Gilmore Girls: Wish Upon a Snow

Chapter 15

Rory stared wistfully out of the window behind her desk. She had been trying to figure out her front page layout for an hour. Rory really resented the time and effort she put into the paper when people only cared about the stupid poem. She checked her phone. After whittling down her collection of phones, having only one felt so boring. Didn't rich and exciting people have multiple phones? Multiple houses? Cars? The service is Stars Hollow was dreadful and she kept getting texts hours after they were sent. The majority of her incoming calls were going straight to voicemail.
Unlocking the phone, she noticed that she had two voicemails. Switching to that screen, she scanned it. Both were from Logan. Her visual voicemail made a poor attempt at interpreting them. Logan's words felt so empty spelled out for her in that way.

Hey, Rory. I'm not sure ___ I was hoping that you had ___ some time to think about everything. I really miss you. If you want me to ___. I don't ___ Odette. I love you. I know you said that you don't like staying at a hotel but I was wondering if you could come ___. Just so we can talk.

The inaudible parts were the most crucial ones but Rory could not bear to actually listen to his voice on the phone.
She thought it was odd that Jess had not texted her. The ultrasound was in a few hours and he had not texted her to ask what time it was. Had she told him? Rory was having trouble remembering things. She was barely pregnant and already experiencing pregnancy brain. It was going to be a long 40 weeks. She pulled open her email. The first thing in her inbox was an email from Logan. Attached to it was a first class plane ticket to London in her name. Sighing, she minimized this window as she again glanced over the layout. She didn't even know if it was okay for her to fly anywhere, let alone internationally. She made a mental note to ask the doctor when she went to her appointment.

- -
After not getting a response from Rory, Jess turned off his phone. He felt pissy and tired. He had not been sleeping very well. Anxiety flitted in and out of his dreams lately with the swing of a dark brown ponytail. The office was full of crises to distract him for the day, though. He thought that maybe if he was able to free himself of some of the lingering nag in the back of his brain that he could have some space left over to worry about Rory and the baby. He vowed to tackle his to-do list before leaving.
After ordering a sandwich for dinner, Jess felt his eyes slide out of focus from the manuscript on his desk. He stared off into space, counting down the moments he could sink his teeth into a hot Italian sub. He glanced out the window, hoping for a speedy little Delivery driver to zoom up. The site had said 25-39 minutes. What time was it?
6:47 PM
Jess sighed. Checking his email, he realized he had a meeting with the author of the very same manuscript on his desk at 7 PM. "Who the hell schedules meetings at 7?" He said aloud to no one. While Jess loved the publishing business, he secretly hated meeting the authors. Their hope and their cheerfulness chilled him to his core. It gave him too much power- to make someone so elated or so devastated based purely on his interpretation of what was most likely their life's work. It made him sick how many tears he had caused. It was never personal, but he knew how much a work went into writing a book. He had all but published his own book. He didn't know the disappointment of pouring your heart into a page and having it rejected by some punk kid in corduroys who got a girl pregnant he wasn't even dating.
"Mr. Mariano?"
Reddening, Jess pulled out his wallet to find some cash for a tip for the delivery guy. He had to stop daydreaming so much.
"I'm here for my appointment?"
Jess shook his head, focusing across the room as a young blond woman came into his office. "Oh! The author? For the meeting?" Jess tried to slip his wallet quickly into his pocket. She noticed and glanced at him.
"Sorry, Sorry. I'm expecting some food to be delivered here in a little bit. Long day," Jess said.
The woman smiled.
Jess stared at her, somewhat dumbfounded. She was beautiful- her face composed of a delicate grace he had not seen and a magnetism he had not felt since he was a teenager. She took his breath away.
Inhaling sharply, he twirled his watch around his wrist and waited for words to come to him, praying they didn't take too long.
"Um..." he began, swallowing. His mouth felt dry. "What's your name?" He finished.
The woman smiled again and Jess felt his chest tighten.
"Hi! I'm Lindsay." She reached out her hand to him. He grasped it to shake and felt a million tiny sparks dart between the space where their palms touched.