‘No, you have to listen to me! I’ve not talked to you for two weeks and I’ve got so much to say, to apologise for, and—’
‘GRAYSON IS GOING TO DIE TOMORROW!’ Lorelai cried out. The only way to get Joanie to stop talking and listen was to shock her into it. There was silence on the other end of the line.
‘Why didn’t you just say that?’ Joanie finally said, breathless.
‘He left me a voicemail two weeks ago saying he was going away in two weeks’ time and when I kissed him I—’
‘You saw him die somewhere other than London?’
Lorelai stood, the nervous energy in her body forcing her to pace around her room. ‘Worse. He never makes it where he’s going. He’s going to die on the plane.’
‘Shit. Right. OK.’ There was only the sound of their breathing as they both sat with this huge problem. ‘What do we do?’ Joanie finally said.
‘You mean you’ll help me?’
‘Lorelai, don’t ask me stupid questions,’ Joanie said impatiently.
Despite the dire situation, Lorelai couldn’t help but smile through her tearful eyes. She had really missed Joanie. She had been so angry at her for pushing her too hard, but she had also been distraught at seeing how Grayson would die. Lorelai could see now that Joanie had acted out of a place of love. Joanie was the most loyal friend she had ever had, and she knew now that there would be times in her life when she would need Joanie’s no-nonsense, tough-love approach. And she had her mother now too. She had so much to tell Joanie, but first, Grayson.
‘I’ve tried calling but I can’t get through to him.’
‘You don’t think he’s already on the plane, do you?’ Joanie gasped.
‘Maybe.’ Lorelai’s legs gave way beneath her. She slumped into a heap in the middle of the floor and began to sob. ‘Maybe I’m too late.’
‘No way. Don’t think like that. He might not be going until tomorrow and he could just be asleep right now. Or he’s awake and drowning his sorrows as he pines over losing you, and his phone is in another room. Yes, that’s it, and in mere moments he’ll call you back and profess his love for you!’ Joanie’s voice was triumphant, but the knot in Lorelai’s stomach only grew tighter.
‘He didn’t lose me. I pushed him away.Ilethimgo.’ She covered her head with her arm, creating a cocoon on her bedroom floor.
‘And you’ve changed your mind?’
‘Yeah. Yeah, I have.’
‘What brought that on? You seemed pretty certain when you left that you were going to be alone forever.’
‘Maybe it was the unexpected discovery that not only did my grandmother have the power to see how the people she kissed were going to die, but my mother has it too.’
‘Are you serious?’ Joanie said slowly.
‘Yup. Crazy times, Joanie. Crazy times.’ Lorelai would have laughed if it wasn’t all so painful.Grayson.
‘So all this time you thought you were the only one and all it would have taken was a serious conversation with your mum to find out that was far from the truth? Bloody hell!’ Joanie chuckled in disbelief.
‘I know,’ Lorelai groaned. ‘No one knows how frustrating that is more than me. But I know now and that’s all that matters. We’ll make up for lost time, and I’ll tell you all the details soon, but focus, Joanie. Grayson. I need to stop him from getting on that plane. My grandma and my mum managed to have happy marriages with the people they loved, so I know it’s possible for me to have that too. It’ll be tough but Icando the same.’
‘I’m so pleased for you, Lollie. I was so worried before. I knew you weren’t happy.’
‘Iwashappy, Joanie!’
‘Not as happy as you could have been, though.’ Joanie had her there.
Lorelai sighed. ‘Alright, I’ll admit to that. But none of this means anything if I can’t stop Grayson getting on that plane.’
‘One sec, I’m putting you on speaker.’ Lorelai heard some shuffling sounds as Joanie set her phone down on her desk. Then Joanie cracked her knuckles down the line. ‘OK. I’m going to search Facebook for someone who works at the same theatre as Grayson, and hope they’re online this late. I’ll send them a message to see if they know anything about when he was leaving the country so we can figure out if he’s already left.’ The sound of Joanie bashing her fingers against her laptop keyboard echoed through the phone speaker.
‘I’m fascinated and terrified by how quickly you came up with that idea.’
‘Do you want my help or not?’ Joanie snapped, audibly pausing her feverish typing.
