I was going absolutely insane waiting for rehearsals to start. This was the first time in years that I had time off and I was not handling it well. It was my last day off before rehearsals when Jesse called me.
"Hello?" I said as I sat on my bed flipping through a magazine.
"Rachel you are the best person in this entire world!" Jesse said and I smiled as I closed the magazine and laid down on my bed.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Because that audition you sent me to I just heard back and I got the part!" He said and I sat up.
"That is great, so did you meet the director?" I asked being as I hated not knowing who I was going to be working under.
"No, the only people I met were Rodger and Livia." He said and I sighed.
"That's too bad but I am so happy for you. So are you excited about rehearsal tomorrow?" I asked and he laughed.
"Yes five am rehearsal, my favorite. You know I haven't had rehearsal that early since high school." He said and I laughed remembering the horror stories about Shelby's rehearsals.
"It won't be too bad. So lets celebrate." I said as I sat up and waited for Jesse to say something.
"I don't know we have to be up early..."
"Come on, dinner and a movie at my place that is all I am asking." I said and there was a slight pause.
"Is it really going to be at your place?" He asked and I laughed.
"Yes it will really be at my place. Grab us something to eat and then come over around seven..."
"So I have to grab something for us to eat?" He asked and I laughed.
"If you want this to be a real date then yeah you have to provide the food." I stated and the line went silent for a second.
"Did you just say that this was a date?" He finally asked.
"Yes, unless you don't want it to be..."
"No I want this to be a date, like really want this to be a date." He stated and I laughed as I heard my phone beep alerting me that I had another call coming in.
"Good, now I will text you my address but I have to go being as I have another call coming in. Just remember to be there at seven." I stated and he laughed.
"I will be there, with food." He said and I sighed not wanting to end the conversation.
"Bye Jesse."
"Bye." He said as I switched lines.
"This better be good." I said as I answered the other line and I heard Puck's laughter fill the phone.
"What did I interrupt?" He asked and I sighed.
"Nothing. So what are you doing?" I asked as I heard the radio playing in the background.
"I am driving to Shelby's to go pick up Beth so I can take her for the week. Apparently Shelby has a new job and she thinks that the first week is going to be pretty rough." He said and I sighed.
"Puck I know that we agreed that we could talk about this whole thing but I am not ready for the whole her coming up in casual conversations." I said and I heard him sigh.
"Berry you are driving me nuts with all these rules. I mean I am starting to miss the days that you didn't know that Shelby was in town." Puck said and I rolled my eyes.
"Ha ha. So what are you going to do with Beth?" I asked and he sighed.
"I don't know, I mean this is the longest period of time that I am going to have her to myself. I mean Shelby lets me watch her for like a few days at a time but never a full week or something like that." Puck said and I shook my head.
"You are going to be fine. I mean Beth loves you and you are in New York there are tons of things to do." I stated and he laughed.
"Yeah well most of those things are on the banned list with Shelby he said and I laughed.
"I wasn't talking about bringing your daughter to a strip club Noah." I stated and I heard him choke on something he was drinking.
"That was not what I was referring to Rach." Puck said and I smiled forgetting that Puck was now the new and improved Puck.
"I'm sure. Doesn't she have school anyway?"
"Yeah she has school during the day but she is very active and I have to find something to do with her." Puck said and I smiled being as I was getting to see how great of a dad he was.
"Take her to a football practice or to the park. Think of something, you're a smart guy."
"I know. So about that St. Jerk guy." Puck said peaking my interest.
"What about him?" I asked and I could hear the smile forming on his face.
"Go for it with him. He seems to have changed and he is great to Beth and anyone who treats my kid that well is totally good enough for my jewish princess." Puck said and I smiled.
"Aww, thanks for telling me who I can and can't date but you are a little late on that one, I already asked him out..."
"Wait was that what I was interrupting when I called?" Puck asked.
"Yes, not that it matters." I stated and he laughed.
"It does matter." Puck said.
"You know what if you keep this up Noah I am going to start hounding the girls that you date mister." I said and he laughed.
"Oh because I am so scared." Puck said and I chuckled.
"You should be, I will give them the whole Berry work over."
"That sounds dirty. I like it." He said and I felt my jaw drop.
"That was not what I meant Puck." I said as he laughed.
"Sure it wasn't. Anyway I am here so I am going to have to let you go and I will see you later. Okay?"
"It wasn't what I meant!"
"Bye Rachel..."
"Noah Puckerman!" I said as I heard him laugh before he hung up the phone and I groaned knowing that Puck was never going to let me live this down.
I sent Jesse a text with my address and then threw my phone on the nightstand next to my bed and got up out of bed and went into the kitchen and made myself something to eat for lunch being as it was a little after three pm now.
After I finished eating I went ahead and took a shower and then I got onto my laptop and checked my email and I was excited when I saw the email from Rodger about rehearsal tomorrow.
Hey Rachel it's Rodger I just wanted to thank you so much for sending Jesse to us for the audition, he was great. Anyway the rehearsal starts at five which will be no problem for you. I cannot wait until you meet our director, I think that you will love her. Anyway Livia wants to hang out with you at some point and I would love to take you out to dinner with our director tomorrow night so just let me know.
-Rodger
I was so excited when I read his email. It was one thing to be a lead in a play it was another thing to be friends with the person who wrote the play and it was just amazing to be asked to go to dinner with the director. I quickly hit the reply button and typed out a quick response.
Hey Rodger I would love to do that. Tell Livia that I will let her know when I have some free time and we will get together!
Much Love
-Rachel :)
I sent the email and then shut my computer and made my way to the living room so I could straighten up a little bit before Jesse came over. I had just finished cleaning up when there was a knock on the door and I slowly pulled myself off my couch and made my way over to the door and pulled it open.
"Seven on the dot." I said as I looked over at the clock and Jesse smiled.
"And I brought dinner." He said as he lifted the bags so I could see them.
"What did you get?" I asked as I led him into the kitchen.
"The best vegan food that will ever pass through those lips." Jesse said as he started to unpack the food and I grabbed two plates and some utensils.
"Is that so?" I asked and he nodded.
"I found this place in college and it took me months to even realize that the food was vegan." He stated and I gave him a look.
"Is that so?" I asked and he nodded.
"It wasn't until I went out with a kid in my acting class who was vegan and they told me that it was their favorite vegan restaurant. I was shocked, to say the least." Jesse said as he started to take the lids off the containers.
"So what do we have?" I asked and he pointed to the first container.
"Well in this container we have the Soba Noodle Salad, here we have some Ginger-Miso Stir Fry, and here we have some Quesadillas with tapioca cheese." He said as he removed the final lid and my apartment was filled with the wonderful aromas.
"You were not kidding." I said as I took a bite of the quesadilla that I had picked up as soon as he revealed it.
"I don't kid when it comes to food. So what movie as we watching?" He asked as he finished filling his plate and I loaded mine with food and then made my way over to the couch.
"I picked a selection from which you can choose from. Of course there is Funny Girl..."
"Of course." He said and I smiled.
"There is Rent, Mamma Mia, August Rush..."
"Seriously?"
"What I like that movie. Anyway there is also Footloose, and Grease." I stated and he sighed as he looked at the DVDs I had already narrowed down.
"Let's go with Rent." He said and I put my plate down and put the DVD in.
"Good choice." I said as I sat back down and started to eat again.
As soon as we were done eating we placed the plates on the coffee table and Jesse wrap his arm around my shoulder as I leaned into his chest. It felt like I was in high school again. It was just like when we used to hang out on our dates only this time there we no secret, no lies, no hidden plans, and no other guys. I didn't remember falling asleep but the next thing I knew my alarm clock was going off and I shot up with a very stiff neck and Jesse's arm wrapped around my waist.
"What time is it?" Jesse mumbled as he rolled over and I looked at the clock.
"Four, and we have to get up." I said as I turned off the television and turned on the lights making Jesse groan in pain.
"Turn them off." He complained and I sighed.
"Jesse we have to be at rehearsal in an hour and it takes twenty minutes to get there, now get up." I said as I grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to get ready.
I could hear Jesse slowly get off the couch and walk over towards the bathroom being s the wood floors creaked with every step that he took and I smiled as he walked into the bathroom as I was brushing my hair.
"I feel miserable." He said as he leaned on my vanity and I smiled as I tied my hair up and then turned to him.
"Yeah well welcome to my life." I said as I turned and walked out of the room and sat on my untouched bed and slipped on my shoes while he closed the bathroom door and went about getting ready.
By the time that he was finally out of the bathroom I had already managed to make coffee and eat half of my breakfast.
"Is this for me?" He asked as he picked up a cup of coffee off the counter and I nodded.
"Yeah. If you want something to eat I think I have some of Puck's breakfast crap in the cabinet." I stated and he shook his head.
"I think I will pass." He said and I gave him a look.
"You have to eat something." I stated and he sighed as he slowly made his way over to the counter behind me and grabbed a banana that was sitting on the counter and slowly peeled it and then took a bite.
"Happy?" He asked as soon as he swallowed the first bite and I smirked.
"Thrilled. Now let's go." I said as I rinsed my bowl and stuck it in the dishwasher and then grabbed my bag and two bottles of water.
Jesse threw the banana peel away and then followed me out the door and waited as I locked it and turned to walk down the street.
"So you walk everywhere?" He asked as we crossed the street and I nodded.
"I have a car but I don't use it very often in the city, it's more of a hassle to have a car than it is to walk." I stated simply as I weaved between the few people that were on the street at this hour.
"I'm guessing that you like the city then?" He asked and I stopped for a second and looked around me at the lights in the center of Times Square.
"I like this." I said as I gestured to the nearly empty streets and the quiet sounds that made up the city before the chaos started.
"You are still that small town Ohio girl that I fell in love with." Jesse said as he took my hand and we started walking again.
"In many ways I am but there are many ways in which I am different." I said as we continued down the street and he looked at me as he swung my hand ever so lightly.
"Oh and how is that?" He asked as we waited to cross the street.
"For one thing I live on my own in this big city." I said and he rolled his eyes.
"You always planned on living in this big city." He countered and I blushed.
"Yeah but I never thought that I would be alone." I said and I felt his hand brush my cheek before he pulled me across the street.
"Things happens." He said and I sighed.
"I know. But I am different." I said and he nodded.
"I'm sure." He said as we stopped in front of the cast door.
"We're here." I said and he looked at his watch.
"That only took fifteen minutes." He stated and I looked into his eyes and smiled.
"So maybe my calculations were a little off, but its better to be early than late." I said as we walked inside and nearly ran into Rodger.
"There you are." He said as he saw me and I gave him a confused look.
"Here I am, what is going on?" I asked and he took my free hand and pulled Jesse and I towards the stage.
"Well the director that I hired wants everyone on stage ready to start at five which means that I have like ten minutes to make sure that every gets here and is on that stage so that when she goes to start everyone is there." He said as we stopped in the side wings of the stage.
"Okay, what can I do to help?" I said and he sighed.
"Nothing, you two were the only ones that I was waiting on. Today isn't a full cast day I only have the seven major characters coming in today which is good being as I was able to get a hold of most of them and tell them that they needed to be here by four forty five, but for some reason I forgot about you two. I guess I am just lucky that you both showed up when you did. Wait am I missing something?" Rodger asked as he gazed down at my hand that was still entwined with Jesse's.
"Nothing major." I said as I pulled my hand away and Jesse casually ran his hand through his hair.
"Anyway Jesse you must come to dinner with the director tonight, it was a demand that she made." Rodger said and I turned and gave Jesse a curious look.
"I guess I can make it." He said and Rodger sighed.
"Thank goodness because if you had said no I would have no idea what I would have done..." He said and I gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Rod, chill out you are going to be fine. This is no worse than having to propose to Livia and that all worked now. Now take a deep breath and just let things happen." I said as Rodger took a deep breath and then closed his eyes.
"You're right, everything is turning out just fine. I just need to relax and let things happen." He said repeating what I had told him.
"What do you need us to do?" I asked as I noticed a few people on the stage.
"I would like to have introduction done with before the director shows up." He stated and I looked over at Jesse.
"I think we can handle that, come with us." I said as I walked with him out on the stage.
"Everybody gather around." I said as the people circled around Rodger.
"Hi I'm Rodger and I wrote the play. Many of you probably remember me from your auditions. I would like to take the time now to let you guys get to know the people that you are going to be working with so if you would just state your name, your part, and maybe your favorite play that would be great." Rodger said as he looked over at Jesse.
"Hi my name is Jesse St. James, I am playing the part of Peter and I love West Side Story." He said and then the girl next to him spoke up.
"Hey, I'm Kimberly Freedmen, I am playing the part of Renee, and I really like that new show that came out last year Seasons of the City." She said and I smiled being as she had just complimented the play that I had previously been in.
"I'm Timothy Brown, I am playing Laurence, and I like the show Spring Awakening."
"I'm Nathaniel Simmons, I am playing Derrick, and I am like in love with Phantom of the Opera."
"Hi, I am Bethany Tyler, I am playing Sarah, and I love the show Fiddler on the Roof."
"Hey my name is Kyle Andrews, I am playing Simon, and I don't have a favorite show, I love all of them but if I had to choose one I would probably go with Rent." He said and I smiled as it was finally my turn to introduce myself.
"Hi my name is Rachel Berry. I will be playing the part of Emily and one of my favorite broadway shows of all time would have to be Wicked, although I am a fan of a lot more shows than just that." I stated and everyone clapped.
"I can't believe you are the Rachel Berry." Kimberly stated and I shrugged.
"It's not that big of a deal. Trust me you will be sick of me by the time that the play actually starts." I joked and she laughed.
"Well now that we have that all out of the way I think that it is time to introduce our director." Rodger stated and we all formed a small line in the center of the stage while Rodger walked down into the audience and grabbed a lady and dragged her onto the stage where we could see her with out the lights blinding us. "Everybody this is our director. Would you like to introduce yourself?" Rodger asked the lady as I blinked my eyes a few times trying to get the blind spots out of them.
"My name is Shelby Corcoran and I will be your director." As soon as she said those words my vision came back and I saw Shelby standing next to Rodger and I felt Jesse grab my hand and squeeze it as I clenched my jaw tightly shut.
This had to be some sort of cruel joke that the world was playing on me. There was no way that after everything that I had been through in my life that she would have been the person that Rodger hired to direct this play. I had to be dreaming, that was it, this was all a dream. Any minute now I would wake up in my bed and I would get dressed to go to rehearsal where I would meet a director that was not the mother that walked out on me three times. That was it I just had to wake up. It was when Jesse squeezed my hand again that I knew that this was not a dream. No this was my worst night mare come to life, standing in front of me dictating which way my career would go.
"So let's get started. If you guys could grab some chairs and set them up on stage I would like to start out this morning by doing a read through..." Shelby continued to talk while Jesse pulled me off to the side and made me look at him.
"Are you going to be okay?" He whispered and I felt myself nod.
"Yeah, it's fine." I lied as Kyle handed me a chair. There was no way that I was going to be okay with this and the only thing that made it worse was the fact that I had agreed to go out to dinner with her and Rodger tonight. Granted Livia and Jesse were going to be there but still it was her. It was the woman that I never wanted to see again once I graduated high school.
I took my chair and dragged it next to Nathaniel and Jesse sat on the other side of me. shelby then went down the line and handed out scripts and she sat in a chair in front of us.
"Okay so the first scene starts with Emily and Sarah so Rachel and Bethany start when you are ready." She said and I looked over at Bethany who nodded and I took a deep breath and read the first line. We made it through the entire scene when she stopped us.
"That was good for a first read. Now I know that it is early but lets get some energy into the scene and I would like you guys to try to do the song this time. I have a CD of the music for right now and we have a pianist coming in later to work on the songs but for right now this will have to do. So Rachel and Bethany I would like you both to stand up and move around this time and as the other characters enter just stand up and join in." Shelby said as Bethany and I got out of our chairs and walked to the space between where the chairs were set up and where she was sitting. We ran the scene again, this time with the song and when we were done we turned to her and she looked at us and nodded slightly as she adjusted herself in her seat.
"That was good for a first run. We will work on some of the vocals later, lets move on to the next scene." She said and we plowed through the rest of the play the same way that we did the first scene. I was just happy when rehearsal was finally over and I walked off stage to find Livia waiting for me.
"You are amazing, even in rehearsals your voice gives me goosebumps." She said as we hugged and I gave her a half hearted smile. "What's wrong Ray?" She asked and I looked around me to make sure it was clear before I pulled my friend to the side.
"The director that Rodger hired..."
"Isn't she great?" Livia said and I sighed.
"Do you even listen to me when I talk to you?" I asked and she nodded.
"Of course why?" She asked and I sighed.
"Beth Corcoran, Shelby CORCORAN, is any of this starting to sound familiar?" I asked and her eyes grew wide.
"Wait so she's..."
"My mom, yeah."
"Rachel I had no idea."
"I know and I guess neither does Rodger." I said and she pulled me into another hug.
"If I had known I would have made him hire someone else..."
"If she is the one that he wants to work with then she is the one that I have to work with. I am just going to have to get through this." I stated and Livia gave me a sympathetic smile.
"If it makes you feel any better Jesse is totally staring at you right now." Livia weakly offered and I laughed.
"It does make me feel better. So what time is dinner tonight?" I asked and she sighed.
"Seven thirty. I will text you to confirm the place and the time. Again I am so sorry." She offered and I shrugged.
"What doesn't kill me makes me stronger right?" I added and she smiled.
"That is the Rachel that I know." She said and I turned and walked over to Jesse.
"So you had no idea?" I asked as we exited the theater and he shook his head.
"I didn't even know that she had a new job. I mean I personally thought that she might have been moving back to Lima being as she just went there for something when I had to watch Beth. I had no idea I swear." He said as we walked down the now overly crowded street.
"Yeah well it is just something that I am going to have to deal with." I said as I dashed into the street as the don't walk hand started flashing and Jesse followed me.
"So how are you feeling about dinner tonight?" He asked as we walked and I rolled my eyes.
"Fine now that I understand the whole her demanding that you went to dinner with us thing." I stated as we moved through an overly large crowd of tourist who had stopped to take a picture with something in the store's window.
"You really do not like tourist do you?" Jesse asked as I plowed my way through another tour group and I sighed.
"That is the one thing about the city that I cannot stand. I mean I get that New York is a wonderful place to visit and all but what is with stopping in the middle of the sidewalk when people are trying to get by? You would think that they would be more considerate than that." I stated and he took my hand as we walked the last block to my apartment.
"Yeah well not every one understands the big city life as well as we do. So how about this you go home, relax, get ready, and I will come over around seven and escort you to dinner." He said as we stopped out side my building and I smiled.
"I would like that a lot." I said and he smiled.
"I am glad being as I wasn't really going to give you an option. I have to make sure you at least attempt to show up for the dinner being at it would just be rude not to..."
"I will show up." I countered and he rolled his eyes.
"Sure you would show up. In about an hour from now you will be furious and pacing your apartment going over reasons why you hate Shelby and why you shouldn't go tonight which will leave me about half an hour to make sure that you are dressed being as I will show up early just to make sure that we make it on time." He stated cooly and I shook my head.
"This dinner tonight is not about Shelby. This dinner is about my dear friend Rodger and I told him that I would be there tonight so I am going to show up no matter how much I wish Shelby was not the director." I stated and Jesse smiled.
"Good. So I will see you in about an hour." He said as he checked his watch and I sighed.
"If you must." I joked and he leaned in and kissed my cheek and then went to whisper in my ear.
"I must." He said before he pulled away and then walked down the street as I turned and entered my building and then walked up the stairs to my apartment.
I made my way over to my bed and laid face down on my pillow and let out a scream. Why was the world punishing me? What had I done so wrong? Why her? I laid there for a few minutes before I rolled over and got out of bed. I had to go tonight, as much as I wanted to back out I made a promise and I was going to keep that promise even if that meant facing my mother for the next year and a half of my life.
A/n: Another chapter and for those of you who guessed it, yes Shelby was the director that Rodger hired. So the next chapter is going to be the dinner which should be so much fun! Well have a nice day/night/whatever it is where you are!
-Katie :)