Hi everyone! I've had some free time this week, so I was able to get this chapter ready sooner than I'd expected to. That said, the next two weeks are going to be pretty busy for me, so I apologise in advance if there's a bit of a delay before the next update. Oh, and please let me know what sneaky grammatical errors and incorrect spellings got past me!
As usual, I received wonderful comments, critiques and feedback, so thank you to all the register users and the guests that made time to drop me a review. It is always most encouraging when readers do that :) Also, thank you to everyone that's followed/favourited myself or this story. I can't believe I'm one follow away from 300, yes THREE HUNDRED, follows to A Perfect Match! Seriously, wow!
I think people will be happy with this next chapter. When reading it, bear in mind that Rachel is an 18-year-old who's spent most of her life completely focused on becoming a tennis champion. It might explain why a bulb hasn't gone off instantaneously! You'll see what I mean! As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter.
Happy reading, everyone :)
Rachel put the plates and glasses in the dishwasher and rinsed her hands before walking into the empty living room. The apartment was strangely quiet without the sound of the Play Station games in the background and Santana and Brittany's banter that accompanied the gunshots and over-exaggerated yells that sprang from the screen.
The brunette sat down on the couch, letting the silence surround her for a few moments. The leather sofa was still warm from when she and Shelby were sitting on it a short while ago, eating the pasta Rachel had whipped up while watching videos of the teenager's opening round opponent tomorrow afternoon. The coach and her charge were both confident Rachel would be able to defeat the unseeded Chinese qualifier to win the match, but like Shelby always said, you can never be too prepared.
Rachel glanced up at the clock, noting that it was just before seven in the evening. She turned on the television to check if Brittany's match had begun yet, muting it when she saw Tina Cohen-Chang's match against Sophia Burset was still in progress. Knowing the Englishwoman's match was scheduled to start next, Rachel let the current match play in the background so she wouldn't miss the start of her best friend's first round game. Brittany had drawn Lily Chan in the first round, which in turn had earned her a prime slot on the opening night of the China Open.
Pulling her laptop to her, Rachel opened a new browser window to check her email. There was just one new email, something from Jesse that looked like it was a progress report for her investments. The brunette forwarded the email to her parents, and after a few seconds of contemplation went back to her message inbox, deciding she would actually read the email later when she was in the right frame of mind. Right now Rachel was feeling quite lethargic and just wanted to browse the Internet for a little bit before it was time for bed.
Signing out of her email, Rachel began her daily ritual of checking various tennis sites one at a time. Unsurprisingly, the last forty-eight hours had been full of news about Asami Sato and her new girlfriend. Actual tournament news and results had been relegated to small corners of newspapers as the world's media fixated on the Japanese star and her girlfriend, who was famous in her own right. As expected, Asami had been inundated with questions about her personal life in her post match interview at the Toray Pan Pacific Open, and even Rachel had been unable to resist the temptation to watch a video of the interview. She, Brittany, Santana and Quinn had gathered around the television in Quinn's suite while eating dinner the previous night, watching the dignified manner with which Asami had satisfied the media's curiosity. The Japanese player had stated in no uncertain terms that yes, she was dating Korra Tonraq, yes, she was gay, and yes, she knew she would probably receive some backlash from some people but decided she could deal with the bigots if it meant not having to hide the woman she loved as if Korra were some dirty little secret. Rachel had been tempted to put down her chopsticks and clap when Asami made that last statement, and was heartened by the fact that some members of the press gathered in the room had literally applauded the raven-haired woman when she said that. The Japanese player was due to play her opening round match in Beijing the following night and everyone was interested to see the reception she got from fans in her first proper outing after coming out. As Santana had rightly pointed out though, conservative China probably wouldn't be the best indicator of how Asami would be received in other parts of the world.
Sports Illustrated's tennis page took its own sweet time to load, but when it did Rachel was pleasantly surprised to see a picture of Quinn and Santana seated side-by-side atop a headline stating 'Daily Bagel: Tennis Stars Announce Twin Fundraisers'. She clicked on the words and was taken to a short paragraph that gave an overview of the joint conference the World No.'s 1 and 2 had held just under an hour ago to announce exhibition matches in New York and Barcelona at the end of November to raise funds for their foundations. Since Rachel already knew the details she merely skimmed over the words, noting with some amusement that the two players hadn't revealed details of the auction just yet but had promised that a related "big announcement" would be made in the coming days. The brunette knew for a fact that their management teams were already hard at work getting the details of the event sorted after Roz and Sandy had gotten the official go-ahead two nights ago.
Scrolling down, Rachel read the rest of the tidbits in the article. In a matter of minutes she was caught up on Sam Evans' latest Instagram picture taken at Beijing's beautiful Bird's Nest stadium, Ryder Lynn's tweet stating his concerns about the quality of air in the Chinese capital, a video of Korra Tonraq winning gold at the 2008 Olympics and a picture from the China Open's website of Asami having a practice hit the previous evening with a sea of rainbow flags visible in the background amidst the dozens of fans that had showed up to watch her hit.
The American hit the 'back' button and returned to the main page to see if there were any other articles of interest. A click later she was scrolling through an article about player reactions to Asami coming out, and felt a sense of pride when she saw that everyone person, be they from the WTA or ATP, had thrown their support behind the Japanese star. When she reached the bottom of the article she saw it had been updated recently to include Quinn and Santana's reactions after the pair had been asked about Asami at their conference that evening. According to the article, Quinn had questioned why the media was making such a big deal about it, pointing out that the press wouldn't have been this interested if Asami had kissed a man after winning the tournament and that it was everyone's responsibility to start treating same-sex couples the same as heterosexual ones. The Latina, true to form, had made everyone laugh with her droll reaction, which was quoted as being, "Well, Sato's obviously seen the light. I've been saying for years that the grass really is greener on this side of the fence."
Rachel laughed quietly to herself, typing another address into the navigation bar. She could picture the Spaniard saying that, and if she had to guess she'd say Quinn had good-naturedly rolled her eyes on hearing her best friends' statement. The brunette sort of wished there had been a video of the exchange between the two women and the press because she would have liked to have seen Quinn tell it to the media as it is, and Santana's sarcasm really deserved it's own show.
For the next fifteen minutes or so the New Yorker browsed through different tennis sites but most of the information was more or less the same. Rachel glanced up at the TV when she was done, leaving it on mute when she saw that Cohen-Chang and Burset were still at it in the third set and there was a while to go before Brittany's match began. The teenager paused and contemplated what she was about to do before reaching for the keyboard, going to Google, rapidly typing thirteen characters into the search bar and hitting 'enter'. Within moments Google brought up all the results it could pertaining to one 'Noah Puckerman'.
The brunette stared at the images of the movie star that had appeared at the top of the page and immediately decided she didn't like him. Rachel furrowed her brow at a picture of him appearing to smirk right back at the camera, wondering what had possessed him to get a Mohawk. "I'll bet he thinks it makes him look sexy," she muttered to herself before clicking on the link to his Wikipedia page. Tapping the fingers of her right hand in the area beside the tracking pad she waited impatiently for the page to load, her gaze fixed on the actor's smirking face all the while.
"Finally!" she huffed, ignoring her own voice in her head saying she sounded like a petulant child as she began reading quietly. 'Noah "Puck" Puckerman (born August 17, 1985) is an American actor, singer-songwriter, composer and musician. He is known for his portrayal of Mark Salling in The Young Invincible's film series. He also was a producer on sequels in the franchise.' Rachel ignored most of the rest of the initial overview of actor after that, letting out a bemused laugh when her eyes skimmed over a line stating Puckerman had been voted the Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine in 2011.
Scrolling down, Rachel bypassed the 'Early Life', 'Music Career' and 'Acting Career' parts of Puckerman's page and went straight to the section marked 'Personal Life'. 'Puckerman was admitted to rehab for substance addiction in 2007, and has abstained from alcohol ever since. He is a sponsor for Alcoholic's Anonymous and has given talks at university campuses across America, highlighting the dangers of alcoholism to students.'
Rachel begrudgingly acknowledged that Puckerman probably wasn't a complete douchebag before beginning on the next paragraph. 'Puckerman began dating the standup comedian Lauren Zizes in 2003, but the pair split up in December 2005. He was in a relationship with Lillian Adler from May 2006 to January 2007. Puckerman dated the model-actress Madison McCarthy after meeting her in rehab, and the pair has a daughter named Beth. They split up months after their child was born in June 2009.'
The American let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. She had half been expecting to see Quinn's name on there, her mind flashing back to Santana's crude insinuation that the movie star had been trying to get into the blonde's pants. Recalling that Quinn hadn't actually corrected the Latina, Rachel hit the 'back' button and typed 'Noah Puckerman Quinn Fabray' into the search engine. Without realizing it, she leaned forward to get a better look at the images that showed up at the top of the Google page.
The first picture showed Quinn and Puckerman together on a stage, and a click of the track pad revealed it was a picture of the duo presenting the Team of the Year award at 2010's Laureus World Sports Awards. A caption stated that the second picture was taken at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2011, and the third was a fan created image where someone had clearly photoshopped a trophy away so it looked like Quinn was kissing a smiling Puckerman's cheek instead. Rachel frowned at the morphed image before darting her eyes to the fourth and last picture on the page, which was a mid-shot of Puckerman sitting in a stadium. Rachel clicked on the image, and was informed that it was from a slideshow titled 'Celebrities at Day 11 of the 2012 Australian Open'. She clicked one more time to see the picture on its host web page, and read the accompanying caption 'Noah Puckerman at the Fabray vs Wilde quarterfinal'.
Returning to the Google page, Rachel clicked on the first of the YouTube videos her last search had brought up. She listened, only half interested, while an unseen interviewer questioned Puckerman at the London premiere of his last The Young Invincible's film and the actor smirked his way through saying what an honour it was to follow in the footsteps of the likes of George Clooney and Brad Pitt to be voted People's Sexiest Man Alive. The brunette looked up at the TV, where Burset was attempting to serve the match out, almost missing Quinn's name when it came out of the speakers of her laptop. Dragging the progress bar back a bit, Rachel let it play again, this time giving it her full attention.
"Ok, let's talk about the ladies now. What are your thoughts on your female counterpart Jennifer Lopez, who was voted the Sexiest Woman Alive this year?" an unseen female voice asked over the background noise at the premiere.
"Oh, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out that JLo is one hot mama," Puckerman grinned back at the woman.
"So you think she's the right choice then?" the woman with the Scottish accent pressed.
Puckerman seemed to consider his words for a moment before replying, "Well, she isn't the wrong choice. But I personally would have cast my vote for Quinn Fabray."
"Quinn Fabray? The tennis star?" the interviewer clarified, making Rachel roll her eyes on this side of the laptop. How many Quinn Fabray's did the woman know?!
Puckerman must have wondered the same, before he raised his eyebrows while addressing the woman whose hand could be seen holding up a microphone to his face, "Do you know many other Quinn Fabray's?"
The interviewer stammered, "Well, no... but-"
"Yes, the tennis player," Puckerman interrupted her, and then turned to look straight into the camera, "Believe me, look the woman up if you haven't already seen her. Quinn. Fabray," he enunciated. "And then tell me she isn't the sexiest woman alive."
A handler showed up behind Puckerman, and you could see the movie star glance at him from the corner of his eye. That must have been the interviewer's cue, because she thanked Puckerman for talking to her before the video ended.
Rachel's heart was beating a little faster than usual, but she ignored it as she scrolled past a couple of videos and picked one that showed Puckerman and Quinn on a stage together. While waiting for it to load she realized that Burset had won the match and was in the middle of her on-court interview. Brittany would be out in just a few minutes. The sound of a commercial playing drew her attention back to her computer, and she hit 'skip ad' as soon as it let her.
The video began to play soon after, "And now, please welcome the star of The Young Invincible's, Noah Puckerman and a nominee tonight, Quinn Fabray!" an announcer stated. Even a blind person could see that the smiling duo made a striking pair, Quinn's hand placed on Puckerman's arm as they matched strides to walk to the microphone in the middle of the stage. The actor looked handsome in a sharply tailored black tuxedo, but it was Quinn who really stood out in a pink sleeveless gown that dipped at the neck. Her hair was up in a wrap around braid that was stylishly simple, and the only visible jewelry on her was a pair of teardrop diamond earrings that drew Rachel's attention to her delicately curved neck. The brunette reached for a glass of water while she waited for the applause to die down on her laptop screen.
"Good evening," Puckerman began, "Quinn and I are here tonight to present the Laureus World Team of the Year award. But first, can I get a round of applause for Quinn, who's had another amazing year of results." The gathered audience gave the American tennis star an ovation but judging from the blush that covered Quinn's face, Rachel would wager that Puckerman's words weren't on the teleprompter the pair was supposed to read from.
"Thank you," Quinn husked, when the clapping had subsided.
"Yeah, thank you!" Puckerman reiterated, smirking at the audience. "Hopefully that wins me enough brownie points to convince this lady to go on the date I've been begging her for since I first met her!" he winked.
Rachel could hear a smattering of laughter but knew Quinn well enough to tell the blonde wasn't exactly comfortable with the scene that was playing out in front of the whole world's eyes. She felt irritation bubble in her chest at the movie star who clearly thought he was being charming as he grinned at the woman beside him. The brunette stared at the screen where Quinn took one last look at the actor before turning back to face the crowd, "Movie stars, right? Always making everything about them. Even an awards night that isn't about them at all."
The crowd roared in appreciation of Quinn's words, and the tennis star looked amused at the thunderous applause she received from her peers. Beside her Puckerman pouted, obviously not having expected to be the butt of the joke when he came out on stage. When the clapping died down, Quinn smiled down at the audience, "And now, here are the nominees for the 2010 Laureus World Team of the Year." The video cut away from the stage to a montage of the nominees, before ending abruptly.
The American teenager smiled as she hit the 'back' button, her spirits greatly lifted upon seeing Quinn put the movie star in his place. She decided that she'd snooped enough and was about to close the Google search page when an article caught her eye.
Click. Rachel found herself on the GQ Magazine's website, staring at an article where some male celebrities were talking about their ideal woman. Scrolling down, she looked for the words she'd seen highlighted on the Google search page and sure enough, she found the section devoted to Noah Puckerman.
'Noah Puckerman is quite smitten with the gorgeous, not to mention talented, American tennis player Quinn Fabray. The World No. 3 stunned with both her shot making and her pink hair at the recently concluded Wimbledon Championships, where she finished runner-up to Scotland's Cho Chang. Noah explains, "It's not that Quinn is just gorgeous. I like myself a strong, independent woman who is good at what she does, and her hotness is just the icing on the cake. She's the perfect package. And I really hope she takes me up on my offer of a date sometime soon!" Judging by these pictures, all we can say is the hunky movie star has great taste in his women!'
Rachel felt her breath hitch and her pulse rate accelerate as she stared at the pictures beneath the paragraph. She hovered the cursor over the images to enlarge them, slowly moving her eyes over pictures of Quinn from tennis tournaments and at red carpet events. Her mouth was already dry by the time she reached the final picture showing the blonde at the beach, a sea of clear blue water providing the backdrop to the postcard-perfect image. The paparazzi shot was obviously taken unbeknownst to Quinn, a zoom lens capturing the tennis star candidly grinning at someone off camera.
The brunette chewed on her lip as she let her gaze linger on the blonde's form. Quinn was clad in a white two-piece, the straw hat on her head casting interesting shadows on her face. Rachel's eyes were drawn to the slightly visible abdominal muscles on her midriff, which managed to look soft despite the fact that it was obviously toned to perfection. The American teenager could feel her cheeks get hotter the longer she stared at the picture, and hit the back button when the burn got to be too much.
Rachel steeled herself to not look at any more links, closing the Google search page once and for all. She could now see the ghost of her own reflection staring back at her as she willed her heart rate to calm down. The mental image of Quinn in that bikini seemed to have seared itself into her memory, and the brunette couldn't quite understand the reactions it was eliciting from her. Was she jealous of Quinn's almost otherworldly good looks? No, it didn't feel like jealousy. Her mind wandered to Puckerman, and she immediately pooh-poohed the idea that she was maybe attracted to the movie star and therefore jealous of Quinn. Really, the very notion was hilarious.
She closed her eyes, once again seeing Quinn in the two-piece. Rachel frowned. This wasn't the first time she'd seen someone with a remarkable figure. Hell, half the women on tour walked around the locker-room in their birthday suits, many of them with abs that outshone Quinn's. So why did the blonde's figure seem so much more remarkable to Rachel?
Her head beginning to hurt, Rachel looked up at the TV screen and was startled to see a close up of Brittany's face on it. She had almost forgotten about the Englishwoman's match as she'd looked up the history between Quinn and Puckerman, and immediately felt guilty when she saw she'd completely missed the warm-up and opening two games. Closing her laptop and placing it back on the table before her, Rachel switched positions so she was lying on the couch, trying to give the television screen her full attention. The task was proving to be easier said that done.
