Chapter 13: I'm still smitten.
Brittany slams her phone shut in the middle of Rachel's sentence. She feels bad. She knows Rachel hates it when she does that, but something more important needed her attention.
Her light blue orbs followed the woman as she sauntered toward the cafe's cashier. God, did she look just like Brittany imagined she would. She was beautiful and more mature than the photo taken of her at their prom, but dear lord, was she just as attractive if not more so.
Regaining herself, she texted Rachel. "Santana's here."
Brittany felt her stomach churn. A nervousness flooded her, though she sat in the corner of the cafe and the screen of her laptop covered most of her slumped body, she felt a sense of fear and excitement at the thought of Santana recognizing her. What was the possibility of that? Brittany spent most her adolescent life staring at the woman, she could recognize her from miles away. The swing of her hips and the curve to her legs was all too familiar to the blonde. God, she could spot Santana out of a crowd.
But could the same be said about the other woman? Brittany always had a feeling that the woman might also fancy her, but Brittany didn't know if that was wishful thinking or keen observation. Some part of Brittany guessed that if Santana looked her way, she wouldn't notice her at all.
Now Brittany wished she put on something better than a large coat that covered her pajamas.
At least she was warm.
Brittany watched as Santana grabbed the cup slid to her. Coffee, Brittany thought, Santana did always like coffee. Her body tensed in anticipation, Santana was going to turn in her direction, her feet pointed towards Brittany's table.
Brittany wanted to look down, avoid her even though she promised Rachel she would try to contact the woman. Rachel didn't know what Brittany was feeling right now and if she did Brittany reckoned that she would want to look down too. But Brittany couldn't tear her eyes away. Whether it was because she was afraid or smitten, she didn't know.
What Brittany didn't anticipate was the meeting of their eyes. Brittany could feel her body shiver and her face heat. She felt pure static ripple through her and the blonde doctor began to wonder if Santana's power was maybe something else. She felt the same way she did all her adolescent years: in love. She hadn't felt this way in so long, it was almost comical to believe that Santana, even after all these years, can still do this to her.
Santana, who was feeling all the same, looked more composed and almost as if she hadn't even noticed the blonde peering at her. She walked towards Brittany, her face was unreadable to the doctor, who was usually good at reading faces.
Brittany's mind was blank, she was sure she looked like a deer in headlights as she sat vulnerable watching Santana walk up to her...
...and then past her.
Brittany turned slowly, she had thought Santana had walked over here to converse with her, Brittany had forgotten that she sat in front of the self-service stand. She watched Santana pour sugar into her coffee in pure embarrassment, how could she be so stupid? Of course, Santana wouldn't recognize her.
Brittany began to type ferociously at her keyboard. She was writing a piece for her blog but now it was filled with the same sentence over and over again: "I am so stupid."
"Brittany, you know you're anything but."
Brittany slammed her laptop shut with such force she could have sworn she heard a crack. Face flushed, she turned to the source of the sultry voice and found Santana's amused smile.
"S-S-San-ta C-claus is my father." Brittany's voice cracked, she felt her body heat and suddenly the large coat was the worst idea in the world. But god, if she took it off Santana would see the too small Winnie the Pooh shirt she hadn't bothered to change out of and the stain on it.
Santana laughed slowly, or at least it looked slow to Brittany whose eyes were so intently focused on Santana's soft, red lips.
"Is that um...that seat taken?" She asked, her face reddening just a bit. She pushed her scarf closer to her cheeks, though Brittany was already bumbling and blushing, Santana wanted to seem detached. She knew that as much as she might want to pursue something, she really couldn't. This was just going to be a friendly chat with an old class-mate.
Or so she told herself.
Brittany grinned, "I wish it was."
"Well I can fulfill that wish." Santana grinned cheekily, seating herself in front of Brittany. "So, what where you writing?"
"A piece for my blog," Brittany blushed, her eyes trailing Santana's body. She wore a stylish grey coat with a red scarf poking out the top where Santana didn't bother to button up. She adorned tight black jeans and fine leather boots over her legs.
"You have a blog?" Santana took a sip of her coffee, she knew Brittany liked to share bits of herself with people and bits of other people (not literally of course), she'd even had that talk show during high school (a show she wouldn't admit to watching every episode of), Santana could very much imagine her with a blog (a blog that would be the embodiment of everything Brittany). She'd have to look it up when she got home.
"It's not much," Brittany said modestly. She leaves out the part about how it had won an award and how she'd turned down a publication deal. "What do you do now?"
Santana took another sip, pausing before she answered the question, "I'm an independent real estate agent."
Brittany didn't need to push open her laptop and run a check to see if it was true, she knew 120% that what Santana said was a lie. Brittany was good at spotting lies. Really good.
Santana smiled slightly, she looked a little disappointed. Though, Brittany knew her disappointment wasn't directed towards her. "So is blogging your career?"
"Yeah, pretty much. I'm also a part-time journalist some times. A part-part-time-time journalist." Brittany hoped Santana would she would hear the honesty in her voice and the trust in her eyes. That she'd open up and let Brittany have little bits of the truth. "Do you still contact anyone from school?"
"No," Santana laughed, "I left Lima first chance I got."
A lie.
Brittany forced a smile, the most believable one she could manage, "No time for goodbyes?"
"Nope."
Another lie.
Brittany frowned, she didn't like lies and she really didn't want to hear any from Santana. She felt a dark cloud loom over her and her heart slow down. Her face was loosing it's flush and she felt less giddy.
Santana noticed the change, but not the cause. "I did say goodbye to my family though. Of course I would." She laughed, nervously.
The last lie Brittany would allow herself to hear.
"Santana," Brittany said seriously, her ice blue eyes darkening, "I need to go."
Santana was taken a back, was her company that bad? She really hoped to talk to Brittany a lot longer than this. "R-right, sorry."
"With you."