Chapter 18
Aurora
Lorelaiand I waited for the elevator up to Dylan’s condo. I went to step inside as the door opened, only to come face to chest with Dylan as he stepped out.
“Hey, baby,” he said, placing a kiss on my cheek as he wrapped his arms around me in a protective embrace.
We were going to look at the condo tonight, and we asked Dylan if he would mind coming to look at it with us. Neither of us felt confident enough to decide without someone who’d been through this before. He told me he’d be happy to do it.
“Lorelai, how are things?” Dylan asked.
“Good. Thanks for doing this, Dylan.”
“Not a problem. I was happy when Aurora called. I was hoping to get to see her after the contract meeting.”
“How did that go? You mentioned nothing.”
“Signed again. Can’t get rid of me that easy.” He chuckled, pressing a kiss to my lips.
“That’s great,” Lorelai replied. “Congratulations.”
“Did your brother hear anything yet?” I questioned, knowing that she’d been worried when I told her Dylan had.
“Not sure. I talked to Candace earlier, but she said nothing. I know they were nervous about this year.”
“Don’t worry, he’ll get signed. They took Knox back.” Dylan winked.
“What’s about me?” a voice asked behind us.
Lorelai and I turned to see Knox step out of the elevator, curiosity on his face.
“Not a thing,” I said as Dylan chuckled.
“You girls ready?” Dylan asked.
“Yep. Let’s go.”
“Wait. Here are some waters,” Knox said, handing a water bottle to each of us.
“Wait, he’s coming?” Lorelai questioned, looking at me as I shrugged..
“Yes, he was here when you girls called. I figured we’d bring him along for a second set of eyes and then we’d go to see a movie or out for dinner,” Dylan said.
“Sounds great.” I said looking over at Lorelai who had a funny look on her face.
“Something wrong?” Dylan questioned.
“Aurora, can I see you for a moment?” Lorelai asked.
“Give us a minute,” I said, turning to Dylan.
He nodded, and they both waited while Lorelai and I stepped outside.
The moment the door closed, and the guys were out of earshot, Lorelai turned to me.
“Aurora, I’m not sure that we need both of them to go.”
“Well, I’m certainly not going to tell him he has to stay here. I know you aren’t a fan of his, but it’s only a few hours, and another set of eyes hurt nothing. Besides, he may grow on you.”
“I doubt that.”
“I don’t understand what your issue is with him. He seems super nice. Give the guy a chance.”
Lorelai shook her head and crossed her arms. “We have to get going or we’ll be late,” she said, heading toward my car.
“I think we are taking Dylan’s car. Hold up.”
“We’re all going together?” She frowned.
“It makes the most sense.” I shrugged.
I signaled to the guys to hurry, and together the four of us walked across the parking lot to Dylan’s car.
* * *
Dylanand I walked hand-in-hand through the condo, talking amongst ourselves as Lorelai and Knox walked behind us.
“I want to check out the bedrooms. We should decide now which ones we like. That way we won’t fight over it on moving day.” I giggled.
“We don’t fight.” Lorelai laughed.
“We will if we both end up wanting the same room.”
We’d looked at all three bedrooms, and when I walked into the last one, I knew I wanted it. It was a pale purple, which was my favorite color. It had a gorgeous view of the city and a partial view of the water. “I think I’ll take this one,” I said.
“I figured, it’s your favorite color.”
“Which one are you going to take?” Knox questioned, turning to Lorelai.
“Not sure.”
“I think you should take the one at the end of the hall. A complete view of the water.”
Lorelai glanced at me. “I think I’ll take the other one.”
“Why on earth would you do that?” Knox asked. “I could tell the second you walked into that room you loved it.”
“How do you figure?” she said, crossing her arms in front of her. “You don’t know me.”
“If you’d have seen your face looking out those windows, you’d know you loved it.”
Lorelai crossed her arms in front of her and shook her head. “That room will be cold as hell in the winter, and I hate being cold.”
I looked at Dylan, then at Lorelai. I’d known her forever, and the one thing I knew about her was she was always warm. It wasn’t unusual for her to be in shorts and a T-shirt the entire winter while I was freezing.
“Lorelai, that isn’t true,” I said, rolling my eyes.
She lifted her eyes to mine. “It is. I hate being cold.”
“Okay, but you have to admit it has the nicer of the two ensuites,” Knox said, coming out from the one adjoining my room. “It has a huge soaker tub too, which would be perfect after work all day.”
“I shower,” she gritted. “Who the hell wants to sit in a tub of their own filth?”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Lorelai had always loved taking baths. She was what I called the bathroom hog. Once she got in that tub in our apartment, she was in there for a good hour, normally lost in her book.
“What has gotten into you?” I questioned, pulling her out into the hall.
“In a bit of a bad mood, I guess.”
“Okay, so then you want the bedroom with no bathroom and barely any windows?”
She gave me a funny look and nodded. That was when Knox stepped out into the hallway and put his arm around her. Her body stiffened. Dylan and I could barely contain our laughter as we looked at them.
“You need to loosen up a bit there,” Knox said, tweaking her chin.
She closed her eyes. I could tell she was fuming as she stepped away from him. “Aurora, can we please check out the kitchen and living room again?”
She walked down the hall, leaving the three of us behind. I looked at both Dylan and Knox. “Sorry, guys, I don’t know what has gotten into her today.”
“PMS,” Knox said.
I couldn’t help but giggle, but I knew if Lorelai had heard that she’d have come back to us and probably beat poor Knox to death.
* * *
Lorelai and Knoxhad been at each other the entire time we’d been checking out the condo. It had gotten so bad at one point that I’d pulled her into another room while Dylan and Knox looked over the contract. Everything the poor guy had said she’d fought against.
We’d been planning on having dinner together after checking out the condo, but Dylan and I agreed we’d do dinner tomorrow after our rock-climbing adventure. There was no way we could have taken the pair of them out together, fighting the way they were. So once we were back at the condo, we said good-bye, parted ways, and Lorelai and I headed over to Sip and Stir.
I sat in our usual booth, while Lorelai picked up our order. She’d calmed down considerably after we’d left and was now looking a little tired. She smiled at me as she carried over the tray filled with two coffees, two sandwiches, and two donuts, and placed it in the centre of the table.
“You’re sure you are comfortable signing the lease? I know two weeks wasn’t much time to organize moving, but you must admit this is exciting! Plus, we will be closer to work.”
“It’s signed. There is no going back now,” I replied, reaching for my sandwich. I wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about the condo right this moment. The entire events of the afternoon had put me into a mood.
“Look, I’m sorry about this afternoon,” she muttered, dumping three packets of sugar into her coffee.
“What got into you? That’s what I’d like to know.”
“Ugh, he is just so frustrating.”
I giggled. “Lorelai, he did nothing. It was all you. Everything he suggested or said, you jumped on him.”
“I didn’t.”
“You did! Goodness, when he suggested we paint the living room in a nice earth tone color instead of the horrendous yellow, you immediately ripped his head off, and you hate yellow.”
“I never did.”
“Please! Give it a rest! I also couldn’t believe you said you wanted the other bedroom. That gorgeous bedroom was the reason you even wanted to check that condo out. I know you were doing it to just to be argumentative.”
Lorelai let out a sigh and dropped her sandwich to her plate, putting her face into her hands.
“I couldn’t help it. He just makes me angry.”
“How? The man literally did nothing! So either you’re really hung up on him, or you hate his guts for something you haven’t told me about. So, you best spill it.”
I knew Lorelai hadn’t had the best dating history. I also knew that the break with Hugo nearly ruined her, especially after she slept with my brother to get over him. She’d been single ever since. She’d already told me that the next guy she dated would have to be a good guy, not one that would rake her through the coals again. I’d actually never seen her act this way before with anyone, so I was guessing there had to be a story hidden here somewhere.
“Fine, you win, you are right. Knox and my brother were the best of friends. Growing up, I’d always crushed on him, but there was always such a huge age bracket between us, he’d never give me the time of day. When he finally found out about my crush on him, he did nothing but tease me about it.”
“Well, now that you are older, perhaps he finds you attractive. Maybe he likes you now. However, with the attitude you just gave him, I can’t see that being true for very long,” I said, more to bug her than anything.
“Don’t you dare say that.” she said, giving me a disgusted look.
“Why not? I hate to break it to you, but he is hot, and he seems super sweet, and so what if he used to tease you? I’m sorry, but that doesn’t give you the right to treat him the way you are.”
Lorelai shook her head. “He isn’t hot, and he deserves it. He’s just like all the rest.”
“So you’re angry with him because he used to bug you? What is wrong with you?” I giggled, looking over at my best friend, who’d already devoured her donut and had barely touched her sandwich.
“Never mind. I don’t want to talk about him or think about him anymore. Just trust me when I say he isn’t what he appears.”
We sat there in silence for a few moments, each of us taking a bite of our sandwich. Then Lorelai looked over at me.
“What is it?” I questioned. “You look like you want to ask me something.”
She picked up her pop and took a sip and then smiled at me.
“Well, I’m wondering if it would it bother you if I took the bedroom I originally wanted?” she asked quietly.
“I thought you didn’t want it anymore?”
She shrugged. “I might have lied.”
I shook my head. “You are unbelievable,” I muttered.
“What?” she asked, laughing.
“Never mind.”