New York still amazes her even though she's visited the place more than once. The first time she's been here was when the Glee Club she joined in High School competed for Nationals which they lost in their first attempt but won the next year. Quinn Fabray smiles as she remembers how happy she felt when the Judge announced them as the champion.
All of them were jumping up and down as the trophy was being passed on to their coach and mentor Will Shuester. Quinn was crying as she hugged her best friends Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce who were also experiencing the same joy.
When Graduation day came, it was a tear-filled day for the former Head Cheerleader, knowing she might not be able to see her friends anymore and leaving some unresolved feelings behind.
When she completed her Dance Major at International Dance Academy back in Los Angeles, Quinn decided to make dancing as a career and now she's a full time Choreographer with two dance studios in LA and Connecticut each.
She recently got a contract to choreograph a revival of the Broadway Show Wicked. Since Quinn is friends with Kurt and another Broadway enthusiast back in her high school years, she knows this is big and just couldn't afford to miss this opportunity.
She's been wandering around for 15 minutes after she checked in at the hotel, looking for the perfect place to eat lunch. Quinn was already hungry, skipping breakfast because she was running late for her flight.
As she turns a corner, Quinn spotted a small café that only has a few tables and chairs and she can make out a few diners inside.
The blonde looks up to read the sign while readjusting her blue handbag, "Joel's huh?" Quinn mumbles to herself. She shrugs, not caring what it's called as long as she can feed her growling tummy.
She walks briskly towards the small building and opens the door. She was surprised of how homey the small restaurant is on the inside rather than the outside exterior. The walls were painted white and there were pictures of previous owners lined up on two sides.
There were only few customers dining in. Most of them are women who- Quinn guesses- looks to be at their forty's. Their voices and laughter could be heard even when they sat far away where she's standing. Quinn can't help but smile whenever one of the ladies would wave at her.
A woman behind the counter looks at Quinn's direction when she heard her step in, "Well hello there! You came in just in time. The place usually is full if you come here at 12. What would you like to eat?"
"Do you guys serve anything that can be done in less than 15 minutes?" Quinn tucks a strand of hair to her ear as she looks at the woman. She's supposed to meet someone at 3pm and doesn't want to be late.
The lady just smiled and made Quinn sit down at a nearby chair, "Oh hush! Growing girls like you shouldn't be hurrying even if they call this a fast paced city!"
"Dorothy" as Quinn reads her nametag then pushes a door which leads to the kitchen. In a span of just five minutes, she steps out carrying a tray with a bowl of mushroom soup and pasta with some fennel, peas and arugula on top
That was fast, Quinn thinks
"Now eat dear. Most girls like you don't appreciate vegetables much but I hope you're different from them" Dorothy sits down on the opposite side of Quinn who just looks at her with utmost interest.
Okay… and here I thought she said I shouldn't be in a rush.
Quinn thankfully rejoices to herself because she is in fact a vegetarian and starts to eat while Dorothy continues to just stare at her with a smile. She wasn't used to this kind of situation where someone would looks at her with utmost interest.
After a few more minutes of eating, Quinn couldn't take it anymore and just directly asks "Is there something wrong?"
"Oh nothing" Dorothy shakes her head and smiles, "I'm just trying to guess as to where you're from. You're accent is different from those who are born here and the way you're dressed… honey, that's not how a New Yorker your age would look."
Quinn looks down and evaluates her outfit. She's wearing a white sundress, flats topping it off with a blue cardigan. Yep, this is definitely not how a New Yorker would dress up. The people here are very into fashion.
Before she can stop herself from opening up to strangers, her stupid mouth began to blabber away, "I originally came from Lima, Ohio. After I graduated, I moved to LA, took a Dance major there for three months even though my father wants me to take up another course."
Quinn stops and tries to recall everything that happened, "When I graduated, my father asked me again to take up a Business course in UCLA but I knew that I didn't want to be a businesswoman so I told him that. I was grateful though that he understood my decision when I declined even when he offered me to inherit 50 percent of his business."
It was true, after a lot of apologizing and begging when Quinn was in her senior year, Russell Fabray was finally welcomed back to Quinn's life as a father and as a husband to her mother. For the first few years he was still trying to get used to be the dad her daughters really need and not what he once used to be and even gave up on drinking hard liquor. He tried to be supportive when Quinn asked him if she could move to Los Angeles and study there and take up a Dance major, his heart broke but he knew one slip could make him lose his family again so he agreed. Paying more than 5,000 dollars for her three month study there and 1,800 dollars more for the apartment loft she's staying at for the rest of her time there.
The things he did weren't easy and Quinn knew that, there are times she feels sorry for him. A miracle happened though when he saw her perform in front of a stage as part of her final exam, Russell watched intently as his youngest daughter performed in front of a full house.
Flashback:
"Okay Quinn. Get ready now, your next in five minutes. Remember to focus on your dance moves and not on the audiences, okay?" Mrs. Moore says as she looks at one of her best students breathing deeply.
Quinn feels like she's hyperventilating. No, not just hyperventilating but knows she might faint any seconds now. The blonde is used to performing in front of hundreds of people but at that time, she was usually singing in the background and not dancing alone.
When it was time for her to perform, her lungs were already constricting at that point. The theatre was dead silent as Quinn readies herself for the song she chose to be played.
When the music starts her moves were a bit stiff because the story of her song is about a girl with a lot of insecurities. As the song progresses Quinn's body then moves in a smooth and fluid motion as the ending is when she finally overcame all of her fears.
As she finishes the routine, she hears people clapping loudly and some were wolf-whistling in her direction. Quinn's only concern was to find her family's seats that are at the front row, dead centered.
Judy discreetly dabs her eyes with a napkin while her sister's clapping really hard. She smiles at both of them and looks at her father's now empty seat.
Quinn's smile faltered. Coming to a conclusion that maybe Russell decided that his daughter's love for dancing just couldn't make the cut for his approval.
The blonde sighs as she gets off the stage with her shoulders slumped. She feels so stupid for believing that her father would try or maybe even just fake of him being proud of her.
As she makes her way to the changing rooms she was surprised to see him standing at the bottom of the stairs, smiling widely.
Quinn takes uneasy steps towards Russell looking at his right hand that's holding out one gardenia, "You were great out there sweetheart. I'm so proud of you" He then envelopes his daughter into a tight embrace.
"Thank you daddy" she whispers and hugs him back, tears welling up in corner of her eyes. Knowing that for the first time in her entire life: Quinn's happy of what she's doing
End of flashback
"After that, we became very close. When I opened my own studio in LA and became a full time Choreographer, Dad would call me twice a week and flies there every month. I asked two of my classmates back at the Academy to join my line of work when I opened another branch at New York which I'm very grateful that they agreed. The reason why I came here is because a friend of mine recommended me to her Uncle so I can choreograph on a Broadway show he's directing."
She didn't know why but Quinn feels at ease after telling Dorothy some parts of her life. The older woman just nods, "I see. You've come very far considering you used to live at a small town."
Quinn nods, that was the first time someone told her of how successful she is even though the exact word isn't directly being uttered. They fell in a comfortable silence after that.
Fifteen minutes later and a bottle of water being consumed, Quinn takes out her wallet and gives it to Dorothy with a very big tip. She stands up and walks towards the door.
As she was about to push the door, she turns around and looks at the older woman and smiles, "Thank you. For that talk, I mean… I'll be sure to stop by once in a while if I'm free; aside from the food of course. "
At exactly 6:30pm, Quinn's walking briskly towards Café Edison. It's a restaurant that can be located at Times Square inside Hotel Edison. She's been here a couple of times, previous meeting with different clients who expect nothing but the best from the blonde Choreographer.
A man with a tweed coat sticks out his hand, looking at her direction. Quinn dodges waiters and costumers smoothly. She sits down in front of Harry Nixon who is the director of the play.
Harry is a man who is true to his words. A very observant person with eyes sharper than an eagle
They made small talks here and there. Twenty minutes pass by and Quinn starts to wonder who the four people they're waiting for as they haven't anything. Harry's phone starts to ring that he has placed earlier on the right side of his plate.
"Excuse me Quinn" he says and starts to listen on the other end with a few 'okay' and 'I see' while the blonde received a text from Santana asking if they could meet tomorrow at Central Park which Quinn hurriedly replies, not wanting to be disturbed in the middle of the meeting and promises to meet the Latina at 8 in the morning.
After she hit the 'send' button Harry was just getting off the phone and places it back on the side table, "Sorry. I got a call from my assistant saying that the Casting Director hired a lot of extras for the bar scene," he shook his head once and looks at her with pleading eyes, "Do you happen to know two more Choreographers willing to teach 30 people? We decided that you only choreograph the four main casts so you won't have to work a lot."
Yes, she knows two more Choreographers and yes they are willing to teach 30 people since they've done it for three years now. All Quinn needs to do is call them up and see if she can work on booking for a flight from LA to New York and drive up to someone's apartment and make him pack up a lot of clothes.
But first, she needs to take the first step. She gives the worrying Director her famous Fabray smile and gave her sweetest tone, "I'll see what I can do Harry" knowing that he doesn't have to worry about anything.
Because she is a Fabray and they give out their all when their boss needs their service and their sharpness to every single problem that needs to be solved.