AN: Wrote this at the same time that I was writing the other one so forgive the crazy. Onwards!
Chapter 1 – You're My Number One Pick
"Good morning Santana," your assistant Tina calls as you exit the elevator, "Here's your coffee and your itinerary for the day."
"Thank you Tina," you respond on autopilot as you continued walking, reading the latest email from Artie and sipping on your Vanilla Chai Latte, "Could you have Blaine and Mike meet me in the office?"
"They'll be right up."
As you walked into your office, shrugged off your jacket and took a glance at the description in your hands, you had to admit that you loved your job. You really did. It's not even remotely close to what you thought you would've been doing after you graduated top of the class at Washington State University but it had been as fulfilling as ever. You weren't just Santana Lopez anymore. No, according to Tyra Banks you were THE Santana Lopez: a renowned Fashion and Celebrity photographer. She had even invited you to be a judge on her America's Next Top Model show and everything.
"You rang boss?" Blaine says walking into the office ahead of Mike, "What do you need?"
Blaine was solely in charge of your lighting and you and Mike worked together to create prop ideas whenever a shoot required them. Mike was also the one who you would let monitor the screens whenever you were shooting. He and Blaine being the consummate professionals that they were (insert eye roll here) would ALWAYS interrupt the shoot to squabble about when they thought you got the perfect shot or not. You'd never admit it publicly less you damage Blaine's very huge ego, but Mike was usually right.
"I have a little surprise for you both," you liked rewarding them for some reason, "You won't be working today but instead you'll both be my wingmen on today's photo shoot. I'm shooting the Victoria's Secret catalogue today and I'm allowing your requests to come in and observe the master at work."
"Is this a joke?" Blaine asks, "Are you really going to let us like see how you do it?"
"Please say it isn't," Mike says before you can reply, slowly settling into the chair in front of your desk, "Don't tell Tina this but I DVR the Victoria Secret Fashion Show every year and I watch it whenever she's not around."
Blaine quirks his eyebrows in silent protest at Mike's revelation and you quirk your eyebrow in amusement at the two of them. How you ended up with these two working for you, you would never know.
"So do I," you divulge with a wink, "It'll be our little secret Mike." and you're even more amused when Blaine cuts in to prevent you from high fiving each other.
"You two are big little children," he however is clearly not amused in the slightest; "I'm telling Tina the first chance I get."
"Then I'm telling Sebastian about you and Kurt," and Blaine's face is priceless, "Imagine the fallout from that conversation."
"You wouldn't dare!" Blaine practically squeals and if you were drinking something, you would spit it out, "I call your bluff Chang," his hands folding over his chest, "You wouldn't."
"Tell my secret and I tell yours," Mike says with the most care free of shrugs and you laugh then because you'll never get tired of this, "All of them."
Blaine starts rambling on about bromanship and the importance of secrecy as you recline your chair, prop your feet up on your desk and take another sip of your coffee.
You could watch them fight all day.
.
"Quinn, did you hear about the new changes?" your fellow Victoria Secret Angel Brittany Pierce asks on entrance into the suite.
"Nope," you ask plopping another grape into your mouth, "Care to enlighten me?"
"They're pairing us up and spreading out the shoots before we do the collective one," she takes the couch seat next to you, "You and I are up first today."
"We should go get ready then," you say glancing at the clock, "Do we get to drive ourselves?"
"I knew you would want to so I asked Mercedes and she said ok," this is why you loved Brittany; "The Benz is downstairs."
"You're my favourite Britt," you say placing a quick kiss to her cheek before standing, "Let's go then."
"Wait," her hand reaching out to pull you back, "There's something else that you should know."
"Like?"
"Santana is the photographer," and you could feel the grapes trying to make their way back up, "She called me like 5 minutes ago to ask if I was coming in today."
This could not be happening. You had the biggest crush on Santana Lopez still after all these years and she didn't even know that you existed. You both went to Washington State together but she was super popular and you were not. You were a nerd with your glasses and dresses and you never got invited to any of the cool kid parties. She was a cheerleader and she was perfect. She wasn't just pretty though, she was smart too. She was in all of your classes and she always beat you by at least one point in every test. Maybe if you were focusing on the paper and not the girl sitting two rows across from you, you would've been able to beat her just once. It came as no surprise that she was given the Valedictorian position over you. What did come as a surprise was her talking to you for the first time ever afterwards.
"Hey blondie," and you looked all around because there was no way that THE Santana Lopez was talking to you, "You got a pen I could borrow?"
"Pen?" you ask dumbly.
"It's a type of apparatus used for writing," you still couldn't believe that she was talking to you, "Might you happen to have one?"
"Oh," you say thrusting the pen towards her, "Here."
"I thought you might respond to the big words," and she smiles at you before turning and signing the clearly besotted guy's yearbook.
She takes a picture with him to and you'd never wanted to be a guy more in your life.
"Congratulations by the way," you say when she turns back to you, "On valedictorian."
"Thank you," and you smile because she does, "Congratulations on being my runner up."
"It was my pleasure really," and she chuckles lightly, "I wouldn't be second best to just anyone."
"So I'm your number one pick?" she asks running a hand through her now cap less hair, "Good to know."
"HEY SANTANA! PARTY AT MY HOUSE LATER!" Noah Puckerman screams down the hall and you grimace at the noise, damn football players.
She waves at him before turning her attention back to you,
"Thank you for the apparatus." she says holding the pen out to you, her smile more of a smirk this time.
"You're welcome."
You became privy to the fact that she was a photographer when Brittany worked with her on her Sports Illustrated cover. She gushed all about the hottest photographer that she had ever seen and when she'd described her, you nearly died and killed Brittany for thinking she was hot at the same time. They were friends and you were fine with that because you trusted Brittany and it let you keep tabs on her without resorting to Google.
"I think I'm going to be sick," you lament to Brittany, "I can't do this."
"Yes you can," she says with a laugh while dragging you to your feet, "It'll be fine."
.
You loved working with Brittany. There were a lot of crazy models in the industry who were after photographers just to get on the covers but after a minute of meeting her, you knew that she wasn't one of them. There had been a spark between you both at one time but nothing happened with it and now you were both honestly just pretty good friends. You hung out and had dinners and partied with each other in Vegas sometimes. Her best friend however, you wouldn't let that moment past if it ever presented itself. You'd never met her because somehow she always had to work whenever you both where hanging out but you'd seen pictures and boy, oh boy was shorty a 10.
"Brittany just texted," you direct to Sam and Joe who would be doing Blaine and Mike's jobs today, "They'll be here in 2."
"How is it that you have a Victoria Secret model for a best friend," Mike asks from his spot behind the monitor, "We need to talk about your karma."
"Models," Tina corrects from her spot next to him, "She's friends with Chanel Iman and Cara Delevingne too."
"True," Blaine interjects, "She got Cara to wish me a happy birthday on twitter."
"Can I get one from Candice or Alexandra?" Mike asks before backtracking under Tina's glare, "On second thought ya'll don't even have to tell me happy birthday."
Even the security guards posted at the door to the studio laugh at that.
"Santana!" Brittany's voice breaks and you don't miss the jaw of every man in the room hitting the floor, "It's been too long."
"Yes it has been," you say returning her hug, "Where's the next angel?" her eyes rolling as you ask it, "I thought there's supposed to be two of you."
"She'll be here she was just-" you don't hear the rest of her reply.
In walks the missing Victoria Secret model and your jaw looks pretty much like theirs looked a couple seconds ago. You'd fire somebody if they were looking at her the same way.
"There she is," Brittany says while discreetly using her finger to push your jaw up and your mouth shut, "Santana Lopez meet Quinn Fabray."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Santana," her left hand pushing her shades into her hair while her right hand reaches out to shake yours, "I've been looking forward to it."
"So have I ." you say taking her hand in yours.
There's something about her, you don't know what exactly but this feels like a reconnection more than a connection.
"We should get started," Tina's cuts in and you're thankful for her, "We've got a lot of frames to do."
"Yes," Blaine nudging your shoulder to pull your attention from Quinn's eyes, those eyes, "Lot of frames to do."
.
"If I didn't know Santana any better I would say that she was distracted," Brittany whispers while you took a break on stage, "Usually she's more vocal than this."
"Or maybe she's worked with you enough times to know that you know what to do," you respond, your eyes never moving from where Santana's head was bowed and focused on her laptop screen, "Her lack of direction has nothing to do with me."
"It has everything to do with you and you know it," she whispers again, "She's hit Sam more times than I can remember her ever doing in my presence for staring. Clearly, she's more upset at him staring at you."
"She didn't even remember me," and you feel like that nerdy girl pining for the hot cheerleader all over again, "You said Quinn Fabray and she didn't even flinch."
"Quinn," Santana's voice stops your conversation, "They want some of you and Brittany separately so-"
"Yeah sure I'll go chill in the back and-"
"No," she interrupts your interruption and there's something behind her eyes, "I want to do you first."
"Wanky!" Brittany and Mike say at the same time and Santana's smiles briefly before glaring at them both.
"Wanky?" you ask as she takes your hand to help you down off the stage.
"It would be highly inappropriate for me to tell you now."
.
"Dude I remember where I know her from now. I went to college with her," you whisper to Mike as you changed out the battery, "She used to sit like two rows across from me in like every class."
"Did Washington State manufacture beautiful women or something?" Mike whispers, "She's like super hot."
"She wasn't always,' you tell him truthfully, "But I always thought that she was you know?"
"Are you going to tell her?" Blaine cuts in, "I'm nowhere near attracted to her but Mike's right, she's super hot."
"And now I remember why men are disgusting," and you smack them both because you can, "It's about more than just her hotness you idiots. I don't want her to be just another model I sleep with."
"Then ask her out," Sam cuts in, "Before I do."
And you smack him then, because you could.
.
The shoot's done and Brittany's looking over the pictures with Santana and the others outside. You were tempted to join them just to have 5 more minutes in her presence but you needed to be strong about this. She hadn't remembered you. There was a part of you that always hoped that if you ever met again that she would remember that day in the hallway and tell you that she thought you were awesome or whatever, but it hadn't happened and you needed to get over it.
"Hey blondie," Santana's head poking into the changing room, "You got a pen I could borrow?"
"Pen?" you ask dumbly.
"It's a type of apparatus used for writing," she says walking further in, "Might you happen to have one?"
She sends you an amused smile then and you stare at her in confusion for a moment before it clicks in your head.
"You remember?" you ask in disbelief, "Or did Brittany tell you?"
"You told Brittany about me?" her smile getting bigger, "And yes, I remember. I don't think I ever really forgot, I just needed to be reminded."
"When did you?"
"When you thought I wanted Brittany to go first," and you frown because she does, "I should have told you this then but I noticed you staring at me and I always thought, she's beautiful but she just doesn't get how much yet. I got to admit I never thought you'd end up a Victoria's Secret model but here you are. I knew that one day you'd figure out that you were too good to be second best to anyone."
"You weren't just anyone though," and she looks at you in confusion then, "You were THE Santana Lopez and everyone wanted you or to be you, hell I know people who went to college with us that still do."
"You used to call me THE Santana Lopez?" and there's that look again.
"I still do," you respond honestly, "What can I say; you've always been my number one pick."
"That's why I picked you first today," she says with a shrug, "I think you could be mine too."
"Quinn are you oh..." Brittany says walking into the room, "What's going on in here?"
"I was just about to ask your best friend to have dinner with me," she responds before turning her smile to you, "THE Quinn Fabray actually."
"I'm already annoyed at how hot you two are going to be." Brittany says folding her hands over her chest.
.
You had been hot together and a breakup, reconciliation, 1year engagement, 3 year marriage and daughter later, you still were.
"Do you still love me?" Santana asks joining you on the balcony, "You know, with all that we've been through?"
"Of course I do," You respond revelling in the feel of her hands wrapping themselves around your waist and her lips pressing a kiss to your cheek, "You're my number one pick remember."