So,guys.
As I promised here arrives a new part. I hope you gonna like it. (and Tina, you gonna hate me....)
ReFBs are already given, have fun
the next part's for everybody, who is reading this...
Part XII:
Once again I saw Luke motionless. He stared at me. I couldn’t interpret the look on his face. Slowly, he sat down, breathing hard. Then finally, he gasped for air and said with a rough voice,
"Call your parents? But what should I say to them? I mean, I don’t even know where they live or anything else about them."
I felt he was right. I couldn’t think straight at that moment, I was confused but nevertheless, I had the strong feeling that I had to do something and that I needed a strong person standing right beside me to catch me if I fell.
Again, we sat in silence but then, a thought popped into my head.
"Luke? I don’t think it’s their number on the milk pack. It’s probably just the number of an agency or something like that."
"Yeah, you’re right. But I don’t know...Shouldn’t rather you..."
I moved closer to him, looked him in the eyes and took his right hand. It was cold and sweaty at the same time.
"Luke", I began softly and carefully, "Couldn’t you just try? I can’t do this on my own. I just.. I just wouldn’t stand it. I need somebody on my side. I know, we don’t know each other very well but somehow, I feel... I feel that we’re connected..."
On the last few words, I squeezed his hand tighter. Something like a smile hushed into Luke’s face, then he said,
"We... we are", he paused, gasping for air again and then continued, "I think it couldn’t cause damage, if I would call that number, could it?"
Now, I think, I was the one, who stared at him, then I jumped up and hugged him.
After a little while, he let go off me and stood up to reach for his telephone. Slowly, he dialed the number on the tetrapack. I saw his hands trembling.
A few moments silence, obviously he listened closely to the phone, then he cleared his throat and said:
"Uhm, hi. This is Taylor Doose. I’m calling about a missing person, I think I’ve recognized... Lorelai Victoria Gilmore?"
Silence. Then,
"An address? Yeah, terrific. Uhm, wait a sec, I have to look for something to write on..."
He desperately searched for a paper but he couldn’t find one. Finally, I gave him a wink to write on my arm. He nodded and then he said,
"Yeah, found something, continue."
Again silence. Luke wrote down the address. I read it.
Richard & Emily Gilmore
John F. Kennedy Lane Nb. 23
Hartford, Connecticut
It took my breath away. Hartford, Connecticut? So they moved. And Hartford was only forty miles away. After all these years, I lived just a bus-ride away from them...
I heard Luke saying goodbye to his telephone partner and I looked up at him. He, too, seemed a little disturbed about the distance, then he said,
"Wow, not like I’ve expected."
"Neither did I", I said and sat down. My knees were trembling.
"So, what are you going to do?", Luke asked faltering and kneed down in front of me, looking concerned.
"I don’t know, I don’t know."
I realized, I stuttered. I never did that. Me, Mrs. Have-A-Comeback-To-Everything, didn’t know what to say or what to do.
"I will help you, you do know that, right?", Luke offered.
I smiled. I didn’t know why but just Luke’s caring voice made me happier and after a few moments something hit me like a stroke.
"Luke", I said, "Could you maybe..."
-----
Slowly, I was on my way home to the inn. I was still shaking about the news and over and over I read the writings on my arm.
Arriving at the inn, I almost crashed into Mia, who was just leaving.
"Hey, dear! What’s up? You look concerned, darling", she watched me closely and smiled.
"Oh, yeah?", I asked, "No, I’m not worried, just tired. It’s late."
"Yeah, you’re right, of course. Sleep well", she said, hugged me and left.
I climbed up the stairs and into our room. Quietly, I dressed into my brand new sleeveless nightdress and wanted to lie down as Rory’s voice came from the other side of the room.
"Mommy? You’re here?", she switched on the lights.
"I’m sorry, hon, I didn’t wanna wake you."
I tried to tighten my sheets and then I looked at my daughter, who seemed puzzled.
"Mom?", she asked, getting up, "What’s that on your arm?"
"Oh, that?", I quickly tried to hide my arm underneath the sheet, "That’s nothing."
It didn’t work. My kid was just too smart for her age.
"It looks like an address or something. I saw that. Of whom?", she pressed.
I looked at her. What should I say?
"Just from someone I knew back in the day", I slowly answered.
"Oh, really? Could you be more vague?", Rory asked rather angry.
"Well, it’s someone, who I knew, when I was younger."
Rory looked at me, then she said,
"Look! That was more vague! Come on, Mommy. You can tell me, show me."
Slowly and carefully, I reached out my arm. For a few moments it seemed like Rory’s face was blank but then she looked like one of those cartoon-characters with an exclamation-mark over their heads.
"Richard and Emily Gilmore? Are they related to us?"
Somehow I felt, like someone had hit me. I didn’t know, why I was so shocked. Maybe because she didn’t even know the name of her own grandparents. I didn’t even bother to tell her that. I felt guilty. Very guilty. Finally, I answered her,
"Yeah, sugar. They’re related to us. Rory, they are your grandparents."
"My what?", she said stunned, "My grandparents? But I thought they were living elsewhere. Or... or I didn’t even think of them at all."
I hugged her.
"Calm down. Everything’s fine. Trust me. Everything will be fine. I’m working on it. Nothing to worry about at all."
She looked into my eyes and in her blue ones, I saw belief and something like hope. I hugged her even tighter, "I’ll always be here."
"Yeah, I know. Mom?", she once again looked at me, "I love you."
Inevitable I had to give her a smile.
"I love you, too, Rory."
A few hours later, I lay in my bed, desperately trying to sleep. Rory peacefully slept in my arms but my brain war racking and cracking. I prayed that Luke would make everything alright.