A/N: I'm not sure if I like this chapter :/ I'm not the best of writers so I'm pretty judgy when I read my own fics but hey I must be doing something right if you're now reading Chapter 2 ;P And for the record I haven't actually seen Wicked, though I really want to, so anything Wicked related in this is based on my limited knowledge of the show. Oh and as for determining who is who in the story, I suppose it kinda changes a lot but I'd say that, for the most part, Quinn is Tom Hanks and Rachel is Meg Ryan XD
-Chapter 2-
"She should be here soon," she thinks his name is Matt, assured her. A sound out in the hallway distracted him as he whipped his head towards the door. "Back in one sec," he said, as he left the room.
The one day she had off in what felt like forever was put on hold for an interview with NY Weekly. Of course, she had known about it for weeks but she hadn't counted on it ruining her day off; Maria, her agent, hadn't dropped that bombshell onto her until the night before. She could be at home right now watching TV or going to grab a coffee or even taking Elphie for a refreshing walk. Who was she kidding? She wanted to be home talking to LittleMissOhio94; it seemed to be the only thing keeping her sane these days. She anxiously wondered what her friend had thought of her idea to meet. What if she doesn't message me back? What if she never speaks to me again? No. She was certain this girl was just as dependent on her as she was with her. She may only know her through the internet but Rachel felt she had this girl figured out; heck she probably knew more about her than her own family and friends did!
Rachel was distracted from her thoughts as the door slowly swung open. Her vision already concentrated on the floor, she took in the appearance of the entrant from her black heels to her rather attractive figure to…OH MY GOD! No! It can't be! The other girl's face mirrored her own dumbstruck expression which could only mean she was right. "Quinn?" she asked, just as said blonde spat out "Berry?" Some things never change.
"Surprise!" Matt called excitedly, abruptly ceasing his actions when he received a deathly glare from Quinn.
"Well, I can see you two have a lot of catching up to do. Here's an outline of what we want for the interview, Quinn," he said, handing the blonde a clipboard and making a swift exit towards the door, clearly trying to avoid the wrath of one Quinn Fabray.
Quinn grabbed him by the arm and instead of yanking him back towards her, she pulled him out into the hallway. The door slammed shut which left Rachel alone in the room once again and feeling more confused than ever.
XxXxXxXxX
The door slammed shut behind her and she released Matt's arm.
"What were you thinking?" she argued, keeping her voice as low as possible so Rachel wouldn't hear her.
"Well, she's a big Broadway star you know, one of the main stars of Wicked actually, you'd maybe know that if you took your head out of the clouds every once in a while. I thought it would be a nice surprise for you to reunite with an old friend. Clearly I was wrong."
Quinn scoffed, "Rachel Berry is certainly no friend of mine; she never has been and she never will."
She could feel Matt's eyes on her, a suspicious gaze; as if he knew she wasn't being entirely honest about her past with Rachel. Thankfully, he was distracted from his observations when his pager beeped.
"I've gotta go, Quinn. Something's come up at the office. Just make sure you get all the info we need," he told her as he started off down the hallway in the direction Quinn had come in.
"No way, Matt! You can't leave me here on my own with her!"
"I'm sorry, Quinn but this is your story, I was merely here as an observer. You're the only one available to do this."
"Then reschedule it! I can't go in there, Matt!"
"We can't! It took a lot of convincing to get Miss Berry to do it today; if we cancel we may never get this interview! I need you to do this Quinn, this is your job and if that was any other girl in there you wouldn't think twice about it."
"But it's not just any other girl. It's Rachel freakin' Berry! I spent the majority of my high school life fighting that girl for the affection of my boyfriend!" Shoot! Ex-boyfriend, Quinn! Ugh, why did this all have to happen in one day?
"Quinn, I won't take no for an answer. I hate to tell you this but in the adult world, we all gotta do things we don't wanna do at some point so go in there and do your job. If you don't meet the interview requirements then consider yourself fired!"
She knew he wouldn't really fire her because in their own weird little way, they were actually friends but Quinn knew he really would make her life hell if she didn't do this. Fighting back her pride, she sighed in defeat, "Fine but the pay better be good."
"You're a star, Quinn!" his grin returned, before he sprinted off down the hallway and out of sight.
Quinn whirled back around so that she was facing the door, taking a deep breath before opening it and re-entering the room.
Rachel's head shot up as she entered and almost looked surprised that she had returned. As Quinn sat herself down in the seat opposite the brunette, she could actually feel the awkward tension between them. She and Rachel had never really been "friends" and hadn't set eyes upon one another since they graduated from high school. There was something unusual about their "relationship" though, it might have been the fact that they fought over the same guy for the majority of their high school years, but Quinn wasn't so sure that explained that almost excited feeling she got whenever she seen her. Even right now, as they sat alone in silence, Quinn felt that excitement building up within her. Sure, she despised Rachel Berry but this feeling, whatever it was, was trying to override her hatred of the diva.
Rachel cleared her throat in an attempt to snap Quinn out of her daze. It worked. The blonde shot her gaze towards Rachel with that old, bitchy cheerleader threatening glint in her eyes that she remembered so well. It was barely audible but Quinn was sure she heard Rachel whimper before backing her chair up an inch or two. Satisfied with her reaction, Quinn brought her attention down to the clipboard in her hands. "Sooooo…what does a star like Rachel Berry like to do in her spare time?" she asked, reading off the clipboard and trying to convince herself that this was just a normal interview.
"Pfft. Yeah, same old Quinn I see. Not even a 'hello' or 'how you been?'…just straight into her work." Rachel didn't seem pleased.
"That was my own question actually." Rachel looked Quinn in the eyes, seeming hopeful. "'Cause I'm just dying to know what you do whenever you're not playing the Wicked Witch of Whatever." Quinn finished, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
"Thank you so much for your concern, Quinn." Rachel spat back. "And I'll have you know, Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West, and ever since the very first time my dads and I came here to see the show on my fifteenth birthday, I knew I was destined to play her."
Quinn snorted back a laugh. "Like you can relate? You don't have a wicked bone in your body, Berry."
"Her title can be misleading for those who only know her from the Wizard of Oz but if you had actually bothered to do your research for this interview, you'd know that she is purely just a misunderstood young woman."
"Are you insinuating I don't do my job properly? That I don't research for interviews?" Quinn asked Rachel, her anger rising. "I didn't know who I was interviewing until the moment I walked in here. There's not enough money in the world to convince me to stay in a room with you, Berry!"
Quinn got up and stormed out the room, slamming the door hard enough to make Rachel wince. If she could actually think straight right now, the diva would have approved of that true Rachel Berry style storm out.
XxXxXxXxX
By the time Quinn got home all she could think of was her bed and how much she wanted it to swallow her whole. As she spread out on her duvet, she gazed up at the ceiling and wondered what she must have done to deserve everything that happened to her that day. Her room felt bare without Finn and she wasn't sure how she felt about it yet. In a sense, she felt free; she could finally be her own person again rather than carrying around the heavy load that was Finn Hudson, but she also felt insecure and vulnerable, two feelings that scared her more than anything else in the world. In an attempt to distract herself from her thoughts, she sat upright and grabbed her laptop from her bedside table. Before she knew it she was emailing NewYorkStar.
To: NewYorkStar
From: LittleMissOhio94
Subject: Bad Day
I have just had the mother of bad days! No scratch that, it has been the mother of bad days with a berry cherry on top!
My boyfriend left me, though I'm not sure how I feel about that yet. I mean I feel relieved (gosh, I sound horrible, don't I?) but I've been used to having him around for so long so it feels weird that he's gone for good, I guess. It's like losing your pet puppy…no wait, that would make him cute and fluffy erm…ah I know! He's like the homeless guy a few blocks from here, I see him every day so if he suddenly inherited money from some rich dude and went to live in a mansion, I'd feel kinda weird not passing him on my way to work, if that makes any sense whatsoever.
And to add to that, I had a run in with an old "friend" of mine today. Not too sure how I feel about that either. I think I may have been a little harsh but I suppose I have my boyfriend ex-boyfriend to blame for putting me in that kinda mood. Anyway, after my tremendously bad day all I could think of was messaging you. Somehow, it seemed like the only thing that would make me feel better and you know what? It's already done its job and I've not even sent it yet.
Ok, sending now ;)
Quinn smiled contentedly as she awaited her friend's reply. Two hours and a bottle of wine later, her laptop beeped: signalling a new message.
To: LittleMissOhio94
From: NewYorkStar
Subject: Re:Bad Day
I've not exactly had a great day either. Much like yourself, I found myself reacquainted with an old friend, but no matter, my day seems like a ray of sunshine next to yours.
I understand where you're coming from. There was a guy I dated in high school and I left him as soon as I realised he was tying me down. I'd spent years obsessing over him but now, looking back, I'm not quite sure why. What I mean to say is, I think the only reason I stuck with him was because he wanted me back and that made me feel safe, so I clung to that for as long as I could until one day I woke up with my future planned out except he wasn't in it, and I guess he never really was, I'd just refused to acknowledge it. I'm sure you'll have that day soon :)
You sound like you have a guilty conscience to me. Maybe you should just apologise to this "friend" of yours. That way your conscience is clear and he/she would probably appreciate it.
I've been waiting to message you all day and this is literally the first and only thing I've done since I got in. And as much as I'd love to keep typing, I really should go and feed Elphie. Let me know how everything goes though, yeah?
XxXxXxXxX
Knock. Knock. Rachel rolled over to check her alarm clock. 3.11am. Who in their right mind is knocking on my front door at this time? Curious, Rachel shifted out of bed, careful not to wake Elphie since she'd no doubt wake the whole building up. She grabbed the baseball bat from her closet, just in case, before making her way towards the front door. She unlocked the door as quietly as she could, held her bat up in ready-to-attack mode and then swing the door open, revealing a somewhat amused blonde.
"You aren't gonna hit me with that thing now are you, Berry?" Quinn asked as a smirk crept upon her face as she took in the view of a half-naked Rachel Berry.
To be continued…