A/N – Actually this was going to be 2 chapters, but since I got so many reviews from you guys and you seem to enjoy the story, I thought what the hell, just give it to them. So I did. Enjoy. :)
It was a Saturday morning and Rory woke up in her bed at her mom's house. She still lived in Stars Hollow since she hadn't had the urge to live somewhere else yet. Rory was 20 years old and worked at a newspaper, like she had always wanted. She loved her job. Everything was working really well. She got along with everybody and there were a lot of efficient staff members that she learned from.
This morning she would tell her mum about her encounter with Tristan Dugrey and ask her if she knew who he was. The name sounded familiar, but she still couldn't figure out who he was. And if Lorelai didn't know she would just ask Jess.
She would have already asked her mum yesterday, but she was out on a date with Luke and came home pretty late. Luke stayed at the diner since he had an early delivery and because he was such a considerate person, told Lorelai to stay at her place, since he didn't want to accidentally wake her up at 5 in the morning. He knew how she would get without coffee in her system at an early hour.
After Jess left Stars Hollow and went after his dad to live with him in California for a while, he came back and Rory and him slowly became friends again. Jess was only in Stars Hollow nowadays on the weekends. He had a full time job, but he always made some time to go to Luke's and help him out in the diner. Luke was grateful for that since Lane and Zack had to take care of the twins, so Lane didn't have much time to even relax on the weekends.
Rory got up from her bed, put her feet on the cold floor and let out a soft moan of discomfort. She stretched and quickly pulled on a pair of socks and a jumper over her head before walking out into the kitchen. Her mom was already sitting at the table with a coffee in her hand, but still looking a little drowsy from last night. Lorelai could look even worse and then Rory would compare her to a junkie who hadn't had his daily dose yet.
"Morning mum." Rory said with a yawn and tapped towards her to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"Mornin' hun." Lorelai replied sleepily rubbing her eyes.
Rory walked towards the coffee machine, poured herself a cup of black, steaming hot coffee and walked back over to where Lorelai was sitting and got on a chair across from her. She took a long sip and looked at her.
"So, how was your date with Luke?" Rory asked.
"Oh, it was good. We went to watch a movie and then ate at a fancy restaurant. It was really nice. I even got him to throw popcorn at the people in front of us." Lorelai answered excitedly.
"Sounds like fun. I can't believe you got Luke to actually do that. Normally he would just ignore your whining about it." Rory said amazed at her mums ability to get whatever she wanted.
"Yeah, well. I promised him something that he just couldn't turn down, even if he wanted to." Lorelai said with a grin.
"Yuck mum. Gross. Please spare me the details. I don't think I am old enough to hear this. Ever." Rory said disgusted.
"Hey! This is a very natural thing that everyone will experience some day. Well, maybe not everybody, but nearly. Although I think it's pretty impossible for anyone not to have sex. Except Frankenstein. I don't think he had any kids." Lorelai said thoughtfully.
"Frankenstein was an experiment, mum and I don't think that he even existed. He was a fictional monster. They made up stories about him to scare little children." Rory said.
"Everybody should feel the love." Lorelai replied with a dreamy look.
"Okay, can we drop this now please?"
"It's dropped."
"Good. So mum, I gotta ask you a question."
"Oh, I knew it. Now you're gonna ask me where babies come from, but I gotta say hun, it's too early in the morning to discuss that with you." Lorelai said with a grin.
"Very funny mum." Rory said while rolling her eyes.
"I know. I am a very funny woman." Lorelai replied looking into her nearly empty coffee cup.
"Okay, focus." Rory said strictly.
"Alright, I am focused." She said and looked like she was a student listening intently to her teacher, but actually visioning throwing something at her.
"Yesterday," Rory began "I bumped into someone, no, actually someone bumped into me, oh never mind, just forget that."
"Consider it forgotten." Lorelai said with a confused look.
"Well, and I don't know we had this strange conversation and he kept asking me how I cannot know him."
"Are you sure that you were having the strange conversation with a male?" Lorelai asked.
"Of course, and why does it matter?" Rory asked a little annoyed by the question.
"Oh, no reason. However if the person was female, then it might have been a clone of my mother, 'cause I have strange conversations with her all the time." Lorelai answered with a grin.
Rory rolled her eyes took another sip of her coffee and carried on.
"The person was a guy and he said his name was Tristan Dugrey. Now the name does kind of ring a bell, but I still haven't figured it out." Rory said with a frown.
"Tristan Dugrey, huh? No, doesn't tell me anything. Maybe you should go ask Jess. He is the business man that knows everything and everyone. If someone knows, it might be him." Lorelai said.
"Yeah, I thought about asking him. Just wanted to see if maybe you knew, but never mind. I will go and ask him right now. Thanks mum." Rory said while getting up from her stool and placing the coffee cup in the washbasin.
"You're welcome, hun." She said after taking a sip of her life elixir – coffee.
She turned around, gave her mum a quick kiss on the cheek and walked out the door towards Luke's.
GgGgGgGgGgGgGgGg
"Morning Luke." Rory said while walking towards him.
"Morning Rory. Where did you leave your mother?" Luke asked looking behind her to see if Lorelai was maybe hiding or playing a trick on him.
"Oh, she will come by later."
"Alright, so what can I get you?" he asked.
"I don't want anything, thanks. Do you happen to know where Jess is? Has he come down already?"
"He is here, but he is upstairs. Doing his hair or something like that." Luke replied with a frown.
"Good old Jess. Still trying his best to look nice for the ladies." Rory said with a grin.
She walked up the stairs, knocked on the door and when she heard a 'come in' she opened the door and walked in heading straight over to Jess, who was in the bathroom fixing his hair. His hands were tangled in the black mess trying to tug it and pull it, smooth it and yank it into the right direction.
"Hey Jess. Long time no see." Rory said amused, looking at his desperate expression. "If you need an advice," she said pointing to his untameable hair "I would buy it a collar and a leash and got to dog school with it." She said with a smirk.
"Very funny Ror. Whatcha doing' here?" Jess asked.
"Well, I wanted to ask you a question."
"Shoot."
"I met this guy yesterday and he was totally astounded that I didn't know who he was, so I thought I might ask you, to see if maybe you knew who he is."
"Okay, but why do you think I know who he is?" Jess asked turning away from the mirror and looking at her with a curious expression.
"Because you work in the city and know a lot of people because of your job. So, his name is Tristan Dugrey. Ring a bell?" she asked.
Jess gave her a strange look.
"What?" Rory asked. "You don't know him?"
"I do." Jess replied.
"And, who is he?" she asked excited.
"He is the boss of the firm where I work and also one of my best friends. Don't you remember me mentioning his name?" Jess asked in disbelieve.
Now everything made sense. Of course Jess had mentioned the name before. She knew that the name sounded familiar.
"Oh, right. Now I remember. You met him at the private school, right?" she asked.
"Yep. That was him. That's where I also met Finn and Logan. You remember them?" Jess asked.
"Finn? No. I don't remember him, but I do remember Logan. I met him once. Does Finn wear really scruffy stuff that looks like it laid under the bed for too long?"
"Yeah, that's him." Jess replied with a smirk.
Aha, so that was the guy with the Australian accent that came a little later and called me 'love' she thought.
"So why did you ask me about Tristan? Did something happen?" Jess asked curiously.
"Well I bumped into him – or he bumped into me - and I might have said some things, that weren't very nice." Rory said looking down at her shoes.
"What did you say?"
"I said that he was a cocky, homeless moron."
"No you didn't?" Jess asked in disbelieve.
"I did and he didn't seem to take it very well." She said looking Jess in the eyes.
"God Rory! Do you not know that no one messes with Tristan? He isn't someone that you should have as an enemy. He doesn't take things lightly and he definitely doesn't accept it if someone says something to him that he doesn't like." Jess blurted out.
"I am sorry, but he wasn't very nice to me either." Rory snapped back.
"Look. Tristan is one of my best friends and he has been through a lot of shit in his life. The next time you accidentally bump into him, just say you're sorry and carry on walking. Don't even think about offending him in anyway."
"God Jess. What has gotten into you?" Rory asked with a frown.
"I'm just trying to look out for you. You know the business that I work in. Now I might take things lightly, but that doesn't mean that everybody is like that. Just watch out alright?" Jess tried to reason with her.
Rory saw that it really meant a lot to Jess that she was save, so she thought it over and agreed.
"Okay, Jess. I won't do anything stupid to offend him, if I ever happen to cross his path again. Happy?" Rory asked.
"Very." Jess said and motioned for Rory to come here.
He hugged her and she leant into his embrace placing her head on his chest.
"I am sorry if I scared you." Rory said apologetically.
"Yeah well, its gotta happen sometime. I have known Tristan for a long time now, but he doesn't do lightly with strangers. Especially ones that insult him." Jess said with a raised eyebrow and let Rory go so he could look her in the eyes.
"There is a whole different world out there that I don't want you to have anything to do with. I want you to be save and happy. Okay?" he asked
"Yeah, I get it. Thanks Jess." Rory said with a smile. "I gotta get back now. See you later?"
"Sure. See ya."
"Bye". Rory said and left the diner to go back to her mum and tell her what she had found out about Tristan. What Rory couldn't get out of her mind though, was why Tristan wasn't as bad as Jess had made him out to be. Was he really that dangerous? He seemed rather…amused when they fought, than out to kill her.
GgGgGgGgGgGgGgGg
Tristan was back in his apartment after having arranged a business deal Friday night that went rather well for him. He sat on the couch with the music on full blast. He was tapping his fingers on the armrest and seemed to be in deep thought. After the encounter he'd had with the woman yesterday, he couldn't think rationally anymore. He kept getting flashes of her angry face and her beautiful blue eyes that had glared at him with fury and sparkled like sapphires in the sun.
Finn came by this morning to find out what had happened yesterday, but Tristan was too occupied with thinking about her, than actually listening to his whining.
Why couldn't he get her out of his mind? Did he feel drawn to her? He didn't even know her name for god's sake. She was just a silly girl that made the mistake to bump into him.
Maybe he shouldn't have lashed out at her like that. I mean it was as much his fault as it was hers. Wait a sec. What was he thinking? Tristan ran his hand through his hair and took a deep breath. He glanced over at Finn who was staring at him intently and frowned. Finn grabbed the remote and turned the music down.
"Tristan, buddy. What the hell is wrong with you? Did she put you under a spell or something?" Finn asked.
Tristan thought about his question and didn't know what to say. He thought back to the woman and remembered something. It was just not normal for someone to talk back to him. He was taken totally off guard when she just snapped back at him.
That was it he thought in triumph. That must have been what had been bothering him the whole time. The first time in forever that someone dared to talk back to him.
Tristan smirked. She really was a feisty one.
Finn gave him another confused look and sighed. He walked towards the kitchen and opened the cupboards to find a lot of different kinds of liquor. Finn called from the kitchen.
"Hey man. You don't mind if I have a little sip of your stash that you got hidden from me, do you?"
"Help yourself. Just don't try to overdo it this time. That means no more than 13 glasses, got it? I don't want another puking contest like the one in 2002." Tristan called from the couch.
"No fun." Finn whined. "You know exactly that I can't stand it when I am prohibited from drinking my beloved drink." He said and pouted.
Finn could hear the low chuckle Tristan emitted and carried on pouring himself a glass.
"Hey." Finn called from the kitchen. "Wouldn't it be fun, if we got the guys to come over?"
He heard Tristan groan and call back.
"Finn, I already need enough nerves for you as it is. I don't need anyone else that helps you with that." Tristan said with a slight grin curving at his lips.
"That was mean. You know exactly that I got that from my dear mother." He heard Finn call back from the kitchen.
Tristan had to hold back a laugh and finally gave in.
"Do what you want Finn."
Tristan heard a jump and a crash. What he didn't know though was that Finn just jumped in the air for a 'hurray' and accidentally let the glass he was holding drop and shatter into lots of tiny fragments.
"What did you do now?" Tristan asked with a frown.
"Sorry. Got too excited." Finn replied sheepishly.
Tristan shook his head and chuckled. Good old Finn. He would always stay the same.
GgGgGgGgGgGgGgGg
Half an hour later the doorbell rang and Finn got on his now wobbly feet and walked towards the door trying to reach for the handle. After a few tries of trying to grab it and missing, he managed and let Logan and Jess enter. They all said 'hi' and walked into the living room where Tristan was already situated nursing a drink in his hand.
"Hi Tristan." Logan said throwing himself on an armchair to get comfortable. "Thanks for inviting us over." He said with a grin.
"Yeah," Jess supplied. "Good to see you man". He said walking to the next available armchair and flopping himself on it.
"You too." Tristan replied and took a sip of his drink. "Finn why don't you get them a drink?"
"Sure thing man. What do you guys want?" Finn questioned walking towards the kitchen.
"A beer please." Jess answered.
"Scotch on the rocks if you have it." Logan said.
Finn headed over to the kitchen getting soberer by the second to soon relish another drink. He grabbed the drinks and headed back out handing them over to their rightful owners.
"So what have you guys been up to this weekend? Have you found any read heads that I might like?" Finn asked.
"Sorry Finn, haven't found anyone suitable enough for you yet." Logan said with a chuckle.
"I'm not picky, so whoever you find just get me the number from her and I will do the rest." Finn replied.
"Oh we know that you're not picky." Was all Jess said and took a swig of his beer.
"So, getting back to the first question, nothing much happened." Logan replied. "Just got another one of those annoying phone calls from my dad asking me to come back."
Tristan scoffed at this.
"Yeah, I know." Logan said looking over to him. "Now after I'm gone, he wants me to come back. Never gonna happen."
"What about you Jess?" Tristan asked. "Anything interesting happen to you?"
"Well… no, not really." Jess replied.
Tristan saw that he was keeping something to himself, but he didn't really care so he didn't push the subject any longer.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Logan and Finn went home 3 hours later and Jess was just walking to the kitchen to place the glass there, before heading back home.
"So, thanks man for inviting us for drinks. I had a good time. See ya Monday." Jess said.
"Hey, no worries." Tristan replied and remembered Jess' weird answer before, when he asked him what he had been up to this weekend.
"Jess hold on a sec." Tristan called.
Jess turned around and walked back to where Tristan was seated.
"What's up?" he questioned.
"I could ask you the exact same thing." Tristan replied.
"What do you mean?" he asked confused.
"When I asked you what you were up to this weekend, you were kinda strange and now you got me curious about it. So, what happened?" Tristan questioned and raised a brow at him.
"Nothing." Jess replied smoothly.
"Liar." Tristan said with a smirk. "I have known you for a long time now Jess and you are not as good as a liar as I am, so spill, what's going on?"
"Rory came to me today and told me about your little encounter." He said.
"Who?" Tristan asked confused.
"Rory." Jess replied. Tristan had a blank look on his face so he carried on. "You have no idea who I am talking about do you?" he asked.
Tristan shook his head. "Who is Rory?" he questioned.
"The girl you bumped into yesterday."
Tristan thought about it. Oh, the feisty woman. How did he know about her and how did he know her name?
"How do you know about that?" Tristan asked lowering his eyes to a slight glare.
"I know about it, 'cause I know her. I am friends with her and actually used to live near her for quite some time. I still see her every weekend 'cause I help my uncle with his diner."
"Oh." Tristan said. Knitting his eyebrows together and thinking about his answer.
"So you know her, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah, I do." Jess replied. "And I am sorry for what happened. She isn't like that normally. I guess she just had a bad day."
Rory, Rory he pondered. The name suites her.
"How did you meet her?" Tristan asked.
"Well, after my mum saw that the private school didn't help a bit, she sent me to my uncle in Stars Hollow. That's where I met her for the first time." Jess said thinking back to that time.
He saw Tristan smirk when he talked about the private school and knit his eyebrows when he talked about Stars Hollow.
"Where on earth is Stars Hollow?"
"It's about 30 minutes from Hartford, but only when you go with the bus. I am sure you would manage in half the time the way you drive." Jess said with a smirk on his own.
"Interesting." Was all Tristan said.
Jess looked at him and saw that he seemed to be in deep thought. Then something clicked in his mind. Hell no. He wasn't thinking about that, was he? No way. He wouldn't do that, or?
Tristan's lips slowly turned into a smirk. That isn't even such a bad idea he thought.
"You are not thinking about what I am thinking you are thinking about, are you?" Jess asked with a worried look grazing his features.
"Depends what you think I am thinking about." Tristan replied amused by his rambling.
"I am thinking that you are thinking about going to Stars Hollow to honour Rory with your presence." He said nervously.
"And you might just be right by that." Tristan said.
"No Tristan. Forget it. You don't fit into the small town perspective. And the town is not normal. You don't want to see it, trust me." Jess tried to reason.
"Actually, I do want to see it. You just marketed it off really well and now I am curious about this 'not normal' town. I think I will drop by and look at it for myself." He said with a sadistic glint in his eyes.
This is such a bad idea Jess thought. However once Tristan had something set on his mind, he wouldn't back down from it. Damn. Rory, I hope you know what you are going to do once he gets there.
Tristan got off the couch and walked towards his bedroom. He opened wardrobe to retrieve a black leather jacket and threw it over his shoulder. He walked back out and saw Jess standing there with a pleading look.
"Come on Tristan," Jess tried. "Don't do this. Why are you even going? You have nothing to prove. Rory is sorry, okay. She didn't know who you were." He tried.
Tristan gave him a withering glare and asked.
"What the hell do you think I'm going to do with her, huh? I am not going to hurt her or whatever else you have on your mind. By the way, it is none of your business what I am doing or where I am going, understand?" Tristan said in an annoyed tone.
"Sorry. I thought you were going to…" Jess started.
"Yeah, well I am not." Tristan scoffed. "Now get outta my way Mariano before I get really pissed." He spat.
Jess nodded and took a step to the side. Tristan walked by him while putting his jacket on and got out of his apartment, walked down to his garage and got on his bike to zoom off. He knew where he was going. Stars Hollow. This should get pretty interesting Tristan thought and smirked.
A/N – Okay, so that was that. Hope you liked it. I know Jess got a little sentimental when Rory mentioned Tristan, but he still cares about her and knows that the business he works in isn't 100 save.
Please leave me a review and like I said last time, if you have any wishes or ideas for the story just tell me and I will see what I can do.
I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible. Of course reviews boost my confidence in the story and that helps me write faster. :)
Thank you so much to my reviewers, you guys made my day.
Next chapter is going to be about Tristan visiting Stars Hollow.
Thanks and bye.
McLoving Grey's
P.S. Someone asked what Tristan's job is. Well, he does a lot of different stuff, but he has mostly to do with business deals that concern other companies that are not totally clean, like his. You know, they don't deal clean. They are like Gangsters, but not in such a deep way. There are no killing massacres and things like that. Although it can get pretty heated sometimes. Just read on and find out. ; )