A. N. I'm going to try to update The Upside Down, I'm not sure about Young, Wide-eyed, and Hopeless, because half the chapter was written but it got deleted and now I'm mad. same with Standing On The Sun.
"Cupid must have wrote a love story in the dark. Oh, sloppy Cupid. Doomed us from the start."
"Walk me through it one more time." Tina's lip quivers as she tries not to laugh. And she's trying really, really hard.
"No, you're going to laugh." A petulant pout overtakes Rachel's lips. It's an odd look on her. She's sitting in a desk chair that anyone else would probably describe as something just shy of a throne. And she's dressed head to toe in an Armani suit that someone else picked out for her.
Tina, her assistant, shakes her head profusely. If she was going to laugh, she would have done it already. She was simply holding it in for Rachel's sake. If it were anyone else she would have cracked up in their face, but her boss seemed quite miffed with the situation.
"I promise I won't." She insisted. Rachel narrowed her eyes, then sighed. She grabbed her star shaped stress ball off of her mahogany desk. She throws it into the air once, twice, three times before speaking.
"I saw her walk in and may or may not have dropped a 15 pound weight on my toe. She got on the elliptical and it wouldn't work, so I decided that was my opening. I walked over, kicked it with the same probably broken foot, then I asked her out. There." Rachel glared at her assistant who snickered profusely.
"Now hold on. You're forgetting a part." Tine looks down at the legal pad that had been sitting in her lap. She perused the page before tapping on a particular spot.
"Ah hah! You pulled a business card out of your fucking gym shorts like an absolute psychopath." This must be the final nail in the coffin as she finally howls in laughter, "I'm surprised any of that actually worked. Are you sure she gave you her actual number and not someone else's? Like a cop's?"
"We'll address the fact that you're taking notes on my love life in your quarterly evaluation, but to answer your question I have no idea. I completely embarrassed myself in front of her, but she was smiling like she found it cute."
Tina eyed the look on her employer's face, "You know I'm just messing with you, Racg. I'm sure you completely charmed her. Besides, there's only one way to find out." Tina odded her head towards Rachel's personal phone which had been haphazardly placed on top of a stack of meeting notes.
"You're right. I need to redeem myself." Rachel grabbed her phone, and searched for Santana's name in her contacts.
Tina rolled her eyes. Alphas were so weird. She's about to leave the office and give Rachel some semblance of privacy, when a framed picture, sitting on one of the many counters in the room, catches her eye.
"Hey, Rach. Hate to burst your bubble, but are we just supposed to act like Sugar doesn't exist?"
Rachel gave a heavy pause, she sighed and looked up at Tina, "We've been broken up for two months, so yes."
"Yeah, but I don't know if that's how that works."
Rachel sounds tired when she speaks next, "Just drop it, Tina."
Tina sighed and shook head, "Fine. Don't forget you have a meeting with Spectrum at 12:30 this afternoon."
"I won't. Thank you." Rachel let's the door close behind her.
"Could you knock for once? What if I was naked?" Quinn frowned as she padded into her livingroom, wiping the sleep from her eyes.
"Why would you walk around naked? You're roommates with a two year old alpha. She'd most definitely try to punch you in the dick." The intruder exclaimed as she pushed passed Quinn into the kitchen area.
"Roommate would imply that she pays rent. I keep telling her to get a job, but everytime I do she just stares at me then asks for more cheerios. I'm all cheerio-ed out!" Quinn grips her hair dramatically.
"Which is exactly why I bought you some real breakfast." As if on queue the sound of small feet slapping furiously against hardwood is heard.
"How do you keep escaping your jail cell?" Quinn asked, peering down at her daughter with a confused glare.
"Stop calling her crib a jail cell."
"There's bars. I lock those bars. And she's supposed to not be able to get out of those bars. Sounds plenty like a jail cell to me. One time she even ran her sippy cup along the bars and playes a blues song into a harmonica. To this day I don't know where she got it."
"Aunt Brittany!" Beth shouted. She had a wonderul knack for distracting her aunt so she didn't choke her mother to death.
"Hi, Beth. Are you hungry?"
Beth nodded happily.
"She likes to act like she'll starve here. I feed you, too." Beth just stared blankly at her mother as she chewed on a peice of pancake Brittany handed her.
"Anyway. Why am I here?"
Quinn's brows furrowed, "I don't know. You just showed up."
"No. You texted me last night asking me to come over."
Quinn raised an eyebrow as she checked her phone. It was very plausible. Sounded like something she would do, but she'd be lying if she said she had any recollection of doing it.
The One With The Kid: v v upset. Told cutteeee omega me lifes storie. Wanna sex her but Sam look at me mean. Pls cum huggg my. Read at 10:03 pm.
"Wow. Drunk at only ten o'clock? I might have a problem."
"You think?"
"Well, it looks like I already told you why you're here. I told a very cute omega my entire life's story and I was totally going to go home with her if Sam hadn't have ruined it. And I was like completely sober at that point."
"Do you still want that hug?"
"Will you try to choke me?"
"Probably."
"Then yes."
"Sometimes I wonder if your child is actually parenting you instead of the other way around." Brittany rolled her eyes then got to setting up the rest of the food she had brought.
"So, what actually happened last night. I'm sure Sam threw an absolute rager." Brittany chuckled at her own joke.
"Santana made the same joke."
"Who the hel-heck is Santana?"
"The cute omega. She walked into the kitchen, where I was hiding. We got to talking and I don't know, I just started telling her things." Quinn explained as she calmly pulled a piece of pancake her daughter would have most definitely choked on out of her hands. She handed it back to her after ripping it in half.
"Do you think-"
"You know, I hate that question."
Brittany sighed and poked at her eggs, "It has to be asked, Q. When was the last time you voluntarily gave any type of information about yourself to a stranger?"
"Never."
"Exactly. Maybe she's the one." Brittany shrugged, she eyed her best friend. Quinn just sat silently and watched her daughter eat.
"I don't know. She saw my phone background and asked about it. And I only hesitated a little bit. She smelled great." Quinn's eyes took on a bit of a dreamy look, and Brittany just chuckled to herself.
"Did she recognize you?"
"Not at first, but I guess I said something and it jogged her memory. She said she had seen some of my videos in her classes."
Brittany's eyes widened dramatically, "Oh my God, Q-Ball. How old is she?!"
"She's friend's with Sam and Mercedes. Met them in college, so I'm assuming she's talking about Grad school." Quinn laughed as the turmoil slowly drained from Brittany's face.
"That was close. So, she knows about the kid, your job, and she still didn't run for the hills? Please, tell me you got this girl's number."
"But you don't like it when I lie to you."
"QUINNIFER!" Brittany admonished.
Beth, assuming this is just a game of word association yells as well, "Mama!"
"What?! After Sam walked in she just abruptly left. She had a class this morning." Quinn shrugged.
"Quinn-jet, it's Saturday."
"Oh yeah."
"Then why did she leave? What did as Sam say exactly?"
"He glared at me a bit when he saw me with her. He said Cedes had been looking for her, but she didn't really seem to care. Then Sam left. Santana said that was weird, then she said she had to go. That was it. I think she noticed Sam being weird to me, and it scared her off somehow."
Brittany nodded as she listened, "Why was Sam glaring at you anyway? I thought you guys were cool with each other again."
"I never try to venture into Sam's mind. I imagine I'd go insane. I think he was just being an alpha really. He probably thought he had an obligation to protect her." Quinn shrugged once more, "It's okay. If I really wanted her number I'd just get it from Cedes."
"You should really want her number."
Quinn didn't say anything. She just chewed the inside of her lip as she continued to monitor her daughter's eating.
"Should I have dressed up a little more?" Santana asked, self consciously lookimg down at her sweater and skinny jeans.
"Oh, no! Sorry, I just came from work." Rachel gestured at her suit with a nonchalant wave of her hand.
"Well you look nice."
"So do you." Rachel smiled at Santana soflty. She held the door opened for the omega as they got to it.
"Did you want anything?" Rachel gestured to the menu floating over the employees heads.
"Um, sure a white chocolate mocha, please."
Rachel nodded, "An excellent choice. I think I discovered the drug of coffee back in college. A white chocolate mocha was my gateway drug into plain black. I'm thinking about enrolling my self into coffee-holics anonymous."
Santana laughed lightly because Rachel was cute, not because she was funny, "I totally understand. I don't think I'd pass my midterms if I didn't have at least two shots of espresso on study nights."
Rachel placed their order and patiently waited for it to be filled, "What are you studying?"
"I'm earning my master's in education. Would love to be an administrator some day." A big smile spreads across Santana's face and Rachel can't help but find it contagious.
"You'd make a wonderful administrator one day, I'm sure." When the order is ready, Rachel retrieves them and leads the two of them toward an alcove in the back of the coffeeshop.
"Thank you. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for staying in school so long."
"Do you think it will be beneficial for you in the long run?" Rachel asked as she took a sip of her black coffee.
"Absolutely."
"Then who cares what everyone else thinks." Rachel says matter of factly. There's a spark in Santana's eye that sort of snatches Rachel's breathe right out of her chest.
"That's a bit easier said than done. But, enough about me. What do you do thats got you so dressed up?"
Rachel's eyes winded a bit. She was hoping that she could avoid that question. People always seem to freak out a bit when theh realize she'd could probably buy a private island for them if she wanted to.
"I work at a marketing agency. Royal Marketing Firm."
"That large as fuck building like right next to central park?!" Santana asked excitedly. She walked passed that place all of the time. And it was hard to miss, considering it was one of the taller buildings around instead of normal glass windows, the windows had curated, colorful graffiti all over them.
"That's the one." Rachel prided herself on keeping her financial status private. Not many people knew who ran Royal Marketing and it was going to stay that way.
"That must be so cool. Does your office have a nice veiw?"
"It does ac-" Rachel is cut off by the sound of her phone ringing. She sighed discreetly, she can tell by the ringtone that's it's her work phone.
"I'm sorry. I have to take this." She stepped a few feet away, and answered the phone.
"I know you're on your little date but we're going to need you to come back in. The CEO of Spectrum is having a tantrum in your office." Tina's voice does sound apologetic, but she can also hear the humor as she listened to the grown man in the other room scream and cry.
"I'll be there soon." Rachel hung up the phone, then took a deep breath. She turned back around toward Santana with a slight grimace.
"I'm so sorry, San. But there's an emergency at work and I have to handle it. Do you mind if we cut this short?"
Santana stood up quickly, "Not at all. I understand."
Rachel sighed in relief, "Thank you. I'll call you." She kisses Santana on the cheek before all but sprinting out of there.
Santana blushed heavily.
She hates Sundays. Somehow, they're her busiest day of the week. Which, doesn't make sense because she doesn't have classes on Sundays.
Though, this Sunday is serving to be a bit better than the rest. She was able to get the rest of her classwork done the previous day, so she was free to do whatever she wanted really.
She eventually decided on going to her favorite pizza place. It's only around the corner from her apartment, and she's got cravings.
She walked into the small hole in the wall a bit preoccupied with her phone. She probably should have been looking where she was going.
She all but rammed into someone just as she crossed the threshold. She's about to lose her balance, when the person grabs her waist firmly.
"Slow down, the pizza isn't going anywhere."
Santana looked up at her saviour with a gasp. Maybe if they weren't so close she'd have somthing more articulate to say other than "Oh".
"Sorry, Quinn." Santana breathed out. Quinm just chuckled lightly before letting the omega go.
"It's okay. You might want to look up from your phone at least once next time, though."
Santana blushed heavily, she looked down in embarrassment. It's then that she realized Quinn isn't alone.
Santana smiled softly at the small girl hiding partly behind her mother's legs.
"Hello, I'm sorry I ran into your mom, but she's firm. I'm sure she's fine." Beth looked up to her mother for confirmation. Quinn gave the child a thumbs up.
Quinn waddled out from behind her mom. She seems intrested in Santana for about two more seconds before the claw machine tucked in the corner catches her eye.
"Hm. Normally she hates meeting new people." Quinn watched as her daughter toddled over to the machine she couldn't reach.
"She thought I hurt you, I guess. Once she saw that you were fine, she was too." Santana shrugged, as if it was as easy as that.
"So...come here often?" Quinn wondered if there was a set of subway stairs she could throw herself down, because what the fuck was that?
"Yes, actually. I live around the corner, and Sal here has the best pizza in this entire state." Santana nodded toward the owner of the restaurant.
"Never been here before actually. One of my friend's recommended it."
"Smart friend."
"Brittany has her moments. Even a broken clock is right twice a day." Quinn shrugged. Speaking of Quinn, now was her chance. Britt would murder her in cold blood if she found out Quinn had the opportunity to get Santana's number and then didn't.
"Uh, did you want to maybe-can I get your number?" Those subway stairs have to be close, right? This is New York for fuck sake.
"Yeah. If you hadn't have said anything, I probably would have asked for yours." Quinn hands Santana her phone and watches deftly as she puts her number in.
"I would have said yes." The pair laugh until they're interrupted by Santana's phone ringing.
She pulls it out of her back pocket and takes a glimpse at the screen.
'Rachel' flashes across it.
It's then that Santana realizes she has a problem.