Author's note: Hey everyone! We are both sorry (Jayde and I) that it took so long to post this update. This chapter has been written for a while now but Jayde has been away from the net for almost two months. Jayde also said that she's working very hard on the next chapter and this story will be updated as soon as possible. Enjoy!



Chapter 3



Lane looked out of the window of this cozy little café, checking her watch for the tenth time as she waits for Rory to meet her for their Monday morning breakfast. The bells above the door chimed signaling someone entering. Looking up, Lane smiled at her best friend, relief drawn on her face.

"I hope it's okay that I already ordered for the both of us. Since you were so late, I figured you'd have to eat fast to be on time at work."

"Oh, it's okay. You ordered the usual right?"

"Yes, with extra whipped cream and chocolate chips over your pancakes."

"Perfect. Sorry I'm late; I came home very late last night. Mom didn't want to let me leave until I get another cup of coffee rambling about the way I was all grown up and that she was getting old, that I should take her in my apartment or move back to her house to fight her loneliness."

Lane laughed as the waitress interrupted their conversation to serve them. Lane took a sip of her coffee, "How did you manage to leave this time?"

"I reminded her that when I am away from the house, she can have sex with Luke anywhere without me knowing about it."





Near the back of the small café, where it was quieter, Tristan and his partner (also known as his closest friend) discussed the charity event that was held over the weekend.

"Come on Tristan, it couldn't be that bad."

"Well, obviously you weren't there to witness how boring this event was. How convenient that your wife was on a business trip last weekend and that your son got sick. By the way, how is he doing?"

Steven laughed, "Seems it was only a twenty four hours virus. You know it's a wonderful excuse a family. When are you going to try dating again?"

Tristan got closer to Steven, not to be heard by his surrounding. "Actually, I have an exclusive e-mail partner."

Shocked by the news, Steven screamed, "What?" Tristan looked at the wall beside him as the other customers looked over at them disapprovingly.





"Some people have no manners." An old woman near the table Lane and Rory sat exclaimed.

Rory glanced at the table in the back and giggled as she saw a man trying to hide under the table as his companion was laughing loudly. Returning to her conversation with Lane, Rory forgot about the commotion on the other side of the café.

"He asked me to be his exclusive e-mail partner."

Munching on her food slowly, Lane took her time to respond, "And you accepted?"

Finishing her cup of coffee, Rory signaled for another cup of coffee to the waitress and nodded, "It's just weird. We have so much in common even though we've never seen each other. I have the feeling he has this vulnerable side, like when he asked me to be 'exclusive', his words sounded so uncertain of my reaction. I just really like his personality."

Pensive, Lane finished her breakfast, "I just hope you don't get too disappointed by him. As nice as he sounds, he could be anyone. He could even be that annoying guy laughing and disturbing everyone in the place."

Rory turned to watch the annoying guy who is now alone, reading some papers. "Gosh, I don't think so, Xavier said he was blond and this guy has red hair."

"That's beside the point…"

"I get it Lane. Just drop it will you? How did your catering went this weekend?"

"It went well, but there was this guy there that I can stop thinking about. I'm sure I met him or seen him before, but I can't remember from where."

"What did he look like?"

"Very good looking man, about our age with blond hair, blue eyes, very tall and well-dressed."

"That could be anyone."

"Yeah."

Checking her watch, Rory squeaked, "I have to go, I have a meeting in five minutes. I'll call you later Lane."

Left alone, Lane sighed, "And once again, she forgot it was her turn to pay."





Standing up, Steven chuckled, "When will you meet that pen pal of yours?"

Tristan dropped a bill on the table, putting his jacket on, "I don't know, she doesn't want to give too much personal information, which is a good thing because that way she doesn't know what my bank account looks like."

Nearing the exit, Tristan was seen by Lane who sat quietly listening to what she could hear of their conversation. "Okay, but what if she looks for a lawyer named Tristan?"

"She doesn't know me as Tristan, well not yet anyway."

As Lane watched the two men leave, she tried to remember a Tristan.





Exhausted after her long day at the office, Rory walked inside her bathroom, filled the tub with hot water, poured some lavender oil to help her relax. While the water ran, she went inside the kitchen taking a random box of leftovers, and placed it in the microwave to warm it up. Eating the food as fast as she can, she grabbed a book to go enjoy her bath.





Ecstatic, Tristan entered his apartment to be greeted by Curtis. His day couldn't have been better; he had won a case in trial that reunited a kid with his mother after she had lost her daughter under false accusations the grandparents had made to have custody of the baby. Then he had celebrated his victory with Steven in this nice little bar. Walking inside his office, he opened his computer to wait for his chat session with Lorelai.





Rory came out of her bath a little late for her chat session. As soon as she entered the chat room,

LawGuyDG: I was wondering if you had changed you mind.

LorelaiIII: Sorry, I lost track of time in a warm bath.

LawGuyDG: You should have invited me, I would have lit the candles and served you wine.

LorelaiIII: And then?

LawGuyDG: I would have scrubbed your back to help you relax.

LorelaiIII: I can always go back in the tub. lol

LawGuyDG: Are you inviting me over?

LorelaiIII: Well, not yet. Rain check on that?

LawGuyDG: Sure. How was your day?

LorelaiIII: Exhausting, I woke up late, had to run to meet my friend for breakfast, then I had to run to be on time at a meeting. I've been running all day and it seems like I didn't do anything. How was your day?

LawGuyDG: I won a case, it was a very emotional moment. Then I went celebrating with my partner.

LorelaiIII: How was that charity event last weekend?

LawGuyDG: You have no idea how boring that was. The food was great, but the people are going there to impress other with their donations, they all try to find out who did the most generous donation and who did the cheapest.

LorelaiIII: Sounds very depressing.

LawGuyDG: Well, it was. How was your weekend with your mom?

LorelaiIII: Crazy! lol, we had tones of coffee and junk food while my mom's boyfriend was lecturing us that we would rot our insides and die a painful death.

LawGuyDG: lol, sounds entertaining.

LorelaiIII: Well, my mom is crazy and a lot of fun. Nothing is boring when she's around. She acts like a high school girl that never grew up.

LawGuyDG: Is that a bad thing?

LorelaiIII: No, I grew up with a best friend and most of the time I was the one ending grounding her.

LawGuyDG: lmao, should be an very amusing sight.

LorelaiIII: When I wanted to study, she wanted to play; I had to promise to play with her on the weekend.

LawGuyDG: Were you a good student?

LorelaiIII: I could say that. I finished high school valedictorian. Were you?

LawGuyDG: I could have been if I hadn't been distracted by doing stupid things. I got caught a lot but let's not talk about that. Let's lighten the mood.

LorelaiIII: Okay… What was your most embarrassing kiss?

LawGuyDG: Hummm, I think it was with this very beautiful girl I met last year. We went out for our first date, and last I might add, while we were dancing a slow in the bar we were finishing the evening at, I played with her hair, then we kissed.

LorelaiIII: What's so embarrassing about that kiss?

LawGuyDG: Well, you see, she tried to get my hand away from her hair but she was a little drunk, instead, all of her hair fell out on the floor. She had short brown hair under it. I asked her why the masquerade when she said in a masculine voice "I thought you knew I was a man."

Rory laughed as she read these lines.

LorelaiIII: Wow, must be embarrassing. Lol

LawGuyDG: What about yours?

LorelaiIII: Well, in high school, there was this neurotic girl that hated me at first but we became sort of competing friends. In college, she asked her father to arrange it so we roomed together, which didn't make me happy. That same year, me, her, and two other high school girlfriends went to the beach on Spring break. At one party, my neurotic friend asked me how she kissed since she didn't want to ask a guy. All night, I was flirting with this cute guy, she caught me by surprise and kissed me. The guy came up to me and excused himself for bothering me all night since I already had a girlfriend. I wanted to kill her, but instead I ran away.

LawGuyDG: LMAO.

LorelaiIII: But we stayed friends even after that.

LawGuyDG: I want to see you. Want to go on a date with me?

Rory frowned and thought back to what Lane had said earlier that day. She chewed on her lower lip and decided to say what was going through her mind,

LorelaiIII: I don't know, you see, this morning during breakfast, there was this annoying guy laughing too loud after he practically screamed at his friend who was trying to hide under the table, and then my friend made me realize that you could be anyone in the café, including that annoying guy.

LawGuyDG: What did that annoying guy look like?

LorelaiIII: Red curly hair, tall, not bad looking but not really my type.

LawGuyDG: What did his friend look like?

LorelaiIII: I don't know, he was trying to hide the first time I checked and the second time he was gone.

LawGuyDG: Where were you sitting?

LorelaiIII: Near the window, why all these questions?

LawGuyDG : Because I was the guy trying to hide. I only saw an Asian woman near the windows; she was there when I got there as well as when I left. She looked really familiar for some reason.

LorelaiIII: Freaky, you were really there.

LawGuyDG: See, we're meant to see each other. Friday night, dinner and a movie?

LorelaiIII: I'm not sure…





Lane was searching for people with Tristan as a first name and lawyer at the same time. Discouraged by the amount of her search result, she dials Rory.

"Rory, I need your help."

"I'm kind of chatting with Xavier right now… Can I call you back later?"

"It'll only take a second, do you remember the guy who was laughing hard this morning?"

"Oh, yeah! I told Xavier about him and apparently, he was his friend that was trying to hide. Can you tell me what he looks like?"

"Who?"

"The guy that was laughing hard was with a friend, near the window when he got there was only you. The friend was Xavier."

Lane blanched as she scanned the list of the guests attending the charity event held last weekend. Seeing the name Tristan Xavier DuGrey.

"Lane? Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here, what was the question again?"

She tried typing www.ChiltonAcademy.com. Clicking on the old student repertory, she selected the year 2000, scanning for the name, a click on Tristan's name and his picture slowly appears on the screen.

"The guy, did you see what he looked like?"

Not listening to Rory's question, Lane exclaimed, "Oh! No! I gotta go Rory!"

After hanging up, Lane looked more closely at the picture and as if talking to it, "I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the show for a while."