Dinner at four
"Jay, Elle hurry up!"
"Who has people over at four for dinner anyway?" said Jay coming down the stairs and running his fingers through his longish hair and undoing the top two buttons on his shirt
"People like Paris Gellar; I assume we'll be having drinks and a chat before dinner"
"Awesome"
"For those of us who are legally allowed it"
Jay grinned at his dad
Elle came skipping down the stairs
"Ready?" he asked
"Yep" she smiled and led the way to the car her cream coloured cocktail dress fluttering around her legs
"So who's having this dinner anyway?" asked Jay as they drove through the streets of Hartford
"Paris Gellar and her husband; Paris, your mother and I went to Chilton together"
"Were you close?" asked Elle
"I went out on a date with her"
Jay smirked, Tristan shot him a look
"Your mother and she were roommates at Yale"
"That Paris?" said Elle "The really intense bossy one that mom used to threaten to call if we misbehaved?"
"Your mother's version of the monster that lived in the basement" said Tristan smiling as they pulled into the driveway
They all got out of the car as a stiff maid answered the door and led them through to a formal dining room and bar
"So glad you could come" said Paris kissing Tristan on the cheek
"This is Jay" he said pulling Jay forward to shake Paris' hand
"And my lovely daughter Elle"
"Hello Mrs Gellar"
"Aren't you the spitting image of your mother?" said Paris truly amazed at Elle's appearance
"And I bet you've had at least two girls on the go this week huh?" she said shooting Jay a penetrating look
Jay didn't know how to answer so he stuck his hands in his pockets and did his best sheepish smile
"Smart one there" said Paris sarcastically "I'll go get Jess and Margaret"
"Two hot daughters?" asked Jay hopefully
"A daughter and a husband" remarked Tristan wryly
"Mom! Have you seen my black heels?" yelled Maggie padding into the dining room
"Oh hi" said Maggie sheepishly as the guests turned to look at her
Jay smirked, taking in her dishevelled hair, bare feet and sexy black dress
"Hey Maggie" said Elle "I didn't realize it was you we were having dinner with"
"Paris thought it might be good for her to be introduced to Chilton society" said Tristan
"I'll give her the grand tour" said Jay suggestively just as Paris entered the room with a dark haired man
"I think Elle may be a safer option" said Paris hearing the last remark and handing Tristan a martini
Jay snapped his mouth shut quickly
"Tristan DuGrey this is Jess Mariano"
Tristan shook his hand
"So was Rory too busy to come to dinner?" asked Paris briskly "It would have been considerate of her to tell me rather than have the cook spend extra time cooking another meal"
Tristan's hurt eyes betrayed his cool reply
"You don't fool anyone Paris no one here thinks you can cook" he remarked "Actually Rory's living in New York at the moment"
Tristan stood in the doorway watching stonily as Rory packed her bags into the car
Jay and Elle watched from their bedroom windows
"Tris don't make this any harder than it already is"
"I'm not going to make it easier for you to walk out on our family Rory"
"God damn you Tristan, that's not fair! I'm not walking out"
"It looks like you are to me"
"I still love you Tris"
"Not as much as you love that paper"
Paris, for once, was silent
"I knew Rory" said Jess interrupting the awkward silence
"Really? Are you a fellow journalist?"
"Not really" said Jess chuckling "We dated in her senior year"
Tristan spat his martini back into his glass "What?"
"Yeah she was dating than tall Frankenstein guy Dean but he broke up with her when he realised she was in love with me, but hey" he said patting Tristan on the back "High school was ages ago, those feelings don't last, we broke up when I moved to California"
Tristan pretended to smile and looked down into his drink
"Jess and I met on a bus in London; he asked if he could photograph me"
"I told her I'd never seen such an intense looking face" said Jess putting his arm around her
"Never a truer word spoken" laughed Tristan reflectively
"Dinners ready" announced the housekeeper
"Shall we?" said Jess offering his arm to Elle
"Allow me" said Jay, smoothly taking Maggies arm
"Thanks but I think I'm capable of walking into my own dining room" she said pulling her arm away
Paris smiled proudly
"Please" said Tristan coming to stand beside her "If I had of offered my arm to you in high school you would have stumbled, tripped and fainted even with my arm supporting you"
"Lucky I started going to a shrink"
"Very lucky" said Jess pulling out a chair for her in the dining room
They smiled warmly at each other
Tristan finished his martini in one gulp
Someone sent me a review for this a while ago telling me that its been a year since I updated – which is quite true, I had this already written so I thought I'd share it – don't get you hopes up for another though ; )
Elise7