Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 77th cycle. Now cycle 78!

"Kitchen Meeting"
(Older) Rachel & Guest, Sophie (OC), Chloe (OC)
Red series
(no listings; sequel to "Let us entertain you")

After their performance had come and gone, it hadn't been clear what they'd all do as far as Rachel Berry and whether they'd ever actually tell her what they'd done. The first day back had come and gone, and it was as though they'd forgotten, so they'd let it go. The day after that, their teacher had been in a foul mood about something, so they'd collectively decided against it. The third day had been eliminated as well, as a precaution. By the fourth day, it had just started to feel as though the moment had passed.

Chloe had gone out to get coffee with George one day before returning home, until Sophie had called with a cryptic message.

"If I were you, I'd get back here now. Come alone."

George had still wanted to come. If this was anything to do with the performance and Chloe was to get in trouble, then he didn't want her to have to take the blame all on her own. She'd thanked him for the gesture, but she promised him she'd be alright. Whether or not she'd be right about that was left to be seen, but she had to let him believe that first one. It wasn't until they'd parted ways that she'd let the nervous edge manifest itself on her face.

She got up to the door, let herself in, and as the door crept open, she thought she could hear talking and laughing off in the kitchen. She quietly shut the door, stepped cautiously along.

"Hey!" Sophie's whisper startled her, and she found Rachel's daughter sitting in the living room with a magazine in her lap. Chloe gestured silently: what's happening? All Sophie gave as a reply was a gesture of her own: just go in there. Chloe thought she might have audibly gulped.

"Here she is," Rachel was the first to see her, and Chloe didn't know whether or not the smile on her face was a good sign. "Come here, there's someone who wants to see you," she stood from her chair. "Chloe Clarke, I do think you'll know who this is," she turned to her guest, and as she entered the kitchen proper, Chloe felt the breath leave her in that same sort of star struck it had done the first time she'd sighted Rachel Berry in that coffee shop.

"You're… Mr. Hummel," she barely saved herself from stammering. There was something sort of girlish and young in Rachel's laugh, which Chloe could understand for being her youthful self, still in her heart, at hearing her old friend being spoken to with such reverence. Chloe couldn't help herself. Kurt Hummel had had his own career as a performer, still did every so often, but today his focus had shifted.

"We finally meet," the man stood. "Officially."

"Offic…" she started to repeat, frowning, unsure, and then it hit her, and she gulped for the second time. "You… You stopped the security guys, when we…" She stopped, hesitating, eyes darting back to Rachel.

"That was quite the homage," Kurt told her. "Here I thought you'd have let her in on it, so imagine my surprise when I mentioned it to her and she had no idea." Chloe felt her cheeks get warm.

"Did you…"

"He showed me the video," Rachel nodded. Chloe couldn't say a word, not until…

"She cried," Kurt revealed.

"I did n…" Rachel turned back to him.

"Blubbering, all over the place," he pointed at her face, and she frowned and smiled. Chloe had all too many reactions fighting to get out from her head. Should she hug her teacher, tell her how much she meant to her, to all of them… Wait, courtesy…

"Thank you for helping us finish," she told Kurt.

"Don't mention it," he tipped his head. "You did me a favor."

"I did?" Chloe blinked.

"Sit," Rachel told her, guiding her by the shoulders so she'd take the seat where Rachel herself had been sitting. Kurt took his seat back, while Rachel sat at Chloe's side.

"Rachel's told me this is still a bit of a sore subject for you, but I thought you might want to know, she wasn't the only one who knew your father back in the day."

"Oh," Chloe gave a small smile. Was this what he wanted to talk to her about? She hadn't so much as thought about the man since the days after the night when she'd gone up to his door and almost rang his bell. The truth of it was that she had felt happier ever since, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She hadn't known what would happen the next time she'd have to think about him, but now she knew: absolutely nothing. She wasn't upset at all, even with how Mr. Hummel was looking at her, like he was seeing all those features that made her look like her father.

"But, now, he's not why I'm here, so we'll just…" Kurt motioned as though to say 'we'll stop talking about him,' and Chloe nodded. "I came here because when I saw you back there, I was struck. You know, Rachel hasn't stopped talking about you ever since she met you, but I never knew what she meant until I finally saw you for myself." Chloe felt her heart crank up. What was he getting at? Was he… "As you may know, I have a new production coming up."

"I know," she confirmed. Kurt Hummel was one of the best directors out there today, and she knew what this new production was that he was talking about, knew very well.

"Now, as far as I'm concerned, I'm already sold, but if we're to do this right…" he reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope, placed it in front of her. "I'd like you to audition for us." She didn't know that she breathed at all as she reached over and touched the envelope, looked up at him.

"I… Seriously?" she blurted out, and she wanted to kick herself. But he just laughed.

"Seriously," he nodded. She looked at the envelope. Could this really be happening? Her, in a musical, on Broadway? "I know this would mean a big change for you, so take a few days to think about it, how does that sound?"

THE END

A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.
In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are
always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!