Summary: Quinn finds a part-time job that has her wind up on the Berry's front steps once a week.
Disclaimer: Glee is owned by Fox. I own nothing.
Published: April 1, 2013
Flowers
Chapter 1:
"Okay, so I will see you on Monday," Luce smiled.
Quinn hadn't expected to get a job so quickly. She had set out this morning, resume in hand, after Saturday brunch with her mother. Judy had lightly encouraged her daughter to look for a part-time job, not that they were flat-out broke or anything. Judy, after all, had her own savings apart from the joint bank account she had shared with her ex-husband. But Quinn knew that now that they were a one-income household, she'd have to find other sources of revenue for recreational use.
She didn't mind. Her mom found employment even with the twenty year gap in her resume. Her mom was trying and so could she.
It had been nearly five months since Judy had approached Quinn after their Regionals performance. After Russell had gotten all his crap out, the remaining Fabray women (with the help of Quinn's older sister and her husband) had packed up their essentials and moved to a different neighbourhood. It wasn't as grand as their old house, but there had only been one previous owner and the furniture was relatively new. It was still nice. Much more pleasant, truth be told, since they were farther away from the Lima Country Club and thus, hidden away from judging eyes and gossipy mouths.
When Russell still held his iron fist over the Fabray home, he had discouraged and scoffed at the idea of any daughter of his working at some minimum-wage, service-level job. He had wanted her to focus entirely on school, family, and cheerleading. Well, now that Cheerios was out of the question (she had just barely managed to work off the post-pregnancy weight) and she was one very restrictive, demanding family member short, that freed up her schedule quite a bit.
That Saturday afternoon found Quinn walking in a quiet area of Lima - away from the centre of the town. She didn't want a job where people from school (ex-cheermates, jocks, anyone really) could find her. Quinn figured she would just get any position at a tiny, hole-in-the-wall shop. Preferably in a strip-mall that only the elderly frequented.
She found Luce's Flowers on the corner of an old brownstone apartment-turned retirement home-turned community centre. It was in an older section of Lima and the kind of place where old people came to do yoga in the morning and parents dropped their kids off whenever they needed a break. That suited Quinn just fine.
The building was old, but the shop looked new. There was a brand new sign hung just above the entrance. It was designed to look antique and Quinn took a liking to it immediately. The blonde looked through the screen of the door. There was nobody in the shop - probably the reason why there was a HELP WANTED sign on the outside window sill.
She picked up the sign and opened the door. As soon as the jingle sounded, Quinn heard a voice from the back of the shop. "In a second! Sorry!"
The voice sounded slightly distressed and out-of-breath, so the girl peeked into what looked to be a storage area. She quickly stuffed her resume and the help wanted sign in her bag before dropping it on the floor. A red-haired woman was struggling with a rickety-looking metal shelf. Except the shelf was full of pots and plants and it looked about a second away from collapsing.
Quinn dove forward just as a pot nearly fell on the other woman's head. Between the two of them, they managed to hold off several pots of dirt so that the shelf wasn't overloaded. The other woman placed the extra pots on the floor and Quinn followed suit.
"Hey, thanks! I owe you one. I'm Luce."
Luce clapped the dirt from her hands while Quinn did the same. Damn it, she really liked this cardigan. Quinn unbuttoned her sweater and moved to her bag on the floor.
"I'm sorry, this is yours." The younger girl took the help wanted sign out of her canvas bag. "I was wondering if you were still looking for someone to help out around your store."
"My wife and her sister offered to help me out around the shop on some days, but she's still quite young. Her sister, I mean. Not my wife." Luce laughed awkwardly. "My wife's massive right now - seven months pregnant." The woman's eyes flickered with adoration. "I don't want her working when she should be resting. Can you drive?"
The blonde reigned in her surprise. She wasn't going to act like some dumb homophobe like her father. Or how she behaved before she got knocked off McKinley royalty. Before she was served a steaming slice of humble pie in the form of her Glee family and a beautiful baby girl. "Yes, I got my license last year. But I don't have a car or anything." Quinn explained quickly. They were fortunate enough to move to a house within walking distance of McKinley, but her mom still needed the vehicle for work.
The red-haired woman laughed, "Of course you don't! Anyways, I couldn't possibly ask you to get dirt all over your own car. I have a delivery van."
Quinn seemed skeptical. "Don't you need a special license to drive one of those things?"
Luce smiled, "They're flowers.."
"Quinn."
Luce beamed, "They're just flowers, Quinn. It's a small van. Like a soccer mom van. But instead of little children, you get to deliver bouquets. That is, if you're interested in the position."
Quinn considered it for a few seconds.
It sounded like she'd practically be her own supervisor. She'd be on the go and there was pretty much no way she'd run into any of her classmates. Judging from all the relationships Quinn had seen at McKinley (her own included), romance at the high school level didn't go beyond impromptu movie-dinner dates at Breadstix when your boyfriend decided to meet the minimum standards of good boyfriend-hood. And probably because his COD plans with his buddies fell through.
Plus, having a gay boss would be the biggest fuck you she could throw at her dad without ruining her own life. Quinn liked to think that Russell cared at least enough to have a mini-aneurysm if he found out his estranged daughter was working for a gay, married woman with her own business and a baby on the way.
"When do I start?"
A/N: This is my first fic. Let me know what you think.