Snatched

Part 28

Amelie sipped her takeout coffee, as she walked towards the lecture hall for her mornings lecture. As she walked into the room a young woman jumped out of a seat on the front row, startling her. Amelie jumped back in surprise, almost spilling the coffee that she had in her hand.
'Sorry to startle you, miss Touissant' the young woman said, 'I'm Rory Gilmore.' Amelie looked down at her watch. It was only 8.30am, the lecture didn't start until 9. But all the same, Amelie flung her arms out and wrapped them around Rory, 'miss Gilmore!' She exclaimed.
'Oh' she heard Rory say, as she stepped back and flattened her skirt with her hands. 'Miss Gilmore, it's so lovely to meet you' Amelie began, 'but it's only 8.30, the class doesn't start until 9. I normally ask that my assistants arrive here about 10 minutes early to help set up, but half an hour is keen!' She nudged Rorys arm.
'I know, I was up early' Rory said, rubbing her arm, 'so I thought I'd drop by and see if you needed any help setting up. I also wanted to introduce myself before class starts.'
'Oh very well sweetie! That's lovely!' Amelie said and ruffled Rorys hair. Rory winced before walking back towards the chairs.
'I brought coffee and donuts' Rory said, picking up a tray that contained two donuts and two cups of coffee, 'but I can see that you...' she pointed to the coffee cup that Amelie was already holding.
'Oh another one won't hurt!' Amelie said, before knocking back what was left in the coffee cup in her hand and taking one from Rory. 'If there's one thing I learned from reading your book it's that you can never have too much coffee'.
'That's right' Rory replied, nodding. 'I think this is my...' she began counting on her fingers 'third coffee so far today!'
'You gotta watch out with that though sweetie', Amelie said, placing a hand on Rorys arm. 'You don't keep a youthful complexion like yours by dehydrating yourself'.
'Trust me!' Rory said, 'I don't feel all that youthful anymore...this' she pointed to her face 'is a combination of a lot of concealer and a lot of these', she pointed back down at the coffee cup.
'Very well' Amelie said, 'well, it's still only 8.35, so we have plenty of time to get to know each other before the class starts. Take a seat honey' and she motioned over to the row of chairs in front of them. Obediently, Rory went and sat down in one of the chairs.
'Now,' Amelie began as she sat down, 'I've read your book, so I've gained a little bit of insight into your life and I've read a few of your articles'. At that Rorys face lit up. 'But I wanted to know more about the real Rory Gilmore' Amelie prodded Rorys chest making her flinch. 'You mentioned before on the phone that you had a little boy.'
'Yeah' Rory spoke back, 'his names Dylan'.
'And how old is he?' Amelie asked.
'He's just turned two' Rory replied.
'Oh yes! You mentioned! He must give you the right run around! I know from my nephews what two years old are like!'
'Yeah something like that' Rory replied, but she stared down at her feet. Amelie could tell that Rory became uneasy whenever she spoke about her son, first on the phone and now here.
'Sweetie what's wrong?' Amelie asked, placing a hand on Rorys knee.
'It's nothing, I'm fine' Rory said, but she didn't look up from her feet.
'Rory, sweetie, can I speak kinda out of turn for someone you've just met?' Amelie asked.
'Yeah, sure' Rory replied.
'It's just, whenever you mention your son, you seem a bit..' she paused, 'distant, down even. Has something happened sweetie?' Rory hesitated for a minute.
'I thought you might know if you'd read my book' she began, 'the press reported on it a lot, but of course you don't have the time to follow my personal life as well'. Amelie was confused.
'No, sorry honey', she replied 'I don't really follow much of the mainstream media, I just study it. There's not really much time to keep up with up to date this stuff'.
'Oh this isn't very up to date, it happened two years ago', Rory giggled nervously, she was still looking down at her feet.
'What did honey?' Amelie asked and she reached for Rorys hand, which Rory graciously accepted. Rory inhaled loudly and finally looked up at Amelie.
'When my son Dylan was just three weeks old' she began, 'he disappeared'. Amelie could sense her own jaw drop, but she let Rory carry on. 'My stepfather Luke was sitting him. He dozed off for five minutes and when he woke up and looked up at the monitor Dylan was gone'. As she said this, Amelie saw a tear roll down Rorys cheek. She leant forward to touch Rorys face with her thumb, brushing the tear away.
'Oh honey!' she said, before she wrapped her arms around Rory. She noticed that Rory did not cry, but rather settled into her arms for about a minute. All Amelie could do was rub her back. What this poor, poor girl had been through. After a minute Rory pulled back abruptly. She jumped to her feet, wiped her face with her hands and paced towards the desk in the front of the room.
'So where would you like these handouts?'