Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 79th cycle. Now cycle 80!
"One Moment in Time"
(Older) Rachel, Chloe (OC), Sophie (OC)
Red series
(no listings yet; sequel to "First Night After")
The last few days had been such a whirlwind. Practicing, and practicing, and then the audition, and then a callback, and another, and another… And now here she was, waiting on the final word, the one that would decide the rest of her life… She didn't mean to be so dramatic, but those last days had just felt like a fairy tale, so it might have been appropriate.
Rachel Berry may not have been her teacher anymore, now that the workshop was done, but she had jumped at the chance to help coach Chloe as she prepared herself for her audition. Sophie would tease that her mother had always dreamed of seeing her through Her First Broadway Audition, that now she could only experience it vicariously through Chloe. The girl was touched, and so she joined her mentor and they got to work. They had searched long and hard for the song she would prepare, which became two songs, as Rachel told her having a backup ready might come in handy.
They might have been looking for the last song they would ever hear, going by how intense of a search it became. This one would not put her talents in the right light, that one would project the wrong image… After a while, Chloe had grown frustrated, both at the search and at Rachel, and so they had taken a break. It was in that pause that they had found exactly what they were looking for. Rachel came up with what would become the backup song, while Chloe landed on the one she would prepare as her best shot.
Having just come off the workshop, Chloe already had so many new tricks up her sleeve, but it didn't keep Rachel from helping her bring it all together into what would become, in essence, the performance of a lifetime. When she'd be done, they would all be on the floor, according to her. Chloe herself had never felt so in tune with her gift, and she had to try not to assume too much, not to tell herself that she couldn't lose, because she didn't know, not until this would be over.
Both Rachel and Sophie had been there with her on the day, though she insisted they needed to let her go in on her own. They sent her off like a kid on her first day of school, and then there she was. Her moment had come.
She wasn't entirely sure that she remembered anything after she came off that stage. Her heart was still going restlessly, she had so much energy in her that she couldn't stand still. She was confident enough that she'd done well, so she held on to that.
The wait for the call-backs was the most stressed she'd been in her entire life, so much so that she felt like she might be sick if she didn't know soon. She was re-evaluating everything she'd ever accomplished in her life, thinking about what she might have done better along the way…
But then it came. She had her callback, and she was one step closer.
As it turned out, that only diminished her stress by a hair. She would get through that callback, and then the next… The closer she got, the more she just wanted for it to be over. She was terrified that, at any moment, she would trip, mess up, and they'd realize they'd made a mistake. She wasn't ready for this, she was too young, she was just some kid from Indiana, not a Broadway star, she wasn't there yet… Rachel kept telling her she was doing just fine, Sophie did the same, and George, and her parents back home… She had to stop herself from asking Rachel to call Kurt and ask him if they'd made up their mind yet.
One way or the other, she would know soon. Today was the day, and before she went to bed that night she would know if she was soon to return to Indiana, or if she was about to become a permanent New Yorker. Her parents had wanted to come up and be there for her when she found out, but she'd begged them not to. She wanted to have the opportunity to collect herself before she talked to them, if it happened that she didn't get it. They were on the verge of making so many sacrifices for her, if it did happen, that she felt this was how it needed to be. So they were home, and she could almost see them, going about their day with their phones just within reach, fretting and waiting just as she was.
Sophie had insisted on taking her out for a relaxing day, to try and keep her mind off of it. There was only so much they could do about it. Eventually, they'd ended up right in the coffee shop where, it felt like an eternity ago, Chloe Clarke had first met Rachel Berry. She sat at the counter, with Sophie, fingers clicking and tapping against a cup. Julian was working that day, and he was keeping them stocked on anything they needed, his treat. He knew about the audition, though only for having overheard them as they'd sat down, Sophie and the stressed redhead.
"Can I say it now?" Sophie asked her.
"Don't, you'll jinx it," Chloe begged.
"You know they probably made up their minds by now," she pointed out, looking at her watch. "So whatever I say, it won't make any sort of…"
"I don't care, just don't say anything," Chloe shook her head, nails tapping a frenzy on the cup.
"Fine, alright," Sophie breathed out, though she was smiling. Every time a phone rang, Chloe would jump, even though it wasn't her ringtone. "We might want to switch you to decaf," Sophie muttered under her breath.
The next phone that rang was hers, and looking at the screen, there was the number she had been waiting on. For a moment, she looked at Sophie, having completely forgotten how someone answered a phone.
"Before he hangs up, that would be nice," Sophie pushed the thing in her hand, and she answered.
"Hello? Yes, this is she… Yes, Mr. Hummel, I have… Yes… Too much," she stared at her cup and nudged it away. The silence was longer now, and as much as Sophie – and Julian, who'd stopped in front of them across the counter – tried to make out what she was being told by looking at her face, it was impossible to tell. "Thank you… I will… Yes… Alright… Thank you."
She hung up, her hand tipping forward just barely so she could put her phone down, and then it was back up, to cover her mouth.
"Well? What happened? Did you get it?" Sophie asked. Chloe turned to her, her ginger curls dancing back and forth as she nodded.
THE END
A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!