‘So… no follow-through?’ Grayson pushed his hands deep inside the pockets of his linen trousers.
‘You caught that.’ Lorelai dipped her mouth down below the lip of her scarf.
‘Listen, Joanie’s sweet and I really appreciate her putting in a good word for me but if you don’t want to go out next week,I get it.’ Grayson bumped her shoulder with his. The warmth of his voice was so inviting but she couldn’t let herself become distracted by that. This was too confusing.
‘Look… it’s not you.’
Even though Grayson had said he got it, his shoulders fell, as if he’d been holding onto a bit of hope, waiting for her to answer.
‘I know the “it’s not you, it’s me” line is overused but it’s true. I’ve not dated anyone in a while now because I’ve got… stuff.’
‘Like emotional baggage?’
She looked up at him and, for the briefest of moments, wondered if she could tell this man her secret. She quickly dismissed it. Of course she couldn’t. The burden was hers to bear alone. It was time to shut this down, before it got out of hand.
‘Sure. Let’s go with that. Emotional baggage. I don’t date. I have my reasons and I don’t ever expect anyone to understand them,’ and then, as Grayson took a breath to ask a question, she added, ‘which is also why I never tell anyone what those reasons are. I’m happy as I am.’
‘OK, fair enough. That’s pretty refreshing, though – you know who you are. I like that.’ Grayson ran a hand through his hair. ‘Well, how about just as friends then?’
‘What? What do you meanfriends?’ she said it as though the word was alien to her.
‘Imeanthat it doesn’t have to be a date. You have friends, right?’ He gestured to Joanie who was now dancing outside of Leicester Square station to whatever music Aden was playing. ‘And going for coffee or a meal with a friend is a normal thing to do, right?’
‘It is but… I am serious about not wanting to date you,’ Lorelai clarified.
‘Yes, I did hear you the first time,’ Grayson said, laughing.
‘And I’m not going to change my mind.’
‘You seem like a woman of your word. I wouldn’t expect you to.’
‘Sex is off the table too.’ She stopped and turned to him.
‘Woah, who said anything about sex?!’ Grayson stopped, his eyes darting around them to see if anyone had heard her.
‘I’m just making myself completely clear. And if that’s a dealbreaker for you and you’re just going to disappear and never—’
Grayson held up his hand. ‘Are you telling me that of all the men who’ve asked you out that you’ve turned down, not a single one of them… Well, no one stuck around to get to know you just… because? The end game was sex and if that was off the table they walked away?’
‘You sound surprised,’ Lorelai said.
‘I suppose I am. I’m sorry, first and foremost. That sucks. Secondly, I just think you’re pretty cool. I like spending time with you.’
Lorelai couldn’t think of anything to say so she smiled and picked up the pace again.
‘No, seriously! You love movies as much as I do. You love to read. You were kind to your friend even after he behaved like an idiot. Do I need any more reasons? You’re cool. Why wouldn’t I want to be friends with someone cool?’
‘Indeed,’ was all Lorelai could manage.
Grayson had an innocence to him. He was upbeat where most people were pessimistic. Lorelai knew she was a little pessimistic.Had she ever been as positive as Grayson? He seemed unburdened by the world, not because he was naive but because he chose not to be weighed down by responsibility. Choosing to make friends with Lorelai seemed foreign and strange to her.You make friends with people because you work with them or you went to school together,she thought.You don’t find someone who you like and then proposition them for their friendship. Who does that?
Grayson did that and she liked it.
Before Lorelai could think of an excuse to turn down Grayson’s offer of friendship as well, she said, ‘Alright. Brunch. But not tomorrow. Wesley always makes us do the late Sunday shift after a Saturday night marathon so I don’t think I’ll be up in time for brunch tomorrow. But the Monday after? Call up the cinema and ask for me or… well, that weirdo.’ She gestured to Joanie who was now attempting to floss next to a very concerned-looking Aden.
‘I still can’t believe you said yes. You said YES!’ Joanie yelled, turning the key in the lock. Lorelai shushed her before she disturbed their neighbours.
‘I can’t believe it either,’ she admitted. ‘But it’s just as friends. It’s not going to become messy or horrendous and the start of my worst nightmare.’
