Just Jess

Employee of the Month

The three Gilmore Girls sat in Luke's going over Rory's pro and cons list about the three colleges she got accepted into. It was mostly Lorelai and Rory going over them, Sabrina was zoning out and sipping on her coffee. Kirk stumbled into the diner carrying a cardboard box, he went up to the girls table.

"Good morning, ladies. May I interest you in a shirt?" Kirk said showing off his box

"Oh, Kirk. You're not selling your laundry again, are ya?" Sabrina asked scrunching her face

"No, these are part of my latest money-making endeavor. I'm going to print daily T-shirts featuring a humorous topical headline of something I witness around town." Kirk explained

"Neat." Rory nodded

"I got the idea when I read about something a man was doing in Portland."

"What was he doing?" Lorelai asked

"He was printing daily T-shirts featuring a humorous topical headline of something he witnessed around town."

"Is that today's?" Sabrina asked

"Sure is." Kirk grabbed one of the shirts and held it up

"Babette ate oatmeal." Sabrina read the shirt

"Huh." Rory looked at the shirt

"I'm keeping it real." Kirk said

"It paints a picture." Lorelai added

"They're $14.95. How many can I put you down for?"

"No solicitors, Kirk." Luke said approaching the table

"How about if I cut you in for a piece of the action?" Kirk asked

"How about I toss the shirts out the door first so you can have something to land on?"

"Got it." Kirk said running away

"What's with the lists?" Luke looked confusedly at the lists on the table

"You ready? My Rory, our Rory, Stars Hollow's Rory. . .got into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale." Lorelai beamed proudly

"Wow, wow, wow, I can't believe it. I I feel like I. . ." Luke awkwardly hugs Rory's head.

"Oh!" Rory said

"Oh!" Lorelai said shocked

"Okay." Rory awkwardly hugged his arm

"Wow." Sabrina had her mouth open in shock

"I'm not good at hugging." Luke awkwardly pulled back

"Oh, I thought it worked." Sabrina giggled

"Thanks. Man, this is big, right?" Luke exclaimed

"Very big." Rory nodded in agreement

"But what's with all the pro/con lists?" Luke asked

Luke, Lorelai and Rory continue talking about the pro and con list and all the other colleges, before Rory headed off to school.

"I can't believe how great that is, all three." Luke nodded proudly after Rory left.

"Well, they have good taste." Lorelai smiled

"Well. . .you know, uh, Jess also. . .well, it's so tiny compared to this, it's gonna sound dumb." Luke said shyly

"What? Tell me."

"Well, you know how Jess works at Wal-Mart."

"Yes, I do."

"Well, it seems he was actually chosen Employee of the Month."

"Really?"

"I knew it would sound tiny."

"No, Luke, that's not tiny. That's really good."

"Yeah. I mean, there's probably hundreds of people working at that branch, and they singled him out."

"Yeah, it shows he can work hard and get along with people and all that. You should be proud. Did you tell him you're proud?"

"Well, he didn't even tell me about it. I got a letter addressed to the family of Jess Mariano inviting me down to some little ceremony they're having."

"Huh that's weird, he told me he got Employee of the Month, but not about the ceremony." Sabrina joined in the conversation

"Are you going?" Lorelai asked Luke

"Oh, he'd hate it if I was there. You know, seeing him participating in some corporate ceremony like that, being called upstanding and responsible, it would kill him. Yeah, I'm going." Luke laughed

"Oh me too" Sabrina giggled
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Luke drove him and Sabrina to Walmart. They went into the break room where the ceremony was being held.

"Hello everybody. Hope you're having a good day today. You folks know we do this every month, just a little get together to honor our new Employee of the Month. Nothing fancy, just a quick thanks' and a way to go.' Oh, and there's two hundred bucks in it. I think that's how we got our honoree to even show up to this thing. You know him as a trooper, our Mr. Reliable. The first time this young man sat down on that forklift, well, it was like an extension of himself. And yeah, he's not one for small talk, but this boy's production is out of sight. It's Jess Mariano everybody." The manager announces

The other employees applauded as Jess walked up to accept the plaque.

"Would you like to say anything Jess?" The manager asked

"Nope."

"Well, that's our Jess. Give him another hand folks, and, uh, have a good one."

Jess walked to the back of the break room. He instantly spotted Sabrina and Luke, he covered his face in embarrassment.

"What are you doing here?" Jess asked

"I'm so proud of my boy." Luke said pinching Jess' cheek

"Stop it." Jess pushed him away

"Did he bring you here?" Jess turned to Sabrina

"Do you have a tissue because I think I'm gonna be emotional." Luke interrupted

"I mean it, stop, now. It came with cash, it's the only reason I'm here." Jess rolled his eyes

"Don't forget the plaque. You should hang that over your bed, shine a little spotlight over it."

"I gotta get back to work." Jess walked off but Sabrina followed behind

"I'm proud of you Jess" Sabrina said grabbing his wrist

Jess turned around and saw the genuine look in her eyes. Maybe Luke was actually proud of him, but there's no way he was going to express that without joking about it. With Sabrina though, she would always compliment him with such sincerity. It meant the world to him. Jess would work hard on things that seemed so small compared to others, but Sabrina always made sure to celebrate just as big as anything else.

"Thank you, I'll see you later" Jess smiled and kissed her on the cheek before going back to work

Sabrina walked  back into the break room. She met up with Luke, who was talking to the manger. He handed him Jess' employee of the month picture. Which Sabrina ended up taking.