Gilmore Girls: Wish Upon a Snow

Chapter 14

"Mom?" Rory called up the stairs. She waited for a response.
Lorelei came crashing down the stairs in jeans and a Bauhaus t-shirt.
Rory rolled her eyes. "Mom, Bauhaus isn't ironic anymore. Plus the lint on that thing is awful."
Lorelei narrowed her eyes at Rory, snatching her purse off of the table. "So? Their music is still good."
"Yeah but the shirt is not."
Lorelei held her hand up in response. "I'm putting on a jacket, Joan Rivers. No one will even see my linty and no longer ironic shirt, okay?"
Rory fluttered her hand to her chest in faux horror. "Mother! You should not speak ill of the dead."
Pulling on a light jacket, Lorelei paused. "Damn. I keep forgetting that! I really thought that criticizing people's appearances made you immortal. That's why Emily Gilmore will outlive us."
Rory glared at her. "You guys are getting along so much better now..." she warned.
"Whoops. I forgot you. You're going to live forever too- Mrs. Your Shirt Sucks," Lorelei singsonged.
Rory glanced up the stairs and then sneaked a look at her Mom. She did not seem to be worried about the Luke situation.
"Um, Mom? Where is..." Rory began, tugging at the hem of her shirt.
Sensing where the conversation was headed, Lorelei quickly changed the subject. She pulled on one slip-on Van and hopped awkwardly on one foot trying to put on the other one. Rory laughed. "Mom! VANS? I have been suddenly transported back to my freshman year of college."

Lorelei glared at her. "Whatever, newspaper nerd. I never saw you wear Vans. You were too busy being fancy Yale pants to hang out with the burnouts."

Rory grinned triumphantly. "So you admit you are dressing like an angsty burnout!"

 Lorelei ignored her pointedly. "We are going to Hartford to return a few things that people bought us for the wedding. One can only have so many holey spoons. Here's to hoping we are pretty enough to return things without a receipt."
Lorelei headed out the front door without another word. Rory followed quickly after her, looking over her shoulder for signs of Luke.
- -
The interstate spread majestically before him. The radio station segued slowly into static and he turned it off, cracking his window and a smile. Driving made Jess feel alive. Every time he drove it was like the first time.
Exhilarating.
The drive to Philadelphia was not the most interesting but Jess found small pleasure in the uptick of the odometer. Before he knew it, the lonely brick walkups that skirted the outside of Philadelphia loomed in the not so distant horizon. Bracing himself for the inevitable lunch traffic, Jess made his way towards Truncheon Books.

Twenty minutes later, Jess slid into his office with a satisfied smirk. Sneaking behind Chris, he noticed that he was watching a YouTube video. It was a cat on a skateboard. Clapping his hands on Chris' shoulders, Chris yelped in surprise. "Well, well, well. I take some time off and my right-hand man is falling down on the job. Despicable!" Jess raised his eyebrow. Chris looked at him exasperatedly. "Dude. Leave me alone. If you can take off for an eternity...I can definitely watch YouTube for a few minutes."

Jess rolled his eyes. "Chris. I am joking around with you. Chill."

Chris put his headphones on and turned back to his computer in response. Jess pulled his phone out of his back pocket as it vibrated. 

RORY CALLING

Jess slid the phone back into his pocket. He squeezed his temples between his thumb and middle finger as a zap of pain shot behind his ear. Rubbing his neck, he made his way over to his desk and yanked open the top drawer. Pulling out a bottle of Tylenol, he poured four into his hand and looked around the desk for something to take it with. Spying a half-empty Gatorade bottle, he picked it up and examined it. It had to be at least a week old. He shrugged. Deeming it acceptable, he took the pills. Sliding into his chair, he surveyed the room. Chris was staring intently at his computer and Matthew was not at his desk. 

"Chris!" Jess called. Chris was visibly annoyed and removed a headphone. "What?" he called back. "Where is Matt?" Jess asked, logging into his laptop. Chris shrugged. "He is having lunch with an author," Chris replied, replacing his headphone. Judging by Chris' bad mood and Matthew's absence, no one was up for conversation. Sighing, he scrolled through his email. There were several junk emails and a few newsletters. Clicking out of his email, he pulled up his search engine. After ordering a few parenting books, he pulled his phone back out and called Luke. His call went straight to voicemail.

He texted Rory to ask her how she was feeling and then turned off his phone, shutting it in the drawer with a snap.