CHAPTER 11

A/N: Thanks to Olivia, kelenhermitha, May1217, the Guest and Berrylucky5 for their reviews. I really enjoy reading your comments and your interesting opinions! Thank you!


A FEW HOURS LATER - HOME

I'm still in bed and… still alone in the house. But when I realise that it's already the middle of the afternoon, I decide to get up. Urgh, I feel so nauseous from last night… God knows I needed to get wasted but I always drink more when Puckerman is around… I force myself to eat something but despite my best efforts, I only manage to swallow a few bites. Better than nothing I guess.

I sigh, looking around. I don't really know what to do with myself, I'm not used to be alone anymore. I randomly sit at the piano and try to play for a bit but I'm actually too depressed to make music… That's the ultimate proof that I have reached a dark place.

I decide to go take a long overdue shower and walk towards the bathroom. I'm about to look at myself in the mirror to assess the damage caused by last night's heavy drinking when I notice a post-it stuck on the mirror. My mind immediately travels back to a few years ago. When we first moved in together in our New York apartment, Brittany used to leave me post-its on the mirror. She didn't do that every day but she would usually leave me one to say hello when she had early mornings and would already be gone by the time I get up. Or to remind me of something important I should not forget.

She had not done that in a very long time… so long in fact that I had even forgotten about it. I sigh as I take the post-it in my hands and read what it says.

I love you

I guess that's the important thing she doesn't want me to forget.


LATER – HOME

Of course I managed to grab the wrong shampoo bottle in the shower and used Britt's by mistake. Great. Now I'm going to smell her perfume on me all day long, as if I needed another reminder of the shitty situation we are in!

I sit on the couch and check my phone for the first time that day. It's filled with texts.

FROM "ABUELA": dflhifdmsiohfsdoimfh

I roll my eyes. What the fuck is this?

TO "ABUELA": Abuelita, is everything alright? Did you send me a message by mistake?

While I wait for her answer, I check the rest of the messages.

FROM "D'SHON": Hi Santana. Got your message. Of course we always need you for back vocals! You can record some as from next week. Joe will contact you to find slots.

FROM "QUINN": How are you, San? Did you talk to Britt? Call me.

FROM "PUCK": Is your head killing you as well? Why am I only hungover when I drink with you?

FROM "WHEELS": Hi San, just wanted to let you know that the pilot will air on May 19.

FROM "GAY-BERRY": Santana, you have to stop leaving me insulting vocal messages when you're drunk, haven't we passed that age now?

FROM "ABUELA": Yes it must have been a mistake, I'm not even sure what I did! I hope you girls are good, how is my Sofia? Call me soon, Santana! And by soon, I mean soon! At my age you never know how much time I have left. Besos

I decide to ignore all texts for now except Abuela's. If I don't reply, she will either call Brittany or the police…

TO "ABUELA": Sofia is good and getting cuter every day, she takes after you ;-) I stopped breastfeeding her, my baby is a big girl now! I promise that I will call you next week Abuela, I love you.

At least, Brittany has not contacted me since she sent me Sofia's picture. I'm not sure when she will get back home but I don't feel like being here when she does… I don't know what's wrong with me but all I want to do right now is running away from my problems.

Since Brittany took the "good" car - as we call it – to go to Mike's, that leaves me with the shitty old one we keep "just in case" but actually never use. I don't want Quinn or Puck to find me this time, so I decide to drive to another part of town and enter a pub I have never been to before.


AT THE PUB

I sit alone at the bar, for the second night in a row. I'm really a fucking winner!

I stay there for about an hour, doing literally nothing except sipping the same drink in silence until I get a text.

FROM "WIFEY": I was really hoping to find you at home… Where are you…?

I put my phone back in my purse without replying. I know that I'm being a shitty wife right now and I haven't even seen my daughter in 24 hours but I just don't know what to say to Brittany, I wouldn't even know where to start.

Someone sits next to me and I feel eyes on my face. I turn my head and see a middle-aged man.

"Hi gorgeous!" He says.

"Awesome pick up line." I reply sarcastically. "Don't bother, I'm gay."

"Really? Well… I love lesbians!" He says, winking at me.

On any other day I would probably go all Lima Heights on that kind of guy but right now I don't have the energy. "Good for you. But I'm also married and this…" I say, waving my hand between me and him, "… is never going to happen, OK?"

He raises both of his hands defensively. "Ok… Well if you change your mind, come find me, I'll be here all night." He winks again at me before leaving.

"Whatever!" I reply.

My phone beeps and I check the incoming text, it's from Mercedes this time.

FROM "WHEEZY": Hi hot mama, how are you? Just wanted to tell you that everything is arranged and we'll move to L.A. in about a month, YAY! Can't wait to see my favourite girls!

Someone sits next to me and I frown as I feel again a pair of eyes on me. "Are you deaf or what, I said that I am not interested!" I angrily say, without looking away from my phone.

"Huh… Sorry… Is this a bad time?" I hear a familiar voice say.

I raise my eyes to find Naya smiling at me.

"Oh… I'm sorry… I thought that…" I mumble. "Never mind. Hi!"

"Hi!" She replies in an enthusiastic way.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"I am supposed to meet Heather for drinks but she just called me to say that she's running late so… I guess I'm just going to hang around until she gets here. What about you? Is Brittany with you?" She asks.

"Hum… No, she's at home… with the baby." I reply.

"Ok. Well… if you're alone, do you mind if I join you?" She asks.

"Please…" I say, pointing to the stool next to me. "What are you having? It's on me."

"A Martini, please." She says to the bartender.

"Make that two." I add.

We chit chat for a while but as I'm not in the best mood I end up replying with short answers until she says: "I'm sorry, maybe you wanted to be alone… I didn't mean to impose."

Shit, I probably made her feel highly unwelcome.

"No, it's fine, please stay." I say. "I just… I'm sorry..."

"Is everything OK?" she asks, staring into my eyes.

I look at her and hesitate before replying. I usually hate talking about my personal business but there is something about Naya that makes me feel unusually comfortable, as if I could tell her anything.

And even though I'm the first one surprised, that's exactly what happens. I find myself telling her everything. My insomnia, my anxiety around the Glee pilot, the album… How I worry about Sofia… I even tell her about James and my fight with Brittany. I don't leave out any details, even admitting for the first time that I'm hiding at the pub and avoiding my wife. She listens through it all, attentively.

She waits for me to finish talking before saying: "OK… Well, first things first… give me your phone."

"What?" I ask, confused.

"Just give me your phone, trust me."

Trust her, is she kidding? I barely know the girl!

"Come on!" She says softly, with a smile.

I hesitate but eventually hand it to her.

"What are you doing?" I ask, as I see her typing on my phone.

"I'm texting your wife back."

"What? No!" I say trying to take the phone back from her but she's too quick and escapes before I can take it.

"You know that I'm your boss, right?" I tell her, crossing my arms, trying to look as threatening as I can but she doesn't seem impressed at all.

"Yes, I'm aware… But Brittany has been really nice to me, it's even thanks to her that I'm on Glee at all. And after what you told me, she must be worried sick, Santana… All she knows is that you're mad at her and that you're avoiding her. She doesn't even know where you are! Can you imagine what must go through her mind right now? She could think that you got into an accident, or... that you left her for good. Or for all we know... she might think that you're off fucking some random girl. I'm not going to let you ignore her like this, not under my watch… Sorry."

I frown at her but she actually has a point. If I was the one waiting at home, not knowing where my wife is, I would go crazy! Naya sends the text and hands me my phone back: "See, now she knows that she doesn't have to worry. She deserves that at least."

As I take the phone from her hands, I quickly check the text that she has just sent.

TO "WIFEY": I am at a bar and just ran into Naya. I'm going to stay here for a little while longer but we should talk later when I come home. I'm sorry for being distant all day.

"What the fuck!" I react. "I was OK to tell her where I was but why did you have to say that we could talk later? I don't want to talk, Naya! That's why I'm here in the first place!" I comment with an angry tone.

"I'm afraid that you will have to because what's your alternative exactly? Are you going to avoid your wife and your daughter forever? You're are going to drink at the pub every evening and then sleep on the couch every night? That's your brilliant plan?" She asks, staring into my eyes again.

"I… huh…" I mumble.

"Exactly, I didn't think so!" She cuts me off.

Is that girl for real?

Before I can say anything else, my phone beeps.

FROM "WIFEY": OK… I'll wait for you to come home. Drive safe.

"Ok so now that this is done…" Naya continues. "… It's time to find actual solutions to your shit. This James is clearly a dick so… First, you have to make sure that he doesn't come to L.A. Simple."

"Simple?! It's not that simple! Brittany doesn't have any other good candidate to replace her and the pilot will air soon, it doesn't leave her much time to find someone else."

"Ok, look… May I be honest?" She asks.

I shrug, wondering why she would be anything else than honest, that girl actually speaks without any filter!

"I think it's better that Brittany keeps teaching at her dance school and that you find another choreographer for Glee." She says.

"Why do you think it's better?" I ask, curious.

"Well… I know that I only had one course with your wife but she was amazing! It was obvious that she loves teaching and you just told me that that school is her dream, right? So why would you take it away from her? Besides, I assume that she has a regular schedule over there, so… now that you have a baby, isn't it more convenient to work there than as a choreographer on a TV show? Especially because… except for Heather and Harry of course, none of us are professional dancers and it takes us a lot of time to learn dance moves… Brittany would have to spend hours on set with us! And… as you said, the school is a stable income… So long story short: if she doesn't give up on her classes, not only she keeps doing what she loves but she won't even need to hire James! That seems like a win-win situation, you both get what you want."

I look at her in disbelief before adding: "You're pretty smart."

"Thanks, I try!" She says, proudly.

"Look… all you just said is true." I comment. "But Brittany is also the most talented choreographer I know and we need someone that good on the show otherwise it won't air for long! Where am I going to find another Brittany?" I ask.

"Just talk to Heather when she gets here!" She replies. "She's an amazing dancer, she even was Beyoncé's backup dancer, did you know that? Surely she must have connections and could recommend you a good choreographer. Maybe she could even help teaching the dances to the rest of the cast."

She leaves me speechless. How does this girl come up so quickly with so many good solutions?! Is she a genius or am I just dumb?

"And you have to tell Brittany about the conversation you had with James in New York!" She adds. "If she can't see that her so-called friend is an asshole, you have to make her see it. And you should tell her how you feel: about him, about her hiding things from you, why you worry about your baby, etc. Stop being a coward, just talk to your wife!"

Did she just call me a fucking coward? I frown and I'm about to react but I don't have time as she immediately comments: "You should stop frowning, it's going to give you wrinkles! And about Glee or your album... well I have been in the business for a long time and honestly, you just never know what can happen! Some things work out and others don't. You just have to keep working hard and you're clearly talented, Santana. So if this is where you're destined to end up, it will work out!"

"Thanks for the pep talk but what would you know about me being talented? We barely know each other." I reply.

"I know you better than you think. I play you after all so… I actually did my homework before I auditioned. And I saw a video of you performing on stage, during your friend Mercedes' Tour. I love Songbird by the way! You should totally put it on the show! But then please, please give me that solo because I would actually kill to sing that song!" She says with a chuckle.

"You … You actually looked me up?" I ask.

"Of course! It was a big role, I really wanted it so I prepared as much as I could! I watched everything I could find online: I also saw your performances when you were competing with your Glee club and that documentary about Mercedes' tour... So yeah... You were amazing in all those things! And you also wrote the script of the pilot... and I loved it! So you are talented."

"So are you." I comment. "And I don't make compliments easily."

"Yeah?" She asks with a smile.

"Yes, you definitely are good at what you do! By the way, how do you manage to sound like me when the cameras are rolling? It's really impressive!"

"I don't know... I'm just good at imitating people I guess. But I have observed you a lot, how you behave… and how you talk..."

"You definitely got that down…" I say. "Plus you look like me!"

"Yeah I kind of noticed!" She smiles. "You know that the cast doesn't believe me when I say that we are actually not related?"

I laugh before adding: "It might sound silly but since you play me on the show and look so much like me... Sometimes when I talk to you, I feel like I'm talking to my younger self, the one I was at McKinley. It's a strange feeling."

"Really? Well... what would the McKinley's Santana Lopez say to you if she was here right now?" She asks.

I can't help but laugh.

"What?" She says.

"First, she would probably be like "shut up!" when hearing that Brittany and I are married. I don't even think she could imagine that this is possible. Then she would definitely kick my ass for making Britt cry, and she would win because I'm not in the same shape as I was back then. And finally she would ask me what the fuck I'm doing here, ruining everything, when I could be at home having sex with my wife."

"Well, she has a point!" She comments.


LATER – AT THE PUB

"That was so awesome!" Naya says, hugging me after our third karaoke song in a row.

"I must admit that we sound very good together!" I reply as we go back to our table.

"You were both AMAZING!" Heather enthusiastically comments, high fiving both of us.

I sit down and check my phone.

I have 17 missed calls from Brittany…

God… something must be wrong, she would never call me that many times if something was not wrong. I call her back immediately but she doesn't pick up the phone. Dammit. When I'm sent to her voicemail, I hang up and see that she actually also sent me a text.

FROM "WIFEY": Sofia has a very high fever, we're going to the hospital. Please meet me there. We both need you.

"What's wrong?" Naya asks me after noticing the distressed look on my face.

"Sorry… I… I have to go…" I say as I grab my stuff in a hurry and run out of the pub.


A/N: Thoughts? Naya returned, what did you think about that? I didn't plan it, it kinda came to me a bit out of nowhere. But somehow I was thinking that Naya's "tell it like it is" attitude is something that Santana needed to hear, and she could use some of her wisdom too. It was the first time Naya actually speaks in this story, and that was pretty challenging for me to write those parts. I hope she made sense and that I wrote her in a realistic way. For those who want to know more about the Santana's performances that Naya referred to, it's covered in my first story "What is your dream?". Thoughts on the ending of this chapter...? Grateful for your reviews! Thanks.