46 - Wedding Gifts & Parting Shots
"So what time is your flight tomorrow again?" Marty inquired while browsing the items on display in front of him, once again going over their plans for the next few days. The architect already knew what time the plane took off, he was just trying to suppress his ever growing boredom. Shopping for gifts wasn't exactly his favorite activity.
"You know exactly when my flight is, Marty," Rory said with knowing smile. "Now help me find a gift for Paris and Doyle. I have no idea what they'd like."
"And you think I'd know better than you?" he snorted in amusement.
"I had naive hopes," she quipped.
"We could always just get them a toaster," Marty suggested. "Who doesn't need a toaster? Hell, I could probably use a new toaster myself. I wonder what aisle those are in?"
His girlfriend glanced up at him, a delicate eyebrow quirked. "You're not going to be much help, are you?"
"How about I swing by the food court and grab us some coffee?" he offered.
"Alright, go on," she chuckled, waving him off. "I'll handle the gift."
"I'll be back before you know it," he promised, kissing Rory on the cheek before making his egress from the boutique. His destination was only a short trek from where he'd left Rory to her shopping, the Starbucks sign immediately catching his attention. Marty patiently waited his turn in line, then waited again after making his order. The barista had just finished handing Marty his order when he felt a tap on his shoulder. With both cups in hand, Marty turned to face whoever it was that was trying to get his attention. He frowned down at the young red-haired woman standing in front of him, wondering what she could possibly want. "Um, can I help you?"
"You don't recognize me, do you?" she asked back.
"You do look vaguely familiar." he admitted, now that he'd gotten a better look at her. For the life of him though, Marty just couldn't place the girl's name. "I'm sorry. How do I know you again?"
"Well, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that you don't remember me, seeing as I only worked at the Thompson Group for a few weeks," the red-head stated with a resigned sigh. "And during that entire time, Mr. Stevens never did get my name right."
"You have to admit that Clara and Clarise are pretty similiar names," Marty chuckled, recalling her name at the mention of Rob. "It is Clara, right?"
"Ding-ding, get this boy a cupie doll," she quipped.
"So what brings you back to Chicago, Clara?" he inquired. "Last I heard, Rob said something about you quitting so you could head back to school out east."
"Yup, I'm at the University of Pennysvania," she confirmed. "I'm just in town to visit my grandmother for a few days before heading back. What about you? Heard you were about to get married. How'd that go?"
"Yeah, that didn't quite go the way I wanted it to," Marty sighed. "In fact, it didn't happen at all."
"Sorry, I didn't know," Clara winced.
"It's fine," he shrugged, surprised at how true that statement was. "But I do need to get back to my girlfriend before her coffee gets too cold."
"Girlfriend? Wow, right back on that horse, huh? Aren't you the resiliant one," she complimented, the former secretary falling in step with him. "Very admirable."
"Thanks, I guess," he chuckled.
"Speaking of significant others, I was on my way to meet mine when I saw you," Clara informed him. "I should probably text him soon. I bet he's still all tense from having to spend the entire morning with my grandma." She laughed. "I bet she spent the entire time grilling him on his intentions."
"Where were you supposed to meet him?"
"Macy's. And yours?"
"Some little shop just before that," answered Marty, motioning towards said boutique with cup in hand. "She's buying her best friend a gift for her wedding."
"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Mister Harrison," she smiled.
"It was nice to see you, too, Clara," he smiled back. "And call me Marty."
"Will do," Clara promised before continuing onwards.
After laughing soflty under his breath, Marty re-entered the boutique he'd left Rory in. When Marty found her not far from where he'd last seen her, he stepped up next to Rory and handed her one of the cups in his grasp.
"Thanks," she said, the cup brought up to her lips. "Mmm."
"My pleasure," he replied, then motioned at the display Rory was standing in front of. "So, how goes it?"
"I'm starting to think you were onto something with the toaster suggestion," she sighed, taking another small sip from her coffee. "This is really great."
"Want me to grab the toaster so we can get out of here?" Marty asked, not wanting to spend any more of his last day with Rory in the mall.
"Yeah, I'll just save the receipt in case she wants to exchange it," Rory nodded, both hands wrapped around her coffee. "This is really good! What kind did you order?"
"I honestly don't remember," he shrugged, the nearest toaster on the shelf now tucked under his arm. "I told the barista to surprise me."
"Well, color me surprised because whatever this is almost rivals Luke's," she sighed. "I can't wait to see everybody. It's been so long."
"I'm rather interested to see if Paris has mellowed out at all," Marty joked, which earned him a hip bump from Rory. "Careful, or we may end up giving Paris and Doyle a broken toaster."
His girlfriend laughed. "Let's just pay for the damn thing and get back to your place. We have a movie to watch, remember?"
"Don't have to tell me twice," he agreed, the couple now making a beeline for cashier. While Rory asked the cashier to wrap the gift for her, Marty wandered out of the shop in order to dispose of his now empty coffee cup.
"Hey, stranger," Clara greeted from behind him, startling Marty slightly at her sudden reappearance. "Remember me?"
He turned around to face the hyperactive former assistant, his eyebrows raised in surprise at the oddly familiar person now accompanying her. He was shorter than Marty by around three inches or so, though the newcomer would probably be taller if he hadn't been slouching. Dark brown hair that bordered on unkempt topped his head with equally dark brown eyes cooly regarding Marty with faint recognition as well. Both men seemed to be silently asking one another if they'd met before.
"You two want a room or something?" Clara teased.
"Fancy meeting you here," who Marty assumed was Clara's boyfriend greeted, ignoring the short red-head's jibe. "How's life been treating you?"
"Truthfully, it's been a bit crazed," Marty returned, still at a loss on who the guy was but deciding to go along with the conversation anyway. "And you?"
"Well..." he began.
"Okay, how do you two know each other?" Clara interupted, her expression a mix of confusion and amusement. "Marty? J-"
"Jess? Is that you?" Rory cried in surprise, unintentionally cutting off the perplexed red-head who'd been speaking. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, if it isn't Rory Gilmore," the shorter of the two woman sniped, her mood quickly shifting from jovial to hostile in an instant. "The Teflon Princess herself."
"Oh, I'm sorry," a stunned Rory turned towards her counterpart. "Do I kno- Clara?"
This is the second time something like this has happened, Marty groaned, recalling the time he and Rory discovered they both knew Tristan Dugray. He'd find it hilarious on how their lives kept randomly intersecting if his girlfriend wasn't on the receiving end of an icy stare from Rob's former assistant at the moment.
"Hi, Rory, it's so nice to see you again," Clara greeted in a saccharine tone. "How you been doing? Break up any marriages lately?"
"Oh, for God's sake, Clara," Jess chided as though he'd been expecting something like this to happen. "Would you let it go?"
"It's alright, Jess," an obviously upset Rory stated. "She's entitled to her opinion."
"Actually, it's more than an opinion, Rory," the shorter girl continued. "It's fact. If you hadn't-"
"Okay, that's it! I'm out," a visibly exasperated Jess declared, hands raised as he turned around and began walking away from the group.
"No, Jess, don't...damn it!" Clara cried. She quickly turned back to Rory. "We are so not finished with this subject, Rory." As if only now remembering that Marty was standing there, Clara looked him directly in the eye. "You're too good for her."
And with that said Clara Forester followed in the direction that her boyfriend had gone, leaving a completely gobsmacked Rory and Marty in her wake.
"That was intense," Marty stated after a lengthy silence between the couple.
"I'm not feeling that great anymore," a still upset Rory almost whimpered. "Can we go home now?"
"Yeah, let me carry that," he answered, taking the gift from Rory then leading her towards the parking garage.
During the entire ride back to the townhouse Marty was tempted to ask what Clara meant by her 'break up any marriages lately' question, but ultimately decided against it. The decision of whether or not to enlighten him on the subject was completely up to Rory. It wouldn't be until several hours later when they were curled up on the couch watching television that Rory finally chose to do so.
"I suppose you're wondering what Clara was talking about back there," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "That whole 'break up any marriages' crack she made had to have had you intrigued, right?"
"I'll completely understand if you don't want to tell me what happened," he replied, even if his curiosity was killing him right then. "You seem pretty upset."
"I am upset," she sniffled. "But only because that little scene reminded me of how crappy of a person I used to be." Marty felt Rory take a deep breath before continuing. "Believe or not, Clara used to like me. Back when I used to her date her brother Dean..."
Marty listened intently to Rory as she told him about her relationship with Clara's brother, how the then college freshman had come between Dean and his wife, Lindsey. And while Marty was shocked at hearing that Rory was (at the very least) halfway responsible for the failure of her ex-boyfriend's marriage, he could hear the remorse in his girlfriend's voice on her past actions.
"You're not that person anymore, Rory," he reassured the woman in his embrace.
Rory sighed loudly. "I know, it's just..."
"Leave it in the past, where it belongs," Marty interjected softly in her ear.
"You know what? You're absolutely right," she agreed. "This is our last night together for almost an entire week, so I'm not going let my ex's younger sister ruin tonight any further." She twisted in his embrace so they were somewhat facing each other. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For listening."
"It's what I'm here for," he smiled.
"No, I mean it," she continued, completely sincere. "Thank you."
"It was my pleasure," Marty stated, laying a soft, almost chaste kiss on her lips. When they seperated Rory twisted back into her previous position and leaned back into him, her head resting comfortably against his chest. The couple resumed watching their TV show for another hour until Rory suggested that they go to bed since her flight was early and her bags were still at her apartment.
"It's going to be a long week," Marty stated later on when they were in bed.
"I know but I've already shirked my Maid of Honor duties enough as it is," Rory whispered back, her head on his chest. "Paris will kill me if I'm not there to help with the final preparations."
"And that would suck," he stated, suddenly exhausted.
"Yes, it would," Rory agreed.
"I'm going to miss you," Marty mumbled before sleep overtook him.
The next moring arrived to have Marty discover himself alone in bed and the townhouse eerily quiet, save for the alarm clock he'd just shut off. Assuming that Rory was already downstairs making breakfast, the still groggy Marty stumbled into the washroom for a quick shower before he had to drive his girlfriend to first her apartment for her luggage then off to the airport. When he was finished that and had hastily gotten dressed, Marty went downstairs towards the kitchen with the expectation of sharing breakfast with his girlfriend of the last two months. Instead of breakfast though Marty discovered said girlfriend seated at the table, where several letters and notes were situated haphazardly in front of her.
Marty frowned at the mess. "Rory?" At the sound of his voice, Rory glanced up at him with tears in her azure eyes. "What's going on here?"
His girlfriend held up one of the letters. "Maybe I should be asking you that, Marty."
He was just about to ask Rory what she meant by that until, out of the corner of his eye, Marty caught sight of an open drawer. And not just any drawer, but THE drawer.
"Oh, crap," he muttered, suspecting there was an argument coming. How the hell could I have forgotten about that stupid drawer!?
Okay, show of hands. Who honestly forgot about the drawer? Yup, that's what I thought.
Anyhow, thanks again for reading.
PS- I'm thinking of doing a Cless story that'll tie into this one. Should I?