A little one-shot that came to mind after listening to music.
To say it simply, she loved her job but she also loved to be in her pajamas and lounge in her super expensive but equally comfy couch. After a long day of rehearsals, the only thing Rachel wanted was to order some food, catch up with some show-business gossip and maybe read a book or watch a movie.
Since she had long ago decided to put her career before her love life, she had no one especial with whom to share her routine. No one but her cat, Boris, a fluffy munchkin that loved to lay on top of her copies of Variety.
As she finished checking her email, as she ate her vegan egg rolls and enjoyed the moment of normalcy, she decided to catch up with her old friends. Login into Facebook with that especial account so no one outside her circle of family and friends could find her, she decided to take a look to see what people were up to.
She was not surprised when she saw a notification telling her that Kurt had left a message. Of all the people she knew, he was the one she always talked to. So she opened it immediately and noticed it was a link, actually an embedded YouTube video entitled Soldiers Singing to Children. She made nothing of it, thinking about how sweet and cute could be, like cat pictures and puppies; tough men being adorable ranked high on the list of things she liked.
Kurt had added the comment: Do you think you can critique this?
And that what was spiked her interest. She clicked on the video and soon she heard the background noise of children talking and laughing in some foreign language while an older woman's voice spoke to them until they were quiet.
The camera was a little shaky but not so much to make it impossible to watch.
Soon a few men in military uniforms appeared in the middle of the room, all with smiling faces.
Rachel took a sip of her iced tea but almost spit it out when she saw one of the soldiers carrying a guitar. Her eyes widened comically as she took in who was the man taking seat on the teacher's desk next to an adorable little girl with dark skin and a lovely braid with a pink ribbon.
"Noah," she breathed out, reaching for the screen stupidly.
He placed his guitar on one knee for support and started to strum a few notes.
"Okay. Ready?" he called and the children cheered.
Rachel felt like laughing and crying at the same time.
The other soldiers in their air force uniforms helped the kids to figure out the beat of the song by clapping and slapping their hands over their desks while Noah started to play his acoustic guitar expertly.
His voice sang the lyrics of an upbeat song while the children sang the chorus with him. It was simple and nothing of her taste but they made it so appealing she caught herself humming with them.
The little girl next to Noah swayed side to side, following his rhythm.
It was almost acapella, only his guitar and the clapping of the children, and yet it felt like more.
At the end the children laughed loudly and happily with the soldiers who only decided to applaud them in return, for their fine work as the chorus.
The video ended no long after Noah stood up, looking so handsome in his uniform, with his hair shaved at the sides and bit longer atop of his head. He looked older and mature.
She chuckled when he held the little girl's hand and bowed to their audience.
She quickly decided to contact whoever had uploaded the video. The video had a little more than twenty-thousand views and had been uploaded by a woman she imagined was the one who had recorded the video.
Leaving a rather lengthy comment, asking to tell Noah he still has a beautiful voice and I'm glad he finds new places where to share his talent, Rachel wished she had kept in touch with him.
Quickly she realized she could find him if she wanted to and decided to look for a phone number online. She was sure there would be at least one person who would be able to tell her how to communicate with him.
…
"Hello?" his gruff voice passed through the speakers before his image formed on the screen.
Rachel's smile grew bigger and brighter when she saw him scowling at her. She couldn't even care less about it.
"Hi."
"What the- Rachel?" he muttered with honest surprise. "What are you doing there? Where the hell is my sister?"
"Here!" Becca chirped, poking her face in front of the camera, making Rachel giggle. "Rach called us and since I was here visiting Aunt Esther I told her she could use a few minutes of my time, because I don't have much to share honestly. It's been boring with our cousins and one of them is sick so, yeah, yuck! I'm trying to stay away from the germs."
Noah laughed a few seconds after the end of Becca's spiel. "That's fine, squirt."
"Shut up!" Becca complained. "Don't call me that." She soon scooped up Boris in her arms and showed it to the screen. "Look, Rachel's got a cat. He's cute."
"So no much to share, huh?"
The young girl stuck her tongue out. "I'll give you a second so you can flirt," Becca finished with a knowing smile and left, making cooing sounds at Boris.
Rachel looked at the screen for a few seconds, only smiling until she dared to say, "I saw your video."
He scratched the back of his head and smirked. "Yeah. I figured since the teacher told me about your comment. I didn't think you would try to find me though. Things between us were pretty… strained."
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, no. I… it was my fault too." The image on the screen wasn't clear for a few seconds and then froze.
"Noah? Are you there?"
"Yeah, yeah. This happens sometimes."
"I just wanted to tell you… I hope you and I can meet when you come home. Please, take care." She tilted her head to the side and saw him grinning.
"I'm fine. Stop worrying."
"Still."
"I'd like to see you, too." He leaned closer as if to speak in hushed voices, "And I know it's the uniform, Rach. Girls love the uniform."
She laughed and leaned forward too. "My new show has partial nudity and I recently made a very risqué photo-shoot for Cosmo. Do you want me to send you a copy?"
He snorted. "You do not know what you're getting yourself into. But, hell yeah!"
They smiled and just looked at each other for such a long time, Rachel thought the image had frozen again and he had left her there. Even so, she decided to say, "I missed you. And I'm proud of you."
"I'm proud of you, too."
"Don't lie to me. Promise you'll visit."
"I will," he said smiling. "But I gotta go now, Rach. The guys will start complaining soon for taking too much time. You could… email me?"
"Sure! Sure. I will do that. Bye, Noah." And out of nowhere, she decided to pucker up her lips and send him a big kiss through the screen.
Noah chuckled. "Baby, you're killing me. I might visit just to cash in that kiss."
"I'll be waiting."
"Did you finish flirting?" Becca shouted and they both laughed in response.
"Your sister let me use her call in exchange of a fun tour around New York, so I need to leave now."
"I want one of those too."
"Adult version or kid-friendly?" she teased.
He smirked. "Little tease." He hummed while thinking. "I'll take both."
"Okay. But first you have to come to New York."
Noah's lips formed a soft smile. "It's good to know I'm still welcome somewhere. And, as stupid as it sounds, I can wait to hear all about your shows and tell you about what I've done." He turned around and said something to someone before looking at the camera. "Have to go. Bye, Rach."
"Bye, Noah. Take care."
"Say bye to Boris!" Becca demanded as she returned to the computer.
Noah laughed but waved at them anyway. "See you soon."
"Soon," Rachel whispered and the video call ended.
Becca looked at Rachel's face and noticed how her eyes were still glued to the screen, as if she could make Noah show up again or maybe take him out of the screen.
"Now I understand the appeal, 'cause he's a good guy and he wears a uniform."
Rachel smiled up at the girl and shook her head. "He was always a good guy."
