Author's Note: Well, this is it ... The oneshot to celebrate the 200th review my multi-chapter fic "Weave Your Magic" received. It was awarded to KikiJuanita, and her prompt was: "HMMMMMM?! I think a challenge - something along the lines of what your first one shot was on here, maybe a Blainchel or a Samchel story!" The only trouble is that this story is insisting it wants to be a multi-chapter, and I really don't have time to write another multi-chapter story :-(
Rachel wrung her hands nervously. They were casting a male lead to play opposite her in her TV show "That's So Rachel", but after several weeks, they still hadn't found an actor Rachel showed true chemistry with. And she knew that it was her fault. She wasn't able to pretend to be in love with anyone, least of all a male lead who would be portraying Finn and who would remind her every single minute of the fact that he was gone.
She wasn't over Finn. At all. It had been a year, and still it gnawed at her. The silliest things made her break down and cry: hearing a Journey song on the radio, seeing a man at the diner eat a grilled cheese sandwich with obvious haste and enjoyment, coming across her picnic blanket while looking for a pair of shoes at the back of her closet.
At the beginning, everyone understood that she was devastated and offered her a shoulder to cry on. Lately, though, people seemed to think that she should have moved on by now, and expected her to become her usual bubbly self again, and to find a new boyfriend. And now it was even affecting her work. If she couldn't get her act together, her TV show might not even make it to the pilot stage.
So she had played her trump card and contacted two friends of hers to ask them to audition for the lead. To her relief, they had agreed, and she really hoped that one or both of them would be cast for her show. It might not be ideal to have to play romantic scenes with a friend, but she would infinitely prefer it to playing them opposite a stranger.
Amy, the casting director, sighed wearily and called in the next candidate: "Sam Evans?"
Sam came in and smiled at both Amy and Rachel. Amy gave him a blatant once-over and nodded appreciatively, her mouth quirking up into a half-smile.
"Sam, this is Rachel. We're going to give you a script and make you read a scene opposite Rachel. Since we're trying to establish whether you two have chemistry, it's a romantic scene. At the end of it, you will have to kiss. Is that clear so far?"
Sam nodded and sent Amy a confident smile.
"All right then. Whenever you're ready," said Amy.
It was the prom scene. Rachel had just been crowned Prom Queen and had trouble believing that had really happened. She was scared that it was a prank and that she would be covered in pig's blood or something equally revolting. Finn reassured her and boosted her self-confidence by telling her that she was exceptional and set an example for everyone else present. And then they kissed.
Rachel remembered that fondly. Finn had always been her strongest supporter. Yet, he'd also set her right more than once when her ambition ran away with her.
Now, could she recreate that scene with Sam? His character was rather similar to Finn's. She could certainly see him play Finn opposite her. If only Amy could see it as well …
They read the scene, and it went well. Rachel had sent Sam the script beforehand, with very clear instructions:
1. Don't block your face: when reading, make sure the script pages are not in front of your face, so that your facial expressions can be seen.
2. Practice reading aloud: go and read the newspaper to residents at the local nursing home, or storybooks to children in hospital.
3. Move while you read: don't just stand there like a statue. Behave as you would normally do: hand gestures, nodding, shrugging, even walking a few steps.
4. Listen and react: when I am talking, don't look at your script. Look at me and react to what I'm saying.
5. Relax!
It seemed like Sam had read both the script and the instructions - or else he just remembered the incident and played it out from memory. He was good, no doubt about it. Rachel really did feel reassured after his speech, and the kiss was everything it should be.
Ever since they'd sang Just The Way You Are with their friends in the loft, Rachel had felt something when she was around Sam. An elusive spark that fizzled out as soon as she tried to dissect exactly what it was she was feeling. But it was there. And going by the excited glimmer in Amy's eye when she told Sam they'd be in touch, Amy had noticed it, too.
Then Amy called out the next name on the list: "Blaine Anderson!"
Blaine came in, and Rachel was glad he'd taken her advice and dressed down. He wasn't wearing a bowtie. He wasn't wearing a shirt and pants in bright colours. No. He wore artfully ripped blue jeans, a red T-shirt and a black leather jacket. His hair had no gel in it and framed his face in luscious curls.
Wow, is he gorgeous like this! A good kisser too, I remember … Sharing the spotlight with him would certainly be no hardship …
Rachel had sent the script to Blaine as well, but she had omitted the instructions in his case. She had every confidence in his ability to do a cold reading. And she knew they had amazing chemistry together. He'd been the Tony to her Maria, had he not?
Just as she thought, Blaine did an excellent job. He took a different approach than Sam, though. Where Sam had played the sensitive, reassuring boyfriend, Blaine came across as more forceful. He was playing an alpha male and he pulled it off really well. Rachel thrilled to it, and really enjoyed the kiss at the end.
After a few more readings with other candidates, Rachel was dismissed. Amy smiled at her before she left, though, so that had to be a good sign, right? All she could do now was wait and cross her fingers.
A few days later, Amy called Rachel into her office to discuss the casting. Rachel had to bite back a smile when Amy told her that Sam and Blaine were far and away the best candidates to play the male lead and his rival opposite her, seeing as they had the best chemistry with her during the reading.
It had been decided that Sam would play the Finn character and Blaine would play Puck's character, which had been renamed "Jack", fleshed out and also incorporated everything that Jesse St. James had ever meant and done to Rachel. Blaine as a bad boy … That promised to be interesting!
Quinn's pregnancy had been dropped from the storyline, and instead, the male lead and his rival would be fighting for Rachel's affection from the very beginning of the TV series, as Finn and Jesse had done, and Rachel would feel torn between them.
Finn read her better, understood her better and accepted her more fully than anyone else. Yet Jack had his merits too: a similar upbringing, drive and dream and a bad boy aura that was very enticing.
Who would eventually win and keep Rachel's heart? Rachel would have picked her soul mate Finn, but the screenwriters didn't seem so sure of that. They wanted to see both relationships evolve on screen first, and take their cue from that. So even though this TV series was based on Rachel's life, the events it portrayed might turn out quite differently than they had in real life.
It would be interesting to explore the possibilities, mused Rachel.
What would have happened if it had really clicked with Noah? Would the bad boy have stayed Rachel's boyfriend until they graduated or would he have gotten enough of her eventually? Once you pierced through his attitude and swagger, Noah was actually really sweet. And he was a very good kisser.
What would have happened if Rachel had never made that "Run Joey Run" video starring Finn, Puck and Jesse? Maybe she and Jesse would still have been together … Maybe they would have attended NYADA together … Maybe they would have starred in Broadway productions together …
Yes, leaving her options open seemed like a very good idea right now, and she couldn't wait to see what the writers would come up with.
As Rachel stepped out of Amy's office again, she sent both Sam and Blaine a text that only said "You're in!"
She got a smiley back from Sam, and Blaine texted: "Yay! Blamchel forever! Come join us for a celebratory drink?"
She smiled. Blamchel … It had a certain ring to it.