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reviewing - it keeps me sane. Now, buckle up and get ready for the next,
highly anticipated chapter. Its gonna be a bumpy, action-packed, roller
coaster ride, so hold on - and read on!
-Luke swallowed hard as he reluctantly approached Lorelai. He wasn't angry, he wasn't necessarily happy either. He was neutral. "Nice selection isn't it?" Luke was referring to the food displayed before them. He waited in anticipation of her response.
A chill ran down Lorelai's spine. She immediately recognized the voice and was petrified to look the owner in the eye, let alone respond to his previous comment.
"Lorelai?" Her failure to acknowledge his presence surprised Luke.
"Uh," Lorelai barely managed to get out one syllable.
"Lorelai - what the hell are you doing here?" Luke was done playing nice, or neutral.
Finally, Lorelai awoke from her trance. "Well, well - what are you doing here?" She was back to her old habit of avoidance.
"Taking a lady's advice," Luke stated matter-of-factly. "You did tell me to go on this cruise, didn't you?"
"Are you going to listen to everything I say?"
Luke was growing impatient. His tone became serious and urgent. "Lorelai, why are you here, on this ship?"
"Oh geez, I'm so sorry Luke. I didn't know that this ship belonged to you. I didn't realize I needed your permission to come aboard. How thoughtless of me," now she was patronizing him.
"Why is it that we can never have an adult conversation?" Luke was perturbed; it was like pulling teeth here. "What happened to Europe?"
"Nothing happened to Europe - I just hear that it can be incredibly dull and rainy around this time of year." A most pathetic cover-up.
"It's always dull and rainy there," Luke retorted.
Before Lorelai could react, another familiar, yet unwelcoming voice interrupted.
"Luke, what's taking you so long? I've been waiting patiently at our table and," Nicole stopped mid-sentence and nearly keeled over. "Lorelai!"
"Nicole!" answered Lorelai, equally stunned. She was getting indigestion
"Lorelai!" Nicole again announced the obvious.
"Nicole!" Lorelai repeated. This was a fun game.
"Luke!" Nicole accusingly voiced his name. "What's going on?"
Luke was so busy enjoying the previous repartee between Lorelai and Nicole that he hadn't prepared a suitable explanation for the latter. "Uh, you uh - Lorelai, why don't you, uh," Luke was at a loss for words; a common occurrence.
Lorelai took the reins and explained as best she could. "Nicole, this may sound strange, but Rory, dear sweet daughter of mine, begged me endlessly to go on this cruise. Deep down, she's always wanted to go cruising and I've been thwarting her dreams. I'm a terrible mother," Lorelai sighed. She was a convincing quack.
Both Luke and Nicole simultaneously rolled their eyes. Lorelai's story wasn't quite as convincing as she'd hoped. "And you just happened to pick the exact cruise that Luke and I were on," Nicole snapped. "Typical," she added under her breath.
"Well, I forgot to mention that going to Alaska was also a lifelong dream of Rory's, so I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone!" Lorelai's story was becoming increasingly believable, too bad Luke and Nicole weren't buying.
"I see," began Nicole. "If you'll excuse me Lorelai, as much fun as this reunion is, my dinner is getting cold." Nicole smiled the slightest of smiles at Lorelai, glared the largest of glares at Luke, and proceeded to her table.
"I don't think a certain someone was too happy to see me," Lorelai cautiously stated after Nicole was out of earshot.
"What did you expect Lorelai? Pretty lame excuse by the way." Luke responded.
"I'm sorry Luke, I didn't mean for either of you to find out like this. I was hoping for a more subtle approach. Trust me, you wont even notice me on the ship. Heck, I'll stay in my room the whole time if it'll make things easier for you." Lorelai was trying desperately to make amends.
"Lorelai, you're not staying in your room, that's ridiculous! Anyway, it would be impossible for me not to notice you." Luke surprised himself with that statement. What surprised him even more was Lorelai's expression. She seemed pleased and smiled quite openly. Her smile made him melt. It was his only weakness.
"Well, I should go." Lorelai looked down at her plate and then back at Luke.
Luke continued to converse, despite Lorelai's efforts to remove herself from his presence. "So how many is this? I'd guess four." Luke referred to Lorelai's plate. He knew her more then he knew himself.
Lorelai smiled again before answering. "Yeah, lucky guess, -oh Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"There's one more thing I forgot to tell you." Lorelai braced herself for Luke's reply.
"What is it Lorelai?" Luke was sure he didn't want to know.
"Um, Rory and I aren't exactly by ourselves, I mean, not technically that is."
"What do you mean you're not by yourselves? Who's with you?"
"Before I tell you, just remember that I'm completely innocent. Sookie, Jackson, Patty, Babette, Morey and Kirk are all on board."
"What?!" Luke was beside himself. "Lorelai are you crazy? Did you just say Kirk?"
"Luke it wasn't my idea, well Sookie and Jackson were my idea, but the others totally eavesdropped and were so sneaky and manipulative, and, and."
Luke cut her off. "Kinda like someone I know."
"You're not referring to me are you?" Lorelai instinctively batted her eyelashes.
Luke was mesmerized by Lorelai's flirtatious action and failed to respond.
"Luke? Hello, earth to Luke?"
"Huh, oh I uh, what were you saying?"
"Never mind." Lorelai's power of seduction amused her, although Luke was an easy target. There was an awkward pause, a precise time to end the conversation. Luke took the initiative.
"See you around?" He asked hopefully.
"See you around," Lorelai confirmed. -And with that, the two departed in opposite directions and re-joined their dining partners.
*Later that night, in the Gilmore cabin:
"So Luke is ok with us being here?" Rory curiously asked.
"I think so, but Nicole is another story."
"Well you can't blame her for being upset. Hey, she must have asked why you were on the ship. What did you tell her?" Rory was too nosey for her own good.
Lorelai was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. "Oh, it doesn't matter now. Besides, I can't remember exactly what I said - it was so long ago."
"Yeah a whole 2 hours!" Rory said sarcastically.
"Well I'm about ready to hit the hay, how about you?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Rory reluctantly stated. "So is it safe for us to show our faces now?"
"Perfectly - now off to sleep."
"Night mom."
"Night hon."
*To be continued - Please R/R and all your dreams will come true!
-Luke swallowed hard as he reluctantly approached Lorelai. He wasn't angry, he wasn't necessarily happy either. He was neutral. "Nice selection isn't it?" Luke was referring to the food displayed before them. He waited in anticipation of her response.
A chill ran down Lorelai's spine. She immediately recognized the voice and was petrified to look the owner in the eye, let alone respond to his previous comment.
"Lorelai?" Her failure to acknowledge his presence surprised Luke.
"Uh," Lorelai barely managed to get out one syllable.
"Lorelai - what the hell are you doing here?" Luke was done playing nice, or neutral.
Finally, Lorelai awoke from her trance. "Well, well - what are you doing here?" She was back to her old habit of avoidance.
"Taking a lady's advice," Luke stated matter-of-factly. "You did tell me to go on this cruise, didn't you?"
"Are you going to listen to everything I say?"
Luke was growing impatient. His tone became serious and urgent. "Lorelai, why are you here, on this ship?"
"Oh geez, I'm so sorry Luke. I didn't know that this ship belonged to you. I didn't realize I needed your permission to come aboard. How thoughtless of me," now she was patronizing him.
"Why is it that we can never have an adult conversation?" Luke was perturbed; it was like pulling teeth here. "What happened to Europe?"
"Nothing happened to Europe - I just hear that it can be incredibly dull and rainy around this time of year." A most pathetic cover-up.
"It's always dull and rainy there," Luke retorted.
Before Lorelai could react, another familiar, yet unwelcoming voice interrupted.
"Luke, what's taking you so long? I've been waiting patiently at our table and," Nicole stopped mid-sentence and nearly keeled over. "Lorelai!"
"Nicole!" answered Lorelai, equally stunned. She was getting indigestion
"Lorelai!" Nicole again announced the obvious.
"Nicole!" Lorelai repeated. This was a fun game.
"Luke!" Nicole accusingly voiced his name. "What's going on?"
Luke was so busy enjoying the previous repartee between Lorelai and Nicole that he hadn't prepared a suitable explanation for the latter. "Uh, you uh - Lorelai, why don't you, uh," Luke was at a loss for words; a common occurrence.
Lorelai took the reins and explained as best she could. "Nicole, this may sound strange, but Rory, dear sweet daughter of mine, begged me endlessly to go on this cruise. Deep down, she's always wanted to go cruising and I've been thwarting her dreams. I'm a terrible mother," Lorelai sighed. She was a convincing quack.
Both Luke and Nicole simultaneously rolled their eyes. Lorelai's story wasn't quite as convincing as she'd hoped. "And you just happened to pick the exact cruise that Luke and I were on," Nicole snapped. "Typical," she added under her breath.
"Well, I forgot to mention that going to Alaska was also a lifelong dream of Rory's, so I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone!" Lorelai's story was becoming increasingly believable, too bad Luke and Nicole weren't buying.
"I see," began Nicole. "If you'll excuse me Lorelai, as much fun as this reunion is, my dinner is getting cold." Nicole smiled the slightest of smiles at Lorelai, glared the largest of glares at Luke, and proceeded to her table.
"I don't think a certain someone was too happy to see me," Lorelai cautiously stated after Nicole was out of earshot.
"What did you expect Lorelai? Pretty lame excuse by the way." Luke responded.
"I'm sorry Luke, I didn't mean for either of you to find out like this. I was hoping for a more subtle approach. Trust me, you wont even notice me on the ship. Heck, I'll stay in my room the whole time if it'll make things easier for you." Lorelai was trying desperately to make amends.
"Lorelai, you're not staying in your room, that's ridiculous! Anyway, it would be impossible for me not to notice you." Luke surprised himself with that statement. What surprised him even more was Lorelai's expression. She seemed pleased and smiled quite openly. Her smile made him melt. It was his only weakness.
"Well, I should go." Lorelai looked down at her plate and then back at Luke.
Luke continued to converse, despite Lorelai's efforts to remove herself from his presence. "So how many is this? I'd guess four." Luke referred to Lorelai's plate. He knew her more then he knew himself.
Lorelai smiled again before answering. "Yeah, lucky guess, -oh Luke?"
"Yeah?"
"There's one more thing I forgot to tell you." Lorelai braced herself for Luke's reply.
"What is it Lorelai?" Luke was sure he didn't want to know.
"Um, Rory and I aren't exactly by ourselves, I mean, not technically that is."
"What do you mean you're not by yourselves? Who's with you?"
"Before I tell you, just remember that I'm completely innocent. Sookie, Jackson, Patty, Babette, Morey and Kirk are all on board."
"What?!" Luke was beside himself. "Lorelai are you crazy? Did you just say Kirk?"
"Luke it wasn't my idea, well Sookie and Jackson were my idea, but the others totally eavesdropped and were so sneaky and manipulative, and, and."
Luke cut her off. "Kinda like someone I know."
"You're not referring to me are you?" Lorelai instinctively batted her eyelashes.
Luke was mesmerized by Lorelai's flirtatious action and failed to respond.
"Luke? Hello, earth to Luke?"
"Huh, oh I uh, what were you saying?"
"Never mind." Lorelai's power of seduction amused her, although Luke was an easy target. There was an awkward pause, a precise time to end the conversation. Luke took the initiative.
"See you around?" He asked hopefully.
"See you around," Lorelai confirmed. -And with that, the two departed in opposite directions and re-joined their dining partners.
*Later that night, in the Gilmore cabin:
"So Luke is ok with us being here?" Rory curiously asked.
"I think so, but Nicole is another story."
"Well you can't blame her for being upset. Hey, she must have asked why you were on the ship. What did you tell her?" Rory was too nosey for her own good.
Lorelai was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. "Oh, it doesn't matter now. Besides, I can't remember exactly what I said - it was so long ago."
"Yeah a whole 2 hours!" Rory said sarcastically.
"Well I'm about ready to hit the hay, how about you?"
"Yeah, I guess so," Rory reluctantly stated. "So is it safe for us to show our faces now?"
"Perfectly - now off to sleep."
"Night mom."
"Night hon."
*To be continued - Please R/R and all your dreams will come true!