My Whole Life Chapter 1 (Kurtofsky- Glee)

Kurt sat at his desk, hunched over his sketchbook, only taking breaks to stretch his neck and drink his now cool caramel macchiato. He was supposed to be a party with Harris, one of the new models for his fashion house, but he had passed, far preferring to stay at home, eating some takeout and going to bed early.

Instead, he found himself thinking too much again, and that was always a bad idea, especially when there was a pint of coffee ice cream in his freezer, and a half of a bottle of Kahlua in his refrigerator.

That's when he found himself driving to the fashion house where he was a designer, getting some coffee and settling in for a long Friday evening in Los Angeles, drawing designer evening gowns for celebrities who would probably never wear them.

To say Kurt was a loner would be unfair, he wasn't a loner, so much as a person who, after one too many traumatic life events, shut himself off from the rest of the world. He hadn't always been like this, cold, distant, and aloof. No, at one time, he had been the life of the party, full of vibrant passion, outgoing, and the person everyone could count on to make things interesting. That was seven years ago, the year he had graduated from college, left his roots in Ohio and set out west to make his dream of becoming a famous fashion designer a reality.

It was also the year his life had changed drastically and it was these life events that led him to shutting himself down.

Kurt couldn't think about it anymore, it was always the same weekend every summer when he holed himself up for three days, drank himself into oblivion, and recalled what had taken place, but no more. It was in the past, and he was here now, doing the job he loved. He had a great apartment, a fancy car, and he had friends of all walks of life, in the fashion field, actresses, actors, singers, the whole gamut of celebrity was his playground, and he was definitely okay with this.

His thoughts wandered to Ohio, wondering how Finn and Rachel and his nieces were doing, whether or not Santana really was going to make her own life change and come out to Hollywood to try her hand at acting, and how Mr. Schuester was doing now that he and Miss Pillsbury had divorced.

His thoughts were broken by the sound of the elevator shaft.

He knew that it was either the night janitor, Hank, or his boss, and he was willing to bet good money it was Irene Hill, his boss and famous fashion designer, owner of Hill's House of Fashion. Kurt had barely gotten into Los Angeles when he was getting coffee and he literally ran into Irene Hill and her assistant Morgan. As he was helping them pick up fabric swatches he commented on one of the designs that had fallen from Morgan's hand.

You know, purple is really last season. Magenta and more pinkish colors would look better on that skirt.

Irene had raised an eyebrow, looked at the design,asked Kurt to show her which color and laid it over the skirt.

She grinned, handed it to Morgan, and clapped Kurt on the back.

So, who are you, and tell me you don't work for one of my competitors.

I'm Kurt Hummel and I just arrived here from Ohio.

So, Kurt Hummel, how would you like to come to my office and audition.

What exactly am I auditioning for?

Well, Morgan here is wonderful, but I really need to find someone who can work with my models, make them feel special and tell them they are beautiful, amazing, spectacular.

So you want me to babysit a bunch of models?

Well that's what you'd start out doing, but you clearly have an eye for fashion, as shown when you boldly told me my design sucked, and based on what you're wearing right now.

Well, that is what I went to college for.

Really? Where did you attend?

I started out at NYADA, but I found my true love for fashion designing, and I ended up transferring to Parsons. I just graduated a few months ago.

Really? You graduated from Parsons?

I did.

Well, I'm impressed, that is a great college, some of my best interns went there, of course they all left for competitors or became famous fashion designers themselves, not that I'm bitter or anything. Anyway, are you interested in the job?

I am definitely interested.

Great, well, if you do a good job, I'd even be willing to look at a few of your sketches.

Kurt chuckled as he thought back to that fateful day seven years ago when he a brand new Ohio transplant in Los Angeles had met his boss and changed his life forever, simply by commenting on the color purple.

Irene stepped off the elevator,

"I should have known you would be here, Kurt."

"Yeah, well, what are you doing here on a Friday night? Morgan told me you had a date."

"Well that date turned out to be someone pitching the idea for designer crotchless panties. It lasted all of five minutes before I simply stood up and walked away. Too bad though, because he was hot and I haven't been laid in so long."

"I have told you plenty of times before, if you want to have sex, then have sex. You don't need to do dates and relationships to get that."

"I'm sorry, Kurt, but not all of us can shut our hearts down. I want to have sex with someone I love and that loves me. I just didn't think it would be this hard to find someone willing to put up with the long hours, and demands that comes with me having to work so much."

Irene put down her bag of food on one of the work tables and looked out the window.

Kurt knew she was thinking about her ex-husband, who left her after she had left the design house she had worked for to start her own fashion house. The stress of the long hours, and financial worries had caused him to leave her and since then she had tried valiantly to date and move on with her life, but guy after guy wandered through, and Kurt knew she was getting desperate because she wanted to be married and have a family and at the age of thirty seven, she was sure that those days of opportunity were fast coming to a close.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"Just thinking about him again, wondering if he's enjoying his new life with his new schoolteacher girlfriend."

"Are you stalking him now?"

"No, Kara was on Facebook the other day and told me he changed his relationship status to "in a relationship. She's the one who went and found out that her name is Heather and she's a special education teacher."

"Can you please explain to me why your sister is still friends with your ex-husband?"

"They were friends even before we started da ting. They knew each other from college, and he came home randomly one weekend, which he later admitted was to get into her pants, and we met, and it was like fate."

"So Kara and Matt had a thing?'

"No, Kara was with Stewart, Matt had a thing for her, but he claims after he met me, he knew instantly that I was the one. Of course, seeing as he left me three years after we were married, because I decided my life and needs were more important than his, I'm pretty sure that was a lie."

Kurt tried to quell the bitterness he felt bubbling in his chest, because he loved Irene, he really did, but right now her woe is me attitude did little to cease the raging torrid that had been building and swirling in him all day.

"Well at least you got three years with him. That's more than I got."

"Kurt…"

"I'm sorry, Irene, that was uncalled for."

"You don't have to apologize, Kurt. I know what this weekend is and I'm sorry I was being insensitive."

"It's been seven years, why can't I let it go?"

"Because our situations are completely different, Kurt. "

Kurt just sighed and dropped his pencil.

"Well, another design done that no one will probably ever wear."

"Have you ever thought of expanding and trying something new?"

"Like what?"

"Like maybe designing a men's line, or a maternity line. Something that will push you to become better."

"I have no interest in designing clothing for men. The clothes that the common man buys you can get any large chain department store, and I don't wish to have my name associated with that."

Irene just chuckled and finished eating her sandwich.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the night?'

"I don't know. Harris invited me to a party, but I think I'm just going to go back eat my ice cream, drink some alcohol and fall into a stupor until Monday."

"As lovely as that sounds, you really should go to that party. We are paying Harris a half million dollars for our newest ad campaign, and I really would like him to stay sober and out of trouble while we're working with him."

"I really hate that you still have me babysitting childish models."

"But you are so good at it, Kurt, plus Harris is good looking, and I know he's been eyeing you since he got here. Go have fun, aren't you the one who said sex was supposed to be just fun, without strings attached?"

"Fine, but only because I don't want to lose my job or cost the company that much money."

Kurt threw his coffee in the trash, kissed Irene's cheek on the way out the door and called a cab to take him to the beach party.