Hello readers! Yes, it's time for an update. But first, notes...
I've spent the last couple of weeks making reference notes for this story, just so I don't lose track of the facts that stand true in the world I've created. It makes it much easier that scrolling through the story looking for something a mentioned in passing in chapter five! Creating the notes has also given me a newfound respect for the likes of Tolkien, Rowling and Martin, who have created these insane worlds, complete with new languages.
I have received some wonderful feedback, as I always do, and thank everyone that wrote me a review. As I have mentioned in my replies, it is not my intention to write redundant chapters, and am approaching nee updates going "What do I want to happen in this chapter?" and "What am I trying to set up here?". Thank you all for your patience. Again, I am not writing a slow burn story for the sake of torturing my readers, and am merely progressing it at a pace I think is realistic.
Finally, thank you to everyone that is following this story, or has favourited it. It gives me immense pleasure to know that in a matter of moments 294 of you will be notified that this story has been updated. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on it. As always, I welcome praise and constructive criticism.
Here we go...
Rachel stepped into the shared living area, closing her bedroom door behind her and glancing towards the giant TV where Brittany and Santana seemed to be engrossed in another round of Call of Duty.
"Behind you, Brit!" the Latina called out excitedly, her eyes never leaving the screen before her.
"Got him," the Englishwoman replied, her calm tone a complete contrast to that of her girlfriend.
The pair fell silent and Rachel fondly shook her head at them as she made her way to the small dining table, the only sound in the room coming from the video game and the clacks that accompanied the movement of Brittany and Santana's fingers on the controllers.
Rachel sat down at the table and checked her phone to make sure she hadn't missed any calls or texts while she'd been in the shower. Placing her phone back on the table, the teenager adjusted the towel she'd wrapped around her wet hair before waking up her laptop. She yawned as she waited for the machine to boot up properly, absentmindedly wondering if she was feeling the effects of jetlag after the previous night's flight from Tokyo to Beijing and then telling herself that a time zone change of one hour really couldn't make that much of a difference. She blinked back the moisture that had pooled in her eyes, remembering Shelby's warning on the flight over that the air quality in Beijing could potentially affect Rachel's energy and overall health levels whilst in the Chinese capital. The US Open champion silently prayed her coach was wrong and she was just feeling unexpectedly fatigued, maybe just a combination of yesterday afternoon's match and the following late flight out, otherwise she could kiss any chances of matching her semifinal showing in Japan goodbye.
Santana broke Rachel from her thoughts when she huffed out a disgruntled "Oh, for fuck's sake!," and dropped her controller into her lap.
"Language, San," Brittany chastised, missing the Latina rolling her eyes as she continued to play the game alone.
Santana turned to look at Rachel, "I thought you wanted to watch the final after your shower?"
The brunette logged into her email account even as she replied, "I don't have the energy to focus on the television. Sato was leading 5-3 in the first when I came out."
"You don't have the energy to watch TV but you do have the energy to stare at your computer?" Santana asked, raising her eyebrows.
Rachel knew the Latina had a point but she shrugged her shoulders anyway, "Less effort. I'm going to bed as soon as we're done with dinner."
Santana nodded, "Q should be here soon."
"Bloody hell!" Brittany exclaimed, "I died in the same spot again!"
"Language, Brit," Santana remarked, earning a gentle slap on the arm from her girlfriend.
"Ow!" the Spaniard said, pretending to rub the spot.
Rachel was shaking her head at their antics when there was a knock on the door, and both women on the couch turned to look at her expectantly. "Seriously, guys," Rachel said, rising slowly, "I'm the one that got here early this morning and could use all the rest possible. But please, don't move your asses off the couch to get the door!"
Rachel's tone didn't match her disgruntled tone, so she wasn't surprised to hear Santana stage whisper, "Has she always been this much of a diva?" as she pulled the door open to see Quinn standing there with a brown paper bag in one hand and a folder of some sort in the other. The backlight in the hallway bounced off the golden locks of Quinn's hair, giving her an almost angelic look in Rachel's eyes.
"Wow, you look exhausted," was the first thing the blonde said upon seeing Rachel.
"Always the charmer, our Quinn," Santana loudly remarked from the couch, but Rachel chose to ignore her as she ushered the World No.1 inside.
"I feel exhausted," Rachel admitted, closing the door and heading back to the table. "I plan on going to sleep as soon as we've eaten."
Quinn nodded, placing the items in her hands on the table. Rachel closed the lid on her laptop again and moved it to a smaller table near one of the walls. By the time she'd walked back to the table Quinn had pulled out six containers from the brown bag and placed them on the table, and was in the process of folding the paper bag a couple of times before placing it under the folder she had brought in. "Come on you two," the older American said, "time for dinner."
Rachel sat down, facing the two other women as they paused their game and walked to the table. Quinn had taken a seat to her left, and Brittany sat down to her right while Santana took the last remaining chair at the table. Quinn moved the containers around so each one went to the right person, "Sea food chow mein for Rachel, sweet and sour pork with white rice for Brittany, and soup dumplings with sticky rice for San." The blonde opened two other containers, "And veggies to share."
The trio murmured out their thanks to the blonde and Santana eyed the only container left with interest, "What did you get yourself?"
Quinn opened the lid off her container and Rachel felt her mouth water at the smell that wafted out of it, "Twice cooked pork with glutinous rice," she replied, unwrapping a pair of chopsticks and mixing the food in the container. "Feel free to try some," she added, her gaze still trained on the food.
The foursome ate in relative silence for a few moments, and again it was Quinn that spoke up, "I'm surprised you guys aren't watching the game."
Rachel was about to swallow the food in her mouth and reply but Brittany beat her to it, "San and I were playing Call of Duty before the match started."
"Ah, ok," Quinn nodded her head in understanding.
"I checked the score on the TV in my room," Rachel added, "Asami was up 5-3."
"Yeah, she'd won the first set while I was meeting with Roz. But Marley had an early break in the second the last time I checked," Quinn said.
"Did Roz fill you in on the final details?" Santana asked.
Quinn nodded as she swallowed, and let her chopsticks rest in the container as she opened the folder that was placed between herself and Rachel. She pulled a sheet of paper out and slid it to the center of the table, "Here's a mockup of the poster."
Rachel was looking at the sheet upside down since it was facing Santana, but it didn't take her long to decipher the words 'Fabray vs Lopez' boldly written between images of each woman staring straight back at the camera lens. There was some smaller print written under those words but Rachel knew she'd have to look at the sheet the right way to be able to read them.
"Wow, the two of you look hot!," Brittany said.
"Can't say I disagree," Santana said, keeping her eyes on the mockup even as she reached for some of the stir-fried vegetables with her chopsticks.
Quinn must have noticed Rachel tilting her head to get a better look at the sheet because she used her free hand to spin the A4–sized piece of paper around to face the brunette. "Thanks," Rachel smiled up at her then turned her full attention to the paper. This time she could read the rest of the writing, which stated 'Live at Madison Square Gardens.' There were about two lines of blank space, then 'Join the world's top-ranked female players and their famous friends on November 24, 2012.'
"Why's there so much blank space?" Rachel asked out loud, done reading.
"For sponsor logos and information on how to get tickets. Plus they'll add the names of our "famous friends" once people officially commit to coming to the exhibition," Quinn explained.
"Has anyone confirmed yet?" Santana asked around a mouthful of food that Rachel was surprised she was polite enough to cover with the back of her hand as she spoke.
"Yeah. Finn's definitely in but he'll be on a bit of a tight schedule. The Dolphin's have an away game the next day." Quinn paused here to think for a second, then added, "I'm pretty sure it's in Seattle. I think. But yeah, he'll come by for the first hour at least. And Puckerman's confirmed too."
"Puckerman, as in, Noah Puckerman?" Rachel asked, her chopsticks hovering in the air halfway to her mouth. The action movie star was the only Puckerman she'd ever heard of.
"Yup, the one and only," Santana answered. "Figures he'd be able to make it. The man's been trying to get into Quinn's pants for years now."
All three women turned their eyes to Quinn after the Spaniard's last statement and Rachel felt something twinge in her belly when the blonde's cheeks coloured. The brunette thought her fellow American would deny her friend's outlandish claim and was mildly surprised when no rebuttal was forthcoming. She racked her brains as she chewed on some noodles, trying to recall any headlines linking the World No. 1 to the movie star, but came up empty. Rachel was saved from dwelling on the subject any longer when Santana asked, "We're still making the announcement on Monday, right?".
This wasn't the first time Rachel was hearing about the exhibition. She knew that Quinn and Santana had been planning it for a few months now as a joint fundraiser for their individual charities Quinn Fabray Foundation and Fundación Santana Lopez. The announcement would be made to coincide with the start of the annual Breast Cancer Awareness month, since proceeds from the exhibition event would go to various breast cancer charities. She knew that Quinn had made it a habit to find different ways to raise funds for the same charities for the past few years now and until this moment thought the exhibition would be it for 2012. Which is why she was surprised when Quinn spoke up again, "I also ran your idea past Roz and she actually thought it was a good one. In fact, she's going to run it past Sandy and a few other people at IMG tonight."
"Well," Santana stated as point out the obvious, "it's guaranteed to raise a lot of money for the cause. And create a lot of headlines. Win-win, right?"
Rachel wondered if she was the only one that was confused and was mildly comforted when she realized that Brittany looked equally lost at sea in regard to the conversation they were witnessing. "Well, I'd say it's definitely going to go ahead, so it might be a good time to start asking our friends if they'd be up for it. Starting with," Quinn turned to face Rachel and Brittany, "you two."
"Did I fall asleep and miss a whole chunk of conversation here?" Rachel asked, earning a husky laugh from Quinn.
"No. San and I have been discussing a side event of sorts to the exhibition in November, which we think is a surefire way to raise more funds for the charities we're supporting," Quinn said, smiling at the brunette.
"Which is...?" Brittany piped up.
"Auctioning dates with tennis players," Santana stated.
"Not dates, per se," Quinn quickly amended, mixing something around in her container as she spoke, "more of a chance to go to dinner with your favourite tennis star, and just hang out for a while."
"Like I said, a dinner date," Santana reiterated, deliberately putting extra emphasis on the last word.
Quinn exhaled loudly, "I swear you're such a child sometimes. But yes, we're hoping to auction off the chance to go out to a fancy dinner with your tennis idol. We think it'll raise even more money than the exhibition matches in New York and Barcelona."
"Why is that?" Rachel asked, going with the first of many questions that were currently racing around in her mind.
"Well, with the exhibitions you end up paying to rent the stadium and all the trimmings that come with it like staff, ticketing agencies, limo services and so forth. So in a nutshell, you're not making as much for charity as you actually could. With the auction, well, there's already a plan in place to host a black tie dinner at Cheerio, the night of the exhibition, so we just need to slip the auction in to the night's events, which means no extra costs there. And the dinners will also be at my restaurant. Ergo, more money to charity," Quinn ended, making a sweeping gesture with her hand that wasn't holding her chopsticks as she finished as if to say ta da!
"That's pretty clever," Brittany piped up, sliding a hand across the table to squeeze her girlfriend's hand. "How long have you two been planning this?"
"Mmm, we first discussed it in Rome back in May but only really thought it through in the last week or so," Santana shrugged, placing the lid back on her now empty contained before sitting back in her chair.
"Would people have to be at the dinner to bid?" Rachel asked.
"I don't think they should necessarily have to," Quinn said, and Santana backed her up with another half-shrug. "I mean, we were thinking that people who couldn't make it to New York on the day could still maybe bid live online. Or, you know, register a maximum bid they're willing to pay, so they can be notified if they're the highest bidder. This wouldn't be the first time someone's having an auction of this sort so I guess the event management team would look at previous auctions to see what sort of systems were used."
"And the players would be safe on these dates with men that are, for all intents and purposes, strangers to them?" Rachel asked, her tone more curious than accusatory.
"And women," Santana threw in here. To Rachel's quizzical look she clarified, "We're hoping some guys from the ATP will come aboard too. That way there's someone for everyone. And it won't look like we're objectifying our fellow WTA players, because that's not our intention. Plus there's no saying there won't be ladies bidding to take the women out, or men for the men." The short brunette nodded her understanding, so the Latina continued, "And yes, the dates would be as safe as possible. We'll have extra security hovering out of sight during the dates."
"And background checks on the winning bidders to make sure no stalkers with restraining orders slip past us," Quinn added. "You'd be surprised how many players I know have had to take out restraining orders against overzealous fans."
"Do you two have any? Restraining orders taken out, I mean," Brittany clarified.
Santana nodded, "You bet we do. I have four in three different countries, and Quinn has a couple too. Haven't you heard about the guy that was sending her letters in blood all through her last year on the junior tour?"
Rachel's eyes widened, a deep concern for the blonde flaring in her chest. Santana must have sensed that she had a captive audience because she ignored Quinn's quiet, "It's ancient history now, San", and continued with her story. "The guy was, like, over forty and started sending Quinn letters to wherever we were playing in the world. Somehow he knew exactly which hotels Q would be staying in, so sometimes the letters were waiting even before we got there. It was creepy as fuck! Q took out the restraining order before she left for London, but that didn't stop the guy from showing up to watch her play junior Wimbledon!"
"Christ," Brittany muttered, her own brow furrowed as she looked at Quinn, "What did he want?"
The shorter blonde shrugged, "He thought we were destined to be together. He'd send me letters saying we'd been lovers in past lives, and that I was his." Rachel clenched her jaw, feeling intense anger towards a person she'd never even met.
"Wow," Brittany said. "Where is he now?"
"He went to jail for a couple of months, and I honestly don't know what he's been up to since he was released. I haven't heard from him in years, and like they say, no news is good news," Quinn stated, closing the lid on her empty container. She unfolded the brown paper bag and put any empty containers inside it, "In fact, it's Santana here who's had the most recent crazy fan episode. She had a woman from Portugal sending her obviously used underwear in zip lock bags."
Rachel turned her brown eyes to the Latina, but where she felt concern for Quinn she was more amused with the Spaniard's predicament. For her part Santana waved off the worried look she was receiving from Brittany, "She was harmless. But yes, getting back to the matter at hand, thorough background checks will be conducted to make sure no one going to dinner with a psychopath."
The quartet fell silent for a few moments, Santana and Quinn clearly giving the other two women time to process the idea. "Well, you must really have thought this through if even Rachel can't come up with any more questions. This is the woman that asked me questions for a whole hour the first time I tried to explain Cards Against Humanity to her," Brittany finally stated with a smile, causing the other three to laugh and break the tension in the room.
"Yeah, and I only stopped because Brit suggested we just play Boggle instead," Rachel laughed, laughing at the memory. "But she's right, you do seem to be on top of this."
"Well, we still need to see what our managers think," Quinn conceded, "but if we get the green light, would you be willing to eat dinner with a stranger, all in the name of charity?"
The American teenager paused to think for a moment before replying, "I would need to run it by Jesse first, but yes, I'd be happy to if it's for a good cause."
The trio turned to look at Brittany, who simply shrugged, "Me too. And hey, I'd even get a free meal out of it. Winning!"
"If it does go ahead then we'll cover your flights and stay in New York while-" Santana began, but stopped when the Englishwoman put up her hand.
"Thanks, but if the purpose is to raise as much money as you can for charity then I'd rather stay with Rach. Is that cool with you?", the tall blonde asked the New Yorker.
"As if you have to ask, Brit. Daddy and Papa will be delighted to have you live with us again, even if it's just for a few days," Rachel smiled.
"That's settled then," Brittany said, before looking down at her food with a loud sigh, "I can't eat anymore."
Rachel was about to agree with her when her phone pinged, and she picked it up off the table to see a new email notification. She clicked on the mail icon and saw the new message was from Jesse, with a headline that read 'Show this to Brittany and Santana."
"Jesse wants me to show Brit and San something," she muttered, drawing everyone's attention to her as she stared down at her phone.
"What is it?" Santana asked, lifting herself off her chair slightly so she could peer across at Rachel's phone.
Rachel shrugged, "I don't know, I'm waiting for it to load."
Quinn scooted her chair closer to Rachel, and Brittany leaned closer to the American teenager as well. "Yeah, the net's really slow here," Quinn remarked. "Sometimes I worry about how many people know what I'm looking at when I'm in China. I really don't like net neutrality. It feels like an invasion of my privacy."
"Ok, it's loaded!," Rachel said, her excitement diminishing slightly when she saw the email's body contained no words and only a hyperlink to another page. "There's a link to the People magazine website," she said, clicking on it.
Now even Santana came around to stand behind Rachel and all four women silently peered at the progress bar at the top of the screen. When it was halfway complete an article title appeared in bold letters, 'Rising Tennis Star Outed – Pictures!'.
Rachel felt her heart rate accelerate as she turned to look at her English friend, who seemed to have gone pale. "Did anyone see you and Santana? Rachel asked the only logical question.
Brittany shook her head, "No. We only got here two days ago and haven't done anything expect for train and then meet up here or upstairs in Sanny's suite. And we haven't even hit together."
Quinn reached out to place a hand on Santana's forearm, "Let's just wait until the article loads, ok? Maybe it isn't even about Brittany. I mean, her phone would be blowing up with calls by now if it was, right?"
Rachel glanced behind her to see Santana nod her head once, but she could tell the Spaniard was keeping a tight rein on her emotions. Brittany was worriedly chewing her thumbnail, and Rachel let out a loud sigh of relief when the article finally loaded moments later, "Ok, here we go." She scrolled down past an advertisement and stopped at the image of Asami Sato kissing another woman.
The room was silent for a couple of seconds until Quinn let out a quiet laugh, "Now that I was not expecting!"
Rachel felt Santana lean down so her head was right next to her own, "'Outed' my ass! Sato is clearly kissing whoever that woman is in a stadium full of people! Read the article Berry."
The shorter brunette took one last glance at the picture before scrolling down a little and beginning to read out loud, "Asami Sato defeated Marley Rose 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to win the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open. The win in her hometown earned the World No.22 her third career title but will be better remembered for the lip lock the gorgeous Japanese star planted on a female member of her entourage after climbing into her box to celebrate the victory. People magazine sources tell us the lucky woman on the receiving end of the smooch is the former Olympian Korra Tonraq, who represented Japan in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games and is currently gearing up to make her MMA debut in December. People has reached out to the Sato camp for more details on what led to the kiss that has set the tennis world ablaze, but has still to receive a response."
Rachel took a deep breath, then added, "There's a line saying the story is to be updated." She scrolled back to the top of the page to check something, "It was only published ten minutes ago."
"Right after Sato won," Quinn pointed out. "Wow, news travels fast. I'll bet she's still out on court, posing with the trophy."
The American teenager scrolled back down to the article, "There are more pictures, and even a GIF of the two kissing. How fast can people make those things?!"
"They look good together," Brittany pointed out, staring down at a picture of the two women smiling at one another after the kiss, their arms around one another.
"They do," Santana acknowledged. "And Sato has balls to come out the way she did."
Rachel nodded, glancing up at Brittany as she did so. She saw her English friend staring at her girlfriend and recognized the determination in her eyes. She had seen the look before; Brittany had made up her mind.
