Day 2

The day was in full swing, and it had brought much less stress then the previous day. It was nearly five o'clock when Lorelai found herself standing behind the front desk with Michel going through messages he had written down for her.

"The air conditioning won't work in rooms14 and 16? Didn't we just have Tom's guys come in to fix the air conditioning?" she asked no one in particular. Being the 'helpful' guy he was, however, Michel felt compelled to reply.

"Maybe had we hired the electrician I suggested we would not have this problem," he said in his thick French accent.

"Or maybe they just forgot to do that room," Lorelai said, picking up the phone and ignoring Michel's comment.

After a moment of ringing Lorelai heard Tom's voice on the other end of the phone.

'Tom's contracting,'

'Tom, hi. It's Lorelai.'

'What can I do for ya?'

'Well, we're having a bit of a problem with the air conditioning in a few of our rooms. I realize that you're guys were in here fixing that problem just last week, and I was wondering if there was any chance that they just missed those rooms, or if they weren't able to fix the problem?'

'My guys can fix anything, Lorelai. And I'm sure they were very thorough.'

'But we're still having the problem, Tom. We need it to be fixed. Our guests need air conditioning.'

'What are you suggesting about my workers?'

'Suggesting? No, Tom. I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just saying that maybe it's possible that they missed something when they were in here last week.'

'Listen, Lorelai. I'll send two of them over there tomorrow to fix the problem, but I'm sure it's nothing. The guests probably just don't know how to turn it on.'

'Well, lets hope that's the problem.'

'Okay. So the charge for tomorrow is going to be about $40 an hour."

'Well, can't we just wait and see if the mistake was theirs? I did pay them last week, and the problem isn't fixed.' Lorelai began to fidget. Normally in this situation all she would have to do would be to flirt just a little bit, and she would get off scott-free. Now, being that she had involved herself in this ridiculous wager, she felt compelled to handle the situation like anyone else. Suck it up.

'Are you suggesting that I give you my guys' service for free, Lorelai?'

'Well, it's not really for free since it's the job I paid them to do last week that didn't get done.'

'I already told you my men are thorough. You'll have to pay full price for them.'

'Tom, I can't pay for the same thing twice when they didn't deliver the first time!'

'Then you won't get our service, Lorelai.' Lorelai was seething.

'But it needs to be fixed!' She argued.

'Then you need to pay!' Realizing she was fighting a losing battle, Lorelai gave in.

'Fine, Tom. Send them by tomorrow. I'm not happy about this, though.'

'Well, boo hoo for you.'

'Goodbye, Tom.'

Lorelai slammed the phone down with a growl. Michel looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Now you know how I feel," he said. Lorelai looked at him, confused. "We can't all flirt for what we want, Lorelai. Some of us have to use our other skills to get what we want. Now you know what it's like to be a man," he finished. Lorelai sighed.

"And one so charming as yourself," she said. With that she turned and left the front desk, heading back to her office to grab her coat before leaving for the day.

When she arrived home that night she allowed herself to finally think about what Michel had told her. While he was rarely useful for a good point, this time she thought he might actually have one. She had always used her good looks and flirtatious nature to seal deals with male clients. She never had to bother using other methods because that always worked. Now that she was unable to flirt, she felt almost as though she had a handicap. She had lost her 'thing'.

When she crawled into her bed late that night, her thoughts returned to Luke. She wondered what he thought about her to make him think that all she was, was a shameless flirt. She hoped that wasn't the image she put forth, but considering the way she had been treated the past few days, and the way things had just not been working out for her, she began to wonder.

Suddenly she sat up and grabbed the phone that was placed next to her bed. Taking a moment to remember the number, she began to dial. A moment later a groggy male voice responded.

'Hello?' Luke asked, groggy after having been asleep for a few hours.

'When you look at me, what do you see?' Lorelai asked.

'Who is this? Lorelai?' Luke asked, trying to figure out what was going on in his dazed state.

'No. The Tooth Fairy. Now answer the question.'

'Someone with a really unhygenic hobby?'

'What?'

'Well, collecting people's teeth is kind of gross.'

'Come on Luke, answer me seriously. What do you see?'

Luke hesitated to respond. He wasn't entirely sure where she planned to go with this, and knew that if he answered completely truthfully it could lead to embarrassment, and potentially the end to a very important friendship in his life.

'What are you talking about?' He asked, deciding it would be safer to be sure about the question than to just give any response.

'I mean when you look at me. When you watch me interact. Do you see someone who is just some pathetic, shameless flirt?' Lorelai was genuinely worried that the person she respected so much saw her just as a flirt, and nothing more.

'Lorelai, you know I don't think that.' He wanted her to know that he thought she was nothing short of wonderful, but resisted the urge to say so.

'Don't you? If you didn't why would you make that bet with me. Do you think I'm incapable of going through my life without flirting?'

'This is all about that stupid bet?' He asked. Lorelai was silent. 'Look, Lorelai. If it's bothering you that much we can just drop it. I didn't think it would upset you so much.'

'No, I don't want to drop it. I need this bet. No one believes in me, Luke. No one thinks I can do it, and now I feel like I need to prove it. I need to prove that I'm an intelligent business woman and not just someone who gets by on my looks and charm.'

'What charm?' She chose to ignore his sleepy attempts at wit.

'Why do people think I'm just a flirt and nothing else?'

'Lorelai, no one thinks that about you. Everyone knows you're a great businesswoman'

'But they don't, Luke. No one does. They all think that I am completely incapable of getting anything I need without flirting for it. It's insulting, but after these past two days I'm beginning to worry that they're right. Everything has been harder. Nothing is working out the way it should.' Luke suddenly felt guilty for putting her through this. He knew that she was a perfectly capable business woman, and he didn't want to be responsible for taking away a completely effective tool that she used to get what she needed.

'Lorelai, relax. I have complete faith in your ability to conduct business without flirting to get what you need. Maybe you haven't had to do it much before, but now you have the opportunity to prove that you can. You're going to do just fine. Trust me.'

'Why are you being so nice about this? Should you be the one trying to convince me I can't do it?' Luke grinned.

'Well, I'm half asleep. Maybe I'll bug you more in the morning.' It was now that Lorelai realized she had woken him up.

'Oh no, I woke you up, didn't I?'

'Just a little,' he said with a smile.

'Geez, I'm sorry Luke. Go back to sleep. I'll see you in the morning.'

'Alright. Goodnight Lorelai.'

'Oh, and Luke?' she said, almost as an afterthought.

'Yeah?'

'Thanks for have faith in me.' Luke smiled.

'Goodnight,' he said.

'Night'.

With that the conversation was over. Lorelai put the telephone back in it's holder and sunk back into her sheets, a little smile playing on her lips.

'He has faith in me,' she thought to herself. And with that final thought she drifted into unconsciousness, feeling much better then she had for the past few days.

Hey guys. At this point I can go one of two ways. I have a final chapter all written up that kinda skips over the next several days and goes straight to the end. However, I could also continue doing this on a day-by-day basis... Just let me know what you want, and if I can find the time to write more chapters I'll do it. Hope you liked the javajunkie goodness :)