A/N: I know, I know, I'm a horrible person for writing a new story when I haven't finished my other one! My lame excuse is that this idea came to me when I was trapped in my room because we had guests that I realllyyy didn't want to go outside and talk to, and writing it was the only way I had to entertain myself. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
I'm planning on this being a two-shot but maybe I will leave it like this, or maybe I will write more! I don't own Glee or Billy Reid!
It was pretty hard not to notice him as soon as he breezed through the revolving doors of Billy Reid on 54th Bond Street. It was even harder not to find excuses to glance up at him every few seconds.
He seemed to be going back and forth between the rack of dress shirts and the display of polo shirts. Even though it was a simple gray t-shirt stretched across his spectacular muscular frame, he looked like the kind of guy who wore a lot of polo shirts with his dark wash jeans.
I bit my nails besides my stack of unfolded dress-pants, trying to decide what the appropriate amount of time to give a customer was before asking them if they needed help. I can't remember anything like that being in the handbook…
I gave up folding the pants after I realized that most of the stack needed to be redone; I was distracted, and justifiably so. I wasn't just going over to him because he had gorgeous messy brown hair, or because he had an impeccable jaw line. No way, I am a professional with a customer who needs help, that's why I was walking towards him. Besides, it's not like I was getting anything done with folding these pants.
I had no idea how I had gotten over there so fast but I was embarrassingly squeaking out a "Can I help you?" before I could even organize a game plan or tell my legs not to wobble so much. Boy, he was way taller when you were right next to him; he had a slight five o'clock shadow that only added to this whole 'I'm sexy without trying' vibe he had going. I could only pathetically wait for his response.
He was busy with a tag on a dress shirt when I walked up, so he didn't turn to look at me when he replied. "Umm…" He said undecidedly while he bit his lip and mussed his hair in a way I thought was going to kill me. "I guess I-" He took a quick glance at me while he was still hunched over his shirt, a longer look had him straightening up and apparently he had made up his mind. I'm pretty sure this guy just did a double-take at me, there was no way this was happening! A small part of me wanted to squeal with delight-but the smarter side of me composed itself and gave its most professional smile. "Yeah I definitely need help. " He flashed me a half smile. Of course it was a half smile, this guy was just cliché adorable.
"I don't really know what I'm doing." He shrugged as he held up a dress shirt that was clearly all kinds of wrong for him. I giggled in a way that I later hoped he thought was cute and shook my head. "Yeah, you definitely need my help." I took the offending shirt from his hands and started to hang it back up.
"Hey hey," he said, feigning offense with two hands up, "I already admitted that I don't know what I'm doing, no need to poke fun." He laughed a little and I smiled back as I led him over to a different rack of white dress shirts. I slid back a couple of hangers before I had to ask, for the purpose of helping him of course, "So what's the occasion?"
I may or may not have noticed that it took a second for him to shift his focus from me to my words. He opened his mouth just slightly and knit his eyebrows as he said, "Huh?"
It was my turn to half smile as I repeated, "What do you need the shirt for?"
He shook his head as if to clear his mind, "Wedding." He said abruptly, before taking another look at me and adding, "I- I mean, my brother's wedding. That's actually why I'm up here in New York City." I nodded, silently thanking the Lord that it wasn't for his wedding, but I was also sort of sad that he didn't live in the city. I let myself wonder for just a millisecond if maybe he had a date to this wedding before I remembered where we were- an upscale clothing store in Manhattan, Billy Reid. He- the classy customer with the well lined pockets, was not the type to associate with me- the underpaid cashier. I set my focus back on my work with a determined frown and listened intently as he continued.
"I didn't really know where to go, so my brother told me to come here for a new dress shirt, my old one was obviously not up to par. I'm a little surprised he sent me here, he should have known that I'm more than just a little bit out of my comfort zone here." His eyes roamed the store in awe, from the rows of neatly folded dress pants resting on tables full of decorative flower arrangements, to the genuine oriental rugs on the floor. His eyes settled on the polished display of antique china adorning the walls before he rolled his eyes, obviously amused or annoyed with whatever had gone on with his brother. I really wanted to ask if I had seen his brother in here before, but told myself to stay professional. "So anyways," he continued as I kept myself busy with the shirts. "I'm glad you asked if I needed help, I probably would have been too shy to ask and would have ended up buying something ridiculous." He smiled at me appreciatively and I had to muster all of my will to smile back without lingering for too long on his chocolaty brown eyes.
I let my fingers flit through a couple more hangers before I finally lifted two hangers off of their racks and held them up for him, "Here, this one is definitely more formal because of the buttons, but this one would look great on you with the shape, and the fabric is very comfortable. Whatever you get you should make sure it's in a large." He looked at me gratefully and put a fist up to his chin as if he was trying to decide between the two.
"So basically, what you're saying is that this one will make my brother happy," He pointed to the formal one, "and this one might piss him off." He pointed to the other shirt and I laughed at him as I answered, "I can't guarantee a specific reaction."
I paired the two hangers together and held them out to him, "There's a changing room right over there if you want to see the extent of the damage you'll do." He scoffed at my words and thanked me before he headed over to where I had pointed out the changing rooms. I pulled an excited face as soon as he turned around.
I watched him go and noticed him hesitate when he reached a display that had slightly obscured the view of where I was pointing to. He turned around towards me and I quickly looked away, a blush quickly setting in across my cheeks. I hope he hasn't noticed me staring at him, this is getting pretty embarrassing. I gave a start when I heard his voice directly behind me, "Oh, I'm sorry!" He said quickly when I flinched. "It's just, I'm really bad at this kind of thing." I could hear each individual beat of my heart where the pauses in his words were. What was he going to ask me? "Sorry. I mean, I just need someone else's opinions about these. You wouldn't mind taking a look, would you?" No I most definitely would not mind taking a look. I had to take in a deep breath before I could answer like a sane person."Sure." I said cheerily, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping he would ask but I would take what I could get.
I followed closely behind him on the way to the dressing rooms; the smell coming from in front of me was nothing less than heavenly. I sighed audibly and he peeked at me from over his shoulder, I smiled nervously and could have kicked myself for how stupidly I was acting. I took a seat outside of the dressing rooms as he went in and tried to summon up some of that confidence that I so easily exuded on a normal day. He came out a minute later, still buttoning the top button. He was obviously trying to kill me, or at least get my active imagination going. He had tried on the one that I said would look better on him, and I nodded in approval, "I definitely think that is the one." He looked in the mirror as he fought with the collar. "You think so?" I smiled and nodded once again before I stood up to help him with the collar, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea. I partially blocked his view in the mirror when I stood in front of him on my tiptoes and helped fold the collar down into place. "There." I said with a nod of satisfaction as I patted the collar down and set my feet back down flat on the floor. I'm surprised he couldn't hear my heartbeat, we were so close. I looked up into his eyes and noticed for the first time that he had been looking at me the entire time. I quickly grinned at him before stepping aside, "You like what you see?" I said earnestly before I almost clapped a hand over my mouth, my eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Yeah." He grinned when he saw my eyes go wide. "Yeah, the shirt is great." He said, with emphasis on the shirt as he raised an eyebrow at me. "I think I'll take this one." I struggled to make my voice come out evenly, "Glad I could help." He smiled at me one last time before walking back into the dressing room. I practically ran from the corner of the store in embarrassment at our flirtatious and innuendo-filled conversation. What is wrong with you? Go find your head and screw it back on!
I went back to trying to fold the rest of the dress pants, but I found it pretty hard to keep an eye on the changing rooms and fold pants well at the same time. I threw the last pair down with a defeated huff and sat down behind the high chair of the check-out counter. I swiveled the chair back and forth and tried not to imagine the amazing set of muscles that he bared from underneath his grey t-shirt a few feet away from me in the dressing rooms. If his arms were any indication, then he probably had a pretty impressive set of abs. And he was so tan, he probably did some kind of manual labor or something. But that wouldn't really explain why he was in Billy Reid right now and not J.C. Penny's. I decided he had been in the Army at some point when he finally emerged from the corner of the store. I quickly busied myself with some papers and shuffled around a few hangers that were strewn about, trying to convince myself and him that I hadn't just been thinking about him with my chin in the palm of my hand for the last five minutes. I tried not to glance up, but when I did I noticed he was looking at the dress shirts again. I didn't have the time to wonder what he was doing for too long because he was coming towards the cash register.
I looked up from whatever I was pretending to be busy with when he was finally in front of the counter. "So did you decide to piss off your brother?" I said with a wide smile.
"Well you were right about it looking good on me, pissing off my brother is just a bonus." I chuckled as I took the shirt from him, there was something I loved about the way he talked. He was so matter-of-fact, he didn't even sound bragging or proud when he said the shirt looked good on him, it was just facts. I re-focused and began removing the safety tags. I looked at him slightly confused when I saw the size on the tag, "Was the large too big? I thought it fit alright." He half smiled again and shrugged. "I did tell you to get a large, right? You should know that I'm not often wrong."
He looked down at the carpet before looking back up at me, "I donno, I guess I just thought the medium would fit me better." He grinned and I arched an eyebrow and just said, "Okay."
"We have a return policy, but you have to bring the item back within two days of its purchase." I told him, just in case. "I know." He said mischievously while he fished in his wallet for a credit card which I would swipe as quickly as possible without trying to get any personal information about him.
"Here you go, Finn Hudson." I smiled and handed his credit card back to him.
"Hey, no fair, I don't even know your name." He whined in the cutest, most childlike way possible.
I chuckled, "Maybe you'll find it out when you come to return that medium."
I was swiveling in my chair and biting my nails when Finn Hudson came through the revolving doors again, two days later on the dot. He headed straight towards me and I immediately straightened and smiled when he waved at me. If the unfolded pile of pants on the display near the cash register was any indication, I hadn't stopped thinking about him since he first came in. I thanked the heavens above that my roommate- who was working the next shift here was late. "I told you I wasn't wrong when it comes to these things." I grinned as he placed the bag on the counter.
"I actually think you said you weren't often wrong." He arched an eyebrow at me tauntingly and I just rolled my eyes. "Do you just want to return it for a large or is there anything else you need?"
"Uh, I'm not sure, I think I'll-" he glanced down at me in a way that was definitely flirtatious "look around for a while." A crimson blush crept across my face instantly and I tried as best as I could to not collapse from shock. There was no way he meant it like that, maybe he was just kidding, or- or something! I mean, the kind of people who are wealthy enough to shop here and look like he does do not usually go after mousy cashiers with a tendency to get flustered. There was just no way this was happening.
I tried to reply but there was something about his gaze that completely melted any notion of confidence. Something that I thought would sound like okay escaped my lips but it ended up sounding more like high-pitched nonsense. He quickly disappeared to another end of the store- but not before smirking at me in a way I wanted to hate but was just too damn sexy. This was definitely an improvement from our last meeting, at least the flirting was outright this time. I took a deep breath and prepared another lecture for myself about how I worked here and I couldn't be involved with the customers and I didn't have time for a relationship if I was going to keep auditioning- but somehow my thoughts had wandered over to the belts where one Finn Hudson was currently residing. I put an elbow down on the counter and rested my chin in my hand, hoping I wasn't being too obvious to anyone else in the store, let alone to Finn.
My hopes were dashed when he turned his head slightly to look at me and his smirk was visible from across the room, I quickly opened the cash register to do absolutely nothing and hoped that he had turned back again when I ventured another glance at him.
I was finally given some relief from our flirtatious and nerve-wracking exchange of glances when my roommate rushed through the door. I knew Brittany from various auditions we had happened to be at together. She wasn't always at the same auditions because she was mostly a dancer while I did more with singing, but she always made me laugh whenever we happened to cross paths. I loved that she wasn't willing to give up who she was just because of what she did; she always talked to the other people auditioning, it didn't matter to her that they were the supposed 'competition'. That just wasn't her style. When we were both hired at Billy Reid at the same time it seemed to be some sort of sign that we were meant to be friends and get an apartment together.
She hurried up to the counter and placed some of her things behind it, "Oh my word, I'm so sorry I'm late Rachel. My car wouldn't start, but then I realized I was trying to use the apartment key." I gave her an apologetic look while I inwardly tried not to chuckle, "It's fine, really, I didn't mind." I said while I smiled in Finn's direction. "I'm not sure why you have a car anyways, Brittany, just take the subway like me. And everyone else in this city for that matter."
Brittany gave me a very serious look, "San told me that only dirty bums ride the subway, she says I'm smart for having a car."
I just shook my head, "You know she only says that because you give her rides everywhere. When am I going to meet the infamous Santana, anyways?"
"I dunno, I'll have her over to the apartment someday." Brittany shrugged.
"Well, she seems like a real winner. I don't even know her and she's already insulting me..." I trailed off when I saw Finn making his way slowly towards the counter, a size large dress shirt in hand. Brittany had said something in reply but I didn't hear it. "Hey, Brit, you know you're still wearing dance pants, right? Why don't you go in the back and change and I'll take over your shift for another five minutes." Brittany gave me a weird look because maybe I had cut her off, and maybe I was talking a bit fast, but she picked up her bags and left the counter with a, "Thanks, Rachel!".
Finn casually walked up to the counter, smiling at me. "One large dress shirt, please, Ms. Rachel."
I scoffed, "Eavesdropper!"
Finn just laughed, "Yeah, right, like you got my name through any better means."
I smiled, "Whatever."
I instantly bit my lip when I remembered where we were, 'professional, be professional, Rachel!' I lectured myself in my head for the millionth time that week. An awkward silence ensued while I checked the tags on the old shirt and hung it up behind the counter.
Finn cleared his throat and I looked up at him while I removed the security tags from the new shirt, "So, I am right in assuming you're just 'Ms.' Rachel, right?" He said it in a rather nervous too-casual way as he fiddled with the edge of his shirt. I could tell that the whole cocky I-know-you're-checking-me-out-from-across-the-room thing was just an act. He seemed like a genuinely nice guy and that made me very happy. Was this his way of trying to tell me he was interested? I hoped with all my might he was interested as I formulated an answer.
"Yeah, of course. I mean, it's kinda hard to meet guys doing what I do." I realized how that may have sounded and immediately and embarrassingly corrected myself, "I mean- I- I'm not a cashier. I mean, I am, but it's just to help pay the bills while I audition."
Finn nodded and grinned at my embarrassment, "Audition for what?" He asked earnestly.
"Broadway." I said simply and looked down towards the carpet.
"That's really cool! My brother loves those Broadway shows, he's going to drag me off to one at some point while I'm here in the city." Finn was way more excited about my answer than I thought he would be, I was desperately hoping he didn't think I was just some wannabe no-talent loser.
"Yeah, they are a lot of fun to watch. But it's even better when you get to perform." I said and let a grin spread out across my entire face as I tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. "I love what I do."
Finn had a thoughtful look on his face at my reply, "That's pretty awesome that you know what you love to do and you go after it. You're pretty cool, Rachel. "
I blushed a little and shook my head. "Well, I've only been in a couple of shows, and always in the chorus. It kind of stinks but I'm just going to keep working hard and hope it stands out to one of the directors." I couldn't believe I was telling all this to someone I had only seen twice, but there was something really amazing about this Finn guy. "Well that's crazy they haven't noticed you by now, you really do stand out, Rachel. In the best way." Finn grinned at me and my heart fluttered all around my chest in the craziest way. I fumbled a bit before I came out with, "Thanks, Finn."
I handed him his bag and his change and climbed down from behind the counter when I saw Brittany walk out from the back. I leaned down to grab my purse from under the counter and popped back up to see him looking at me like he was wondering what I was doing. I answered his question with a, "See you after your shift, Brit." and she waved at me with a knowing smile as I walked around the counter.
Finn was still standing there, bouncing one knee as I pulled my jacket on to go outside, "Can I walk you out?" He said, much to my delight. "Sure." I said nervously and began to make my way to the revolving door as he kept pace beside me.
"So where do you live?" He said once we were out the door, I looked at him and he caught his mistake quickly, "I mean, no, like- I'm not trying to be a creep or anything, I just want to know if we can like, share a cab or something. Sorry." He said, bringing two fingers to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration. I laughed a little and put my hand on his arm almost subconsciously. "It's alright, I live in Bushwick." My hand was still on his arm, and I couldn't help but notice how strong he felt and how hard it was to pull away. 'Magnetic.' I thought.
Finn frowned a little, "Well that sucks, I'm staying with my brother here in Manhattan." Great. I find myself thinking. So I was right, he has money. There goes my chance with him! "Let me at least call you a cab." Finn looked at me and I thought about my answer.
I couldn't really afford a cab right now, but if I told him that and took the subway he might think I'm a bum. Then again, being fresh off the boat and all he might not know how expensive cabs are. I just decided to go with the truth, "Uh, I usually just take the subway. I have a year-round pass, so…" Finn had just waved down a passing cab and it was just pulling up to the sidewalk. He knew where he could find me, but I knew hardly anything about him other than his name, and I didn't want to have no way of ever finding him again. I could tell that he wanted to say something; any excuse for us to see each other again was a good one.
Finn had just opened his mouth and the door of the cab when I blurted out, "We have suits." I immediately regretted it and he was looking at me funny. "What?" He said as he continued holding the door of the cab. "I mean, you said you were going to a wedding, and if you need a new suit, or- or like a tie too we have nice ones. They're going on sale soon." I cut myself short, I didn't want to babble and make myself look like an even bigger idiot. "Um..." Finn said awkwardly. "Yeah, maybe I'll come around if my brother bugs me about that too." We both laughed and Finn played with the handle of the cab as he continued looking at me.
He coughed, "Do you always work afternoons, Rachel?" I smiled, weirdly thankful that he was just as nervous as I was. "Yeah I do, usually." He smiled excitedly at my answer and prepared to climb in the cab. "Then I'll definitely see you around." I waved at him from where he was sitting in the cab, "See you around, Finn."
Definitely see you around? Definitely? I practically skipped to the subway entrance; maybe life was finally going to cut me a break.
A/N: Remember to review! If you want another chapter, tell me so! Thanks for reading :)
