Blaine almost turned around to speak to the man that had just passed him. He couldn't help but smile for the seventh time tonight as he thought about Kurt's voice and the way he looked on stage. God, Blaine wanted him so bad. Even to just speak to him would mean so much to Blaine.
He hurried home, eager to get to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day for Blaine, he'd be meeting with his mother. They hadn't seen one another since Blaine left home years ago. He knew exactly where he would be taking her. This cute little tea shop hidden in the busy streets of New York City. He had found "Sakura" one day by accident. Blaine just needed directions to the nearest Subway Terminal, but ended up indulging in fine Japanese teas. Since then, he'd returned to Sakura and even purchased some teas to bring home with him.
Blaine was only a seven minute walk away from Sakura. He wondered if the shop would still be open. Weaving his way through the backstreets of New York City, he came upon the sign that was the colour of a Cherry Blossom. By the divine work of the Gods, Sakura was still open.
Sakura was the kind of place his mother would fawn over. It was very neat and classy, the food they served was only the best, and their teas were exceptional. Blaine made his way to the tea display, eyeing the new teas they had received. He picked out their most famous tea, a peach and sakura blossom green tea for his mother. Happy with his choice he walked over to the cash register. The middle aged Asian woman placed the tea in a decorative box and handed it to Blaine.
Taking one last look at the store before heading out the door, he thought about how his mother had forced a fancy lifestyle upon him. His mother had always taken Blaine to high class restaurants as a child. Of course, he never knew what anything on the menu was, which meant he wasn't particularly excited to try the food. His mom had tried to develop Blaine's taste for fine foods but what she didn't realize was that Blaine was a young adult in New York City. He could never afford the "finer things in life." He could barely afford to pay rent each month.
Blaine tidied his apartment a bit, before making himself some pasta. It always amazed Blaine how he wasn't tired of pasta yet. He'd eaten it almost every night since he had moved to New York. It was all he was able to afford. Luckily Blaine had a job interview in a few days, and it didn't hurt that it was at the Shed. He thought it would be the perfect place for him to be able to meet Kurt.
He curled up into bed, set his alarm and quickly fell asleep. Prepared for whatever happened in the morning.
Kurt was stressing. His audition was tomorrow afternoon and he didn't feel ready. Granted he'd received a standing ovation at the Shed the other night. He'd gone over his choice at least thirty times since he had received an audition time. He knew his piece was perfect, but he wasn't sure if it would be good enough to land him a role on Broadway.
He prepared some tea with honey and lemon (Kurt always did this before an audition, just like Mariah Carey does) and slipped into his pajamas. He made his way to his vinyl player and pulled out his Judy At Carnegie Hall record. Kurt crawled into bed and slowly sipped his scalding hot tea as he listened to Judy Garland croon through the speakers. Kurt was fast asleep within twenty minutes.
He awoke only three hours later. Too psyched about his audition in a couple of hours, he jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen. Having missed dinner, he began to prepare himself a...well...a 3am meal. Kurt wasn't quite sure what this was classified as. Dinner? Breakfast? Whatever it was, Kurt continued to make his meal.
Nothing fancy, just a grilled sunflower seed pesto, tomato and mozzarella Panini. Kurt knew he shouldn't be eating dairy before his audition, but it wasn't for at least ten hours so he figured it was alright. He settled on the couch and switched on the TV. Obviously, nothing interesting was on. It was three thirty on a Monday night after all. He must have fallen asleep because when Kurt opened his eyes next it was just passed ten in the morning.
Grabbing his instrumental track and a scarf Kurt headed into the bustling streets of New York, ready for the day he had ahead of him.
She had never been to New York before. So when Celine Anderson exited the airport and into the streets she was overwhelmed by the mass amount of people that surrounded her. Celine pushed through the crowd of people, hoping she might spot her son. She reached into her coat pocket, thinking her son might have texted or called her. To her dismay, nothing.
Continuing her search for her boy, Celine entered the nearby Starbucks. As she ordered her coffee her phone vibrated in her hand.
"Hello?"
"Hi, mom. I'm running a little late, I should be there in ten depending on traffic."
Typical Blaine, never on time. Celine shook her head as he spoke. She raised him better than that.
"That's fine Blaine." She responded coldly. "I'm in the Starbucks."
It's not that Celine was disappointed in her son. She just...Wanted more from him. Moving to New York was such a rash decision for Blaine. Look where he is now, living in this huge city, unemployed, alone. She was worried about him.
She sat there thinking of advice she could give her son as they had lunch this afternoon. Celine barely recognized her son as he walked through the doors of the Starbucks, and he didn't seem to recognize her either. Blaine looked around the store, searching for, well, her. Celine tried not to laugh as she swallowed a few drops of her coffee.
It took Blaine a moment to register that his mother was sitting in the far corner of the Starbucks. She must have thought he was delusional, not recognizing his own mother. Blaine just thanked God that it was his mother and not his father, or he would never here the end of it. He remembered he was still standing by the doors and practically ran to sit across from his mother.
"Hi, mom. How was the flight?"
"It was fine, Blaine. It's good to see you. You look...nice." Blaine could tell his mother was not impressed in his outfit choice. She likes designer clothes, so seeing her son in American Apparel must have been a major letdown.
"But...Would it kill you to buy some Marc Jacobs or something?" Blaine resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his mother.
"I don't work Ma. How do you expect me to afford something like that?"
"If you are having financial troubles Blaine, your father and I can help you out." His mother's tone changed. It sounded like she...pitied Blaine.
"No. I told you already, I want to make it on my own. You guys have already taken care of me for 18 years. I don't need your help anymore."
"Suit yourself." Celine sighed. "I just don't want you to end up on the streets because you're too proud to ask for some money."
"Should we just go to brunch now?" Blaine was getting fed up with his mother, and they'd only been together for ten minutes. His mother nodded, they both got up from their chairs and started out the door.
"Is it always this cold in New York City?"
"Are you always this much of a diva? It's not even cold out." Blaine shot back.
"Blaine Anderson, I will not tolerate that beh-"
"Shut up. We're here." Blaine turned to his mom, she looked stunned at his choice of words, but quickly brushed it off.
Blaine opened the door and allowed his mother to enter Sakura first. He watched her closely. Wanting to see her reaction to the place because he knew whether she liked it or hated it that it would show in her face. She looked around, taking in the decor, and the staff and everyone around them. Something was off though. Blaine saw no emotion in her face, no approval nor disapproval. The same woman who had served Blaine the other night was now showing them to a table by the window.
They were handed a small menu, coloured a light pink. He starred as his mom eyed the sheet of paper in her fingers. Blaine already knew what he would be ordering so he hadn't even give the menu a glance. His mother set her menu down and smiled at Blaine.
"This is a great place Blaine. I'm glad you took me here." Blaine smiled back at his mother.
The waitress appeared and took their orders. Blaine would have the scones with lemon curd, jam, and cream, while his mother ordered the butternut squash soup. Blaine laughed as she explained that it would make New York seem a bit warmer. It didn't take their food that long to get there, since there were only a handful of customers.
"Mmm, this is delicious!" Blaine was embarrassed at the loud moan that emitted from his mother's mouth as she took a spoonful of the soup in her mouth.
"Hey mom, I know it's New York, but if you could refrain from having orgasms in public that would be...Amazing." Celine shot Blaine a look of disgust. Blaine knew what was running through her mind right now. Is this the kind of boy I raised? He could only imagine.
Blaine and his mother finished their lunch making casual conversation along the way. For the first time Blaine how much he'd missed his mother, and how much he needed her. The two parted later that night as Celine had a meeting to attend. Blaine was sure she would return to see him in the near future...No, he hoped she did.
Kurt entered the theatre. He hadn't been this nervous since he had auditioned for NYADA back in High School. There were a few others within the lobby, filling out papers. He approached the desk placed in the far corner of the waiting room area. A woman, the same one who had spoken to him on the phone handed him a booklet of papers he was required to fill out. He almost wasn't able to sign his name as his hands were shaking so much. They called the first few girls in for their auditions. Then another four...And another...And another. It took an hour and a half to get to Kurt's group.
He thought this might be a good thing. Going last is great because you are fresh in their minds when they make their decision, Rachel taught him director allowed the group to watch one another's audition, which made Kurt even more nervous. The first girl performed "Some People." The next one did "My Man" from Funny Girl. The third girl did a cover of some Katy Perry song which made Kurt feel much better about his own audition. When he got up there, and his music began, he felt ready.
Here he is boys!
Here he is world!
Here's Kurt!
Curtain up!
Light the lights!
Play it, boys!
He tried to look into the audience to see the director's face as he sung his signature song. He couldn't make any faces out due to the bright lights shining on him. He danced around the stage and sung his heart out.
...Why did I do it?
What did it get me?
Scrapbooks full of me in the background.
Give 'em love and what does it get ya?
What does it get ya?
One quick look as each of 'em leaves you.
All your life and what does it get ya?
Thanks a lot and out with the garbage.
They take bows and you're battin' zero...
Kurt caught himself. He knew he screwed up that note, but he didn't stop. He kept on going, even made up for it by going an octave up to show off his vocal skills.
...Well, someone tell me, when is it my turn?
Don't I get a dream for myself?
Starting now it's gonna be my turn.
Gangway, world, get off of my runway!
Starting now I bat a thousand!
This time, boys, I'm taking the bows and,
everything's coming up Rose!
Everything's coming up roses!
Everything's coming up roses!
This time for me!
Though the note doesn't last as long as Kurt held it, he was proud of his choice to drag out the final note of the song. He heard a cluster of faint claps, but was still blinded from the light.
"That was great Mr. Hummel!" He heard, who he assumed was the director, say. "We'll be in touch!"
"Thank you very much."Kurt strode off stage with a feeling of confidence he never knew her had. Even if he didn't get the part, he knew he gave the performance of a lifetime. Besides, he'd always have the coffee shop.
Rachel had called at least twelve times since three that afternoon. Rachel also left Kurt twelve voicemails that afternoon. All pertaining to, you guessed it! His audition. Kurt sifted through them, trying to get the gist of it before calling Rachel.
"It went great Rachel, I think they enjoyed it."
"Well...Did you get the part?" Rachel was shouting now.
"I don't know! I'm sure they will call the moment they know."
"Do you want to go for coffee later?" Rachel seemed to have calmed down as she asked.
"I'd love to." Kurt smiled and promptly hung up the phone.
He slumped down on his bed, happy with what he'd shown the director. Kurt couldn't wait to see where this would lead him next.
Blaine awoke to the sound of...birds? In his years of living in New York City he had never ever been awakened by birds. He leaped out of bed, it was Thursday already. He was pumped to go to his interview at the Shed. Not only because if he got a job there he would have a reason to talk to Kurt, but also because he'd have a way to pay his rent.
He threw on something that he wouldn't wear normally, which meant it must be pretty fancy. Blaine had slept until 1:30pm, so he was rushing to get out the door now. He made sure to grab his resume, though he didn't know why as he hadn't had much experience. Just one or two jobs from his teenage years.
Now that he thought about it, the Shed wouldn't be much different from the jobs he had when he was younger. Serving customers and pouring coffee? Simple. Blaine was confident now. He would get the job.
"Hey there Blaine, you're right on time." Bill seemed happy about that, he led Blaine to his office and offered him a chair. "Let's get started, shall we?" Blaine nodded in agreement.
The interview wasn't hard. It was just nerve-wracking. Bill had grilled Blaine, and it made him stutter through Bill's questions. When he'd finished with Blaine, he thanked him for coming down and told Blaine they'd be in touch.
Blaine returned to the shop, ordering a medium Drip on his way out. Blaine turned the corner towards the door, before a familiar face stopped him in his tracks.
There he was, seated in one of the large leather chairs.
Mike.