Slender, tan legs paced across the floorboards as the Latina pressed her cell phone against her ear. "Yes, uh-huh. That sounds perfect, I'm very excited for the opportunity," she says to caller in the other end as she sauntered into the kitchen and poured herself a coffee.
"I can be there in ten days, that's plenty of time for me to get my affairs in order and make my way down there...yes...okay...I'm looking forward to it, thanks so much for the call Mr. Ronsin. I'll see you in a couple of weeks." Santana placed her phone on the kitchen counter she was leaning against and, with a satisfied smirk she brought her coffee cup to her lips. I'm getting out of here...and it's not a moment too soon, she thought as she heard the sound of feet padding down the hall towards her.
"Morning baby. So who was that calling so early?"
Santana barely managed to suppress an eye roll as she turned to greet the woman approaching her. Just be nice Santana, it'll only be for a few more days. "That was Eric Ronsin from Gleam Magazine. He's offered me a job."
"Really? That's amazing. Not that I'm surprised; you're so talented. When do you start?"
"A couple of weeks. But I'll have to leave in a few days time to make sure I'm settled and everything is in order before I start." Santana said and she was met with a look of confusion from the other woman.
"Leave where? I don't understand..." Santana always hated this part; the feeling she always got when she was about to metaphorically kick someone in the guts. But it just had to be this way, it's how she operated. Whenever somebody started to become emotionally attached to her, when casual sex became sleepovers and snuggling, she opted for the fastest escape route.
She turned to look into the dazzling green eyes of the brunette beauty she spent the night with and nonchalantly explained "Gleam is an L.A. based magazine. I can't very well photograph Los Angeles events from here in Seatle." Santana noted the tears forming in the other woman's eyes. "I'm sorry Chantelle, this is a great opportunity for me. Can you just be happy for me?"
"Yeah, I am...I'm sorry. I'm just a little upset that you're leaving. I know it's a little soon to say these kinds of things but I was starting to really fall for you".
Yeah, that's the problem, Santana thought as she looked at the forlorn woman standing before her. She really didn't know what to say to Chantelle; emotionally charged conversations were never Santana's forte. What she really excelled at was keeping herself emotionally guarded.
"Look Chantelle," she said softly as she reached her hand out to gently rub Chantelle's upper arm, "it's probably better this way. It's better that I'm leaving now before you become too attached. I told you that I wasn't after anything serious. I had fun with you, I honestly did, but that's really all it was for me. I am sorry"
Chantelle shrugged the Latina's hand off her shoulder as her expression changed to one of hostility at the words Santana had spoken. "Whatever, Santana." She spat out. "You know, one day you might get your head out of your own ass and realise that you aren't the sole occupier of your universe. One day you may actually stop treating people like puppets for your own god damn entertainment. You just wanna hope that you haven't stepped on too many people's hearts before you get to that point, 'cause I sure as hell don't know how many more people are going to put up with your shit."
With that she stormed out, leaving Santana somewhat bewildered but relieved nonetheless. She had been looking for an out ever since she broke one of her cardinal rules and started sleeping with her friend two weeks earlier. Santana had been aware that Chantelle, a casual acquaintance, had developed more than platonic feelings for her some time ago. As such, Santana had been diligent in keeping her distance but ever since the drunken slip up a couple of weeks ago, Chantelle had been all over her like a rash.
This happened to Santana from time to time. As much effort as she put into keeping herself guarded, someone would always come along and try their damndest to break through the walls she meticulously built for herself. Not that anybody was ever successful in doing so; she made sure of that with carefully followed rules and strategies.
She only ever had sex with women in which she was not interested beyond anything more than the physical act, and only ever had one night stands...usually. Santana had a bunch of acquaintances that she kept at arm's length, careful not to give certain parts of herself to anybody whilst still maintaining the facade of friendship. And last but not least she made sure never to stay in one place for too long, usually seeking an escape route either when she broke one of her rules or when somebody was persistently trying to get too close.
And this is precisely where she found herself to be now. Santana had started to feel the itch to move on before the Chantelle fiasco began. The aforementioned affair only gave her all the more incentive to apply for jobs in a distant city. The fact that photography was her chosen profession, and also the fact that she was extremely good at it meant that she could easily relocate. Working for different magazines around the country was also doing great things for her career. She was landing better jobs and having to jump through far less hoops to get potential employers to look at her portfolio. In short, Santana Lopez was beginning to make quite a name for herself.
XxXx
In four days Santana had managed to pack up her apartment and cut a deal with the real estate using one of the sob stories she kept handy in order to break her lease without incurring the full cost of the two months she still had on the lease. She now had her transportable life packed away in her Kombi van, once again ready to start anew.
Santana pulled onto the highway to begin her journey south. The drive would most likely take two days because she'd stop over somewhere half way to stay the night. When she arrived in Los Angeles she'd organised that she'd be staying with a friend in West Hollywood until she found a place of her own. Charlie was one of the few people she would actually call a friend. The two had become very close in college at time when Santana really needed somebody, which is one of the reasons she always kept in contact with him.
A few hours into the trip Santana stopped for gas and took this as a good time to call Charlie and let him know she was on her way.
"Hello?" Charlie answered
"Hey douche-nozzle, how ya doin'?"
"I'm okay. Have you left yet?"
"Yeah, I took off early this morning. I'll make a stop tonight, maybe even sleep in the van, and I'll be at you're place sometime tomorrow." Santana answered.
"Awesome. So, how's the drive been so far? Been listening to some K.D Lang to keep you company on the lonely drive?"
"Whatever Up-Chuck, you know I don't listen to K.D Lang. The drive's been fine so far, I just can't wait to get there. I'd appreciate some kind of liquor waiting for me when I get there though."
"No problem," Charlie chuckled at the request.
"Good. Oh, hey, did you talk to your girlfriend about me coming? I don't want any issues, I can always check in somewhere."
"Yeah I spoke to her yesterday and it's all cool. She was kind of weird about it at first but then I explained that you're a raging lesbian and how I'm just your lezbro and she's totally fine about you staying for as long as you need...Just...can you promise me something?"
"What is it Charlie?" Santana asked, a little concerned with the tone of his request.
"It's just, I know what you're like Santana. You can be a huge bitch, it's part of your Lopez charm or whatever. But she's super friendly to everyone and sometimes a little naive, so can you just please be nice to her?"
"Nice? You do know who you're talking to right?" Charlie laughed on the other end of the call, although it could have been interpreted as a nervous giggle. "It's okay Charlie, I can't promise nice because that just won't look good on me, but I assure you I will not make her cry okay?"
Charlie let out an audible sigh and said, "thank-you San."
"Anything for my Lezbro," she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Anyway, you're holding my up from my driving time. I'll see you tomorrow Chuck."And with that she hit the end call button on her phone and continued her journey.
XxXx
The sun was beating through the windscreen the next day as Santana was trying to focus on guiding herself through the maze of traffic and city streets whilst looking at Google Maps on her iPhone for a bit of directional help. It had been a long couple of days driving, along with a few uncomfortable hours trying to sleep on a roll out mattress in the back of her Kombi, but Santana was finally nearing her destination.
She pulled into the street of the address Charlie had given her. Looking around, she was impressed by the trees lining the sidewalks, the manicured lawns and well kept houses. The place had a suburban yet inner city feel to it which made her instantly feel warm and at home. As Santana was busy taking in the sights of the street, her gaze landed upon a letter box with the number 43 on it and abruptly pulled over. This was it; she'd finally arrived at Charlie's house.
Santana stepped out of her can, stretching her arms over her head and throwing her neck from one side to the other. A little unsteady on her feet from the length of time she had been sitting she made her way to the front door. She'd barely knocked when the door was thrown open and she was yanked into a tight embrace.
Santana's face was pressed into a broad chest and muscular arms engulfed her. She let her arms flail to the sides a little as she mumbled out "Charlie...Cha...dammit I can't breathe."
"Sorry San," he laughed out as he released his hold on her. "It's just so good to see you, finally."
"You too Chuckles, although I think you just did me some spinal damage. How are you? And most importantly, did you remember to have a drink waiting for me?"
"Of course I remembered!" He said feigning offence. "Now, do you want a beer or would you like something stronger?"
Santana pondered for a moment before she answered, "well, considering it's only one in the afternoon I think I'll start on a beer before I get to unpacking the van."
"Done and done. Go and take a seat on the back deck and I'll bring it out," he said as he pointed down the hall towards the back door.
Santana made her way out the back taking in her surroundings. She was already beginning to fall in love with this place and feeling more at home than she had in a long time. Pulling her from her thoughts was the sound of feet padding down the hall. She looked up to say something to Charlie but stopped short when she saw a beautiful blonde haired woman towel-drying her hair as she made her way out the door. The blonde walked over to the clothes-horse in the corner of the deck to hang her towel and, as she turned to walk back inside she stopped in her tracks as she noticed Santana sitting on the couch still with her mouth agape.
They stared at each other, shell-shocked for several seconds before the both of them smiled from ear to ear.
"Santana?" The blonde half asked, half exclaimed.
"Brittany?" Santana said in the same manner as she jumped up and walked over to stand in front of the blonde. "Oh my god, this is insane!"
At that moment Brittany pulled Santana in for the second surprise-attack hug she'd had in a matter of minutes.
"Santana, how did you know where I live?" Brittany asked in all seriousness, rousing a giggle from the Latina still in her arms.
"I didn't know you lived here Britt, I came to see Charlie."
"Oh...Ohhh I get it. Wait...are you his friend from college? The one who's staying here?" Brittany was becoming increasingly excited as she was putting the pieces together.
Comfortably sliding from the embrace, Santana nodded her head in affirmation. Still grinning from ear to ear, she looked into the blue eyes of her long lost friend and said "Yeah Britt, looks like you and I are going to be roomies for a while."
Brittany jumped up and down excitedly and pulled Santana into yet another embrace. At that moment Charlie appeared at the door carrying three beers and a look of confusion on his face as he took in the scene before him.
"Um...Santana? When I asked you to be nice to my girlfriend, this isn't really what I was expecting. You can dial it down a notch if you want."