Disclaimer: Gilmore Girls is the creation of Amy Sherman-Palladino.
Author's Note: Google "Maldiscontent" and "Inside the Monkey Habitat" for the floorplan and seating arrangement.
Chapter 25: Lunch with Friends, Part II
Hartford, Connecticut, 42 North Main, Saturday, May 20, 2017, 12:10 pm EST
Logan's resolve to back-burner his frustration with Rory was helped by the knowledge that guests would soon be arriving for lunch. If he had a chance to talk to Colin and Finn, maybe they'd have some theories on why Rory would want to keep the house a secret. Prior to the conversation with Lorelai and her unexpected revelations, Logan had thought his most pressing concern was 'Cousin Jess'. Now that no longer seemed to be the case. In some ways, he was relieved. In other ways, he wasn't.
Lorelai's reaction to Rory sharing the 'Cousin Jess' portion of the limo talk seemed to support Rory's assertion that there was nothing going on between them. Rory was reticent to talk about 'Cousin Jess' because she thought doing so might mistakenly elevate something she regarded as not deserving attention.
On the other hand, Logan felt that Lorelai's concern at Rory keeping the house a secret raised a red flag.
"Sookie's here!"
Watching Lorelai sail past him on her way to the apartment door, Logan followed. He assumed Sookie would be accompanied by one of the doormen. Arriving at the apartment door a second behind Lorelai, Logan confirmed that a doorman had helped Sookie bring lunch up with the use of a luggage cart. Although he'd only met a few of the building staff, Logan recognized the doorman; he was pretty sure the man's name was either John or Jim.
"You have trouble finding the place, Sookie? You said you were two minutes away. That was like fifteen minutes ago." Lorelai relieved Sookie of one of the bags she was carrying. "What's in here?"
"Fresh iced tea and lemon wedges. I did something to my driving app! It refused to orient north! I didn't realize at first and I kept going the wrong way. Then when I figured out what was wrong, I had to keep twisting the phone every time I turned. This building is so nice! I parked out front and John came out to help me with the food. Hi again, Logan. I like your place."
"Hi Sookie. Thank you. Can I help you with that bag?"
Sookie handed Logan the remaining shoulder bag. "The ramekins have crème brûlée with espresso." Sookie leaned close to Logan and added in a whisper. "I know Rory's been jonesing for caffeine."
"Sookie!" Rory stepped past Logan in the foyer to greet Sookie. "Thank you so much for bringing lunch!"
"My pleasure, hon."
"Where would you like the food trays?" asked John the doorman.
"How about the dining room? On the peninsula?" suggested Rory. "I thought we could fix plates there and eat in the living room. Sound good, Logan?"
"Sounds perfect."
The group made a procession to the dining room. Following Rory's instructions, the doorman unloaded the food trays from the cart onto the countertop. Done, he turned to Logan.
"I'll be heading back down, Mr. Huntzberger."
"Thanks, John. Hold on. I'll walk you out." Logan followed the doorman to the foyer.
"Logan! What about plates?"
"All set, Ace. See by the sink."
"Oh, I brought disposables since Lorelai and I didn't know what you had."
The last thing Logan heard as he made his way to the door was Rory's reply.
"We've got a dishwasher, Sookie. Might as well use the real plates."
We've got a dishwasher.
Logan chuckled silently to himself. Finn was right. Rory was good at keeping him on his toes. Arriving at the door, Logan had just pulled out his wallet to tip the doorman when a couple of new voices could be heard coming from the elevator.
"Hey, Logan!"
"Good thing we saw you. We didn't know which door it was."
"Hi Lane, Zach." Logan called out to the departing doorman. "Two more guests, John. They're coming in from the airport so keep the cart handy."
"Yes, Sir."
Turning his attention to the newly arriving guests, Logan smiled at Lane and offered Zach his hand, which Zach stared at before accepting. "There's only two apartments on this floor and we got both of them."
"Oh? That's cool." Lane replied.
"Guess he doesn't like neighbors." Logan heard Zach whisper to his wife.
"Come on," said Logan. "Rory'll probably give you a tour later but Sookie just got here with lunch."
"Sookie made lunch? Score!" exclaimed Zach. "Can this count as a date night, Lane?"
"What? No!" Lane huffed, obviously miffed. Logan bit his lip to keep from laughing.
Logan led the two newest guests to the dining room, where Sookie, Lorelai, and Rory were unpacking the lunch trays.
"Rory!"
"Lane!"
Logan watched as the two women hugged.
"You look so good, Rory."
"Thanks."
"How're you feeling?"
"Good. Better."
"How're things going with - " Logan couldn't hear the rest of Lane's question as Sookie's voice suddenly echoed throughout the dining room.
"Okay, so we have rotini with chicken marsala ragout, vegetable croquettes, and four different kinds of salad. We have macaroni. Antipasto. This is a four bean. This is mixed greens with vinaigrette. We have a pitcher of fresh iced tea. That tray has French bread and homemade sweet butter."
"Thanks, Sookie. You went above and beyond!" Lorelai wasted no time in dishing out food. "Anyone not want the ragout? I thought so."
"Oh, well. You've been so busy with the annex! And Rory was busy too! This is the least I could do."
"No, Mom's right, Sookie. This is fantastic. Thank you."
"Hon, I'm just doing my job. Not that feeding you is my job but preparing food is. Throwing this together was no trouble at all. If it was, well, your mom and I would have a big problem! So dig in, everybody!"
"Let's sit in the living room. I'm gonna open the balcony doors so we get the breeze. Logan, set out glasses for the iced tea."
Noting with ironic pleasure how natural Rory's directive sounded, Logan did as instructed, setting glasses down next to the iced tea. By the time he fixed himself a plate and made his way into the living room, all the spots on the sofa had been taken. Rory, he saw, was sandwiched between her mother to her right and Lane to her left. Logan settled on the leather wingback chair closest to the door. He figured Colin and Finn would be arriving soon. Besides, sitting across from the group gave him an unimpeded view of everyone.
Since Rory wasn't acting any differently towards him, Logan could only assume she didn't know Lorelai had told him about the house. He figured if Rory knew he knew, things would get weird. Or weirder.
"Sookie, you do a fabulous spread."
"Thanks, Lane."
"You know the boys' just had their tenth birthday and we ordered giant heroes from Gil's shop -"
"He gave us the band discount!"
"I'm looking forward to them developing more adult culinary tastes. These as leftovers would've been so much better than the monster hero!"
"The monster hero rocks, Lane!"
"Maybe by the time they're interested in girls?" suggested Sookie. "Girls usually have more refined tastes when it comes to food."
"Ah, ah, ah." Clearing his throat, Luke gestured with his head to Lorelai and Rory.
"Well, yeah. Everyone knows that doesn't apply to them."
"Thanks Sookie." Lorelai leaned forward to look at her friend.
"Yeah, Luke." Rory griped. "Besides I have been making an effort."
"That's right," agreed Lorelai. "Rory hasn't had a ho-ho in months."
"Yeah! Just say no no to the ho-ho!" Rory sighed. "What I really miss are the pop tarts."
Not that he'd lived with his sister at any point in the past ten years, but Logan had spent enough time with Honor to know she didn't give up junk food during any of her pregnancies. If anything, she used being pregnant as an excuse to eat more chocolate and ice cream. Logan figured it seemed as good an opportunity as any to jump into the conversation.
"I get the no alcohol and letting up on the caffeine, Ace. But why deny yourself pop tarts?"
Rory leaned forward to meet Logan's gaze. "Because I somehow wound up with the most judgey OB/GYN known to womankind. Not to mention Paris has taken to face-timing me to see what I'm eating." Logan almost laughed at the forlorn look on Rory's face. "I don't want to think about that. This food is so good, Sookie." She turned to look at Sookie. "Thank you again. So Lane, Zach. What did we miss this week?"
"It's only been five days," argued Luke.
"Luke, you know Stars Hollow," replied Lorelai. "It moves like a comet. Blink and you miss it."
"The theater released its summer movie schedule." Lane said as she bit into a croquette. "Mm. These are so good."
"Anything interesting coming up?" asked Rory.
"Kirk's got a new short film coming out," replied Sookie.
"Oh? We know anything about it?"
"He's very hush-hush whenever anyone asks." Sookie took a forkful of the ragout. "No one thinks the ragout is too salty? Manny made it. He seems a little salt-happy lately."
"Yeah," agreed Lane. "I asked him about it and he said he couldn't say anything because his lawyer told him not to."
"That is weird. Even for Kirk." Lorelai leaned forward to make eye contact with Sookie. "Maybe one too many shakes on the salt."
"Thank you! I'm not crazy!"
"Other movies include 'Das Boot.'" Lane nudged her husband. "What else, Zach?"
"Oh, uh - "
"That's my fault." Luke looked embarrassed. "I told April to put in a suggestion."
"That girl sure does love her German cinema," commented Lorelai.
"Okay, so 'Weekend at Bernie's' -" Zach laid his plate down on the coffee table and proceeded to use his fingers to run through the list of movies.
"That was my suggestion!"
"You're way too proud of yourself." Luke told his wife. "That movie's moronic."
"Moronically brilliant. You just don't get it."
"I get it. It's asinine."
"'The Handmaid's Tale,' 'Heidi' -"
"That was Kirk's suggestion." Lorelai nodded. "I think he's looking forward to dressing Petal in lederhosen."
"I think he's looking forward to dressing up like Heidi if you ask me." Logan almost spit out his food at Sookie's comment.
"- and 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.'" Zach made then what Logan coined in his head, his 'workin'-hard-thinking' face. "That's all I remember."
"'Breakfast at Tiffany's!' I always thought that movie was so romantic!" Sookie sang out. "Audrey Hepburn was so glamorous! It was filmed during that brief period when New York was both edgy and clean! Before that bastard Don-"
"Sookie! Chill!"
"Right, right." Sookie took a deep breath before continuing brightly. "So, did Tiffany's really serve breakfast back then? Anybody know?"
"Pretty sure no," replied Rory. "She eats a croissant while staring through the store window in the movie, right? The book was different."
"Oh? I don't remember the book."
"Of course you don't." Lorelai consoled her friend. "Because there's a movie."
"Truman Capote said Holly Golightly was basically an American geisha." Geisha? Logan's ears perked up at Rory's words. He focused on her profile as she spoke. "She has this 'fairytale-on-the-outside-but-ugly-under-the-surface' existence, living off of men she grants favors to. The movie lost that social commentary completely. Instead focusing on a concocted love story between Holly and her neighbor."
"But so glamorous!" Sookie sighed.
"I thought you loved that movie!" Lorelai turned to face her daughter.
"I did. When I was younger. Then I realized how unrealistic it was. The love story with the neighbor doesn't even happen in the book! The book is better. Definitely more realistic."
Logan decided he was not letting that pass without sharing his own opinion.
"Come on, Ace."
"What?" Rory's head shot around to look at him.
"Holly's wealthy lover dumps her because he's afraid his family will get caught up in the scandal after Holly's arrested for unknowingly relaying drug-ring messages to a jailed mobster. After she miscarries their baby, she dodges her trial by fleeing to South America where she hooks up with a married man and is never heard from again. You call that realistic?!"
"Ooh! You forgot the part where ten years later Mr. Yunioshi claims a likeness of Holly is being revered as a deity by an East Angolian tribe!" added Lane.
"Thank you, Lane." He glanced at Lane before returning his focus to Rory. "In the movie, she falls in love with her neighbor and he helps her find her lost cat. I rest my case."
"Fine. Maybe it's not more realistic in a literal sense. But, to the extent that happily ever after is for fairy tales. I think the sad ending without the love story's more realistic."
"Only you think that way, Ace."
"Not true. There's a lot of people who prefer the book over the movie. Lane?"
"Book. Book Holly is pretty kick-ass."
"Mom?"
"The movie has 'Moon River.' Besides the book is really just a novella."
"Sookie?"
"Oh, hon, I love that tiara she wears!" Sookie continued in a whisper. "And to be honest, I don't think I ever read the book!"
Rory and Logan's somewhat heated debate came to an unceremonious end when Lorelai suddenly introduced a new topic.
"So Logan, I don't know if you know this but Rory is Sookie's son Davey's godmother."
"I actually did know that. I remember Rory going to the christening."
"Oh, yeah," smiled Sookie. "That's right. You were around back then."
"Yes, I was. So you have two kids, Sookie?"
"Three. Davey's the oldest. He's thirteen. Martha is eleven. And then there's our little surprise - A-A-ACHOO!" Sookie's turned her face away from the group as she sneezed. "- who's nine. Are those peonies on the table? I think I'm developing a flower allergy. It's from my sojourn in the Catskills last year. Too much woods and pollen. I'm never going back there."
As they ate, Rory and Lorelai shared photographs of Lucas with their guests, as well as the update on the baby's condition and anticipated timing of his release from the hospital.
"That's great that you think he'll be getting out soon. Which reminds me. What's the word on the oasis?"
Logan happened to be looking at Rory when Lane posed the question to her. He caught Rory's non-verbal response, which consisted of a slight widening of the eyes and a subtle shake of the head.
"Oh, nothing-" she demurred.
Oasis?
"What's the oasis?" asked Logan.
"Oops," Lane made a face. "Sorry."
Rory frowned and then began to busily pick at her food. To better avoid meeting his gaze Logan assumed.
"Ace? What's the oasis?"
Rory didn't respond. Suddenly someone else provided an answer.
"It's a house." Lorelai's gaze me Logan's full on. "It's right around the corner from Luke and I."
"Ah," nodded Logan. A house. The house. "A house. And what's so special about this house?"
Why was Rory so determined not to tell him about this?
"Oh, Rory!" Lane excitedly interrupted. "I can't believe I forgot to tell you this! Zach and I saw Taylor this morning at Doose's. You won't believe this! He thinks Lucas is being named after him!"
Lane's comment drew Rory's attention away from her fascination with the croquettes. Her eyes shot open as she spun around to look at her friend.
"What?!"
"What she said!" Lorelai agreed.
"Why? And what exactly does he think I'm -we're - naming our son?"
Nice save, Ace.
"Taylor Doose Gilmore."
"Taylor Doose Gilmore?!"
"Taylor Doose Gilmore." Logan repeated. "Ace, something I should know?"
"Ew! No!"
"You might want to take note that not everyone in Stars Hollow is home all the time if you get my meaning."
Luke's comment was a bit oblique but Logan thought he understood.
"You're saying Taylor's nuts?"
"Certifiable."
"Luke!" Lorelai turned to her husband. "That's harsh. The people of Stars Hollow are just quirky."
"I've lived there my entire life. Most of the town's quirky. Taylor's crazy."
"He's just eccentric." Lorelai glanced over at Sookie for a supporting opinion. "Sookie?"
"Well, he does a great job as selectman," asserted Sookie. "God knows Jackson –that's my husband - " Sookie glanced at Logan, "sucked at it. Maybe you need to be crazy to do well in politics."
"Isn't Taylor mayor now?" asked Rory. "How can he be both mayor and selectman?"
"He's secretly identical twins?" suggested Lane.
"I'm not really sure what he is," Lorelai admitted. "I can't remember the last time we had an election. Maybe he declared himself Czar? Or Czarina?"
"Not that I don't have the utmost respect for Taylor Doose, Ace, but why does he think our son should be named after him?"
"I don't know." Rory, perplexed, looked at her mother. "Mom?"
"Well, hon, Taylor sees you as a surrogate daughter. I guess. You are his ice cream queen, after all. He doesn't have any kids of his own – "
"Ever since my accidental censorship campaign..."
What?
"You gotta understand: this is how Taylor is whenever he gets an idea in his head." Luke shrugged. "This is typical Taylor."
"What is? 'Typical Taylor'?" Logan looked back and forth between Rory, Luke, and Lorelai. It was Lorelai who spoke.
"He nags you until he's browbeaten you into submission. He's not done until you've forgotten your name, where you live, your favorite color. Even what kind of music you like. Eventually you're just a shell of yourself. On the floor, huddled, drooling, and rocking back and forth humming Kool and the Gang."
"Logan, Don't worry about Taylor. Unless he's got something to hold over you, you're fine." Luke's eyes settled on Rory who looked uncertain. "Does he have something to hold over you?"
"The oasis."
"Oh, wait! I know what that is! Isn't that the house where that creepy guy lived?" asked Zach.
"Taylor owns the oasis?" Lorelai seemed surprised. "I thought Dwight still owned it."
"No. Dwight's wife made him sell it," answered Rory. "She hated the house ever since she found out that's where he moved. Taylor's owned it for years."
"This guy Dwight was able to move without his wife knowing where he went?" Logan asked.
"Only for about a month," Rory answered.
"Yeah," added Lorelai. "Then when she found him, boy was she pissed."
"Right."
"Don't ask questions," advised Luke. "The answers'll just make your head explode."
"You and Lorelai were friends with this guy?"
"No!" Lorelai sounded indignant. "We just watered his plants."
"Don't forget the lawn!" Rory reminded her mother. "He had some awesome board games, though."
"See?" Luke's eyes met Logan's.
"I still can't believe Taylor owns the oasis. I had no idea." Lorelai shook her head.
"That guy really wants to own the whole town?" Logan directed his question to Rory.
"What guy? Dwight? He was really pretty happy with just the oasis –"
Logan shook his head.
"You mean Taylor," observed Luke. "Yeah. Taylor wants to own the whole town. And just wait. He'll name it Taylorville. Before you know it, we'll all be wearing cardigans."
"Well, Kirk wants everyone in town to see him naked." Lorelai observed as she tasted the bean salad. "Bean salad's really good, Sookie."
"I made the bean salad. Thank you! Remember when he was trying to be a photographer? And he included nude self-portraits in his work portfolio?"
"Ew! Please! Not while I'm eating! And that concave chest. He's like one of those pictures where you see different things depending on your angle. Sometimes, when I see his bare chest, it's like I'm staring down a ski slope."
"Whoa! What are you talking about?" asked Luke. "How many times have you seen Kirk's bare chest?"
"Oh, my God! It's not intentional, Luke! EW! I don't keep count! I just know it happens way more than it should!"
"Miss Patty's practically molested the whole town," said Rory. "At least the males."
"Ace, I think I'm gonna have to insist on full perimeter security cameras."
"What?" Since the oasis had first come up in the conversation, Rory had been studiously avoiding meeting his eyes. Finally, she swung around to look at him.
"For your house." Logan grinned at her. "Consider it a housewarming, Rory."
As he watched, Logan saw Rory visibly relax. He felt a wave of gratitude wash over him when he saw her smile at him.
He didn't know if the tension that had been emanating from her was on account of her being nervous about his reaction to her buying a house? Or whether she was worried about him finding out that she'd been keeping a rather big secret? While still piqued, he couldn't help but acknowledge that it had only been a few days. They had only been back in each others' lives a few days. Getting used to the new reality would take some time. For both of them.
Since he'd been ignorant of the pregnancy and unaware of their son's existence prior to Wednesday, Logan had no plans in place. He had no time to form assumptions on how life would proceed in regards to Lucas. His life's plans were based on resigning himself to a suitable marriage. Since those wedding plans no longer made sense, he had wasted no time in casting them off.
Rory, in the meantime, had spent the past seven months mentally, physically, and logistically preparing herself to raise their son without him. Because someone - Odette, he reminded himself - had sought deliberately to keep them apart. Realistically, Rory deciding to buy a house near Luke and Lorelai was the most sensible thing in the world.
As for why Rory didn't tell him about her plan to buy the house, he'd have to ask her. But he had to admit his overtures regarding her, regarding them, and his hopes for the future, hadn't exactly been subtle.
Maybe she didn't know how to tell him?
"Logan, I don't think security cameras are necessary. Stars Hollow is totally safe. It's just -"
"Ace. Come on."
"Fine. Security cameras."
"Contracted to a company I choose. Not Kirk and Taylor's Color Me Crazy Security Company."
"Ha-ha."
"I think that's a reasonable request, given what I'm hearing."
"It's actually been a while since Kirk ventured into the security business."
Lane looked over at Logan. He appreciated her attempt to put him at ease. He grinned at her.
All of a sudden a loud chime sounded.
"Oh, my God! What's that noise?" Rory's eyes sought Logan's.
"Doorbell."
"Wow. Chimey."
"We can change it." Logan stood. "That must be Colin and Finn."
AN: Thanks for reading. You'd have to read the "Breakfast at Tiffany" write-up on my Live Journal to fully appreciate the "book vs movie" subtext. It's not necessary though. Next up: Our last two guests arrive.
07/29/2017