A/N: Ahhhh, that was kind of cute. I'm a sucker for cute little love stories. Quinn and I share the same taste in music…how did that happen? Man, she has good taste in tattoos and small liberal arts colleges as well. I think I like her. Is she single?
Anyhow. This chapter isn't super important but it'll set up some of where Rachel may be shooting a movie. I know most of you don't want to hear the ins and outs of Columbus. Even though I have lived in the area for three and a half years, I still don't know all the ins and outs! But there are some very liberal and gay-friendly areas that our young heroine may enjoy. Thank you for sticking with me, gentle readers! Hope you had a good weekend.
- Raggy
The first thing Rachel did as Quinn left was text her parents to let them know all was well. It wasn't even 8 a.m. yet, so she doubted anything was open for her to go explore. She pulled up Wikipedia on her iPad and read the article about Columbus over again. She knew Ohio State was the big college area, but there was also the Columbus College of Art and Design, and Columbus State Community College.
The Short North, which was between OSU and downtown Columbus, was described as a gay-friendly, bohemian, artsy kind of neighborhood. That, she supposed, was a good first step for her exploration. It wasn't too far from the highway, and close enough to major parts of town. She sent directions to her email and, with caffeine in her veins, she packed her things, brushed her teeth, and headed to check out.
The brisk walk from the hotel to the restaurant where her rental car was parked felt a bit like a walk of shame, but she didn't care who saw her pulling her suitcase as she walked along Polaris Parkway.
As she reached her car, her phone buzzed. It was Jen.
-Call me. This, of course, was agent language for "I want to beat your ass," so Rachel started up the rental car and let it warm up while she dialed her agent.
"What were you up to last night?" Jen asked before Rachel could even say "hello."
"Well, I was getting drinks with a friend from high school up near Columbus. What did you do?" She knew Jen wasn't trying to make idle chat, but it was so fun trying to make her mad sometimes.
"I had a nice peaceful evening, thanks," the other woman responded. "But this morning I woke up and found Perez Hilton all over some photos of you with this friend from high school looking quite tipsy and a little grabby. Just wanted to make sure you weren't on a date or something that you didn't tell me about."
Rachel put the call on speaker so she could browse over to Perez's site. Someone had recognized her last night, and taken several photos of her and Quinn. Most were just of them talking, but one was of Quinn helping her out of the restaurant. Quinn's hand was pretty damn close to her ass, and Rachel looked pretty drunk (though she suspected she was just blinking in that photo).
"You there, Rachel?" Her agent was impatient.
"Yes, sorry. I was looking at the pictures. They're not terrible. I've seen worse!"
"I've seen worse of you." The agent countered, and cleared her throat. "Well, have fun traipsing around Columbus. Please don't get shot or something…or drunk again. Okay?"
"I'm already drunk, Jen. I'm naked on the side of a busy street."
"Okay, as long as you don't have your nipple rings in, Berry."
"Thanks, Mom."
Jen sighed. "You are terrible." Rachel could tell she was smiling, though. "See you next week."
Rachel dropped her voice to a low, sultry purr. "Ooh, I can't wait, baby."
Jen spluttered something that sounded like "Fuck you!" before the call disconnected. Rachel chuckled and began the drive downtown. She was in a damn good mood.
Several hours later, she had gotten her arms full of brochures, taken lots of pictures, and stopped in to smell about every coffee shop she could find up and down High Street. She liked the Short North's artsy feel and all the stores that had rainbow flags up. But she could also see herself in the Arena District, living in an apartment within walking distance of Nationwide Arena (where a lot of bands played), and going to the Columbus Clippers baseball stadium. And then there was the Ohio State campus area. Plenty of nightlife, some places where local bands played, and the campus sure was pretty. She had briefly driven through the Brewery District and the German Village as well, and hadn't even touched some of the outlying suburbs. So far, she liked what she saw.
People seemed friendly enough. There were a lot of young folks out and about for a Tuesday morning; she assumed many were on break from school or something. She saw a good mix of babies in strollers and puppies on leashes as she walked the streets. And best of all, she was pretty sure no one really recognized her...except a young man in a record store, who was looking through musical soundtracks and did a double take as she walked by.
She sent some of the rainbow flag pictures to her dads, but also to Brittany, Santana, and Kurt. She hesitated in sending them to Quinn – partially because Quinn had probably seen the stores, and partially because she didn't want to seem to overeager to see her again.
She also sent a picture of herself making a face in front of a statue of Brutus Buckeye, and sent it to Josh Radnor and her agent. Josh seemed to appreciate it; Jen just told her to get back to work.
This little vacation was turning out to be quite fun.
Around three, she got a text from Quinn.
Quinn: - Think you'll be hungry in an hour or so?
Rachel: - Wasn't it your Jesus who said 'man did not live on bread alone?' Well, woman does not live on bagel alone.
Quinn: - SO funny. Can I throw more directions your way?
Rachel: - Sure. Just don't keep me out too late or my daddies will worry!
Quinn: - Hysterical. Amato's Woodfired Pizza in Delaware, OH. See you around 4:30?
Rachel: - Yes ma'am!
She smiled absentmindedly. Her daddies may indeed worry, but she would be home soon enough.
And first, pizza. Could Columbus pizza measure up to some of the good vegan places she had found in New York? Probably not. But then again, it wasn't the pizza she was after.
