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Chapter 9

Rachel was in the office at her house with her laptop open. She was chatting with her dads on skype. They rarely visited her so she had found a way to see them every now and then, even if it was just through a screen.

"Are you coming to my album release party?" She asked hopeful.

They looked at each other before one of them replied. "I'm sorry sweetie. We are really busy with our jobs so we can't go." Leroy stated.

"Oh"

"Sorry, sweetheart." Hiram said.

"It's okay." Rachel tried to smile and tried not to blink so the tears wouldn't fall.

"But we're planning on going visit you sometime soon." Leroy said.

"And we promise we're going to stay for a while to take care of our baby." Hiram added.

"I can't wait. I really miss you." She told them honestly.

"We miss you too darling."

"We wish you all the good luck in the world and we're sure your second album is gonna be more sucessfull than the first one." Hiram told her.

"Thank you." She smiled. That really meant a lot to her.

"Now we have to go. We'll see you soon. Love you!"

"Love you daling!" Her dads waved at her blowing kisses.

"I love you too." Rachel said waving back at them.

Rachel closed her laptop and closed her eyes, finally letting her tears fall freely down on her cheeks. She didn't want them to see her cry.

She didn't hear the knock on the door, she only realized someone was there when she saw a head at the door.

"Hey, Rachel?" Finn asked opening the door.

She quickly turned her face away to wipe her tears. "Yes?" She answered.

"Am I interrupting you?" He asked.

"No, it's okay." She assured him.

He looked at her face, she tried to look unfased but he could see she had been crying. "Are you okay?" He asked concerned.

"Fine." She nodded her head.

"It's not what it looks like. Were you crying?" He insisted.

"It's nothing really." She tried to shrug.

"Come on, Rach. You can open up to me, like I did with you." He offered a smile, reminding her of that time when they first had a real conversation. He had told her about his insecurities.

"I was talking to my dads. Unfortunately, they can't come to the party." She told him.

"I'm sorry."

"I.. I shouldn't be sad. It might be selfish but I wanted them to be here with me, to support me."

"No Rachel, it's not selfish at all. You have all the right to feel that way, they are your parents." He tried to assure her.

"It's just that, I have conquered all of this but I wanted to share it all with the people I love."

"It's completely understandable. Look, they might not be able to come to the release party but I'm sure they are really proud of you and all you have archieved in a short period of time."

"Thank you Finn." She smiled.

"Anytime."


Quinn was in a room waiting for the guy of the agency call her name. She was pretty sure she was gonna get this campaign, it was not the best one but at least it was a first. Soon enough she'd start doing bigger campaigns and she'd make Finn quit his pathetic job. She was going to be a famous model and she'd be able to convince her boyfriend that that was the perfect career for him too.

"Quinn Fabray?" She heard someone calling her name so she got up and went to the other room.

"Please sit down." The guy said.

"I've checked the pictures of your photoshoot and I must say they're pretty," She smiled thinking I knew it. "...boring." He finished.

"Excuse me?" Quinn asked, not sure if she had heard it right.

"I'm sorry Quinn, I don't see anything of extraordinary in these pictures, and there are a thousands of girls like you out there." He explained. "When I see your photos, I see a pretty face but nothing else, it's just plain. The campaign is about strong women finding their inner strength but all your pictures look like Barbie portraits, even your smile looks fake." He said showing her one of the pictures.

"Well, maybe the problem was with the photographer who didn't give the right directions. I mean, it's pretty obvious how photogenic I am. The problem was that he couldn't conduct the photoshoot like you wanted."

"He's one of the best photographers in this bussiness." He told her. "Look, I'm sorry you didn't got in but I think you need to show some atitude, show emotion."

"Oh yeah? You think I need to show attitude? So here's the thing: I don't need to be part of this stupid campaign. Go pick those ugly girls." She pointed to the door. "Cause I'm gonna find something better than this." Quinn said angrily.

"I meant good attitude, and not bad attitude. Keep on your high horse and you're not going too far away." The guy advised.

"Whatever."

"Have a nice day."

"Screw you!" She yelled before she shut the door behind her.


"Do you know why are we here?" Rachel asked to Julie.

Before Julie could answer her, the secretary spoke. "Mrs. Huston is waiting for you."

The two women entered into the office of the owner of her record company.

"It's good to see you again, Rachel." Mr. Huston said.

"Likewise, Mr. Huston." She replied shaking his hand.

Rachel noticed a man sitting on the chair opposite to him.

"I'd like to indroduce you to your new manager, Adam Cole."

Rachel looked at him confused. "Sorry Mr. Huston but I already have one. It's Julie, remember her?" She said pointing to the other woman who looked umconfortable.

"Yes, I've talked to Ms. Johnson recently. How are you?"

"I'm doing fine Mr. Huston. Thank you."

"You knew that?" Rachel turned to Julie.

"Look, I have a meeting now. You can stay here and to talk to each other but I need to go."

"It was nice to see you again, Rachel. Goodbye."

Rachel stayed there speechless. When she spoke again, she looked directly at her friend. "Julie, can you please explain what's going on?"

Before Julie could said anything, Adam jumped in the middle. "It's quite simple, from now on I'm gonna be your new managent." He simply said.

"I've told I already have one." Rachel replied using the same tone.

"Oh come on, she can't be everything at the same time. She's your assistant, manager, publicist, friend, babysitter...?"

"You have no right to speak to me like that." Rachel said pointing her finger at him. She already didn't like this guy.

"Rachel, he's right." Julie finally spoke.

"What?" The petite brunette asked incredulous.

"I can't be everything, you're a big artist. It's important for your carrer." Julie reasoned.

"Julie, are you sure?" Rachel whispered, her back turned to Adam.

"Trust me."

"Fine." She turned around and looked at Alam. "Welcome to the team, Mr. Cole." Rachel said politely, offering her hand.

"Thank you, Ms. Berry." Adam said with a smirk on his face as they shook hands.

Finn was waiting them in front of the car when they came back. The two women haven't spoken much, well, Julie spoke with him a couple of times. Rachel stayed silent for the whole ride.

When they arrived at Rachel's house, Finn got out of the car and before Rachel left Julie said she had to go somwehere, Rachel just nodded her head and entered her house with her bodyguard.

"What happened in the meeting?" Finn asked curious.

"It seems like I have a new manager." Rachel informed.

"What? Did Julie get fired?" Finn asked shocked.

"No. Julie is still gonna work with me. It's just this new guy is gonna be my new manager." She explained.

"Isn't that good? I mean, another professional taking care of your career?" Finn asked.

"I guess," Rahel said. "It's just that Julie has been with me since day one and she has always taken care of my career and she does a great job." She told him.

"Did she get upset about the news?"

"Not really. She actually told me that that was a good idea."

"Well, if she said that then maybe that's for the best. She wouldn't want to jeopardize your career." Finn pointed out.

"I know. I guess I'll have to get used to that." She pouted a little involuntarily and he smiled, thinking she loked cute.

Suddenly Rachel got up from the couch and went in the kitchen's direction. "I feel like cooking today." She announced.

Finn followed her. "Do you know how to cook?" he asked surprised which made her turn around to look at him and put a hand on her hips.

"Of course I do. I'm a girl of many talents." She smiled. "Do you wanna stay for dinner? I'm not sure when Julie is coming back and I don't wanna eat alone."

"Sure! But if it doesn't work out maybe we can eat pizza." He teased her. He didn't know why he had just said that to his boss, something he forgets that, but it felt very natural.

"Haha very funny." She stick out her tongue at him and he chuckled amused.

"How did you learn how to cook?"

"My dads never coocked, they'd alway order food when we didn't eat something burnt," she giggled at the memories while she grabbed the ingradients. "so I started learning how to cook by myself. I've always enjoyed cooking but nowadays I don't have much time, I can only cook every now and then."

"Cool! Would like some help?" Finn offered.

"Sure." She smiled at him as she put the apron on herself.

They'd spent the rest of the evening having a lovely dinner and getting to know more about each other.

Next chapter: Rachel's album release party!