A/N: So I know that there are quite a few of you out there that have been waiting patiently (or a little impatiently) for this story. I'm so sorry that it took me so long to get it finished! I had major struggles writing it, and it took a lot out of me, but I finally completed it! It was a terribly long wait, and I never expected it to take me that long, but we are finally here!

I classify this as an AU, though it is pretty similar to the show just without Santana ever going to McKinley. Most of the events are the same for the glee kids with the exception of Santana being involved. And I know nothing about the talent business nor acting and the audition process, etc. so I just made all of that up. And I also wrote this in the style of a normal romance novel. Anyways, I hope you all like it!

Chapter 1

Santana sighed and rested her forehead against her palm. She could feel the start of a headache coming on after just getting off of the phone with another casting director. She was trying to find auditions for one of her clients, but no one seemed interested.

Not that she necessarily blamed them. The girl she was trying to find a job for was horrendous at acting. But she was the daughter of one of the best friends of her boss, and she was assigned the girl so her boss could blame the lack of bookings on her instead of the girl's lack of talent. Being relatively new to the business, she understood that she got the shitty work sometimes. She just didn't want to lose her job because nobody wanted to help her out.

She couldn't wait to get out of here for the day. She had to spend hours in her tiny little office at Carter Talent. It was practically the size of her closet, but at least it had a door so the pervert down the hall couldn't peek in and stare at her all of the time.

Santana seriously wondered sometimes why she decided to go into this business in the first place. She had always loved performing, but learned long ago that she tended to put off the casting directors when she would rant at them if they didn't offer her a role or criticized her work. She figured it would be incredibly difficult to get herself a job with her attitude and fire, but it would help her out to use it to get other people work. The fact that she would get part of her clients' paycheck just for trying to bully and coerce people into letting her clients audition for them was a bonus.

She had one more meeting this afternoon and then she was planning on leaving. She was doing a favor for one of her clients. One of her clients who she actually kind of considered a friend. Sometimes at least.

Santana wasn't sure how this meeting was going to go, which was another reason why her headache was getting worse. She had absolutely no idea who this girl was or what kind of skills she had. Rachel just told her that the girl was a former member of her high school glee club and was looking to get some acting work. She was apparently new to the city and Rachel had promised her a meeting with Santana.

Santana had argued with Rachel, not wanting to promise the girl anything. She had the right to choose who she wanted to work with (apart from the unfortunate boss's friend's daughter thing) and she didn't want her 'friend' guaranteeing someone that she could find her work or even try to find her work.

But Rachel was adamant. Santana felt obligated, since Rachel was both one of her first clients and one of the first friends she made in New York. So she had agreed to meet one Ms. Brittany Pierce. She hoped she wouldn't regret it.

Her phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts.

"Santana Lopez," she answered.

"Hi Santana! It's Rachel," the voice on the other end said.

Santana fought off a groan. "Look Berry, I don't want to listen to you bitch about the co-stars in your musical. You begged me to get you that audition and you can just deal with it. I don't have time for your drama today," she told the diva, cutting off any sort of rant that may have been coming.

"I'm sorry that my life's troubles irritate you Santana," Rachel said, sounding a little miffed. "But that actually wasn't what I was calling about."

"Well what is it then?" Santana asked impatiently, checking the time to see how much longer before her next meeting.

"I was just calling about Brittany."

"What?" Santana asked, a little confused.

"Brittany Pierce. The girl I asked you to meet with today. Please don't tell me you forgot and blew her off," Rachel huffed.

"No, Berry, I did not blow her off," Santana sighed. "I just meant what the hell are you calling about Brittany for?"

"Well… it's just that, I wanted to give you a warning about her."

Santana froze, dreading what was going to come out of her client/sometimes friend's mouth. "She better not be some psycho or talentless hack," she warned.

"No, no, nothing like that," Rachel promised. "She is just a little bit of an odd character, so to speak. She is really sweet, but a little spacey. Just please do me a favor and try to be nice to her and don't treat her with your usual charm?"

"And what is so wrong with my charm, Rachel?" Santana asked, her voice threatening.

She was just joking with the other woman, but she liked to put her on edge. She knew that she was viewed as a bitch by most people, and that was something that she was okay with because it got her job done and kept people at arm's length. People that she wasn't comfortable with asking too many questions and getting too close to her.

"Absolutely nothing," Rachel backtracked, not wanting to upset the woman who had a huge hand in her career. "I am just asking you to maybe overlook her quirkiness and give her a chance."

"I can't make any promises, but I will give her a chance to impress me. It is up to her how she uses that chance," Santana informed her.

She heard Rachel sigh a little into the phone. "Okay Santana. I really do appreciate this. Brittany has been a pretty good friend and I just wanted to help her out a little. I owe you one."

"I think you owe me several now, Berry," Santana said. "But she should be here soon, so I should go so she doesn't think I sit on the phone all day talking to you. Although, with as much as you talk, it could be true."

"Oh, whatever," Rachel protested. "I didn't hear you complaining when my dialogue over the timeline of the career of the amazing Barbra Streisand distracted that pervert in your agency long enough for you to slip out before he made a comment about your boobs hanging out when your shirt ripped that one day."

"I'll give you that one," Santana laughed a little, truly grateful to the other woman for her help that day. "I'll talk to you later Rach."

"Bye," Rachel said, the smile evident in her voice as Santana's friendly side made an appearance.

Santana hung up the phone and rested her aching head back against her chair. She really wanted to go home and relax. Maybe take a hot bath and drink some wine. Those were her eventful nights nowadays.

Back in college, she was usually getting drunk at a party and finding some guy to hook up with for the night or maybe start dating him for a few weeks. After years of doing that throughout high school and college and that ever present, gaping hole inside of her never disappearing, Santana finally realized that no guy would ever be able to make that emptiness go away.

Her senior year in college found her finally admitting to herself that the lingering looks she gave to other girls were more than just admiring their make-up or their outfit. The fluttery feelings in her stomach when she looked at girls wasn't jealousy or disdain, as she had told herself for years. It was attraction. It was desire. It was something she never felt once for any guy.

Once Santana admitted to herself that she was a lesbian, everything changed. She stopped dating guys. She stopped dating, period. She told her friends and family that it was because she was concentrating on finishing her final year of school. After school was over, she said it was because she was concentrating on her career. Now, two years after college, Santana had yet to go on a single date with a woman.

It wasn't that she was scared… well, actually it was. She was terrified. She was terrified of what her family would say, especially her grandmother who was devoutly Catholic. She had been so far in the closet for so long and had put up her act so convincingly for years that she didn't know how to break out of that pattern. She was too nervous to take the step to start dating women. She didn't even know how to tell if a woman was interested in her, much less flirt with one. Guys had been so easy. She just needed to give them a wink and maybe show a little cleavage, and they were all over her. She controlled their interactions.

Girls terrified her, because they had the ability to make her feel something she hadn't felt before. Something she wanted desperately, but was still so afraid of. She had no control over those kinds of feelings, and that meant that women had the ability to leave her breathless, confused, completely upside-down, and broken-hearted.

Santana was just clueless when it came to dating a woman, which was why she was still single after nearly three years and hadn't even set foot into a gay bar, much less kissed a woman. She knew she would have to get over it soon and try to put herself out there. She could not live like she had been forever. Maybe she could start by telling some people about her first.

The thought alone made her heart beat a little harder in fear. She knew most people wouldn't care, especially her friends like Rachel and Kurt (who was gayer than a rainbow clad Elton John). She just didn't know how to get over this fear. Her head was hurting worse now just thinking about it all.

Just then a knock on her door sounded. The taps seemed to match the slight throbs of her head, but she pushed the pain aside.

"Come in," she called.

Santana looked up as her door opened and her breath caught as the blonde-haired woman came into view. Santana took in the freckles over tanned cheeks and the small smile before her eyes drifted down to see a loose, off the shoulder top showing the hint of a delectable collarbone and black leggings over long, toned legs accentuated by a pair of bright blue heels that matched the top. Her eyes snapped back up to the girl's face as she shyly crossed the doorway. Her heart fluttered and her stomach did a little flip that was stronger than anything she had felt before.

She had been around beautiful people before. It was part of her business. But Santana could swear that this was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

She became aware that several seconds had passed while she was just sitting there staring. Santana had never reacted this way to anyone before, man or woman. She was sure she looked like a fool, and she could feel heat rising to her cheeks. She was grateful that her complexion couldn't really show a blush, but it couldn't hide the way she stuttered over her words.

"Hi, I must be Brittany," she said, then realized what had come out of her mouth and she hastily tried to correct herself. "I mean, you're Santana. Jesus."

"Actually, I'm Brittany," the woman said. "And I am supposed to be meeting someone named Santana Lopez."

Santana mentally smacked herself and took a breath to try to make her embarrassment go away. She stood up from her desk, wiping her suddenly sweaty hands discretely under the guise of adjusting the bottom of her tight green dress, and walked toward the woman, what she hoped was a polite smile on her face and not some stupid, dopey grin.

"I'm Santana," she said confidently. "I'm sorry about that Brittany. My brain just got lost there for a second."

"Oh, I've had that happen," Brittany said pleasantly. "I lost my brain for a week once, but then Lord Tubbington found it in my underwear drawer, so I was okay after that."

Santana frowned a little. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a joke of some kind or if the girl was actually trying to be serious. Her deadpan response was confusing.

"Well, that's good," she said, just deciding to move on. She stretched out her hand to Brittany to shake it, and the blonde took her hand and gave it a little grasp in greeting. "It's nice to meet you."

Brittany smiled shyly, a little hint of blush on her cheeks as Santana's hand was held in hers. Santana shook off the feeling of tingles that shot up through her arm at their contact. She cleared her throat and took her hand back, looking away bashfully as she indicated that Brittany take the chair on the other side of her desk.

Santana walked back behind her desk and sat down, suddenly grateful for the expanse of wood and brass between them.

"So, Brittany, what brings you here today?" Santana asked, putting on her professional mask.

"Well, I took a cab," Brittany said nervously, then shook her head as she realized that wasn't what Santana meant when the brunette gave her another confused look. "But obviously you don't care about that. Um, I want to be an actress."

"I'll be honest," Santana said, trying not to concentrate on the fact that the other girl's nervousness was actually really adorable. On anyone else she would have already snapped at them and told them to leave. Santana was clearly messed up. "You have the looks, certainly, but I don't know anything about you to say whether or not you have a realistic shot at achieving that goal. Rachel, unsurprisingly, didn't really tell me much about you since she usually can't talk about anyone but herself."

"Yeah, Rachel is kind of an Eggo maniac," Brittany said, rolling her eyes.

Santana tried to figure out what the hell frozen waffles had to do with anything when she realized what Brittany must have meant.

"You mean egomaniac," she supplied. Rachel really was right. This girl was definitely an oddball. Santana wasn't sure why she hadn't kicked her out already. Oh wait, the little fluttering in her heart that the girl had caused was the reason why.

"Sure," Brittany said with a casual shrug. She was clearly not concerned with her mistake.

Santana's brow furrowed as she studied the blonde across from her. She really could not get tell if this was an act or if this was how she really was.

"So, do you have a résumé or some headshots?" Santana asked, trying to get this meeting on point.

"Oh sorry, I don't like guns so I haven't shot anybody before. Is that a requirement? Because if it is I don't think I could do that."

Was this girl for real? Santana could swear she was getting pranked right now. She would so make Berry sorry the next time she saw her.

"Pictures," Santana explained, feeling her headache throb again. "Do you have any pictures of yourself? Those are headshots. And a résumé highlighting the type of work you've done in the past."

"Oh!" Brittany exclaimed in realization, her cheeks reddening as she leaned down to rummage in the bag she had brought with her. "Yeah, I have those, sorry. I'm better with numbers than words."

Santana smiled a little at the girl's obvious embarrassment. She could understand that Brittany was probably nervous and it was making her mix things up. Hell, Santana did the same thing when the blonde had walked into the room, so she couldn't hold it against her.

Brittany found what she was looking for and handed Santana a couple of professional pictures and a piece of paper with her work history. The pictures were definitely good, Santana had to admit. The first was one of Brittany in a dance pose, her tight clothing enhancing the lines of her muscular legs and stomach. The other was a traditional headshot with a close-up of Brittany's face. Santana found herself staring at both pictures, and she honestly couldn't help but feel glad that she would be able to keep them.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself," Santana suggested as she prepared to look at the girl's work history.

"Well, I'm from Lima, Ohio. I was in the glee club where I was one of the lead dancers and helped with choreography. I did a few musicals in high school, though I was just in the supporting roles. After graduation, I went to MIT and graduated a couple of years ago. I didn't do as much with the performing then, but I did do a few plays and kept up with my dance lessons," Brittany told her.

Santana's head shot up and her eyebrows rose when Brittany said she went to MIT. She almost would have thought it was a joke, but there was something about the girl that had Santana believing her without question. A quick glance at her résumé showed that it was listed on there.

"Wow, MIT," Santana said, letting her see that she was impressed. "What did you study there?"

"Mathematics and physics," Brittany said, smiling a little in pride.

"And yet you want to be an actress?" Santana asked incredulously. She couldn't really understand why a woman so clearly intelligent would want to be an actress.

"Yeah. Why not?" Brittany asked with another little shrug and a grin. Her grin lit up her face and Santana noticed then just how blue her eyes were. They sparkled in the crappy lighting in Santana's office, and she found herself mesmerized.

Why not indeed? Santana found herself wanting to do everything she could to help Brittany out. There was just something about her that called to Santana and made her want to make the blonde's dreams come true.

Santana broke her gaze away from the blue orbs and looked back down at the paper in her hands. "You don't have a lot of acting history on here, and I'm sorry to say that your work after college won't give you a leg up on auditions. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing," she was quick to reassure her, seeing the slightly crestfallen look on Brittany's face. "Rachel did tell me that she thinks you're one of the best dancers she has ever seen, so I can definitely sell that to potential casting directors."

"Will that help?" Brittany asked.

"Well, having dancing talent doesn't necessarily help unless you are looking for roles that require dancing. And those roles are usually in musicals or on Broadway. But it definitely doesn't hurt to have something like that in your back pocket," Santana explained. "And you were in glee club, so I am assuming you can sing?"

Brittany looked down at her lap shyly. "I can carry a tune, but my voice isn't that great," she said quietly. "I'm definitely not Rachel Berry or anything, but I don't sound terrible."

"Okay. We can list it as a talent, but not make it a major point," Santana said. "Are you more interested in doing movies and TV, or were you wanting more plays and theater productions?"

"I am willing to do whatever to get my foot in the door," Brittany said. "Well, not whatever, but, you know, like whatever acting wise."

Santana gave a little laugh. "Don't worry, the casting directors I work with know better than to hit on one of my clients," she said. "After one guy tried to insinuate that I could get one of my clients a job if I slept with him, I verbally castrated him and basically threatened that if he tried that shit again then he would be lucky to be able to piss, much less get it up to do anything. Now everyone in the business around this area knows not to mess with me or my clients."

Brittany's eyes widened a little, the hint of a smirk on her face. "I guess I should make sure I don't hit on you then," she teased.

Santana swallowed hard, her hands clenching a little on the paper she had beneath them and crumpling it. Her eyes darted to the corner of the room, looking everywhere but at Brittany. The thought of the other woman flirting with her or hitting on her made Santana's stomach do flips and her heart pound in both excitement and fear.

"It- I… uh- it's…" Santana stammered. She cleared her throat, forcing herself to look back at Brittany who was watching her with interest. "Just so you do know, if you end up signing with our agency, there is a strict non-fraternization clause between clients and agents."

Brittany's brow furrowed in confusion.

"Not that it matters or anything, but agents can't date their clients," she explained.

Realization came over Brittany. "Oh," she said, and Santana could have sworn she heard the barest hint of disappointment in her voice. "Okay."

Santana shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the sudden shift of atmosphere. "Um, where were we?" she muttered to herself, thinking back to where they were before they got sidetracked. "Uh, yeah, so if you're open to film and stage, then that opens up the amount of auditions I can send you on."

Brittany nodded in understanding.

"The fact remains though, that I have no idea if you have any talent for acting," Santana went on. "I usually scout out the clients I sign, so this is kind of a unique situation for me. Rachel recommended you to me, so I haven't had the chance to see any of your work."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you would need to," Brittany hurried to apologize, looking upset. "Rachel just told me to come and talk to you and-"

"It's okay," Santana interrupted, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry about it. Rachel kind of sprung this all on me, too. But it is easy to fix. If you wouldn't mind maybe doing some readings for me later this week, I can see what kind of roles may be best for you and what is out there that might be a good fit. I recommend getting Rachel to help you out with a few different kinds of scenes. If you want, I can talk to her and get it all set up, but I do recommend that you rehearse with her. Berry is annoying, but one thing she does know is how to critique a performance."

Brittany laughed, clearly knowing exactly what Santana was talking about. "You didn't have to deal with her in high school when she was the lead of our glee club," Brittany said in amusement. "She was always quick to tell everyone what she thought of how they did on a number."

Santana laughed with the blonde, picturing a younger version of her friend snootily offering her notes on ways to improve their vocal performance or stage presence. "Trust me, I have to deal with her freaking out after every audition I send her on, so I know how she can get. But she is a pretty good friend, so I can put up with her."

"She is," Brittany said softly, a small smile on her lips and her gaze fixed on Santana.

Santana's heart fluttered again and she looked down at the crumpled paper on her desk to distract herself from the woman who seemed to keep flustering her. God, what was wrong with her? This was why she didn't even try to approach women she found attractive.

"Um, so yeah… we can set some readings up this week. And if you wanted to prepare a song so I could see just what we are working with there, that would be great," Santana went on. "You don't need to dance, since I trust Rachel on that, but I think the scenes and the song would be good."

"Okay, that sounds good," Brittany said happily. "Is there anything else?"

Santana was able to look up at the other woman again, who was looking at her with gratefulness. "Not at the moment. If I decide after the readings to go ahead and sign you, we can discuss a contract and my fees and what exactly I can do for your career. Is that okay?"

Brittany nodded, her eyes glittering as she smiled. "That's perfect. Thank you so much Santana," she gushed.

Santana smiled genuinely at Brittany, liking the sound of her name coming from the woman's lips. "You're welcome. But all I'm doing is giving you a shot. You still have to do the work and impress me," she said, not unkindly.

"I know, and I promise I will show you that I would make a good client for you. I just really appreciate you taking the time to give me a chance," Brittany said sincerely.

Santana nodded, and opened her top desk drawer to pull out one of her cards. She reached over the top of the desk, extending the little rectangle of thick, glossy paper to Brittany. "Here is my card," she said. "My numbers and email are listed on there, just in case you have any questions or need to get in touch with me for any reason. Is your number listed on your résumé?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, my cell is on there as well as my email address."

"Good. I will get in touch with Rachel and get a good time for her to do a reading with you, and I will call you to let you know when I've got something set up." Santana stood up, and Brittany quickly grabbed her bag from the floor and did the same.

"Okay, I'm looking forward to it," Brittany told her, the smile on her face widening.

Santana walked around her desk and Brittany walked over to meet her by the office door. Santana stood awkwardly for a moment as Brittany got close to her. She could catch the barest hint of Brittany's perfume, and it smelled so good. She wanted to get even closer and bury her face in the other woman's neck, but that would definitely be unprofessional. Not to mention all kinds of awkward.

So Santana extended her hand out for another handshake, and Brittany looked down at it for a moment. The blonde's smile changed, but she took Santana's hand and shook it gently. "Thank you again," she said quietly, meeting Santana's eyes. "I will see you later this week."

Santana's mind had stuttered again at the feeling of Brittany's hand in her own again. Her stomach was doing that weird thing again and she had the tingles that she had before. "Yeah, I'll see you later," she said, her voice a little breathy.

Brittany bit her lower lip, and her eyes sparkled. She slowly removed her hand from Santana's, letting Santana recover enough to open the door. Brittany started to walk out, making it just on the other side of the doorway before she turned her head back and gave Santana one more smile, which she returned, before walking away.

Santana let out a heavy breath right after she closed the door. She leaned against it, her legs feeling suddenly weak. Never had anyone left her feeling this flustered. She was Santana Lopez. She didn't get flustered. She was the one who left people stammering and nervous, not the other way around.

At least not until Brittany Pierce, apparently. Santana pushed herself off of the door and walked back to her chair. She plopped down heavily, groaning at how much of an idiot she must have looked like to the gorgeous blonde. She was truly shit at this whole interacting with women she was attracted to thing. She could feel the slight dampness of the sweat under her boobs that she got when she was truly nervous. Brittany had done that to her.

All she wanted to do right now was go home and open that bottle of wine she had been thinking about earlier. Maybe it would help her calm down and forget this weird feeling that had invaded her body since Brittany had walked into her office. She had no idea if it would work, but she was sure as hell willing to give it a shot.

Santana didn't know if she would be signing Brittany as a client this week. If she did, there was certainly no way that Santana could dwell on the overwhelming attraction she felt for her. If she didn't… well, it wasn't like Santana really had the guts to hit on Brittany anyways to see if maybe the attraction was mutual.

The only thing Santana was sure of was that Brittany Pierce could be big trouble for her, no matter what the end of the week might hold.

A/N 2: So there is chapter one! We already got a meeting between our two girls and Santana is definitely affected! What do you think Brittany was feeling?

Thanks for everyone who had been awaiting this fic for sticking with me! What do you guys think? Like it, hate it? Any other thoughts?