This is the fixed version of the 1st chapter!
All thanks to my wonderful betas:
Mrs. OzDust (applause!)
MrsDionysiusOGall (cheers!)
For taking a look at it, so it would finally be accepted at B&W&R!
So…Please review if u can, it would be nice to know what are your thoughts on it…
Disclaimer: not mine, and even if I said it was, which I didn´t... how would the law find me! Nobody knows where I live... So yep, it´s all mine! MUAHH- MUAHHHHH!
-This story takes place in 2004/ 05-can´t quite decide...
-Luke and Lore are still oblivious to the most obvious fact since epi 1, that they belong together (in case u didn´t figure the "most obvious fact"...)
-Rory´s at Yale, she never quit... and she only appears when strictly necessary... I´m not a big Rory fan... For me it all ended when she decided to become stupid... after sex w/ Dean... really she´s the only one that can have dropped her I.Q. cause of sex... (oh and for you that actually like her, I don´t keep criticizing her in the story, just in here... I just use the good ol´ reliable Rory for the story...)
-I guess that´s it, any doubts please ask away!
REUNIONS REUNITE ALL THE PEOPLE YOU LIKE, RIGHT?
Chappie 1 – Perfect day?
Finally, a day when she could say she woke up feeling good! Nope, not good…perfect! She hadn't slept too much nor too little, she was just truly rested. Her face looked good, the first time in a week that she didn't have puffy eyes from lack of sleep. And she had had a good dream, the one with an infant Rory wearing the Bangles t-shirt that was made by none other than herself! All that because yesterday had finally been that annoying-cleaning-freak couple's wedding!
She felt like she could breathe calmly again. They had been so MUCH work: calling every hour "just to check!" At least they had paid them well…and her life's philosophy was that as long as the money kept coming in, she didn't mind working a lot. Plus there's always the bright side, and for her, that was shoes!
Oohhh, note to self: need to stop at the mall, buy new pumps to go with that new turquoise dress.
She slowly drank her coffee, tasting that perfect elixir, grabbed a pop tart, and was out the door before you could say 'supercalifragilisticexpialidocious'.
She got in the Mocha-mobile and looked at her watch; there was no time to stop at Luke's. She sighed sadly. No Luke's in the morning was not something she enjoyed…it was like pizza without cheese, not good! She didn't know why, but her mornings, days even, were always better when she stopped at Luke's for her chit-chatting-crazy-flirting daily routine. Now she could only admit that to herself, because if she ever decided to tell someone--Oh My!--they would immediately start organizing the wedding! Apparently she, Lorelai Gilmore, had a "thing" for a certain dinner owner (and vice-versa), but they just didn't know about it! Really, the town was so out of it sometimes!
She drove down a very pretty road, so full of trees that it looked like it came from one of those fairytale books. Directly at the end of this enchanted road, she could see her also enchanted inn. Even though they had been open for a while now…the thought of all this being her doing was still overwhelming! Just like her Rory. Sometimes she wondered what she had done to deserve this life. She parked her Mocha-mobile in her owner-assigned parking space- all her doing! She smiled happily while she finished eating her dulce-de-leche (AN/ "milk jam" or "caramel spread", is a traditional candy in Latin America) pop-tart- Yummy! - And got out of the car, carrying some folders she had been working on last night. She walked into her beloved inn and looked around, yep…Just perfect!
She went towards the reception desk, where Michel was sitting on the incredibly expensive chair he HAD to have…
"Good morning sunshine!" she said very cheerfully. Michel flinched. "Isn't it just the prettiest day?" She smiled.
"Why are you so happy?" he asked, not trusting her. Lorelai had been moody all week; she was probably up to something and there was no way in hell that he would fall for it. "What have you done?"
"No…nothing". Why did he have to be sooo full of bullshit? "Just being polite…can't say the same about you, though." She really tried not to grin at that; he would be so mad…hee hee hee!
"Just so you know, I'm verrry polite." Michel put his nose way up in the air, puffed his chest out and looked down at his boss. "But I just don't like you."
"Oh well, can't have everything now, can I?" He was free entertainment, she thought, well actually he wasn't free, since she paid him and all…but it was worth it. "I'll drop this off," she pointed at the folders she was holding, "…and then I'll be with Sookie in the kitchen, whom I'm sure will enjoy my good mood!"
He snorted at that.
Lorelai walked into her office and just dropped all her stuff on top of an already big pile of papers; she would finish this later. She could feel the laziness taking over her until-now rested body. But first, she would visit Sookie in the faraway land of the kitchen and maybe get some coffee!
Lorelai was about to walk into the kitchen when..."Lorrrelai…" came the annoying sound of Michel's voice. She turned around to face him. "I forgot to tell you…" He made a very long dramatic pause.
"What?" Sometimes he succeeded with honors in the who-can-annoy-Lorelai-when-she's-having-a-good-day game.
"Calm down…it just slipped my mind. There's a message for you." And as if that was a complete statement, he turned around to leave.
"Well…" she grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn back, "Would you be so kind as to tell me? Or do you want me to turn into a musical character and burst into a song entitled 'Oh how I would enjoy hearing my message!'?"
"I beg of you, please don't!" he said in a monotone, "I will probably be scarred for life if I hear you sing." He looked slightly panicked, but still spoke without emotion. Lorelai gave him the death glare she saved only for him and certain others.
"If you insist…this private school's alumni want to have their reunion here…" he said in a voice that still held no emotion…
"Ohhh really? That's great! If we keep having this many events, we'll be millionaires in no time! And I'll finally be able to buy myself a mansion, have a gold toilet and be the host of the hippest party of the year!" Lorelai clapped her hands together.
"Why do you always say things I don't understand?" He started walking back to his desk; she followed.
"Exactly!" she said, grinning just to make him feel more at a loss. "So? That's it? That's all the info you'll give me? When do they want to have their reunion? What's the school called? Is it the class of '95? Of course it is….it's probably a 10-year reunion, or is it 20?"
"Shhhh…please, do you have to be always SO loud? You're the reason for all my headaches…here." He typed on the computer. "They scheduled the party for three weeks from now; they want the whole inn for themselves…"
"Oooohhhh!" Lorelai said delightfully. "I don't want to sound too capitalistic, but I can seeee PROFIT! Uahhhuahhh!"
Michel decided to ignore her. "It's the class of '87…it's neither a 10 nor a 20-year reunion…you're wrong." He glared at her with superiority; she stuck out her tongue in response.
"Hey, '87…that sounds…"
"The now-rich adults that used to be suck-up rich kids say that the school's name is Chilton…Huh, I wonder why that sounds familiar…" He was so caught up in his mystery, that he missed Lorelai´s frozen expression.
"W-What did you say the school was?" she somehow choked out.
"I said C-H-I-L-T-O-N, did you not hear? Or are trying to make a funny-funny joke about my accent again?"
"…and you said '87, right?"
"God, yes! Please clean your ears better, maybe that's the source of your hearing problem!"
"Oh. My. Gosh!" Her eyes were now seriously threatening to fall out of their orbits, "…but that's the year I was supposed to graduate…oh no! Those are the suck-up kids I went to high school with!"
Michel looked somehow unaffected by Lorelai's revelation. "That's why the name sounded familiar." He made a triumphant face, like he finally had figured out the solution to a very difficult calculus problem.
Suddenly Lorelai´s oh-so-perfect day had been turned upside-down…She needed Sookie and coffee, like NOW! And not in that order...
She pushed the kitchen's swing door open, went in and went directly to the coffeemaker, which was MAKING coffee! That meant...oh no, she would have to wait! Her day had started off so well...
"Good morning!" Sookie sing-songed.
"Yeah, just great," Lorelai answered sarcastically.
"What's up Hon? Shouldn't you be happy that the week of horror with the super-annoying clean freaks is over?" Sookie moved closer to Lorelai with a pot, still stirring whatever wonder was inside. "They ARE gone...right?" She looked worried. "Seriously, how can they say that MY kitchen was slightly dirty?"
"Calm down Sook, that's not it..." Lorelai resumed looking at the floor.
"Is it because the coffee isn't done?" She waited for an answer, and when she didn't get one... "'Cause I thought you would come in a little later today...and I know you like fresh coffee so I..."
"Sook! Stop. Focus. Breathe," Lorelai said after standing up; she was now facing Sookie. "It's just that I have to organize the Chilton Class of '87 reunion here," she stopped to catch her breath, "At the Dragonfly..." She looked down again, and went to her previous position at the stool.
"'87?" Sookie hadn't quite caught the meaning of the whole...Oh wait...now she had..."Isn't that the year...you..." She pointed at Lorelai, forgetting for a moment to stir her sauce.
"Yep, it's the year, that if I hadn't gotten pregnant...that's the year I would have graduated! And those are exactly the same people that..." she took a deep breath, "…that called me...not so nice names when I had to drop out to have Rory. I don't wanna face them again!" Now she looked on the verge of tears. Her eyes were pleading for Sookie's help.
"Oh honey!" Sookie almost dropped the pot in mid-air, but somehow managed to put it on top of the oven instead; then quickly hugged her friend.
"It will be all right! You have absolutely nothing to fear now; you're successful, and you're smart, you made your dreams come true! Really, I think it will even be good that you can see these people again!"
At that, Lorelai looked up, surprised.
"So you can rub it into them! You know?"
"Maybe..." Lorelai answered in a small and unsure voice.
"They probably think you didn't make it...ya know...in life."
"I know Sook, didn't have the brightest future ever." Lorelai slightly grinned.
"Not everybody has a second chance, but you did; you'll be able to show them!" Sookie said enthusiastically, throwing her arms up and her spoon far, far away in the kitchen.
"Maybe it won't be sooo bad..." Lorelai answered in a not-so-convincing way.
"And you can always cancel it...if you don't feel good doing this...you don't HAVE to," Sookie said in a softer tone.
"I know..." Lorelai smiled; she loved her friend. Sookie was so understanding. "Thanks Sook!" She hugged her friend, then the swinging door burst open. Sook and Lorelai jumped apart as Michel stepped in.
"Lorelai, I didn't finish talking to you...you just walked out and left me speaking to myself...they made an appointment with you to see the place...at 2 P.M."
As Michel was about to leave the kitchen, Lorelai asked, a bit confused, "They?"
"The Former Students of Chilton Association, for the reunion?"
She looked surprised.
"From your school? Remember? You know what drugs can do to your memory..." he added sarcastically.
"I know Michel, I know...Gosh I didn't forget..." Lorelai sat on her previously-occupied stool. "Is the coffee ready, Sook?"
"Not yet, just wait a few more seconds!" she said, trying to cheer her friend up. "Quickly, quickly!"
"Sorry...can't wait! I'll go to Luke's, hope you don't mind, Sook..." Lorelai said as she stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
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It was starting now, the lunch rush at Luke's diner: these were surely the worst hours, very busy. Luke and Lane were running around the diner, while Caesar cooked the orders, listening to the radio. It was just a habit of his: he couldn't cook without the radio, he used to say; and even though he couldn't quite listen to anything because of the loud crowd, he still turned the radio on. So every now and then, when people were busy chewing, you could hear snippets of a song coming out of that kitchen. Luke liked that...
For Luke, this was an ordinary day, nothing different, nothing new, at least that's what he would have answered anyone who happened to ask how he was doing. Because the truth was, today had been a different day...Lorelai hadn't been in yet; he truly hoped she would come, because he really enjoyed his friend's crazy company. He, although he would never admit it to her, was now so accustomed to seeing her every day, that when she didn't show, it felt like the day wasn't the same, it felt like it was missing...its spark.
Now Luke would never EVER tell that to anyone. Babette was always asking why he wouldn't just stop pretending and just ask Lorelai out! Now really, the people from this town belonged to the House of Insanity! He grabbed the coffeepot and started serving refills, from left to right...that was his regular serving order. Then his thoughts were interrupted by the door's jingling bell. He turned around to see who it was...but only saw a shadow run past him, literally running from the door to a stool. Now he knew just one person who would do that, so he looked at the counter and saw Lorelai seated on the far right stool (the only one left), her fingers impatiently tapping the counter. He smiled on the inside. Really, he did have a gruff-diner-owner image to keep up; he couldn't just start smiling at anyone...He went behind the counter, and put the now empty coffeepot back in its place.
"Luke, thank God! Saaaaaave me from this horrible day!" Lorelai said, very drama-queen-like.
"Hi, Lorelai," he paused, "…and no!" He loved how she always pouted after he said no, even though they both knew very well that he would give in. He always gave in...not that she was his weak spot or anything...
"NO? See Lucas, that's not an acceptable answer today, because I just happen to be suffering from a very bad upside-down day!" She almost stood up with the eagerness of her speech.
"First, how many times have I patiently told you to never call me that?"
To that, Lorelai made an innocent face.
"Second, you seem like you have enough energy to go through your...whatever day...I mean if you can give that speech." He made his pretend-to-be-impressed face; she almost smiled at that. No matter what he said, she HAD some influence on him...
"Luke! Need...help here!" Lane yelled from the other side of the diner, where she was trying to retrieve a plateful of fries from a little kid's hand. Lorelai started laughing and received an evil grin from Luke; she stopped. Never kid with Luke's evil grin...
"Mine! Let!" the kid yelled while forcefully pulling the plate from Lane's hand. All the fries that were once on the plate went flying through the diner. Luke grabbed a broom from the back and went to clean up the mess, while Lane was still trying, unsuccessfully, to get the red plate back.
"Just leave it!" Luke said roughly to Lane.
Lane looked questionably at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yep," he looked at the smiling/drooling child. "It's a gift..." He resumed cleaning the mess; he was truly happy that they hadn't ordered eggs. He stood up and went back to the counter.
"Lorelai..." he said disapprovingly when he realized that she had already served herself a "bowl" of coffee.
"What?" She looked up, batting her eyelashes, her blue eyes sparkling.
"Never mind..." Really, he just had no energy for this today.
"You give up too easily...are you a quitter, Lukey?" she said in her baby voice, oh to tease!
"Are you gonna eat? You know, since you're already here, you might as well finish poisoning your body; it will hasten your death." He tried his hardest to look mad at her.
"A little moody today, huh Grumpy?" She smiled at him; he really tried not to smile back, but it was stronger than him. "I don't have much time, so...chili fries?"
"That's perfect!" She gave him a full-toothed smile. "You can now complete your poison dosage for the day!" he replied ironically, but turned around and gave Caesar her order anyway.
"Oh, you make me laugh, burger boy!" Lorelai said, faking a British accent.
Luke chuckled at that. "No, YOU make ME laugh!" Even though he said it as a joke, his eyes looked gratefully at her.
"You know, I was really having a crappy day today, but you made me forget...even made me feel better." She talked in a serious, yet soft tone. "Oh, Lukey, you ARE my hero! Super Lukey, I say!" she said in a high-pitched voice; but looked deeply into his eyes, so he knew that what she said was the truth.
"Anytime..." He nodded, not breaking their eye contact.
They could easily get lost in each other's eyes, just like now, and were only interrupted by Miss Patty and Babette.
"Look at these two, sugah!" Babette said while sitting on the now empty stool next to Lorelai, Miss Patty seated on the one next to her.
"I know, you could just cut the sexual..." she made sure to enunciate SEXUAL very clearly, "…tension with a knife." She looked at the two; Luke looked down at the counter, breaking their moment, with an almost invisible blush. "But why would you want to do that?" she said with a malicious tone, and then looked at Lorelai. "Right?" It was Lorelai´s turn to blush.
"Girl, you're on fire today, huh? Leave the kids alone..." Babette said, nudging Patty.
"Yeah, I probably miss my last husband...I've been missing him a lot...You think it's time for a new one?"
"Maybe...a woman can only spend so much time alone..." Babette said, getting into the conversation with Patty.
"You know what? I'm gonna go..." Luke said to Lorelai while pointing in the direction of the kitchen.
"Yeah, I should be going too...here." She took some cash out of her wallet and put it on the counter. "Bye!"
"Bye," he replied.
When had the moment they just shared become so weird? Oh yeah, when the gossip duo arrived...they both thought at the same time.
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Lorelai had gone directly to her office after she arrived at the inn from Luke's. She still had some paperwork to get through before the arrival of the Former Students from Chilton Association's (FSCA) representatives. She had to admit that she lost some time thinking about who would be coming to the reunion, and more importantly, how they would look. Were they fat, old, bald, single, married? Maybe Sookie was right: this could turn out to be an interesting experience; besides, a lot of these people could become potential guests and...Shoes! It all comes back to shoes...hee hee hee hee...
She tried to refocus on her work, but called Rory at Yale instead. After some regular chitchat, she told Rory about the whole reunion drama. Rory happened to share the same view as Sookie. Now if her two best friends agreed, she had no more reason to worry...right? Only she kept worrying. Because suddenly all that her brain played in her head were scenes from teen movies, the ones where the good girl gets humiliated at her own prom. Now she was no Carrie, she couldn't fight back...Of course, she knew this was different from a PROM, that people were theoretically more mature and all. But look at her...she still hadn't changed...and what if they did something to her at the reunion? Because they really hadn't had the opportunity to do it at the prom, since she was incapacitated and unable to go. No, that was just stupid...She had just watched too many teen movies...but couldn't stop imagining herself in the middle of a gym, yelling "I'm not Josie grosie anymore!" Different situation, different hair...she knew, she knew...
She was suddenly pulled out of her reverie by a loud knock on the door, followed by: "Are you deaf again?" in Michel's voice from the other side of the door. "They arrrrre herrre!"
"I'll be out in a sec! Tell them to just seat and chill..." Whoever they were, they were from Chilton, and she didn't get along with anyone back then, so whoever they were, they could stand to wait a little. Lorelai ginned. "I'm mean..." Now if I could only learn how to do the witch laugh properly...Oh, well she wasn't perfect after all...
Lorelai stood up, took a deep breath to gather some courage, puffed her chest out and was out the door for her meeting with the FSCA.
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Lorelai was now standing in the middle of the stable trying to convince two very frou-frou-looking women to come in to see the horses, and that: yes, the stable was cleaned often; and no, there was no possibility of one of the horses sneezing onto their new Gucci purses and staining them.
Now, she knew that not all rich people were as snobby and irritating as this duo right in front of her, God they could even beat her mother! They were Lilly Donaldson, married to the honorable lawyer F. Franklin Donaldson the Fourth, whom Lorelai had never heard of nor was even a little interested in. But that didn't stop Lilly ("with double l's!") from telling Lorelai about their whole "love" story and how very successful he was and blablablablablablabla, she stopped listening, and just nodded once in a while out of politeness. Now the other charming representative of the FSCA was Dotty Brodnax Speer Straybeck. (Couldn't rich people have short names? Was that like a rule? That and those nicknames...). Well lovely Dotty's ("yes, Dotty, not dot as at the end of a sentence!", she said, followed by a screeching high-pitched laugh) husband James Tinley Straybeck was the head of a huge company of some kind. Yep, Lorelai was feeling really swell at the moment...
Now they had told Lorelai how sad they felt that Marie Louise Medley Lorrainer (the other head of the FSCA) couldn't come; after all, she was the one who had suggested the place...Oh yeah, Lorelai felt really bad too...Could she have handled three of these woman?
After almost ten minutes of standing, she finally achieved the incredible task of convincing Dotty and Lilly to step into the stable...Now how do they want to ride horses if they can't get into a stable?
"I have never entered a stable; the workers have always brought me the horse I wanted," said Lilly, looking around, truly stunned.
"And we are not dressed properly either!" said Dotty, equally stunned by the very mysterious stable.
"Of course, silly me," said Lorelai; she could picture these two telling their families how adventurous they had been, for visiting the stable and not even being properly dressed. They would be known as the rebellious ones of their families!
"Now that you've seen the stable, would you like to step forward and see the horses? Cletus and Desdemona are the older and nicer of the bunch!" Lorelai said as she petted Cletus; he closed his eyes in acknowledgement. She loved horses!
"Yes, we can see that they are very nice!" Dotty said as they stepped forward. "But there's no need to touch it!"
IT, it? How can she call Cletus an IT; he is clearly a HE, just because he's a horse doesn't mean he has no feelings- and then Cletus sneezed, clearly in answer to that naughty comment, and thank God he didn't stain the not-affordable purse! Ugh! What a relief!
A Couple of Hours Later
After spending the entire afternoon showing the place to the duo (the ENTIRE place, every room, they HAD to see every room--Lorelai actually thought that Michel was paying them and that they were real-life actresses performing a prank on her. but no such luck...) They scheduled the Inn for Memorial Day weekend, because that was the only date available in their busy schedules; and it was easier for top-notch people such as themselves, to be free on a holiday, although sometimes they still worked. Lorelai just couldn't care less.
Lorelai was ready to say goodbye, when she remembered her business cards, so she pulled some out of her purse and handed them out. She said they could call her to schedule the next meeting (they still had a weekend to plan! Yippee!)
"Oh, you're a Gilmore? A Hartford Gilmore?" Lilly asked after glancing at the card that Lorelai gave them. Suddenly she was very interested that maybe their planner was from their same social circle.
"Yep, born and raised!" escaped as soon as I could, she could have added, but she didn't think they would have understood...
"Are you Richard and Emily's daughter?" Dotty asked, looking interested too. Lorelai just nodded at that. "Aren't you the one that...that..."
"What?" Lorelai innocently asked; she knew what Dotty wanted to ask.
"Oh yeah, I remember now...you were supposed to graduate with us, in '87, why didn't you?" Lilly asked while opening a Gucci leather wallet and saving Lorelai´s business card.
"She got pregnant!" Dotty said quickly, then covered her mouth, as if she shouldn't even talk about it.
"Yes, yes I did." Lorelai had heard so many different reactions to her early pregnancy, that nothing could really upset her anymore. "I had a daughter, Rory, she's at Yale now. She's gonna be a journalist, maybe you'll meet her..." Lorelai´s tone always changed to proud-mommy whenever she mentioned Rory.
"Wow, so you didn't give her up for adoption?" Dotty said, scandalized. The concept of raising a child at sixteen was totally incomprehensible to her.
"I was thinking...you should probably come to the reunion."
Lorelai frown at that.
"As a guest, I mean. You are from the same class; you just didn't graduate with us." Lilly smiled warmly. "What do you think?" The duo looked at Lorelai, putting no pressure on her.
"Thanks, but I'll have to think about it, since I'm planning the whole thing and all...I don't know if it will be wise...but I'll get back to you on that..." Lorelai faked a smile; really, what she had to do for shoes... "I'll tell you what, how about we talk about this at our next meeting! And try to bring Marie Louise too, since she mentioned us and all!" Another fake smile (she would become a pro soon...) and she waved them goodbye as they finally left. Lorelai sighed, relief flowing through her body. Thank God, they left! But they'd come back soon, too soon...
Suddenly Lorelai felt exhausted, like the week before, the well-slept night's effect had vanished. Those Gucci Nazis had drained all the energy out of her... She could really use some sleep right about...now. But she couldn't go home yet, so good ol´ coffee would have to do the trick. She left the porch and moved toward the swinging doors...
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And if you're one of the 10 very courageous people that read this entire thing:
THANK YOU!