Running After Kansas by Oregano
Most people would say that Fate was a bitch, and indeed, it was, given the case of one Jess Mariano, and particularly relating to one Rory Gilmore.
Just a week before, Jess had taken it upon himself to take another old of his frequent walks around town. There was enough help in the diner as it was, so the guilt had not clung to him as strongly as one would think. It was one of those brisk November days, where you could almost see your breath in front of your face, and breathing in became a chore, for all the mucus matters had recently begun to serve as barriers in your nose.
His feet led him to familiar spots all around Stars Hollow. The town square, the town library, the local school, and before he knew it himself, he was walking along that old wooden bridge that Taylor Dosey had worked so hard to preserve. Jess knew that the elf of a romantic inside of him should stop and take the scenery in for a while, but childhood memories had that tendency to morph into ludicrous moments. They just made you roll your eyes.
He half-expected Rory to be sitting around there somewhere, looking into the water with tears in her eyes.
Of course, she wasn't.
Rory Gilmore had recently found herself a man, and she wasn't at the bridge at present. She was over at a very familiar character, one whom we've all just been recently introduced to. And she did the mistake of bringing him into the diner that afternoon.
"Hey, Rory," her mother greeted casually, with a flippant wave of her hand. She was busy reading (actually making fun of) the new dishes that Jess had the gall to add into the menu. Actually, what was more amusing was the fact that Luke almost ruptured a nerve when he saw the additions.
"Hi, Mom!" she replied, just a little too cheerily. This made Lorelai turn away from the said menu and towards her daughter. This then resulted in her eyes bugging out at what she saw.
"I want you to meet Pete. He's new in town, and he's Houston-ian. From Houston. He's Texan. Houston, Texan." Rory shifter her eyes, desperate to stop trying to give people from Houston a location-based name. Why did she always do that?
This then made every single person in the diner turn away from their individual activities and over to the couple standing by the door.
All Pete Townsend could offer was a charismatic, "Howdy!"
At that greeting, Lorelai dared to look behind her, where she was sure Jess stood frozen. Well, he was frozen alright, but there didn't seem to be any hint of jealousy or anger in his expression. Just that stoic, squinty look reminiscent of Clint Eastwood, without the very close likeness to a living corpse. God, Eastwood was wrinkly.
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"She's just trying to make me jealous, isn't it?" Jess Mariano spat at nobody in particular as he wiped the tables in a rapid circular motion.
"I hate people with Southern accents," grumbled Nicholai Stratt as he stacked a box of napkins back in the confines of the storage room.
"God, I hate Robin Williams," one Luke Danes announced as he descended down the stairs from his apartment above. "He's just so Goddamn… hairy!"
At the voice of his uncle, Jess ceased his endless cleaning. He threw the rag down onto the tabletop and put his arms on his hips. "Luke, how long has this bastard been after the diner?"
"Remember Hercules with Steve Reeves? Around that time. Or it pretty damn well seems like that long. That streak of white hair that makes him look like a skunk? It's very becoming of him and his likeness to one. You know what? Screw Robin Williams, Townsend can go to hell."
Suddenly a soft thump came from behind the counter. It was Nicholai. "I second that motion. You know he came over for dinner yesterday? He knocked my chin and clicked his tongue! Man, I hate that guy. He thinks he's so debonair and smooth, sweet-talking my mother like that."
Jess's brows furrowed at this information. "He sweet-talks your mother?"
"Yeah! It's disgusting!"
"That's the problem with your mother, Nicholai," Jess started, "she's just so Goddamn…" He rolled his wrist around in an attempt to gather the best adjective for Rory Gilmore.
It quickly occurred to Nicholai, Luke and Jess at the very same moment, an in unison, they cried, "Trusting!"
And just like that, all three men found something against Texans, skunks and Pete Townsend.
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It was rare for a diner man to get days off, but Jess decided that he needed it. Christ, he'd never been so stressed out in such a short period of time. Now, apparently, this Pete Townsend and Rory were getting serious. Nicholai was freaking out, and Luke was inches from explosion. It seemed Jess was the only one left from the clutches of this stupid falcon.
His aimless walk quickly took aim, and he found himself walking the familiar path towards a house that was once equipped with uncontrollable sprinkling devices.
The wife of the man who owned the house finally found him around two years ago, and the house had remained empty, until now. Now, the residents of this fine house were Rory and Nicholai Stratt. Jess's face quickly soured at the thought of Rory's last name as Stratt.
That was the exact time Rory came out, and the face she first encountered was hardly inviting. However, she grinned at its owner. "Hey, Jess. Come in."
Walking up the path onto the porch, Jess surveyed the lawn with an amused grin. "The irony of all of this is just sickening."
Rory laughed and led him in. "Hey, we finally got those spigots fixed, though. So I'm no longer looking for your services."
"I'd still like to stick around, if you don't mind."
She stopped laughing at the serious tone of his delivery. They both looked at each other for a moment, lost at what seemed to be gentle waves of the past, right before that awful end. Jess stepped closer and gripped her arms. "Are you really in love with Townsend?"
Honestly, the lack of space between them made it difficult for Rory to remember who exactly "Townsend" was. She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again.
She could feel Jess's breath on her lips. His hands crept up to cradle her face.
Before anything else could happen, an awful attempt at a Cuban accent verbally attacked them. "Lucy, I'm ho-ome!" It was the Townsend Jess had been referring to just seconds ago.
And he still wasn't funny or amusing. Especially when Rory ever so quickly jumped two feet away from him and plastered a smile within three seconds.
"Oh, Mr. Mariano! Nice to see you here. How are things for that lovely diner?" The intruder walked in and placed his briefcase on the floor, loosening his tie with his free hand.
"Still good."
"Oh, then, rats," Townsend exclaimed, half-joking.
Jess's hands rested on his hips as he invited Pete Townsend for a confidential talk. For business, you see, they said to Rory. He then proceeded to drag Townsend outside, out of earshot from Rory.
"What are you doing, Townsend? What do you want from Rory Gilmore?"
"Rory Stratt, my friend. You seem to be stuck in the past," he replied calmly. "She got married, remember? And what makes you think I want anything from Rory Gilmore?"
"Is it her money? Because you know you can't touch that stuff."
Townsend guffawed at Jess's weak threat. As if. He then threw an arm over Jess's shoulder and pulled to whisper in his ear. "Sell me the diner and I go away, Mr. Mariano."
Anger took over at this point, and Jess furiously shoved the other man away. "You bastard."
His opponent merely offered a cocky shrug. "Hey, I'm up for VP, and I've put up with too much crap from your uncle to care about ethics at this point. Now if you would excuse me, I think Al's Pancake World and Ms. Rory Stratt are waiting for my business."
With that, he left Jess Mariano in the middle of the lawn, fuming as the sprinklers again came on.
Author's Note:
Hi kids. I'm back. ;)