Life and Times of a Socialite
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls. It belongs to WB/CW and Amy Sherman Palladino.
Chapter 3: Running Interference
It was a bright sunny spring afternoon when Rory stepped out of her dark blue Jaguar in front of the Hartford Country Club and passed her keys to the valet with the red vest. She was meeting her mother and grandmother for coffee since they had to cancel Friday night dinner that week because her grandparents were going to London for some function. As well Rory had to go to Chicago to be interviewed by the queen of talk show her self, Oprah Winfrey, for a magazine article.
She was running late for this particular family get together because Logan had appeared at her dorm room just before noon and proceeded to distract her from studying then made her late. She wanted to be early so that Lorelai and Emily didn't have enough time to get into another fight over some vague topic and then storm off to their separate corners.
Ever since Rory had started dating Logan some nine months ago it seemed Lorelai and Emily were constantly fighting and Lorelai and Rory were growing farther apart. Just recently when the news about the Gilmore family fortunes was unearthed a wall seemed to be erected between Lorelai and the rest of the Gilmore clan. Friday night dinners were gravely silent unless Emily asked Rory about some function or other that she had attended.
She walked into the air-conditioned dining room of the Country Club and politely asked the Maitre d' where the Gilmore party was situated. "Miss Gilmore, it's nice to see you again. Your grandmother and mother are awaiting your arrival out on the patio. Shall I escort you out miss?"
"No thank you Sebastian that won't be necessary."
She headed towards the patio area and along the way greeted some acquaintances that she had met through her grandparents and the Huntzbergers. She actually liked schmoozing with these people; some of them were not half bad. There were those who could be downright boring but there were others who fought heart and soul for their causes and were surprisingly well informed of what was happening in the world.
When she was growing up Lorelai had always made the people of her parents world sound snobbish, rude, crass, and greedy, which wasn't a fair assessment. There were those who were everything Lorelai had described but the people that she had met were likeable, caring, intelligent individuals that seemed to genuinely care about their charities and were up to date on current events.
Rory walked out onto the patio and saw Lorelai and Emily drinking coffee and not looking at one another; you could cut the tension with a knife. She approached with caution as if a bomb would go off any minute and said, "Hello Mom, Grandma I'm sorry I'm late."
"Rory darling, that's not a problem at all, I hope nothing was wrong," said a relieved looking Emily.
"No Grandma everything is fine I just got stuck in traffic that's all," she lied through her teeth.
"Hey Ror, why don't you order something, and we'll talk about your magazine interview with Oprah. Can you please mention the Dragonfly so all the cool people will come check it out?" joked Lorelai.
"Sure mom anything to get you free publicity and I'll personally tell Oprah to come down some time and stay at the Inn," replied Rory.
"So Rory are you excited? This will be your first interview and for O magazine no less," gushed and ecstatic Emily.
"Yeah Grandma I am. I'm also a little nervous but I'm glad Logan's going to come with me because if I had to go alone then I would be a nervous wreck."
"Oh…Logan's going to be accompanying you to Chicago?" Lorelai tried not to spit the words out and show her disgust because she had come up with this unwritten rule not to talk about Logan or the rest of the rich brat pack.
If she talked about him she knew that she and Rory would end up in an argument. Lorelai wanted her relationship with her daughter to be open and honest; when Rory started dating Logan she tried to accept him and his background. But that had turned into bitter resentment and anger when he intruded in on her time with her daughter by taking Rory all around the world when she was supposed to be visiting her mother in Stars Hollow.
Then to add insult to injury she ended up reading about their exploits and adventures in various newspapers. The most hurtful aspect was that Rory fit in with his friends and his life so easily, it was like a slap in the face. She hated that her daughter was apart of the world that she ran away from. Rory actually wanted to be in society life and get her picture taken; it's as if she always belonged there. Now her daughter hardly ever confided in her; they had a relationship where they only talked about the good things and never delved deeply into their feelings.
Rory looked at her mother to try to determine her feelings on that topic but all she saw was a fake smile plastered on her face. She took a deep breath and said, "Umm…yes he is coming with me. Actually we're taking Mitchum's jet so we can leave whenever we like."
"Why that's wonderful Rory. I'm so glad that Logan is going with you so you'll have someone to lean on and he is a wonderful boy. Don't you think Lorelai?" pestered Emily
"Yes mother a wonderful boy…" deadpanned Lorelai.
"Oh mom I've decided to go to the anniversary celebration after all," replied Rory as quickly as possible to avoid an all out war.
"Really I thought you would want to skip out on that. What made you change your mind?"
"Well I realized that Luke has come to some important events in my life and I wanted to go out of respect to him."
"Rory that's so sweet. I'm sure Luke will appreciate that," Lorelai said softly. Even though she and her daughter were not communicating very well their love for the 'diner man' was never once questioned and she loved how Rory wanted to do right by Luke by going to a party that her ex-boyfriend would be attending.
"Whose anniversary is it? And why do you want to attend out of respect for Luke?" asked a confused Emily.
Lorelai took it upon herself to explain the situation and promptly did so. She was a little confused as to why Emily wanted to know about something happening in Stars Hollow. It's not like she was interested in any of the other goings-on in her small town.
So by the time she was finished regaling Emily with the particulars of the story she realized that there was a fresh cup of coffee in front of her and that Rory was starting her second cup. Had I actually talked that long? She asked herself.
"Well I didn't realize that Luke had a sister. Now Luke's nephew Jess I remember because he dated Rory. Is Luke's nephew going to be at this celebration?" replied Emily.
"Mother of course he's going to be at an event in honour of his mother and step-father."
"Well if I remember correctly he didn't much care for politeness and manners. What with him leaving in the middle of dinner and all when he came to meet me," huffed Emily.
Turning her attention to her granddaughter Emily replied, "Rory you really don't have to go to this celebration and run into that impolite young man."
"Mom! Really! You have no right to say such a thing. Let Rory decide where she wants to go and not go," Lorelai replied angrily.
"Ok you two enough is enough. I'm going to this party so I don't seem rude to Luke's sister, I don't care if Jess is going to be there and besides…Logan's going to go with me," Rory replied calmly.
Lorelai looked disgusted at the fact that she would have to make small talk with Logan. Emily seemed ecstatic that she would be properly escorted and that no-good hooligan would not be able to get Rory back.
They moved on to safe conversation topics such as the function Emily and Richard were going to attend in London, Lorelai's Inn, and of course Rory's interview with Oprah. It was odd how all three generation of Gilmore Girls could go from tense conversations to small talk in the blink of an eye. They stayed for a good hour before they said their goodbyes.
Emily stood waiting for her car to arrive and thought about the conversation she had just had with her daughter and granddaughter. She could see that the relationship between Lorelai and Rory was still strained.
She wasn't quick to pick up on it until Lorelai couldn't say Logan's name without menace. Emily was thrilled that Rory was turning into the proper young society girl that Lorelai was supposed to be, but she knew that it hurt Lorelai that her daughter wanted to be a part of the other world.
As Emily was getting into the car she thanked the valet and tipped him. She had a destination in mind and so she drove off in that direction. She was a little unsettled about this Jess character coming back into her granddaughter's life.
She knew that Rory and Logan were very happy together; she was secretly planning their wedding with Logan's mother Shira Huntzberger. She was thrilled that Rory had finally settled down with a wonderful gentleman like Logan who had such good breeding.
But she knew that she couldn't leave anything to chance especially concerning anything to do with the 'diner man' and his family. She knew that Luke had been more of a father to Rory than Christopher had been but that was not a reason to interact with Jess again.
Emily didn't know the specifics of Rory's relationship with Jess but she knew that he had left without saying goodbye. She knew Rory would be vulnerable to him and she didn't want Jess to get any ideas of reconciliation into his thick skull.
She drove up the familiar road and waited at the iron gates until they opened for her. Emily knew that Lorelai did not approve of her daughters relationship with Logan Huntzberger but the Gilmore's, Huntzbergers, and the rest of the society set couldn't wait for their wedding day.
She got out of her car and left it in the driveway. As she got to the door she didn't need to ring the doorbell since a maid opened it for her. Emily strode into the parlor and without even a pleasant greeting she replied, "I need your help with something."
The woman who was meticulously groomed looked at her old friend and said, "Emily what's the matter you looked quite rattled."
"This has to do with Rory and Logan's relationship and someone who wants to come between them; we have to run interference," said Emily. "So will you help me Shira?"
Revised: June 9, 2009