The Other Gilmore

A New Face

"Wait. Paris is your roommate?" Frankie exclaimed. She was talking to Rory while walking down the streets of New York. She had just finished her classes for the day, and had desperately needed coffee, so she decided to call her sister on her walk.

"Yep. Her dad made a call, I guess," Rory said, sighing dramatically.

"Damn. She's something, that Paris." Frankie chuckled, glancing across the street and seeing a small coffee shop. "So, how's Yale? Other than Paris being your roommate?"

"Good, so far. Mom stayed over my first night here, and I've made some friends, which is good."

"That's great, I'm happy for you."

"Thanks. How about you? I feel like we haven't talked since we saw you in Paris."

"I'm good. Juilliard is amazing. I really like my roommate, Penny. She's a bit hyper, but she's really sweet. We actually have a bunch of dance classes together, so we see each other a lot."

"Have you seen Kayla yet?" Rory asked, popping a chip into her mouth.

"Yeah, I saw her over the weekend. I took the subway down to NYU and she showed me around. She's coming up here this weekend, so I'll give her a tour. It's super nice that we're only a few subway stops away from each other."

"That's awesome, Frank."

"Yeah. So, what's happening with Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Well, the night before I left for Yale, Grandma held me hostage and made me watch ballroom dance competition tapes."

"What?" Frankie asked, confused, as she pulled open the door to the coffee shop.

"Yeah. It was weird. I think it was because mom didn't come with me."

Frankie shook her head and rolled her eyes. "So weird. Um, Rory, I'm gonna go, I'm getting coffee and the board is confusing."

Rory laughed. "No worries. I should go, too. Talk soon, okay? Love you."

"Sounds good. Love you, too." With that, they hung up.

Frankie gazed at the board, confused by all the options, when someone cleared their throat behind her. She turned around, looking up at a very tall man.

"If you wouldn't mind," he said in a thick Australian accent, pointing to the gap between Frankie and the person in front of her.

"Oh, sorry." Frankie hurried forward, closing the space so the line behind her didn't get angry.

"You lost?"

"What?" she said, turning around to face the man behind her.

"You seem confused by the board."

"Oh, uh, yeah, a little. There's so many specialty things."

He chuckled. "Yeah. New York is like that."

Frankie smiled and shrugged. "It's not all bad. I like it so far."

"Good, that's good."

Frankie turned back around as the line moved forward, thinking their conversation was over.

"I'm Finn, by the way," the man said, sticking his hand out for Frankie to shake.

She spun around to face him, shaking his hand. "Frankie."

"Frankie. Interesting name."