What Am I Doing With My Life?
Authors Note: I just wanted to thank everyone for the reviews. They really motivated me to finish chapter 2 before the weekend was completely over. I am also so happy that people liked it thus far. I am an attention whore that way. Oh and the secret favorite movie part was taken from my own life amazingly enough. So for the reviewer who shares my secret favorite movie, I salute you. Now on with Chapter 2…..
Spoilers: still none.
Premise: as of chapter 2 this is a science fiction/ horror piece, and I'd prefer not to use the word fiction anymore but instead "silent word pictures." No, wait scratch that this is still about one of the ways Luke and Lorelai could have gotten together. Ha Ha.
Chapter 2 "Breaking up the Wolf Pack":
"I don't know Rory; there is just something about her that is so aggravating. I mean even the simplest thing she says sounds like she is talking down to you. Not to mention she broke up the wolf pack…" Lorelai said emphatically into her house phone.
It was almost noon and Lorelai was still in her pajamas laying half in and half out of her covers. One hand carried the phone the other held a chocolate donut.
"Mom, what's the wolf pack?" Rory replied confused.
"Never mind, about the wolf pack! The point is she is so ugh and he was so smiley and unLuke. It was all so surreal; it felt like instead of opening the door to the diner, I had opened the door to Jon Malkovich's head. Plus Luke didn't even tell me…" Lorelai trailed off.
"Okay well mom, I understand that you're upset. I even agree that Luke should have told you he was back with Nicole. He is your friend, but…"
"Don't say but, nothing good comes after a but. He should have told me period end of sentence." Lorelai stated.
"Okay fine no buts. However, I have to say that we have been talking about this for about a half an hour now. .." Rory started.
"Okay I may not go to Yale but everyone knows that "however" is just a fancy way of saying but…. Everyone know that Rory. Everyone."
"Oh for the love of all this it is good, you are driving me nuts, lady! I am going to say something and you will not interrupt me, or I will hang up. And when you call back, I will not answer. If you understand how serious I am being right now, please stay silent." Rory paused for a second and when Lorelai didn't say anything she continued. "Good, now you seem to be awfully concerned about this. All you keep saying to me is that Nicole is so ugh. Which as descriptive as ugh is it is it's not really a reason to be upset. It seems to me you are more concerned about the Luke being with Nicole part of the equation rather than the not telling you part. Now maybe I am wrong but if it were me I would maybe try to figure out why I care so much."
"That does seem to be the question du jour." Lorelai said quietly. She began to think about everything that was running through her head the night before. Why did she care so much? She shook her head vigorously hoping she could shake the thought out of head. Figuring out the reality of a situation had never been Lorelai's strong suit, "I stand firm at I'm upset because he didn't tell me."
"Okay, if that's why you really believe…" Rory said slowly. She wondered how such a smart woman could be so stubborn and dense about something.
"What do you mean if that's what I really believe? Of course that's what I believe there is no other logical explanation." Lorelai replied.
"Mom you and I both know there is another explanation but I can not get into that with you right now. So I will leave you with this thought because I really need to go back and study. Maybe Luke was going to tell you and he just didn't have the opportunity. Nicole and him could not have been back together that long. So why don't you give Luke the benefit of the doubt. Get up, finish your donut, this time get dressed, and go to Luke's and talk to him." Rory sternly replied.
"I don't want to go to Luke's." Lorelai whined in her best little kid voice. She paused for a moment and then added. "What other explanation?"
Rory ignored her mother's last question and simply said. "Mom, I need you to be a big girl and go to Luke's. I love you and I am hanging up now."
"But, Rory…" Lorelai whined.
"Goodbye Mom," Rory said as she hung up her phone.
The phone clicked in Lorelai's ear. "She hung up! Betrayed by own flesh and blood!" Lorelai yelled into the receiver. Then with a more quiet tone she added, "What other explanation?"
Lorelai walked up to Luke's diner at a turtle's pace. She tried to nonchalantly look in the window of the diner. If she was going to go in there and talk to Luke she was going to make damn sure Nicole was not there. She had been trying the whole way over to Luke's to think about what she was going to say to him. There were so many options. She could go in their and ignore everything. She could act like nothing from last night affected her at all. She could also simply pretend last night didn't happen and ask for a nice hot cup of coffee. Or she could do what she really wanted to do which was go in there and yell at Luke for being a big mean non sharer of important news. She also wanted to yell at him for making her look like an idiot last night. Now she was almost positive that she had made herself look like an idiot last night but, she felt as though the blame could and should be on Luke.
She had no idea what she was going to say but she decided to bite the bullet and go inside. The coast looked like it was clear so Lorelai tentatively made her way into the diner. The Lunch rush appeared to be over so only Kirk and a few random customers remained. She took a seat at the counter and waited for Luke to approach her.
"Coffee?" Luke asked with a coffee cup in one hand and a coffee pot in the other.
"Am I that predictable that you already have everything ready to go before you hear my answer?" Lorelai questioned.
"Yeah, pretty much." Luke replied.
"Well, good to know some things don't change." Lorelai replied in a sarcastic tone. She quickly took a sip of the coffee now in front of her in an attempt to undercut how harsh her words had sounded.
Luke and Lorelai sat for a moment in complete silence. Both were feeling the awkward tension that surrounded them. Luke knew what the awkwardness was about but the last thing he wanted to do was open a can of worms like that. As for Lorelai this was not going any of the ways she had planned. As Luke was about to walk away Lorelai suddenly asked, "Do you consider us friends?"
Luke knew at that very moment that the can was opened whether he wanted it to be or not. "Yes, Lorelai of course we are friends."
"See, now I always thought friends told each other things. Like I don't know things like when they get back together with their wives. Those are the kind of things friends know. Not the kind of things friends have to find out on the streets. Like some hobo who lives on the streets and caries a knapsack…" Lorelai started to ramble but Luke cut her off.
"Lorelai, you are not making any sense you didn't find out on the streets. We haven't been back together long. If you wouldn't have saw her last night I would have told you. It's still new."
"So you admit you are back together!" Lorelai exclaimed.
"I didn't know it was something I had to admit. Why are you being like this? This really isn't your business." Luke was beginning to lose his patience.
"So it's not my business. So we aren't friends! Listen, I may not be a lawyer but I have been watching a Law and Order Marathon all morning long, and I am pretty sure I just proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that friends tell each other things!" Lorelai yelled.
"I swear Lorelai you are a mental case!" Luke yelled back.
"Great, well now that Nicole's back in our lives you can have her write up the papers to commit me while you two hold hands and make googily eyes at each other." The words flew out of Lorelai's mouth before she had a chance to stop them.
"Our lives?! No, Lorelai, MY LIFE!" Luke yelled. He took a breath and in a gritted voice continued. "This is ridiculous. If you had a problem with Nicole and me I gave you a chance to say something and you told me to go for it! Now, I am just trying to be happy and you are acting like a maniac. This is none of your business."
"What chance?" Lorelai replied in a calmer tone.
"If you don't know what I'm talking about then I am not going to tell you." Luke quickly replied.
"Very mature Luke! Fine, I am just going to go then. "Lorelai huffed.
"FINE!" Luke yelled.
Lorelai angrily stood up and with more dramatics then necessary grabbed her purse.
As she was about to walk out the door Luke yelled to her, "You didn't pay for your coffee!"
"So sue me, we both know you have a good lawyer!" Lorelai yelled as she walked out the door and slammed it behind her.
Once outside of the door Lorelai took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. She walked over to the gazebo and sat down on the bench. She was doing that thing you always do after an argument. She was trying to piece together everything that had just happened. Her thoughts were going into overdrive. I told Luke I was like a hobo with a knapsack. What the hell does that mean? Then I said something about Law and Order. He is right I am a mental case. Luke is totally right I had no right to wig out like I did. I am being ridiculous! So what, Luke is back with Nicole. He explained to me that he just didn't have the chance to tell me. That should be enough. After all that is why I was mad. What was Rory saying about another explanation? I'm acting like I'm jealous or something. Oh Crap, I am jealous. I am really jealous, why am I jealous? Jealousy that must have been Rory's other explanation.
That thought was followed by an even more unnerving one. This particular thought hit her like a ton of bricks. She finally figured out what Luke was talking about when they were fighting. Luke had asked her about Nicole before they ever went on that cruise and got married. That is what he meant at Rory's graduation forever ago. He had asked her if he should go on the cruise, "considering everything." At the time Lorelai didn't understand what everything meant but now it was all coming together. And my stupid self told him to go for it. It was like he was asking permission and I didn't even get it. That is not a request someone who is just your friend asks of you. Lorelai now knew two things. One was Luke has asked her a more than friendly question forever ago, and two was now she was jealous of Luke and Nicole. These two realizations at once made her breathing start to rapidly increase. Oh yeah my head is doing that spinning thing again and now I'm pretty sure I am going to hyperventilate. If this was a cartoon right about now would be the time the acme brand anvil would be hitting me in the head.