Chapter 2 - The Date

The next day Aja was laying in bed fiddling around with her phone. Does she text Santana? Call her? Oh god no, don't call. Text. Let's do this.

"Hey, this is Aja from last night. Thank you for everything, I had a lot of fun" She paused. She realized she never gave her name to Santana. How would she even know it was her? She sunk down into the sheets. God, how do people do this?

There was a light tapping at the door. "Aja, you there mate? Can I come in?" Based on the accent it could only be Ethan. "Hey bestie, you text Santana yet?" Ethan came over and plopped themselves on the bed.

"No" Aja covered herself with the duvet. "I can't do this."

"Oh don't say that!" Ethan pushed Aja's body.

"Okay, what about you? Have you been with anyone before?" Aja uncovered herself to look at the roommate.

"Well…" Ethan looked up in thought. "There was this one guy, but I'm pretty sure I was his beard. Let's just say it didn't end well."

"Okay, so you and I both have no experience, huh." Aja felt defeated.

"This is more of a Fae question, I think. The number of unknown women I've seen enter this apartment…"

"Okay, hold." Aja held up her hand. "Let's end that conversation there."

Aja picked up her phone and threw it at Ethan. "Okay, what do you think of this, does this sound okay?"

"Bestie, I'm literally an idiot. How am I to know?" Ethan looked at Aja seriously before cracking a smile. "Just kidding, this looks fine to me. Oh, but I think you spelled this wrong… and… oh my god…"

"What, WHAT?" Aja shot up from the bed.

"Oh my god, I accidentally sent it!" Ethan was freaking out. "I'm so sorry Aja, I'm so sorry" Ethan had tears in their eyes. "I'm sorry, I- I'm so so so SO sorry Aja!" Ethan was having a mental breakdown at this point.

"Hey hey, no it's okay." Aja was lowkey panicking but had to compose herself for Ethan's sake. "It's fine Ethan, okay?" Aja was rubbing Ethan's arm. "It's fine. Seriously. I'm fine!"

Ethan was wiping away tears. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm serious, okay?" Aja had some serious mom power because Ethan felt instant comfort knowing Aja expressed herself so calmly. "Well. Let's see what happens I guess."

/

After submitting a couple of job applications, Aja felt a light buzz on her thigh. Oh god, it better not be who she thinks it is. Annnnnnd it is.

"Hey, it was a lot of fun meeting you and your friends, they seemed like a fun crowd ;) Would you like to go out for coffee sometime? It's on me :)"

Aja's heart was beating a mile a minute at this point. "Ethan!" Aja screamed.

"What? Oh my god did she respond?" Ethan ran out of their bedroom to meet Aja on the couch.

"Yeah, and look at this!" Aja pointed the phone in Ethan's face. "She wants to go for coffee with me! Aja Cenae!"

"Oh my god, she does! Aja, this is major!" Ethan was so delighted for their friend. "Well, what are you going to say back? And I promise I won't touch your phone again!"

"Well, obviously I have a lot of spare time. I sent a couple of job applications but no responses." Aja sighed. "At least you got a job."

"Yeah, after like... months of auditions! I can't work for Target anymore, that place is literal hell." Ethan turned to stare out the window in thought.

Aja turned to her phone and started typing out a response. "I'm not busy at all, in fact, I have an open schedule. When and where can I meet you? I'm new to the city."

"Sent!" Aja stated proudly.

Within minutes there was already a response from Santana. "Well, that was fast," Ethan smirked.

"Shut up." Aja said while reading her phone.

"Meet me at the New York Bean, let's say tomorrow at 11? How does that sound?"

Ethan and Aja squealed with joy.

"Perfect, see you then :)" Aja hit the send button this time with a lot more gusto.

/

Fae got home at around the usual 6:30 from work. "Hey guys, I'm home."

"Fae!" Ethan screamed at their roommate the second they heard her walk through the door. "Aja got a date with Santana"

"Holy shit!" Fae dropped her work bag in an instant. "Aja, that's fucking awesome!"

"Haha, yeah, believe it or not. I don't even know what she sees in me but hey I'll take it." Aja joked with her roommate.

"Well shit." Fae crossed her arms. "I think we know what this means."

Everyone looked at Fae with a somewhat confused look.

"We crack open the champagne!"

/

Saturday

Aja woke up the next day groggy yet nervous. Who let Fae crack open the alcohol again? And who let Aja drink said alcohol? Her date was today and she needed to look perfect if she was going out with the most beautiful woman on this planet. She had her hair in the cutest twists and put on a full face of makeup. She slipped into what her friends in LA called "conservative fashion nova", a cute yet modest top with black jeans and sneakers. She wanted to keep it casual for the first date, she didn't want to make it seem like she was trying too hard.

"See you guys later, wish me luck!" Aja pushed a passed-out Fae on the couch before walking out the door.

"Luck…" Fae slurred as she rolled over on the couch to sleep again.

/

Aja showed up at the New York Bean 10 minutes early just to make sure she wasn't late. She looked up at the shop banner making sure she was in the right place. She was so nervous she couldn't stand still. Who knew arriving early was such a bad idea. As time passed closer to the meet up time, she felt a buzzing in her hand and immediately shot the phone up to her face.

"Hey, running a little late, I'll be there in about 5-10? I hope I'm not leaving you waiting for too long"

Aja's heart sank. Do I have to wait another 10 minutes? But no way she could get mad at Santana. She was a gift from god.

"Yeah, no problem, I'll be waiting!"

10 minutes felt like 10 years at this point, but the second Santana showed up at the shop it felt as if time were going at 10x speed.

"Hey, Ajah! Aza? I'm sorry, how do you say your name?" Santana smiled and giggled.

"Haha, hey, yeah I get that a lot. It's like A - jah. Aja! Just like that."

"That's such a unique name. Well, you know me, I'm Santana." Santana smiled and reached her hand out for a handshake.

"Well, it's very nice to meet you officially, Santana. You also have a very unique name" Aja reached back to shake Santana's hand.

"Shall we go inside?" Santana gestured towards the door. Aja nodded and the two girls went inside.

"So," Aja started. "What made you choose this place?"

"Well, to be honest, my roommate is the manager of this store, so I actually get a discount here."

"Oh, purr!"

"Haha, yeah, it's really nice. I know you're new to the city so might as well take you somewhere that's very personal to me."

Aja began to blush. "That's so sweet of you. Do you just have one roommate?"

"Well," Santana cleared her throat "One and half I guess. Or at this point two. See Quinn who owns the coffee shop got pregnant when we were in high school so she has a daughter, and her daughter's best friend is over all the time so it's almost like having a zoo living at the apartment. Not to mention the friend is the daughter of my coworker, so they're all connected."

"Wow, that sounds crazy busy." Aja always had a motherly sense of self since she grew up with her baby sister, but having kids of her own and working too? That seemed tough.

"What about you?" Santana asked. "Are you living with anyone?"

"Remember the two people I went to Spotlight with? Those were my roommates. Ethan just got a broadway gig and Fae is some businesswoman working some sort of business job I couldn't care to ask about"

Both girls laughed at the final statement and Santana looked at Aja directly. "Do you know what you want?"

"Well, what do you recommend?"

"Hmm… how about an iced chai latte with whipped cream? Chai is Quinn's favourite flavour of anything so she goes all out on them. The New York Bean is kind of famous for them.

"Is that so? Okay, work. Let's do that then"

Santana ordered them a pair of iced chai lattes and they sat down at a couple of lounge seats.

"So how are you liking New York so far, Aja?" Santana took a sip of the latte.

"Oh you know… it's alright so far. Moving from LA was completely needed. I needed a change but I didn't want to lose that big city lifestyle."

"Right, right."

"So now I live in an apartment in Bushwick with two non-Americans, Fae and Ethan, they keep my life... interesting. I have no job and they're my only friends, so…"

"Hold up, you have no job?" Santana put her drink down.

"Well I just got here and no one wants to even think about giving me an interview. I have a feeling they're all racists and they just hate black people or somethin'."

Santana chuckled. "I doubt that's the reason, I mean, you're gorgeous, who wouldn't want to hire you?"

Right when Aja's face cooled down it just heated itself back up again. She didn't know what to say.

"I can probably get you a job at Spotlight Diner, can you sing?" Santana quickly diverted the compliment she just gave.

"Well, there's a video of me singing on youtube but there's barely any views on it."

"How about you show me?" Santana raised an eyebrow.

"Ion know about that… Well, why not! I can't say no to you." Aja smiled and after clicking a couple of things on her phone, she passed it to Santana to watch. Santana put in an earbud to listen.

"Holy shit, Aja…" Santana's mouth gaped open. "This is incredible, how are you not signed?"

This time Aja could find something to say "Hahaha, I don't know. Must be those same racists who won't get me a damn interview."

Santana laughed and handed the phone back to Aja. "Send me that video, I'll show it to my boss."

"Okay!" Aja was super excited at this point.

Aja took a sip of the latte she forgot all about. "Wow, this is really good. You're right, whatever your friend Quinn is doing here, she needs to continue doing that's for sure."

"I told you-" Santana cut off quickly.

"What?"

"You have whipped cream on your nose…"

"Oh god do I?" Aja spun her head around looking for a napkin dispenser.

"Here…" Santana grabbed a tissue packet from her coat pocket. "I always get bad hay fever so I carry these around with me everywhere." She pulled out a tissue leaning close towards Aja, wiping the whipped cream off her nose. "There…"

Aja's whole body was on fire at this point. "T-Thank you…" Aja stuttered.

The pair ended up talking about everything from exes, the Spotlight diner, their families, their alcoholic roommates, and their school life. Santana was dating a girl for years but they ended up breaking up but are still close friends, the diner is understaffed and the people who work there are awful, Santana is an only child and Quinn likes her wine…

Santana looked over at her phone. "Oh my god, it's 3 o'clock already! I gotta pick up Hazel from singing lessons for Quinn."

"Hazel?" Aja questioned.

"That's her daughter's name. She's a real sweet kid but she can be overdramatic and cries a lot."

"Sounds like a typical child to me" Aja chuckled. "Let's do this again soon?"

"Santana smiled at Aja. "Trust me, I have a feeling we're going to see each other a lot more in the very near future."

They stood up and Aja gulped down the lump sitting in her throat after that sat at the back of her throat. Was Santana really going to get her a job at Spotlight?

"Well, I'll see you later Aja." Santana leaned in for a hug. Their bodies fit together like a puzzle, it felt comfortable, warm, and perfect.

Before Santana pulled away she quickly landed a kiss on Aja's cheek. "I had so much fun today. Text me later?"

Aja was shocked, staring into the eyes of the taller girl. "Of course." Santana smiled sweetly and walked out of the shop, leaving Aja standing there dumbfounded.

"I can't believe what is happening."

/