"Emily,dear, have you seen my blue Armani tie recently? It was sent to be cleaned but…"
Richard trailed off as he entered the living room. His wife was sitting quite properly in her chair, a serious expression on her face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I need you to have lunch with Lorelai, preferably soon," she stated directly.
"Good heavens! Why?" questioned Richard. For a man who prided himself on his foresight, he had most certainly not seen this coming.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm looking to reconcile and I need to see where she stands," she stated calmly.
"But…" Richard began, thoroughly thrown off track.
"You know just as well as I that I cannot simply call her up and make peace. Neither of us works that way. And, no matter what I hold over her head, she won't come to dinners. As of late, she's been exceptionally angry, to put it simply, and an easy meeting would be impossible. Careful time and consideration must go into any type of an attempt, at least on my, our, part. Lord knows Lorelai doesn't plan enough in advance!" said Emily, rolling her eyes at her last statement.
Richard paused for a moment, considering. He knew he was being used as a pawn in her game. Honestly, the idea of Emily wanting to reconcile frightened him! Where does she get these ideas? He thought.No matter what his position in the debacle sure to ensue, he did want to make peace with his daughter. Finally having a normal family would be splendid. Granted, he considered, they would never understand each other completely. Lorelai's pop culture references alone were enough to highlight their differences. But the chance of normality, of seeing his daughter and granddaughter regularly outside of Friday night dinners and other required events, was exceptionally appealing to him.
"Emily, I will invite her, but I choose to remain a skeptic. I hope you realize this process will take more than a lunch and a couple of new arrangements. You have to meet her in the middle, where she's at, so to speak. An entire new mental approach will need to be assumed. This will not be easy Emily," he said cautiously.
She nodded, remaining silent.
Richard turned to continue on his path to his office, then paused and faced his wife.
"However, I am proud of you for making this attempt. You've always had the best of intentions with Lorelai"
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Around two o'clock, Luke's diner phone rang. Once, twice, and Luke rushed to pick it up.
"Hello, Luke's?"
"Hey, good lookin', whatcha got cookin'?" Lorelai teased.
"Lorelai!" Luke exclaimed, trying his best to sound exasperated, even though he was grinning from ear to ear, looking like a general idiot. He hated to admit it, but he loved her calling, even just to tease. She just made him so darn happy.
"What are you doing Lorelai?"
"Calling my boyfriend, he's so dreamy!" she said, putting on a high voice.
"Lorelai"
"Just checking in, seeing how my addiction supplier is doing, extending an invitation…" she said, dangling her bait.
By now, Luke'd moved to the storeroom and was sitting on a box marked: BUNS. Hamburger, naturally.
"What kind of invitation?" he asked, his voice gruff.
"Aw, you're in the storeroom now; I can tell when your voice goes into Lorelai-mode," she noted, exceptionally pleased.
"There's no such thing as Lorelai-mode," he said defensively.
"Isn't there?" she teased.
"No, now what's going on?"
"Dinner and a movie at my place tonight, around seven?"
"I assume I'm bringing the dinner half?" he deadpanned.
"Um, duh!"
"Okay, looking forward…"Luke said, amazed he'd been so forthcoming.
" 'K, I…"
Whoops, she'd almost told him she loved him.
"…'ll see ya tonight!"