She Always Takes Me Back
Chapter 7: Reality Bites
"Hey, Sugar, how was the play," Babette asked as Lorelai got out of her jeep.
"It was nice," Lorelai said. "But the thought of Kirk singing a love song to an eight-year-old is forever burned in my brain."
She neglected to mention that the song also tugged at her heart as she tried not to look at Luke while Kirk sang. He had been close enough to touch. Close enough to smell. All she wanted to do was put her hand on his cheek and wrap her arms around him. She wanted to inhale his scent, which Luke always tried to wash off after work. She would tell him the smell of grease and coffee was an aphrodisiac to her, but he wouldn't listen. But it did lead to lots of nice times in the shower.
"Shug, are you listening to me?"
"What?"
"It seems you went away there for a minute."
"Oh, I was just reliving Kirk as Tevye. I'll be having dreams about that tonight. So, have you seen anything else weird around since you heard those noises?"
"Yeah, that's why I was waiting for you to get home tonight. Did you see or hear anything last night?"
"No, but I was pretty tired."
"I stayed up, and I saw someone running out from behind your house at about two in the morning."
"Babette, are you sure you weren't dreaming? That's pretty late for you."
"No, I wasn't dreaming. Something is going on. I'm forcing Morey to stay up tonight with me to patrol."
"Okay, let me know if you catch any bad guys. I have to get to bed."
"Night, doll. Make sure you check your locks. I'd hate to think of anything bad happening to you."
"Don't worry. Rory comes home tomorrow, so I won't be all alone."
Lorelai walked a little faster to her front door to escape the conversation. The last thing she wanted to think about were burglars, especially when she had Christopher sniffing around. As she pulled out her keys, she thought of Christopher.
Nah, he wouldn't do that, she thought. He may be a lot of things, but he would never endanger her. Well, except that one time with his new car.
When she went into her home, the silence was deafening. She threw down her purse on the couch and went straight up to her bedroom. Still sitting on her bedpost was Luke's red and white plaid shirt. She always loved that shirt on him because it was so much brighter than most of his other shirts. It was also lighter than his usual flannel shirts.
He had worn it the last night he slept over, but didn't wear it home since he had a clean shirt in one of her drawers. She should have put in a box or even burned it, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. It still smelled of Luke, but only a little.
She took off her clothes and put on the shirt. It was nice to be wrapped in his scent, since she couldn't be in his arms. For the first night since she started sleeping alone, she didn't cry herself to sleep.
Following a second trip to the emergency room and drug store in two days and three hours of musical torture, Christopher was drowning his pain in tequila. He had two broken toes, a fat lip, a loose tooth and was still picking fiberglass out of the sensitive parts of his body. The tequila made everything a little better. He needed a night away from all the craziness. After polishing off the bottle, he passed out fully dressed without even pulling out the couch.
Christopher and Lorelai are sitting on the porch of her home, holding hands. She is dressed in a pink dress. He is not blotchy and wearing khakis and a button-down shirt. Gigi is playing in the yard, whacking the heads off of Babette's gnomes with a stick.
"Oh Christopher, make her stop," Lorelai said. "Babette loves those gnomes."
"All right, Gigi, you heard your mom. Leave the gnomes alone."
"But Daddy, they want me to," she says, her pig tails flying as she takes aim at Pierpont the Gnome. "They're calling me names."
"Gigi, don't be silly," Lorelai said. "The gnomes don't talk."
"Not to you they don't. They like you."
Gigi swung, but somehow missed Pierpont's head. She screamed.
"Now, Gigi, what did your mom and I say about screaming?"
"It wakes the dead, but you know Daddy, it really doesn't. Nothing wakes the dead."
"Oh, Christopher, we have such a wonderful life," said Lorelai, a glassy look in her eyes. "I'm so glad I can be with you."
Chris leaned in to kiss her, but was distracted by a terrible knocking sound.
The knocking on Christopher's door was ten times louder due to his hangover and his overall pains. Waves of nausea mixed with the pain in his head, and he just wanted to die.
A second round began on his door, and he could hear the piercing voice of his mother saying "Christopher Mason Hayden, open this door right now!"
Christopher pulled his body off the couch, unlocked the flimsy lock and opened the door. His mother and daughter were on the other side. A look of horror came across his mother's face at the sight of her only child.
"Hi, Mom. Hey Junebug, give daddy a hug."
"My lord, Christopher, you look awful."
"Well, Mother, I've had a bad few days, and I'd prefer not to talk about it."
"You look funny, Daddy."
"Thank you sweetheart."
Francine Hayden, who was holding Gigi's hand, inched past Christopher into the apartment. It was a sad sight. Her son was living in a one-horse town in a one-bedroom apartment with hardly any furniture. The door to his bedroom was closed, and she was sure he had slept in his clothes. An empty bottle was sitting on the floor next to the couch. She dropped a bag in her left hand just inside the door. She was afraid she'd catch a disease from the place.
"What are you doing here, Christopher?"
"Well, I was sleeping," he said, sitting back on the couch and motioning Gigi to come sit with him.
Gigi ran to him and jumped in his lap, which elicited a moan of pain from Christopher.
"What's wrong, Daddy?"
"Oh, I'm just a little sore," he said through gritted teeth. "What has my girl been up to?"
"Grandmother doesn't like it when I color."
"Why not?"
"Because she paints on my white carpets without any paper," Francine said.
"You know better than that, Gigi."
"I know, Daddy."
"Look Christopher, the reason why I am here is you have to keep Georgia."
"Mom, you just need keep her for a few more weeks. I can't have a small child around."
"The agency won't send any more nannies over. They say she is mean and too mischievous."
"Well, then use a different agency. I just need three more weeks, Mother. Then, I'll have the Gigi situation all taken care of because I'll have her a new mother."
"Don't be ridiculous, Christopher. You're still married to Sherry."
"Not for long. I'm going to file for divorce."
"Great, you fathered one child out of wedlock and are now getting divorced. It's a good thing your father didn't live to see this."
"Thank you, Mother, for letting me know I'm still letting my father down, even though he's dead. Now, if you don't mind, I have to take a shower and get to work."
"Work? I was under the impression you quit your job."
"I did. My job is now winning back Lorelai. Did you bring the photos?"
"Oh my lord, son. You've lost your mind. You're really going to sit around this abysmal town until that woman takes you back? You're right. This is no place for a child. Say goodbye to your father, Georgia.
Gigi put her arms around Christopher's neck and squeezed tighter than necessary. Christopher felt like crying from the pain.
"Bye, Daddy, I'll see you soon," she whispered into his ear. "Watch out for the small man."
"What small man?"
"The one with the pipe."
Gigi released him from her death grip and walked back to her grandmother's side.
"You have two weeks Christopher and then I'm dropping this child off at an orphanage. Oh, your photos are in that bag. Why you want them is beyond me."
"Real nice, Mom. That's a great thing to say about your granddaughter. I'll come get her in two weeks."
Francine and Gigi left Christopher's apartment without shutting the door. He cursed under his breath at his mother for being such a bitch and got up to shut the door and grabbed the bag. Inside was a box filled of photos of him. Him with Lorelai from ages 12 to 18.
He took the box into the bedroom, where the two rolls of pictures he'd already had developed were waiting to find a place on the walls. He wanted to look at Lorelai, even when he couldn't see her in person.
The residents of Stars Hollow found out the hard way it was not a good day to eat at Luke's Diner. His bad mood, which had been getting worse since the "Great Doose's Market Breakup of 2005," was reaching its apex. Luke was now throwing customers out of the diner for the littlest complaints. Even Mrs. Jenkins was kicked out for asking for a fork.
His beard was a little fuller, the circles under his eyes were darker, his shirt seemed more wrinkled, and Lane had told Zach, who told Sophie, who told Miss Patty who told Kirk who told anyone who'd listen that Luke's hand was swollen from punching something. When Lane saw that Luke had kicked the door off the stove, she knew they were in trouble.
"If Luke doesn't pull out of this soon, she told Zach, "I'm going to have to find a new job."
"Chill, Lane," Zach said. "The man's a little grumpy. He'll pull out of it."
When Zach actually saw Luke, he changed his mind.
Luke had stopped opening the diner. He couldn't take the happy faces first thing in the morning. He usually made his first appearance around 9a.m., when the early morning crowd was gone, and the only people still eating breakfast were probably unemployed and, thus, as unhappy as he was.
Unfortunately, the first thing he saw when he got downstairs was his boat parked outside his diner. He needed to find a place to store it or just get rid of the damn thing because staring at it was killing him.
He had kicked nine people out of the diner in the past week. Their offenses ranged from complaining about a meal to asking to sit at the counter. Lane was practically walking on eggshells around him and Caesar was hiding, afraid he'd get fired. The only person who didn't seem to mind was Kirk, and that really annoyed Luke.
He couldn't leave the diner either since he might run into Lorelai or, even worse, Christopher. If he ran into Lorelai, it might break his heart even more. If he ran into Christopher, he might run him over with his truck. Maybe running into Christopher wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"Hey, Luke," said Kirk from his seat at the counter. "Can I get some more of your special bacon?"
Luke growled and went back into the kitchen. It was going to be a long day.
After waking up in Luke's shirt, Lorelai made a vow. She was officially over Luke Danes. She took off his shirt, and put it in the hamper. After she had washed it, she would put it away or mail it to Luke or burn it or something. She also grabbed a box to clear out her bathroom of Luke's things. The rest of her life began today. It would be baby steps, but she could get over Luke.
Since Rory was coming home the next day, she picked up the most disgusting things around the house and got dressed for work. After the mail arrived, she checked Rory's itinerary for spring break, and ordered some movies online.
Leaving the house, that nagging feeling was back again. She could feel an extra pair of eyes on her, but when she looked over at Babette's house, she saw Babette looking out her window, smiled, and waved. Babette waved back, but didn't leave the window.
She got through work without thinking too much, and was able to spend a comfortable night at home watching television. She wasn't so lucky, however, when Sookie busted her for her spinster ways and Rory came home.
"So what do you think," Rory asked, as she twirled out of her room in a dress Lorelai had made herself.
"Well, it's respectable enough for Friday night dinner, but just eccentric enough to drive your grandmother crazy."
"Exactly what I'm looking for. So, did I mention I talked to Dad?"
"Nope, but I don't know if I want to hear it after what happened here yesterday."
"What happened?"
"Well, let's just say you're father can't take a punch very well."
"You punched him?"
"No, Luke punched him."
"Oh my God. Luke punched him?
"Right in the face."
"Was Dad hurt?"
"I don't think so, except for his foot."
"He stepped on his foot, too?"
"No, I slammed it in the door when I thought he was a killer."
"I'm so confused."
"Well, your dad looked a little scary because he was all in black and his face was all red. He won't give up no matter what I say."
"I tried to talk some sense into him too, but he's got this crazy idea that you're getting back together."
"I know. Look, it's getting late, and you need to get to your grandparents house before my mother forces you to spend the night as punishment. Plus, Sookie should be here any minute for our girls night out."
"Where are you going?"
"Maybe dancing or to a club. I don't know. She needs to feel like she's helping me, and I wouldn't mind getting out of the house."
"Good, Mom. You know I just want to be happy."
"I know, kid. Don't wait up for me 'cause Sookie and are gonna party like it's 1999."
"Have fun. I'm headed to the lions' den."
"Just don't poke them with any big sticks."
"Got it."
There were two cars outside Lorelai's house when Christopher got there at 9:30. The lights were out upstairs, but they were on downstairs. As he was about to walk up the stairs, he saw shadows and the door and dove for cover.
The ground seemed to be getting harder, he thought as his limbs connected with dirt and grass and roots. As the door opened, he rolled as close as he could to the house, praying whoever was leaving wouldn't see him.
"Well, I want pie, and what better place than Weston's," Sookie said, as she walked down the stairs.
"All right, as long as I pay and can have that drink with the vanilla and the caramel," Lorelai said as she locked her front door. "Maybe I should have left a note for Rory."
"She has a cell phone if she wants you. Now, let's go, I'm starving."
Sookie and Lorelai got into the minivan and drove off. Christopher went around to the back of the house, but found the back door was locked. He noticed a tree that could give access to Lorelai's bedroom windrow, which was open. His foot ached as he started to climb up the oak.
Once he got up there, he realized the tree was not as close as he thought.
He went out as far as he could on a limb, but he still couldn't reach Lorelai's window sill. He was going to have to jump for it. Christopher took a deep breath and jumped. Fortunately, he was able to get a good grip and pull himself into her room.
She had cleaned since the last time he had been in there. The shirt was no longer on the bedpost, and Luke's other things were missing as well. His heart almost did a dance of joy.
"Hot damn," he said out loud, his voice echoing through the empty house. "She's made the first step."
Christopher was about to open Lorelai's nightstand drawers when a car pulled up outside. He looked out the window and saw his daughter's Prius outside.
"Oh my God," he whispered.
The only thing worse than Lorelai finding him would be Rory finding him. If he lost his daughter's love and support, he would truly be finished. For Rory was a great champion to have in your corner.
The front door opened and Rory yelled out, "Mom? Sookie?"
She started to climb the stairs, calling for Lorelai. Christopher cursed as he climbed out the window and attempted to jump back to the tree.
Unfortunately, his grasp slipped off the branch and he fell to the ground, landing on his back. The wind was knocked out him, and he felt a shooting pain in his side. If he didn't break a rib, he had surely bruised one or two.
He heard the front door open and shut, but he still couldn't move. He heard her car door open, shut and the engine start. Rory was gone again.
"I can't believe I just fell out of a two-story window for no apparent reason. Why didn't I just hide under the bed?"
It was about 10 minutes before Christopher could move. He decided he'd had enough for tonight. There were four pain pills with his name on it back at his apartment.
Luke closed the diner early after he almost setit on fire when he left some burgers on the grill too long. He didn't feel like sitting up in his apartment alone watching TV or drinking beer. He turned the closed sign, locked the door and headed toward Doose's Market, when he saw Lorelai, Rory and Sookie exit Weston's Bakery.
They were laughing and smiling. Lorelai was laughing. She looked beautiful, and Luke wanted to die.
He had to the face reality that Lorelai Gilmore was no longer his.