With two days before the big move, there were several things to be done. The apartment came mostly furnished, but still required a few things such as a new mattress for the master bedroom and guest room, towels, kitchen essentials, and rugs. Rory still wasn't comfortable with any sort of outings, so Chris and Lorelai decided they would go purchase the mattresses so at least the beds was ready on move-in day.
Lorelai met Chris in his driveway of his Hartford mansion. They were driving into New York for the day.
"Hey Lor."
"Hey... ready to get this over with?" Lorelai got in the car and just stared out the window. She didn't like anything with this move.
Chris immediately picked up on her hesitation. "I know you're not 100% on board with this, but Dr. Anderson feels really good about it. And, Rory seems okay with everything."
"Rory doesn't seem anything... she has no thoughts or feelings of her own, Chris. She's like a zombie without the whole dying first part. She is nothing like the person she was a year ago and I'm terrified she never will be."
"Hey, I'm scared too. But, we need to have patience and be as supporting as we can."
"That's easy for you to say. You are with her every day. You aren't the one she's shutting out."
Chris pulled over into a parking lot. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how hard this is on you. It will get better, it has to. Now, I happen to know there is an excellent coffee shop inside this strip center. Let's get some coffee, we have a long day ahead of us."
"Yeah, I suppose and I need some details on this lavish apartment so I can get a feel on how to decorate it."
Lorelai was able to get through the day mostly pleasant. They stopped by the building Rory would be moving in to. They didn't have the keys yet, but were meeting with the doorman to notify them of the upcoming delivery and to drop off the forms Rory signed allowing both Lorelai and Chris access in and out of the building.
"Wow, this is some building. Are you sure there aren't any celebrities that live here... maybe Ryan Reynolds or Ryan Gosling... or Ryan Phillippe?!
"Are you just naming every famous Ryan?"
"Maybe."
Chris handed the doorman the forms. "Ok, Mr. Pearson, this is all the paperwork that you needed, signed and notarized."
"Thank you Mr. Hayden. We will see you tomorrow."
"Um, Mr. Pearson was it?" Lorelai cut in.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"What's this ma'am business? Please, it's Lorelai. I was just wondering if maybe you would be so inclined to let us just take a quick peek at the apartment. You see I need to try and buy furnishings and I have no idea what I'm buying for as Christopher here isn't too keen on the details. I promise I'll be quick, in and out, one quick looksy." She gave him the full Gilmore gaze, her piercing blue eyes sparkling.
"Well ma'am...um Lorelai. I don't think that's a problem. I have the necessary paperwork to allow you up, it's open right now. There is a cleaning crew finishing, but a quick look would be fine." He stepped behind his desk and was fiddling with a machine. "Here is a guest pass to operate the elevator." He handed the card to Lorelai.
"Wow... a card to run the elevator? This must be how Marilyn felt when she visited the White House." quipped Lorelai.
Chris led Lorelai to the Elevator. Once they arrived at the top floor, they went down the hall. The door was open and they stepped in. Lorelai's eyes were about to bug out of her head, she was rendered speechless. Finally, she was able to form words.
"This is some apartment, Chris. I feel like it's a privilege to just be able to look at this apartment let alone live here."
"I told you, it met our criteria and hers."
"Do I even want to know what this cost?"
"No." he said simply.
The apartment was spectacular. A large open floor plan with a sunken living room. A wall of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the New York skyline. A gorgeous linear fireplace adjacent to the window wall. It had a very modern seating area, a grey sectional with two side chairs and a chaise lounge. There were beautiful deep plum accents throughout in the pillows and decorative glass. The silver finishes gave everything a sparkle from the incredible natural light. A young blond came around the corner carrying a pair of vases.
"Oh.. Hi." She looked at Lorelai. "Are you the new tenant, Rhetta Haymore was it?"
Lorelai gave Chris an inquiring look about the name. She made a mental note to ask him about it later. When she returned her attention back to the blonde, she laughed... "I wish, honey. This place is amazing. Rhetta is family and we are helping her out." She said as vague as possible. "I'm Lorelai, this is Chris," she said gesturing with her hands. "We are just here to take a quick look; I was going to pick up some furnishings to help make the place feel more homey. But, it doesn't seem to need my help at all. Is this your handy work?"
"Ah, yes. I'm Honor Huntzberger, my brother Logan is the owner of the building." She said putting the vases down on the kitchen island. "He mentioned he had a new tenant moving in and when he told me it was a young woman; I knew I needed to intervene. You see, this place has been my brother and his friends' personal hangout for years and let's just say it desperately needed some feminine upgrades. So, he gave me full control. Come, let me show you what I did, I hope Rhetta likes it." She reached out and grabbed Lorelai's arm and started walking her down the hall.
"Let's start in the master bedroom." They walked into an excessively large bedroom with a walk-in closet, master bath, and French doors going out to a balcony. "I had the painters bring this room to life with a deep bluish turquoise hue. I chose a lighter blue and a splash of fuchsia for accents." They walked in to the master bath. "I added fresh towels and rugs."
"This is incredible!" Lorelai said astounded. She looked around and observed the double sink vanity, tiled walk-in shower and a soaker tub to boot. "You really did an amazing job; is there anything we need to get?"
"Well, the mattresses of course. This is a platform bed, so you don't need a box spring unless she wants the height. There is a new bedding set I sent off to the dry cleaners to be cleaned, that will be delivered tomorrow." They started walking toward the second bedroom. "This room needs a mattress and box spring. There is a bedding set coming tomorrow for this room as well. I assure you all the towels and rugs throughout are new. There was no way I was leaving the old ones in here. I've seen things on those rugs nobody should have to see."
It was Christopher who finally piped in. "I thought everything looked great before. I can admit home décor is not my specialty. Honor, this is really great. Rhetta will love it."
"Well, I just channeled what I would want new and went with fun colors. I do hope she likes it here." They started walking back to the living room, the study was a room off of the main area. "There is a desk in there, not the greatest lighting so I would add a lamp. There is a wall of bookshelves in the back, I was going to add some glass décor and greenery. I know there aren't many young people that have books to fill something so large, well except my ..."
Lorelai cut her off. "Actually, leave the shelves empty. I can personally attest for Rhetta's love of books. Filling those shelves will probably be the highlight of moving in." Lorelai walked into the study to see the room. "And, I'm quite certain this will be her new favorite room." Lorelai could picture her daughter there with a book in her hand and the other hand unconsciously twirling her hair. This Rory she pictured was happy and that gave her renewed hope.
Honor raised her brows questioning then smiled... "A book lover is she? Well, the shelves will stay as is then." She started back towards the kitchen. "There is a laundry room back between the two bedrooms, she will need supplies if she plans to do her own laundry. There is a laundry service in the building, pick-up is Wednesday and drop-off on Friday. If you aren't home, there is a room on the main floor where things are tagged and stored."
They walked into the kitchen and Chris sat down at the large center island with four bar stools while Lorelai walked around with Honor opening drawers and cupboards. "It has all the basic appliances and a few specialty appliances in the pantry. There are fresh dish cloths and new silverware. There is a grocery delivery service here as well, all the information is in this drawer by the fridge." She opened the drawer and pulled out the pamphlets.
"Oh how the other half live." Lorelai said almost to herself. "Thank you Honor, this is great. It's about as move-in ready as it gets. We have the mattresses being delivered in the morning and we will arrive around lunch. Will we see you tomorrow?"
"You are very welcome, I really enjoyed doing this. I won't be here tomorrow but I do hope I can meet her sometime. I'm not here a lot, but there are several parties Logan hosts in the great room, they are pretty casual and open to all tenants. I tend to come for those, they are entertaining to say the least."
"Well, we won't take up anymore of your time. We need to head back to Hartford anyway. Thank you again."
"Great meeting you, Lorelai and Chris. I have a couple more things to pick up as well before I can officially call this done. Have a good rest of the day." She extended her hand for a quick shake and was out the door heading towards the elevator.
Chris and Lorelai exchanged glances. "Well Chris, this is sure something. I'm not sure how Rory will feel living in a place like this, but that study will probably make it a little easier. Honor seems really nice. It's odd seeing a girl like that doing the actual work, typically those kind hire everything out."
Chris shot her a confused look. "Girl like that? Those kind? What are you talking about?"
"Come on Chris, that girl reeked of society. Chanel suit and those Louboutin's?"
"Yes, she is from society. A very prominent family at that. My parents have known the Huntzberger's for years. Her father, Mitchum, owns HPG, the newspaper empire headquartered across the street."
"I figured as much. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with her, it's just unusual to see them doing the work. Can you picture Emily Gilmore buying towels? No, people buy Emily Gilmore towels and she decides what stays and what goes." Lorelai paused and had that look of deep thought. "Wait, did you say Mitchum Huntzberger, isn't that the guy Rory goes on and on about?"
"Yes, the very one. Which is why it didn't matter what this apartment cost, I knew it was the one."
"You are smarter than you look."
"Thanks... I think? Let's get going."
Author Note: As a new writer, I will be the first to say I never understood the value of reviewing and commenting. However, I have a new found appreciation for such. They are truly very motivating and really do inspire me to write! And, if you suggest something in the comments, I may just incorporate it if I can. ;) So... drop me a line.
Rory and Logan will finally meet in the next chapter, but it will be brief.