Finding Rory

Chapter 2: The Plan

The following Friday night, Tristan and Rory were having pizza at his place and discussing the plan he had to help her reclaim her life.  They'd talked on the phone a couple of times that week and had met for a quick chat over coffee a couple of mornings, but Tristan had been busy with a couple of hearings and had spent most of his time in the office and brainstorming ways to help Rory.  As they sat down with pizza and beers, he began filling Rory in.

"So, first things first, what do you really want to do for a career?  Is journalism still your passion?"

"I really don't know, Tris.  I do enjoy it, and running the Gazette isn't a bad gig; I just wish it paid something.  I know I don't want that to be what I do for the rest of my life, but I feel like right now it's good for me.  It's not high-stress or super demanding, and I know that's good for me at the moment."

"Good, I'm glad.  Let's get together and look at your financials for the Gazette and make a good case for you getting paid for what you're doing.  People pay to subscribe, so it only makes sense that you should get paid."

"Do you really think we could talk Taylor into that?" Rory asked.

"I really do.  Somewhere along the way you've quit believing in yourself, Rory, but you're really good at what you do.  I need to find a way to help you believe that."

"Okay, we'll work on it.  What else?" Rory asked.  She always had been a list-maker and task-master, and apparently that hadn't changed.

"You mentioned that you've been having a lot of trouble dealing with stress?" Tristan asked.

"Yeah, I had been tap dancing to help, but it doesn't seem to be working very well."

"Do you trust me?"

"For some crazy reason, I do," Rory teased.

"Alright, then you're going to start working out with me.  We'll start slow with short runs, hiking and some low weights."

"You can't be serious!" Rory exclaimed.

"I'm as serious as can be, Mary.  Exercise is the best way to reduce stress.  I started running in military school and haven't stopped."

"You do know that Gilmore girls don't exercise?"

"Well then, I'll make sure I don't call you Gilmore while we're working out," Tristan smirked.

"Fine, Dugrey!  What else?"

"We'll get to the rest of it later; I don't want to overwhelm you.  Let's work on these two things and then we'll move on from there."

"All this pizza and beer for that?" Rory teased him.

"Well, there is a wall full of movies over there if you'd like to relax and watch a movie..." Tristan offered.

"My choice?" she asked excitedly.

"Anything you can find over there is fair game," Tristan chuckled.

Rory perused the shelves and finally chose The Godfather.  They settled on the couch and watched the movie as they finished their pizza and beers.  Rory was happily surprised to find that Tristan could mock with the best of them, and for those two hours she found herself forgetting about everything that was going wrong in her life and just enjoying herself.  By the end of the movie, between the beer and the late hour, Rory was falling asleep curled up on one side of the couch.  Tristan stood from the other side of the couch and took a minute to really take her in.  She looked so peaceful and content, asleep on his couch, and she was so beautiful.  Perhaps someday, after he'd helped her find herself again, she would see fit to give him a chance.