Chapter 146
A few days later, things had calmed a bit. Things were back to the status quo around Truncheon, Matt and Chris were taking their first looks at Jess' new book ("You know, just because you own the place doesn't mean we're going to publish it. That said, it's even fucking better than your last one. Congrats, man."). The entire group had celebrated Chris and Hannah's engagement, Rory thrilled to have Hannah, who she really liked, indoctrinated as a more permanent member of the group. Lorelai and Luke were happily ensconced in Stars Hollow, enjoying the last several weeks before the wedding. And Emily and Richard were traveling to Hilton Head with friends, so there were no Friday night dinners for the next couple weeks as they prepared for, took and returned from their trip. It seemed for a moment as though Rory and Jess would get a little peace.
Enter Paris.
"Is Rory Gilmore here?" Paris demanded, charging into Truncheon at 11 AM on Wednesday morning. Jess, seeing her, immediately walked over.
"Paris. What are you doing here?"
"Jess! Is Rory here?" Paris looked around anxiously.
"She's at work."
"Then I'll wait. Is there somewhere I can put my stuff?"
"Stuff?"
"Yes, stuff. God, I thought she'd picked the smart one," Paris rolled her eyes. She gestured to a rather large luggage set next to her. Jess raised his eyebrows.
"Um…Rory didn't mention you were coming."
"Surprise," Paris said flatly, "For all of us. Now, I assume you don't want me unpacking in the middle of your store?"
"Who said anything about unpacking?"
"Jess!"
"Alright, alright. Follow me. The apartment's upstairs. I'll call Rory and let her know you're here. She's usually not home until around 6, 6:30."
"She never was one to burn the midnight oil," Paris sighed, shaking her head in disappointment, "Do you know where her office is?"
"She's out on assignment today."
"You said that awfully quickly."
"I've heard about what your presence does to a newsroom."
Paris cracked a small smile. "I forgot that you're funny." She grabbed the large bags and started hauling them up the stairs.
"Paris, can I…"
"Nope. But if you have one, a glue gun would be great."
"…any chance a nail gun would do?"
"I'll make it work."
"I bet you will," Jess said, rolling his eyes and heading to the office. When he walked in, Chris followed him, looking infinitely amused.
"So, who's the new character in this week's episode of Jess and Rory run a boarding house? I gotta say, introducing someone new so late in the season is a bold move for the writers."
"Oh, shut it," Jess said dismissively, "Do we have a nail gun?"
"Wow, you hate her that much?"
"Good one," Jess admitted, grinning, "No, she's just crazy and wants one."
"Well, why should I see any issue giving a crazy woman a deadly weapon to roam free with in our store? Take an extra box of nails to go with you," Chris teased, gesturing towards the tool box where they did, in fact, store the nail gun.
"Thanks for the enabling," Jess nodded.
"Seriously, who is she?"
"Rory's best friend from college. And high school."
"Wow. Sounds like the girl can stick."
"Pretty sure she nail-gunned herself to Rory shortly after they met," Jess said, a small smile playing on his face.
"What's she like?"
"Want to find out for yourself? I had no idea she was coming, and I don't think Rory did either, so I'm gonna grab lunch with her around 1 if she's amenable."
"…Matt can handle the store for an hour. I wanna see this."
"Paris? I found it," Jess said, walking in and handing Paris the nail gun.
"Thanks, Jess," Paris nodded distractedly, "Just put it on the table. I'm turning it into a transitionary craft corner."
"…we'll discuss that when Rory gets home. In the meantime, I'm gonna give her a call. My coworker Chris and I were going to grab lunch around 1, if you'd like to join us?"
"Sure," Paris shrugged, "It's not like I'm expected at the hospital today."
"Take the day off?"
"The week. For now."
"…let me see about that phone call to Rory."
"Hello?"
"Hey, sorry to bug you at work."
"My mother show up again?" Rory teased. Jess smirked.
"Not exactly."
"…what does that mean?"
"Paris is here."
"Paris?!"
"To visit."
"What? Put her on," Rory demanded. Jess held back a laugh.
"Phone for you," Jess said, entertained, as he passed the phone to Paris.
"Hi Rory," Paris answered immediately, businesslike.
"Paris! You cannot just show up at our home! That's completely socially inappropriate! You didn't say you were coming! Is everything okay?" Rory's tone shifted rapidly from disbelief to concern.
"…okay enough. I just need somewhere to crash for a couple days."
"And not a hotel?"
"I needed to be further from Boston, and I didn't want to be alone. I considered going to your mother's."
"Well, that might have made sense, given that she owns an inn," Rory said plaintively. Paris laughed.
"Yeah, I…wasn't thinking straight. I can go."
"No, Paris, it's…fine. I think. Let me talk to Jess. But as long as it works for him, happy to have you. How long are you here for?"
"I took the week off work…still trying to figure it out."
"What happened? Are you okay?"
"Can we talk about it later?"
"Is the baby okay?"
"Yes, the baby's fine," Paris nodded, patting her stomach, Jess noticed, "The baby's perfect."
"And Doyle?"
"…fine, I'm sure. Not that I'm that interested at the moment."
"…oooh-kay. Let's talk once I'm home. Don't bother Jess too much today, okay? He does have a job, you know."
"He's bothering me! He just invited me to lunch!" Paris exclaimed defensively. "Which really…are you comfortable with how easily he did that without telling you?"
"Yes," Rory answered, rolling her eyes, "Because I'm not crazy. Pass me back to Jess now, Paris. I'll see you tonight."
"Keep your lackeys on a short leash," Paris called, before passing the phone to Jess, "She wants to talk to you."
"Rory?"
"Yeah…not sure what's going on. I had no idea she was coming. It sounds like something might've happened with her and Doyle. Jess, do you mind…?"
"Of course not," Jess reassured her, "I'm sure we'll get some time to ourselves in the next millenium."
"Dare to dream," Rory replied drily, "Thanks for offering to bring her to lunch."
"And you're still comfortable leaving me to my own devices after such a choice?"
"Other than the lack of judgment, why not?"
Jess grinned. "Chris is joining us."
"My sympathies. Anyway, I gotta get back. Keep an eye on her for me, will ya?"
"I'll do what I can."
"I appreciate that."
Two hours later, Jess came back upstairs.
"Hey, you ready?" he asked Paris. She unplugged her headphones and looked up from her laptop.
"Yep," she nodded, closing the computer and grabbing her bag, "Thanks again for letting me crash."
"For some reason we're pretty popular in that regard," Jess shrugged.
"A lot of guests lately?"
"And a few surprise ones. You're not even our first this month."
"Lane?"
"Lorelai, actually," Jess said.
"Why did she come here?"
"She had a fight with Luke. They worked it out pretty quickly," Jess shrugged casually.
"About?"
"That's really her business, Paris."
"I don't know if Rory has mentioned, but Lorelai and I are also friends. We have lunch. Less often now that I've moved to Boston, but…"
"Well then, you'll have to ask her at your next lunch," Jess said pointedly. Paris sighed.
"Fine. Where's your colleague so we can…"
"I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Chris," Chris smiled charismatically, walking over and holding his hand out to Paris to shake.
"Flattered but taken. I'm Paris." she said dismissively. Chris laughed.
"God, Rory has the best people," he said to Jess, who looked deeply amused, "Nice to meet you, Paris. Me too, actually. I got engaged a couple of days ago."
"Well, congratulations, and I hope the pink cloud lasts for a while before you fall on your ass." Chris grinned.
"I think I'm gonna like you."
"Why wouldn't you? Now, does the lunch place have mac and cheese?"
"I can make that happen," Jess nodded, sharing an amused look with Chris as they walked out the door.
"So you know Rory from…?"
"High school, then college, and ever since. I was friends with Rory when she met him," Paris explained, gesturing to Jess.
"I'm not sure you guys were exactly friends then, Paris."
"We were competitive, but we were friends. We had a sleepover the night I met you!"
"…you did?"
"Uh-huh," Paris nodded, "Rory never told you?"
"Believe it or not, that wasn't our primary conversational topic back then."
"Oh right, I forgot. It was mostly, why are you still with the dumb boring brick dude, and ooh, literary sexual repartee, and then a little bit of boring holes into each other with your eyes. You could cut the sexual tension with a banter," Paris sighed. Chris turned to Jess, smirking.
"You failed to share some of these early relationship stories with us, Jess," Chris said pointedly. Jess buried his head in his hands.
"Goddamnit, why did I say it was okay for you to stay?"
"And that's just the start of it…"
