Working at the diner definitely wasn't the glamorous life Santana dreamed of when thinking of moving to New York. Sure, she had just filmed her first commercial but her life was not progressing the way that she had wanted it to.
"Santana," Rachel's voice called out and pulled her away from filling sugar jars, "Can you grab table 8? The loud mouths at 12 have me running my ass off and I just had three more tables come in."
"Sure," Santana responded and grabbed a handful of menus and headed to 8. She was pleasantly surprised that instead of seeing a table full of drunks, which was usual for 2 am, she saw a woman, a beautiful woman, sitting alone writing in a notebook.
"Hi," the blonde beauty smiled up at her. "I won't be eating anything; can I just have a glass of water please?"
"Um… yeah…yeah definitely…one water coming right up," Santana stammered and turned on her heel to head over to the counter and grab a glass. She glanced back up at her as she was pouring her water and watched as the woman nibbled on the end of her pen and stared out the window. She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans, a white t-shirt with a red flannel over it and for such a simple outfit she looked flawless.
"Here is your water," Santana fumbled out as she shakily set the glass down on the table. She looked up at Santana again and smiled a big beautiful smile which caused butterflies in Santana's stomach.
"Thank you," she took a sip. Moments later realizing that Santana was still standing there staring at her the woman giggled and said, "Um, do I have to order something to sit here for a bit?"
"No…oh no…you're fine. Stay as long as you like, we are open 24 hours so ya know…yeah as long as you like." Santana just kept staring at this stranger with the bright red lipstick.
"24 hours huh? That's good to know, but I would be more interested in how long you are here for?" She smiled at the dark haired latina. "Ya know, in case I need any more water."
Santana giggled. "Oh, I'm here until the sun comes up. Just like every other night."
"Sounds like fun. Well, at least you know you will have one customer…although I'm not sure how much to tip for water." She smiled at Santana again and took another sip.
"Well, usually it's at least 6 percent, but I think I can make an exception." Santana's chest began to flush.
"Oh really? That's very nice of you." She smiled and looked back down at her journal and Santana quickly made her way back to the counter.
The next four hours passed by slowly with the gorgeous blonde and Santana exchanging smiles over the course of seven glasses of water. The clock hit six and Santana's shift was finally over. As she headed to the door, to afraid to go say anything else to the blonde beauty, she heard, "Um, waitress?"
Santana looked back and saw the beauty smiling at her and walking towards her.
"Yes?" Santana replied even though technically she was off the clock.
"I forgot to give you your tip for being so amazing tonight." She smiled at her and slipped something into her hand. Before Santana had a chance to say thank you the woman was walking out of the door with a guitar case slung around her back.
Santana unfolded the piece of paper which said, "I don't have a lot of money, obviously I ordered water all night, but I wanted to let you know that if you ever were up to it I could show you one hell of a night on the town. Think about it and call me sometime 566-425-8976. Thanks for the water, gorgeous. P.S. my name is Dani"
…..
It had been two days since Dani left the note at the diner and Santana still hadn't had the courage to call her. She was cleaning off her last table of the night when she heard a familiar voice. "Can I have one of your famous waters please?"
Santana turned around slowly to see Dani. This time she was wearing a short black dress with red heals and smiling with her hand on her hip.
"Oh," Santana laughed, "Sorry, I am officially off the clock."
"Really? Well, then you aren't too busy to chat. I will be outside when you're ready."
Santana was taken aback by the attitude this girl had. Usually she was the one intimidating people with her sass, not the other way around. Santana didn't know what to say so she just nodded her head and walked over to the counter to set her rag and tray down. She waved bye to Rachel and headed outside. The sun was just coming up and Dani was sitting on a bench outside of the diner.
"So, I'm a little hurt. I thought the other night I made a pretty good impression and then…no call…" Dani stuck out her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry…I just…"
"What? Don't tell me you're not into girls because I have yet to meet a straight girl that has stared at me as much as you do." Dani laughed and nudged her arm as Santana took a seat next to her.
"No…I'm not …I'm not straight…I just…" Santana looked up and they made eye contact. "You're gorgeous okay…"
Dani blushed, "Well thank you but you know someone as beautiful as you shouldn't be intimidated by that…"
Now it was Santana's turn to blush.
"Okay, so now that we have established that we are both hot…" Dani laughed, "What do you say you go out with me?"
"I would like that," Santana smiled shyly back at her. "When were you thinking?"
"What's wrong with now?" Dani stood up and held her hand out to the nervous latina.
"Um, well I am in my waitress uniform for one." Santana laughed but grabbed her hand anyways and let Dani pull her to her feet.
"So? You look hot. No need to be fancy for what I had in mind." Dani laced her arm through hers and they began walking down the street. "There is one thing though that you should do before we go."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
"Tell me your name! I don't think it's appropriate for me to continue to call you waitress." Dani laughed.
Santana laughed as well realizing that she hadn't been wearing her name tag because she lost it last week. "It's Santana."
Dani stopped walking and looked her in the eyes, "Santana…wow, I like it." She winked at her and Santana felt her entire body flush.
…..
Santana walked in the door of her shared apartment around noon physically exhausted but mentally awake and gloriously happy. Rachel and Kurt were making brunch and both turned to her at the same time. "Where have you been?" They both exclaimed in unison.
"Out." Santana smiled and walked over and poured herself a glass of orange juice.
"Out…with who?" Kurt asked as he flipped the pancakes over.
"Someone…" She replied as she sat down at the table.
"Oh my gosh was it the blonde at the diner?" Rachel said as she sat down across from Santana.
"How did you know about the blonde at the diner? And her name is Dani." The smitten girl smiled.
"I saw her come up to you and then you two walk off together. She is hot Santana!"
"Yeah…she definitely is…" She was picturing her toned and tanned legs in that dress today and felt butterflies in her stomach.
"So, spill it. What did you guys do? Where did you go? Details!" Kurt said as he sat down with plates of food.
"Well…she took me to this bakery down the street where she bought fresh bagels and some coffee and then we walked to this cute little park and sat down by a pond and had breakfast and just talked…a lot…four hours of talking…and it was honestly one of the best times I have ever had." she gushed and realized how corny it sounded but I didn't care.
"Aw, that is so cute!" Rachel smiled.
"Did you get any action?" Kurt winked at me.
"Hey, now a lady doesn't kiss and tell."
"I don't see a lady sitting at this table." Kurt laughed as he took a bite of his eggs.
"Well, if you must know…no…we didn't do anything more than hold hands and have a hug goodbye."
"So, what are you thinking? You think you're going to see each other again."
"I hope so," Santana stood up and started heading towards her room, "I'm going to get some sleep. I will see you fine people later."
She washed off her makeup and then changed into some comfortable clothes and lay down. She tried to shut her eyes and go to sleep but was too restless. She reached for her phone and sent out a text "I had a really great time with you. I hope I am not rushing things but I am off tonight and would really like to see you again."
A few minutes later she heard her phone go off. Dani: "Rushing? Hell, what took you so long! ;) Tonight sounds incredible! Meet you in front of the diner at 9?"
"9 is perfect. Can't wait to see you sexy." Santana text back and fell asleep with a big smile on her face.
….
Santana glanced at her clock it was already 10 after eight and she still wasn't dressed. She tore through her closet one more time before settling on a short turquoise dress and a pair of thigh high leather boots. She took a quick glance in the mirror again to make sure she looked okay and grabbed her phone and headed out the door but first checked her phone as she had heard it go off awhile ago.
Dani: "Hey gorgeous…been thinking about you all day…can't wait to see you soon…"
When Santana walked up to the diner Dani was sitting on the bench with those perfect legs crossed in a tight pair of leather pants. She had on a white tank top showing off just the right amount of cleavage and a black leather jacket over it. When they made eye contact Dani smiled big and stood up.
"This is for you," Santana smiled and handed her a single white lily. "You look great Dani." She took a step forward and kissed her on the cheek.
Dani pressed into the kiss and smiled, "Thank you, it's beautiful, and so are you! So, what are the plans for the night?"
"Well, my roommates are actually out of the apartment tonight so I was wondering if you would be up for going back to my place...I mean not for like…anything…but ya know for dinner…I just figured it would be quiet…and like we could talk…."
"Sounds perfect," Dani interrupted the rambling girl and smiled as she took her hand.
Santana took a deep breath and smiled as she led the blonde back to her apartment.
….
"Make yourself comfortable. I'm not even going to pretend that I have the energy to cook so the take out will be here in a few. I hope you like Chinese." Santana smiled as she sat down next to Dani on the couch the two girls facing each other.
"Aw, I bet you are tired working all of those graveyard shifts at the diner."
"Yeah, and how about you, why are you always up so late?" Santana asked as she watched Dani pick at the hem of her jeans.
"I sing…at a bar around the corner from the diner. They pay me crap money but I get to perform and that's what I always wanted to do so I guess it works for now."
"Sing for me!" Santana exclaimed excitedly.
"Um no," Dani laughed, "I have issues with one on one stuff…too personal. But, I will be singing Saturday if you want to come see me."
"It just so happens that I am off again on Saturday so that sounds delightful." Santana smiled at her feeling more comfortable and starting to gain some confidence back "So, Dani, technically, this is our third date."
"Third? How do you figure?" Dani giggled.
Santana started to move closer to her. "Well, the first night at the diner, you had something to drink; we were in a restaurant so that's one. Then breakfast at the pond, that's two. Now, we are getting ready to have Chinese and both looking hot as hell…that's three…and on third dates…" Santana leaned in and placed her hands around Dani's defined jaw line and pulled her in. Both of their eyes closed as they came together and their lips touched for the first time. Dani moaned into the kiss as she reached up and began to run her fingers through Santana's hair and pulled her in harder. Santana let her tongue trace the entrance of her mouth and moaned slightly when Dani opened and let her in. Just as Santana began to slide her fingers down Dani's side the doorbell rang.
"That would be dinner." Santana grumbled.
