sorry. Since she walked out the door, he knew he would be going through a confidence course to have her take him back. She was right. All she wanted to do was apologize and he was not better off hurting her like she did him.

It's dark and he doesn't see her car in front of the Gilmore cottage. He wondered where she was. Did she get home safely? Was she still upset with him?

He stared at the bouquet of flowers sitting at his passenger seat. He had the whole thing rehearsed: he was going to knock on her door, give her the flowers and ask her out properly like a decent guy would. None of this petty teasing and prattling like they were in a schoolyard.

A tap on his car window interrupted his thoughts.

"Sir, do you know you're parked illegally on this street?" Kirk, dressed as a meter maid informed the surprised Tristin.

"No, I didn't know that. Thanks for the warning," he said politely.

"And stalking is also a violation of the safety code here in Stars Hollow," Kirk added.

Tristin rolled his eyes at the annoying man. "I get it. I'm taking off."

Kirk stared at Tristin for a moment. "Sir, if you're leaving, do you know where you're going?"

Tristin shot an incredulous stare at Kirk. "Alright, in what general direction can you tell me I may find a Gilmore?"

Kirk tilted his head to a side like a confused dog. "I don't understand. Do you mean Lorelai or the daughter, Rory?"

"Pick," Tristin said. "I don't care which one you choose. Just point me to one of them."

"You'd have better luck finding Lorelai. She usually is in two places: The Dragonfly or Luke's," he informed him. "The Dragonfly's down the road to the left and Luke's about a third of a mile into town from here."

"Thank you," Tristin said to him as he pulled away, screeching his tires.

"If you're looking for Rory, she's left town," Kirk muttered as the green SUV sped away.

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"Michel, I found the pens you've been antagonizing me with for the past couple of weeks," Lorelai said, shaking the box of pens over her head.

"Oh, goody, I can die a happy man now," Michel sarcastically answered as he tried to snatch the pens from her. "Please, give them to me."

"Only if you say I am the best boss, ever," Lorelai dared.

"For a woman who poses to be my source of income, you are very childish," Michel bantered rolling his eyes at Lorelai.

"Oh, come on now, Frenchie. A little office humor never hurt co-workers," Lorelai teased.

"Off you go, Satan. You bore me," Michel shooed Lorelai away.

"Fine," Lorelai conceded. She plopped the box of pens in front of Michel and walked to her office.

Michel was flipping through the books when he noticed a young gentleman standing by the door with a beautiful arrangement of flowers.

"May I help you, sir?" Michel asked the guest formally.

He marched towards the desk. "Yes, I was hoping to find Lorelai Gilmore, please?"

"One moment, please," Michel informed him as he got on the phone. "Lorelai, I think you have a guest at the front desk."

Lorelai uttered something on the phone to Michel. He cussed at her in French before hanging up. Tristin hid a smile as he translated Michel's words in his head.

"Hey, Tristin. What are you doing here?" Lorelai asked, giving him a hug.

"Oh, I just need someone to talk to," he said, flashing her a timid smile and returning her gesture. "Oh, and I guess, these are for you." He handed her the bouquet of flowers.

"How thoughtful of you," Lorelai said. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," he responded.

"Uhm, you know I am grateful that someone brought me flowers but I have a feeling that those flowers were intended for another Lorelai, right?"

"Can we talk about this outside" Tristin asked.

"Sure," Lorelai said as she walked out of the inn with Tristin, flowers in tow.

"I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry," he started.

"For what?" Lorelai asked, playing innocent to the events that transpired between her daughter and him.

"For hurting Rory and losing your trust," he said bluntly.

"Is there anything I need to be worried about?" she asked.

Tristin stopped walking and pondered. "I came here to apologize to her for something I did. I handled things badly and I think she's not going to like me around any time soon. I just hope that you..." he stuttered, "you would not lose faith in me."

A look of concern flashed on Lorelai's face. "Is Rory okay?"

"I haven't seen her since early this afternoon. We fought and I raised my voice to her. Needless to say, we didn't come up to a resolution to our ... dilemma."

"Well," Lorelai stalled, "Just give her some time, Tristin. She's been through a lot of stress recently and I think she just needs some 'me' time to figure things out. As much as you don't want me to lose faith in you, I don't want you giving up on her either."

"Are you serious? I think she'd be with a leper first before she'd have me," Tristin said.

"Unlikely. She's a neat freak and the thought of rotting flesh littering the house would gross her out," Lorelai informed him.

Tristin chuckled. He sees where Rory gets her whip-smart humor. He was amazed at how much of Lorelai he sees in Rory.

"About the flowers..." Tristin said.

"They're Rory's and you want me to give them to her," Lorelai deduced.

"I didn't get to see her when I drove to your home, so yeah, the flowers were for her but I think you can put them to use other than a garbage bin," he said.

"Will do, buddy. I think I can find it a home," Lorelai said as she walked Tristin to his ride.

She watched him round the bend and take off for the main streets. Sighing, she walked back into the inn sniffing the flowers Tristin handed her.

"Oh, how sad!" Michel cried out.

"What is?" Lorelai asked.

"The flowers. They're so sad," he repeated.

"The fact that they're Rory's and now they're mine?" Lorelai questioned.

Michel threw his hands in the air. "You Americans. You don't even know a thing about the art of floral arrangements. Just because they are put together in a bunch does not make them beautiful. Each flower means something." He haughtily responded.

"Then educate me on how sad this arrangement is," Lorelai challenged.

"You see here," he started as he grabbed the arrangement and put it in front of them to discuss, "The carnations stands for fidelity and love while the sweet peas intertwined is telling her to think of the person who gave the flower because he is leaving. The baby's breath means pure of heart. And the fern," he suddenly changed his tone, "means magic and sincerity and fascination. Someone has their heart broken."

"And I bet I know who caused it." Lorelai sighed, taking in what Michel just to her.

She confirmed it about half an hour later when she found her daughter's scribbled note on the dining table saying she's out with a friend that night and not to wait up or call her unless a true emergency happened.

"Crummy," Lorelai said out loud. "Apparently, guys and tornadoes have something in common: they don't make Rorys come home."

Lorelai just hoped that the friend she was out with wasn't a dark-head kid named Dean.