The New York Hierarchy
Rachel and Kurt move to the bright lights of New York City in the hopes of making it on Broadway. Rachel gets a job as an au-pair for the fabulously wealthy Fabray's. She soon discovers that it is not half as glamorous as she thought it would be. Rachel befriends the rest of the staff and they show her the ropes. To survive there is very simple, there is a hierarchy which everyone abides by. Rachel is unfortunately at the bottom of this pyramid which means she cannot speak to anyone above her. Especially not Miss Quinn Fabray's extremely handsome boyfriend.
Disclaimer: I don't own Glee blah, blah, blah :P
Prologue:Ten Goodbye's and One Hello
Rachel awoke with a start to the shrill sound of her alarm clock. Groaning into her plush pillow she willed the clock to shut up itself, but the alarm consisted and gradually got louder. Remembering her parents were in the next room she reached out to turn the clock off only to fall off her bed taking her mattress with her. "Hope you're happy now" Rachel muttered to the bedazzled 24-hour clock, as she untangled herself from her mattress.
She got up and turned the switch on. She examined herself in her bedside mirror. Her skin looked ghastly and the bags under her eyes were so prominent that she resembled a disgruntled panda. Well that is what you get for partying till 3am when you knew you had to get up at five. Her parents threw her and Kurt a going away party last night. Honestly Rachel couldn't remember most of it.
There was definitely alcohol. Also Will and Emma announced they were engaged which of course called for even more alcohol.
Despite her state she allowed herself a small smile at the thought of how happy they were. Emma was literally floating and Will couldn't stop smiling. It was as if someone had shoved a hanger in his mouth.
When Rachel saw them together she saw what she wanted. After fame and fortune of course. She had her life plan all figured out at the tender age of ten. She was going to move to New York and stun the directors with her phenomenal talent. Get the lead role in either Wicked or Rent. She will make millions and live in a luxurious penthouse with her ten Tony's. Then she will search for a suitable husband. Of course now she knew it wasn't the most realistic of plans but her daddies always told her to reach for the moon. Anyway the worst that could happen is that you would land on a star.
Rachel reached for her make-up box and plunged her hand into its contents. After a bit of rummaging she fished out a miniscule bottle of MAC concealer. It was only a tester but it was all she could ford at the moment. She dumped its entire contents onto the cushion of her index finger and proceeded to cover up her bags. When she was satisfied that no-one would notice them she moved on to her clothes.
She took out a pair of faded blue jeans, the only pair she owned. She would usually never dream of wearing them but considering the long day she had ahead of her, plaid skirts and stockings were not the most sensible of attire. She reached out to a blue and red hand-knitted jumper folded neatly at the bottom of her bed. Smiling she put the jumper up to her nose and inhaled the sweet honey-suckle scent. It was the smell of her grandmother, Daphne, who had passed away only this year.
She was the one who gave Rachel her love of singing. Rachel would cycle to the retirement centre every Saturday and she would spend the day with her. They would bake cookies and cakes, chat about crushes, gossip and of course Broadway. They would sing duets at the top of their voices, much to the annoyance of the staff.
Daphne knitted Rachel the jumper when she was fourteen. The colours clashed and the kitten was more like a blob with ears but Rachel loved it. She remembered how long she had worked on it and how hard she tried to keep it a surprise.
After putting the jumper on she tied her hair in a high, messy ponytail and grabbed her chunky red raincoat from its hanger.
Se took one last look at her room. Taking in all the surroundings and mentally locking it in her brain. She felt a lump rise in her throat at the though of leaving all these memories behind, Taking a deep breath she pulled open the door and stepped out to the hall. She rested her forehead against the door.
"Goodbye bedroom" she whispered.
Using all the strength she had she turned away and walked down the rickety stairs.
"Goodbye stairs"
She went into the living room to pick up her bags.
"Goodbye living room"
Rachel was aware of childish she was being. There was no point in saying goodbye to furniture. Yet she felt she had to give it a proper send-off
Walking around the rest of the house she said goodbye to everything that had been significant in the sixteen years that she has lived here.
Finally she said goodbye to the two most important things in her house. Her daddies. They were both asleep thanks to the antics of last night. She never knew they were such part animals. She walked to them and planted a kiss on their foreheads.
"Goodbye Leroy" she whispered into his ear as she brushed some of his dark hair of his face.
She tiptoed over to the other side of the bed and lightly kissed Hiram's forehead startling him awake.
"Go back to sleep" Rachel whispered pushing him back into bed.
"No, no" Hiram said struggling to get up.
"I need to say goodbye"
"You've said enough goodbye's last night dad, now you need your rest"
Admitting defeat Hiram sank back into his bed.
"Promise me you'll take yourself" Hiram said but before Rachel could answer Hiram had succumbed to exhaustion.
"Goodbye Hiram"
She made her way downstairs to the front door, two carry-along suitcases in either hand and three other bags strung along her shoulders. Taking a deep breath she clasped her hand around the brass door handle and opened the door.
"Goodbye home"
As Rachel walked down the steps the weight of the bags proved too much for her petite build and she fell over throwing the bags everywhere in the process.
"Graceful as always" a boys deep voice boomed behind her.
Rachel froze and answered in what hopefully was a cold and uncaring tone "What are you doing here"
The boy bent down and helped Rachel with her bags.
"I had to see you before we left"
"Well I don't want to see you so just go will you?" Rachel made her way to the car bags in hand when the stepped forward blocking her pathway.
"I need to explain"
"What is there to explain" Rachel screeched all pretences forgotten.
"You told me you loved me so we had…" Rachel stared blushing "you-know-what, but the very next day Sugar was gushing about doing you-know-what WITH YOU"
"Please Rachel I want to go with you to New York, we can spend the rest of our lives together. Rachel, I love you"
"How am I supposed to believe that? You said the exact same thing to Sugar"
"Rachel Sugar means nothing to me, nothing."
"That makes it even worse"
"You cant just walk away from me" the boy shouted in frustration.
Rachel put her face right up to his and hissed "If I wasn't a pacifist I would smack you right now"
Turning away from him she ran into the car and then she let the dam burst.
With tears streaming down her face she whispered
"Goodbye Noah Puckerman"
Pulling the gear she backed out of the driveway. She realized she had to do one more thing before picking up Kurt.
She kept driving until she reached a large, stone gateway. She pulled up beside it and took a bunch of lilies from the backseat of her car. She also took out a flashlight. Graveyards freak her out at night.
Hugging her coat tighter against her chest she made her way to one particular grave with a ridiculous amount of flowers.
"Hi nana" Rachel whispered kneeling down in front of her grave. Daphne was a faithful Christian. Leroy converted as soon as he met Hiram. Daphne wasn't too pleased with this but she came around after a while. One of the many great things about Daphne was she never held a grudge.
"I'm leaving for New York today. I just had to say goodbye. You were a huge part of my life, you still are in fact. I remember when I was fourteen I kept trying to pluck up the courage to tell you about my dream and you thought I was trying to tell you I was pregnant. You were so relieved when I finally came out with it. You were nothing but supportive from day one. I would come to you if I had any trouble at school. Remember when I told you that Lauren Zizes was bullying me and you had the milkman put sour milk in their cartons? The smell was disgusting!" Rachel laughed at the memory. She could almost hear Daphne's soft chuckle join in.
"You are my role model, my inspiration and the reason I have the guts to follow my heart" Rachel looked up into the clear night sky. "Our star is still out" she smiled. Rachel and Daphne loved to look at the starts so on Rachel fifteenth birthday Daphne bought Rachel a star. She told her "You shine as bright as that star. Soon everyone will bask in your light". Daphne shared Rachel's love of metaphors.
"Daddy promised he would see to the upkeep of the flowers" Rachel continued "cant let the standard go down. I know you are looking down on me and that is what gives me the strength to carry on. I love you nana. Rest in peace"
With tears clouding her vision Rachel placed the lilies on the grave.
"Goodbye nana"
She got in the car and kept driving until she reached a large house with a well dressed boy perched on the curb. Getting out of the car Rachel helped Kurt put his luggage in the boot.
"Are you ready for this?" Kurt asked her.
"Ready as I'll ever be" Rachel answered with a shaky smile.
When they got into the car Kurt produced a Broadway's Greatest Hits cd
from his pocket.
"You know me too well" Rachel grinned. With the Broadway classics blaring from the speaker it gave her new found courage for the promising future ahead.
As they were driving they passed their old high school
"Goodbye McKinley" (and good riddance)
As they waited in the airport Kurt started stocking up on pastries, Jaws style. Rachel looked over concerned. It was not like Kurt to eat this much carbohydrates this early in the morning. He believed strongly in having a healthy start to the day, like herself.
"Kurt are you okay?"
"Yes, yes I'm fine" he said in between a mouthful of strudel.
"Are you sure because its not like you to eat this much carbs at seven in the morning"
"It's just…I said goodbye to dad before you collected me and, he looked so alone. He going to be living in that big house all by himself. He was smiling and saying he was so proud of me but I could tell he was heartbroken. I feel so guilty, mom is dead and now I'm gone and he's left all alone and-"
"Kurt, okay calm down. Yes this will be hard on Burt but he's tough he'll be fine. He of all people would not want you to be in the way of his dream. Maybe he might find someone to share that house with, who knows, but he will be okay. Trust me."
Smiling Kurt draped his right arm over Rachel's shoulder.
"How do you always know the right thing to say?"
"It's a gift I guess"
Finally the queue started moving. Grabbing their bags and taking a deep breath Rachel and Kurt set off determinately to their destiny.
After settling into her seat in the airplane she gazed out the tiny mirror drinking in her last glance of Ohio. The plane jolted into action and they were taking off.
"Goodbye Lima, Ohio"
"Hello New York"
Just a little prologue for ye. And Burt is all alone I wonder if a special lady could help him (foreshadowing)
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