Chapter 4 – A Professional Relationship
A/N: Hey guys, sorry it's been a while since I updated this, school's been keeping me busy. Reading week is coming up soon though, so the next chapter should be a little quicker. Once again, thank you for all of your reviews, favourites and follows – they really are great motivators. Also, my knowledge of musical productions is pretty much limited to the perspective of the orchestra, so I apologize if it's super inaccurate.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not glee, not spamalot etc etc ad naseum.
"Kurt, we're going to be late, and I don't think you want to incur the wrath of Quinn any more than I do, so…" Rachel waited impatiently for Kurt to catch up as the finally arrived at the theatre.
"For God's sake, slow down Rachel! We're still on time, I don't know why you're so worked up."
Rachel knew why she was worked up. It was their first day of rehearsals for Spamalot, and more importantly, she might see Quinn for the first time since their heated discussion in the coffee shop. Rachel wore a blue dress that fell to just above her knees; despite her changing sense of style she still preferred dresses and skirts to jeans. She had just barely managed to restrain herself from pulling out a matching blue headband.
Rachel wasn't sure if she would see Quinn today. They were doing a read through of the script with most of the main cast members, but she hadn't heard for sure that the former head cheerleader would be there. Knowing Quinn, if she didn't want to be there, she would undoubtedly come up with a story to explain her absence.
The brunette paused when her hand touched the faded handle of the theatre's front door, turning around to give Kurt a firm look.
"Remember the rules?"
"I'll keep my word" Kurt nodded solemnly "No talking about high school or Quinn's past in front of her friends."
"Good. The plan is to build a new relationship slowly, gradually opening her up to a healthy acceptance of her past." Rachel nodded authoritatively. It was a good plan. Her plans were always were.
"I'll stick to the plan as long as you do, Rachel" Kurt gave her a knowing look.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just saying, you've always been a little…I suppose you could say overly eager, when it comes to Quinn."
Damn him and his smug, knowing face.
"Kurt, I have absolutely no idea what you're referring to."
Quinn watched from her chair at the end of the board room as cast members started to arrive, feeling uncharacteristically anxious.
"You okay Quinn?" it was Brandon, her producer and close friend.
"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Quinn tried to tease with her usual low dry tones, but the words ended up coming out high and breathy.
Brandon and Chris were the only ones that knew anything about her past with Rachel and Kurt, and what she had told them was fairly limited. The diva and her best friend hadn't arrived yet, and Quinn had been reduced to checking the time on her cell phone every thirty seconds for the past ten minutes.
Several nail-biting minutes later, Quinn caught an earful of Rachel and Kurt's distinct voices out in the entrance way. She had only seconds to steel herself before they walked in the door side by side.
Giving them a bare nod of acknowledgment, Quinn forced herself to look elsewhere, but she couldn't help watching Rachel out of the corner of her eye. The brunette's dress reminded Quinn of high school Rachel – sweet, naïve and loyal. For an actor, Rachel was doing a particularly bad job of disguising the fact that she was staring at Quinn, and Kurt did little better. Rachel never was good at subtlety. Crap. Stop thinking about Rachel. Professional.
Soon all of the major cast members had arrived, and Quinn was ready to address the room. She made her way to the head of the table and cleared her throat meaning fully. In a single moment, Rachel's big brown eyes locked on to hers, conveying a world of understanding and sadness and…other things that Quinn couldn't identify. Quinn looked away awkwardly.
Quinn cleared her throat loudly to get everyone's attention. Time to get this show on the road.
Rachel let out a long breath. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of Quinn for more than half a minute at a time over the past several hours. Shortly after she and Kurt had arrived, Quinn had given a short talk on her artistic vision for the musical, and let them know that she would be meeting with all of them individually to talk about their roles.
It was a transformation. Rachel had known that Quinn was smart, even quite talented. But she had never seen her speak with this level of passion before. She had seen hints of it in high school. Hints like the angry fire in Quinn's eyes when she performed "It' a Man's World" for the glee club, or the quiet happiness and pride when she told Rachel that she got into Yale. Looking back, Rachel wondered if Quinn had been so occupied trying to cope with all of the crap life had thrown with her that this side never had a real chance to come out.
Whatever the case, this new Quinn took Rachel's breath away. Despite the fact that she couldn't walk or dance anymore, she seemed so much more comfortable in her own skin.
Once she had finished her talk, Quinn had them start on a basic read through of the major parts of the play, adding her input as they went along. Rachel couldn't help thinking that Quinn had commented on her parts much less frequently than the others, and with less detail. Was she trying to ignore me? Or am I just paranoid? Kurt would probably tell me to stop overthinking this.
Now they had finally finished their run through, and thus the practice. Quinn had left moments before, claiming that she needed to 'check on the dancers'.
What's the phrase people normally use in these sorts of situations? Ah, of course. Check on the dancers my ass. Rachel's thoughts took a somewhat resentful turn. After all, if she stayed she might actually have to make eye contact with me for more than half a second. We wouldn't want that.
Kurt was chatting with a couple of the other main cast members, but Rachel decided that she wouldn't let Quinn get away that easily.
A determined look on her face, she followed Quinn's path out the front door into the front lobby, where she could see her target chatting casually with a couple of the dancers.
She stopped, taking a moment to observe Quinn's behaviour. Just as she was thinking how relaxed the blonde looked, she noticed something odd. One of the dancers was running her hand gently up and down Quinn's arm, obviously flirting with her by the sultry look on her face. What the hell?
An unpleasant, slightly nauseous feeling made itself known in the pit of Rachel's stomach as she tried to inconspicuously draw closer in order to discover the dancer's intentions.
"Are you sure? I can't do anything to change your mind?" The dancer, a young woman named Kayla if Rachel's memory served her right, had her bottom lip pushed out in an obvious pout. Rachel noticed that her hand was still lingering around Quinn's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Kayla, but I already made plans to go out with Chris, Brandon and Ben tonight." Quinn didn't sound very sorry.
"Maybe another time then?"
"We'll see."
That sounded like a rejection to Rachel. She couldn't help feeling slightly satisfied, telling herself it was because it had been such a foolish thing to ask. Who did that girl think she was anyway? Quinn was one of the straightest girls Rachel had ever known. Not to mention, if a girl had asked Quinn a question like that in high school, they would have gotten a much harsher rejection than "we'll see". Kayla had no idea how lucky she was to get off so lightly.
The dancers had retreated for now, leaving Quinn alone. Rachel decided to make her move, walking up behind her chair, anticipating a moment of private conversation when-
"Quinn, Rachel!"
It was Ben, another member of the crew that Rachel had met earlier. She got the impression that he was part of Quinn's circle of friends, although perhaps not as close as Chris or Brandon. He had spotted them from across the room and was now headed their way.
Quinn frowned as Ben's call alerted her to Rachel's presence. She turned around, raising one disapproving eyebrow at Rachel as Ben made his way to meet them.
"Hey girls! Quinn, we're all still going out tonight right?" He was practically glowing with childlike excitement.
There was a tense pause.
"Yes."
Ignoring Quinn's obvious reluctance to discuss the subject, Brandon's smile widened, if such a thing was possible.
"Great!" Then it was like a light bulb went off above his head. "Hey Rachel, I don't suppose you want to join us? It'll be fun…" He looked at her expectantly.
"Rachel was just saying that she has plans for tonight. Isn't that right Rachel?" Quinn spoke in a falsely cheery voice, the message clear: go along with this or face the horrifying consequences.
Rachel gulped audibly.
"Uh, of course. Of course. Yes. I have plans, with… Kurt! Yes. I couldn't possibly cancel; he gets terribly upset about these sorts of things." Rachel trailed off awkwardly, nodding to try to make it more convincing.
"That's too bad. Anyways, I need to talk to Brandon, I should get going. I'll see you at the next rehearsal Rachel." Quinn's smile sent cold chills down Rachel's back. This was the Quinn Fabray she remembered.
"Bye Quinn." Rachel said quietly. She couldn't help feeling a little hurt. The rational part of her knew this was just a defense mechanism, but it still stung that Quinn didn't want her around.
Ben had a puzzled look on his face as Quinn wheeled away. "What was that about? Seriously Rachel, don't let this scare you off, she's normally a super friendly person."
Rachel smiled, somewhat amused by Ben's blatant honesty.
"Don't worry about it Ben. In fact, I suspect she was just a little put off because of the way Kayla couldn't take a hint earlier." That was a good excuse. After all, it had been off putting for Rachel and she wasn't even the one experiencing it.
"You think so?" Ben questioned, looking a little surprised. "I've always kind of thought they would be a cute couple."
Rachel was pretty sure her eyebrows were disappearing into her hairline.
"Well, maybe, if Quinn was interested in women. Even then I'm not convinced." She tried not to sound to condescending, but had a sneaking suspicion it came across in her tone of voice anyways.
"Rachel…Quinn is interested in women. She's gay."