It was nearing the end of Santana's lunch break at the recording studio when she felt her phone start vibrating in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw Mercedes's name on the screen. Santana had known it was her. She always called during her lunch break.
Answering the call, Santana held the phone up to her ear. "What's up?"
"Nothing much," Mercedes greeted, "What's up with you?"
"Eh, the usual," Santana shrugged. "Everyone kissing our bosses asses, trying to suck up to them. Pretentious, hipster interns thinking they know everything about music. Same old, same old."
"I figured," Mercedes said. "Same old over here, too. Kids being as rambunctious as ever, but at least they're cute."
Mercedes was referring to her main job, teaching choir at an elementary school. She just worked at the café during the evenings to get a little extra money.
"Don't let their cuteness fool you, children are tiny satans," Santana said, though Mercedes knew she was joking.
"Right, okay, I'll keep that in mind," Mercedes giggled.
"Heh, if they're anything like I was as a kid, you know I'm right," Santana grinned.
"Lord knows I'd need His help then," Mercedes laughed. Then she quieted down and said, "So, uh... what's the status on your search for this girl?"
Santana wanted to roll her eyes at Mercedes's predictably. She knew that question had been coming the second she got the call.
"No status, yet," Santana answered. "I haven't done anything."
"What, how come? Why didn't you just go to that address yesterday and check it out? You were home, like, the whole day," Mercedes said.
"Look, Mercedes," Santana sighed, "it's not like I didn't wanna go, but it's just... the more I thought about it, the more unlikely it seemed. I told you, I have no clue what B looks like or anything. How do you expect me to find her?"
"Well... " Mercedes trailed off, thinking of a way to answer. Then, after a second, something seemed to come to her because she said, "Wait, hold on. This girl was at the café with you."
"Yeah, and?" Santana questioned.
"So, even if you didn't see her, someone must have," Mercedes pointed out.
Santana froze. That was true, at least someone else had had to seen her. Then, she remembered something.
"Wait, she told me that she had talked to Rachel," Santana told Mercedes, "She must know what B looks like."
"There ya go!" Mercedes cheered. "So, just go down to the café and ask Rachel if she remembers what she looks like."
At that, Santana groaned. "Ugh, I don't wanna talk to Berry, can you do it for me?"
"Nope," Mercedes responded with a pop of her lips. "You should do this on your own. Sorry, but it's not my Cinderella girl we're trying to find."
Santana furrowed her brow. "Cinderella girl?" She repeated.
"Yeah, come on, doesn't this remind you of that plot?"
Santana rolled her eyes. "Okay, you gotta stop comparing my life to movies. And, whatever, I'll talk to Berry myself. You just wanna see her annoy the hell outta me, don't you?"
"I will neither confirm or deny that," Mercedes said, "And good, you gonna head down there later tonight?"
"Sure, why not," Santana shrugged. "I'll see you later, alright?"
"Alright, see ya," Mercedes chirped into the phone before ending the call.
Santana stuck her phone back in her pocket and got up from where she was sitting so she could get back to work and complete the rest of the day.
Brittany was mentally exhausted.
Sugar had called her up that afternoon and requested they got together to discuss some 'important topics' so she had spent hours with Sugar, listening as the girl talked and talked and talked about all the things the two of them could do to further impress J.T Williams so they wouldn't blow their shot with him.
At first, Brittany had been interested in what Sugar was saying because she most definitely didn't want to ruin her chance. However, after hour two had passed, the sound of Sugar's voice had given her a headache so bad, she felt like a hundred bees were sticking their stingers in her forehead.
Her brain felt like it was in physical pain. So, after Sugar had finally freed her, Brittany decided to go to one of the few places that she knew would make her feel better.
She had just walked through the door of her favorite dance studio and not a second after she did, a voice rung throughout the room, greeting her.
"Hey, Britt, long time no see!"
Brittany looked over to where the voice came from and saw one of her old friends, Mike, smiling at her from where he stood in front of the mirrors. He was the only one in the studio, which was obvious as it was after hours. Brittany was lucky they were close friends because no one else would've gotten the privilege of having his entire studio to themselves.
"What up, Pop n' Lock," Brittany grinned and headed over to stand next to him, dropping her bag on the ground.
Mike chuckled at the age old nickname and said, "Not much. What's up with you? You haven't been here in a while."
"Yeah," Brittany sighed. "What can I say, work's a bitch."
"Ah," Mike nodded. "So, how is work? Sugar still driving you up the wall?"
Brittany let out a small scoff. "Only always. She's been drilling pretty hard into me, lately. But, I mean... I kinda get why," she shrugged, "She's just trying to make us get somewhere, so her heart's in the right place, I guess."
"Right, so I take it you're here for your usual de-stressing session?" Mike asked.
"You know it," Brittany said. "I've been so stiff these past few days, I need to let loose."
"I'm sure you do," Mike nodded his head. "Although, uh, I'm not gonna be sticking around here much longer, maybe half an hour before I close up, so sorry you have to keep things short."
"Oh," Brittany said, kind of disappointed, but she didn't let it get to her. "You don't normally leave that early, do you have plans or something?"
A sly grin spread on Mike's face. "As a matter of fact, I do. A date."
Brittany's mouth fell open. "Seriously, you have a date? Wow, good for you. Who is she and how'd you meet her?"
"Her name's Tina and a few days ago, she was dropping her niece off at one of my classes and she stuck around to watch," Mike told her, "Afterwards, she told me I was a really good teacher and we got to talking a bit and well, you can guess the rest."
"Well, that's good," Brittany smiled. "I know it's been awhile since you've been with someone."
"Yep," Mike said. "Hopefully, this date goes well and she can stick around for a while. Anyway, what about you?"
Brittany raised a brow. "What about me?"
"Well, I know it's been awhile since you've been with anyone as well," Mike explained, "Have you found anyone you like recently?"
Brittany could feel her stomach flip at the question. She had done her best to focus on other things, but of course, she had to be reminded, yet again, of that.
"Uh, no," Brittany said, clearing her throat that suddenly felt dry. "I, uh, I haven't found anyone I've liked."
She didn't want to lie. She felt like she owed it to Santana to not completely disregard her because Brittany had liked her so much. But even then, she couldn't stop the words from leaving her mouth.
"Oh, well, I'm sure somebody will come around sooner or later that'll give you the time of day," Mike said.
Brittany sent him a strained smile. "Yeah, maybe."
Mike gave her one last grin before saying, "Well, I'm gonna be in the office if you need me. Have fun."
With that, he walked off past her to his office in the back.
Brittany waited until he had closed the office door before heading over to the stereo to plug in her iPod and selecting her favorite dance playlist. Soon, music began blasting through the studio. She went to go stand directly in the middle of the room and began stretching. Sugar had been keeping her so busy lately, she hadn't had much time for dancing.
But tonight, even if it was just for half an hour, Brittany was going to put her mind at rest.
It was late when Santana made it to Café Berry. She had stayed behind at work a few hours longer than usual to try and make up for missing yesterday, so it was late in the evening when she entered the cafe.
She stepped in and spotted Mercedes off to the side, waiting a table. Mercedes looked up when she heard the door jingle and flashed Santana a smile before focusing back on the people in front of her.
Santana looked around and didn't see Rachel anywhere, so that meant she was most likely in the back. She knew the back wasn't open to anyone but workers, but that didn't stop her from marching through the café towards the door labeled Employees Only, and pushing it open.
Almost immediately, she saw Rachel, looking as clownish as ever, fixing her hair in a mirror that was up on a wall.
"Hey, Berry," Santana called, heading over to her.
Rachel jumped, startled by Santana's voice. "Oh, Santana," she gasped. Then she frowned. "Wait, you're not supposed to be back here, it's specifically restricted for employees only– "
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Santana said with a wave of her hand, "Listen, okay, I need to ask you something."
Rachel raised an eyebrow. "About what? Oh, is it about makeup? Because I've noticed your contouring is sometimes a little botchy, especially now that you're up close. I could give you some good tips on how to– "
"No, I'm not here to ask you about makeup," Santana interrupted. Then she paused and quickly added, "Although, write those tips down and give them to me later. Anyway, the other day during your blind dating thing– "
"You mean the Blind Date Single Mingle and Mixer," Rachel corrected with a pointed look.
"For god's sake," Santana muttered under her breath. "Yes, that. Now, you remember the girl you sent to be paired up with me?"
Rachel thought for a second. "You were at table seven, correct? Yes, I do remember the woman I sent your way."
"Good," Santana sighed of relief. "Okay, I know this might sound weird, but I need you to tell me what she looked like."
Rachel sent her a questioning look. "Why?"
"Nothing, it's just... she forgot something when she left and I wanna make sure I get it back to her," Santana answered. That was partly true, and there was no way she was telling Blabbermouth Berry about what she was really doing.
"Oh," Rachel said, accepting the answer. "Well, okay... um, she had blonde hair. It was pretty long. In fact, I have to admit I envied the length, I've always wanted my hair to be that long– "
"Rachel," Santana groaned at the girl's rambling. She now knew that B had long, blonde hair. Great, now if only Rachel could continue describing her without getting carried away.
"Oh, sorry," Rachel giggled. "Going on... well, she was pretty tall. I'd say a few inches over you. She had on sunglasses so I can't tell you much about her face other than it was rather thin and she had quite the complexion, not a blemish in sight from what I saw. Or maybe it was just makeup, who knows? Um, she looked to be in good shape, so I figure she works out a lot. Hmm, I wonder what her routine is, I've been meaning to switch mine up... "
Rachel rambled on, but Santana ignored her. She'd say that description painted a nice enough picture of B in her head. Sure, her face was still the biggest mystery, but she could deal with that later. Santana turned her attention back to Rachel and cut her off in the middle of whatever it was she was saying. "Alright, that's good," she said. "Anything else?"
Rachel pressed her lips together and hummed in thought. Finally, she answered, "Nope, that's all I can tell you."
"Okay, I can work with that," Santana bobbed her head. Then, she decided to actually be nice for once to the girl that constantly worked her nerves and said, "Thanks, Rachel, that helps a lot."
Rachel gave her a bright smile and Santana sent her a small grin in exchange before turning around to head back out. She walked through the door and saw Mercedes standing near the counter. Mercedes turned towards her when she heard the door open and eagerly headed towards her.
"So?" She pressed. "You got a description?"
"Yeah," Santana nodded. "Wasn't much, but at least I have some basics to go off of."
"Awesome, this could make finding that B chick so much easier," Mercedes said.
"Yeah, well, we'll see," Santana sighed. "Listen, I'm gonna head home now, I'm kinda tired. See you later, 'kay?"
"Alright, bye," Mercedes said, patting her arm.
With that, Santana made her way out the café and back towards her car. She made the drive home with a little more peace in mind, now knowing more about B, even if it was just a little bit.
"Ugh, damn it!" Brittany hissed as she stumbled over her feet for the fourth time since she began dancing.
As it turned out, putting her mind at rest was a difficult task when her thoughts were like a persistent five year old, shouting pay attention to me! Pay attention to me! Usually when she danced, she would forget about the outside world once the music started playing and would only focus on moving her body to the beat. But, that just wasn't happening right now.
Brittany let out an exasperated sigh. "This is useless," she mumbled.
She walked over to the stereo and turned it off in annoyance, then planted herself down on the floor, leaning back against the wall.
Mike must have figured something was up when he heard the music stop because Brittany could hear the creak of his office door opening and the sound of his footsteps heading her way.
"Hey, you okay?" She heard him ask, but Brittany didn't respond and stared down at the floor.
"Brittany... what's up?" Mike spoke again, coming to sit down beside her.
Brittany shook her head. "It's nothing," she mumbled.
"Britt, come on," Mike pressed, "I know you said you've been stressed lately, but I dunno... I get the feeling that it's more than that. You sure everything's okay?"
Brittany was quiet and continued staring at the ground. She really wanted to talk to someone about what was going on in her head. Maybe getting it all out would bring some relief to her, and her mind wouldn't be as cluttered afterwards. Lord knows, she couldn't tell Sugar, so maybe telling Mike would do her good. So, she gave in.
"I lied before," Brittany finally said in a quiet voice. "When you asked if I met anyone recently that I liked, I said no, but that wasn't true. Because I did meet someone that I liked. I liked her a lot. But... then I did something pretty stupid and messed things up. And, uh, I feel really guilty about it and I just can't stop thinking about what I did."
Mike furrowed his brow. "What'd you do?"
With a sigh, Brittany launched into the story, no longer hesitant to tell Mike everything.
She told him about that night where she had stumbled upon the café and just went in, looking for something to eat and how she had been talked into joining the blind dating game that had also been happening at the time. She told him about how she had been paired with a blindfolded girl named Santana who, almost immediately, she had thought was beautiful and interesting. She talked about how they spent the whole time talking and enjoying each other's company. And how Brittany had felt a connection with Santana, despite the small amount of time they had spent together.
"I don't know how to explain it, Mike," Brittany said. "You know, I've been on dates with a lot of people before, but I've never hit it off with anyone that quickly. She just captivated me from the minute I sat down."
"You know, if I didn't know there was going to be a downside to this story, I'd say all of that was the cutest thing I've ever heard," Mike said. "I'm glad you met someone you liked so much. But... what went wrong?"
Brittany sighed. "I kissed her," she blurted out. "Right then and there, I kissed her."
Mike slowly nodded his head. "Ah. I see."
"Yeah," Brittany mumbled. "I just– I don't know what came over me. I guess, I just liked her so much that I completely went for it without even thinking."
"Did anyone see you?" Mike asked.
Brittany shook her head. "I don't think so. There weren't that many people around and we were in a corner in the back, anyway."
"Right, okay," Mike nodded. "So, what'd you do after you kissed her?"
Brittany grimaced. That was what she felt guilty for. "I ran off," she groaned. "I didn't give her an explanation or anything, I just bailed. I mean, I've never done anything like that before, you know I'm not the hit it and quit it type, but I just freaked out and left. I... I just feel like such an asshole for leaving her there like that."
Brittany felt all of her shame coming back to her. She couldn't help but think how Santana had felt after she left. Had she been hurt? Brittany definitely would be if she were in her shoes and someone had done that to her. Sure, Santana was totally gorgeous and could've easily found someone else to be with, forgetting all about her. But, still, Brittany didn't like the idea of Santana feeling bad because of her own idiot move.
"Hmm, well I understand why you'd feel guilty about that," she heard Mike say. "But, um, maybe you did what had to be done. You got out of there before things could further escalate. I know you don't like to hurt people, but with your job and all... "
"Yeah, I know about my stupid job," Brittany suddenly snapped, "and the stupid rules I have to follow, and the stupid image Sugar would kill me if I didn't conform to."
Brittany scoffed and threw her head back against the wall. If it hadn't been for her job, she wouldn't have had to done what she did.
The sun had already gone down for the most part when Santana made it back home.
She shuffled inside and slipped her shoes off, kicking them off to the side. She headed towards her bed and threw her purse down on it then walked over to her dresser in the corner to pull out some clothes.
Two minutes later, Santana had changed into a pair of sweats and a tank top and had flopped down on her couch, television remote in hand. She decided to just call it a lazy night and watch some TV until she fell asleep.
She flipped through the channels, trying to find something she would enjoy. However, after a few minutes of going from channel to channel, Santana realized either she just didn't like anything or all of the stuff on TV was crap because she hadn't found anything she was interested in.
She had just landed on a channel that was airing one show in particular that she couldn't stand about singing teenagers before she eagerly turned away from it to another channel that was playing what looked to be some sort of rom-com. Santana sighed and set the remote down, giving up on trying to find something to watch.
She picked up her phone, hoping to try and find something on there to entertain her, not bothering to pay anymore attention to what was playing on her TV.
About ten minutes later, Santana had scrolled through all of her social media feeds. Twitter, Instagram, even Facebook and she didn't care for that one at all. She was so bored, she was about to open up Candy Crush, when something on the TV got her attention.
One of the characters must have said something funny, because at that moment, the sound of a girl laughing filled her ears. And that was when Santana froze.
She knew that laugh. Or... at least, she was sure she did.
Santana's eyes snapped away from her phone and she stared at her TV, wide-eyed. On the screen, there was a small group of people listening to a guy as he talked about whatever, but Santana wasn't focusing on that. Her eyes traveled to a character standing off to the side, watching the guy speak. It was a girl with long, blonde hair... a thin face... who also looked pretty tall compared to the other characters. That description continued to flutter through her mind as she stared at the girl.
There was no way...
Santana was seconds away from hopping up from the couch and going to stand millimeters away from the television screen to get a closer look, when the scene faded away and the movie cut to a commercial.
Santana sat completely still, not knowing how to react. Because that girl she had just seen on her TV... that couldn't have been her.
Could it?
"Britt, if you think your job is so stupid, then why do you put up with it?" Mike asked.
"Because," Brittany sighed, "Look, I honestly love my job, I do. It's just all the extra stuff that comes with it that I can't stand."
"Well, you don't really have much of a choice but to deal with all the extra stuff," Mike said, apologetically. "You are an actress, after all."
Brittany felt herself cringe at the word. "Yeah, I know," she grumbled.
It was that title of hers, actress, that made her life so different. Sure, she wasn't close to being A-list and she had only been in a handful of productions – mainly indie projects – but her name was still out there. She couldn't screw up, especially not when she was working on building her career even further, hopefully with the helps of J.T Williams, who was one of the most renowned, present-day producers in LA.
She needed all the good press she could get, so that meant not doing anything stupid... like making out with someone in the middle of a café.
See, that was another thing. Brittany didn't just walk away from Santana because she was worried about her image. She also left because Santana was just a normal girl, living her life and doing her own thing. Brittany didn't want to drag her down into a mess that could've been created because she let herself get out of control. She didn't want Santana to deal with any crap because of her. She didn't want an innocent woman to fall into the hands of the media and their possible nastiness.
Brittany stayed deep in her thoughts and was quiet for so long that she hadn't realized Mike had stood up.
"Listen," his voice interrupted her thoughts, "I should probably start to close up now and get going."
"Oh," Brittany said. "Yeah, okay, I'll head out."
She stood up and Mike sent her a smile.
"Well, I hope all the stress in your life dies down. You deserve a break," he said, sincerely.
"Thanks," Brittany grinned. "And I hope you have fun on your date."
After that, Brittany had gathered all her things and walked out the front door, bidding farewell to Mike. She hopped in her car and soon began her way home.
As she drove, Brittany revelled on how talking to Mike about everything did do her some good. Some of the weight on her shoulders had lifted. Although, that still didn't stop them from being heavy. She still felt guilty about Santana and she was still stressed because of her job.
Brittany took the deepest of breaths and hoped that somehow, some way, a bit of relief would come to her.
Author's note: Hey guys, thanks for reading! Yep, Brittany's little secret is finally out! I know a couple of you already guessed it, but I hope I revealed it in a way that you enjoyed. Again, thanks!