Chapter 5
Five months. Rory packed up her books and made her way over to table to pick up her lucky pen. She would be glad when this semester was finally over. As she reached for the Montblanc, she took a look at the clock. The time was 7:00am.
Picking up her backpack and sweater, she carefully and quietly made her way out to the common area. Paris didn't have a class this morning and was a light sleeper. During last semester,she'd clashed with their former roommate Janice on more than one occasion over excessive morning noise. Rory didn't want to reopen that can of worms, so she put forth her best effort to keep their room as quiet as possible.
Connecticut was seasonably warm, thankfully, so she grabbed her brown leather jacket from the coat hook. Her regular winter things were still packed up in Stars Hollow and the cold weather was going to come. Rory shuddered to think about going there and the weather had nothing to do with it.
She took her cellphone out and dialed Dean's number.
"Honey, it's me. I hate mornings."
On the other end, Dean put down the glass of orange juice he'd been drinking. "Headed to Civics?"
"Yeah. Thursdays suck."
"I thought it was Friday's that sucked."
Ever since their relationship had become public knowledge, Friday night dinners in the Gilmore household had become painful and uncomfortable. Not only had her grandparents separated, but they presented a twisted united union with Lorelai in never mentioning her relationship with Dean.
"Yeah," she agreed,"they also suck."
"I promise we'll do something fun on Saturday. I've got the day off."
"Don't forget, I need to study in the morning."
He laughed,"No, I didn't forget. But in the afternoon, how about we head into New York and catch a movie."
"And go to the Strand?"
"That means a late night. You browse for hours and nearly got lost in the stacks last time, remember?"
"I promise to keep it under two hours. Can we afford it though?"
"If we keep to the 'no books you aren't going to immediately read' we'll be fine. It's a deal then. Oh, I told Gypsy about August."
"And you got the time off?"
"For now, yes. I think she was mostly in shock when I told her."
Rory had been invited to a two week seminar on French Surrealist writers at the American College in Paris and had asked Dean to come along with her. The news had hit both of their families like the proverbial substance hitting the fan.
"I can't believe we're really doing this," Rory said, smiling as she looked up at Rosman Hall.
"Well, we are. And I couldn't be happier."
"How the hell are you going to manage? The design course you're taking sounds hard."
"Well, it probably is. But working with Tom showed me the basics of rudimentary design and structure. I figured that as long as I was going to be with you, I might as well look into something that interests me."
"My Dean, future interior designer."
"Maybe architect. You never know."
"Whatever you turn out to be will be great," she said rushing up the stairs,"but right now what I have to be is gone. Gone to class."
"Got it. Call me later."
Dean had been lucky to have Gypsy as a friend. Not only was she able to help him get the little apartment he and Rory loved, but she'd also gotten him a good part-time job at her uncle's garage in Hartford. That added to the work he did for Tom's construction company was more than enough to pay the monthly bills and put some money away on the side.
But it was the work he did with Tom that had turned the tide in his favor. Dean started off doing simple construction, but Tom took him under his wing after the scandal of his breakup had hit every gossipmonger's hangout in Stars Hollow. He could never pay Tom back for all the help he'd provided and the advice he'd given to him.
"Kid, we all screw up but it ain't the measure of the mess-up that defines what kind of man you are. It's how you deal with it."
Tom had become a good friend, sharing with Dean the story of his own failed teen marriage. With his own family in turmoil, it was good to have someone on his side who didn't despise him for backing out of an unwinnable situation.
True to her word, Lindsay had filed for divorce. She'd been extremely fair, asking only for a settlement that would help get her set up in North Carolina. Clara snooped around and reported that she'd started seeing someone and that she was working in a printing shop.
Placing his glass in the sink, Dean grabbed his jacket and keys and headed out the door. Today would be hopefully be a slow day at the garage and Friday's were his all day CAD sessions. He couldn't wait for Saturday to come.
His phone rang, disrupting his train of thought.
"Dean."
"Lorelai?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry to bother you, but I got your number from Clara. She told me you worked early today."
"I was on my way there actually."
"Listen, I'd like to talk to you. Are you free for lunch today?"
This should be interesting, he thought to himself. Lorelai had been evasive for months.
"Sure. One o'clock works for me."
"One it is. But not at the Dragonfly. Too many ears all over the place."
"Right. There's a place in Hartford right off Drexter. It's called Charlston's."
"I think I know it. I'll see you then."
The morning flew back in the path of expectation. Lorelai arrived at ten to the hour to find Dean was already there. He rose to say hello as she approached the table.
"Hey," she greeted him casually.
"Hey yourself," Dean replied, bending to kiss her cheek. He took a step to help her remove her jacket, placing it on the hook across from where they were seated.
"Thanks," she said. Dean was being polite and looked more than a bit nervous.
"It's no problem," he insisted, waiting until she sat down before following suit.
A waiter arrived and took their drink orders. Lorelai took a peremptory look around the place, tapping her hands on the table nervously.
"Lorelai," Dean inquired,"are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm many things but alright is not one of them."
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Take a guess."
"If it's about Rory-"
"Of course it's about Rory! My daughter's the pariah of Stars Hollow, she hasn't talked to me in months, she's practically shacking up with you-"
She'd started yelling and attracted the attention of several patrons, who simply shook their heads and ignored the outburst.
"-and she hasn't trusted me in months. So, does that answer your question?"
"I'm so sorry, Lorelai," he whispered,"so incredibly sorry for everything that's going on. If I could change the stupid choices I made, I would. You've got to understand that I'd rather assume all blame. I hate that this is happening to you and Rory."
She sighed. What was the use in beating him over the head with the morality stick? It wasn't as if he hadn't gotten his own share of floggings.
"Dean, I realize that. I'm sorry for yelling but I am at my wit's end. I have no idea what's going on in my daugther's life."
"I don't know what Rory would think-"
"God, Dean," she pleaded,"do you have any idea how hard this is for me?"
He shook his head and hoped he was doing the right thing. "What do you want to know? I'll answer your questions."
"First of all, are you separated? Divorced?"
"My divorce becomes official next month."
She looked shocked. "I,er. Uh. Words. Words would be so nice right about now."
"You didn't know."
"Dean, I had no idea. She hasn't told me a thing."
"I can see that."
"She mentioned going to Paris in the summer for some course."
"Yep. Surrealist Writers. We're going together."
"My parents won't like that. I think they were going to have her stay at my aunt's."
"Well, we've got a place. Rory and I rented a small studio in the Marais."
"Marais?"
"Trust me. You could test me on the arrondisements and I'd pass with flying colors."
"And what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Are you working? Studying?"
"I've got two jobs. The first one is with Tom and the other is in Hartford. I'm also taking a few classes."
"Classes?"
"Computer assisted drafting and interiors. Turns out I've got a knack for design."
"Dean, that sounds great. You sound very happy."
"I am. Work is good, classes are good but Rory is the best. She gives me strength. She never stopped believing that I'd find something I could go after."
"Yeah, she's great."
"She's your kid. I wouldn't expect any less of her."
"I'm so-"
"Lorelai, don't apologize. I made a huge mess of things and you should be angry at me. I deserve that. But what I want you to know is that I love her. We're together and we love each other."
"You should have seen the fight she had with Emily and Richard. They tried setting up this party for her with the sons of all their friends," Lorelai laughed as she recalled that disastrous dinner. "I think she threw her chin up and told them to get stuffed."
"Such an Anglophile."
"Yeah," she replied, smiling and wiping a tear from her eye. "She's quite a girl."
Their drinks arrived and Lorelai inhaled half a cup of coffee in one gulp.
"We'd better order fast."
"Why the rush?"
"Because the caffeine rush is bringing more questions to mind and I've got this whole interrogation routine that I've always wanted to do. It was on Monty that time we rented the entire-"
He watched her ramble on with a smile on her face, confident that things were on their way to getting better. Signaling to their server, they got menus and ordered lunch.