I know I said I'd update a couple days ago, but finals are crazy! Luckily they are done tomorrow...I hope you like the chapter! Just a warning...a couple parts are very AU. Not just what should have happened, but like it never happened in the show.
Last chapter's question: What's your favorite movie?
My favorite movie at the moment is The Proposal. Funniest. Movie. Ever. I loved it! Other favorite movies are the Harry Potter Series (all six of them).
Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or anything affiliated with it....obviously.
Dani smiled, "It's alright."
The other girl gestured towards herself, "I'm Rory, by the way."
"Danielle."
The girl, Rory, pointed towards the red head, "That's Shannon and the blond next to her is Stephanie."
Shannon waved at Dani, while Stephanie, still lying face down in the tanning position, merely lifted a hand up in hello.
Rory turned back towards the newcomer, "Are you here on vacation?"
"Yeah, for a week," Dani replied.
Rory arched her eyebrow in surprise, "And you're here alone?"
She laughed, "No, my boyfriend's here with me. He is actually doing a book signing right now."
"A book signing? Wow, and you guys are staying here? It must be some book."
"I guess. It's a best seller."
She looked surprised, "Really? What is it-," but she was interrupted by a waiter.
"Mrs. Huntzberger?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"You're husband wanted me to tell you that your daughter called and would like you to call her back."
"Thanks," Rory took her cell phone out of her bag and dialed a number, "This will only take a second."
Danielle shrugged, "Take your time."
Rory waited until somebody picked up on the other line.
"Hello! You've reached Lorelai's House of Crazies. For the beautiful Lorelai, press one. For the handsome Luke, press two. For the darling Ellie, press three. And for the adorable Bradin, press four."
Rory laughed, "Hey mom!"
"Hello my wonderful daughter! What can I do for you?"
"Can you put Ellie on the phone? Logan said she called."
"You don't want to talk to me? Have I really become that unimportant in your eyes? It's an outrage! It's a scandal!"
"Mom, have you been watching Harry Potter again?"
"Maybe..." Lorelai answered mysteriously.
"Please put my daughter on the phone," Rory said exasperated. She tried staying serious, but her face broke out into a huge smile.
"Fine," her mom pouted. She put Ellie on the phone.
"Hi mama!" she exclaimed.
"Hi baby girl!"
Dani sat there listening to the one-sided conversation between Rory and, presumably, her daughter. She wasn't sure what to think of these girls. They seemed nice enough, but she could also tell that they were rich. Like beyond her realm of wealthy. She had always been weary of the rich, only because she had not had the best experiences with them in the past.
She knew that Rory and Stephanie were both married and that Rory had a daughter. Shannon was more of a mystery to her. The red head seemed quiet and still a little unfamiliar with the other girls. Danielle focused her attention back on Rory as she was finishing her phone call.
"Okay sweetie, I love you. Bye baby."
She stuck her phone back in her bag, "Sorry about that," directing her apology towards Danielle, "That was my daughter."
"How old is she?"
"Oh, she's five. Her name is Ellie," Rory answered with a loving tone to her voice.
'At least I know she loves her kid,' Dani thought.
"I love kids," she said aloud, "Is she your only one?"
"No, I've got a two year old as well, Bradin. How about you?"
Dani laughed, "Not yet. Someday, though, after I'm married."
Rory just smiled at her, "So, Stephanie said that you are a photographer?"
"Yep. I own D Studios in Los Angeles."
"That's awesome! Do you only take local jobs?"
Danielle hesitated, "For the most part, yes. I do take a lot of jobs in other areas close to LA and even a few out of state every once and a while."
"Well, if you don't have any objections to coming to New York, maybe I'll hire you to photograph the next crazy party that my grandma forces me to host."
"I'll definitely take that into consideration...so, what do you do for a living?" she asked, secretly hoping that she wasn't one of those who lived off her husband's income.
Rory looked surprised by the question, but she hid it almost immediately, "Me? I'm the features writer for the New York Times."
Now it was Danielle's turn to be surprised, "Really?"
"Yep. I went to Yale, majored in journalism, graduated, and then I got a job. A job at a newspaper that, by the way, is not owned by my husband," she said it almost bitterly.
"Your husband owns newspapers?" Dani asked confused.
Stephanie turned over and scoffed, "Owns newspapers? More like owns an entire empire!"
"What Steph is trying to say," Rory interrupted, "Is that my husband is the owner and CEO of HPG, the Huntzberger Publishing Group. So, technically, the company owns the newspapers."
Danielle's eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open, "That's, um, well...wow. I wasn't expecting that."
"Yeah, I get that a lot."
Trying to recover, Dani tried another question, "So, how long have you guys known each other?"
Rory gestured to Stephanie, "Well, we were roommates in college. So, we've been best friends for...eleven years."
"You can't forget Paris," Steph cut in, "Aren't you proud that she finally got over her phobia of sick people?"
Rory laughed, "Oh, yes. I am very proud. Paris Geller sure makes life interesting."
"Paris Geller?" Danielle inquired, at the same time noticing Shannon's equally confused face as well.
"Our other roommate," the brunette explained, "I have been friends with her since high school, we had a love-hate relationship. Let's just say she is a little...intense."
"Intense? She is more like intense multiplied by five," Stephanie looked back at Danielle, "Anyway, she was pre-med, yet she could not stand sick people."
Both girls laughed again, remembering the "good times". When their giggling finally subsided, Rory cleared her throat.
"Sorry. Paris was kind of a downer sometimes, but she always gave everyone a good laugh."
"Are you guys still in touch?" Dani asked.
"Oh yeah. I usually talk to her every other day. Plus we see each other a lot because she doesn't live that far away."
"Cool," she turned to Shannon, "How long have you known them?"
"Since this morning," she said simply.
"Really?" Danielle raised her eyebrow, "Why?"
Stephanie rolled her eyes, "Because Finn is an idiot who did not tell us he was seeing someone until this morning when they both showed up at the airport," she looked at Shannon, "Not that we don't love love you."
The red-head just smiled.
"Finn?" Danielle asked curiously.
"Our friend the drunken Australian with an obsession for red-heads. He is the sweetest guy you will ever meet and practically harmless, but he gets distracted easily. For example, not telling us he had a girlfriend," Stephanie said in one breath.
Danielle was very intrigued by all the colorful characters that they seemed to know, "Well Finn seems very...interesting."
Rory sat up, "I have an idea! Why don't you come to dinner with us tonight? We have reservations at seven at the restaurant in the lobby. You can bring your boyfriend and meet everyone."
"I don't know," she said hesitantly, "I don't want to impose on you guys."
Rory waved it off, "Are you kidding me? I see them everyday. Plus, you're going to have to have someone to hang out with, so you might as well get to know us better."
Dani seemed convinced, "Okay. We'd love to join you. Is it formal?"
"No, it's not formal, but it's not casual either. So, like a happy middle," she reasoned.
"Happy middle, got it."
The four of them spent the rest of the afternoon talking, tanning, and they even took a quick dip into the pool.
Around five, Danielle left the other girls to go meet Jess. They had agreed to just meet back in the hotel room.
She walked into the suite and heard the TV in the background, "Jess?"
"I'm in the bedroom!" he called.
Dani followed his voice. She found him lying on the bed, watching ESPN.
"Hey babe," he smiled.
"Hi," Danielle laid down next to him and gave him a quick kiss, "How was the book signing?"
Jess shrugged, "It was good. A lot of people showed up."
"That's good," she figured that she should stop stalling, "So...I met some people today."
"Really?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of the TV.
"Yeah and they invited us to dinner tonight. And I accepted."
Jess turned to look at her, "Wait, what?"
Dani hurried on, "They're nice and they offered. And I am going to spend the day with them tomorrow, so I might as well get to know them better."
"Well..." he sighed, "What time should I be ready?"
"Seven, and please wear something nice," she hopped off the bed, "I'm going to go get ready."
Two hours later and Danielle was ready to go. Her hair was slightly curled, she had on a little bit of makeup, and she was wearing a fitted, green dress that ended right above the knee.
"Are you ready?" she called out.
"Yep."
She met him by the door, "Let's go!"
He grabbed her arm, "Hey Dani?"
"Yeah?" she asked curiously.
"You look beautiful."
Danielle blushed, "Well thank you handsome."
They linked hands and made their way to the restaurant. Dani glanced around the busy scene, before her eyes lit up.
"They're this way," she pulled him along behind her until they reached the large table.
"Hey guys!"
Rory smiled, "Dani you came!"
"Of course I came! Who would want to miss eating at a five-star restaurant?"
Everybody laughed at her sarcastic comment.
"Guys, this is my boyfriend Jess," she pulled him out from his position behind her. Danielle did not see nor notice her boyfriend's wide eyes and panicked face.
"You have got to be kidding me."
Well there it is. Hopefully it was up to par. I'm not going to be able to review until after Christmas, so I hope this will sustain you until then. I leave for Lake Tahoe to go skiing tomorrow and I'm excited! I didn't get a chance to go up during the summer, so I'm making up for it by going twice this winter.
I know that Stephanie and Rory were not roommates in college, but let's just pretend that they were. :)
Please review! It let's me know that you guys still like this story. (It also gives me motivation to write more....)
No more questions...I kind of ran out of things to ask.