He worked at this little hole in the wall pizza shop. Okay so it wasn't exactly a hole in the wall, it was one of the three most popular pizza joints in Chicago, but still it wasn't like he depended solely on the pizza place. It was more of a supplemental income, to keep his apartment.

At the pizza place, he was referred to by his nickname – Puck. But at his day job, he was Mr. Puckerman. It was kind of weird, being called Mr. Puckerman or Noah. He was so used to being called Puck that it was hard to adjust to the formality of Noah or Mr. Puckerman. See, Puck was a lawyer. Nobody would believe him if he told them. He had shaved the Mohawk a while ago, and now he was used to it.

After leaving Lima the August after graduation, he'd never been back. He had no reason to. It was coming up on eight years since he'd left the Podunk town with no intent to return or contact any of his former classmates. Sure he talked to Finn sometimes, and Mike Chang. But the rest of them were all but a distant memory to him.

Law school had not been the plan from the start. Puck had initially gone to college for business, but a business law class opened his eyes to what he really wanted to do. So he'd changed his major and, to catch up, had stayed in Chicago for years. He'd gone to law school in Chicago as well, only seeing his mother and sister when they came to see him for holidays. Though he knew many people from Lima made their way to Chicago on a regular basis (facebook was good for that), he knew how to avoid them.

It was half past four when he left his office building and took the train, switching a couple times, to end up on Michigan Avenue. He then walked ten blocks to the pizzeria, where he changed in the bathroom. Five thirty he was on the clock, serving pizza to a mixture of regulars and tourists, checking out "authentic" Chicago pizza. He greeted his tables with ease, served them drinks quickly, but was stopped up when he saw what seemed to be a familiar brunette head.

The girl turned and he recognized her immediately. Her face had stopped his heart just as it had a few weeks ago when his girlfriend, Layla, and her daughter had arrived at the apartment they shared. They had gone to see Aladdin and Baya, the little girl, had been so excited to show him the poster she'd had autographed by the stars. He'd pulled some strings to get the two girls special privileges, just because he could. He'd pulled Baya onto his lap and she'd shown him the poster, then a program. He ignored the program but later that night, when the TV had been shut off he flipped through the pages. Her face had flashed as he'd flipped quickly, but he'd turned back.

Puck knew that Rachel was going to go far, though he'd always expected further than this. He'd tossed the program aside and quickly gone to bed with Layla, making sure to not say Rachel's name while they rolled beneath the sheets.

But now, he was surprised to see her here of all places. She'd been a vegan, he'd thought, but maybe she wasn't eating. He was unsure but was sure that he wasn't going to get in her way. He hated his past and didn't want anyone to notice.

Being Jasmine was not exactly the "Broadway" experience that Rachel had wanted. She'd much rather be playing Maria in West Side Story or something else. But after living in New York for eight years, she knew that jobs were hard to come by and you should take whatever you could get. It just so happened that this one wasn't even in New York; Chicago was where she had been taken by work. She couldn't say she minded. It was a good change from New York..

How had she found herself out with her cast mates every night? She wasn't really sure. Rachel had not been one to go out and party or even eat dinner out with her cast mates before, but here she was with her cast mates at a pizza place that Bradley (Aladdin) had insisted she must try. Her vegan habits had gone out the door when she'd entered New York and realized how hard it was to find convenient vegan food. She didn't really mind, though she felt less healthy than before.

Her cast mates were quite personable and she had a hard time not liking them. She hadn't connected with anyone like this since she'd been in high school; though she wouldn't consider anyone from New Directions a true friend of hers. Maybe Santana, whom she kept in touch with since they both lived in New York. Other than Santana she had not spoken to anyone in Lima (her fathers excepted) since the June she'd moved to New York to begin college early.

Rachel turned her head at one point and saw what she believed to be a familiar head. Though the Mohawk was gone, so she believed it must not be true. She shook the thought from her head best she could and continued on with her meal.

She held her stomach and laughed as she walked with her cast mates along the street.

"Crap, I forgot my purse!" Rachel exclaimed and turned back, jogging to get her bag. Her cast mates waited patiently on the sidewalk about a block from the restaurant.

She reentered the restaurant and weaved her way through tables to the table they'd been eating at. But her purse was gone. Her head did a little panic and she turned, heading to the hostess.

"Has anybody seen a purse? I left it at that corner table," Rachel said, fear probably quite obvious on her face.

"Not sure, let me check," the woman said and turned, shouting, "HEY! PUCK, DID YOU FIND A PURSE?"

Rachel's heart stopped when she saw him nod and head to the back. She took the purse from his hand as soon as he reached her and booked it out, not even hearing him comment on how she was still weird.

Puck saw the purse lying on the floor. It was almost eerie how typical of Rachel it was. Plain and black, but there was a clasp on it that was a gold star. She probably picked it out solely for that decoration. He chuckled to himself and took it back into the back, knowing she'd be back to get it. What he didn't expect was that she would high tail it out of the pizzeria.

"She's still batshit crazy," he muttered to himself and returned to his work.