‘Yes?’
‘Lorelai, stop. Stop, stop!’ Riggs whispered fiercely. He wriggled out of her grasp,
She let go immediately. He was looking past her to something further up the street. A feeling of dread crept over her. She turned slowly and locked eyes with Grayson before he turned on his heel and disappeared around the corner. She stared at the empty street, not knowing what to do. Eventually she walked back inside, her feet heavy.
‘Why aren’t you going after him?’
Lorelai hadn’t expected Riggs to follow her inside.
‘Because there’s no point,’ she said helplessly. ‘He hasn’t answered any of my calls so he probably wasn’t even coming here to speak to me. But if he didn’t want to speak to me before he definitely doesn’t want to speak to me now.’ She slipped behind the counter and looked to the computer, praying someone had emailed. A request, a question, a complaint, anything to focus on before she burst into tears.
‘Fucking hell, Lorelai.’ Riggs rubbed his face, exasperated.
‘What!’ Lorelai snapped. ‘What exactly am I meant to do here? Chase him down the street like a lunatic? Yell after him, arms waving?’ Lorelai turned away from Riggs’s hard stare to arrange and rearrange the popcorn buckets in order of size.
‘Yes! Have all these movies and books taught you sod all? You must have watched and written countless number of scenes where someone chases their love interest down the road, or towards the gate at the airport, or in the rain, and the outcome is always a good one. Do you know why?’
Lorelai was in no mood to appreciate Riggs’s new-found optimism and positivity, not when she felt this helpless.
She sighed. ‘Because it’s fictional and everything has to work out for the best or box office sales plummet?’
‘Because those who chase their dreams get rewarded. You need to believe in the romance of it all!’
Riggswas talking to her about romance? Everything was upside down.
‘There’s nothing romantic between me and Grayson.’ They were her words, but they still made Lorelai’s heart ache.
‘It’s not about him. It’s about you. You’re looking for a connection with someone deeper than just casual dating or sex, right?’
Lorelai’s mouth dropped open. Now Riggs had insight? And he had articulated the specific longing Lorelai felt so perfectly.
‘How exactly do you know that?’ she croaked.
‘Because no one can bethatobsessed with movies and books and not be a hopeless romantic, and I know very few hopeless romantics that don’t want that kind of movie romance for themselves. But that’s not the point. It’s something deeper for you. Whatever has been stopping you from finding your own love story all these years is starting to fade. That fog has cleared enough for you to consider the idea of you and Grayson. That’s enough, Lorelai.Go after him.Even if it doesn’t work out, it’s better to regret trying than to not try at all. Take it from someone who, before you talked some sense into them, had never bothered trying, himself.’
How was Riggs the one standing in front of her, telling her this? Lorelai hadn’t realised her romantic avoidance had been so obvious that even Riggs had picked up on it. He was right; all the walls she’d put up to protect herself from pain were startingto crumble. Grayson had got under her skin, and she’d thought more about the possibility of being with him than she had with any other man. Was Riggs right – was it better to try, than not try at all?
‘Thank you—’ Lorelai squeezed his hands over the counter ‘—but I think I’m done with being a hopeless romantic. It’s exhausting.’
‘I get it. Itisexhausting,’ he said pointedly.
‘I didn’t know you’d been harbouring feelings for me for so long.’
‘I know you didn’t. I’m just saying… I get it. I really do understand. Being in love with someone takes a lot of time and energy but it also takes a lot of courage.’
Something caught in the back of Lorelai’s throat. ‘Love?’ she whispered.
She thought it had been a simple crush. But love? It had certainly taken her by surprise, but who was she to deny him how he felt? After all, what did Lorelai know about love?
‘Yes, love.’ Riggs’s eyes were sad. ‘I know nothing will happen between us, and I’ll settle for your friendship, which is still pretty special. But Grayson, Lorelai, that could be the real thing. I saw the look on his face when he saw us hugging, and I saw your face when he walked away. There’s something between you, and you both feel it. Do you know how rare that is? So just think about it, Lorelai. Please?’
WhatdidLorelai know about love? She had watched enough movies and read enough books to know about the fairy tale; that you fell in love at first sight with your one true love, had true love’s kiss, and lived happily ever after. That was how it was supposed to go, right? That’s what everyone was searching for, and it had to be possible, didn’t it? That’s what Lorelai believed in when she was growing up, until, when Lorelai was twelve, her grandmother explained what love was truly like.
Lorelai was sitting at the kitchen table nearing the end of yet another novel.
‘Another romance, is it?’ Her grandmother laughed as she put a tray of cupcakes in the oven.
‘It’s not soppy!’ Lorelai insisted.
