Chapter 2 The Roadkill Café

Customers slowly made their way out of the diner, some grumbling about the poor quality of the food, until the room was empty. It was still early, almost two hours before his normal closing time. Luke began to contemplate closing early, again, like he'd been doing several days a week since he and Lorelai broke up.

The sadness etched itself into his face as he slowly began gathering dishes and trash. It had seemed like he never had enough time to be with Lorelai when they were together, but now that he was alone, he had nothing but time. He looked at the half pot of coffee on the warmer. No point in keeping it, he thought, she won't be in.

Just as he went to grasp the handle, the bells rang and he turned with a too-hopeful look on his face.

"Hello, Luke," said Kirk. "What's the dinner special?"

"Same special we've had all day," sighed Luke. "I'll get you one." He headed to the back, made a half-hearted attempt to produce an edible meal and brought it out to Kirk, who had taken Lorelai's stool at the counter. "No, uh, … You know what? Never mind. Enjoy your meal."

"Thanks, Luke." Kirk tasted the mashed potatoes, lumpy and inadvertently salt-free. "You are really on top of your culinary game," he complimented his friend.

Luke shrugged and continued tidying up the diner.

"Sorry I wasn't around for a while," said Kirk. "It's just that Lulu got really mad at me when I helped Taylor with the ribbons."

Luke slammed the napkin holder back onto the table he was cleaning without comment. Kirk didn't often need comments.

Kirk continued between mouthfuls of something vaguely resembling meatloaf. "She really hated the thought of dividing the town and didn't understand the benefits of everyone knowing who was on whose side. She threw me out and wouldn't talk to me."

"You know what turned things around?" Kirk asked.

Luke grunted, leaned wearily on the table he'd been cleaning and looked at the younger man. "What, Kirk?"

"I had a whole apology prepared. I camped out on her doorstep. Every day between jobs, I was there, waiting for her to come home from school. She hated that. Once she even kicked me."

"Lulu kicked you? I find that hard to believe."

"Or it may have been that I fell asleep on her geranium pot. I don't know for sure, I just had an awful bruise the next day." He sorted his peas into groups by size and began peeling the larger ones by squeezing them between his fingers.

"Anyway, one day I managed to get the whole apology out before she closed the door in my face. After a few minutes, the door opened again and she handed me a glass of pink lemonade. I looked at the lemonade, dropped it and ran to Doose's. When I got back, she was mopping the porch and I gave the thing I got at Doose's to her."

"What did you give her?" Luke asked, more than a little ready to grasp at even Kirk-straws for ideas to make up with Lorelai.

"A pink ribbon." Kirk nearly smiled. "Lulu loves pink. When she saw that I wore a blue ribbon because, well, 'solidarity, brother,'" Kirk thumped his chest and pointed at Luke, waiting patiently until Luke weakly returned the gesture. "She got mad. All we needed was a pink ribbon to balance out my blue one and she forgave me."

Luke briefly contemplated showing up on Lorelai's doorstep wearing a pink ribbon until he remembered she called him her ex and if he just showed up, she would call him her crazy ex wearing the pink ribbon.

Bugged that Kirk was able to resolve things with Lulu so easily and he couldn't do the same with Lorelai, he grumpily moved to the window to the kitchen, where he'd left his account books open.

Kirk gave his attention back to his meal, offering the occasional compliment, which resulted in a glare from Luke.

The door opened and Emily entered. Her voice grated just as much as ever, and the words from the dinner he'd had with her filled his brain.

"You have a wide selection here."

A wide selection of roadkill. Go ahead, say it. Rustic roadkill cooked on stoves that are never cleaned. Maybe I should ask her if she ran over any innocent woodland creatures on her drive down here in her Jaguar.

"Your coffeemaker seems to be full now."

Not full enough for Lorelai. Never enough for Lorelai, except that one time she ran the counter while I took care of Uncle Louie.

"My daughter and I aren't speaking."

Good move, Lorelai. She was always very smart. I could stand a ride on the pink elephant about now. I wish I'd taken it when she suggested it. I wish I'd taken her suggestion to never meet her parents. I wish I'd taken her offer to let me skip the stupid fake wedding.

"She won't take my calls, she won't come to dinner. She apparently wants nothing to do with me."

Lorelai is the most forgiving person I know. Can't blame her this time, though.

"I'm sure you know that Lorelai and I have had many battles. Most of them have been because I feel that I know what's best for her."

Luke gritted his teeth as memories caused tears to tingle his nose. Countless cups of coffee late on Friday nights, watching his friend try to fight the pain caused by her mother's words, week after week. Yet you never learned that she's an adult, never once accepted one of her decisions.

"But Lorelai has her own ideas about what she thinks will make her happy. She wants you, Luke."

What the fuck? No one gets to choose what makes Lorelai happy except Lorelai. And she calls me her ex now. That doesn't sound like she wants me.

"She's made her choice, God help her, but there it is. It doesn't matter if I agree with it, I can't fight it. You've won. Go back to her. I promise I will stay out of it."

It doesn't feel like winning.

Luke watched Emily leave, but not before she insulted him one last time with instructions to clean the window that Kirk was pressed up against. Never in my life have I met anyone more delusional than Emily Gilmore. She acts as if she is helping here; as if she hadn't spent her life ordering Lorelai around, taking every chance to demoralize and hurt her own daughter. As if she wasn't responsible for filling Christopher's head with the idea that he could have Lorelai.

Tonight was no different. Emily Gilmore said nothing about being wrong; nothing about having abused Lorelai verbally for decades. No apology. No regret whatsoever. Hannibal Lechter was just in my diner.

Flipping the sign to Closed, he allowed Kirk to come back in and finish his dinner. He could count the minutes until the diner was dark and he was upstairs in his apartment, safe from psychopaths like Emily Gilmore. Another chance to call Jess if he could find a different phone number, or to look for that book, just in case Jess had left it behind.