-1AUTHOR'S NOTE: SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS. IT'S A PRETTY LONG ONE. PLUS IT HAS A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING. THANKS AGAIN FOR TUNING IN. - KRISTINE.
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: DON'T OWN GLEE OR IT'S LOVELY CHARACTERS BUT I DO OWN SYLVIE, MO, AND ISAAC AND BOY DO I LOVE THEM.
CHAPTER EIGHT: A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
- - -
"Artemis Fowl," Noah jokingly greeted when he walked into Isaac's office and found his favorite paraplegic musician. Artie Abrams was the man behind Ezra and Aliza's music. He'd made their good music, great. You could even go as far as to the say he was the one who created the sound that was often described as being so distinctly Ezra and Aliza. Occasionally he even joined them on tour. He smiled as he pounded fists with him.
"Noah's Ark."
"How about them Buckeyes?"
"How about them Long Horns?" Artie shot back with a grin. He hadn't seen Noah this light and happy in years.
"Touché," Noah admitted. At least Artie wasn't an SC fan. Noah did his best not to talk to Michigan, Notre Dame, or SC fans. It only made him angry. Finn Hudson was a Notre Dame fan.
"You're here early." Artie noted. It was rare that Noah beat Rachel to a meeting. At least it used to be.
"Last thing I need is for Rachel to bust my balls and accuse me of not taking this seriously." Noah explained with a shrug. "You know how she is."
"That I do," Artie grinned. Rachel Berry was definitely a headstrong woman who was never afraid to share her thoughts and opinions on just about anything. "So how's it going?"
"Life or Ezra and Aliza part 2?"
"Both."
"Life is decent. I've been hooking up with Tia Cordell, the Victoria Secret model. Ezra and Aliza part 2 is a little more complicated." He admitted softly. "In some ways it's like the past three years never happened. In others it's obvious that not only did we not talk to each other for three years, but why."
Artie nodded. He'd been shocked when Isaac and Mo shared the awful news. He'd thought like many had that Rachel would get over her anger and realize how terrible of an idea going solo was. While they were both extremely talented musicians America had fallen in love with them as a duo and wouldn't be willing to see them as anything else. Charles may be married to Camilla Parker Bowles but the world still thought of him as Prince Charles and his wife to be Princess Diana. "Tia Cordell's pretty hot."
Noah snorted. "Yes she is."
"I'm happy you guys are giving this another shot. Isaac says it's just temporary, but-"
"Everyone's hoping if it goes smoothly enough Rachel will want to get back together." Noah finished for him. It was obvious that everyone was hoping that they were over trying to go solo. It was also obvious that everyone already had Noah penciled in as DTGBT (down to get back together).
"Exactly."
"What if I said I don't know if I can do it?"
"What do you mean? I thought you missed performing with her." During a particularly fun weekend in Las Vegas Noah drunkenly admitted to Artie that he missed Rachel more than anything in the world. He'd said, "I'd do anything to repair this" in reference to their current broken up status. And because Artie knew the confession was a product of a copious amount of alcohol he'd never said anything. He'd carried that secret with him.
Noah sighed deeply and shrugged. "I really hate Finn Hudson though."
Artie thought about telling Noah how he was going to hate Finn even more as soon as Rachel, Mo, and Isaac arrived but decided instead to keep his mouth shut. He'd already had the undesirable job of telling Isaac about Sue Sylvester's phone call. "He is a douche."
Noah laughed and started to say something else when Mo walked in. He stood to give her a quick peck on the cheek before moving over so that she could join him on the couch. "What are you doing here?"
"Isaac thought I should be here," Mo explained as vaguely as she possibly could. "Artie Abrams you're looking unusually hot today."
"I just got a haircut," Artie explained. If this meeting had been called yesterday Mo would have said that he was looking rougher than usual. "You aren't looking so bad yourself Mo."
"Well you know I try," Mo joked with a shrug. "Where's Rachel?"
Noah shrugged. "I'm not sure."
"Did something happen with the two of you?" Mo had sixth sense for when the two of them fought. She didn't have to be there to know that one had taken place.
"No what makes you say that?" Noah lied.
"A manager knows these things," she replied in her best Bubie voice. "What happened?"
"I'd rather not talk about it Mo, but it honestly wasn't that big of a deal." Noah again lied. He was not going to tell them about the precarious situation Finn Hudson had walked in on this morning.
Mo started to again ask what happened when Isaac walked in.
"Where's Rachel?" Isaac asked as he sat down behind his desk. It was unusual for Rachel to be the last to arrive.
"Sorry I'm late," Rachel replied moments later. "I got stuck in traffic." She explained quickly. "Artie!" she squealed as soon as she saw him. She rushed over and hugged him. "I didn't know you were going to be here."
Artie smiled and returned the hug. "It's good to see you too."
Rachel sat down on the couch with Mo she also didn't realize was going to be attending this meeting. She'd honestly thought it would just be her, Noah, and Isaac. She squeezed the others woman hand.
"Well now that we're all here I've got big news," Isaac said. "News that was big enough to constitute both Mo and Artie to attend this little meeting."
"No need for the dramatics Isaac," Noah said with a sigh.
"Sue Sylvester called Artie earlier today to hire him. It seems Finn and Quinn are doing a holiday duet and are waging a sales war with the two of you." Isaac's voice may have sounded calm, but inside he was fuming. He hated Sue Sylvester and everything that bitch stood for. In fact he wouldn't even sign a musician if she was their client. She was just despicable and was willing to do anything for a buck.
"What?" Rachel asked in shock. When Finn had said that they were doing a duet together he hadn't mentioned a sales war or that it would be a holiday duet. This must have been a decision he made pretty recently. Had it been one of the reasons he stopped by her apartment this morning? She had a feeling it wasn't. He was mad enough that surely he would have said something.
"It's true Rachel. She wanted me to write them a song as well as produce the track." Artie assured her. He quickly turned Sue down. Not only was she was horrible to work with and for. There was no way in hell he'd help someone attempt to beat Rachel and Noah. They'd been the ones who made him as prominent in the business as he was. When they first hired him he was an absolute nobody. And still they'd had faith in him.
"And you're sure they're waging a sales war?" Noah knew Sue was that cut throat, but he hadn't thought Finn had it in him.
"Yes," Artie nodded. "I think that's part of the reason she came to me. She wanted to make sure that I wouldn't be able to help you guys."
"But you're going to help us right?" Rachel knew the odds wouldn't be in their favor if they didn't have Artie on their side.
"Rachel do you think in a millions year I would ever choose helping that dolt of a boyfriend of yours instead of you two? Believe me there isn't an amount of money that would have convinced me to help them. I'm here because we're going to give them a run for their money." Artie had called Isaac the moment he got off the phone. He was supposed to be headed out to lay some tracks down in Los Angeles tomorrow but had rescheduled. This was more important though.
"Oh it's fucking on," Rachel fumed. If Finn thought he was going to outsell her he had another thing coming. "We're going to take them down."
"Now that's what I like to hear," Isaac could see dollar signs. A new Ezra and Aliza CD was already guaranteed to sell millions, but this war had the chance to make it the best selling CD in the last decade. "I'll start setting up the talk show circuit. There is no way they'll be able to get more press than you unless of course they release some offensive sextape or something."
Rachel noticeably blanched at the thought.
"Not that they would Rachel," Mo assured her. "Isaac's just a dumbass sometimes."
"It's true occasionally I'm a dumbass." Isaac agreed. "But I'm a dumbass that's going to guide us to victory. Finn and Quinn definitely don't have a supporting cast that can even begin to compete with you guys."
- - -
"I can't believe he's dumb enough to do this," Rachel admitted as she took a long sip of her coffee. She was sitting across from Noah in a quiet coffee shop that was about a block down from his apartment. It had surprisingly been his idea to talk after the meeting. She'd expected him to say something snide about Finn and just leave after the awkwardness of this morning.
Noah resisted the urge to say that he could believe it. He also resisted the urge to point out that Finn was a spineless dick. Instead he went with a noble, "At least Artie gave us a heads up."
"God was it good to see him," Rachel had forgotten how much she missed Artie's quirkiness. He'd made studio time fun. He was as much apart of their little family as Mo and Isaac were. "Do you remember that time he joined us in Japan and convinced us to wear glam rock outfits?"
"He looked ridiculous in that headband." Noah chuckled at the memory. They'd been 20 at the time. By then it was almost as if they were seasoned vets. "But the fans ate it up and the footage was so awesome we used it for our concert DVD."
"Isaac's right," Rachel admitted with sigh. "Nobody has as good of a supporting cast as we do."
Noah nodded, but didn't say anything.
"I'm sorry about this morning." Rachel whispered. "I was a bit spineless when it came to Finn. I shouldn't have let him speak to you that way."
"Is this apology the result of finding out how dirty your boyfriend is doing you?"
"No it's the result of a heart to heart with Sylvie." Rachel admitted with a soft laugh. "His reaction was completely ridiculous."
"Yes, yes it was."
"I've missed you Noah."
His breath caught in his throat. Had she really just said that? He looked up and saw that her eyes confirmed the words had actually escaped her mouth. "I've missed you too."
"Thank god I thought you were going to say something like well I didn't miss you. In fact Rachel Berry I'm such a badass I haven't spent a single moment the last three years giving you a second thought. I'm only doing this special as a way to pay the bills and to get my name back out there. After this special is over I'm fine with walking away and going another three years without talking to you." Rachel rambled. Her attempt at mimicking his voice would have been hilarious if it weren't so damn tragic. "I'm sorry I walked away."
"I'm sorry I pushed you."
Rachel glanced out the window at all of the people who were rushing by. When they first moved to New York they used to go to a coffee shop similar to this one and give the people rushing past a back story.
"That woman across the street used to be a high class call girl, but quite the world's oldest profession when she finally managed to catch the attention of a rich man." Rachel replied as she pointed out an elderly woman in an exquisite Yves St. Laurent coat. "Occasionally she considers moving to Las Vegas and becoming a madam because the money was good and occasionally so were the men who she took in her bed."
"Let me guess her husband wasn't one of them," Noah joked. "You're a bit sex-obsessed Rach."
"Look whose talking." Rachel countered. "All you think about is sex. Even now I'm sure while half of on your mind is actually focused on this conversation the other part is thinking about sex."
"Guilty," Noah admitted with a smug grin. "But I've always been sex obsessed. Your obsession didn't start until-"
"I finally fell your charms and allowed you to show me pleasure greater than I've ever known," Rachel finished for him with an eye roll. She'd heard this speech nearly a million times in the weeks since she allowed Noah Puckerman to take her virginity. It had been a spur of the moment thing if she was being honest. They'd gotten drunk off of champagne at a party. Mo had gone to Connecticut to visit her boyfriend at the time so they'd had the penthouse to themselves. All it had taken was for Noah to suggest it as he seductively kissed her neck and she was a goner. She'd admit that it had been one of her better impulsive decisions. "You sure are full of yourself Noah Puckerman."
"Says the diva sitting across from me," Noah teased. He glanced out the window just in time to see a guy dressed in an outfit that was pure 1986 complete with a headband and a mullet that would make Andre Agassi jealous. "He's trying to start a cult that worships Richard Simmons but is being met with a lot of resistance from the Jane Fonda set."
"Those Jane Fonda fans are pretty vicious."
"Don't call them fans Rachel, they're more than just fans. They are in fact her people. Ted Turner secretly brainwashes them during Braves games."
"I stand corrected."
"Why did you push me away?"
Noah hesitated. Was he ready to admit to her what he was struggling to admit to himself. He sighed. "I had a hard time dealing with your relationship with Finn. It wasn't easy sharing you Rachel and I've honestly never trusted Finn. I'll never think he's good enough for you."
Rachel nodded but didn't say anything.
"Listen for the sake of everything I'm not going to bash Finn. I don't understand how someone who loves you as much as he claims would go out of his way to compete with you this way, but I'll keep those thoughts and opinions to myself."
"You don't have to do that Noah. Finn's an asshole. He really is. And he's not that talented. You should hear the songs that he writes. He thinks they're so good, but mostly they're just confusing." She laughed at the thought of a particularly odd one he wrote about Forensic Files. It would have maybe worked better if he wasn't actually trying to be serious. "And we're going to crush him and that skank if it's the last thing we do. Finn and Quinn will never beat Ezra and Aliza." She raised her hand for a high five.
Noah laughed and slapped her hand. "I was thinking we should write our own song for the big number. We could include everyone. At least in the version for the show. It could be a what we are thankful for type thing."
"Shout out to the fans and include all of the people who helped us get there." Rachel loved the sound of it. "It can be a little bit of everything."
"Let's call the team together," Noah said as he pulled out his phone and quickly started texting. "Enough of this formal bullshit we're going to do this Ezra and Aliza style."
"Meaning what? A lot of booze and food."
"Don't forget the laughter, there is always laughter plus plenty of impromptu music." Noah reminded her. "We'll plan a party and the magic will happen."
"I'll call Sylvie if you call Matt."
"Deal," Noah replied as he shook her hand. He stood to leave. "We'll meet at your place at 7:00."
"Sounds good," Rachel agreed.
Noah smiled and nodded. He started to walk away before stopping and going back to the table. "How did you know that my apartment was fifteen blocks from yours?"
Rachel blushed. She was hoping that he'd forgotten her knowledge of this tidbit. "Abby told me not long after you moved in. She said how she didn't like your new doorman nearly as much as Keith, but that he always had mints so that was a plus. Don't worry I haven't been stalking you."
"The record should reflect that you would in fact stalk someone if you wanted to know something bad enough. I don't need to remind you about Becca Lenkowsky."
"I did not stalk Becca. I merely followed her enough to find evidence that she was in fact cheating on Colin. I did it to help a friend not because I wanted to have a Wild Things moment with her."
Noah refused to allow his mind to think about how hot that that would be. Girl on girl action was almost always hot but it was even hotter when it involved girls as hot as them. At least Becca used to be hot. "Do you even hear yourself when you talk?"
"I'll see you at 7."
"I'll take that as a no."
"Don't pretend you didn't know where I lived."
"We'll never know now will we." He had known where she lived. Abby had told him. In fact he often went out of his way to walk past her building. He was always hoping that one day they would "randomly" bump into each other and would go for coffee and would be able to repair things. Once he'd almost bumped into Finn. Another time he'd actually bumped into her father that she affectionately called "Daddy" and had been surprised when the older man pulled him into a tight embrace. Apparently the Berry men preferred him to Finn. "See you at 7 Rach."
- - -
Finn frowned as he stepped out of the elevator and heard quite the ruckus coming from Rachel's apartment. He had expected her to call by now. He had been waiting all day for her call. He knew he shouldn't show up and pressure this way. And yet he knocked on her door. He just hoped she appreciated the flowers he'd picked up on his way to her visit. He was surprised when an effeminate man in a pink polo opened the door instead of Rachel.
Kurt frowned at the sight of Finn standing there with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a scowl on his face. "Finn Hudson right?"
"Uh yeah," Finn's brow knit in confusion. "Is Rachel in there?"
"No we're just all throwing a bash at her place while she isn't here." Kurt replied sarcastically. "Hold on while I get her."
"I could just come in." Finn suggested.
"I think it best if you didn't." Kurt replied and then he walked away to find Rachel.
Finn was surprised yet again when the door opened and someone other than Rachel was standing there again. This time he at least recognized the person. "Sylvie," he greeted coolly.
"Rachel's in the middle of a jam session right now," she explained. "You have a lot of nerve showing up with wilting flowers."
He started to refute her statement when the door opened and finally Rachel was standing there. He was surprised at her outfit. She had her hair and makeup done and was wearing a beautiful sequined cocktail dress. She looked as though she were preparing for a night on the town. Surely she wasn't about to go out and party when he was going out of his mind waiting for her to call.
"I can handle this Sylvie," Rachel said as she flashed her friend a grateful smile. "Artie's about to play his acoustic version of It Takes Two which I can assure you blew the minds of about a million Japanese people during our Asian tour."
Sylvie shot Finn a menacing look before disappearing back into the noisy apartment.
"Are you having a party?"
Rachel shrugged. "More like a brainstorming session for the special."
"It sounds a lot like a party to me. Who was that guy who answered the door?"
"Kurt, our costume designer."
"Rachel I've been going out of my mind waiting for you to call me and I show up here and find you dressed to the nines as if you're about to hit the town. What the fuck is going on?"
"Why don't you tell me?"
Finn sighed and realized she knew about the duet. He'd been hoping he'd be able to tell her. "How'd you find out?"
"Your precious manager called Artie trying to secure him for your duet." Rachel explained. "Artie is a little more loyal than you are so he warned us about your little challenge."
"Rachel this is just a friendly competition." Finn whined.
Rachel vehemently shook her head no. "A friendly competition isn't done as secretly as this was done. Plus your manager told Artie that you guys were planning on fucking crushing us. How could you let that psycho talk you into this?"
"Don't talk about Sue that way. She just has my best interest in mind." Finn defended his longtime manager. "And you're the one who has so little respect for me that you'd go back to working with a guy who is as disrespectful to me as your precious Noah is."
"You really didn't learn anything from our fight this morning did you?"
Finn started to panic yet again. He knew he was losing her. He could tell by the look in her eyes that she was minutes from banishing him again. "I love you Rachel."
"Do you really Finn?"
"What kind of a question is that?"
"A completely valid one," Rachel said. "You say you love me, but you don't trust me enough to believe that I'd never cheat on you. You allow your manager to push you towards working with Quinn because she's a new young thing who I know she says is better for your career. You're competing with me for a top single not on your own but with that skank who goes out of her way to seduce you. And yet you love me? Does that make sense?"
"I'm not going to get into this fight with you. It won't go anywhere."
"I think we should take a break Finn. You can't get past your jealousy of Noah and I can't get past mine of Quinn. Plus I don't think it's smart to date the enemy."
"The enemy?" Finn questioned in disbelief. "You're really going as far as calling me the enemy?"
"Well you sure as hell aren't an ally. You want to win this competition just as much as Sue does. You can pretend it doesn't matter to you, but it does. I know it does. Because it matters to me. I want to win and I'll do anything to make it happen."
Finn had heard that Rachel was competitive but he hadn't seen this side of her before. It was intimidating to say the least.
"Ezra and Aliza are an American institution and we're about to rock your mediocre at best world." And with that Rachel turned on her heel and went back inside her apartment.
Finn stood there for a moment not sure what to make of the conversation they'd just had. He was pretty sure that she'd just dumped him. He started to reach out to knock again until he heard what sounded a hell of a lot like applause erupt inside. They were spurring her on. They were supporting her decision. Well two could play that fucking game. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts until he landed on his Quinn's name. "Hey Q it's me Finn."
- - -
Sylvie shared a knowing glance with Matt when she saw Rachel noisily kiss Noah's cheek. Earlier when they'd talked they discussed how fun last night had been as well as how close they'd been to hooking up.
"I can't believe we're married." Sylvie said with a sigh.
Matt chuckled. "Neither can I to be honest. When Noah said you got married I think my jaw literally dropped."
"Yeah well I doubt I would have said yes to Hank if you were still there for the always fun hook up." Sylvie admitted.
"I've missed you Syl. I can't believe I feel more invested in my relationships with you, Noah, and Rachel than I am in my marriage."
"I always used to think that one day Rachel would marry Noah and I'd get the balls to fall in love with you and we'd be the coolest married people in Manhattan."
Matt smiled sadly. "It'd be nice if that was our actual life."
"I'll make you a deal."
Matt knew that this was going to be the kind of a deal a married man shouldn't make with a married woman. He also knew that he was more than likely going to agree to it.
"If we can get Rachel and Noah together I think we should dump our spouses and give us a real shot."
"You mean it because I'm not going to divorce my wife just so I can randomly make out with you in seedy nightclubs without having to feel guilty."
"Swear," Sylvie assured him.
"We're so weird Sylvie."
"At least we aren't boring." Sylvie joked. "I'd rather be weird than boring."
"Fuck I hear my wife coming. I'll holler at you later." Matt knew that in many ways he'd just made a deal with the devil, but lord was Sylvie was a hotass devil. Plus she was probably the only girl who'd ever really get him.
"I think we should do a shot to celebrate!" She announced with a grin. "Brown Sugar please help me dole out Jose."
Mercedes knew that she should have been offended by Sylvie's use of the phrase brown sugar but she figured if it didn't bother Matt then it shouldn't bother her.
Once everyone had a shot Sylvie stood on top of Rachel's coffee table, "To crushing Finn and Quinn and reminding them that nobody tries to put Rachel and Noah into a corner." She grinned like she had last night as she savored the burn.
Rachel and Noah glanced around the room and couldn't help but be reminded just how lucky they were. Noah threw his arm around Rachel and drew her close. He quietly sniffed and smiled at the smell of her mango shampoo. "We're so going to take them down."
- - -
AUTHOR'S NOTE: AH! THAT WAS A VERY, VERY LONG CHAPTER. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. I HONESTLY DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW GOOD THIS IS. HAHA. I HOPE IT WAS PRETTY GOOD. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. ARTIE'S HERE. I DON'T KNOW HOW I COULD WORK ANYMORE GLEE CHARACTERS IN. IF YOU HAVE A SUGGESTION DO LET ME KNOW. SIDENOTE HAVE OU EVER SEEN SECRET LIVES OF WOMEN? BOY IS THAT SHOW ADDICTING. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL! PLEASE REVIEW. - KRISTINE.
