When Santana woke up, she jumped out of bed. She didn't see Noah next to her and she didn't recognize where she was. After she caught her breath, she remembered she was in her own bedroom, in her own apartment, in Maine. She laughed as she made her way to the bathroom.
After she finished eating breakfast, she sat on her patio furniture thinking what she had to do today. She didn't have to work out, she didn't have to clean, she didn't have to cook. She didn't have to do anything. She could do what she wanted. Maybe she could walk around the town or find a pool and sun bathe. Or she could go to that bar Sam told her about and drink in the middle of the day, she could do whatever she wanted. And there was no one to tell her a damn thing about it.
She noticed a sheet of paper by her front door. She picked it up and read it.
Gabby! It's me, Sammy! I get off work at 12:00 again today. I'll stop by later so I can show you the community center so you check the job postings and then I'll help you paint. I'll provide the brewskis this time.
Hasta la vista, baby.
P.S. I'll try to bring you back some breadsticks.
Santana laughed and noticed that she had a little over three hours to kill before Sam would make an appearance. After she showered and got dressed, she set up the rest of her stuff in her room. There wasn't much but she didn't mind because she didn't need much.
She began to lay down the plastic tarps on the hardwood floors to keep it from getting dirty. She got everything ready for when Sam got there. Just when she was going to sit down, there was a knock on the door. She looked up at the clock on the wall and decided it was too early for it to be Sam.
"Who is it?" Santana called through the door, her voice slightly quivering as her anxiety began to build. She doesn't know anyone here. She looked through the peephole to see a woman and let out a breath of relief.
"Hi, I'm Tina Cohen Chang. I live next door and I thought I'd introduce myself. I brought muffins." The woman held up a basket of muffins so they could be seen through the peep hole.
Santana doesn't answer, she just unlocks all the dead bolts and opens the door. "Hi, I'm Gabriela. Um, my place isn't all that ready for company but would you like to come in? Sam hooked me up with some nice lawn chairs." She offered a timid smile. No one could hurt her. She knew no one could hurt her anymore.
"That sounds nice." Tina handed Santana the basket and followed her into the apartment.
"Do you want anything to drink? I have water and beer. Oh, and apple juice." She offered as she set the basket on the kitchen counter and grabbed a muffin.
"Water is fine." Santana motioned to the living room for Tina to sit down. When they both sat down Tina asked, "So you met Sam?"
Santana finished chewing before answering. "Yup, these are delicious by the way." She enthusiastically nodded. "I just got here yesterday and he was my server at the diner. He offered to show me around. He'll be here later to help me paint." She pointed to all of the painting supplies surrounding them.
"Yeah, that sounds like Sam. Have you met anyone else here?"
"Well, there's you and the Ms. Pillsbury. Oh, and at the bus station I met a Quinn Fabray and her daughter. But that's it."
"Oh, Quinn. You're bound to meet her sooner or later. She's like the deputy mayor and she and her wife are on like every committee there is around."
"Yeah, that makes sense. She did seem like the type to be in charge. Their daughter is adorable." She smiled as she thought back to Becca poking her to see if she was still alive.
"Do you have any kids?"
"No, thank God I don't." Santana quickly says earning her a curious look from Tina. "No, it's not that I don't like kids, I just..." Santana deliberates on whether she should she was married to an awful man. "I stupidly got married straight out of high school. So it's never been a matter of not wanting them, it's always been that I shouldn't."
"I'm sorry." Tina puts a comforting hand on Santana's lap. She flinches, and Tina notices and pulls back her hand. "How long were you married for?" Tina hesitatingly asks.
"Seven years." Santana drops her head a little in embarrassment. Seven years too long.
Tina picks up on Santana's discomfort and changes subjects, "So what do you do?"
"Nothing, I was a 'trophy wife' so I never had to do anything. Four years of accounting in college for nothing." she scoffs.
Tina perks up at that response. "Wait, accounting?"
"Yeah..." Santana was a bit confused at Tina's enthusiasm. No one ever likes accountants.
"That's perfect. I mean, you just got here so you don't have a job, right? Do you need a job?"
"Yes, I do. Are you hiring?"
"No, I'm not but Brittany is. She needs help balancing the budget and all that stuff. She could handle it before but she took on more clients and, you know."
"Do you think she'd even hire me? I mean, I've never had a job. No experience." Just another reminder of how much she let him control her.
"She wouldn't mind. Let's face it, everyone kinda' hates numbers and you have a degree dealing with them. That gives you an edge in this town." Tina explained.
"What does Brittany do?"
"She has a dance studio here and occasionally choreographs videos and stuff. She's been traveling more recently since expanding. She was even flown to help choreograph some Broadway stuff earlier this year."
"Wow, that sounds great but I don't have any experience with accounting, let alone experience with a dance studio."
"As long as you can balance the books, I think you'll be fine. Are you busy now? I can take you there now, if you want." Tina offers.
"Sure. Sam isn't coming until after 12. What should I wear?" She asks as she stands up and heads for her closet.
"What you have on is fine, I'm sure. Brittany's usually drenched in sweat so she really isn't in a position to be demanding."
"Are you sure?" Santana ask.
"Of course, Gabriela."
Santana walked out with Tina out to her car. She could trust Tina. Most aggressors are males so statistically Tina wouldn't do anything to her. She still felt a bit uneasy but only because she was embarrassed. She just knows that Tina knows what she went through.
During the car ride over there, Tina asked her some more questions about herself but Santana changed topics as soon as she could. Before she knew it, they pulled up to a building with large tinted windows with a silhouette of a dancer doing an arabesque. The name across the top of the dancer was "Pierce Studios" in script.
"Come on, she usually has slow mornings. Don't be nervous, all right? I swear, everyone loves Brittany. She's super sweet. I've only seen her mad once and that was waaay back in high school, you'll be fine." Tina tried her best to comfort Santana.
"Why are you doing this?" Santana asked when they were about to walk in.
"What do you mean?" Tina furrowed her brows.
Santana wrapped an arm around herself. "You gave me muffins and you're helping me get a job. You don't know me. Why are you doing this?" She didn't want Tina to feel bad for her, that just made her feel even more like a victim.
"We don't get a lot of people here. Just trying to be friendly." Tina shrugged her shoulders. "Come on, in you go." She said as she held the door open for Santana. Santana didn't say anything but nodded and walked in.
The first thing she saw was the myriad of pictures and awards lining the walls. The majority of them were First Place awards but there were the occasional Participation ones scattered in between. She looked through a few before her eyes landed on a small picture of a gorgeous blonde dressed like a ballerina. Santana couldn't take her eyes off her. The smile the woman had in the picture captivated her. She wanted to know more. She let out a sigh. She had no idea who this woman was. Even if she did, she couldn't let herself get too close. She knew it was a bit presumptuous but she really wanted to know what made the blonde smile like that.
She turned her head to the left to ask Tina about the woman when a voice coming from the right scared her.
"I was 19 in that picture. It was the closing act." A delicate voice proudly told her, slightly calming her nerves.
She quickly turned and was faced with the beautiful blonde from the picture. They locked eyes and as much as Santana wanted to keep looking into those baby blues, it was too much for her to handle and she looked away while taking a step back.
"Hi, I'm Brittany S. Pierce." Brittany introduced herself and held her hand out for Santana to shake.
Santana was hesitant to shake her hand but quickly did anyway. "Gabriela Hernandez."
"I know." Brittany chuckled and Santana couldn't help but smile. "You've been staring at the Kudos Wall for almost ten minutes. Tina took that opportunity to barge into my office to tell me that, and I quote," Santana laughed at the mock serious face Brittany made, " 'hot nerds do exist'."
She cleared her throat, "I guess Tina likes to exaggerate."
Brittany playfully ducked her head. "Actually, she was understating..." Santana instantly felt her cheeks heat up and looked down. "But anyway, my office is this way. Let's talk there." Brittany said as she placed a guiding hand on the small of Santana's back.
Santana felt the hand and jumped slightly, causing Brittany to immediately pull back her hand. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you? Are you all right?" Brittany hurriedly asked worried that she had hurt her.
"No, it's fine." Santana couldn't bring herself to look at the blonde. "I'm sorry, maybe this was a mistake. Maybe I'm not ready yet." Santana said more to herself but still loud enough for Brittany to hear her.
"Ready for what, Gabriela? I'm sorry I hurt you. Please come with me. My office is this way and I promise to keep my hands to myself, okay?" Brittany asked.
"Okay."