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Disclaimer: same old, same old - its story time!
*The following afternoon - one day until departure Lorelai was at Sookie's house; Jackson was busy doing Jackson things.
"Lorelai!" Sookie exclaimed. She was flabbergasted at the sight of her friend. "Why aren't you in Europe? What happened? Is Rory ok?"
"Whoa, Sookie, calm down! Rory is fine; everything is fine. Europe just isn't going to happen this year," it pained Lorelai to say it.
"I don't understand - you guys were looking so forward to it. Lorelai, what's up?"
"Something happened at Rory's graduation party; something I'm not exactly proud of -something involving Luke." Lorelai hesitated to finish her thought.
"Oh, oh my." Sookie's expression changed rapidly into an anxious grin.
"It's not like that Sookie; well it is - but it's not. Oh, I don't know. I'm saying everything wrong." Lorelai was visibly flustered.
"Talk to me hon. Tell me what's bothering you."
"All I know for sure is that I need to make things right again with Luke. So-Rory and I are going on a cruise!"
"Oooh a cruise, how fun! But, why a cruise?"
"Because Sookie, Luke is going on a cruise with Nicole. I have to talk to him, and my going on the cruise is the only way. I can't sit on this."
"I see. Does Luke know?"
"No -and I'd like to keep it that way, ok?" Lorelai glared at Sookie with an expression that would have even prevented Miss Patty (the queen of gossip) from gossiping.
"Ok, ok. No gossiping, gotcha."
"Sookie, there is one more thing -" Lorelai paused for a reaction.
"What? What is it?" Sookie felt as though she was entrapped in a real-life soap opera.
"I need you to come with me!"
"Come with you where?" Sookie was a little slow sometimes.
"On the cruise Sookie! Where else?" Lorelai's impatience was swelling.
"You need me to go on the cruise," Sookie confirmed. "Why do you need me to go on the cruise?"
"I need you there for emotional support. I don't think I can do this on my own."
"But Lorelai, you've got Rory."
"I haven't exactly filled her in on all the 'Luke details' yet."
"Oh," Sookie was confused - a feeling that she had been experiencing quite frequently throughout this conversation.
"I need to figure things out first, you know, before Rory gets involved."
"I understand." Finally, the words Lorelai had been waiting to hear. It may have taken her a while, but Sookie eventually clued in, she always did. "What about Jackson?"
"Jackson can come too. The more the merrier, right?"
"Right! Enough said; Jackson and I are on board - tee hee hee hee - no pun intended!"
Lorelai laughed at her easily amused friend. "Are you sure Jackson will be ok with it?"
"Oh he'll love it! I'm so excited - it'll be like a second honeymoon! Sookie was giddy with delight.
"Terrific! Sookie I'm so glad you're coming. Now lets go get us some tickets, shall we?"
"We shall, we shall! Umm, where exactly are we cruising to?"
"Alaska! Won't it be fun? Cold, but fun," Lorelai was quite the saleswoman.
"Uh, yeah - right! Well what are we waiting for, lets go!" Sookie's unfettered enthusiasm could brighten anyone's day, even Taylor's.
*As afternoon becomes night, Sookie and Lorelai, with tickets in hand, attempt to reveal their exciting news to Jackson. It was lucky they got tickets too, apparently there were only four tickets left at the travel agency - how convenient!
"What? Sookie are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?" Jackson obviously wasn't taking the news too well.
"Jackson, this was supposed to be good news! Why aren't you happy, you're supposed to be happy!"
Lorelai was slowly inching towards the door to escape the madness.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Jackson startled Lorelai. "I'm guessing you're the one behind all this."
Damn, I was that close, Lorelai thought. "Look Jackson, I know what you must be thinking, but believe me, this cruise is going to be really great. And since we bought the last of tickets, we got a super discount!"
"Oh boy, that's another thing - Sookie, how are we going to pay for this?" Jackson was beyond frustrated.
"Uh, I better go Sook. Call me later." This time, Lorelai snuck out successfully. Jackson's mind was certainly occupied.
"Ok, bye hon," Sookie sighed, knowing she had a long night ahead of her.
*Lorelai and Rory spent a large part of the night packing, well talking and packing, ok - mostly talking, but there was some packing going on. Finally, the phone rang and Lorelai grabbed it after a single ring.
"Lorelai?" asked Sookie.
"Sookie?" answered Lorelai.
"Yeah, its me."
"So? Are we still good to go?" Lorelai's curiosity was running wild.
"Yeah, we're still good to go," Sookie confirmed, although not wholeheartedly.
"What is it Sook? You don't sound so thrilled."
"Well, it's just that - Jackson is really upset with me, and I'm afraid he'll drain all the romance out of this vacation."
"Aw, I'm so sorry Sookie, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have pressured you to go."
"Don't worry about it Lorelai. I'm sure he'll sleep it off He tends to overreact to things in general."
"Well they don't call a cruise ship 'the love boat' for no reason. You guys are going to have a great time, I promise."
"I hope so - well, I better get packing. Jackson and I will meet you at your place in the morning. Hopefully by then I will have smoothed things over. Goodnight Lorelai!"
"Night Sookie!"
*To be continued Please R/R
Disclaimer: same old, same old - its story time!
*The following afternoon - one day until departure Lorelai was at Sookie's house; Jackson was busy doing Jackson things.
"Lorelai!" Sookie exclaimed. She was flabbergasted at the sight of her friend. "Why aren't you in Europe? What happened? Is Rory ok?"
"Whoa, Sookie, calm down! Rory is fine; everything is fine. Europe just isn't going to happen this year," it pained Lorelai to say it.
"I don't understand - you guys were looking so forward to it. Lorelai, what's up?"
"Something happened at Rory's graduation party; something I'm not exactly proud of -something involving Luke." Lorelai hesitated to finish her thought.
"Oh, oh my." Sookie's expression changed rapidly into an anxious grin.
"It's not like that Sookie; well it is - but it's not. Oh, I don't know. I'm saying everything wrong." Lorelai was visibly flustered.
"Talk to me hon. Tell me what's bothering you."
"All I know for sure is that I need to make things right again with Luke. So-Rory and I are going on a cruise!"
"Oooh a cruise, how fun! But, why a cruise?"
"Because Sookie, Luke is going on a cruise with Nicole. I have to talk to him, and my going on the cruise is the only way. I can't sit on this."
"I see. Does Luke know?"
"No -and I'd like to keep it that way, ok?" Lorelai glared at Sookie with an expression that would have even prevented Miss Patty (the queen of gossip) from gossiping.
"Ok, ok. No gossiping, gotcha."
"Sookie, there is one more thing -" Lorelai paused for a reaction.
"What? What is it?" Sookie felt as though she was entrapped in a real-life soap opera.
"I need you to come with me!"
"Come with you where?" Sookie was a little slow sometimes.
"On the cruise Sookie! Where else?" Lorelai's impatience was swelling.
"You need me to go on the cruise," Sookie confirmed. "Why do you need me to go on the cruise?"
"I need you there for emotional support. I don't think I can do this on my own."
"But Lorelai, you've got Rory."
"I haven't exactly filled her in on all the 'Luke details' yet."
"Oh," Sookie was confused - a feeling that she had been experiencing quite frequently throughout this conversation.
"I need to figure things out first, you know, before Rory gets involved."
"I understand." Finally, the words Lorelai had been waiting to hear. It may have taken her a while, but Sookie eventually clued in, she always did. "What about Jackson?"
"Jackson can come too. The more the merrier, right?"
"Right! Enough said; Jackson and I are on board - tee hee hee hee - no pun intended!"
Lorelai laughed at her easily amused friend. "Are you sure Jackson will be ok with it?"
"Oh he'll love it! I'm so excited - it'll be like a second honeymoon! Sookie was giddy with delight.
"Terrific! Sookie I'm so glad you're coming. Now lets go get us some tickets, shall we?"
"We shall, we shall! Umm, where exactly are we cruising to?"
"Alaska! Won't it be fun? Cold, but fun," Lorelai was quite the saleswoman.
"Uh, yeah - right! Well what are we waiting for, lets go!" Sookie's unfettered enthusiasm could brighten anyone's day, even Taylor's.
*As afternoon becomes night, Sookie and Lorelai, with tickets in hand, attempt to reveal their exciting news to Jackson. It was lucky they got tickets too, apparently there were only four tickets left at the travel agency - how convenient!
"What? Sookie are you crazy? Have you lost your mind?" Jackson obviously wasn't taking the news too well.
"Jackson, this was supposed to be good news! Why aren't you happy, you're supposed to be happy!"
Lorelai was slowly inching towards the door to escape the madness.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Jackson startled Lorelai. "I'm guessing you're the one behind all this."
Damn, I was that close, Lorelai thought. "Look Jackson, I know what you must be thinking, but believe me, this cruise is going to be really great. And since we bought the last of tickets, we got a super discount!"
"Oh boy, that's another thing - Sookie, how are we going to pay for this?" Jackson was beyond frustrated.
"Uh, I better go Sook. Call me later." This time, Lorelai snuck out successfully. Jackson's mind was certainly occupied.
"Ok, bye hon," Sookie sighed, knowing she had a long night ahead of her.
*Lorelai and Rory spent a large part of the night packing, well talking and packing, ok - mostly talking, but there was some packing going on. Finally, the phone rang and Lorelai grabbed it after a single ring.
"Lorelai?" asked Sookie.
"Sookie?" answered Lorelai.
"Yeah, its me."
"So? Are we still good to go?" Lorelai's curiosity was running wild.
"Yeah, we're still good to go," Sookie confirmed, although not wholeheartedly.
"What is it Sook? You don't sound so thrilled."
"Well, it's just that - Jackson is really upset with me, and I'm afraid he'll drain all the romance out of this vacation."
"Aw, I'm so sorry Sookie, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have pressured you to go."
"Don't worry about it Lorelai. I'm sure he'll sleep it off He tends to overreact to things in general."
"Well they don't call a cruise ship 'the love boat' for no reason. You guys are going to have a great time, I promise."
"I hope so - well, I better get packing. Jackson and I will meet you at your place in the morning. Hopefully by then I will have smoothed things over. Goodnight Lorelai!"
"Night Sookie!"
*To be continued Please R/R