Finn couldn't believe it; he got a call back for 'The Bold and the Beautiful'. Santana had also made it to the final ten for the Latina maid, but that was no surprise. She'd killed her first audition. There were about 250 women up for the part. They went on Monday and there we over 300 young men going for the same part as him. The part was Spencer Mann, son of Alan Mann, millionaire business tycoon. But Spencer is a gentler soul than his wealthy, conservative family. Ten actors had been called back. He was up against guys that had been to drama school and everything. Really good-looking guys, with perfect white teeth and chiseled abs, and strong jawlines. What did he have to offer?
Finn had put on his resume that he played guitar, and he was going to have to prove it today. He'd borrowed Puck's acoustic guitar, but his secret weapon was that he was going to sing with his playing to make him seem better than he was.
Santana and Puck had been coaching him, Puck on how to sell sexy and stylish while playing, and finding a fairly simple guitar song, and Santana had been helping him with the singing. And he was pretty damn proud of himself, he felt ready to trick them into thinking he had been playing for longer than 2 weeks.
Finn finally got into the room and there was no microphone, just five middle aged people sitting behind a desk, looking like they'd been at this for far too long. Puck told him to try and charm one of the women in the room with his eyes during the performance. There were only two, so he picked the younger one, so that made it easy.
"I'm Finn Hudson," He made eye contact with every single person in the room, "and I'll be playing 'Stand By Me', by John Lennon."
Finn started strumming the guitar, and smiled boyishly between the panel of casting people. He was nervous, but he felt prepared at least. He started to sing.
"When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see"
He started to move, slowly towards them rocking his hips ever so slightly with the beat, ensuring he wasn't looking at his hands, to show he was proficient.
"No I won't be afraid
No I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me"
Finn had the audacity to sit on the edge of the table the casting panel were seated at, something Puck and Santana had encouraged him to do. He gave a flirty smile to the younger woman in the thick glasses with the curly dark hair that he was intending to charm during this performance.
"And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, now, now, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by me"
Finn then smiled boyishly, and managed to make eye contact, as he got up and went back to where he'd started the audition.
"If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountains should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry
No I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me"
He took a deep breath, it was essential he nail the vocals for the bridge, all part of the Santana Lopez school of distraction, so they wouldn't notice how incredibly simple this song was to play and that he wasn't all that good.
"And darling, darling stand by me
Oh, stand by me
Stand by me, stand by…"
Finn didn't get to finish the whole song, the thin man with the thick mustache told him, "Thank you, Finn, very nice."
Finn felt he'd sung well, but he hoped they thought so too. If they were guitar experts though, they'd probably be sniggering. Finn hadn't known there would be so many of them. And that they'd all look so… bored. He finished, and nodded, and said thank you to the room.
One of the men, the bald one, looked over at the sheet, "Finn Hudson?"
Finn nodded.
"Well done," Said the balding casting director, or whoever he was.
"Lovely voice," The older woman commented, smiling back at him.
He said "Thank you," and nodded awkwardly and left.
The script they had for this call back was the meeting scene between Spencer and Marisol Reyes, the part Santana wanted. Spencer comes home halfway through sophomore year at college for his younger brother's 18th birthday. Just as Marisol arrives for her first shift as a maid. She's wearing the French maid outfit, which was picked out by Alan, who's already treating Marisol as his hired mistress. Anyway, so younger brother, Tyler, assumes that it's a stripper costume and Marisol is their 'entertainment' for the evening. The boys', already liquored up start harassing Marisol to take off her clothes, and turning up the music and trying to grind dance up against her.
Marisol is put off, and not sure what to do, but is insisting she actually is a maid. Spencer then steps in and stops the boys' behavior before it gets any worse.
The script they were reading from started at this point. Spencer invites Marisol into their father's study where he introduces himself and apologizes for his brother's treatment of her, and hopes she won't quit after that display. Marisol says she needs the job as it pays well. She's clearly nervous and uncomfortable, and so Spencer tries to break the ice by asking her about herself.
Marisol says she's been a maid for four years, and has always found it safer to be invisible where her employers are concerned, played sadly. 'I'm not your employer', Spencer points out, to which she says, 'no, just my employer in training'. He says 'Don't think of me like that.' Marisol replies, 'I'm sure you're nice to your college friends, and you give to charity and stuff, but I don't live in your world, Mr Mann.'
"There doesn't have to be this big divide," He suggests.
'We're not going to be friends,' Marisol snaps, that's how Santana plays it, before getting a hold of herself and returning to her reserved composure, 'I have to work to survive, and I've had to learn how to do that.'
'Fair enough', he says, accepting that she doesn't want any further imposition.
'Do you know why your father asked me to start this evening given that he's not here and your brother is throwing a party?'
'No idea, sorry.'
'Is your brother really having a stripper? You know what, I don't want to know,' Santana did this part accentuated with a raised open hand.
'Not if I have anything to say about it,' Spencer says, showing his disgust at treating women like sex objects.
Spencer doesn't push anything, but his parting words are, 'I know you resent us,'
'I didn't say that' She replies.
'You don't have to,' Spencer says. 'But I'm not like my family and the rest of the country club, I don't think you're a slave' he approaches her, 'you're a person with your own story.'
'So essentially, we're the same,' Marisol seemingly agrees with him.
Spencer nods, 'Yeah.'
'Except that you go to a university that costs $30,000 a year, live in a house that costs $5 million dollars, are on a first name basis with local politicians and judges and will one day run all of this,' Marisol points out, to Spencer's open mouthed silence, 'and I struggled to get here today because the bus was late, and I had to run the last six blocks and if I don't get paid next week I'll likely get evicted from the shithole apartment I live in with three generations of my family.'
'Marisol," Spencer says.
'So, apart from all of that, we're the same,' Santana delivered it with the perfect amount of impatience, distain and sort of vulnerability, like she's telling him, she just wished he got it, and she didn't have to explain this to him.
'I know my brother can be a handful, and my Dad's… having some kind of mid-life crisis, but if you have any problems here, I want you to know you can come to me.'
Santana as Marisol shoots him a look of disbelief. Santana did it with an adjustment of her body posture to show her discomfort.
But Spencer tries to win her trust, 'Because Marisol, I see you'.
'It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr Mann,' She says in parting, 'I had better start picking up those bottles for the recycling, can't expect those prep school boys to pick up after themselves, can we?'
))))))
They'd practiced it a lot. Santana had been helping him memorize and making it seem natural, and how to get his facial expressions just right, and what hand gestures or movement should be paired with what dialogue.
It was actually quite a well written and decently sweet scene for a soap opera. Finn had been binge watching the show with Santana after their morning runs, so they could catch up to what was going on. Finn had never seen it, but The Bold and the Beautiful had been on TV for like… ever, so they couldn't watch the whole thing, just the last year or so. The acting tended to be overly dramatic and the storylines far-fetched, but still, it'd be a great gig if they could land it.
What was even more amazing was that Finn did one read through, and then they kept having him repeat it with all the perspective Marisols. That seemed like a really good sign. Santana had clearly been right about how to play the scene.
When he and Santana did the scene together, he thought it was the best one, and that their chemistry was off the charts. He was trying not to make it creepy though, because his character can't seem like he wants into her pants too overtly, given the problem initially is that his father and brother are treating her like a prostitute.
But he really felt they both gave it their best. Santana appeared sexy, but vulnerable, and guarded in the right balance.
))))))
After they finished, the casting director had them stand together, look into each other's eyes and embrace. They wanted to see if they looked good together.
"Have them kiss," One of the panel ordered.
Which they did. A kiss that could have set oceans on fire. The only time he used tongue, because he was only happy to stage kiss everyone else.
"They look good together," Was a comment Finn could only just hear between panel members. It wasn't meant for his ears though.
Then there was more hushed discussion on the panel. It was so nerve wracking and he and Santana just stood there, afraid to move, getting more and more nervous.
)))))))
There was a lot more standing around, and everyone there was apprehensive, all the Spencers and the Marisols. The induction host came back saying that a decision had been made about Spencer, but they were still deciding about Marisol.
"Congratulations, Finn Hudson, you're our Spencer Mann."
I got it!
I GOT IT!
"I can't believe it," He said, looking at Santana. Finn felt like jumping up and down. "I got it!" He exclaimed, pulling her into a hug.
Santana was really happy for him, "This is huge!" She hugged him.
He kissed her in full view of everyone. He just couldn't contain how he felt. He said thank you to all the people and shook the hands of a few actors who'd missed out, but were well-mannered.
They got back to Finn's car, and flattened the seats. Finn laid back and Santana straddled his waist. And then she kissed him. They were no holds barred now. And Finn let his hands roam her body, under her shirt, her flat stomach, he pushed her skirt up.
"Thank you," He said.
Her lips swallowed his words.
"You did this…" Her mouth took his words again. "Santana, I …" Nope, more of her tongue now didn't allow him to say more.
Santana's hands worked his belt and fly, and in mere moments his dick was out, semi hard, and in her hands.
He wanted to stop so he could tell her how much all her support and guidance meant to him, but he also wanted to thank her with all the happy feelings he was overcome with right now as well, so he didn't want to stop anything.
He didn't even take her g string off, he just pushed it to one side, as he fed his snake into her snatch. She felt so hot and inviting. He liked watching her spread open like that, seeing her lips part as his cock pushed into her, and he felt her body hugging him tight as he went deeper, and seeing the shiny glaze as he came out part way coated in her desire for him. He thrust again and he felt her wet heat pulsing around him.
Santana had this way of rhythmically gyrating such that she clenched and released him so tight. He watched her stomach making rolls, seeing her muscles individually moving. He leaned forward and pulled her top up so her could look at her bra.
He pounded so hard, even though she was on top, he just had all these feelings, he just wanted to make them so hot and he just couldn't stop, he was out of control, and Santana was rocking her hips so hard and fast to keep pace with him, holding her hands on the roof to steady herself, while he had a hand on each of her hips to help him guide her around his slamming thrusts.
Finn was overcome with all the heat, and wet and squeezing and came soon after. They were both completely puffed, and he could feel Santana's chest heaving, and her whole body was rising and falling as he was struggling to catch his breath beneath her.
"Thank you!" He said, barely able to say both words without a breath in between.
Santana smiled in a self-satisfied way, "Hudson! That was hot!" She leaned forward and kissed him.
"I think I've lost all control when it comes to you," Finn admitted.
And it was true, he'd never been so… led around by his dick, or hormones or whatever before Santana. She just like… did things to him, and he couldn't help but want to be fucking her 24/7 or thinking about doing it.
"Fuck me, Finn Hudson," Santana's tone implied he'd managed to surpass expectation, yet again.
Finn reciprocated wholeheartedly, "Thank you!" He said, "you're the reason I got the part, I had no clues, I wouldn't have even known about that audition."
She smiled, cupping his cheeks, "I know you're gonna kill that part, it could be more than just a small arc, you know."
"You're awesome!" He kissed her lips again, just a peck.
Santana got embarrassed and so just pushed his face sideways with her hand.
She laid flat on his chest for ages, they were still enmeshed in one another, still half clothed. They had sweated up with the whole car smelling like sex.
"You were definitely the best Marisol, it will be robbery if they don't give you the part," Finn said.
Santana didn't look so sure. But she seemed happy he thought so. She repaid his complement with a peck on his lips, and some more fondling of his nipples, which he was finding he really liked.
After about half an hour, Finn finally felt ready to function again. "I gotta call my Mom! She'll be so excited!"
))))))
"So soon, you've only just moved!" Mom beamed down the phone all the way from Lima, "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, I still… it hasn't sunk in yet."
"Tell me about this show, when is it on?" She asked before calling out, "Burt, come here, Finn got an acting job on a soap opera!"
"No kiddin'!" He could here Burt coming closer.
Mom was still gushing, "I'm going to start watching it so when you come on, I'll know all the ins and outs of what's happening."
"That the doctor is sleeping with a woman who turns out to be his long lost twin sister he was separated from at birth," He quipped, because that was standard soap opera dramas far as he could tell.
Mom only laughed on the other end, "Stop!"
He explained what he knew so far of the role.
Then he told her, they both had good news, "Santana got down to the last 10 women to play a maid who is my love interest. We're still waiting to hear if she got it too."
"Honey, that's so great!" Mom agreed, "when will she know?"
"Soon, couple of days, maybe," Finn informed her, "I just feel really good. Like good things are starting to happen for me!"
Mom couldn't contain her pride, "I'm so glad you put it all on the line and moved to L.A. You sound really happy."
"Me too. I am happy."
Mom was still a mom, "And how are things going… with Santana?"
"Really good, so much better than I ever dared hope."
"Well, I… can't say I'm not surprised," She really did sound like she was going to drop the phone, "but if you're happy, I'm happy."
"She's a really good person," Finn said with such pride now. Finn was being, "You just have to learn to ignore her efforts to push you away when she likes you," He described.
"I'll have to take your word for that," Mom replied, "You want to talk to Burt?"
"Yeah."
They said their goodbyes and Burt came over the receiver.
"Congratulations, Finn!"
"I can barely believe it myself," Finn admitted.
"I'm glad they could see what we can all see," Burt just sounded so thrilled for him, "How special you are."
Finn smiled, "Thanks."
"And how about everything else?"
"Santana and I are dating,"
"How's that going?"
"Really good," He felt a little sheepish though, "we're not taking things as slow as I wanted too," Finn admitted, "Santana doesn't have a hand break, it's really hard to tell her 'no'."
"Car jokes! Love it!"
"I got a job as a singing waiter at this diner. Working evenings, so we can walk home together."
"Sounds like you're spending a lot of time together."
"Yeah, it's funny, when Rachel and I would spend lots of time together we'd usually start fighting because it was too much, and my habits would get on her nerves or whatever," Finn tried to explain, "But, Santana and I, we're in this tiny room, and it's a mess, I don't have much stuff, all her stuff is like clothes and make up, but it's whatever, she doesn't get shitty about it. We're both a bit messy and don't care."
"So you two are… living together as a couple?" Burt extrapolated.
"Yeah, I guess we are, I sleep in her room and not the couch."
"I don't need all the details."
Finn started to explain their new life to Burt, "In the morning we work out together, and watch TV together, and she cooks half the time and Mercedes the other half, and I permanently put myself on dishes duty, because let's face it, no one including me, wants to eat my cooking."
Burt chuckled at the truth of those words.
"And it works, it's easy. She scans for auditions, and we rehearse together, and then we both wait tables in the evenings, and you know… other stuff, and it's really good."
"If you can do all of that and not be bickering, you must in love," Burt said it off-handedly, but it really struck Finn once that 'L bomb' had been dropped.
"It's too soon for that, I'm not trying to scare her off," Finn admitted, but he knew he really really liked her.
"I was just hoping this would make me feel better than I was when I was alone and thought there was no point to anything," Finn admitted suddenly, "now, I spend time with her, and I just want to be around her more."
"So, have you two talked about anything serious?"
"Like what?"
"Your goals, her childhood…" Burt threw out examples, "Making a more serious commitment?"
"Santana's really guarded," Finn admitted, "but she kind of drops her… layer of invisible forcefield when you least expect it, and will just tell you stuff about her," Finn wanted Burt to understand why it just wasn't that easy, "but you have to be really patient and not pry or she'll retreat and freeze you out."
"Sounds… challenging."
"It is, but I'm willing to put the work in to… be up to the task," Finn explained as best he could, grinning like an idiot.
"Well, you sound really good, better than you've sounded in ages," Burt observed, "whatever you're doing is working, so… keep doing it."
"I will."
Burt couldn't help himself with the lectures though, "And use a condom!"
"Bye Burt!" Finn made a point of ignoring him.
"Have you told your brother?"
"He's my next call."
"Finn, we're just so damn proud of you!"
"Thanks… Burt," Finn almost called him 'dad' without even thinking about it.
))))))
Finn told Kurt, who was really supportive. He told him all about the role of Spencer and the show and how Santana had helped him get the part every step of the way, and he'd inadvertently expressed how happy he was with her. Kurt seemed pretty shocked, but was trying not to piss all over his happiness. Finn then gave his brother permission to let Rachel in on events. Including, that he was now dating Santana, when he felt the time was right, since they weren't speaking.
Kurt was silent for about 30 seconds.
"Rachel broke up with Brody a few days ago."
Then Finn was the one that was silent. She's still there and I'm still here. This changes nothing. But the part of him that missed her so terribly much was delighted. But what he said in the end was, "I'm sorry to hear that," But he wasn't really.
"Rachel's been… kind of the Diva version of herself ever since the reception, I think Brody just got sick of it."
"That sounds rough," Finn tried to be supportive, but he didn't want to get pulled into their New York drama, "is she being okay to you though?"
"We'll, could be better, but I'm loving NYADA!"
"Oh, that's great!" Finn really was happy for him, he'd tried so hard and auditioned so well to get punched in the gut end of Senior year, this was his big break.
"I have to perform a monologue for my drama class, I'm thinking about Rosalind's monlogue, 'And why, I pray you?' from As You Like It', what do you think?"
And all I can think is that Rosalind is a girl's name.
"See, Rosalind in this Shakespearean play," Kurt attempts to clarify it for me, but I'm so far off knowing about literature and theatre, there's basically no point, "is a girl dressed up as a boy, and so I'll be a boy dressed up as a girl dressed up as a boy."
"That's really awesome, Kurt!" Finn was so happy for him and he wanted to be encouraging, "I know you'll kill it, no matter what you do, man."
"I'll keep you posted once I break the news to Rachel," Kurt promised.
"I hope," Finn stopped, "she'll be happy for me."
Kurt didn't sound sure that would be the case.
))))))
It was the next evening. Finn had just come in from grocery shopping. Finn could see in Santana's face that something was wrong.
"I didn't get it," She said, sadly.
"What? No way!" He felt angry for her.
She shrugged, totally dejected, "They found someone better. Or prettier, or thinner…"
"You were the sexiest woman there," Finn dismissed, "You're the sexiest woman alive. They need their heads examined."
She smiled sadly at his complement, but it was little comfort.
"It's done!" She said, "I'll start Google searching for more auditions."
"I can't believe this shit!" Finn wanted to dwell a bit longer.
She changed the topic, "When do you start?"
"Next Wednesday, I have costume fitting, and I'll get the script for the first episode. Rehearsal starts the following Monday."
"That's really great, Finn," She smiled, her heart was breaking but she didn't want to ruin it for him, "I better get ready for work."
"Oh, shit!" He said, "I almost forgot."
"I already scooped left overs into containers, yours is on the counter."
"You're so good to me," He said kissing her on the cheek.
"Will you be putting your notice in?" She asked.
Finn hadn't even thought of that, he still wanted to be able to walk her home every night. Well, even if shooting went late, it wouldn't go until midnight, he didn't have to work at Spotlight Diner to walk her home.
"I guess I'll have to," He said, but he wasn't sorry, waiting tables for minimum wage was crap, even with the tips, after rent, food and bills, they couldn't afford to do anything except the beauty routine to help them get acting gigs. Seeing Santana and hearing her sing was the only thing that got him through the drudgery of that job. He wasn't sure what this acting job would pay, but it would be much better than waiting tables.
Santana on the other hand wasn't good at taking shit from customers. And the thing about food service is you have to be polite to people even when they are being rude, or clicking at you or taking their bad day out on you, or complaining to you about their food not being right even though it isn't your fault… and Santana had kind of a short fuse. He was worried she'd get herself fired sooner rather than later, she really needed for an acting gig to work out too.
))))))
Finn was on set for the first time. And he was so scared and excited. He was talking to the director, named Walt, and they were walking to a room for a table read, whatever that was.
"Can I ask you something?" Finn decided to tread very lightly, but he really wanted to know, "That third actress, who read for Marisol, Santana something… I thought she was the best."
The director appeared to have no patience for his question, "What's your point?"
"Why didn't she get the part?" Finn asked, "She was also the best looking."
Walt shrugged, "I didn't make the decision, it was the casting director."
"Is it possible to find out why?" He asked, "even just for the purposes of like feedback or whatever?"
The director checked his notes, "It's done now, but I'll see if I have it here."
He busied himself in his notes, "Let me see, Santana… Santana… Santana Lopez?"
"That was it," Finn pretended he had no personal connection to her.
"Okay umm… it says she had 2 very strong auditions, good chemistry with Spencer, that would've been you… excellent Spanish, very attractive, good body… oh… she didn't look right for the part."
Finn asked, "What does that mean? She is actually Puerto Rican."
Walt shrugged but he did look at the notes more closely, "The casting director noted that she appears mixed race, lips and eyes appear African though she does somewhat look Latina as well, possibly Dominican, they didn't want an Afro Latina for the part of Marisol Reyes."
Finn was shocked, "That's what it says?"
"Yep, better luck next time," He shrugged, "that's this industry, buddy, get used to it."
That first day was so long. Finn didn't know what being on his mark meant, what a call time was, what craft service was. They did the table read. He got lost, he cocked up his lines. They did a make-up and wardrobe pallet. And the make-up was itchy and he didn't feel like he belonged there. But the thing that was putting him off worst was what they'd said about Santana. Did he just get the part over much better actors because of how he looked? The whole thing was so unfair! And he wasn't even sure the casting director's assertion was right, if they wanted to know about Santana's ethnicity, they should have asked her!
He met the man playing his Dad, Alan Mann. His name was Reginald Ayers and he'd been in film and TV for over 30 years. His character was around 50, charming externally, but kind of horrible to his family and was generally a lying cheating scumbag. All part of the soap opera drama as he was one of the main antagonists. He was nice enough, and seemed happy to give Finn a few pointers for which he was eternally grateful.
))))))
Finn was exhausted, but he set his phone alarm for 11:45 pm so he could get to the diner to walk Santana home. She seemed really happy to see him, but really tired too.
"How did it go?" She asked.
"It's so weird, all the stuff, I… it'll take some getting used to."
"You'll get there," She encouraged him.
"So, will you," He reassured her right back.
She just flashed her brows at him. Finn looked at Santana really closely after that. Is she Afro Latina? He'd never really thought about it.
"Well, I have an audition for CSI, playing a dead stripper," Santana quipped, "So fingers crossed!"
"Do you get to be alive for any of it?"
"I think there's a flash back to my murder, all of about 30 seconds of me walking then being grabbed and me screaming."
"That's still acting," He said, "better than just lying on the ground and playing dead the whole time."
"Hey, I'll have you know," She said being flippant, "there's real skill that goes into not looking like you're breathing while they do a whole scene with you lying there."
"I have no doubt," Finn admitted.
"The trick is to breathe really slowly and shallowly, so that the rise and fall of your chest is barely noticeable."
They walked arm in arm, Santana was a lot more comfortable with him touching her now, for no reason other than that he wanted to be close to her. He could put his arm around her, or he'd interlock their fingers, and she wouldn't pull away anymore.
"I want to tell you something," Finn broke the comfortable silence, "but I don't know if it'll make you feel better or worse."
Santana looked anxious.
"I happened to get a look at the casting director's notes, I just wanted to see what they wrote about you."
She crossed her arms, "And?"
"You want to know."
She waited, impatiently tapping her foot, with a look that said 'out with it!'
"They said you were the best, but didn't hire you because the casting director noted that you look Afro Latina, and they wanted someone who only looked Latina."
He watched her face. He could see her features pull tight as she tried to stifle her anger. She blinked back tears, then turned and kept walking. He could tell she was really mad though.
"It's not fair, isn't that like racial discrimination or something?" Finn pointed out.
Santana fumed, "That is so…" She looked ready to hit something.
Finn suggested, "You should like… sue their asses!"
"They can do whatever they like, Finn!" She said sharply, as if to say, 'don't you know anything!'
"But you're actually Puerto Rican, unlike the woman they hired who's Mexican."
"Oh please!" She scoffed, "Hollywood is known for some of the most ridiculous and offensive casting like ever, Rosario Dawson was playing an Persian Princess in Alexander, and an Irish guy with dark hair was Macedonian Emperor who was famously blonde, and Angie Jolie who is one year older, than Colin Farrell was playing his Greek mother!"
"I didn't see that movie," Finn said, barely following, but knew she meant that it was ridiculous.
"I am Afro Latina," She said.
"I didn't know that," Finn admitted.
"Well, you're not the kind of person to notice," She said plainly.
She seemed content to leave it at that. But Finn had more questions than ever.
"I don't understand," Was all he said in the end, hoping she'd elaborate, because it didn't seem like the kind of conversation you could try and impose on someone else.
"It's hard to talk about," Santana suddenly said, "You've met my dad, right?"
"Just briefly," Finn said, "At graduation."
"Dr Manuel Lopez," She said full of distain.
Finn wondered what was coming.
"I don't look like either of my parents," Santana pointed out.
"I had noticed that," Finn said feeling uncertain, "Are you adopted?"
"No," Santana shook her head, before taking a deep breath, "I'm three shades darker than everyone else in my family because my dad's not really my dad."
Finn was shocked, "Really?"
"It's kind of an open secret in our family, my older brothers look like my dad, and then there's me."
Finn knew enough to just wait; this kind of conversation was really hard for her. He put his arm around her so she'd know he supported her no matter what was coming.
"My Mom had an affair with her old boyfriend, he's some saxophonist in the jazz band she used to sing lead for."
"And he's Black?"
"He's Afro Latina, and darker than me," Santana admitted, "Hence my lips, my eyes and my hair."
"Your hair?"
"This is a weave, Finn," She was shocked, "Haven't you noticed me and Mercedes hogging the bathroom fiddling with all of this… I iron this bitch on every week."
"I… don't know, I thought it was… you know, your natural hair," Finn didn't really care about her hair though, "When you said you and your dad don't get along, is that why?"
"Yeah," She admitted freely, "He never forgets I'm not really his kid. And now, the feeling's pretty mutual."
Finn genuinely couldn't imagine how they all just live without talking about that, "And your Mom just pretends not to notice?"
"It's kind of a sore spot in their marriage, she didn't tell him when I was born, it became obvious once I was about five."
It defied explanation, "What do you mean, 'she didn't tell him'?"
Santana spoke as if she was talking about someone else's life, "It's hard to know what a kid will look like, she was afraid he'd leave her, babies are usually born lighter than they end up being."
Finn didn't know that.
Santana was nonchalant, given the personal nature of this conversation, "He figured it out, and they fought about it, and separated for about 2 years."
"No way."
"Yeah, but he came back, because he loves my brother's, and my mom lets him get away with anything now, because of the guilt," Santana confessed, "And she prefers the more comfortable lifestyle of being married to a doctor."
"That sounds..." like a really difficult living situation.
Santana's voice was full of contempt, "I'm just the thing on the side he has to tolerate."
"That sounds really bad," He replied, trying to understand all the difficulties a homelife like that entails. "What about your real dad, the sax player?" Finn asked.
"Donating sperm doesn't make anyone a parent," She snapped.
"So, he doesn't care about you either?" Finn was trying to understand, but felt like he was maybe just making her feel worse.
"His band played Philly, like Junior Year, I remember it was right before Sectionals, I drove there to go see him."
"Was he happy to see you?" Finn asked, "How long had it been since he'd seen you?"
"At the time, he knew my Mom was pregnant, and went off with his band, so he hypothetically knew of my existence, but I was going to actually meet him."
"So, he didn't really know about you?"
"I waited until after the set, and asked him if he remembered my mother, and he did. He recalled her pretty fondly. Then I told him about me, and he looked me up and down, and was like, 'no way!'"
"And?"
"And nothing. It meant nothing to him really, his band moved on to another city, he gave me his number, but when I texted him, he didn't text back."
"Ouch!" Finn didn't mean to say it aloud, but he had, "That really sucks!"
Santana just looked away, nodding her head despondently.
Finn had to know, "Did you tell your mom or Britt what happened?"
She shook her head.
"Thank you for… you know, trusting me," He pulled her into a big bear hug and she let him.
Santana showered, and Finn sat on the couch waiting for her. He didn't think she'd want him to join her in her room this evening, and even though they had been sharing the bed for the last two weeks, it was still her room and he had to be invited.
When she came out, she asked him what he was doing. Waving him inside. Finn obliged and sat on the bed and waited. He expected they'd give it a rest tonight, which he was fine with him, because he was really tired.
"You know what we did after the reception," She said nervously, "could you do that again."
She laid flat on the bed, on top of the covers and pulled her pajama pants down, and her camisole off. Santana literally hadn't let him be on top since, he recognized now that the post-reception shag had been a mercy fuck on her part. She'd let him do it his way to help him get his confidence back. And he was grateful she had. But she'd still enjoyed it, even if she didn't like letting someone else control their motions.
Finn didn't need to be asked twice. He did everything the same, except that he'd stripped off entirely before starting, since she was naked too. He pleasured her with his mouth, and had then gone to her breasts, and finally he laid on top of her and gently rocked them both to climax. He stayed lying on top of her afterwards, and she started to cry, and he just held her.
))))))
It took them about a week to find a good routine. Well, it wasn't good, but it was workable. Finn would set the alarm for 5 am, they'd have sex, then work out. Usually a run, since neither of them could afford a gym membership, and Santana would help him go through his lines and he'd show her what he planned to do with whatever scene. Then he'd go to the studio for 7 am starts and Santana would roll over for another 2 -3 hours of sleep. At the moment he was doing 12-hour days. So he'd get home, eat the meal Santana or Mercedes made at midday or the night before depending on who was cooking, then he'd do the dishes in the sink, shower and go to bed for a couple of hours, then it'd be almost midnight and he'd go walk Santana home from the diner, and she'd shower and then they'd have sex and sleep in her bed. Santana had a much higher sex drive than he did, she pretty much needed to be satisfied twice a day every day or she got kind of antsy. He actually kind of liked their life right now. It was all new and exciting, and Santana wasn't half as argumentative as he expected. So long as he pleased her, she was downright amiable.
The job itself was something else. With lots of sitting around in hair and make-up, which was really tedious, but still exhausting. And Finn still felt nervous all the time, even though the director was pretty happy with how the scenes were going. They showed him some dailies, and said that test audiences had reacted well to him, most saying they liked his wholesome good boy charm. It was a little less pressure too, daytime TV was kind of dramatic, but rarely had big ensemble scenes. His co-star, her name was Jennifer Flores, who'd gotten the role over Santana, she was nice, and they'd talk. He needed to find a way to convey that attraction on screen. He'd just visualize Santana. The actor who'd been in the show a year or so playing Spencer's younger brother, Tyler, was an arrogant jackass and Finn wasn't convinced the guy was acting, like at all. But he tried to just be polite and stay out of his way, which suited everyone, because as brothers they were meant to be chalk and cheese.
Marisol and Spencer and their slowly building romance is who the audience were supposed to root for, with Tyler and Alan being the arrogant and sleezy entitled ones that were constantly putting Marisol in difficult positions that Spencer would find a way to rescue her from, while their mother who runs the family is quite oblivious to all the internal dynamics and sexual tension. It wasn't amazing TV, but he could see why it was addictive for some people. There were plenty of other storylines going on as well.
Santana kept looking for auditions and kept trying to get an agent, but without drama school on your resume, they weren't too interested. She got the CSI job though, it was only 2 scenes, but still!
"Dead stripper number 2" She announced mockingly, "That's my part."
"CSI's a really big show," Finn reminded her, "lots of people watch it on prime time, you only need the right person to see it."
"See me screaming then lying dead," She shot back, unimpressed.
"If you've got two minutes," Finn said, "then make the most of those two minutes, you said it yourself, it's hard to play a good dead body," He reminded her, "so be the best damn dead body you can be, and maybe someone will notice."
Santana was faux annoyed at his Mr Schue impersonation, "Has anyone ever told you that your optimism makes them want to hurl?"
"Nope," Finn smiled, "it's just your cynicism talking."
She flicked some rice at him, right off the end of her fork, like a little kid. It was Sunday and they were sitting down to a midday meal, since Santana would be working at dinner time. He often went to the diner for dinner on Sunday night now, just to spend time with her, and because he could afford it since his new job.
"When does it film?"
"In three weeks' time. It's just three days' work."
"Still," Finn said, "now you'll have real working actor credits on your resume."
"We should join the Screen Actors' Guild," She said.
"So, you can win a SAG award one day?" Finn asked, not understanding why she mentioned that.
Santana looked at him, like she thought that was a weird thing to say, "I was thinking more about having our working rights protected, but sure, that too."
"You're so smart," Finn said, knowing his face looked all loved up.
A moment later he was leaning over the table, and she had hold of his shirt collar and they were making out like love-sick teenagers across the table. Even Mercedes had told them to take it to their room, this morning when they were doing similar in her presence.
The doorbell went and Finn answered it, doing a double take at who was standing on the doorstep.
"Hi Finn," She said, looking happy to see him, but also nervous in a sweet way, "Miss me?"
"Rachel!"