Chapter 3 - The Day After

Aja came home in the evening to find Ethan and Fae still at the house but this time much more awake and sober compared to the morning.

"Hey guys," Aja was quickly cut off by her older roommate.

"Aja! Okay, tell us everything, how was the date, how is she? Did you guys kiss? Did you guys fu-"

"Fae! Shut the fuck up, please. Let me tell you what happened." Aja held her hand up to the pink haired girl.

Fae put her hands up in surrender "Alright, alright, tell us everything."

Aja sat down on the couch to face her other roommates. "Well, first off, she looked gorgeous, she paid for our chai lattes, and then we just talked. We talked about everything. Oh! And Ethan, you're gonna love this, I may even get a job out of this!"

"Oh my god, no way!" Ethan clapped their hands in excitement. "That's good, now I don't have to bother asking my evil manager at Target to get you in."

"Target? I thought you got the Broadway gig?" Fae asked.

"Bestie, Broadway actors are starving. They can be in huge shows and still have to work part-time jobs to make ends meet. That's what I'm going to have to do." Ethan looked really sad. Reality is an evil entity.

"Well, that's awesome news, Aja." Fae chimed in. "It's a two-for. You get the girl, you get the job. I really hope to fucking Jesus that this works out."

"Yeah, me too." Aja slumped into the couch.

/

Santana arrived at the choir studio to find Hazel waiting in the foyer.

"How's my Hazelnut!" Santana ran in to catch Hazel in her arms into a big hug.

"Auntie Tana!" Hazel giggled uncontrollably. "I'm so glad you're picking me up today and not Mom."

"And why's that?" Santana looked into the six year old's eyes.

"Because she's embarrassing. I told her I might have a crush on Piper and she got so excited about it she told Auntie Rachel about it." Hazel looked down at the ground, devastated.

"Oh, don't worry about that, it's just a little crush, right?" Santana rubbed the little girl's arm.

"Yeah but," Hazel started crying. "Now Mom and Auntie Rachel are coming up with stupid names, they're smushing our names together and it's really stupid!"

"Oh Hazelnut don't cry, baby" Santana wiped a tear from her wee face.

"Come on, how about me and you go out for some ice cream before we go home? Vanilla, your favourite!"

"Yay!" Hazel perked up in joy. Ice cream was her absolute weakness.

/

Back at the house, Santana found Quinn preparing dinner.

"Hey Q, what's cookin'," Santana said as she tossed her bag down. Hazel went running towards her room and slammed the door.

Quinn let out a sigh. "Nothing for your concern" Quinn had her eyes glued to the pan.

"Rude, but alright. Don't you want to know how my date went?" Santana crossed her arms.

Quinn finally turned around "Right, I forgot about that. Alright, you've piqued my curiosity. How was she? Did you kiss her? Did you guys fu-"

"Q, cut the shit, you know I don't fuck on the first date." Santana scoffed at the blonde. "No, I mean, she's really beautiful. She was really sweet and has a killer singing voice. I'm going to try to get her a job at Spotlight. Maybe that way I could see her a little more often…" Santana smirked.

"S, you're a real perv, you know that?" Quinn laughed. "What, so you guys can fuck in between shift changes? Don't you remember what happened between you and Britt?"

Santana's eyebrows knit together. "Hey, me and Britt ended it on good terms and we're still best friends. I'm actually hanging out with her next week."

"Yeah, but, your breakup ended with you guys working together. You know this won't end well."

"Well, I'm not going to fuck it up like I did with Britt. I'll keep it cool."

"Sure, Lopez."

"Hey!" Santana glared at her roommate.

"What?"

"This will hopefully be temporary. She needs a job, I know how to get her one. And really, I say temporary as in I think she's talented enough that she'll find something better than Spotlight. I swear on it."

Quinn eased up. "Alright, if you say so. Now," Quinn tensed up again and released with a sigh. "Can you explain to me why my daughter is acting this way?"

"Hazel?" Santana said. "She said you embarrassed her by making up ship names for her and Berry's kid."

"Oh, Pazel!" Quinn laughed. "Isn't that hysterical? Piper is over here all the time and she and Hazel are always going back and forth with each other, so me and Rach thought it would be hilarious to put their names together."

"Well, I don't think Hazel found it so hilarious." Santana deepened her stare. "Just… Just ease up, okay? Or at least do that shit behind her back."

"Alright, alright." Quinn's walls fell down. "I'll have to apologize. Hey, thanks for picking her up today, I appreciate it and I'm also sorry it cut your date off. She seems like a really cool girl, whatever her name is…"

"Aja." Santana leaned over the counter with hearts in her eyes.

"Gross, you're like a lovesick puppy." Quinn chuckled.

"Shut up-"

/

The next week rolled by and Aja was at the house alone. Ethan had gone off to a shift at Target and Fae was, well, doing Fae business things. She was beginning to get nervous as Santana didn't text her all day Sunday. Was the date a complete disaster? Maybe she was busy at Spotlight. Should Aja text her first? No, she did that last time. Wait, Santana didn't have her number last time so of course, she texted first. God, why were girls so complicated like this! If it were a guy her phone wouldn't stop blowing up.

After getting up to make a sandwich, Aja sat back down on the couch to find her phone buzzing. "Unknown Number" read the display as her ringtone played out. Quickly dropping the sandwich and wiping her hands on her pants, Aja scrambled to pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Aja?" A voice radiated through the speaker.

"Speaking."

"Hey, this is Mercedes from Spotlight Diner,"

"Oh, hey Mercedes, nice to meet you." Aja sat up straight on the couch trying to come off as polite as possible.

"Yeah, likewise. Anyways, one of our star waitresses Santana Lopez just passed me a video of you singing and girl, you got chops. I'm impressed." Mercedes seemed genuine over the phone.

"Thank you." Aja snuck in.

"Do you have any past experience with waiting tables or doing dance routines? I know those two things are miles apart in relevance but since we combine the two here, I gotta ask."

"Well, dancing I can learn for sure, and I used to be a waitress down at Roscoe's in LA"

"You worked at Roscoe's?" Aja could sense Mercedes' jaw dropping through the phone.

"Yup, sure did"

"I love that place so much. I used to live in LA too! Just for a little bit, but everyone there was so fake, so I decided to come up here to New York to be with my true friends."

"Yeah, I get that. It's kind of why I moved here too, without the friends part." Aja's laugh caused Mercedes to laugh along with her.

"Well, that's perfect then. How about you come down to the diner tomorrow afternoon for some training?

"Oh my god, yeah! I'll be there."

"Alright, come in at 2 pm tomorrow and we'll get you set up."

"2 pm, got it! Thanks so much!" Aja was ecstatic.

"No problem, you have yourself a good day now"

Mercedes hung up the phone and Aja jumped from the couch and did a little happy dance. She couldn't wait to tell Fae and Ethan. She knew both of them were busy and wouldn't be back until the late evening, but she knew who to text.

"Hey Santana, long time no talk. I just got asked to come in for training at Spotlight!" Aja sent the text to Santana and awaited a reply.

Not even 30 seconds later, "Omg, that's awesome! See, I knew they would love you. I guess this means we'll get to see each other more often? ;)"

Aja spun around and texted back "I guess we will, are you free for a little celebration tonight?"

"Sure am, I can meet you at the BushWacker Bar near your place, it's an all girls club, you down for that? You can bring your friends if you like, Quinn's been dying to get out of the house"

Aja couldn't believe what she was reading. "You bet, we'll meet you down there at 9, does that sound good?"

"Hell yes! See you guys there xo"

Aja stared at her phone over the "xo". A hug and a kiss hey. A kiss… kissing Santana, what would that be like. Aja laid on the couch to daydream about her date. Her beautiful plump lips on hers… what a dream. Kissing Santana would be the equivalent of God creating the earth, monumental. The kiss on the cheek was a sweet gesture but not long enough. Aja held her hand up to her cheek to try to remember the kiss on the cheek she received the day before, then placed her hand on her lips to kiss her hand.

"Santana…" Aja said out loud.

"Umm, who the fuck are you talking to?" Aja opened her eyes to see Fae looking down at her.

Aja scrambled to compose herself, wildly getting up to sit up straight on the couch.

"Oh, I know what this is." Fae gave Aja a devilish smirk. "You were fantasizing about your little girlfriend, eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me, Fae. And no I wasn't!" Aja snapped back at Fae, unable to make direct eye contact with the Canadian.

"Come on Aja, I know a good fantasy moment when I see one! And you were definitely doing just that! I mean I get it, she's hot as fuck! Does she have a hot older sister or something you can introduce me to?"

This time Aja was able to look at Fae. "She's an only child actually. But I hear her roommate is single. Only thing is, she has a kid."

"So she's a milf is what you're saying." Fae really emphasized the word.

"Ion even know what she looks like! The fuck? I dunno!" Aja gave Fae a disgusted look. "Listen, Santana asked if we wanted to go down to that lesbian bar a couple of blocks from here in celebration."

"Hold on, what? You mean BushWackers? And celebration? For what? You guys get engaged or something? Is she moving in? Y'all gonna be U-Haul lesbians, eh? Been there, done that."

"Can you shut up and let me talk?" Aja held her hand up to stop the older girl.

Fae sat down on the couch and turned to Aja, gesturing for her to go ahead.

"Okay, so, I got a job at Spotlight Diner!"

"Holy shit!" Fae burst out and covered her mouth quickly. "Sorry I'll shut up."

"No you're good," Aja laughed. "So yeah, there's that. Santana showed the hiring manager a video of me singing and she absolutely loved it apparently. Oh! And, turns out that restaurant I used to work for in LA? The hiring manager has been there too and it's one of her favourite restaurants!"

"No. Fucking. Way." Fae's jaw dropped.

"Okay, and here's something you'd like." Aja looked proud. "Santana said she was going to bring her 'milf' roommate of hers tonight at BushWackers. So maybe we can get y'all introduced?"

"Okay, I was happy for you, and now I just love you." Fae laughed and reached over to give her roommate a hug. "Let me text Ethan to meet us down there after they get off from work."

"Oh, I'm so excited." Aja was jumping in her seat.

"Wait, you said you guys haven't kissed yet, eh?" Fae looked up from her phone to ask.

"Nope," Aja said, eyes closed, shaking her head.

"Let's see if we can make that happen tonight." Fae's devilish smile grew large.

"Ion know where you're going with this Fae, but if you do anything to fuck this up-"

"No," Fae said quickly, cutting Aja off. "In fact, I got a plan."

/