so hey guys! sorry it took so long but my computer decided to break down over the weekend. I brought it to the apple store and it turns out the only way to fix it, was to delete all the data. I know. I was exited too. anyway, this is a lot shorter than the first one, but it's sort of an in between thing, like, it's setting the story up for the next chapter. it introduces a couple of new characters, nothing major though. I almost have the whole solar system togehter, which means I can fully dive into the story! be patient with me, I'm not really sure how to get where I want to, so it'll take another two or three chapters to set it all up, introduca all the important characters, that sort of thing...
so read, enjoy and maybe review...? just lemme know what you think, I'd love to hear what you guys think!
I walked into "Sue's & Shue's" around 5 o'clock. The place officially opened at six, but it was mandatory for the employers to show up at least an hour earlier. Don't ask me why, it's not like we ever did anything productive in that hour. At least I didn't. My co-workers would make the place ready for the crowd. I usually ended up standing in their way.
"Hey Mike" I greeted the asian boy standing behind the bar. He looked up and smiled. "Hello Santana" he greeted me back. He was currently cleaning the counter of the bar.
"Do you want me to help?" I asked. Seeing Mike's look, I instantly wished I hadn't. His eyebrow was raised and he looked at me questioningly. "Since when do you help?"
"I'm in a good mood, Asian Boy" I explained. "So you better make up your mind quickly, because I'm starting to regret asking you in the first place."
Mike just chuckled. "You know where the cloths are, the booth tables still need to get cleaned" he said and went back to wipi g the bar counter. I smiled contently and walked behind the bar towards the sink. I grabbed one of the cloths, made it wet and walked to the nearest booth.
"Sue's & Shue's" existed ever since I can remember. I'm pretty sure I had my first birthday party in here. Yup, when I turned four, my mom decided it was time for my first birthday party. She invited all my friends from pre-school, and organized this big thing. You know clowns, balloons, too much cake, a lot of presents. The whole thing. I felt like a princess that day, like the world belonged to me. That was back in my pre-Brittany life. So much has changed since then. The world still belonged to me, but it didn't revolve around me.
A lot of other things happened in here. My first date, my first party, my first party with alcohol, my first job... First, first, first. It was definitely an important place in my life.
"So why exactly are you in a good mood?"
Mike's voice abruptly ended my trip down memory lane. I shrugged. "I dunno" I answered. He raised an eyebrow.
"The gang's coming" I finally admitted. But Mike's eyebrow didn't move at all. "So?" he asked. "They come over, like, every other week. You've never helped before."
"Well, today's different." Crap. Was I that obvious?
"How?"
"Today the gang's complete. Plus, Q's aunt is coming too." Mike stared at me. He clearly ignored the second part of my explanation. I don't blame him. I would have too.
"Wait, BRITTANY is coming?" he asked. I could tell he did not see this coming.
I nodded. "Yeah" I said nonchalantly. I had a hard time containing my laughter. Mike's facial expression was priceless.
"Whoa. It's been a while. I'm glad though, I haven' seen her since..." he trailed off. We were approaching a subject neither of us wanted to talk about. My eyes shot up and I looked at him. My eyes were begging him not to finish the sentence. He granted my wish and gave me a sad smile instead. With that the conversation was over.
A comfortable silence settled over us. We both focused on what we were doing and enjoyed each other's company. When I was done wiping the booth tables, I changed into my work clothes. Well, technically it was just a work shirt. Will, my boss and owner of "Sue's Shue", didn't really care about the rest. So I wore the red work shirt, but I knotted the endings together under my breasts, so you could see my belly. The top of my bra was visible too, since I didn't close any of the buttons. I had a pair of very short jeans on and some Nike sneakers. I put on some simple make-up and looked in the mirror. I smirked. I was definitely getting some tips tonight.
I walked out of the back room back to the bar. I was stunned to see that Mike and I weren't alone anymore. Six o'clock was still about half an hour away.
"Hey Santana" Brittany's cheerful voice greeted me as I approached the girls sitting at the bar. Brittany, Holly and Quinn were sitting at the bar smiling at me. They looked like The Blonde Squad trying to recruit new members. Creepy.
"Hey" I replied less enthusiastically. "How did you guys get in here?" I asked. It was obvious though. Mike must've let them in.
"Mike let us in" Quinn said and confirmed my theory. Well done Sherlock! I rolled my eyes at my thoughts. I walked behind the bar.
"So do you ladies want anything to drink?" Might as well get the party started, right?
Quinn nodded. "The usual" she said. Holly thought for a second. "I'll just have a beer." I definitely liked her, I decided. We all turned to look at Brittany, who was busy staring at me. Actually no, she was staring at my cleavage.
"Britt, eyes up here" I said and lifted her chin with my hand. I grinned at her red cheeks. She was so adorable when she was embarrassed.
"Uuuuhh…"
"What do you want to drink?" I repeated my question. I'm not gonna lie, I loved the fact that I made her feel that way, but that didn't change the fact that we were both still completely broken. Sometimes I thought that she was even beyond healing. That thought scared the shit out of me.
"A glass of water" she said. I nodded. It wasn't a surprise, Brittany never ordered alcohol before the place was full. She needed an audience when she was drunk, she needed people around her that were as drunk as she was. That way she could pretend it was okay.
I faked a smile. "A glass of water, a mojito and a beer, coming right up" I said and started working. I listened to Holly asking Quinn about Puck. "Why aren't you two together yet? You've been talking about him for the past year now, and nothing has happened. I s he gay?" Brittany and I burst out laughing while Quinn just shook her head. "No!" she exclaimed. "No, he's not gay."
"So then why aren't you together? He's definitely into you, I can tell by the way he acts around you" Holly said. Brittany just giggled. She knew what Holly was talking about. "It… It's complicated, okay?" Quinn explained lamely. Holly shook her head. "That is the lames thing I've heard since your mom told me her honeymoon destination. Seriously though, staying at your in-laws' country house for a week is not a way to spend your honeymoon."
Quinn rolled her eyes but smiled, relieved they weren't talking about Puck anymore. As if. "Promise me that you and Puck will have a little bit more imagination when you go on your honeymoon, okay?" Brittany and I giggled again, Quinn just ignored the comment completely.
Mike walked up the basement and smiled at us. "Hello" he said to Holly. "I wasn't able to introduce myself before." He held out his hand. "Mike Chang."
Holly mirrored his smile and shook his hand. "Hello, hot stuff. You can call me Holly" she introduced herself and winked. Mike blushed adorably and smiled. He then walked over to the other girls and hugged them both. He was part of our little circle.
Mike didn't have his own planet in my little solar system I built in my head. He shared one with Sam and Kurt. All three of them together were my Jupiter, the biggest planet in the system. They weren't as close to me as Quinn or Puck, but they meant a lot to me. They shared the biggest planet so I could see them no matter where I am. I could depend on them, trust them. They only shared the planet because it was the biggest planet and together they just made it whole.
"Haven't seen you in a while" Mike told Brittany. "I missed you." I watched them interact. They used to date, back in high school. It lasted for a couple of months before they decided it wasn't going to work. They just wanted different things in life and they accepted that. I think they had the most drama-free break-up in the history of break-ups. I mean they still talked to each other, laughed, smiled, made jokes, like nothing happened. I think that was because they weren't really a couple, they were more friends with benefits. Then they realized that the benefits weren't worth losing a friendship over. They stopped sleeping together almost immediately. In a weird way they grew closer because of it.
She smiled back at Mike. "I missed you too" she admitted and gave him another hug. They held each other for a while, but nobody payed attention to them. I was making myself a mojito as well (virgin of course, there was enough time to get drunk later) after I put each of their drinks in front of them, and Quinn and Holly were in a deep conversation about mohawks.
"How's Tina?" Brittany asked when they pulled apart. Mike gave her the biggest smile. "She's doing great! Her record label just signed with this new up and coming singer. Apparently a huge YouTube celebrity, you might've heard of her. Mercedes Jones?" Brittany's eyes widened on excitement. "Oh. My god. Are you serious? She's like the black Adele or something" Brittany didn't even try to hide her excitement. "Can I meet her? Please, Mike, she has like, the best voice ever!"
Then she abruptly stopped and turned to face me. "Except of course for yours, Santana" she said apologetically. She meant every word. I just stared at her. "Uh, yeah, sure" I said, because I had no idea what else I should say. What was up with her today? My heart was beating faster at her comment and my cheeks were getting warmer rapidly. This was pretty normal for me though. I think everybody knew I was completely in love Brittany. Except of course for Brittany.
I kept staring at Brittany even though she resumed her conversation with Mike. She was so graceful, every move she made seemed effortless. When she spoke every other sound in the room would fall silent. I soaked her up with my eyes. Stare, stare, stare. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize that Holly had asked me a question.
"So when do you guys open?" she repeated her question, when I just looked at her confused. I looked at the clock. 6:03.
"Now" I said. I was glad to have an excuse to leave the group. I desperately needed some breathing room. I forgot why I was so excited for tonight. Right. The gang was coming. I unlocked the front door and turned on the "open"-lights that hung at the door. It was unnecessary, really. Everybody knew when the place opened and closed and tourists never found their way here.
As soon as I was behind the bar, the door opened and two of my favourite guys walked in. I smiled at both of them. "Hey guys! Thanks for coming" I thanked them. I tried to put as much sincerity in my voice as possible. This actually really meant a lot to me. We haven't all hung out together in ages. Sam and Puck returned my smile. They both gave me a hug and Sam even gave me a kiss on my cheek. His lips were soft and gentle. My smile just grew wider. Jupiter was almost complete.
The missing third of the planet was in New York though. Kurt actually had a career there. He was a Broadway Musical critic and wrote reviews for a tiny almost unknown magazine. He didn't care in the slightest, he was living his dream. I was infinitely proud of him. I missed him a lot though. Nobody had as much style as him, he was the only one with a valid opinion when it came to clothes.
"Two beers?" I asked the guys when they sat down. Sam was sitting beside Brittany, while Puck - surprise, surprise - sat down next to Quinn. Mike had joined me behind the bar in the meantime. The two boys nodded. Boys, boys, boys. I still refused to think of them as men. It just felt wrong.
They nodded and I shot Mike a look. He immediately got two beers from the fridge. I smiled triumphantly, and the guys laughed. It was the beginning of an eventful evening.
XXxxXX
