Finding Rory

Chapter 10: Collision With Reality

"Mom?" Rory called as she walked into the Crap Shack Saturday night. "You home?"

"Kitchen!" Lorelai yelled back.

Rory walked into the kitchen and sat down across from her mom at the table.

"My daughter is home? This is one for the record books," Lorelai half-joked. She was quite curious as to where her daughter had been spending so much time recently.

"I've been home almost every night, Mom."

"And where have you been the other nights? I feel like I'm so out of the loop, Ror."

"I've been hanging out with a friend. He's been helping me make some changes in my life and straighten some things out," Rory replied evasively.

"Could you possibly vague that up a bit more?"

"If I spill can you be quiet and listen?"

"Consider my lips zipped," Lorelai answered quickly.

"I've been running several times a week to help me clear my head and reduce my stress level," Rory said hesitantly.

"I'm sorry. My daughter, Rory Gilmore, is running? Voluntarily? How's that working out for you?"

"Hey, you're supposed to be quiet right now. Yes, I've been running. It's hard, but I've started to really like it, honestly. I feel more even-keeled on the days that I run."

"Interesting," Lorelai replied.

"We put together a pitch to attempt to talk Taylor into paying me for my work at the Gazette, which wasn't successful, but at least I tried. He also helped me find a job that would be a great thing for me, and I have an interview on Wednesday. It's an Internal Communications Writer position at Yale Med. I'm really excited about it. And I've also been working to make some more...personal changes."

"Such as?" Lorelai asked impatiently. Rory could tell that her mom wasn't amused by anything she'd said so far.

"God, this is hard. You know all of those times I told you that I was staying with DeeDee in London? I was with Logan," Rory whispered, not even making eye contact with her mom.

"Logan? Rory, I thought that was long over! Why can't you quit him, kid?"

"I did finally quit him, Mom. I called him earlier today and told him that it was over for good."

"Well, who is this friend who you keep mentioning?" Lorelai asked impatiently.

"Alright, so at the Chilton reunion that I went to last month I ran into Tristan Dugrey --"

"Wait, where do I know that name?" Lorelai interrupted.

"What happened to zipped lips? You know that name because we went to Chilton together, but you and I usually called him Bible Boy or Spawn of Satan. Anyway, he's...changed. Matured a lot, really. We caught up and somehow he got me to start talking about my life now and how I felt so lost. Now we're working on how I can take control of my life again. I can finally see that I deserve better than Logan; that I should never be second best."

"And what's in it for him? Is he just trying to finally nail the Mary?" Lorelai shot back frustratedly.

"Mom! It's nothing like that. Yes, he likes me, but he's not pushing for anything. He said he understands feeling like you're lost and your life is a mess and he wants to see that spark back in my eyes."

"I don't trust him, Rory. You don't exactly have a good track record with pretty blonde rich boys from society. I think you should keep your distance."