"Sawadee ka!"
"God, you're so obnoxious sometimes."
"Don't be a party pooper. It means 'hi' in Thai."
"I gathered. So how's it going over there?"
"Hmm. Pretty good. All the kids are so nice. They want to play with my hair all day… It is kind of weird being a minority," Quinn laughs good-naturedly.
"Yeah, I guess that would be weird for a white, blonde girl."
Quinn shakes her head. "You know we're being overtaken by brunettes that dye their hair. It's not fair… How's it going in New York?"
"All right. Nothing too exciting. It sucks working three jobs but it keeps me busy."
"Are you still performing on Fridays and Saturdays?"
"Yep."
"What are you working on at the moment?"
"The band is divided between a Kelly Clarkson song and a Rihanna song."
"Aw. I wish I could see you sing again. I'm definitely going to when I'm back in NY. How's Brittany?"
"She's good. She's dating a guy who owns a lesbian nightclub. It's hilarious and awkward at the same time. Occasionally he'll get her to dance in one of those weird cagey things, which, trust me, is the best thing ever. He's trying to get me to perform—"
Quinn laughs hysterically. "Ohmygod. You should do it! Seriously, I wouldn't miss it."
Santana hears chatter in the background of Quinn's Skype call. "What's going on?"
There's a lag before Quinn answers, "My roommate just got in. She's going to bed so I'm going to have to end the call. We can still chat for a little while though."
"Well tell her to go f—"
Call ended.
QUINNFABRAY: SAN! YOU CAN'T GO AND PISS MY ROOMIE OFF! I HAVE TO LIVE WITH HER FOR 2 MONTHS!
SLOPEZ: Bite me. You never told me you had a roomie!
SLOPEZ: What does she look like?
QUINNFABRAY: Um… wavy brown hair… blue eyes… white… idk?
SLOPEZ: Show me!
QUINNFABRAY: SHE'S SLEEPING!
SLOPEZ: So… She won't notice.
QUINNFABRAY: COULD YOU BE ANYMORE CREEPY?!
QUINNFABRAY: Ok, I have to go now. She says my angry typing is keeping her awake.
SLOPEZ: What a cunt
QUINNFABRAY: ! ! !
QUINNFABRAY: Btw I sent your first postcard in the mail the other day so it'll probably get there in 2 weeks. Lol. Ttyl! Bye!
Santana sighs in frustration.
I can't believe I woke up at 8 AM for this shit.
Quinn had only been in Amphawa for a week and she could already tell it was going to be difficult to stay in touch. The blonde girl hardly had any alone time and Santana's work schedule was all over the place.
It didn't help that snail mail took forever so by the time she got Q's postcard and sent her a response, it would have taken them a whole month just to exchange letters.
Well, there's always e-mail.
Not that Santana was complaining exactly, but e-mails just felt like they were not old school enough to be cool, and less personal than IM-ing/video chats. Even though their friendship had seemed so natural and easy a few days before, it all seemed so complicated now. Santana didn't know where they stood exactly, or whether or not they were supposed to be seeing other people. She kept replaying her interactions with Quinn in her head trying to decipher whether she had given her any signals one way or the other. Though she wasn't sure why she was worrying about it so much. Especially since Q had said they should just be friends, right? It's not like Santana really had a way of asking her either. She could e-mail her but then she wouldn't be able to know what Q was really thinking since her response would be calculated and well thought out…..
Fuck.
Tired of thinking about everything, Santana throws a pillow over her face and goes back to sleep for a couple more hours before she's due at the boutique.
[\\]
Santana feels like shit when she walks into the fashion boutique this morning. She's pretty sure the hobo sitting next to her on the subway pissed himself, not to mention the pigeons outside her apartment decided to be extra annoying today.
"Hey, boo!" Brittany greets her cheerily.
"Arrggghhhh!"
"So. What's the matter?"
"Life!" Santana screams melodramatically as she stomps into the back room to use the restroom. She splashes some cold water on her face and takes a few deep breaths before rejoining Brittany at the front of the store.
"Want to talk about it?"
"I'm just annoyed. By the way, Quinn has a roommate."
"Is she hot?"
"She wouldn't show me."
"…She's probably hot then."
"Thanks," Santana replies curtly.
"Well isn't it like illegal to be gay over there? Like the death penalty or something? Cause I highly doubt Quinn would risk anything in that case."
"What? No, the death penalty is for cannabis."
Brittany's eyes widen. "Really? Wow. I wonder what the penalty for being gay is then… Maybe they like kill you, bring you back to life, and then kill you again."
The darker haired girl narrows her eyes. "Brittany, you are so not helping right now."
An older woman walks into the shop. Santana greets her and shows her their selection of blouses and such. After the lady finds a couple she likes, she ushers her into the back where the dressing rooms are, a few moments later emerging with enthusiasm.
"I just had an epiphany! I'm being ridiculous about this whole thing. Of course we're just friends. I just asked myself if Quinn said she wanted a relationship right now, what would I say? And the answer is no. I don't even want a relationship period. Especially with someone that's halfway around the world... We've only known each other for a few days! Who thinks about someone this much when they've only known them for a few days? Crazy people, that's who… So now that I feel much better about this whole thing, I just want to let you know that we're going out tonight, and it's going to be awesome."
[\\]
Quinn is lying stomach down on her bed as she talks to Santana over Skype. The Thailand heat still gets to her at night, making her thoughts fuzzy. "You know what's weird? How nice people are over here. They're always smiling, definitely not like New York."
Santana laughs. "Yeah, not everyone is as friendly as I am over here. So how are things going with your roommate?"
"She's really nice actually. I'm kind of glad I have someone to talk to over here. Even though people are really nice, the language barrier kind of makes me feel isolated sometimes."
"Have you talked to Jeremy at all?"
"A couple of times. But you know, he's... Jeremy." They both grin knowingly.
"So there aren't any cute girls over there?"
"Um, well since my options are basically limited to Amy, and she's straight, no. You?"
"Well, working as a bartender does have its advantages. I met another girl last night that was pretty hot. I'm just not sure—"
"Time is passing by too fast... Don't you feel that way?"
"How do you mean?"
"It's almost been half a month and we hardly know what's going on in each other's lives even though we talk as much as we can. There are so many days in between the days we talk and with the time difference; it just makes me feel like you're a lot farther away than you really are. Like you're on another planet or something."
"…I kinda feel that way too."
"In New York, even when things were moving fast, it was still so much slower than it is now. Like that night we danced, or when we met on the subway, even our time at the airport. I had time to take in everything that was happening… And now when we 'spend time together,' it's just words. And I'm not sure any of them could mean as much as any of those moments… I don't think all the words in the world could equal a real moment that consists of spending time together with another person, in person, you know?"
"…Are you ok, Q?"
"I'm fine… Just tired I guess," A sad half smile crosses her face as she says it. "Night, San."
"Night."
[\\]
A few more nights pass before Quinn has free time to Skype again. She wonders how things are really going for Santana. She knows that the girl is never straightforward about her feelings and it always takes her poking and prodding before she really opens up. It worries her slightly but she's caught up in all the stuff she's dealing with over here that she tries not to let it affect her too much. When the brunette starts talking about another random girl though, something inside Quinn finally snaps. "Oh my god, Santana. Will you just stop?"
"What?"
"Look, I know I said we could talk about this stuff together but I didn't realize that meant we'd only be talking about all the girls you're hooking up with."
"Why are you being like this?"
"It's frustrating. Hearing you talk about this stuff. You deserve better than this. You should be with someone that cares about you."
"Whoa. What the hell? Have you ever thought that maybe I don't want that?"
"Who doesn't want that?"
"I don't. Relationships are boring. Some people meet, they fall in love, and that's it. That's not my story though… You get tired of the other person eventually, it's monotonous."
"Really, San? Having someone care about you is monotonous?"
"I feel like you're taking this the wrong way…"
"I don't think I am. But fine, I guess I don't really have a say in the matter. If it makes you happy—"
"It's not about being happy. It's about living in the moment."
"Ok. Have fun with that."
"I will."
Call ended.
[\\]
That morning when Santana walks into the fashion boutique, Brittany can tell that she seems to have made up her mind about something.
"I think I'm going to ask Haley out on a date. We've hooked up a couple of times and we get along pretty well…"
Brittany quirks her eyebrows in surprise.
"It's not like I'm asking her to be my girlfriend. It's just a date."
"Ok, then," the blonde nods with a smile. She watches as Santana sets her stuff on the counter and then walks off into the back room. "Proud of you, San!" She calls after her. As she goes to move Santana's belongings onto the shelf beneath the register, a postcard falls on the ground. There's a picture of an elephant on the front and the back reads:
San—Thailand is great. Look at all the cute elephants! Be happy. See you when I see you. Hugs, Q