A/N 1: Major. Time. Jump. Alert. You've been warned! And, it's probably helpful if you just go back and re-read the first seven chapters so you know what's going on since it has been almost two years since my last post…whoops. But, that's for the end of this chapter instead.
Ch. 8: Portland
"Beth!" Quinn shouts up the stairs to her pre-pubescent daughter. "If you don't hurry up, then you're going to be late for the soccer clinic!" Beth haphazardly slides down the banister, grinning cheekily at her mother as Quinn rolls her eyes at her daughter's antics. "Clearly you learned that behavior from your father. C'mon, let's get in the car and go before the traffic gets any worse."
Once safely buckled inside the car, Quinn starts the drive towards the clinic's practice field, which was the same location that the Portland Thorns held their practices. When Quinn had learned that her new job would be transferring the duo to Portland, she had looked at soccer clinics around the area for Beth. When she saw that there was a clinic that was run by the Portland Thorns players during their off-season, she knew that she had to sign Beth up for it as soon as possible. "Are you excited for today, Beth? I know that it's a new city for us still, but at least they have a Women's soccer team close by, right? Plus, this clinic is hosted by them. How many girls can say that they've been able to learn soccer from their heroes?"
Beth, ever the insolent child when not thrilled about the situation, which in this case was the move to Portland, shrugged non-concomitantly. "Why couldn't we have just stayed in Louisiana with Puck? I liked it there. And I know you liked it there too because you were always eating those donut things with your bacon in the mornings after you had a bad date."
Quinn sighed while maneuvering her car through downtown Portland traffic. "Beth, honey, you know that we moved because of the job offer. It pays a whole lot more than what I would be making in Shreveport if we had stayed." Beth starts to ask a question, but Quinn quickly cuts her off. "Before you ask about why you couldn't stay with Puck, you know that he's deploying soon and even though he's engage to Joss, she's not your stepmother yet, so you're stuck with me kiddo. And wait, what do you mean when I had bad dates? How did you know I was on a date at all?" Beth harrumphs and crosses her arms, deciding to remain silent for the rest of the car ride. Pulling up to the curb of the practice facility, Beth jumps out of the car before Quinn can come to a complete stop. "Beth! Behave! And I'll pick you up when it's over today. I love you!" Quinn shouts to Beth's retreating figure, hearing an "I love you, Mom," called back before her daughter is completely out of sight. "Kids," Quinn laughs before pulling out of the drop-off lane and pointing her car towards work for her first day.
"And this is where your office will be, Mrs. Fabray," the young, bubbly receptionist points to a corner office.
"It's 'Ms." actually. I'm not married."
"Oh, my apologies," the receptionist stutters. "I just assumed that you were married since I know that Mr. Chung had talked about you having a child. Please forgive me."
"It's okay, Alix," Quinn laughs. "It happens more than you think. Though don't tell anyone, but I usually just go along with it when I'm out at a bar and man hits on me. It's this job; they tend to think that just because I'm a woman in this profession, that they can hit on me and more and that I won't stop them because I'm not married. It's either that, or they assume that I used my body and sexual favors to make it this far instead of reading the stories that my name is listed on for the bylines. So, moral of the story, it's Ms. Fabray. Or, you can just call me Quinn, okay?" Quinn finishes.
Alix, looking relieved that her beautiful new boss wasn't offended about her mistake or about to fire her, smiles at Quinn, nodding her head in agreement. "I do the same as well when I'm out at a bar. Men just can't seem to take a hint that they're not who I'm interested in." Quinn quirks her eyebrow at Alix just when Alix's eyes widen as she realizes what she said. "I, uh, I. Here. Let's finish the rest of your tour of the bullpen. Unless you'd like to sit in your office first to see if it's to your liking?" Alix asks as a red tint quickly creeps up from her blouse to just below her jawline.
Quinn laughs lightly, taking pity on her poor receptionist. "How about I get my office adjusted to how I'd like and you can order us Thai for an early lunch around, say 11:30? Consider it my way of starting off our teamwork on the right foot." Alix nods as her blush continues to grow before she quickly turns around to head back to her desk outside of Quinn's glass enclosed office. Quinn shakes her head slightly, amused by the actions of her flushed receptionist. "Okay, where to start now with setting up my office?" Quinn asks herself until she decides to just sit on her comfy looking plush leather couch, plopping down and throwing her feet up on her coffee table. "Eh, I'll get to work after lunch today. Yes, that's what I'll do," she says as she scrolls through her contacts list, selects a name and then hits call.
At four pm, Quinn pulls up to the Thorns' practice field and see Beth animatedly talking to another young girl. Quinn smiles, happy to that her daughter is making friends easily. Not that she was too worried about it, since Beth had both of her parents' personality and charm. Quinn would always tell her not to talk to strangers, but it seemed that the young girl never learned that lesson since she would always be making new friends wherever they would go. Which, being the daughter of a someone in the military was a blessing since every time Puck moved when they were first starting out, Beth would have to make new friends. But now, with Quinn taking the journalist job in Portland, they'd be able to have a stable life for the foreseeable future.
"Beth!" Quinn calls to her as she walks towards he daughter and her new friend. Beth turns and waves to her mother before she continues talking to the short redhead that is with her. As Quinn gets closer, she sees two women carrying a soccer ball, walking towards the goal closest to the two girls. The girls are so in awe as they watch the two women practicing penalty kicks that they don't even hear Quinn until she's upon them, asking "Beth, who are you and your new friend watching?"
Beth stares at the goalkeeper, watching her every move, trying to remember what she does so that way she could apply it herself the next day at the clinic. Finally, she tears her eyes away from the two women on the field. "Mom, that's – "
"Santana Lopez," Quinn gasps.
A/N 2: Hi everyone! Well, two years later and chapter eight is finally posted! Who would have thunk it? Lol Anyways, I know that it was a short one, but I'm trying to shake off the rust and get back into the swing of things with writing this story. The next chapter will probably be just as short and then from there, I'm hoping to go back to the same length that the chapters used to be. For those that have patiently waited, thank you. For those who are just now joining, welcome. Either way, feedback is always welcome and I hope that you enjoy the story as it unfolds.