New Life In New York
Chapter 1: 5 Years On
*** 5 Years On ***
After four years at NYADA, Rachel managed to secure a place in a top-end Broadway show; The Phantom Of The Opera. She also plays a huge role in this show, and plays the character of Christine. After almost one year of intense rehearsing, it was opening night in Times Square. To Rachel's delight, Kurt had front row seats, and Rachel was looking forward to sharing the stage later tonight along with her boyfriend Brody. They had been together for almost 4 and a half years now, and were living together near to where Kurt lived in Midtown.
Brody had gone with Rachel to her audition for Christine as moral support and somehow ended up auditioning for Raoul. They had been rehearsing for this for a little under a year and working together was hard at times as it felt they were constantly working but in a good way their schedules were hectic, and they usually matched up so they got days off together. Rachel's dads and Brody's parents were coming to the opening night along with Kurt, Burt, Carole and Finn. But Rachel knew that Kurt had bought 5 tickets so she thought would be bringing a date and was just going to surprise her.
"Hun!" Brody shouted up the stairs, "Breakfast!"
"Coming babe!" Rachel replied. She was in the middle of her morning routine preparing for the big day. "Aww thanks baby." Brody had made Rachel pancakes for breakfast as it was a special occasion for them both. Rachel was so happy with Brody, she could see herself being with him for a long time.
"What time have we got to be at the theatre by?" Brody asked.
"1pm, we have the final run through this afternoon and then Kurt and Co arrive at 5:30 for hair and makeup. Then obviously curtain up at 7:30 and finish at about 11pm including interval and changing back into normal clothes." Rachel replied.
"It's a good job I have you otherwise I don't know where I would be."
Brody had decided that tonight would be the night. He had had the ring for about 2 weeks and just hadn't found the right time to propose. He'd seen the ring about a month ago when he was looking for a birthday present for his mum in Tiffany's. He'd been thinking about proposing for a while and then he saw the ring and knew that this was the time. Rachel's dads had come down to see them 3 weeks ago as Rachel hadn't finished her rehearsal. Brody had picked her dads up from the airport leaving him with a perfect opportunity to speak to them. Brody had planned on asking before their opening night but with all the stress they were both under it wasn't the most romantic time to ask.
After breakfast Rachel cleaned and tidied the already clean and tidy apartment before going back upstairs to finish getting ready for lunch with her dads and Brody's parents at 11:30. Rachel couldn't decide if she was more nervous about lunch or the show later. It was only the 5th time she had seen Brody's parents in the 4 and a half year they had been dating and the prospect still scared her slightly. His parents were very strict and Rachel couldn't tell if they approved of her or not. They wanted Brody to succeed but they hardly ever came down to see him at NYADA performances. They usually only ever saw the winter showcase as it was near Christmas and that's when they made the effort to see their son.
As Rachel and Brody had been extremely busy getting ready for the show, they hadn't been able to pick their parents up from the airport so they had said they would meet them all for lunch before rehearsal. Rachel and Brody had booked tickets for their parents along with Kurt's s they would get front row seats, therefore their parents would be sat together. Lunch was meant to be a way of them officially meeting before the show. Lunch was nice but there was a strange atmosphere around the table, Rachel thought it was just her probably because she was nervous about the show. After lunch Rachel and Brody had to go to rehearsal so left their parents to have a day in NYC.
"Well that wasn't too bad was it?" Brody said as they got in a taxi to the theatre. Rachel just rolled her eyes at him and snuggled into his shoulder.
"No I suppose it wasn't." Rachel sighed
Their afternoon was hectic and before they knew it Kurt was arriving with his entourage to do hair and makeup. Brody left Rachel and Kurt to it, and headed to his own dressing room to wait his turn. He had just nodded off when Kurt knocked on his door.
"Sorry it's been so long preparing for this, it's suddenly caught up to me." Brody said to Kurt as he started find the right products to use.
"So are you going to tell me or do I have to just wait and see?" Kurt asked Brody.
"What do you mean?" Brody asked knowing full well what Kurt was referring to.
"Come on Brody, I took Hiram and LeRoy around town this morning..."
"Okay Okay, I'll tell you but you cannot breathe a word of this to anyone, ok?" Kurt nodded frantically, "I am planning on proposing to Rachel tonight." Brody couldn't keep the smile off his face.
"I can't wait to see Rachel's face. I'm so happy for you guys." Kurt said with a tear in his eye.
At quarter past 7 Brody went to find Rachel before the show started, he found her stressing out in her dressing room. He wrapped his arms around her to calm her down. He thought he'd find her like this, he knew her too well and she'd been oddly calm about the show up to now.
"Baby, listen to me... you're amazing in this role and I will be there right alongside you. You have no reason to worry about this, you know the script off by heart and back to front so calm down." Brody held her head between his hands and kissed her with more passion than he ever had before.
Meanwhile Kurt was waiting outside the theatre with 9 reserved VIP tickets. Brody's parents arrived first and Kurt directed them to the VIP lounge. Then Rachel's dad's arrived and Kurt hugged them both. While Kurt was talking to them, his family arrived and the 7 of them walked together to their seats. Kurt suddenly realised that he hadn't told Rachel that Finn and Quinn were back together and they had both come to see the show, he didn't think it would be a problem as her and Brody had been together for 4 and a half years.
Rachel calmed down after the kiss and went to go and get ready to go on, as the curtain had just gone up and the show had started.
-
The show was going well and Rachel was changing to be ready for the second half. She had seen her guests on the front row and to her disappointment the extra seat was not for a partner of Kurt but for Quinn. Apparently Kurt had forgotten to tell her not that she was bothered that Finn and Quinn were together, she was happy for them. They had both been alone for far too long and she was glad they had found happiness in each other again.
"BRODY GET OUT! YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT MEANT TO BE IN HERE DURING THE INTERMISSION!" Rachel shouted at Brody who was trying to sneak into her dressing room. She was laughing as he ran into the room and grabbed her.
"Shhhhh, I'll get caught!" Brody replied in a whisper.
"You were amazing in the first half baby." Brody said with a smile on his face.
"You weren't so bad yourself babe." Rachel replied with an equally big smile on her face. Brody kissed her and then left her to finish getting ready for the second half.
-
The second half of the play flew by, mainly because all of the cast were so excited, and thrilled to have almost finished their first show!
At the end of the play, Brody and Rachel came on stage first and bowed together, central stage. The rest of the cast soon joined, to fill the stage, and the theatre soon filled with cheers and applause. The cast then slowly filed off, back into their dressing rooms, and to go and see their families and friends outside of the theatre.
Rachel was such a clean freak that she always wanted to help out with tidying up at the end of a rehearsal, or the actual performances. So naturally she went towards the stage and started to clean. Rachel was putting all of the curtains, and pull rails back to their original positions, ready for the next performance, when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Hello, is anyone there?" Rachel whispered, hoping for a familiar voice to reply.
"Don't worry babe it's only me" Brody said, whilst walking towards Rachel, still standing by the pull wheels, and ropes.
"Thank goodness it was you! I was scared for a moment there!" Rachel said, turning to give Brody a hug. "You were amazing Brody, honestly!" "As were you my darling" Brody said, staring into Rachel's eyes.
"Just let me finish up here, and we can go." Rachel said, keen to finish off the jobs that she had started.
"No problem babe, I'll help out!"
Rachel continued down the long line of ropes until she reached the last one. Rachel tried to pull the rope, but it wasn't budging, until suddenly a box fell from above her, attached to the rope. She picked it up, and unattached it from the rope, turning to Brody, who was now kneeling on the floor behind her.
Rachel said "Brody, what are you doing?" "Open the box beautiful". Rachel reluctantly opened the box to find a small Tiffany blue box inside. She started to cry. "Give it to me babe" Brody asked.
Rachel was now shaking, and Brody opened the ring box in her direction. "I know it hasn't been as long as some may say to wait, but I could never find someone as amazing and well suited to me, as you are. I love you with all of my heart, and I know that you love me too. So Rachel, will you please do me the honour of being my wife?" Brody waited...
Rachel then knelt down to the same level as Brody and kissed him passionately. "Of course I will!" Rachel shouted.
That was it, Rachel and Brody were going to become husband and wife. Now to tell everyone else!