Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters associated with the show.
A/N: Hopefully I fixed the formatting errors in my previous chapters (and future) so jumps between POV and time should be easier to navigate. Thanks for the reviews! I read them all and consider all of the feedback.
Chapter Four: Bright Lights, Big City
"He's just such a jerk. I can't even believe that I thought for a second that I wanted to date him! God, people really don't change."
Rory dipped another tortilla chip into the salsa and popped it into her mouth. She chewed bitterly, keeping her eye on the kids playing in front of her. Lane had brought her boys over for a play date with Matthew. Play dates like these were becoming more common at Lorelai's. Lane's boys were older, three now, but they didn't always play fair. Steve was already pouting on the landing of the stairs as he waited out his time out.
"Look, Rory, maybe I shouldn't be the one to say this but, are you sure it was a date?"
Rory looked at Lane as if she had two heads. "He picked me up, we ate dinner, he paid. Of course it was a date."
"Kwan, if you hit Matthew with that nerf ball one more time you will join Steve in time out." Kwan took one look at his brother and dropped the ball. Lane turned back to Rory. "What exactly did he say to you when he asked you out?"
"He said, 'Get dinner with me tomorrow night.'"
"Assertive, I like it."
"Or maybe it was more of a "Grab dinner with me."
"Grab or get? Those are two very different phrasings. Grab is casual. Get is more demanding. Steve, time out's over. Keep your hands off of your brother, okay?"
Steve scooted off of the landing and joined the other boys by the mess of legos on the living room floor.
Rory thought hard about the moment Tristan had asked her to dinner. They had been dancing. She had been enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. The room had been warm and the alcohol had just started to make her head float.
"Let's get dinner tomorrow night."
"I can't. We have band practice."
"No, that's what Tristan said to me."
"Oh."
"Oh what?"
"Yeah, Ror, that wasn't a date," Lane said gently.
Rory stabbed another chip into the salsa. "God I'm such an idiot."
"No, Rory! You're not an idiot. You just got caught up in the nostalgia of the whole thing."
Rory shook her head. "What am I doing, Lane? Accepting this job when I said I wouldn't take any more favors from these people. I don't want to work for Images. I wash my face with Target brand face wash. How am I supposed to tweet for the beauty editor of the magazine?"
Matthew began wailing, pulling Rory's attention towards her little brother. She crawled around the coffee table and scooped him into a hug. He kept wailing. She jounced him a bit.
"And what about him?" She asked Lane.
"Matthew, he'll be fine. He's probably just tired. Isn't his nap soon?"
"That's not what I meant," Rory said above his wails. "I'm moving back home with my mother and her new family. And all of this is just...weird."
Lane got up, grabbing a teddy bear off the couch. She passed it to Matthew who stopped wailing and settled for intermittent sobs. He laid his head against Rory's shoulder.
"I can only imagine how weird this all is for you," Lane agreed. "But maybe moving back in here is exactly what you need to make you stop feeling like this is your mother's new family and make you start feeling like they are your family too."
Rory looked down at the little boy hiccuping on her shoulder. "I didn't mean that. I love him, I do."
"There's no need to explain yourself to me," Lane said gently. "I labored for hours with these little punks and still there are afternoons where I look at them, wondering how these aliens invaded my life."
"You're an amazing mom."
"I try."
Rory looked up at the clock. "I guess I should put him down. My mom should be back soon and then I am heading back to Boston to start moving some of my stuff out."
"Do you think it will take a lot of trips?"
"I'm putting most of it in storage, so hopefully not. I want to be out by next week."
"I'm glad you're coming home, Ror. I've missed having you around. And I'm sure when you are settled back in you will realize that things really aren't all that different around here."
Rory knew that Lane had meant the words to be reassuring, but that was exactly what she feared most.
Even after living in New York for six months last fall, Rory still felt small when she crossed Sixth Ave the next morning. She knew that was what some people loved about the city. Personally, Rory didn't need any more help feeling anonymous. New York didn't really excite her. It made her feel the way she felt in Chilton, eating lunch by herself with her book and her walkman as company.
Her commute into the city had been easy, although it wasn't exactly brief. Even though she was only a one hour train ride from the city, door to door it probably took closer to two hours. Two hours to sip her coffee and stew in nervous energy about what she had gotten herself into.
The Images offices were much like Rory had anticipated. There was the big lobby and the people hurrying towards the elevators, Starbucks cups in hand. Rory glanced at her post-it note for the millionth time. 57th floor. Ste B. She marched with determination towards the elevator, trying her best to look like she knew where she was going.
Once on the 57th floor she found the receptionist, gave her name, and took a seat. Carly would be out to show her to the meeting room. Rory took the time to look around. The offices were modern, open, with glass walls and sleek furniture. Poster-sized prints of famous Images covers were hung around the office. Nothing about the decor surprised her.
She also watched the people at work. They were all chic twenty and thirty-somethings. No Anna Wintours here. Unsurprisingly, their work attire made Rory feel frumpy. She had gone back to Boston to try to find her most stylish work-appropriate outfit. But the straight legged trouser and blouse she had selected stood out among the skinny jeans and mini skirts the other girls were wearing. At least she had gone with the heels.
"Rory?"
Rory looked up and saw a girl about her age standing in front of her.
"Yes, that's me."
"Rory, hi! I'm Carly Kerrins."
Her hand was outstretched so Rory shook it firmly as she stood up. "Hi Carly, it's so nice to meet you."
"Welcome," she said brightly. She glanced at her watch. "We have a quick second to take a peek around the office before our meeting begins. Did you find the place ok? How was your train? Tristan said you live in Boston?"
"I did, but I'm in the process of moving back to Connecticut. The train wasn't bad at all."
"I'm happy to hear it. I thought you took the train in from Boston this morning. That would have been insane!"
Rory smiled politely, unsure of the correct response.
"So over here are the Cubes," Carly said, waving her arm to indicate the groups of cubicles in the center of the office. "These house our interns and freelance writers. Over there is the supply closet, water cooler, bagel tray...even though no one eats them, then there's the-"
Rory nodded along as Carly whisked her around the office. She took the opportunity to really size her up. She was definitely only 25 or 26. She was thin. She looked like she was true to her word and never touched the bagel tray. But her legs were toned, maybe a yogalates convert? Her hair was flipped in an impeccable blow out. She had deep brown eyes set under heavy eyelashes. And of course, in true Beauty Editor fashion, she was wearing spring's boldest lip color.
"And then over there by the Editors' offices is the Art Department. Any questions?"
"About a million, but it was a great tour."
Carly smiled warmly and put a hand on Rory's arm. "It's overwhelming isn't it? When I first started here right out of college, I never thought that I would be the one showing anyone the ropes!"
She was kind. There was nothing unlikeable about the girl. She was gorgeous, yes, but there was a genuine quality about her that shone through.
"Let's go get our seats at the briefing. You'll meet some people and get some direction on your first responsibilities."
Two hours later, Rory left the meeting with the Images social media account passwords and a list of tweet topics she was supposed to cover before Wednesday's briefing. Four beauty, three health, six fashion (all referencing info in this month's issue, of course). Then there were six pop culture tweets to be sent out. The facebook page needed some sprucing up, and she had been given permission to rephrase things a bit. None of this screamed full time work, and her pay was reflecting it. But Rory had to admit to herself that she enjoyed the meeting and if she had to do something like this, it might as well be part of something big, like Images.
"Hey, how did it go?"
Rory looked up from her trek to the elevators and saw Tristan occupying the chair in the lobby that she had been waiting in just a couple of hours before.
"Well, I'm no Madeline or Louise, but hopefully social media will appreciate my input on hot nail trends."
Tristan laughed. "What happened to those girls?"
"God only knows. Married?"
"To husband number two, I'm sure."
"So what are you doing here," Rory asked, smiling, feeling happy that although she did not have an expensive salon blow out, her hair was styled and it was doing its own rather impressive flippy thing.
"Meeting Carly for an early lunch," he said.
Rory deflated. Oh right, Carly. God, she had to stop thinking about him that way. She had had no problem ignoring his charm in high school, what was her problem now?
"I was hoping you would join us," he added.
"Oh, I don't know…"
"Yes please do," Carly said, appearing from behind Rory. She put her hands flat on Tristan's chest and kissed him deeply. She then turned and flashed a white smile at Rory. Her bold lip color was still perfectly intact. "I'd love to hear more about Tristan in high school. I should have thought of lunch earlier!"
"Well then, it's set," Tristan said. "Shall we?"
Carly's Blackberry rang. She looked at it. "Ah damn, it's London, I have to take this before they close for the day. One sec?"
"Babe, we have reservations…"
"Then go on without me. They can add a chair when I get there." She accepted the call and hurried through the glass doors, back towards her office.
"Shall we?" Tristan asked.
Rory, despite the fact that all signs pointed to this lunch being completely awkward and uncomfortable, found herself glad to be joining them and not hurrying back on the next train to Stars Hollow.
"We shall."