Chapter Four: She's Got It Bad

Luke Danes finally conceded to the change in the times and bought himself a computer. It made sense as a business investment to order supplies and coordinate with vendors. He never intended to give out his password and open his WiFi to any Tom, Dick, or Harriette who wandered into his Diner. He knew, without having to experience it first hand, that free WiFi could only lead to clogged tables of people NOT eating while on their gadgets. And Luke didn't need the stress of clogged tables not bringing in revenue enough to afford his internet.

He never intended to give out the password, but somehow it had happened anyway...

"Luke!" Kirk whined as he stood in the proprietor's way.

Luke pivoted around the scrawny man, while skillfully keeping all of the food in place on the plates in hand. "I'm busy, Kirk," he grumbled on the way past.

"You're always busy," Kirk pointed out calmly as he followed. "If I waited for you to be not-busy, I might as well move into the diner. And Lulu might not like that."

"I would not like that!" Luke set the orders in front of the paying customers then turned to face his stalker. Giving up one minute would get rid of him a lot faster than trying to dodge him forever. "What do you want, Kirk?"

"Rory is using her laptop in your diner," Kirk all but tattled.

Sure enough, Rory Gilmore occupied the corner of the bar (nearest the coffee) typing away.

Luke rolled his eyes and started walking again. Minute over. "Yes, she is."

Kirk followed. "Her laptop is connected to your internet service."

"Yes, it is," Luke agreed while scooping up menus for his new arrivals.

"You won't let me use your internet," Kirk complained, still on his heels.

Luke dropped the menus on the table and told the customer that the waitress would be right with them. Then to Kirk he continued, "No, I won't."

Rory looked up from the offending laptop to smile at Kirk. "Luke isn't dating your mother."

Luke scoffed a laugh. "Thank God for that."

Kirk bristled. "Is there something wrong with my mother?"

"She has you for a son, doesn't she?" Luke shot back.

Kirk froze to process the thought.

Taking the reprieve from Kirk's harassment, Luke turned to shoot his most displeased and annoyed look at the youngest Gilmore. "You are setting a bad example."

"I know, but I'm getting so much work done!" Rory beamed. "Which is exactly why I came back to visit in Stars Hollow. There's just something about the atmosphere around here that helps me get some serious writing done."

Luke snorted. "Uh-huh." He set a plate loaded with fresh french fries in front of her. "Atmosphere, huh?" he drawled.

"Brain food!" Rory squealed delightedly. Just before the first fry hit her mouth, her phone trilled in her purse. With a hungry groan, she set it back down. When her editor called, he expected her to answer and give him an update.

Luke jerked a reminding thumb at the no cell phones sign still adorning his wall, even after all these years, for all his patrons to see.

Rory's face lit up with excitement. "It's Sam!" she squealed and rushed her ringing phone out the door.

Calmly, Luke reached over to jab the save icon on the abandoned laptop before closing the lid.

Babette and Miss Patty magically appeared from wherever it was that the two biggest gossips in town kept themselves while not sniffing out the next juicy rumor floating around the town.

"Hey, Luke, honey," Miss Patty purred, ready to butter up her potential news source. She choose to ignore the inconvenient fact that Luke Danes was one of the most difficult men in town to successfully butter up; and it had only gotten worse after he and Lorelei finally became an item.

Babette, however, had no patience for the lost cause of a soft approach. "Holy Cow! Did you see that?! A Gilmore left behind an entire plate full of fried food!"

"Free fried food," Miss Patty added knowingly. The whole town knew of the diner owner's soft spot for the girl and his habit of giving her the same benefits as an employee.

"She didn't even hit save on her story before- Ptoo!" Babette slapped her hands together to mimic the sound of a gunshot. "-out like a shot!"

"Poor dear must think people would eavesdrop or something," Miss Patty sniffed... while poking around at the notes Rory left out beside her computer.

Luke snatched up the loose papers and tucked them away behind the counter. For safe-keeping.

"So, Give!" Babette demanded. "Who's this Sam character?"

"I'm working." Luke turned his back on the women to scoop up the next set of meals to be delivered to their table.

The gossip pair turned their gaze to the big window where they could still see the happy grin on Rory's face as she talked. And the way she seemed to glow with happiness.

"Oh, yeah," Babette commented to her friend. "She's got it bad."

Just then, Lorelei waltzed past her daughter, who pointed at her phone and mouthed "Sam." The mother nodded with a knowing grin and strutted past to go inside. She helped herself to a large cup of coffee (Luke was clearly too busy to serve her) and then settled in to her daughter's abandoned seat. Fresh, hot french fires began to disappear from the plate.

Miss Patti and Babette moved as a unit to bracket the best source of Rory Gilmore inside information. Lorelei startled at the twin thumps of butts hitting chairs.

"Ummm... Hi?"

"Hi, sugar," Babette greeted cheerily.

"We couldn't help but notice that Rory seems a little... preoccupied out there," Miss Patty gestured through the glass, where the young woman in question laughed and shook her head at the phone.

"Okay?" Lorelei trailed off, honestly not sure where this was going.

"Oh, come one, Lorelei!" Babette rolled her eyes. "Who the heck is Sam? And if Rory likes him that much-" she jerked a finger at the window, "-how come you haven't told us about the guy?"

"Rory's still talking to Sam?" Luke's voice interrupted.

Lorelei huffed. If Luke, Mr. Mind Your Own Business, was on the same side as the gossips in demanding the story, she'd never get out of here without telling them something. "Sam is a private investigator that Rory met a few months ago when he was pretending to be a reporter. I've never met him, but Rory says he's a nice guy. Both of their jobs take them all over the country, so they talk on the phone a lot. That's it. He's the phone version of a pen pal."

"Ooh, a private dick!" Miss Patty smiled to herself, the smile that said she was thoroughly enjoying the steamy images running through her head.

Everyone left her to her daydreams.

"So, Sam Jameson of the Daily Bugle really was a spiderman joke?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, his real name is Sam Winchester. Apparently, he's a Stanford man, a great conversationalist, and a worthy opponent in a debate,"Lorelei expounded. "They call each other back and forth to chat; and now and then help each other out with research projects. Sam is pretty good with a computer, she says."

Luke did not look satisfied. But then, he never looked satisfied when Rory caught and held a boy's interest. None of them ever measured up to Luke Danes' exacting standards. Especially not one who was lying about his job and very name when she met him.

"Luke." Lorelei demanded her boyfriend's attention. "Rory says that Sam made it clear: he's too busy and moves around too much, too fast to be interested in anything more than casual friendship. Okay? They're just friends."

Luke grunted in what might have been acknowledgment, disagreement, disgruntlement, or an aborted belch. It was a skill: ambiguous grunting. Then Cesar dinged the order bell and Luke was off again.

"Sugar." Babette's voice came out oddly gentle as it pulled Lorelei's attention back. "I'm sure that's what this Sam fella said; and I'm sure that Rory believed him when he said it. But... oh, honey. Look at the girl's face."

The three women turned to watch the youngest Gilmore as she talked, to watch the blissful expression on her face and the way her whole body was focused on the phone, on Sam's voice.

"He may say they're phone friends... but Rory? That girl is falling hard and fast." Babette told them.

Lorelei watched her daughter with new eyes, seeing what Babette saw.

And worried.

The way only a mother can.

.

Beside them, Kirk stirred to life. "Luke!" he called. "You cannot date my mother!"

Luke glared from across the diner. "I'm heartbroken," he drawled.

"But its still not fair that I can't use your WiFi!" Kirk complained.

Finally, Luke gave the townsman his full attention. "Kirk. You don't own a computer, or a laptop, or a smart phone. It is physically impossible got you to use my WiFi."

Kirk wilted. "Oh."