"Hey."
"Hey, yourself," Jess answered his phone, frowing, "You don't sound your usual level of chipper."
"Bad day. Crappy takeout when I get home?"
"Of course. Want to talk about it?"
"Yeah, I'm on the train now, so sure," Rory sighed, shrugging, "I have to fire someone."
"Let me guess."
"Yep."
"Ugh. Why?"
"Got a ping from his internet searching that was…problematic."
"Do I want to know?"
"Nope."
"Alrighty then. Why you?"
"Because technically I'm his superior, and the editor-in-chief is away this week. I could pawn it off on human resources, but that kind of feels like a cop out."
"Yeah, I think it would be. When do you have to…"
"Tomorrow. Hence the bad mood. Firing someone on a Friday seems like such an asshole move. But I don't really have much choice in the matter."
"None at all?"
"Nope. The cause was non-negotiable. And honestly, I wouldn't be comfortable employing him anymore anyway. Too many conflicts of interest, in spite of just the grossness."
"Makes sense. I'm sorry that you're dealing with that."
"Thanks. But enough about me. How's your day been?"
"Better than yours, but not great," Jess admitted, rolling his eyes, "We're low on writers."
"For the press?"
"Yep. We've got maybe three this quarter max. You always hear about the crazy number of people trying to get published, but not as much about the tiny outfits trying to publish really great, original content and not having enough of it."
"Just lower applications?"
"A tiny bit, but not noticably. Just lower quality. And we're not doing a great job of seeking out the talent ourselves, which we were doing better before. We need a new approach."
"Well, let me know if there's anything I can do to help."
"Of course, but we'll figure it out. Thanks, Rory."
"Of course. I'll see you at home soon."
Rory hung up the phone and sighed. It had been a long week. In addition to the firing, she'd had a stressful conversation with Lane, who called to cancel her visit to see Jess and Rory after an argument with Zack. He was supposed to be home for the weekend and be there to help Mama Kim watch the boys, but of course, he bailed, as always, without any decent excuse. Rory had had to bite her tongue, which was a real challenge and getting harder every day, to still be sweet and supportive. Beyond that, she'd been fielding intermittent phone calls from Paris about pregnancy things and chiding her to visit ("Rory, I need to see you more. You're my only friend and I can't rely on Doyle to meet all of my emotional needs right now! Not only is it unfair to him, he's terrible at it! And I need to save some of his energy to help him figure out how the hell to be a parent!"). Rory had rolled her eyes at some of the dramatics, reminding herself that Paris was pregnant and prone to exaggeration (though really, how was that any different from normal Paris?), but admitted that she did really need to go visit. She wanted to be closer to Paris again. They had barely seen each other over her reporting years- maybe a lunch if they happened to cross paths in the same city, and Rory really did miss Paris' friendship. It had been great to see her last time, in spite of the crazy, and Rory wanted to make sure she was rebuliding all the relationships and closeness she wanted to have.
At the same time, much of that conflicted with her desires to spend all her spare time at home in Philadelphia, relaxing with Jess and building the life they were building together there. She knew Jess also loved seeing more of Luke and Lorelai, and even seemed to enjoy the time they spent with her friends- but the travel was already wearing on them a bit. It seemed like, since they wanted to see Luke and Lorelai so often, that at least half the month they were either in Stars Hollow or hosting Luke, Lorelai or a combination there in Philadelphia. That would be exhausting for anyone- but for them, with the nature of their jobs, it was really just starting to wear on them. That said, it was wonderful spending that time with everyone. Rory just wished it was a little easier to do.
As Jess hung up, he inhaled deeply. It had been a long week. He'd actually been looking forward to Lane's visit, and was bummed when it was cancelled. In addition to that, he could see how much it was stressing Rory out, especially when Lane called to deliver the news and vent, and he hated seeing Rory that stressed, especially when she couldn't do anything about it. On the other hand, at least they'd be able to relax a bit this weekend. It seemed like they were constantly going here or there or at minimum having other people visit them, which was of course, a lot. So, trying to look at the bright side, Jess focused on the fact that they'd have the weekend to themselves. Until he heard a horn, looked out the window, and saw a very familiar Jeep pulling into Truncheon's parking lot.
"Hi Jess! I'm here for the weekend," Lorelai said gruffly, pushing past him, "As long as that's okay with you guys."
"Um…of course. It's always okay. But what's going on?"
"Don't worry about it. Thanks for making the room. You'll barely know I'm here. And I can always get a hotel…"
"You're staying," Jess said, "Just go put your stuff down. Rory should be home from work in a minute, and there's a cafe that's open late. We can all go grab a coffee."
"…I don't know if I'm in the mood for coffee.."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously," Lorelai shrugged. Jess rolled his eyes.
"Well, your daughter will be. So will you come help me caffeinate her?"
"Sure," Lorelai shrugged again, her eyes still not totally meeting Jess', "Motherly duty and all that. I'll just go and…oh, that's her."
They turned and saw Rory pulling in. Rory jumped out of the car, a puzzled expression on her face.
"Mom, did I know you were coming?"
"Nope! Neither did Jess. I just showed up and hoped you were free for the weekend. Oh crap, Lane!"
"Mom…"
"I'm gonna go book a hotel, I'm so sorry, I completely spaced…"
"Mom! Lane cancelled."
"Wait, what?"
"Zack bailed, so Lane cancelled. We're free and you're welcome to stay here," Rory said, "But what's going on? Is everything…"
"Hunky dory," Lorelai said quickly, "Just really want to put my stuff down and see how much my makeup melted off my face on the drive. Can I…"
"Here's the key," Jess said, handing it to her.
"Thanks, Jess. Be back in a sec."
"So what…"
"I have no clue. She showed up five minutes before you did."
"Have you tried…"
"Not yet. Why don't you go see what you can get out of her and I'll call…" Jess trailed off, picking up his vibrating phone, "Luke."
"Jess. She there?"
"Yup."
"She okay?"
"No clue. Seems it, generally speaking. What happened?"
"Don't worry about it. It okay if she stays the weekend?"
"Of course. What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Fair enough," Jess said, rolling his eyes at Rory, "Thanks for the call."
"Yep."
"So?"
"Rory, he wasn't really forthcoming with the background info."
"Do you want to go see him?"
"Normally I'd say yes…but something sounded different this time. I at least want to give him a little time. But I'll think about it."
"What do you think happened?"
"No clue. But your mother was turning down caffeine shortly before you arrived, and I think we need to remedy that situation first, before we do anything else."
"Wow…that's bad. I've only seen that…oh crap. I should go talk to…"
"Definitely. Maybe later though? Let her have a second to breathe." Rory sighed, nodding.
"You're right. It can wait."
"What can wait?"
"Dinner," Rory lied easily, "Until after coffee. Long work day. You coming?"
"Of course," Lorelai smiled, pained, "Let's head out."
Rory watched her mom's expressions closely as they walked over to the coffee shop. True to Jess' suggestion, she was avoiding any interrogation, and keeping the conversation light and easy, following her mom's lead and talking about her workday and studiously avoiding asking Lorelai any questions. But her mom was clearly upset. Beyond the extremely obvious sign Jess had shared, Rory noticed that Lorelai's mascara was streaked down her face a bit, though it looked to be hastily rubbed away in an attempt to hide it, and she was fairly unkempt compared to how she usually looked- still in her Inn clothes, but wrinkled, rumpled, and strained. She'd noticed the bag her mom had was just her normal work bag and a purse, not the weekender she brought for her normal trips, and if Rory had to guess, she'd say her Mom left unexpectedly and spontaneously. Rory was worried, and determined to find out more.
