Thanks again for the reviews…wanted to get this out before Rachel's big party lol. Spin the bottle? Should have done "Strobe Light Twister" ;)
When Rachel got through the door of their condo, she let out a huge sigh of relief. She unbuckled Zack from his car seat and grabbed her cell phone to call Nick to tell him the good news.
"That's great news babe" Nick said on the phone after hearing she got the job. "I'm in the neighborhood actually, I'll stop by" he said.
"You are such a stalker" she jokingly said. "But yeah, come on over" she said as she started to make Zack dinner.
5 minutes later, Rachel was letting Nick in their condo and he headed straight to their fridge.
"More wine?" Rachel asked giving him a funny look.
"Yeah, it's your fault for getting me started today…and I don't have to work so I just sit around and drink all day" he said half joking as he pours himself a glass of wine from the opened bottle that was in their fridge.
"That's nice…maybe you can star in a musical production of Intervention" she said laughing.
"Funny…Do you want a glass?" he asked smiling.
"No thank you…I have to feed Zack, bathe him, and then get him ready for bed" she said sighing of exhaustion. "Maybe if I'm not tired enough, I can sit down and relax and have one later" she said thinking about how nice it would be to relax and do nothing.
"Everything ok?" he asked her as he sat down at their kitchen table.
"Yeah everything's fine. I'm just thinking about the new job, and how I'm going to do all of this while Finn is gone every night working", she said as she continued to chop vegetables up in small pieces for Zack.
"Won't Finn quit that bartending job and be home every night with you?" he asked taking a sip of his wine.
"I honestly don't think he will. He's playing Mr. Tough Guy lately, and I have a feeling he won't budge on this. I don't think he ever truly got over Spring Awakening and what I put him through. This is his way of being in control, since he seems to think that I'm the only one who calls the shots in our family" she said frowning. "I have known Finn long enough to know how he operates. He's trying to prove a point with him being the man of the house, AND…" Rachel says loudly pointing to Nick with the knife in her hand, "…he's also trying to get me jealous of him tending bar to all the hot girls every night" she said smirking.
"That Finn is a lot more clever then he leads on to be huh?" he asked raising an eyebrow. "But why would he try to make you jealous? What's the advantage of that?" he asked.
"Because of all those times you and I were caught holding hands for the newspapers…or, well, you know? Just making out on stage every night and you caressing my naked breasts didn't help" she said while picking up Zack and putting him in his high chair. "I think he's trying to prove a point, and turn the tables on me now" she said putting food in front of Zack.
"Ahhh yes, let's do that play again!" Nick said enthusiastically, while holding his glass up towards Rachel.
"Niiiiick…" Rachel said shooting him a look.
"I'm kidding…I'm kidding" he said interrupting her, knowing what she was going to say. "Look, I know I was an ass towards Finn the last few years, but I think he's a good guy…and I think you should go to that bar tonight and check up on him" he said grinning.
"I don't have a babysitter, and you can't watch Zack, you're half drunk. Not to mention that Finn would freak out if I left you alone with Chad" she said helping Zack take food in his mouth.
"No, but you can put Zack to bed first and I'll just chill on the couch, and you can be back before Finn comes home. You're not going to stay until he closes right?" he asked with a higher voice. "And you can just tell Finn that someone else is watching Zack…it's not a big deal".
"Well, I suppose I can go for an hour or so just to see who these sleezy girls are that he's serving too every night" she said rolling her eyes.
2 hours later…
Rachel walks out of Zachary's bedroom and closes the door softly. She walks through the hallway and can see Nick falling asleep on their couch.
"Nick?" she asks quietly as she walks over to the couch and nudges him. "I'm leaving to go spy on my husband. Are you ok to stay here? I got the monitor on in case you hear him, but he should be down for the night" she said walking over to their hall closet to grab her coat.
"Yeah, yeah…I'm good. Sorry, this is why day drinking is bad" he says squinting his eyes.
"I hear ya Nicholas. Thanks for staying…I should be back in 2 hours tops" she said as she tapped his shoulder and walked away.
When Rachel arrived at the bar, it was already pretty loud and rowdy. She has been there a few times when she and Finn were living down the block, but she doesn't remember it being this crazy. She was carded by the bouncer, which was a first, because they never had a bouncer before.
When she got through the crowd of people to reach the bar, she spotted Finn who was pouring shots in a shot glass for a group of girls. She didn't take her eyes off what he was doing, and noticed he poured a shot for himself. As her eyes widened, she watched all 4 of them, including Finn, clinging their shot glasses and downing them. The girls through him a few singles and walked away, and Finn just smiled and grabbed the empty shot glasses to clean.
"Finn! Finn!" she yelled out as she squeezed her way to a seat at the bar.
"Rachel? Baby what are you doing here? Where's Zachary?" Finn surprisingly asked as he walked over to Rachel to give her a kiss on the cheek.
Damn you Finn, you are always so cute, it makes it almost impossible to be mad at you, Rachel thought as he smiled after he gave her a peck on the cheek.
"I wanted to come and give you the good news" she said almost stuttering. "I got the job Finn" she said to him.
"You got what babe? I can't hear you sorry, you have to speak up!" he said to her because the bar was loud, and then someone called his name out.
"Fud! Come on, I need a beer!" this girl yelled out to him.
"Hold on Rach, let me get a beer for this customer" he said touching her hand and then walking away.
Rachel watched Finn walk away from her and grab a beer and hand it to that girl. She smiled and stared him down the whole time. She also leaned in and whispered something in his ear, but she couldn't decipher what she said.
"Sorry babe, it's real busy tonight you know..it's a Friday" Finn said smiling at Rachel. "Anyway…what were you saying?" he asked her half interested.
"I was SAYING…I got the job at All My Children today" she said almost spelling out the words for him.
"Whose Children babe?" he asked her confused. Finn had knew she was going on an audition for a soap opera but he doesn't remember if she told him which one and he has no idea what she's saying.
"MY children!" she yelled out almost losing patience.
"We only have one babe, you have more?" Finn asked her as he was tugged on the shoulder by a girl who wanted his attention. "Hold on Rach" he said to her, as he tended to the girl who tugged on his shoulder.
"Great idea Nick" Rachel said to herself shaking her head.
"Here" Finn said handing Rachel a drink.
"I-I-I didn't order a drink darling" she said snidely.
"I know, it's on the house. Lucky you know the bartender" Finn said with his signature half smile.
"Yeah" Rachel said shooting him a look. "I know him alright" she said downing the drink.
"Hey Fud!" a girl yells out running to the bar. "I didn't know you work here now" she said.
Rachel just watched this entire encounter and started to feel anxiety. I think I was better not knowing what goes on around here, she thinks to herself.
"Hey Fud, I could use another drink here" Rachel yells out hitting her glass on the bar a few times.
"Uhh yeah babe, I'll be right there" Finn yells out to her signaling 'one minute'.
"Who's that Fud, your wife?" the girl jokingly asks while laughing.
"Actually….she is" he answers her smiling.
"Oh" the girl says surprised. "Well I better be on my best behavior" the girl says leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "We need a few more vodka tonics here Finny" she says walking away to her table.
Rachel notices this, but is trying to keep her head on straight. Ok, I know what that whore was doing, she was just trying to take claim of MY man, but too bad for her he's taken, she thinks to herself as she shoots her a look.
"Rachel" Finn says as he walks over to her. He knows she's watching this entire situation, and he doesn't want there to be a problem.
"What Finn? Where's my drink?" she asked him angrily.
"I know what you're thinking" he says to her as he is making her another vodka and cranberry.
"What's that Finn?" she asks as she looks around the bar for more sleezy girls.
"I told you last night babe, this is all acting. I'm doing this for US" he says to her while handing her another drink.
"How sweet of you Finn" she says shooting him a look and taking a very large sip of her drink.
"Come on Rachel, you of all people have no room to say anything. You made out with Nick for 3 years" he said while washing some glasses.
"Stop bringing this up Finn…I was ACTING" she said leaning into him.
"So am I" he bit back.
"No Finn…this is a BAR…not BROADWAY" she said as she started to down her drink.
"Please leave, I'm working and you are a buzz kill" he said to her as he walked away.
That mother fucker, I'm a buzz kill? A BUZZ KILL? I'll show him a good time alright, and what acting is all about, she thinks to herself. Rachel grabs the attention of Stephanie who just walked out from the kitchen.
"Hey Rachel, how are you? Glad you stopped in tonight? Isn't this great how busy we are?" she said as she wiped the bar around Rachel's area.
"Yeah, thanks for hiring my husband" she said to her trying to be nice.
"Yeah, he saved us. We have been short bartenders, because we started doing theme nights and doing radio advertising. We sorta changed our image, and Finn is a good fit to attract all the ladies. Hope you don't mind we are borrowing your hunky husband Rachel" she says nudging her shoulder.
As soon as Stephanie recognized Rachel's frown, she immediately tried to remedy what she said. "Of course, he is doing this all for you guys" Stephanie said putting her hand on her shoulder.
"Yeah, I heard" Rachel said smiling, "Give me a re-fill please" she said slamming her empty glass on the bar.
"You can have whatever you want Rachel…all on the house" Stephanie said refilling her drink.
As the night progresses, Rachel's getting more buzzed and Finn's buttons on his shirt start to loosen up as the hours go. She notices how much he sweats, but how hot he looks from his shirt half buttoned and his shiny, sweaty hair. She doesn't think he's looking back at her, but he stares at her each time she's not looking at him. Finn is a pro at staring at her without her noticing.
As Rachel continues to sit at the bar alone, a very good looking guy comes up to her to offer to buy her a drink.
"Hi" the guys says smiling and leaning into her.
"Hi" Rachel says back trying not to be rude.
"I'm going to be upfront and not waste any of our time. I'd like to buy you a drink" the guys says smiling.
"Ok, but I'm married" she says showing him her ring on his finger.
"That's fine with me, is there a crime against buying a drink for a married woman?" the guy asks nicely.
"Not that I know of! In fact…let me buy YOU a drink…I have some pull at this bar" she said smiling and waving over to Stephanie.
"Thanks" the guy says as he takes a seat next to Rachel.
Rachel tries to waive Stephanie down, but she's too busy and doesn't notice her. Finn glances over and sees that Rachel has been trying to waive her down but no luck, so he walks over to her, not noticing the guy is with Rachel at this point.
"What do you want Berry?" Finn asks her snidely. Finn NEVER calls Rachel by her maiden name, unless it's to reference the "high school Rachel" that he loved, but would break it out when he wanted to refer to her as a metaphor for her being childish and selfish.
"Well HUDSON, me and my friend here would like 2 vodka cranberries" she said throwing money down on the bar. She knows she was getting free drinks from Stephanie, but out of spite, does not want anything free from Finn.
"Sure" Finn says grabbing the money off the bar and walking away to make their drinks.
"What tells me there's something, or USED TO BE something that has gone on between you two" the guy said pointing to Finn and back to Rachel.
"It's a long story" Rachel said sighing.
"That's a good enough answer for me" he said smiling back and resting his hand on her shoulder.
When Finn gets back, he sees his hand on her shoulder and immediately starts to get furious, but doesn't want to show it so that Rachel 'wins' this fight. He knows that if he punches the guy out, which is exactly what he wants to do, will only give Rachel more ammunition.
"Here's your drinks guys" he said to them smiling. "So how do you guys know each other?" he asked eagerly waiting for the answer.
"Oh, we've known each other for awhile now. We met in Chicago at a Bulls game" he said smiling, trying to make up a story for the bartender.
"What!" Rachel and Finn both said in unison.
"Chicago?" Finn asked as he looked at Rachel confused.
"Uhhh, what? NO, I was never at a Bulls game….in Chicago" she said not believing of all places this guy brings up is Chicago. She knows he's trying to play around with the bartender, but what he doesn't know is that the bartender is her husband, and she spent an entire 3 months alone in Chicago for Spring Awakening a couple years back.
"Yeah…it was a suite I had rented for the playoffs, and she was eating alone at this sushi restaurant so I asked her if she wanted to come along." he said to Finn smiling.
"Ohhh really?" Finn said looking at Rachel nodding his head.
"Uhhh…" Rachel couldn't think of anything else to say because of shock. She took the guy and nudged him over to the corner of the bar to explain the situation.
"What?" the guy said to Rachel. "You are CRAZY! What am I part of some weird sex adventure with you two?" he yelled at her. "That's your husband and you're flirting with a guy like me…he could have punched me out!" he said throwing his arms up and walking out of the bar.
Rachel just put her head down and walked towards the bar. She sat back in her chair and grabbed her drink to take another sip.
"Trouble in paradise?" Finn asked her as he wiped the bar. He knows something went wrong, and wants to make fun of her for that guy walking out on her.
"Very funny" she said trying to break a smile.
"You didn't know that guy did you?" he asked her half smiling.
"No, he wanted to buy me a drink, and IRONICALLY, brought up Chicago. I told him I was married, but he didn't know I was married to YOU!" she said emphasizing.
"He was pretty good looking" Finn says sighing.
"….yeah?" Rachel says not knowing where Finn is going with this.
"I forget how beautiful you are. You can have ANY guy in New York City…hell, you can have any guy in the WORLD, and you chose me!" he said throwing his arms up.
As soon as Finn said that, he leaned over the bar and grabbed Rachel and kissed her very passionately. She was so taken off guard, that she barely had time to respond to his kiss. She just let him kiss her and welcomed the affection.
"Wow" Rachel said stepping back.
"I love you Rachel" he said to her smiling.
"I love you too Finn" she said smiling back.
"I have to go back to work though…will you wait up for me tonight when I get home?" he asked her.
"I'll try baby, but I'm figuring you get home late, and I'm already drunk, and who knows what Nick is doing…" she said slipping Nick's name.
"Nick?" he asked confused.
"Huh?" she asked knowing exactly what she said.
"Is Nick watching Zack right now?" he asked her very serious.
"Yes, yes he is" Rachel said not wanting to lie. She's tired of any secrets they may keep from each other. "Look, FINN…I'm sure your stupid fish is ok" she said to him.
"It's not about Chad Rachel…although I do worry about him in Nick's company. It's the fact that I put my foot down and said he's not allowed to babysit, and you completely and blindly disobeyed me" he said angrily.
"Disobeyed you? You're not my father Finn" she argued back.
"No, if I was your father, you would have listened. I'm just stupid guy you control all the time" he said walking away.
"Finn! Finn!" she yelled out to get his attention, but he wouldn't respond.
Rachel watches Finn walk away and tend to all the slutty girls at the bar.
Rachel grabs her purse and throws money on the bar for a tip and walks out. She looks at her watch and realizes how late it is. Shit, I better get home. Nick is gonna kill me for being so late. Rachel is having a hard time finding a cab because she's a lot more drunk than she wanted to be. She grabs her phone and texts Nick.
::on nyw way. srry for being late:: she tries to articulate to him.
Over at the condo…
Nick had fallen asleep hours ago on their couch. He wakes up from the vibration that's on his stomach. He left his cell on his stomach so he can feel it, and it did the job. He reads Rachel's text and replies:
::no problem. I have been sleeping the whole time on the couch, see you when you get home::
Rachel read the text as she finally found a cab, and tried to reply:
::jst stay over nick, 2 late n I can use you tmrrow::
Nick reads the text and sighs with a smile:
::no prob babe::
Nick knows they're just friends, but can't help but admit when Rachel is needy of him. He doesn't care if Finn is mad, because Finn is the one who decided to bartend all night and Nick is the one who was there for Rachel at the end. He closes his eyes and falls back asleep.
END OF CHAPTER 4
….don't kill me. I just thought it would be a good "cliffhanger"…I normally end all my chapters with a resolution…and given that Rachel is having some crazy ass party tomorrow and I have no idea what's going to happen…I think it's fun to do the same here? No? Lol
