Chapter 190

"Jess!" Rory exclaimed, walking into the kitchen.

"Hmm?" Jess replied, his mouth full of cereal. It was 7 AM on Monday, and they were both getting ready for long days (and weeks) ahead at work. Usually at this point the only words Rory had were related to coffee, and her energy level was pretty sedate until she'd had a good three cups. But today she seemed bursting with energy.

"We have to figure out how we're going to handle the next month. I can't believe it's only a month until the wedding. I'm not prepared, at all, and we're supposed to be there every weekend, and then the last week we're supposed to be there the whole time."

"Luke was saying something like that the other day," Jess nodded, looking at Rory, "How the hell are we supposed to pull that off? We both have jobs."

"…I'm using basically all my PTO for the week there, and we're gonna have to drive in late every Friday, and leave last thing Sunday, to the extent we can," Rory sighed, "If that works for you."

"I don't have a better solution," Jess admitted, "So I guess that's how it's gonna be. Is work annoyed about you taking all the PTO at once?"

"They aren't, but I'm not thrilled," Rory admitted, "I mean…Mom's getting married. I'm not missing anything and wouldn't want to be anywhere else. But it's a lot of time to be away and leave the team in charge."

"How have they been doing with it?"

"Honestly?" Rory asked, pouring herself her second cup of coffee, "Much better than expected. They did pretty well to begin with, and have gotten better every time. It still doesn't run as smoothly as it does when I'm around, but, as far as nonideal situations go, it's pretty good."

"Well, that's good at least," Jess nodded.

"What about here? Isn't it supposed to be a pretty busy month?"

"Beyond," Jess admitted, "We have Paris coming Wednesday, and Chris really got it into his head that we should be working with her to get her class intersted in independent presses."

"Wasn't that always part of it?"

"He got pretty gung-ho. It's a good idea. Just not clear how much work it'll be," Jess explained, "Plus, we have a bunch of author meetings this week- or I should say I do. I have tons, a few new and mostly previous, but a lot cumulatively. Which is good- we need the talent. But it takes a lot out of you. Matt's got a bunch to do on the business side of things. He's got it handled, but it really can be all-encompassing, so he has that plus anything else that comes up spontaneously on the publishing side, and his own final proofs for a couple authors he's been working with. And Chris is going to be basically doing his damndest to make sure we keep operating a functional bookstore as all of that is happening, mostly on his own, because, as you heard, neither Matt or I have time to be making customer recommendations or shelving."

Rory nodded, eyes wide. "Yeah, that's a hell of a lot. It honestly sounds like you guys are trying to triage it all between the three of you."

"Basically, we are. That's one good thing- that type of division and go with the flow flexibility and adaptiveness has always come pretty naturally to the three of us," Jess nodded, "It's not perfect, but on the whole it tends to work pretty well. Normally there's not quite this much to manage. I'm betting the Paris thing is the first time we'll all be in one room the whole week."

"Wow. Not an ideal time for you to be skipping town every weekend."

"Nope. Luckily, a lot of the things that I have to handle can be done remotely if I need to."

"And that last week?"

"It's gonna be total chaos, but Matt and Chris are prepared, and we'll just do our damndest. That is the downside to running your own business though- it's not quite as easy to just take off and go live your life."

"Yeah, I'm seeing that," Rory nodded, "You said Matt has a bunch of the business stuff to do?"

"Yeah, he's always been good at that stuff," Jess admitted, "Everything from taxes to insurance to our contracts and leases. And even the development stuff- he's how we usually get most of our growth. He's innovative. I love the process piece- the authors, the craft, the product. But he loves the running a business of it all."

"Is Chris like that too?"

"Not in the least," Jess laughed, "He likes running a bookshop. He likes talking to people, and he's charismatic as hell, so he's a great person to do it. He likes being front of house, being the communicator, the public stuff, and bringing people together. The only business-y thing he really likes is the community-based stuff, like anything where we host local artists or writers or work with other local businesses, and I think that's because it's so collaborative."

"You hate all of that stuff."

"Yep," Jess smirked, "So it's good we have Chris. In an ideal world, I'd be all authors, all the time, one-on-one, buried in manuscripts. But it does take more than that to keep the place running."

"Well, it seems like the three of you make a pretty good team," Rory said. Jess nodded.

"We got lucky that way," Jess shrugged, "But it seems like you're building a pretty good team of your own."

"I'd like to think so," Rory smiled, "Though…crap. Another thing I've got to do this week."

"What?"

"Hire someone. We're finally replacing Alex."

"That's great!"

"It is. But it does mean going through stacks of resumes, setting up interviews, and trying to handle that whole process during a month that we're constantly traveling."

"…yep. That's less than ideal timing," Jess agreed, grimacing. Rory sighed.

"I can't complain. I want to lead a team, and I've always wanted to have the opportunity to pick my own people. Things aren't always going to happen on the perfect time frame."

"I'm sorry, former Miss Zero Flexibility, can I get that in writing?" Jess teased. Rory faux-glared at him.

"You really need more written material to deal with this week?" she challenged. He laughed.

"Point taken," he agreed, "In fact, please don't even text. I'm not sure I can handle that level of written content."

"Poor you and your overloaded brain," Rory teased sarcastically, "I'll do what I can."

"So, Paris didn't tell you she was coming?"

"Nope," Rory shrugged, "She's pretty big on professional and personal boundaries."

"…you mean other than trying to get into business with your partner and some of her burdgeoning friends."

"Yeah, other than that," Rory laughed, "Actually, that was pretty out of character for her."

"Her now or her before?"

"…good point. I guess I can see happy Paris doing it more easily," Rory said slowly. Jess raised his eyebrows.

"You called new Paris happy Paris."

"Well, she is."

"…she's also in a marital crisis, in the midst of professional upheaval and seven or eight months pregnant."

"Seven and a half. All true. But I've never seen her this…comfortable, actually," Rory noted, "She just seems more at peace and happier in her skin."

"…that doesn't say great things about her marriage."

"I don't think so either, but I'm not in the business of trying to tell Paris what to do."

"…I think anyone who tries to tell Paris what to do is probably in the business of failure," Jess said. Rory laughed in agreement.

"But no…she didn't tell me. Which is weird- doesn't she need somewhere to stay?"

"She said she was planning to probably just come in in the morning and leave again late afternoon."

"That doesn't make any sense," Rory rolled her eyes.

"Not really, but it's not my business."

"Well, since we've already established my propensity for trying to tell Paris what to do, even when I say I won't," Rory joked, continuing on, "I'll give her a call today. See if she wants to crash."

"She's more than welcome."

"She may still want to get a hotel or something, just given the pregnancy discomfort."

"Totally fair. Plus, it's not like that's a strain for her financially," Jess noted, earning a nod of agreement from Rory.

"I still like when she stays with us. I know she does too. But yeah, just given the point she's at, it probably makes more sense for her to do whatever is most comfortable."

"So she's seven and a half months? I can't imagine much of anything is comfortable anymore," Jess said. Rory nodded.

"Me either," she agreed, "But Paris is…carrying it well. No pun intended."

"Good, because that was terrible," Jess teased, "Seriously though- I know what you mean. She seems at her best, at least that I've seen her."

"Well, that can only be a good thing. And we'll just have to see how the rest works itself out."

"Once the baby works itself out of her?" Jess joked. Rory rolled her eyes.

"If only it worked that way," she quipped, bringing her coffee mug back for another refill.