CHAPTER TWO
Quinn stood in front of her mirror in a black mini bandage dress. Quinn's rich blonde hair fell around her shoulders and she wore classic true red lipstick that Mercedes loved. Quinn needed everything to be perfect for their special night. It was their five year anniversary and the first time they would be back together after two months of Mercedes being on tour.
The condo living room was dimly lit. Quinn's heels clicked on the hardwood floor as she paced back and forth. In a few moments, her girlfriend would come through the door, and Quinn was a nervous wreck. She always knew the day would come, and she planned it in her head many times but that didn't calm her nerves.
The knob on the front door wiggled and seconds later, in walked Mercedes. Her mouth dropped, and her eyes widen once she saw Quinn.
"Damn baby." Mercedes jumped into Quinn's arms. The two of them stumbled backwards, but Quinn kept them from falling over. "You look so good." Mercedes wasted no time planting her lips on Quinn.
Quinn couldn't help but chuckle at her girlfriend's eagerness. Quinn snuck her hands around Mercedes' waist and pulled her closer. "Thank you, babe. You look stunning as well." Quinn leaned forward, connecting her lips with Mercedes in a passionate kiss.
The couple stood in the middle of the dimly lit living room, attacking each other with their lips until they were both breathless.
Quinn pulls her lips away. "Wow, you really did miss me." Quinn joked.
"Of course I did. There's something else I've been missing too." Mercedes tried to lift up Quinn's dress but Quinn quickly stopped the action.
"Before we get into that." Quinn winked. "I have something to show you first."An anxious Quinn explained.
"Follow me." Quinn escorted Mercedes outside to the large private balcony. The entire balcony covered with roses and lit candles. In the corner, a speaker was playing their song, Best Part by H.E.R. Quinn looked over to see Mercedes' mouth was almost to the floor.
"Oh my god, baby." Mercedes's eyes were as big as the billboards behind them.
"You like it?"
"I love it. This is so beautiful, baby." There was no doubt by the look on Mercedes face that she was speaking the truth.
Quinn stood in front of Mercedes as they settled in the middle of a circle of roses. She cleared her throat before she spoke.
"I read a novel by Charlotte Bronte called Jane Erye and my favorite line from the book is "Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own. In pain and sickness, it would still be dear." Quinn inhaled and exhaled. She could feel herself becoming emotional.
"When I read that, I was blown away. Not only because the words were so beautiful but it's exactly how I feel about you."
"Babe…" Mercedes' eyes began to tear up.
"It's true." Quinn felt a small tear fall from the corner of her eye. "The love you give me is overwhelming. I never even thought I deserved it but you've shown me I do." At this point, the tears flowed for both Quinn and Mercedes.
"I love you so much, and you're the one I'm destined to spend the rest of my life with." Quinn proclaimed, looking into Mercedes's eyes.
"So, I have just one question for you." Quinn revealed the ring box she had hidden behind her back.
Mercedes gasped. "Oh my god."
Quinn opened the box, showing off a two carat diamond ring that shined against the moonlight. "Mercedes Patrice Jones, will you marry me?"
Mercedes' answer was immediate and without hesitation. "Yes! Yes! Of course, I will!" Mercedes screamed, jumping up and down on her heels. Relief and happiness washed all over Quinn. She'd always imagined what the moment would feel like, and it was everything she'd dreamed plus more. She knew in her mind that Mercedes was the one. She'd never felt so loved… so protected… so comfortable. There was no one else in the world she'd rather spend the rest of her life with. She'd found her soulmate.
END OF FLASHBACK
"Uh, Quinn, are you okay?"
Her old friend Tina Chang ended Quinn's daydream. She was so invested in her daydream that she'd blocked out the surrounding environment.
"Yeah I'm good Tina, just a little jet-lagged." Quinn lied. Quinn looked around at the table lined with all of her friends from the glee club. Tina and Mike Chang, Rachel Berry, Artie Abrams, Kurt and Blaine Anderson, Santana and Brittany Pierce-Lopez, Mercedes, and Sam.
Rachel arranged for all of them to meet at Breadstix, their favorite restaurant in Lima, for dinner and drinks. They spent most of dinner catching up on each other's lives and showing off pictures of their children. Quinn tried to stay engaged in the conversations, but it was hard to do sitting directly across from Mercedes and Sam.
Sam was sitting directly beside Mercedes and leaning close to Mercedes to whisper something in her ear. The sight of Mercedes laughing and giggling with Sam made Quinn's stomach turn. A part of her had the urge to snatch Sam right out of his chair. Quinn could tell that Sam was intentionally avoiding her gaze. Sam refusing to acknowledge her and his audacity to flirt with Mercedes in front of her face, rubbed her the wrong way.
Quinn took a sip of her red wine before she cleared her throat. "So, Sam, what have you been up to? Anything interesting?" Quinn spoke to Sam, grabbing his attention for the first time that night.
Everybody at the table cut their conversations short and all eyes were on Sam, Quinn, and Mercedes. As if everyone at the dinner table was waiting for the elephant in the room to be addressed. Sam looked away from Mercedes and turned his light blue eyes to Quinn.
"Uh, not much." Sam sat up straight in his chair. "I'm still coaching football at McKinley and besides the championship we won last year, that's as impressive as my life gets."
Quinn could care less about Sam's coaching career. "What about your dating life, anything interesting on that front?" Quinn continued to sip on her wine, never breaking her gaze with Sam. She saw Mercedes laser eyes staring at her from across the table, but she was past caring.
Sam let out an awkward laugh."Not really, I'm just going with the flow right now."
Quinn smirked. She looked over at Mercedes, who mouthed the words "drop it".
"I'm guessing, sending Mercedes flowers is your way of going with the flow?" said Quinn, ignoring Mercedes warning.
"Quinn, can I talk to you outside?" Mercedes's jaws were clinched and if looks could kill, Quinn would be a dead woman.
"I'm just having a conversation with Sam. He hasn't even looked at me since I walked in. It's almost like he knows that he shouldn't send flowers to his friend's ex-wife." Quinn affirmed.
The tension in the room thickened. Sam glanced around the room, his eyes darting from face to face as though he was looking for someone else to answer for him.
"To be honest Quinn, that's none of your business." Sam spoke sternly. His confidence coming out of nowhere.
Quinn leaned forward in her chair. "Excuse me?"
"I may not act as mature as people think I should, but I'm still a grown man and if I want to buy a bouquet of roses for someone I care about, then that's exactly what I'll do."
"You're so full of it." Quinn accused. "Everybody at this dinner table knows about your infatuation with Mercedes. I'm sure you had a celebration when you found out about our divorce."
"I respected you guy's relationship the entire time you were together. You and Mercedes are divorced now. She's not your property."
"Guys, we haven't seen each other in years. Let's table this conversation for another time and place." Rachel tried to intervene from the end of the table.
"I agree." said Mercedes. The anger in her eyes apparent.
Quinn ignored the two of them. "Friends don't date their friends ex-wives."
"Are you serious?" Sam scoffed. "You and I have never been friends. We don't communicate with each other at all. I have done nothing wrong, and Mercedes's opinion is the only one that matters to me." Sam spoke and Quinn was surprised that Sam continued to push back.
A powerful urge inside her wanted to throw the rest of her Pinot Noir in his smug face. Quinn fingers clinched around the cloth in her lap as she just stared Sam down, her grip on the napkin so tight that her knuckles turned white.
"Quinn, come have a shot with me." In her focus on Sam, Quinn hadn't noticed Santana stand up and walk up behind her chair.
"I'm good." Quinn waved Santana off.
"No, you're not good. Let's go to the bar and have a shot." This time, Santana's tone suggested that it wasn't a suggestion. Quinn had no interest in ending the conversation and leaving the table, but she listened to her best friend. There was no need to start an argument with Santana too.
Quinn gritted her teeth. "Fine." Quinn threw the napkin that was clinched in her fist onto the dinner table. She stormed past the awkward eyes that followed her, with Santana right at her heels. She knew Mercedes was burning holes in the back of her head but her anger wouldn't allow her to care.
The bar was fairly empty, with just a few patrons around. Santana called the bartender over and ordered two tequila shots. Quinn leaned on the bar, running her fingers through her hair to calm herself down.
Santana nudged Quinn with her shoulder as the bartender slide the tequila shots to them. Quinn wasted no time downing the shot. Her face grimaced as the warm liquor slide down her throat.
"It's just the two of us here. You can admit this isn't about Sam. Seems like someone wants their baby mama back."
"That's not it." Quinn denied, shaking her head.
"Bullshit Quinn. Over twenty years of friendship and I've seen that look in your eyes before. It's always about Mercedes."
Quinn pretended not to hear Santana, instead she called out to the bartender for another shot.
"I know what happened. You realized that Mercedes might be capable of finding love with someone else."
"Fuck!" Quinn screamed, turning the heads of everyone in the bar. She downed her second shot of tequila, throwing her head back to get the shot down as quickly as possible.
"This is all Mr. Jones' fault." said Quinn.
"What do you mean?" Santana asked.
"He pulled me to the side this afternoon with this deep poetic spill about the world ending and not giving up on love. I don't remember everything, but it had me thinking all day, and now I come here and see Sam flirting with her right in front of me." Quinn sighed. "I don't know. I'm just confused." Quinn ran her fingers through her blonde hair again.
"Let's keep it real Q, you're not confused. You're just afraid of admitting that you're still in love with Mercedes."
Quinn shook her head, why did this have to happen? Even if she admitted to herself that she still had feelings for Mercedes, it wasn't possible that she could pursue it. The likelihood that Mercedes felt the same was slim to none.
"It doesn't matter how I feel, Mercedes has moved on."
"Why? Because Sam is blowing his hot ass breath in her ear." Santana snorted."Q, you're a grown ass woman. Just tell Mercedes how you're feeling."
"You know, it's not that simple."
"Of course it is. I learned a long time ago that love is simple, it's our pride and ego that makes it complicated." Santana advised.
Quinn slammed her head down on the bar, why was life doing this to her? Quinn needed to get away from the restaurant and she had to smoke a cigarette away from judgmental eyes.
"I need some fresh air." said Quinn.
"Do you want me to go with you?" Santana inquired.
"No, go back to the dinner table with Brittany. I just need to be alone to think for a minute."
"Okay, your skinny white ass better not ditch us."
"I'm just going to step outside for ten minutes and then I'll be back to watch Sam's goofy smile all night."
"Alright." Santana left cash on the bar for the bartender before leaving.
Quinn stepped out into the chill Lima air. Her anxiety was up, and her frustrations were even higher. She walked to her car and picked out a brand-new pack of Virginia Slims that she hid in her glove compartment. Quinn knew it was a disgusting habit, but stress saw her picking it right back up. She slid a cigarette out the pack and placed it between her thin lips.
"You know, that was some bullshit you just pulled." Mercedes walked up on Quinn and snatched the cigarette out of her mouth, smashing it on the ground." Quinn almost jumped out of her skin.
"Oh my god, you scared the shit out of me." Quinn clutched her chest.
"What was that?" Mercedes demanded, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
Quinn remained silent, looking everywhere but at Mercedes.
"Hello. Do you not hear me talking to you?"
Quinn met her gaze. "I hear you loud and clear, Mercedes."
"Then give me an answer." Mercedes demanded.
"Fine." Quinn gave in. "Maybe you should wait until I'm not around to flirt with Sam, would you mind giving me that courtesy?"
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "So that entire discussion we had this morning just went in one ear and out the other."
"I don't remember the part of the conversation where you said you would flirt with in front of me. I mean come on Mercedes, this is the same kid you told me not to worry about and now he's sending you flowers and whispering in your ear."
Mercedes shook her head. "No, you're not about to try to flip this on me. That was petty. You made things awkward for everyone at the table." Mercedes was visibly upset.
"Honestly Quinn, why are we even having this argument when you and I are not together?"
Quinn didn't have an answer for her ex-wife, without revealing her true feelings. So, Quinn just stayed silent and avoided Mercedes' eye contact.
"The both of you embarrassed me with your ego battle. I'm not the property of you or Sam. I'm the mother of your children, and I didn't deserve that."
Quinn dropped her head. She knew Mercedes was right. No matter how she felt about Sam, there was a time and place for everything. She could have spoken to Sam in private, instead of embarrassing herself and Mercedes. It was time for her to put her personal and confusing feelings aside to have a better relationship with Mercedes. The better things were between the two of them, the happier the kids would be.
"You're right." Quinn said, looking Mercedes directly in the eyes.
"I'm right?" Mercedes looked bewildered.
"Yes, you're right. That was immature of me and I should've handled it differently. Whatever is going on between you and Sam is none of my business. I'm sorry." Quinn's apology was genuine.
"I wasn't expecting to hear you say that." Mercedes said perplexed.
"I'm tired of fighting with you. It's not healthy for the kids, and it's not healthy for us." Quinn admitted. "As badly as our marriage ended…you meant a lot to me for a very long time. I don't want that to all get thrown away because of my pride."
For the first time in a truly long time, Quinn allowed herself to be vulnerable with Mercedes.
The anger in Mercedes' eyes faded away.
"It hasn't been just you. I've been stubborn as well. I know I can make things more difficult than they have to be at times." Mercedes stopped talking momentarily, seeming to be getting her thoughts together.
"If I'm being honest, I've somewhat missed our friendship."
Quinn's mouth widens. "You're actually admitting to missing our friendship?"
Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Girl, bye." Mercedes turned to walk away.
"I'm just kidding." Quinn grabbed Mercedes wrist before she could get away.
A slight smile appeared on Mercedes' face as she turned back around to face Quinn. Quinn kept a hold of Mercedes hand.
"I miss it too." Quinn smiled. "I miss my best friend." Quinn stared at Mercedes, the genuine smile on her face had become foreign to Quinn. It was nice to see again.
"I forgot."
"Forgot what?" Mercedes asked.
"How beautiful you are when you smile." The words rolled off her tongue without her even thinking about it.
"Uh ok…what's happening here? You're trying to reconcile things between us, calling me beautiful." Mercedes raised her eyebrows. "You're not dying are you?"
"No, I'm not dying… I just." The choice of being honest with Mercedes about her rediscovered feelings came to her mind.
"Tell me." Mercedes urged.
Quinn's mind raced a thousand miles a minute. She wanted to come clean, but every scenario that played out in her head ended badly except for one. Their relationship failed once before, she would be foolish to think it could work out the second time around.
"I was just going to say that despite everything that happened… If Sam makes you happy, then I'm really happy for you." The answer wasn't truthful but it was the answer Quinn thought was best.
"Thank you Quinn, that's sweet of you to say." Mercedes sent a warm smile, Quinn's way.
Quinn nodded her head and smiled back. "You're welcome."
The two of them stood awkwardly in the parking lot, neither knowing where the conversation was supposed to go or how to end it.
Finally, Mercedes spoke up. "Well, I'm going to head back inside. Are you coming?"
"Yeah, sure." Quinn followed Mercedes back to the restaurant, all the while thinking about how she would stop herself from falling in love with Mercedes all over again.
