27 - Auld Lang Syne
And there goes the happy couple, a frustrated Rory thought while discreetly watching Marty lead his fiance down onto the dance floor from the corner of her eye, relief washing over the reporter at having a few moments in order to gather her wits. Her gaze shifted downwards of their own accord to fall on the soon-to-be married couple slow dance to a fast song, an action that only succeeded at derailing her train of thought once again. Deciding that Marty and his fiance were too big of a distraction at this exact moment in time, Rory grabbed her long black coat from the back of her chair and headed towards the windowed door leading onto the outdoor balcony for some semblance of privacy. Once she got outside the journalist found that there were only two other people braving the cold, both of whom went back to ignoring Rory after a brief glance at her in favor of their lit cigarettes. She figured they'd re-enter the club once they were finished smoking, which suited the reporter just fine since solitude had been her most immediate goal.
"Please still be awake," Rory pled into her cellphone, which had been removed from her pocket along the way outdoors. After buttoning her coat closed to protect herself against the chilly winter air, Rory walked over to the sturdy looking steel railing and absently laid her free hand on the cold metal and gripped it while waiting for the person on the other end to pick up. She pulled her hand from the railing after a few moments, the odd sensation of more or less frozen wrought iron coming into contact with bare skin causing her to grimace. "That was cold."
"Usually how it goes in winter," one of her companions told her in amusement while holding the door open for their fellow smoker before re-entering the building himself, leaving the reporter standing alone on the balcony.
"Thanks for that, Captain Obvious," she muttered, turning away to inspect her hand. "Okay, next time I do that, I'll have to remember to wear gloves."
"If I were your mom, I'd be saying 'dirty' right about now," an unusually chipper sounding Lane Van Gerbig greeted, her sudden voice and the blaring music in the background briefly startling her childhood friend. "Oh, Happy New Year, by the way!"
"You sound awfully cheery for being up at nearly one o'clock in the morning," Rory replied with forced humor, even if she was happy to be speaking with her oldest and dearest friend. "Are you guys having a party?"
"Yeah, Mama offered to take the kids for the night, so Zack and I decided to have a few people over, but that's unimportant right now," Lane explained with sudden seriousness, immediately noticing the distress in the other girl's voice. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing, I just very nearly got my hand stuck to an iron rail," she lied, already beginning to regret this phone call. The last thing she wanted to do was burden Lane down with her problems when the young mother actually had some free adult time to herself. "That and I just wanted to say, 'Happy New Year', you know?"
"Come on, Rory, this is me you're talking to, remember?"
"It's nothi-"
"Hold on, I can barely hear you. I'm going to find someplace a little more quiet so we can talk," interupted Lane, the sound of a door being opened and closed telling Rory that the short Korean woman had just done that since the music in the background diminished to a more tolerable level than when the reporter had first called. "Okay, now spill, Gilmore. Tell me what's going on, because it's been way too long since we last talked."
"Yeah, sorry about that," apologized Rory, realizing only now that it had been close to three months since the last time she called Lane. "I've just been swamped with work and...stuff."
"Stuff, huh?" Lane snorted, no doubt wearing a knowing little smile. "It must be pretty serious stuff if you're calling me instead of your mom."
"Mom told me not to come here tonight," she admitted, deciding to come clean. "And now I'm really starting to wish I'd listened to her."
"And where are you right now?" Lane pressed.
"I'm at Marty's engagement party," she informed with a sad sigh.
"And Marty's the guy you like, right?"
"I don't think I can do this anymore, Lane," Rory said in strained tone. "I mean, I'm trying to be a good friend to him. I'm really, really trying, but it gets harder and harder to be around him. I don't just like him, Lane, I'm in love with him! But now it's too late, I'm too late. He has Andy now. Beautiful, leggy and talented rock star Andrea Walker! I don't know what to do, Lane!"
"Okay, first off, you have to calm down," Lane advised.
Rory nodded, then took a deep breath. "Alright, now what?"
"Yeah, that's as far as my plan went," her best friend admitted. "Sorry."
"Aren't you just a huge help," Rory said with an ironic chuckle, which quickly died when she turned to find Tristan standing there with a surprised expression on his face. "Lane, I'll call you back, okay?"
"Rory, what's going on?"
"Sorry, I have to go," she apologized, hitting the end button without waiting for a reply.
"Hey," Tristan greeted, casually flicking the ashes from his half finished cigarette.
"Hey," Rory returned lamely, unable to meet his imploring gaze. "So I take it you heard all that?"
"I only came out for a smoke," he said with a noticably forced smirk. "What I may or may have not overheard is inconsequential."
"Good to know that my feelings are inconsequential," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.
"Don't put words in my mouth, Mary," Tristan drawled, his cigarette stub falling to his feet for the blonde man to step on it. "Besides it looks as though we're in the same boat here, so the least we can do is try and get along, right?"
"What do you mean by that?" Rory asked back, not quite understanding. The blonde man squinted at the reporter like she'd said something remarkably stupid, which caused her to feel sheepish for not immediately catching on. "Oh, THAT boat," she paused, then nodded. "I hate that boat."
"You're not the only one," her former schoolmate agreed, both of them falling into an awkward silence until Tristan broke it. "Do you want to know what the worst part of all this is though?"
"Not being viewed as threats by our respective so called 'rivals'?" Rory guessed.
"Exactly," he muttered.
"Sucks to be us," she sighed.
"Like a vacuum," Tristan said, then added after another short silence had passed. "It's not all bad though."
The blue eyed reporter met his grayish-blue gaze, curious. "How so?"
"Open bar, compliments of the happy couple," he grinned, displaying the blue wristband that all the engagement party guests were given upon entering the club's second floor. "So what do you say, Mary? Want to ring in the New Year with me?"
"Oh, why the hell not?" Rory smirked, deciding that this distraction may actually do her some sort of good. At the very least, it could help take her mind off Marty for a little bit. "Lead the way, Dugray."
"That's the spirit, Gilmore," Tristan said, returning the smirk in kind. She allowed him to guide her towards the door back inside when he began to chuckle under his breath.
She stopped to regard him, again curious. "What's so funny?"
"Nothing," he assured.
"Tristan," she pressed, unconvinced.
"Okay, if you must know, Mary," relented the blonde man, his hand grasping the door handle to open and hold it for her to walk through. "I was just wondering if I should be adding the 'Magdalene' to your nickname now."
"Only if you don't want to live to see the New Year, Trissy," Rory laughed, swiftly breezing by him in order to re-enter the building. She smiled at how ironic it was that Tristan Dugray of all people had momentarily brought up her spirits, only to stop suddenly at the sight of a radiant Andrea Walker in her fiance's embrace as the crowd began the countdown.
"Ten...nine..."
'I like Logan,' Rory told him, immediately feeling guilty for hurting Marty.
"Eight...seven..."
'Actually, Marty introduced us,' Logan informed Lucy, much to the chagrin of both Marty and Rory.
"Six...five..."
Rory had just made her way around the corner near the Comet Club when she caught sight of Marty, and was just about to walk up to make her presense known until she was interupted by a very gorgeous and vivacious blonde, who threw herself into Marty's arms and practically slammed her mouth onto his in a very public display of affection.
"Four...three..."
'I'm thinking of proposing to her when she gets back,' Marty declared, referring to the currently absent Andrea, who was out on tour with her band.
"Two...one..."
'I'm getting married!' Andy squealed, unknowingly breaking her new friend's heart with the news.
"Happy New Year!"
'So I'm going to do what I should've done in the first place,' Rory told her mother. 'I'm going to be his friend and support his relatationship with Andy.'
"Hey, Mary," Tristan nudged her shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"I need a drink," a teary eyed Rory rasped, turning her back from the scene to head directly towards the bar as the crowd began singing the chorus to 'Auld Lang Syne'.
Torturing Rory is fun! I mean, reviews are appreciated. Thanks!