Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em comin'! In this installment of The Gilmore Way: Making Their Way, we welcome back Sookie St. James and meet Michel Gerard. Hurrah! For those of you who don't know, "The Gilmore Way" was the working title for Gilmore Girls, and they changed it.

Again, please keep the reviews coming. I have very little in my life.

Disclaimer, and all that.

"I've hired three new maids, and Kelsey is about to have her baby which means she'll be quitting soon. You'll need to have the new maids trained by the end of the week."

"No problem, Mia," Lorelai said confidently.

"Jason, I have good news for you, too. I've hired a new chef for you."

"Thank God," Jason laughed. "Ever since Mark left in the spring, things have been rough."

"This young lady graduated this spring from one of the top culinary schools in Connecticut, and the best part is that we all know her."

Jason, Tyler, and Lorelai exchanged glances. "We do?" they chorused.

"It's Sookie St. James."

Lorelai grinned. Tyler laughed at Jason, whose face was a picture of despair.

"Not – not that kid who was always following me around the kitchen?" he croaked. "She's made clumsiness a medical condition!"

"Hey, watch who you call a kid," Lorelai said in a mock-serious voice, shaking her finger at him. "She's my age, and you asked me out."

Jason rolled his eyes as Tyler and Mia laughed.

"She'll start next week, Jason," Mia said sternly, forcing her face into a serious expression, "and she's supposed to be absolutely brilliant. Her teachers just rave about her.

"And Tyler, since you're starting your new job in New York next year, I've hired someone for you to train. His name's Michel Gerard, and he comes highly recommended from the Grand Hôtel in Champagne."

"Why did he come over here from France?" Lorelai asked, sounding a little awed.

Mia smirked. "He claims most French people are insufferable."

Tyler snorted. "Is that so?"

"Why is it that Tyler gets a highly-skilled French mini-him and I get Sookie St. James?" Jason griped.

"Oh, stop it," Mia scoffed. "If none of you have anything important to say, you can go."

When Emily heard the phone ring, she didn't reach for it hastily as she had during the first few years that Lorelai and Rory had been gone. Lorelai's calls had been coming less and less frequently, and Emily could feel the tenuous relationship they'd been building deteriorating.

So when the maid handed her the phone, saying, "Miss Gilmore," Emily refrained from snatching it out of her hand and managed to keep her voice slightly bored.

"Hello?"

"Grandma!" exclaimed the voice on the other end of the line. "I did it!"

"Rory? What on earth…?"

"I used the phone!"

"Rory, is your mother there?"

"No, Mommy had to go to a meeting at the inn. So I called you!"

"Well, it's…it's good to hear from you. How is school?"

"School is great," Rory said happily, jumping up on her bed. "I made a new friend! Her name is Lane, and she's really fun. Her mama has a house full of old chairs and stuff and it's fun to play hide-and-seek."

"Well, that's wonderful, dear. Is anything else going on there?"

"Mommy went on a date with Jason."

"Jason? Who is Jason?" Emily's grip on the phone tightened.

"He's the main cook at the inn. He's really nice."

"Rory, Rory, hunky-dory!" Lorelai's voice called in the background.

"Hi, Mommy!" Rory called without covering the mouthpiece. Emily winced.

"Oh, my God, Rory, what are you doing with the phone?"

"I called Grandma."

"C'mon, hand it over. Mom?"

"You went out with a cook?"

Lorelai sighed, a deep, heaving sound of longsuffering. "Hello, Mother."

"Why was Rory by herself?"

"Well, because I gave the nanny and the butler the day off."

"That was very irresponsible of you, Lorelai."

"Anything else you'd like to lecture me about? Cause I'm kind of in a rush here."

"What's next? Will you place her in front of an outlet, hand her a fork and tell her to have fun?"

"Goodbye, Mother."

"…and while you're here, you, my friends, are the backbone of this establishment. It's up to you to keep our guests happy and accommodated. If a man in a single room says that he wants three extra towels, you don't ask questions. You give him the extra towels. Turndown services are not an opportunity to flirt with guests or form lifelong friendships. You are here to serve a function. Clear?" Lorelai paused, looking at the new employees in front of her. When they said nothing, she continued. "Okay, then; off you go."

As her ranks walked off, Lorelai approached the front desk. "Hey, Tyler. How's it goin', Michel?" She winked at the trainee, leaning on the desk.

"Do not wink at me," he drawled in a thick French accent. "This is not a bar; I am not serving martinis."

"Wow, he's a barrel of laughs," Lorelai muttered to Tyler.

"He's a pain, but he's really good," Tyler answered, eyeing his replacement. "I might be able to quit early at this rate."

A resounding crash came from the kitchen. Michel examined his cuticles disinterestedly while Lorelai and Tyler made a mad dash for the kitchen door. Sookie sat on the floor among a litter of pots and pans, and Jason was courageously battling a grease fire on the range.

"It's okay! I'm okay!" Sookie insisted as Lorelai bent to help her to her feet and Tyler ran over to help Jason.

"Sookie, sweetie, you need to be careful," Lorelai admonished her.

"I know…"

"Can you move everything?"

"Yes, everything's just fine. Except maybe the range."

Lorelai looked over at the stove. "No, they've got that under control, too."

"Oh, hey, we need to talk," Sookie said suddenly. "We haven't talked in forever. Want to do lunch?"

"If you're still alive by then."

"I'll be extra careful, just in case."

"I can't believe it's been four years since I saw you," Sookie gushed as they ate in the employees' lounge. "I mean, I came back for breaks and everything."

"Well, Rory and I don't get out much. I hope now that she's in school we'll be less hermit-y."

"Has she really started school? Wow, I can't believe she's grown up that fast."

"I know. I walked in from a meeting the other day and found her using the phone. I was so freaked out that she's that old."

"Is there anything new? I mean, in the love department?" Sookie winked, picking up her glass of water.

Lorelai smirked, a twinkle in her eye. "I went out with Jason."

Sookie choked, spewing water all over her food. "Oh, my God."

"Relax. We're just friends."

"Y'know, I know a couple of guys I could introduce you to," Sookie offered, mopping the table with her napkin.

"That's nice but totally unnecessary. Not many guys are keen on a single mother who works as a maid. Something about that just doesn't scream 'terrific catch.'"

"Well, you won't be a maid forever, right? I mean, eventually you'll get another job or something?"

"I've been thinking about that recently. And I've decided that I really want to work up to general manager here. Eventually maybe I could open my own inn."

"Oh, that would be great!"

"I know, right? I mean, I've been working here for six years, and I just love the business. What about you; what do you want to do?"

"Well, I hope one day Jason will decide that the Independence is too small-town for him and quit, so maybe I'd be head chef."

"Well, you're well on your way, if this lasagna is any indication," Lorelai muttered through a mouthful of pasta. "Heaven on a plate."

"Hey, I have an idea! Let's say that, eventually, you get to be general manager and I get to be head chef. What if we branch off and open an inn together?"

"If we work well together, it's a plan. But let's take sort of a temporary oath and then later we can swear a more permanent one, okay?"

"Okay," Sookie giggled and lifted her glass in a toast. "To Jason's quick retirement!"

"What about my retirement?" groused Jason, poking his head into the lounge and scowling at his new cook.

"Oh! Uh…nothing," she said, blushing.

"Produce guy is here," Jason informed her gruffly. "And since you refused to use the tomatoes yesterday, and the lettuce the day before that, maybe you should be here to personally inspect the radishes."
"Um, okay…"

"Hurry up. Jackson's getting impatient." Jason walked out, letting shutting the door a little harder than necessary.

"Jackson?" Lorelai said, confused. "I thought our produce guy was Sam."

"Jackson's his son. A little older than we are. Took over the business not too long ago."

"Ah."

When Lorelai walked past the kitchen door a few minutes later, Jason had taken refuge in the lobby, standing by the door with his arms crossed and a heavy frown on his face.

"They're too small! They're puny! There's isn't enough meat on there to feed a mouse!" Sookie was yelling.

"They are not small! These are radishes, Sookie; they're supposed to be that size!" Those dulcet tones could only belong to Produce Guy.

"Maybe in Lilliput, but here they're supposed to be bigger!"

"I am not taking them back!"

"I am not paying full price for them!"

"Oh, yes you are!"

"Huh," Lorelai said to Jason, leaning against the wall. "Love at first sight."

"I know a good florist," Jason sighed. "I'll recommend her for their wedding. Or their funerals. Whichever comes first."

"So what do you think?"

"She's good," he said grudgingly. "I hate to admit it, but she's fantastic. Knows her stuff, too. She can tell from three feet away if a dish has too much salt in it. Pretty soon I'll be obsolete."

"Aaww, don't say that. We'll still need you around to fight fires."

Jason snorted. "You have fire extinguishers for that."

Lorelai frowned at him. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It just feels like the end of an era. Tyler's leaving. When Sookie's more comfortable I'll probably leave. And you…?"

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere." Lorelai shook her head to emphasize the fact. "Not until Rory's older, anyway. We're so close to the elementary school here it'd be a shame to move. Maybe when she starts middle school."

"Jason?"

Jason and Lorelai turned to face Mia, who was coming towards them, Tyler in tow. "Where is Sookie? I'm afraid I have some bad news."

Jason disappeared into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later, dragging a reluctant Sookie, who was clutching a fistful of radishes. "What's the matter, Mia?"

"Young Lucas Danes just called," Mia said gravely. Sookie and Jason went rather pale. "William died last night."

"Oh, no," Sookie said softly, the radishes falling to the floor. "Did he sound all right?"

"You know Lucas. He sounded as if he were telling me that it's going to rain tonight. But I doubt he's at all fine; they were so close." Mia took a deep breath. "He was hoping you would cater the funeral, Jason. He's got so much else to arrange…"

"Of course, no problem. Is Liz still around?"

Tyler shook his head. "She took Jess and cleared out with Jimmy months ago. Left Luke to deal with it all on his own."

The four of them walked off, and Lorelai stood by herself, watching them prepare to help this man, whom they'd known all their lives, through a devastating time, and felt suddenly and horribly alone.

When she got back to her room that night, she dialed Christopher's California number. It rang four times before the answering machine picked up.

"Hey, it's Chris Hayden, but you probably knew that since you called me. Anyway, you know what to do." BEEP

"Hi, Christopher, it's Lorelai," Lorelai said uneasily. "I was just…I wanted to see how you were cause I wanted to talk to someone and I'm lonely and before all this stuff happened you were my best friend. Somebody died last night and today I was watching all these people get ready to help his family, and I know they'd all help me, but it's not the same, y'know?" Lorelai sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard. "They're my friends and all, but you're my best friend and you know me really well, and you're not here. And I miss you, and Rory misses you. Your machine's probably gonna cut me off, so I'm gonna go. Just…call sometime, all right? Bye."

Half an hour later, when Rory had come back from yet another playdate at Lane's house and was watching TV, the phone rang. Lorelai dove for it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lore. That was some message."

Lorelai sniffed. "Yeah, well, I was under the influence."

"Right."

"Of stupidity."

"That I believe." Christopher paused. "Hey, look, I know this sucks, but we're still a team, okay? If you ever need me, really need me, I'll be there. Got it?"

"Yeah." Lorelai smiled. "Thanks. You wanna talk to Rory?"

"You have to ask?"

"Rory! Your dad's on the phone!"

Rory jumped up and grabbed the receiver. "Daddy! When are you coming to see me?"

"I'll be around for Christmas, kiddo. Count on it."

Next time, keep an eye out for Luke, Babette, and Morey! Peace out.