Incredulous: disinclined or indisposed to believe
Even in the semi darkness of the Gilmore's backyard Tristan could tell that the woman standing in front of him was glaring at him incredulously. After his unceremonious arrival she had dragged him out into the yard to get to the bottom of this situation. He had assumed that this was probably to give them some privacy from the prying eyes of her overprotective family and friends. There would also be no witnesses out here if she decided to dismember him. He glanced back up at the house he could see blurred faces pressed up against the window. Well ok, maybe there would be some witnesses but they were more likely to help her with the illegal act then stand up for him.
Unable to foretell what was about to happen he stood uncomfortably in front of her waiting for her to speak.
"This is a joke, right?" she began without any preamble
"What is?" he asks knowingly a slight hint of amusement in his voice.
This was clearly the wrong thing to say. She glared daggers at him.
"Don't do that! Don't turn this into a joke! This book is my dream, my life. This book to me is what the Mona Lisa was to DaVinci. This book is going to change my world. I've spent the last three years working on it. You can't… you just can't do this."
"Whoa, hold on a second! Don't you think your overreacting a little?" he countered with a strained nonchalance.
"What? Overreacting? Did you just hear what I just said about the dream and Mona Lisa and my own personal cosmic change?"
"I heard, and as your agent it's my job to make those dreams come true and to make that book do for you what the Mona Lisa did for Da Vinci. So why don't you just tell me what your problem is without beating around the bush?"
She stopped and looked at him unsure what to say.
He waited a beat before answering his own question.
"You're pissed off because I'M your agent, and you don't trust me."
"That's completely unfounded."
It was Tristan who now wore the incredulous look on his face as he looked archly at Rory. Rory sighed. Tristan could tell she was trying to calm down and come up with a rational answer.
"It's not that I don't trust you… It's just that you weren't what I expected." Rory stopped again unsure of what else to say, and then she thought of something. "Hold on, how long have you known that you were going to be my agent? I mean did you know when you came to the bookshop the other day?"
"I've known for a couple of weeks. I took on your account after reading your manuscript, and I didn't know it was your book then. It was only when I was looking through your personal information and saw your name and that you attended Chilton that I put two and two together. I laughed when I first realised it was you, but then I remembered something." He stopped.
"What did you remember?" she asked cautiously.
"As deeply as it pains me to admit this, I remembered that you hated me in high school." Rory opened her mouth to say something, but he continued not giving her chance to respond. " So I concocted a brilliant plan. I decided I'd casually bump into you in a social setting and see how you reacted to my presence. I figured if you reacted tolerably I would go ahead with our business partnership, and maybe I was misguided, but I was heartened by our little interlude."
"So why didn't you say something then?" curious now.
"I was called out of there in a hurry, so I really couldn't have an in-depth conversation with you. Actually, that was why I came over today, I wanted to explain everything to you before the publishing house set up a formal meeting for us. I wasn't really expecting the whole town to be crammed into your living room."
"My mum and my best friend organised a party to celebrate the book being published." Rory said needlessly.
"Yeah, the big "Congratulations Rory" sign gave that away."
There was an awkward silence. They had seemed to reach an unspoken truce, and neither really knowing where to go from here. Rory still felt like she should be fighting something."
"How come your a publishing agent?" Rory blurted out abruptly
"What?" Tristan asked confused.
"I mean shouldn't you be the CEO of the Dugrey Empire? Why are you a lowly publishing agent?"
Tristan scowled, and for the first time that night he looked truly angry. Rory realised that this was rather a personal question and she may have even insulted his job. She hurried to rectify the situation.
"I'm sorry, that's none of my business."
He shrugged, and Rory could tell he was trying to control an emotion. Was it anger? Sadness? She wished she could tell.
"Listen this isn't how I wanted this to turn out. I want to do this. I know I can make your book a success. Trust me." The last part was said half pleading, half reassuring.
"Ok" she said before really thinking about the repercussions of her statement and simply responding to the undefinable element of his voice.
He looked at her shocked. It was hard to believe that the intense conversation that they were having was coming to an end with a simple two-letter word.
"OooKaay" he said drawing out the vowels and giving her a cheeky grin. She returned the smile, relieved that the tension had some how evaporated.
"So TJ, want to come join the party? I hear there's a stripper coming."
