A/N: Okay, this chapter is significantly shorter than the previous one with the reason being, this chapter is more of a filler than anything. It may seem like the plot is moving slowly but I just wanted to give you an introduction to some characters etc. I didn't get a huge response to the first chapter, but it's still a baby story & I like writing it so I'll continue for those of you interested. Thanks for reading!

OH... and just a word of advice... everything may not always be what it seems... make of that what you will ;)

Brittany manoeuvred around tables, delivering coffee and snacks with the grace of a gazelle, a nice change from Quinn, who averaged three broken cups a shift. However, this is where the blonde's talents as a barista ended. She was literally a walking cliché for anything that could go wrong in a coffee house. She mixed up orders, put salt in the sugar shakers, sugar in the salt shakers and through it all, remained entirely unfazed, skipping around, humming some jolly, unidentified tune.

Her genuine, kind and cheerful demeanour made her difficult to be angry with; every time she'd do something wrong, I'd go to yell but couldn't quite follow through, so instead settled for assigning her the simple task of wrapping cutlery in napkins.

I escaped to the kitchen, temple throbbing, after yet another customer had bitched about their salty tea or sickeningly sweet tasting chicken sandwich, and observed Brittany from 'the hole in the wall'.

"Rough day?" I turned to find Quinn, standing behind me, arms folded and an annoyingly smug smirk on her face.

"You know, you're supposed to be helping with her too." I said, turning back to Brittany again, an air of vexation in my voice.

"Oh, because you were so helpful with Kurt." She oozed sarcasm, taking a place by my side which allowed me to shoot her a slightly amused yet somewhat devilish look out of the corner of my eye.

Kurt was our most recent staff member and nightmare trainee. He downright refused to get his hands dirty or wear the apron, he wouldn't serve any customers whose fashion choices he disapproved of and self appointed himself as 'greeter', a position which had not existed until that day, when he made it up.

Similarly to today, Will had asked Quinn and I to help acquaint Kurt with the workings of the shop, a request I had chosen to ignore, leaving Quinn to deal with the handful by herself. I couldn't really blame her for relishing this moment when karma came around to kick my ass.

We stood for a while, watching Brittany and I couldn't help but notice how cute she looked with her tongue sticking slightly out of the corner of her mouth as she worked so meticulously to do good.

The rest of the day passed relatively smoothly with Brittany taking on tasks that would make it virtually impossible for her to mess up.

She proved to be a breath of fresh air in the place. Everyone took to her immediately. Artie showed a particular interest, making subtle flirtatious comments and always trying to get that bit too close; I couldn't help my lips from curling into a satisfied smirk when, every time he shifted nearer, she would shuffle just that little bit further away. Tina and Mercedes seemed to really like her too, which I'll admit, left me a tad jealous that they hadn't taken to me so quickly. Granted, I had somewhat of a reputation for being a bitch which really wasn't my fault, I just try to be really honest with people when I think that they suck. They've warmed to me since.

I followed the final few customers as they exited the shop, bolting the door behind them and flipping the sign to 'closed'. Turning back, I nodded to Puck who was waiting patiently near the speaker system, he didn't need to be told twice before switching off the country music, turning up the volume and allowing 'Empire State of Mind' to flow through the room.

This was something we did every night during clean-up, ignoring Figgins' music rule. Not that it mattered, there was zero chance of him coming by after the shop had closed, he never went out at night for an irrational fear of vampires kept him confined to the safety of his home.

It was customary for us all to sing and dance along, all of our employees were weirdly talented in some form or another and almost everyone could carry a pretty decent tune. I glanced at Brittany whose face had lit up at the sight. She met my gaze and gave me a inquisitive look; I simply shrugged and gestured for her to join in, which she seemed more than happy to do. She sang along and began to move her body in time with the music; suddenly her gracefulness of earlier made so much more sense. She was an amazing dancer and I found myself unable to do anything but watch her in awe, she really was something special.

Between us all, it didn't take long to get the place in order, the music making time seem to pass faster.

"Lopez!" I heard the voice of Puck call to me as I stepped out onto the significantly cooler street.

"Hmmm?"

"Your parents left today, right?"

"Yes?"

"So, is it safe to assume the Saturday party will be held in your humble abode, tonight?" He winked at the word 'humble', as it was probably the furthest thing from an accurate description of my house as you could get. My father was a doctor, and a rather successful one at that, who took great pleasure in parading his wealth around, resulting in our three person family living in an unnecessarily large, six bedroom house. It had fast become the go-to house for parties whenever my parents were out of town. Another great thing about working at Coffee Hut was that we never opened on a Sunday, meaning that Saturday night was always known as the 'Saturday party'.

Quinn, who had been walking a little ahead with Mercedes, made her way back and took me by the elbow. "Nuh-uh Puck, tonight's girl's night!"

I almost felt bad at the disappointed look on his face, but I knew shit would shit the fan with Quinn if I tried to skip out on girl's night in favour of the 'Saturday party'.

"What's girl's night?" Brittany, who had been silent since leaving the shop, piped up.

I went to answer, but Quinn got there first.

"Once a month, we get together and have girl's night. Santana and I've done it every month since we were kids, but sometimes the other girls join us too. We basically watch movies, eat junk food and drink wine. But these two" she gestured at Mercedes and Tina, smiling to show she didn't mind, "are ditching us for their boyfriends tonight."

Brittany looked buoyant with excitement at the explanation. "Can I come?"

I was surprised by her forwardness, after all, we only met her today, we had known everyone else for at least two months before we extended an invitation to girl's night. Quinn offered an answer immediately.

"Yeah, of course. Right, San?" Both girls looked at me, Brittany with big eyes full of hopefulness and Quinn with a certain mischievousness about her that made me uneasy.

Nodding, yet keeping a quizzical eye on my best friend for a moment longer, I responded, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

Brittany bounced on the spot and let out a small squeal. "Oh yay! Kay, here, take my number…" She insisted, grabbing my cell phone from my hand, "and text me with directions."

I nodded again, taking back my phone and watching her run off down the street and into a large, red, jeep, driven by an older looking blonde woman, I assumed was Brittany's mother.

Turning to Quinn who now had a wicked grin on her face, I spoke sceptically, narrowing my eyes, "What are you up to?"

Her expression quickly changed to one of feigned innocence as she sauntered past me, "I don't know what you're talking about."

*Present Day*

*Bang* *Bang*

The loud noise on the wooden door caused me to jump and drop the picture from my grasp.

"You almost ready? Hurry up! I don't wanna be late." Quinn's voice was muffled from out in the hallway.

"Yeah. Be there in a sec." I called back, bending down to pick up the picture from the carpet, taking one last, wistful look before placing it back on the dresser and continuing to my closet to find the outfit I had bought especially for today.

A/N 2: Stay tuned for the next chapter which will include GIRL'S NIGHT, that I plan to have up, hopefully tomorrow, but could possibly be Friday... I guess it depends on demand ;) ... Also, for those of you who are not familiar with my fics, I like to take into consideration, what readers want, as long as it won't interfere with the plot, so if there's anything in particular you'd like to see in one of the character's personalities, a scene taking place in a certain setting etc... don't be afraid to tell me and I'll see what I can do! :)