Title: Life and Times of a Socialite
Author: Lady Eliza
Characters: All Characters
Rating: T
Summary: Total AU Rory and Logan Spoiler Warning
Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of its characters.
AN: Thank you to my faithful reviwers for all the positive feedback. Anonymous mentioned that she still got Ch. 1-5 for Ch. 16,it worked when I opened the latest chapter on and others have gotten the chapter as well so it might be your computer.If you still can't get Ch. 16 by tomorrow you cansend me your e-mail address and I will e-mailyou Ch. 16. I hope you all continue to review.
I'm glad everyone like the last chapter and hopefully you will like this chapter as well.
Chapter 17: Grandma To The Rescue
It was a few days after his stint at the Huntzberger Compound and Jess was still trying to grasp that the Rory Gilmore who had jumped out of a helicopter and into water was still the same girl that that he loved. After he had stopped freaking out he realized that this was a Rory he had not had time to get to know. He still wanted her though, after all that he had seen of her new lifestyle the love he held for her would not diminish.
Jess was back to working construction for Tom, who had several new clients, after the press had discovered that his company was the one who had built an elaborate set for one Logan Huntzberger. It was amazing how many people wanted to hire you after you had worked for someone famous.
Jess had talked to Luke about the whole royal bloodline crap that Margie, the maid, had told him about. Apparently that part was 100 true. Luke had even met Prince Charles, who he called Chuck. Jess asked Luke how he had dealt with the news and he had said that after a while you just see them, the royals, as people as well.
He was heading towards the work site when he spotted Dean and Lindsay arguing in front of the house, that they were hired to renovate. Jess assumed they had gotten a divorce had and the two had nothing to do with each other. But apparently not, he tried to not listen in on their conversation but it was rather hard when they were yelling loudly.
"Dean I can't believe you saw her and you didn't tell me," said an angry Lindsay.
"Lindsay, come on. I didn't know her boyfriend had hired us until I got there. When she showed up I couldn't just walk off the job. We need that money," said a disgruntled Dean.
"You promised that we could give our marriage another chance Dean, but if your not going to be open and honest with me, why bother?" said a mad Lindsay.
"I do want to give our marriage another chance. You have got to trust me. Nothing happened I didn't even say two words to her. She has a boyfriend and I'm sure she is happy with him."
"Dean you know what her grandmother said. The lady clearly said that you were not supposed to be anywhere near her. I don't want our families being hurt by your carelessness."
"Jeez Lindsay, give me some credit. I know I'm not supposed to go near her, but this wasn't my fault I didn't know I would be working near her. I promise next time her and her friends hire Tom I will ask him not to place me in the group that goes. Does that make you feel better?"
"Yes it does. Please just stay away from her. I hate her and I don't want her powerful friends and family to destroy our life. They will destroy us Dean if you don't stay way from her. Now I'm going to go back home and to cook your favourite lunch," said Lindsay. She kissed Dean on the cheek and left to go home.
Lindsay and Dean had decided to give their marriage another try to avoid getting a divorce. They had taken it slowly and everything was going smoothly until Lindsay found out that Dean had seen Rory. The entire construction crew had been caught by a video camera coming from the Huntzberger Compound and that tape had been played every hour on the hour on CNN.
Lindsay had confronted her boyfriend/husband about it and he had confessed to seeing Rory, but not speaking with her. Lindsay did not believe him and had chased after him until she got everything out of Dean at his place of employment.
Lindsay knew that she couldn't compete with someone like Rory Gilmore. She was beautiful, intelligent, had good breeding, was related to royalty, and was filthy rich. She knew that Dean was still in love with Rory and she didn't fight the truth any longer. Rory may have Dean's heart but Lindsay would have Dean. She did not want to think about Rory Gilmore anymore the girl had done enough damage on her marriage to last her and Dean a lifetime.
Lindsay was afraid that Dean would obsess over Rory for the rest of their lives. She didn't want him to get them into trouble with Rory's grandmother, Francine Hayden. The woman scared the hell out of Lindsay and she had threatened both her and Dean's families with financial ruin. Lindsay just wished that Rory would go live in Europe or something so she didn't to worry about the debutante, as she was now referred to in the Forrester household.
On her way back home Lindsay saw Jess and thought 'Great another one of Rory Gilmore's admirers.' Lindsay had heard that Jess was back in town and she had also spied Jess staring at Rory when she was back in town a while back. It seemed that whenever guys fell in love with Rory they never stop loving her, even after the relationship ends. Lindsay said a polite hello to Jess then went on her way.
Jess had watched the whole argument between Dean and Lindsay and to say he was confused was an understatement. He walked up to Dean and said, "I thought the two of you were divorced?"
Dean cleared his throat and said, "We never really got around to divorcing, we were separated for a while, but we decided to give the marriage another try."
"She seemed pretty pissed off. Does it have anything to do with Rory?" asked Jess.
"I don't believe that it's any of your business," replied Dean. He then turned around and walked back into the house.
Jess was confused; the mention of her had made him think of Rory. But Lindsay also mentioned the person's grandmother so he didn't understand how Emily Gilmore had to do with the whole situation. He shrugged his shoulders and headed towards the house to start work.
Francine Isabella Hayden was enjoying her breakfast in her rather large anteroom. She had been to a charity function last night and had come home rather late. So she was enjoying a rather late, for her anyways, breakfast at 9 am. She was breezing through the Hartford Gazette when she happened to glance at a picture of her beautiful granddaughter Rory in the Society Pages.
Now that was not what caught her attention because her baby was always in the newspapers. No what had caught her attention was the picture underneath Rory's photograph; it showed a snapshot of the construction crew that had worked on some top-secret project at the Huntzberger Compound. Francine looked closer just in case her eyes were deceiving her and she realized that the picture did show that oaf of a boy Dean who had dated her Rory.
Francine had felt so alone after the passing of her beloved Straub, even though she had her son and her second granddaughter G.G. to occupy some of her time. She always felt like an outsiders watching the relationship between Christopher and his youngest child. That was when Francine had wished with all her might that she had a better relationship with her son or her beloved Rory.
Francine had had a box full of toys, clothes, and unsent birthday cards with the label 'Rory' on it in the attic for twenty-one years. She had always wanted to spoil her first granddaughter, but Straub had been an old-fashioned man and he didn't want her to have any contact with Rory on the grounds that her parents weren't married. She didn't know how many nights she had cried herself to sleep thinking about the baby with the bright blue eyes. She had wished with all her might that she were a strong woman like Emily Gilmore, so she could defy her husband and see her grandbaby.
But alas, that had not happened. She remembered the first time she had seen Rory all grown up, at the age of sixteen, Straub had specifically told her not to smother the girl or to embrace her. She fell in love the minute she had seen that face, she was just so beautiful. Francine acted cold towards Rory so that Straub wouldn't be upset with her. She had criticized Christopher about his clothing and smiled politely at the lovely young woman that she wanted to take in to her arms and never let go.
When Straub had passed away Francine had thought she would only have friends and distant relatives to call on her. But she must have done something worthwhile in a past life because she finally had one of her prayers answered. It was the day after Straub's funeral and Christopher had left to go back to Boston with G.G. and she was feeling down when she answered the door and found Rory on her doorstep. The first words that she uttered to Francine brought on the water works, "Hello Grandma Francine, I came by to keep you company. I hope that's alright"
Francine and Rory had a long discussion about her life and Rory had been curious about Francine's life. She tried to apologize for being weak but Rory just told her that she didn't want an apology she wanted a relationship with her other grandmother. Rory had said that she hadn't gotten to know Straub but she sure as hell will have a relationship with Francine.
Francine knew that the past was in the past, but she had wanted Rory to know that she had been thinking about her and wondering how she had turned out, so she had ventured into the attic and gotten the box labelled 'Rory' and given it to her granddaughter. Rory had burst into tears when she had seen the contents and they had gone through the box that same day.
After Rory had left, Francine had phoned a florist and asked that two dozen red roses were delivered to Lorelai Gilmore in Stars Hollow and Emily Gilmore in Hartford. In a note Francine to Lorelai she thanked her on raising a mature, caring, and understanding young woman. She had also written to Emily and complimented her on her compassionate granddaughter. That was how the relationship between Rory Gilmore and her other grandmother Francine Hayden began.
When Rory was comfortable enough around Francine she had confided to her about her affair with the very married Dean Forrester. It was a few weeks after the news about her inheritance had leaked out to the press and she told her grandmother about the message she had received from Lindsay's mother demanding that Rory give her a million dollars so that she wouldn't go to the press about her 'home wrecker' status. Francine had been furious that anyone had the gaol to blackmail her granddaughter.
Francine had been the wife of a Supreme Court judge and had seen many things in her day. She had been absolutely disgusted with Susan, Lindsay's mother, attempt at blackmail. Francine told her granddaughter not to say a word of the messages to anyone and she would take care of Susan and her family.
Francine had dressed the part of a powerful matriarch and made an appointment to meet both Dean and Lindsay's families. They arrived at her house and she laid down the law. She knew that Susan had not told anyone about her phone message to Rory, so the rest of them had no clue why she was threatening them, but Susan got the picture quite clearly.
She also asked for a private audience with Susan where she played the tape of her threatening Rory. Francine reminded Susan that she knew some very powerful people that owed her several favours and she wouldn't hesitate to take them up on their offer if it concerned the well being of her family, especially Rory. Before the family left she told everyone assembled in her living, especially Dean that they were to stay away from her granddaughter or else they would face repercussions.
So why would Dean risk the wrath of Francine Hayden and work on a project that would put him in constant contact with Rory. She decided that she would have to have go see the boy to talk some sense into him.
Rory and Logan were heading to Stars Hollow to meet with Christopher and G.G. Rory couldn't wait to see her sister and her father. It had been a while since the family had gotten together. Lorelai had extended the olive branch to Christopher and they were now on speaking terms. Chris and G.G. would meet them at Luke's since both Lorelai and Luke had gone out of town.
Rory knew it would be a while yet for Lorelai, Luke, Christopher, and Logan to be in the same room with each other. They picked today to meet at Luke's since Lorelai had persuaded Luke to go to New York with her and stay overnight, so there would be no awkward run-ins with each other.
Logan had browbeaten Rory into letting him drive her Jaguar and she had given in. She didn't want to drive and she might as well let Logan drive her car since she refused to let him when she had first purchased it. Logan sped around the town square twice just to irritate Taylor and then parked right in front of Doose's as the icing on the cake. Logan and Taylor had a love hate relationship going on; it seemed that Taylor had finally met his match in Logan. For every law that Taylor reiterated Logan always found a loophole that would hold up in a court of law. It was quite amusing to watch them go at it.
Rory and Logan walked hand in hand towards Luke's. Rory's dad had no qualms with Logan since he and Logan had many things in common. In fact Christopher and Logan got along beautifully after their initial rather awkward meeting, which seemed odd since Lorelai usually got on better with Rory's boyfriends than Chris did.
When Rory opened the diner door to the diner a whirlwind came at her. She looked down and saw a giggling G.G. who was had attached to herself to Rory's left leg. "G.G. I missed you too, but can I have my leg back?" asked Rory.
G.G. shook her head but then she spotted Logan and let go of Rory's leg and attached herself to Logan. "All right munchkin, I'll buy you candy if you let go of my leg so I can pick you up," said Logan.
She thought about for second before letting go of Logan's leg and lifting her arms so Logan could pick her up. Logan had gotten attached to the little girl so much so that he had the tendency of having stuffed animals delivered to her every other week. Nobody but Rory, Chris, and G.G. knew about his soft spot for the baby girl with the blue eyes of his one true love. As cheesy as that sounds he knew that it was true Rory was his one true love.
He walked towards Chris who was standing up from his seat to give Rory and hug and Logan a handshake. Logan breathed in G.G.'s baby smell and when he sat down on the chair she refused to leave his embrace. His mother and Emily had pointed out that Rory and Logan's kids would resemble G.G. since she had Logan's blond hair and Rory's blue eyes. Logan had just nodded his head and tried not to blush.
"So dad what brings you by our neck of the woods?" asked Rory.
"Can't a father come visit his grown daughter or do I have to have ulterior motives all the time?" asked Christopher.
"Dad…" said Rory
"Fine. I came to check up on you and ask how things are with your mother and your grandmothers. You notice I use the term 'grandmothers' as in plural."
"Mom and I are better. Emily is butting into my life as always with Shira as her partner in crime. Francine hasn't butted in as of yet but give her time she'll think of something. The moment Emily, Francine, and Shira start working together I will call you."
"I shudder just thinking about it. So I heard something the other day when I was talking to Emily and I just wanted to check up on you."
"Come on Dad spit it out."
"Well…I heard Jess was in town and that he has become somewhat of a nuisance."
Logan snorted at that comment. "Chris, he came back into town way before his scheduled arrival date for his mother's anniversary celebration, which is still in the process of being planned mind you. My mother and Emily decide that he should see how Rory is now living her life and threw him in situations where he was entirely out of his element. He is just a pest that keeps showing up," said Logan.
"Jeez Logan, tell what you really think. I came to see what all the fuss was about. If I happened to talk to the rebel without a cause then so be it," stated Christopher.
"Oh no you don't. I want everyone to stay as far away from Jess as possible. I don't want him coming near us and I don't want us going near him. Do I make myself clear?" asked Rory.
"Yeah, alright I'll do what you say. Now let's talk about your interview with Oprah" said Christopher.
Francine Hayden was on a mission and no one could deter her from what she was about to do. She found out from that vagrant Dean's employer that he could be found at some home in Stars Hollow that was being renovated. She had been notified by the Private Investigator that she had hired about the recent reconciliation of Dean and Lindsay Forrester.
Francine looked out of place in the picturesque town but she didn't pay any attention to how ridiculous she might look walking into a construction zone wearing her $6000 Carolina Herrera outfit. Nope she was spitting mad that Dean had paid no attention to her advice to stay away from her granddaughter, nobody messed with a Hayden and got away with it.
Dean had been peacefully working at his task of hammering in the railings of the house when he noticed that all the guys' attention had turned towards something at the door. He turned his head and wished to god the floor would open up and swallow him whole. Standing in the doorway was one well dressed and pissed off Francine Hayden.
Dean went towards her and she walked out the door knowing full well that he had no choice but follow her. Francine took out the newspaper from her Gucci handbag and threw it at Dean. "So you decided to ignore my advice and ignore my warnings did you?"
"Ma'am I did no such thing. You see I had gone away to visit my sister and her family in Chicago and when I got back Tom, my employer, had this job lined up and asked if I was interested. I said yes and I didn't know that your granddaughter's boyfriend was the man that had hired us. So to make a long story short I didn't realize that Rory would be anywhere within the vicinity when I willingly took the job," said a nervous Dean.
"So why didn't you just leave the job after you found out that you would be in close contact with Rory?"
Jess was just coming back from taking a 15-minute smoke break when he noticed Dean and some sophisticated woman arguing something. He didn't know what it was with Dean and arguing with women. He decided to make a hasty exit when heard Rory's name mentioned. He had no idea who the woman was but he had no idea why she would be discussing Rory with Dean. He decided he would find out, "Lady, what's it to you if the man takes a job or not? Who do you think you are?"
Francine gave Jess a withering stare that had made many men shake in their expensive Italian loafers but seemed to do no such thing to Jess and his old work boots. "Young man, I believe this conversation is none of your business. Mr. Forrester and I were talking and it is quite rude to interrupt others when they are having a private conversation. Now don't you have some work to do? Don't they pay by the hour at jobs such as these?" asked Francine in her most haughty tone.
Jess couldn't believe this old broad had the audacity to chastise him in such a manner. "Listen you old coot you can ta-"
"Granny, what are you doing here?" asked Rory before Jess could finish his sentence.
"Hello Baby, I didn't know you were in Stars Hollow. I came by to have a chat with Mr. Forrester," said Francine.
Rory had come to deliver some coffee and breakfast from Luke's to Tom and his crew. She was helping Lane out since she seemed to be swamped with so many deliveries. Rory had felt it was her job as Lane's best friend to help take some of the burden off. So imagine to her surprise when she heard Granny Francine's voice and had come to investigate only to find Dean and Jess being yelled at by Granny.
Francine embraced and kissed her granddaughter and took stock of her face. She realized that Rory seemed to have bags under her eyes, from lack of sleep of course.
Jess was stunned beyond belief. He wished he were invisible because he had not only yelled at Rory's grandma but the late Judge Hayden's widow. He had been so rude and disrespectful that even if he could get back together with Rory her Granny would not approve.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" asked Christopher. Not two steps behind him came Logan with G.G. in his arms. Logan and Chris took in the scene before them with Dean and Jess looking like they would rather be having a root canal then standing in front of Mrs. Straub Hayden. And Rory and Francine were still in a loose embrace.
"Christopher I had to speak with Mr. Forrester that's why I am currently in Stars Hollow," said Francine
G.G. was next to speak, "Nana."
Francine's eyes lit up at what her youngest granddaughter had said. She kissed and embraced her son, Logan, and G.G. before she turned her attention to the culprit with the smart mouth.
Jess thought nothing else could go wrong, but he had spoke too soon. Rory's dad, or whom he assumed was her dad, Logan and a little girl appeared out of nowhere. Rory's grandmother greeted each of them with a warm demeanour but her eyes had turned icy when she faced him. He just wished he had kept his big mouth shut.
"Mr. Forrester, I would like you to heed my advice. And you, with the bad attitude I suggest you learn some manners and the right way to speak to your elders. I don't know who you are or why you thought it was your business to intrude on my private conversation with Mr. Forrester, but next time you decide to poke your nose into other people's business get all the facts straight before you come to the rescue," said Francine Hayden.
Rory had watched her grandmother get in her pot shots and decided it was time to step in. "Granny let's go have lunch at Luke's. You remember the place mom told you about, the one her boyfriend owns," asked Rory.
"Why of course, that rather gruff man with the oddest mannerism. I remember him. Why I would just love to eat at this diner. Let's all go," said Francine.
Jess and Dean watched them walk away. Dean thinking about what the elder woman had told him and Jess thinking about how he could try to get on her good side. Jess just wished that he had stayed out of Dean's talk with Rory's other grandmother. It seemed to him that she had a very protective and snobby family.
AN: Please, Please, Please Review