The week had rushed by for Santana. Not only did Brittany's professional life surprise her, but it intimidated her. Sure, the first half-day was relaxing and having coffee with Brittany after was nice. Well, more than nice. But, the following three days were filled to the brim with appointment-making. That meant that Santana was on the phone, staring at the screen of her laptop for hours. Brittany had told her to cram in as many appointments and meetings as she could over the next month, purely because MCI was trying to hold onto its bid on the new space in London. Apparently, a different company wanted to buy the warehouse space and it was Brittany's job to make sure that didn't happen. Santana only had a moment to be proud of herself for helping to pick the London location. So, Santana had packed Brittany's schedule with board meetings, meetings with the financial advisor for the company, as well as meetings with designers to create a full-scale replica for the layout of the new London space. Brittany had insisted on doing the brunt of the work herself because Carter had been away doing other important business.

"Remember," Brittany had told Santana on Wednesday, "It will be crazy, but don't be afraid to give me ten-hour days. I want to be sure that I'm able to meet with everyone I need to. We have to put our second bid on the warehouse in next month so that's the deadline."

Santana had only nodded and gotten back to taking calls at the desk Brittany had set up for her outside her office. Santana had been a little disappointed that she wasn't in the same room as Brittany but she was happy with her new large work area.

"And take a break every few hours, Santana," the blonde suggested, "get yourself some coffee or something. Don't freak out too much about how many people are calling."

Santana was already freaked out. As soon as the professional world had heard about a new branch of MCI looking to open in London, people were calling in hoards. Designers wanted to work on the space, architects wanted in on the structural aspects, and London-based supply companies were calling for product mock-ups on existing material. Basically, Santana was drawing up charts. She was strategically planning all of Brittany's meetings while taking the names of all of the professionals, their prices, locations, and cross-cataloging them. She figured that if she were prone to panic-attacks, she would have had several. Thankfully, Santana saw challenges as chances to shine so she opted to never leave her desk.

At the end of the workday on Friday, Santana had presented to Brittany a wildly colorful agenda that displayed her next month in detail. Brittany was going to 47 different meetings. Then, Santana had showed her the list of all of the design, architectural, and material offers that had come in. Santana had those catalogued as well.

"This is impressive," Brittany said, flicking through the papers. "I should put this into an Excel spreadsheet so-"

"Already done," Santana told her. "I just emailed it to you a minute ago."

Brittany closed her computer and smiled at Santana. "Seems I hired you at just the right time in my life, huh?"

Santana pretended not to be flattered. She shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, I don't know. It was pretty easy."

Brittany shook her head. "Humble? You?"

Santana just smirked at her. Bantering with Brittany had quickly become on of her favorite parts of the day. "Oh," She said, pulling a pack of candy out of her pocket, "I got you this on my lunch break." She handed the candy to Brittany.

"Dots?" Brittany asked, playfully shaking the box of jellies. "Should I even ask how you know Dots are my favorite?"

"You can," Santana said, "But the three empty containers I saw in your trash bin on Monday could give you the same answer."

Brittany sighed. "Ok, I'm a closet candy-addict, are you happy?"

Santana laughed. "I was never unhappy…"

Brittany put the box of Dots down and started to pack up her things. "Thanks for being so great this week. I know I threw a lot at you. I would have been able to help out more if Carter wasn't in Korea."

Santana nodded. Brittany's brother had gone to Korea on Wednesday, meeting with one of MCI's top clients. Brooks was already in Mexico making some million-dollar deal, so Brittany was alone for the time being. Santana thought it was impressive how Brittany was able to handle things by her self. "Don't worry about it. That's what I'm here for, right?" Santana asked. She waited as Brittany put on a scarf.

"Well," Brittany commented, "Technically, no, but for now, yes."

Santana held the door open for Brittany on the way out of the blonde's office and Brittany held the door open for Santana on their way out of the building's main doors.

"Ahhh." Brittany exhaled into the cooling evening air. She looked at Santana. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

Santana had a hard time feeling good about the pollution-soaked, noisy New York air.

"C'mon, San," Brittany said, nudging the brunette. "It's the weekend!"

Santana was amused by Brittany's change in demeanor once they had gotten outside of work.

"Can I walk you to your car?" Santana offered. She knew that Brittany parked in the parking lot behind MCI. Santana herself opted for the subway. Even though she hated being in such close quarters with smelly people, at least she didn't have to sit in New York rush hour traffic.

Brittany smiled brightly. No one had offered to do that in years. "Really? It's kind of a far walk…"

Santana nodded and began walking. Thankfully, Brittany followed. "I've discovered I don't like taking the 4:30 train home. It's crazy busy. I usually take the 4:45 train. That's a little less crowded. There's less probability of having my face shoved into some guy's armpit."

Brittany snorted. "Ew." She didn't know Santana took the train. The brunette seemed more like a car girl to her. "Have you always taken the train?"

"I tend to have road rage," Santana told her. "So, for the past eight years, yea."

Brittany smiled at the side of Santana's face as they walked. "Do you live far?"

"About fifteen minutes." Santana said. She tucked her hands into her pockets. It was colder than she expected today.

"Can…I can drive you…if you want?" Brittany suddenly offered. She saw Santana's eyebrows lift in surprise. "I mean, there's almost a zero percent chance of having your face in an armpit if you let me drive you home…"

Santana huffed out a laugh. "Almost a zero percent chance?"

Brittany bit her lip and scrunched her nose. "I can't promise anything."

"I wouldn't want you to have to go out of your way…" Santana began to say.

"I actually have a few errands to run this evening so it's no trouble."

"You do?" Santana asked. "Don't you ever stop working?" She teased.

Brittany shook her head. "I've gotta pick up some dry-cleaning and then go get ingredients for something I'm making for Sunday."

"For brunch?" Santana asked as she and Brittany stepped over a curb. They were only halfway to the parking lot.

"Quinn asked me to bake dessert," Brittany answered.

Santana scoffed. "That lazy…" She stopped herself. "She just doesn't want to have to do it herself."

Brittany put her hand on Santana's arm. "It's totally fine. I'm good at baking anyways. Cupcakes are my specialty. Partly because they're easy and partly because I get to eat all of the extra frosting," She whispered the last part to Santana.

The brunette squeezed closer to Brittany on the sidewalk as more pedestrians crowded the space. "That's still nice of you."

"Won't you be bringing anything?" Brittany asked. "Quinn said that she would be making french toast, Kurt is bringing a quiche, and Rachel is brining some vegan thing."

Santana frowned. Vegan? Gross.

"I'm brining the dessert so…"

"Alcohol!" Santana chirped. "I'll bring the alcohol."

"Quinn said you'd be doing the bacon."

Santana rolled her eyes. "That girl and her love-affair with bacon." She recalled the short text that Quinn had sent her a few days ago. It simply said "sizzle sizzle". Santana had spent enough years with Quinn to know what that meant. She was doing the bacon.

"So is that a yes?" Brittany asked.

Santana had almost forgotten what Brittany had offered to do for her. "That's a yes."

Brittany smiled at Santana. "Cool. I can finally see where you live."

Santana wanted to comment on Brittany's words but she just let the silence linger between them for the time being. Upon entering the parking lot, Santana could hear the unmistakable click of Brittany's heels against the asphalt. She had heard a lot of that over the past few days. She made sure to trail behind Brittany because she wasn't exactly sure what her car looked like.

"This is me," Brittany said, once they had walked a few isles down. She manually unlocked her bright blue car.

Santana was actually surprised. She sort of expected Brittany to have some sort of luxury SUV or at least a two-door coup. But no, Brittany drove a Prius. Santana liked this reality a lot better than what her imagination had conjured up.

"Are you judging Sally?" Brittany called from inside the car. She was waiting for Santana to get in.

"Sally?" Santana asked, once she had opened the passenger side and slid into the car. "You named your car Sally?"

Brittany stuck the key in the ignition and laughed at Santana's furrowed brow. "Don't judge."

"I'm not, I'm not," Santana said, putting her hands up in defense. "I like it…her."

Brittany smirked as she turned the car on and waited for Santana to buckle up. "Good."

Santana sat back and let Brittany maneuver out of her parking spot. The inside of the car smelled a lot like flowers. Santana spied the culprit in one of Brittany's cup-holders. It was a peach & wildflower scented body-spray. It suited Brittany a lot, Santana thought.

"So," Brittany said once she had reached the end of the parking lot, "You're gonna have to tell me which way to go."

"Oh, right." Santana said. She sat up in her seat. "Uhm, left. Go all the way to Waterstone Park…do you know where that is?"

"Yea!" Brittany said.

"I live right past it, on the same street as the library."

"I know exactly where that is!" Brittany cheered to herself. She liked learning things about Santana. She found herself wondering what the color of Santana's apartment building was and how many windows there were and if Santana liked to open them in the summer.

"Where do you live?" Santana asked. She was almost positive that she could have Google-stalked Brittany but she hadn't so far and didn't plan to. Learning the information from Brittany herself felt much more satisfying and much less creepy.

"I live in a loft on Grand Ave."

Santana nodded. That was a nice area.

"You'll have to come see it some time. People say it's haunted but I don't believe them."

Santana wondered if Brittany was trying to casually mask the invitation to her place. "I love ghosts and ghost stories," She said. "Maybe we can buy a Ouija board and conduct a séance."

Brittany laughed. "I'm not kidding. Sometimes I hear weird things at night. Carter stayed over once and said her head someone laughing…"

Santana shivered in her seat. "And that doesn't freak you out?"

"Not really," Brittany shrugged, "It's a pretty old building so I wouldn't be surprised if there were a lot of ghosts wandering around. My cat, Lord Tubbington, always stares off at nothing. I'm pretty sure he can see ghosts. But, he's not scared, so neither am I. I figure he would let me know if there was something to be worried about."

Santana looked over at Brittany and admired the way the evening's fading light cast shadows onto her skin. She liked this. Brittany's voice sounded so much different in such a private space. It was like her words were sharper. Santana could hear the way each one was formed.

Brittany noted Santana's sudden silence and took a quick glance to her right. She saw only a split second of Santana smiling softly at her. It made her stomach drop as if she had missed a step while going down the stairs. "What?"

"Nothing," Santana was quick to answer. She was embarrassed to be caught staring. "I just…you're pretty cool…that's all."

"Because I'm not afraid of ghosts?" Brittany asked, smiling despite herself.

Santana loved the quiet way Brittany spoke. "I dunno," Santana said. "Everything, really." She faced the front again and gestured to the road. "I mean, even taking me home. It's really nice of you."

Brittany rolled her eyes but kept her smile. She reached over and quickly tapped Santana's knee. Her fingertips met skin due to Santana's skirt. "Hey, we're friends now, remember?"

Santana wanted to hold Brittany's warm fingers on her cold skin. She scolded herself internally for thinking in such a way. God, she really needed to get laid if she was thinking about her boss…friend…whatever…in this way. It wasn't her fault that her boss just happened to be a drop-dead-gorgeous woman that was amazing in all the right ways. Not her fault at all. Santana was only human.

"How about this," Brittany said suddenly. Her impulses always got the best of her. "In compensation for driving you home, which is such an extremely difficult job, how about you come to the store with me right now and help me get baking things?"

Santana stiffened.

Brittany only briefly wondered if she was pushing too far, yet again. It had been quite awhile since she had had a good friend. It was hard not to want more of Santana. Brittany decided that this is what friends do. They hang out. They shop. There was no problem.

"Now?" Santana asked.

"Sure!" Brittany said. "I mean, unless you already made plans-"

"I'm free," Santana told her quickly. "No plans."

"So you'll come?"

Santana nodded. "Sure, why not. As long as we get something to eat because I'm starving."

Brittany was glad that she wasn't the only one. "Me too! Dots can only hold me over for so long."

"You didn't even eat any," Santana accused, "They're still in your purse."

"I'm saving them." Brittany said, smiling. "They make great midnight snacks."

Santana pressed her head into the head rest. This felt good. She felt relaxed. She liked the little grunts Brittany made whenever someone cut her off or she got stopped by a red light. "In a hurry?" Santana asked, witnessing Brittany begin to tap her fingers against the steering wheel.

"Just really hungry," Brittany said. She had been mentally going over a list of fast-food places that she could suggest to Santana.

"Wait," Santana said, perking up. She began to bounce in her seat. "I can take you to Breadstix!"

Brittany remembered how she had told Santana that she had never been. She was surprised at Santana's jubilance but, then again, Quinn had warned her about the woman's breadstick obsession. "That sounds good to me," She said. She reached over again and placed her hand on Santana's shoulder. "But just…calm down. How much coffee did you have today?"

"Only six cups," Santana said. She saw Brittany's eyes widen. "But that's not even a lot!"

The blonde patted Santana's shoulder. "Well, good thing you're caffeinated. We've got a long, adventure-filled night ahead of us."

Santana only got more excited. Brittany and Breadsticks? She was wondering what she had done to get such great karma. "I really hope you like it."

Brittany had long-since turned her car away from Santana's apartment and was heading for the center of the city, where all of the good restaurants were located. "I bet I will."

"If you don't, that's okay, but we can never speak again."

"That's too much pressure!" Brittany exclaimed.

Santana folded her arms across her chest and shifted her body so that she was facing Brittany more.

"Plus, that would make work a little difficult, don't you think?" Brittany asked. They were at a red light so she took an opportunity to look at Santana, who was making an almost passable stern face at her.

"I don't joke about these things."

Brittany only laughed. For some reason, she felt like she was in high school again. She felt like she was back in the days where she and her friends would drive around and do nothing except laugh and play music. It felt so good. "Maybe we will even stay for dessert." She told Santana. The light turned green.

"Okay!" Santana said. "They have this really delicious chocolate covered-"

Brittany drifted off. Usually, the stress from her work week stayed with her into the late hours of the night. But, with Santana, it was all melting away. She felt like she had consumed three energy drinks. Even though the sky was quickly beginning to darken, and the autumn shadows grew longer, Brittany could only feel the heat of the car and the air around her. She liked Santana's company. She liked Santana's mere presence. It made her feel different in a way that she never had before. Brittany felt like something inside her was changing. It was as if her body was relaxing. And, God, did she love it.