Chapter 2

New York

November 2013

What happens when the power goes and the elevator stops suddenly between the 18th and 19th floors of a 38 floor office building, in the centre of New York's Business district? Do people help each other? Do they know how to communicate without electronics? Can two ordinary everyday people find each other in such odd circumstances?

At 25 years of age Rachel Berry is a very highly acclaimed freelance photographer and has been working in New York for 3 years, and has worked with some of the biggest names in the business world. She is currently in a crowded elevator on her way to a meeting with Schuesters Advertising Agency, to discuss a campaign for a new range of sportswear.

Finn Hudson is an advertising executive, he has been working for Schuesters Advertising Agency for 4 years, and at age 26 is one of the youngest account executives in years. He is on his way to a meeting at his office on the 25th floor with a new photographer to discuss the company's campaign for a new line of sportswear from a leading market manufacturer.

When the lift goes dark and stops, everyone starts to jostle each other to get to the emergency button and 23 people confined in a small space doesn't bode well for anyone with any sort of phobia. Rachel begins to panic slightly because for some reason ever since she can remember she has always had a fear of small closed in dark spaces. In the dark she tries to find her way to the back of the elevator so she can sit in the corner and calm down, she is apologising to her fellow lift goers for bumping into them when she reaches her hand out, feeling for the wall but instead she makes contact with a firm muscled forearm and has a sudden flash of a memory like scene, playing in her head of cinnamon coloured eyes, bare skin, and blankets in front of an open fire. She feels her heart beat wildly in her chest and the breath in her lungs escapes her mouth as erratic gasps. She quickly snaps her hand away and the scene vanishes. Rachel has never had this strange experience before and is worried she is having some sort of panic induced breakdown.

Finn is standing at the back of the elevator when the lights go out and the lift stops, annoyed because he is tired of the machinery always breaking down this is the 4th time this month the damn elevator has broken down, Finn has always had an extreme annoyance with faulty machinery, whether it is a computer, car or in this case an elevator, he always feels tense and uncomfortable. He gets irritated as well, having to listen to everyone's personal business as they all try and talk over each other. As he is standing at the back he feels a small warm hand touch his forearm and has the weirdest feeling come over him, he can see clear as day dark chocolate brown eyes, soft flickering light and brown hair, he is stunned by the images floating around his head but as soon as he tries to see further into his mind and find out who belongs to the beautiful brown eyes, the hand is quickly removed and the images vanish. Before he can figure out what just happened, the elevator jerks and starts to move again, the harsh lights flicker to life and the journey to the 25th floor continues. Now the car is lit up again Finn looks around and tries to spot the owner of the hand that generated the images in his head after only touching him for that brief moment, but the door suddenly opens, discharging some of the other lift goers to their daily activities. By the time the 25th floor is reached there are only a few others besides himself left, a very large red faced man puffing and wheezing in a too small suit, a tall thin blonde woman still angrily talking on a cell phone, a couple of redheads giggling together over a magazine and a stunningly beautiful petite brunette with her eyes tightly shut, holding on to a large black portfolio and the neck of a bottle of mineral water, so tightly her knuckles have turned white.

Finally the door opens on his floor and only he and the brunette exit, he notices as she takes a deep breath, and a large gulp from the bottle clutched in her tiny shaking hand. He is concerned and gently puts his large hand on her shoulder and asks kindly if she is ok. She jumps a little and as she turns to answer him he makes contact with a pair of the deepest chocolate brown eyes he has ever seen, and is immediately taken back to the image he had in the elevator. She blushes and answers him in a higher than normal shaky voice, that Finn thinks straight away how much more lovely it would be when she wasn't scared.

"Oh yes thank you" she nods her head quickly, her hair moving about her face and releasing the scent of coconut. "I just don't like dark enclosed spaces much"

"Oh well if you're sure? I have to go I've an important meeting to get to"

"Yes I'm fine now thank you again for your concern".

Finn nods at the brunette and continues to his office for his meeting thinking about the woman he just sort of met, he wishes he had thought to ask her name. 10 minutes later his secretary informs him over the intercom that a Rachel Berry is here to see him, he asks her to send Miss Berry straight in and is stunned when he sees the gorgeous brunette from earlier.

"Miss Berry good morning" and extends his hand for her to shake, when she places her hand in his, time seems to stop and he is dizzy as all the images he had before rush back, he looks into Rachel's eyes and feels weird, she is taking deep breaths and feeling very strange as everything she saw in the elevator floods her mind and suddenly she finds her knees buckling under her as she falls to the floor her hand slipping from Finns grasp.

The next thing that registers is a cool feeling on her forehead and a soft "Rachel can you hear me? Rach? Please be OK"

"What happened?" she mumbles trying to sit up.

"Um Rach" Finn says rubbing his hand over the back of his neck, "Well um you fainted after shaking my hand, I'm sorry if I squeezed too tight" he mumbles nervously, offering her a shy half smile.

"No I'm sure it wasn't your fault I just felt really weird. Wait! It must have been you I touched in the elevator, oh my, I am so embarrassed", as she says this, her head drops and a deep blush covers her face.

"Rachel please don't apologize, I am not upset please believe me, I'm just very intrigued by what happened as well, I've never in my life experienced anything like that, can we maybe get to know a bit more about each other, and try to understand what is going on?".

As Rachel slowly sits up properly on the couch, She hears Finn speak to who she assumes is his secretary, asking her to cancel all his meetings for the rest of the day as something very important has come up that he needs to deal with. He turns to Rachel and their eyes lock; he gets a funny feeling deep in his gut but is relaxed at the same time, he asks softly if she would like to go somewhere to get a coffee and talk. Finn secretly hopes something will happen as he is very attracted to Rachel, and hopes the images he saw when her soft hand made contact with him would one day come true. Rachel is trying to get her head around what happened with Finn without looking like a silly teenager, and telling herself that Finn is the extremely cute, kind man she can see when she looks into his beautiful cinnamon eyes, the very same ones she saw in her vision. The sort of man she could see herself with in the future. The other things she saw caused another blush to warm her face, and hopes it was true not just wishful thinking.

"Yes thank you Finn coffee would be wonderful, and I would very much like to get to know you better".

"Great" he says happily his face lighting up with a charming dimpled grin.

As the two made their way out of the office building onto the bustling street, they made small talk about nothing really, but talking seemed to chase away the nerves both were feeling. Each thinking something seemed to be very familiar about the other. They were making their way to a little coffee shop, a couple of blocks away, Rachel wasn't really paying attention to her fellow pedestrians, as her mind was still muddled with thoughts of what occurred in Finn's office, as well as her distraction with the extremely handsome man next to her. When all of a sudden she feels herself being pulled sideways and when she connects with a firm chest her senses are hit with the scent of pine and lavender as well as something distinctly manly.

"Hey watch where you are going, jerk" she hears him yell as she notices a bike messenger speeding along the sidewalk weaving in and out around the people minding their own business, all hurrying to their destinations. Her wits come back as she hears Finn's soft voice ask if she is OK.

By the time Finn and Rachel arrive at the coffee shop the nervous feeling has completely gone replaced by a feeling of peace and contentment, almost like a connection or tether, something she has never felt with any man before in her life. She has had other partners before but it never really felt right, but as soon as she and Finn touched it was like a piece of this strange intriguing puzzle slotted into place.

They order and make themselves comfy in a quiet corner with squishy chairs and as they wait for their drinks, she takes a good look at him, noticing him watching her in the same intense way, she is speechless by how handsome he is, he has the softest cinnamon eyes, she has seen in forever, the cutest dimples that show up when he smiles and a pair of the most kissable looking lips that she would love to test out, combined with a very tall, fit looking well built body he is perfect, her only wish is he is single and interested in her.

Finn has been observing Rachel and so far is very taken with what he sees, even though she is tiny the top of her head only comes to just under his shoulder and that's in the high heels she is wearing, her legs look like they are endless. Her beautiful big deep chocolate brown eyes framed by long dark lashes, seem to look right inside his soul and connect them, her little face is framed by soft brunette waves that fall softly halfway down her back with a soft cut fringe that falls to just over her perfectly shaped brows. She also has the plumpest softest looking lips, that he knows would fit his own perfectly. He hopes to god she is single because he really feels a strong connection, it's as though they've met before, even though they haven't really said much to each other, he feels calm and at peace as though the part of his heart that hasn't felt at home with any other woman has finally found its rightful place.

They started to try and explain what had happened when they touched, Rachel started with a brief outline of her personal history saying that she was born and raised in Lima Ohio, by her Dad's, a gay couple who had her by surrogate, as she says this she is watching for his reaction, because guys in the past have treated her differently on finding out about her dads. All she can see in his beautiful cinnamon depths is understanding and something else that she can't quite define, but wants to spend time discovering. She is an only child and had a pretty good childhood, being involved in music, theatre and dance classes, while at high school and deciding on photography in college after working on the school newspaper. Finn is just watching with a soft look in his eyes, nodding and smiling when she started talking about Christmas being her favourite time of the year, because of the snow and being able to sing Christmas Carols. Finn was listening intently the whole time not bothered at all by the information about her dads, when Rachel stopped talking for a minute to have a sip of her coffee, he took the opportunity to ask what had happened to make her afraid of closed in spaces. Her eyes met his and she bit her bottom lip, saying quietly and a little shyly that she had no idea why she had such a phobia about small dark places but had ever since she was little and could remember.

Finn then started to tell her about himself, he was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. By his Mom after his Dad died in a car accident, when Finn was six years old. His mom remarried when Finn was about ten which made him really happy because he gained both a dad and a brother. He went on to say how Kurt his brother is gay so he understood the stigma still sometimes associated with societies homophobic views. Rachel gave him a beaming smile and his heart jumped in his chest.

"I can't believe you are from Ohio as well".

Finn just nodded his eyes moving from hers to land on her mouth where he noticed a small drop of foam from her drink on the corner of her top lip; he unconsciously ever so slowly lifted his right hand and very gently wiped his thumb over her soft lip feeling a tingle run through his hand. Her eyes moved from his to his hand then back again and she whispered so softly he could only just hear her.

"You know you can kiss me if you want to"

If he was surprised he didn't show it but answered her in the best possible way with his own soft voice, "I want to" and slowly lent over to close the gap between their chairs just as Rachel did the same and the moment their lips connected in a soft sweet kiss it somehow managed to turn on the movie player in their minds.

After their kiss, and a few minutes spent trying to slow down their breathing and racing hearts; they continued telling background stories. Finn and Rachel finding they are no closer to understanding their strange connection but secretly both are happy to have it, plus if it means spending more time together and maybe forming a proper lasting relationship then both are more than willing to pursue whatever it is between them. As they finish their drinks and after swapping phone numbers and addresses they make their way to the door, Rachel spots a flyer, covered in rainbows and that look like they have been drawn in crayon, on the notice board advertising an information session the next evening at 7pm, for a medium by the name of Brittany, who claims to be able to connect with deceased loved ones and pets, but also a person's past self, Rachel grabs Finn's jacket covered arm and directs his attention to the flyer and asks

"Do you think it might give us some answers and help us figure out what is going on?" Finn says that it can't hurt and is happy to go with Rachel, a little cautious though because if they find out what their connection is will it be the end of them before they really get started or will it pull them closer together? After a few seconds contemplating he looks into her eyes and says in a soft, sexy, hopeful voice that has Rachel melting inside, that even if they don't get the answers they want, maybe it could still be a date? Rachel blushes a deep pink and softly says that a date sounds perfect. Finn just grins and encloses Rachel's tiny gloved hand in his much larger one as they walk out the door, he notices a soft smile on Rachel's beautiful face that matches his own, and his mind is overflowing with thoughts and feelings for the gorgeous, petite brunette that has in not even half a day captured his heart.

Rachel was so looking forward to the information session tonight as she felt deep down; she knew Finn from somewhere but was positive she had never met him; after all she tells herself he was not the sort of man one could forget easily. After making another time to go over the sales pitch for the new sportswear, having been distracted from their original planned meeting, she sat down in front of her laptop and Googled the medium Brittany, she was amazed at the testimonials' from hundreds of satisfied clients that were so happy to be reunited with the ghosts of their loved ones. and after reading a touching letter from a 45 year old woman, who said that she had always found it difficult to make any sort of solid connection in any relationship with a man, always feeling there was something missing, but after attending one of Brittany's private sessions, she discovered through a seance that she had been very happy in a past life with her soul mate, but they had been separated by a tragic ocean liner accident in the Atlantic ocean in 1912, and hadn't had the chance to say goodbye. She had found out her lovers fate through a newspaper story that she had been reading whilst sitting in his favorite chair in the sitting room and been so distraught and not paying attention to what she was doing when she fell down the stairs and died instantly, the strange thing was she died at the exact same time of day but 3 days apart as her husband. She said Brittany had told her that when a person meets their soul mate the attraction is instant and if a tragic or sudden separation causes them to not have the time to voice their love once more in their time. Their souls spend forever looking for their chosen one, and even if you are happy with another person, deep down you always feel something is missing. She went on to say that sometimes all it takes is a touch or eye contact and a connection is made. Rachel was gobsmacked by this information and quickly messaged Finn to ask him to check out the web site, she was sure that's what was happening with them.

Finn was feeling a bit nervous as he walked from his car to Rachel's apartment, not because he was going to pick her up for their meeting/date? But because after reading some of the letters from the website, he was really hoping that he and Rachel had been together in another life, because after the short time he had known her and the images and feeling he got when they touched he was positive they were meant to be.

After finding a seat in the meeting room at the local Y.M.C.A hall Finn and Rachel waited with nervous excitement talking quietly with each other. When a tall willowy blonde walked in, carrying a very overweight cat. Rachel assumed this was Brittany, she was dressed in a strange outfit consisting of knee length, rainbow coloured, tie dyed cotton pants, a highlighter yellow tank top under a purple t-shirt with a unicorn printed on the front, the shirt seemed to be about three sizes too big as it fell off one shoulder nearly to her elbow. To finish off her eclectic ensemble her arms were covered by what looked to be a pair of bright orange leg warmers, her feet were bare except for the different colour polish on each toe nail, and to top it all off a fluoro pink ribbon was wrapped around her long hair that was in a high pony tail. When Rachel turned to look at Finn she could tell he was trying very hard to suppress a chuckle, his face had a pink tinge and his wide smile was showing his very cute dimples off to perfection, Rachel must have had the same look of amusement on her own face, because Finn just squeezed her jean clad knee and asked in a whisper if she was sure they were at the right place.

Brittany wanders over to them still carrying the cat in her arms, she asks in an airy tone as if they should already know what she is talking about "What are you two doing here?"

Finn and Rachel nervously look at each other, Finn's hand still rubbing Rachel's knee in slow circles.

"E-Excuse me", Rachel stutters out, "we are interested in finding out about our past lives, we feel we should know each other even though we only met for the first time very recently". As Rachel is explaining Finn is just nodding in agreement and watching Rachel with a soft love struck look.

"But you have already made a connection" she says rolling her eyes and looking at them as though they were being stupid on purpose. "Your auras are a soft golden color, which means you've been reunited with your true love and soul mate". "Meet me after this for a private talk and I'll explain everything I see".

Finn and Rachel are left speechless and looking like fish out of water, mouths open and moving but no sounds being produced. Not understanding fully what Brittany was talking about. "How does she even know who we are"? They both asked softly when their voices returned. They hadn't told her their names or anything about themselves.

Finn turned his face towards Rachel who in the exact moment did the same and took hold of his warm hand, nearly falling off her seat with the intensity and clarity of the images speeding through her head. She felt all the air in her lungs rush out and leave her breathless, the hand not clinging to Finn's was pressed against her temple trying to decelerate the pounding behind her eyes. Finn was feeling very strange also, as soon as what Brittany told them had sunk in somewhat, his mind was reeling with hope and possibilities that what he felt and saw when Rachel touched his bare skin was real and true.

AN: Hope you are still reading and aren't too confused, please review and let me know what you think

Cab4five