"She what?!" Rory screeched into the phone. "How could she do something like this?"
"Its classic Emily Freaking Gilmore! Classic!" Lorelai replied. "She did the same thing when Luke and I got engaged. Do you remember when we spent that weird weekend in Martha's Vineyard for Valentine's Day? That night, I found my damn picture in the paper announcing my engagement!"
Rory frowned at her own reaction. "Its not that I'm not thrilled to be engaged. But I actually WORK in the news. I really thought I would be able to be the person to write my own damn engagement announcement!"
"I know, Kid. I'm sorry." Lorelai sighed loudly as she sat down and slipped off her shoes. "I wish I was surprised, but... well, you know."
"Damn, Grandma. Now if I complain, she's going to spin this and make it seem like I'm not happy to be engaged. Fuck!" Rory huffed as she paced back and forth in her living room.
"Has Stewart seen it?" Lorelai asked her daughter. She smiled at her aging dog Paul Anka as he placed his head on her knee for pets. She began to scratch him vigorously behind his ear in his favorite spot and he melted into her leg. "You like that, don't you?"
"What?! No I don't like it! Geez, Mom."
"No, not you. I was talking to your handsome little furry brother," she said with a smile. Paul Anka was now on his back so that she could rub his chest. "He's SUCH a beautiful boy!"
"Yes, I guess he is," Rory agreed. "And yes, Stewart HAS seen it. He was also a little annoyed that we didn't get to announce it ourselves. His mother called him and was rather harsh about what he wore in our engagement photo. He tried explaining to her that we didn't pose for these. This photo was taken at a lunch at the club. This is SO tacky."
Lorelai pondered for a few seconds. "Do you think Emily wanted to beat Stewart's mother to the announcement? Like, is this a society way of peeing in a circle around the two of you and your wedding? She marked you as her territory!"
"Gross, Mom! Accurate but gross," Rory agreed with her mother. "Okay, thanks for letting me vent. I gotta go. Bye!"
Rory hung up and tossed her phone onto the couch next to her.
Her thoughts drifted to that weekend at the Vineyard. It was such a weird weekend, She had just began living with Logan Huntzberger. It was so fun and exciting. They cooked together, hosted her mom and Luke, and spent lots of quiet time by the fireplace talking about the future. She really thought things were going to be great for them. She thought he was the one. But they failed to communicate effectively. It was ironic for two people with journalism degrees from Yale - they couldn't communicate with each other to save their lives. Rory frowned and sighed again. 'Damn him,' she thought. 'We could have been so happy.' Rory lay down on her couch and hugged a throw pillow to her stomach. 'Why did relationships have to be so hard?' she pondered. Her cell phone played a familiar ringtone - she silenced it without looking at the screen. Instead, she stayed there on the couch with closed eyes. Rory fell asleep quickly and dreamed of warm brown eyes and messy blonde hair.
A ringing cell phone was eventually what woke Rory on Monday morning. She gasped when she realized it was Monday morning and she was late for work - really late too. "Hello!?" she practically shouted into the phone.
"I'm calling for Ms. Lorelai Gilmore, please," the voice said.
"Yes, this is Lorelai, um Rory Gilmore," she replied as she looked down and realized she had been sleeping on the couch in her clothes. She was surprised to see that she still had one shoe on as well. "Can I help you?"
"Yes, I'm calling from the Yale Marketing Dept. Do you have a minute to speak about the upcoming gala? We have a wonderful theme that I think will delight you!"
"I apologize, but I do not. Could I please call you back? Or could you send me an email?"
"Ma'am, we've sent you many emails to discuss the gala, but Mrs. Gilmore is insistent that we cannot move forward with the theme until you and Mr. Anderson have approved it."
"Fine, we approve it. Please move forward with your plans," Rory sighed as she walked into her bathroom to get dressed for work.
"Thank you so much, Ms. Gilmore! That is so much easier than I expected!"
"Oh, I suppose I should ask, what is the theme?" Rory inquired.
"A Night Under The Stars," she gushed. "We are going to utilize the actual planetarium for the ballroom. I just can't wait! Is it possible for you to wear silver?"
"Yes, of course. Silver is fine. I have to go. Have a great day." Rory squeezed her nose between her eyes and reached to hang up the phone.
"Same to you!" she exclaimed while Rory hung up.
'Oh, man,' she thought as she stepped into the shower. 'How am I going to live through these things every year?!' As she rinsed her face and hair, it dawned on her that this was her grandmother's way of forcing her to attend a formal ball every year for the rest of her life. She has to - her name is on the freaking building.
She began to shampoo her hair and thought about her upcoming wedding. Stewart proposed to her one afternoon after lunch in Stars Hollow. They went for a walk and he insisted on seeing the inside of the church. When they walked in, she described her best friend's wedding and where everyone stood. She told him about Lane's original dress that included pants and oppression. Stewart misunderstood and thought Rory was excited about getting married, so he dropped to his knee and proposed to her. Rory was speechless for 30 full seconds then finally said yes. So much went through her head as she just stood there. This perfectly nice man was literally on his knee begging her to be his for the rest of her life. The last time someone asked her this question, she was scared and didn't know what to do so she said no. She wasn't ready to make that kind of a decision so she declined. Logan was too prideful and couldn't handle the rejection so he bolted. She didn't want to lose Stewart in the same way so she accepted.
After all, Stewart was a great person. He had become one of her closest friends, he had a great job and he was very dependable. She loved Stewart. He was smart, made her feel safe, and would literally do anything for Rory. Things with Logan has been intense - they had such a spark from the beginning. He always had to touch her - her hair, the small of her back, a pinky finger, something. They used to argue over random things just to see the other get riled up, almost like foreplay. Rory and Stewart had a sweet, nice relationship but never that kind of spark. She wiped the soap out of her eyes as she thought about how different her relationship had been with Logan. It was exciting, Stewart was safe and predictable. But he was also dependable - she never had to worry that Stewart was going to hurt himself cliff diving in Costa Rica. He might pull a muscle in yoga class, but that was about it. Stewart was a good man who she could grow old with.