Lost and Found

Chapter 2- ALLIE

"Mom where are the chia seeds?" I asked, rummaging through our cabinets, looking for the perfect yogurt topping.
"Not sure hon" My mom responded, not pausing to look up from a giant textbook that was sitting on the kitchen table.
I glanced at her and smiled to myself. Her hair was disheveled and pulled into a messy high pony table, she was still in her bathrobe, her glasses were falling halfway off her face, and she was pouring over a textbook, lost in her own world. Mom was attending a business school, with Lorelai Gilmore (Rory's mother) which is how their such close friends, and come to think of it, kind of how we are too. Juggling business school and a regular 9 to 5 job all the way in Hartford was hard for her, and put a lot of stress on her, especially without a husband in the picture. But, I didn't really like thinking about Dad.

"Coffee?" I asked, holding up my own steaming mug.
"Hm, I'd say yes, but considering your coffee consists of just sugar cubes and cream, I'm gonna give you a hard pass"
"Suit yourself" I said taking a sip of my own coffee.
"So," Mom said, closing her textbook.
"How are you feeling about new boy coming to live with Luke, I mean, I assume he'll be working at the diner, right?"
"Luke didn't say, actually, but I mean, I guess" I said, finally finding the chia seeds, which had been stored behind Tupperware containers.
"Update me when your back" Mom said getting up from the table to go get ready.
"Of course" I assured her.

"Allie, meet Jess, Jess meet Allie. Jess, you'll be working here, alongside Allie. Allie, Jess knows the basics, he's done this type of stuff before, but don't hesitate to stop him, if he does something wrong. Alright?" Luke said.
I nodded quickly, taking in Jess. He was taller than me, maybe around 5'11, 6'0, considering I was 5'7. He had black short curly hair, and had a somewhat athletic and muscly build. He was also, wearing a David Bowie "Suffragette City" t-shirt, that I made a mental note to ask him about later on.
"Alright get to work kids" Luke said, dismissing us.

I worked quietly, quieter than usual, mingling in and out of Jess's way. I'm not sure what I had expected, but it certainly wasn't this. Jess had not said one word to me the full 2 and a half hours we were working side by side. Unbelievable.
"Allie" A voice said.
I whipped around, and there was Kirk. I sighed and wiped my brow with my sleeve, preparing myself to get roped into a wildly outrageous conversation with him.
"Yes Kirk?" I asked.
"I need you to remake my eggs" Kirk said.
"What, why?" I asked.
"They taste like fish"
Dear god.
"Well, um, Kirk, considering that these eggs contain no fish, and were not near any type of seafood, I don't really think there is anyway they should taste like that" I tried to reason.
"I think you cooked them in the fish pan, because they taste like fish"
I sighed.
"One second Kirk."

I really did not want my first conversation with Jess to be a debate on weather or weather not he cooked Jess's eggs in the same pan used for fish (not that it should really matter, if the pan was cleaned properly), but I knew Kirk would insist that the eggs tasted like fish until I either proved him wrong, or remade the eggs. So it was inevitable.
"Jess?" I called, from behind the counter and into the kitchen.
"What?" He asked looking irritated after I had only spoken one word to him.
"Did you by any chance, cook Kirk's eggs in the same pan used for fish?"
"Kirk?" He asked.
I inwardly kicked myself. He just got here, of course he wasn't going to know everyone in Stars Hollow by name.
I pointed towards Kirk, who had still yet to touch his eggs, that were growing colder.
"I don't know" He said. His voice was rough and gravelly.
"Why does it matter?"
"Because.." I said trailing off on my sentence, trying to figure out how to end it. Because it's Kirk. I wanted to say.
"Because he says his eggs taste like fish"
"Look maybe I did use the fish pan, but I cleaned it first" He said.
"See!" Kirk said jumping to his feet.
"Everyone in this town thinks I'm the crazy one!"
"What a nut job" Jess whispered to himself.
"Hey!" I said, not believing that I was about to defend Kirk, of all people.

"Jesus christ, what now" Jess said rolling his eyes.
What a dick. I thought to myself.
I lowered my voice to an angry whisper "You can't just speak to customers like that!"

"Like what?! The dude barley heard me, and even if he did it would probably just go in one ear and out the other!" Jess said, his voice growing louder.

"It doesn't matter what you think of him, the customer is always right, that's like, one of the first things you learn when you go into a business like this" I said sternly, but my voice starting to raise.

"My apologies, I didn't know you ran this diner" Jess said icily.

"I never said that" I yelped.
And with that, I looked up to see that the entirety of Luke's Diner was watching us from the tables.

"I would just like to intervene here for a second, I did not mean to cause this dispute, I will happily eat my eggs, even if they do taste like fish" Kirk said.

I groaned and turned to look back at Jess.
"God do I hate this fucking town already" He whispered and grabbed the dish rag from my hands, as he disappeared up the diner steps.