Chapter NINETEEN!
Lorelai closed the cab door behind her and exhaled slowly and dramatically. She narrowed her eyes at the enormous house in front of her and let her feet lead her to the door. One after another, heels clicking on the cobblestones. Her expression had softened and she now looked more nervous and anxious. She pushed back her shoulders and rang the doorbell.
A petite blonde greeted her with a "hello" and brief nod. She ushered Lorelai into the foyer and took her coat and purse.
"The Gilmores will be with you in a few moments," She replied in her small voice.
"Take your time," Lorelai said, silently yearning for a drink.
"I didn't expect to have any visitors today, Lucille," Lorelai heard her mother saying in her far-too-loud voice.
Lorelai scoffed and then stood up straighter when she heard her mom's footsteps.
"Oh, Lorelai, hello," Emily greeted upon seeing her daughter.
"Hi mom," Lorelai answered awkwardly.
"Well what are you doing here? Honestly Lorelai, you can't expect me to stand in my foyer with my daughter all day, I'm sure you understand that I have things to do," Her mother said impatiently, before she had even given Lorelai a chance to answer.
"No, I don't expect you to do that. I have something very important to talk about with you and dad," She stated.
"You're pregnant again," Emily's face dropped.
"No, mom, I'm not," Lorelai rolled her eyes.
"Oh, well in that case, what?" She asked.
"Can I talk to you and dad in the family room?" She asked in reply.
"Sure, sure. Lucille, can you get Richard?" She summoned her maid once more.
"Yes Mrs. Gilmore," Lucille nodded timidly.
Emily led Lorelai into the family room and they took seats on opposite couches. There was an awkward silence until Lorelai's dad finally came in.
"Lorelai, oh, well hello there," He nodded, caught off guard.
"Hey dad," Lorelai smiled slightly.
"Richard, Lorelai says she has something to tell us," Emily piped in matter-of-factly.
"Oh, something to talk about? Do tell," He urged.
"Well, I was just about to get to that, mom," Lorelai faked a smile.
All eyes were on her.
"Okay, so," She let out a breath. "I've been living in Stars Hollow with Rory, and we both really love it, it's great. I have a job and everything and an apartment, but…money is still a little tight with us. And with the winter approaching, it's not the best idea to be making a toddler walk everywhere. So…I was wondering…If I could maybe have a loan for a car."
"You'd like a loan, Lorelai? Did you hear that Richard? Lorelai just asked for a loan…a loan for a car," Emily restated in a falsely sugary voice with her eyes wide as saucers.
"Yes, I heard it Emily," He nodded deeply.
Lorelai wanted to pull her hair out, but she kept her composure and played along with her parents.
"So, what do you say?" She asked calmly.
"I suppose we could do that. Don't you, Richard?" Her mom said, with a smug Cheshire-cat smile on her face.
"Yes, we could work something out," He nodded at his wife, then Lorelai.
"Let's make our way back into the foyer to sort out the details, then you can get on your way, shall we?" Emily suggested with a sweeping nod.
Man, there was a lot of nodding going on tonight.
They went into the foyer, and Lorelai finally emerged from the house two hours later. She was exhausted. Thank God she hadn't brought Rory. She knew one thing, she was never going to live this one down.
She stopped by the Kim's to pick up Rory, then took her to the diner. They sat at a table and got settled. Luke made his way over, order pad in hand.
"What can I get you?" He asked.
"Chili cheese fries and 2 coffees, please, with a side of kill me now" She ordered, pleading with her eyes.
"Well something's up, so I'm gonna save you the lecture. But what's the problem?" Luke asked.
"I just escaped from an excruciating meeting with my parents," She explained, as Luke poured them coffee.
"Sounds like you had a rough time," He nodded.
"No more nodding! Please!" She pleaded, sounding like a mental patient.
Luke rolled his eyes at her and went on, "So would you care to tell me what this infamous meeting was about?"
"Well, I asked my parents…for a loan…for a car," She replied, taking dramatic pauses.
"Good job," Luke crossed his arms.
"Good job?" Lorelai raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"You had the courage to face your parents and realize you needed help. So what'd they say?" He said.
"They said yes," Lorelai answered, with a little more confidence.
"See, there you go," He patted her shoulder in a congratulatory fashion. "You, Lorelai Gilmore, can get anything."
"Hah, thanks," She said, looking into her coffee cup and turning faintly pink.
Then after a few minutes of silence and coffee-sipping, Lorelai looked up once more, her face deathly serious.
"But you know, Luke, I'm never going to live this down," She said gravely.
"I'm sure you'll live," He said, pseudo-sympathetically. "So when are you gonna go get your car?"
She sighed. "Tomorrow I guess."
"You know…if you need a second opinion or anything, I can go with you," He offered nonchalantly.
"Actually that would be kinda helpful, thanks Luke…but wait, don't you have to work at the diner all day?" Lorelai asked.
"I can get Caesar to take over while I'm gone. He's done it before, he's good at it. And he likes the supposed authority," Luke explained.
"Alright then," Lorelai chuckled. "How about 10:30 tomorrow?"
"Sure," He shrugged.
"Okay, well we should get going," Lorelai pointed out, once the fries and coffee were finished.
"Yeah, see ya," Luke nodded, and they had both seemed to forget that Lorelai told him not to.
"Bye," She replied.
"Bye Luke!" Rory chirped, receiving a brief wave from Luke.
"Oh and Lorelai," Luke called, once the two girls had reached the door. "Don't worry about your parents."
Lorelai simply nodded, a half-smile on her face.
They left and walked home, a nip in the air. She tightened Rory's jacket and ruffled her hair. Once they got inside Lorelai got Rory situated with a bath and a video, and let her fall asleep. She took this time of peace to call Mia and inform her she'd be off from work tomorrow. After that, she drifted to sleep herself, noting that a few extra hours wouldn't be that bad.
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She awoke at eight o'clock and toasted a PopTart. Then she sat at the table for awhile. Then got up and paced. She flipped through the channels- nothing on. It was now that she realized why she never woke up at 8 AM. She hadn't gotten up anywhere close to this time since high school. She reminisced about high school. Christopher, her old friends, Friday night football games, parties. It all seemed so long ago. She shook the memories off and decided to take a quick nap.
When she woke up again, it was 9:30. That's more like it, she thought with a smile. Then she woke up Rory and got her dressed. She got dressed herself and they went to the diner. They barged in haphazardly and took a seat at their usual table.
"Hey Luke," Lorelai called. "Coffee?"
He simply scoffed and poured her and Rory mugs. After they had savored every last drop, Lorelai stood up perkily and strutted over to the counter.
"Ready to go, Luke?" She asked.
"Yeah, in a second," He replied, then went upstairs.
When he emerged, he told Caesar to take over, then the 3 of them left. They all sat in the front seat of Luke's truck, Rory squished in between. The conversation on the way was light and airy. Once they got there, they all piled out and walked into the lot crowded with automobiles.
"So, where shall we begin?" Luke asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Um, over there," Lorelai declared, pointing to a random direction.
They walked by car after car, Luke noting important features like air bags and engines, and Lorelai keeping track of how many cup holders and what kind of radio they had.
"How about this one?" Luke asked, motioning toward a van-type vehicle.
"Luke!" She cried, looking distraught.
"What?" He asked, startled.
"How could you ever suggest that?" She asked in astonishment.
"What? It's a good car. It's stable, safe, roomy," He said in his defense.
"It's a soccer mom van!" She cried.
"Well, maybe Rory will take up soccer," He replied, smirking.
"Gah! You are hopeless," She rolled her eyes.
"You're the hopeless one! The way you're shopping for cars you'll be driving out of here blasting the radio with Rory stuffed in a cup holder," Luke replied dryly.
"Luke, I car about the quality of the car, I just don't wanna be driving some crap-wagon," She sighed.
"Fine, fine, let's move on," Luke sighed in defeat.
One hour and about 50 cars later, after deciding it would be best to split up and cover more ground, Luke had managed to find Lorelai and Rory. He led them over to a corner of the lot.
"This one's alright, I'm not sure where it lands on your 'crap-wagon' scale, but it's not a van and it has a good running engine.
It was a beige jeep.
"Ooh," Lorelai mused, running to the side and opening all the doors. "And I can drive around all convertible-like and go off-roading."
"There's a mini van right there," Luke said, threatening her plans.
"Fine," She sighed.
"Well, what about it?" He asked.
Lorelai hopped into the driver's seat and squished around, feeling the steering wheel and putting on the seatbelt, then playing with the radio controls. She made sure to count the cup holders (three), and then got back out.
"Perfect…and my mom will hate it!" Lorelai said, giddy.
Luke rolled his eyes, but simply said, "Let's go buy it then."
The small group walked to the small building and sorted out all the details with the slightly creepy salesman, and then finally handed over the paperwork and got the keys. Once they had gotten back outside Lorelai spoke up.
"Why didn't I bring my camera?!" She asked no one in particular.
"Why would you need a camera?" Luke asked in confusion.
"So my mother could see not only the car that I bought, but where I bought it from. She'd die," Lorelai giggled.
"You are sick," He shook his head.
"Thank you," She twinkled.
They were about to part to their respective cars and Lorelai turned to Luke.
"Well, I just wanted to say thank you. I couldn't have done this whole car thing without you," Lorelai said honestly.
"Ah, of course you could've," He shrugged.
"No, I'm serious. You've been such a big help," She nodded.
"Well, it's no problem," He said. "I'm happy to help."
"Well thanks," She thanked, engulfing him in a big hug which lasted probably longer than it should have.
"So, I'll see you later I guess," Luke replied, as they awkwardly tried to avoid eye contact.
"Yeah. I'll be the one on the road blasting Aerosmith," She said.
"Try not to get pulled over," He chuckled.
"Sure, sure," She laughed.
"Alright, bye," He said.
"Bye, say 'bye', Rory," Lorelai replied.
"Bye Luke!" Rory chimed in.
"Bye Rory," Luke smiled warmly.
Then they got into their vehicles and left.
Author's Note: That's all I got for now. Hopefully you liked it. Wow, 19 chapters already. I'll add more when I can. I'm on summer hours now!