Chapter 11

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I have been excited all day today. It's finally Friday and that means I have a date with Santana. She said she'd be at my door at 6 pm on the dot to pick me up and I believe her. That woman has always been punctual for everything. Just like the way she was on coming into my life. She had advised me to dress fancy this time. Of course she would not tell me where we were going. I actually loved and hated it all at the same time. It was nice to be taken out especially by a beautiful brunette named Santana. Beautiful was an understatement. She was gorgeous. On the other hand, being compulsive and a bit of an organizer/planner, part of me needed to know. The fact that I knew that I was unaware was sort of unnerving to me. As a lawyer we don't like surprises. We investigate and prepare, then execute. I didn't even know what I was preparing for.

I was currently in my room getting ready for my date. Really all I was doing was fixing minor details. I was pretty much ready.

"Wow, mommy you look bea-U-tiful." I was so lost in thought I didn't hear Beth come into the room. I laughed at the way she emphasized the "U" in beautiful.

"Not as bea-U-tiful as you." I say copying the way she said beautiful. "But thank you baby." I pick my little girl up and kiss both her cheeks.

"Are we going to go with Santi again?"

"No baby, I told you it was only Santana and me tonight. I'm pretty sure you can come along next time."

"Really?" Her little face lit up.

"I said pretty sure." She seem satisfied but before we could say any more there was a slight knock on my doorframe.

"Can I come in?" It was Sam.

"Yeah," I put Beth down and she left back out to the living room.

"Is something wrong?"

"No no, nothing like that." I could tell he was slightly nervous which in turn made nervous.

"What is it then?"

"Quinn, please be careful. I don't think Santana is a bad person, I mean she did after all save Beth, but can you be careful. I don't want to see you get hurt again. I'm here you know that forever, but I'd really rather not see you so sad again." Sam was so sweet sometimes. He acts like a total dork and nerd but he's the sweetest.

"I know. Thanks Sam I will," I move to give him a quick squeeze "but I need to take a risk or else I'm never going to go anywhere with anyone. And I honestly feel like Santana, like I should try with her. There's something there I just can't explain. I hope she won't be a repeat of Puck but I'm hoping for the best and expecting the worst. Right?" I say trying to dust off imaginary dust off my dress.

"I'm sorry. You're right. You should try, and I kind of like her so far. But! She better not mess up or I'll be on her quicker than Batman on the Joker." He says seriously.

I can't help but laugh at him. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that she better not do anything to hurt you or else she's gonna deal with me." He says pointing to himself with both his thumbs.

"Ok I'll let her know."

He suddenly broke out in a smile. "You really do look beautiful Quinn. Santana's a lucky girl."

See a total sweet heart. I know he was my best friend but he was sincere none the less. It made me smile. I was wearing a strapless long white dress, with a black belt. Diamond jewels adorned the top of my chest. It was snug enough to show some of my curves but not too tight. My hair flowed down in loose curls. My makeup was light except for the red lipstick that covered my lips. With one last hug he left my alone in my room again.

I was sitting on my bed putting on my heels when Britt came in. God my friends were something else. They demanded to know when I was going out with her so they could be there when she came to pick me up. They acted more like a second set of parents rather than best friends sometimes. It only made me love them all the more.

"Are you nervous?" She asks dipping into the bed.

"Well I wasn't until you asked."

"Oh no Quinnie, don't be. Have fun, enjoy your date." She softly wraps her hand around my forearm. "I'm glad you said yes." She tilts her head up to look at me. "She's a good person you know."

Oh, Brittany. She's so caring. She sees the good in everyone she meets. She doesn't judge or care about anything other than what's in your heart.

"Oh yeah? How do you know that?" I smile at my friend.

"I can just tell." She says sporting her most quintessential Brittany smile. "Oh I came here to tell you she's already here."

I quickly glance at my watch and see that it 6:04. She's usually on time so I can safely assume she's been here for about four minutes. Oh shit! She's been here waiting for me! I quickly get up and collect my phone. I look for my wristlet but can't seem to find it.

"Here." I hear Britt say from behind me. I turn and see her holding the object of my search.

"Where was it?"

She shrugged like I wasn't just about to go crazy trying to find it. "You left it on the bed. Now c'mon she's waiting for you." Right.

"Ok, how do I look?"

"Beautiful Q, now c'mon get out there." As I walk out the door, she of course decides to smack my ass. Oh Brittany.

Walking towards the living room I can hear voices and they sound to be that of a four year old and my date. I walk in to see Beth in the arm of the Latina. She doesn't have a brace on, but still seems as though it's not completely healed. She was wearing a long shiny silver dress. The light purple and white that splashed on it made all the difference to the dress. It hugged her midsection nicely. The neck line that went down her chest showed her unbelievably delicious cleavage. Her long dark locks cascaded down her shoulders and framed her beautiful face. Her makeup was simple and I realized I didn't mind it. She looked better that way.

The whole scene was a sight to see. This gorgeous woman here holding my daughter, having a small conversation about who knows what, was here for me. She was here to take me out on a date. Knowing that, gave me my heart a warm fuzzy feeling.

"Well I'm ready but if you're here to take my daughter out instead I can wait my turn." I say playfully to Santana who immediately turns her head to me. After a moment I ask, "Umm, are you ready to go?"

"Wha…oh, uh" she coughed to clear her throat. "Yeah let's go." She whispered something to Beth and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Beth giggled and whispered something right back into her ear. What are these two whispering about? Whatever my girl said caused the Latina to chuckle. If it wasn't so adorable I would have felt left out.

"Well bye Sam, I'll bring her back safe." Santana told Sam who only gave a firm nod back in acknowledgement. What was that about?

"Bye, Brittnay." Santana gave Brit a slight nod and B just nodded back with a big smile. Is everyone here in cahoots or something? I feel like I missed the whole intro to a very complicated novel.

"Bye Santana! Bye Quinn! Have fun!" Brittany shooed us out the door, expressing all the excitement I held on the inside.

"Bye guys. Make sure Beth doesn't have to many sweets before bed and.." I was cut off by Brit.

"Yes, yes, we know. Don't worry."

As soon as we made it out the door Santana stopped me with her hand on my wrist. "I didn't properly greet you. Sorry about that." She pauses and says, "Hi" with a smile. "You look gorgeous Quinn."

I immediately blushed. "Thanks, you do too." I look down at her lips and I don't know how I've managed to not attack them in some feeding frenzy of want. They look so pink and plump.

"Can I just…" and with that she leaned down to kiss me on the cheek, very close to my lips. Can she read minds?

When she pulled away I quickly pulled her back. I knew what those lips felt like already. Granted it was a small kiss last time our lips met but I knew none the less and I wanted to feel them again. I tilted my head up so my lips could meet hers in a lingering kiss. My goodness, how it felt so right to be kissing her. I wanted to deepen it, push further, but we were still standing outside my door. We hadn't even gone out on the date. With my hand still on the back of her neck, I reluctantly pulled away.

With her eyes still closed a goofy smile appeared in her face. "That usually happens after the date."

"Yeah well maybe I couldn't wait that long." This girl was something else. One moment I was blushing from her simple words and the next I was acting forward and flirty. She makes me feel shy and confident. I never know which will make an appearance when she's in front of me.

"Hey I'm not complaining." She leans forward again and plants a small kiss on my lips. And I'm back to blushing. "We should go, I have a car waiting for us down stairs."

"Can you tell me now where we're going?" I pout.

"Are you actually pouting at me?" It was rhetorical. She laughs and it sends a warmth to the pit of my gut. "To answer your question no, I'm not going to tell you. It's a surprise." She takes a hold of my hand and we walk to the elevator. The rest of the trip I only notice her hand in mine and how great it feels to have it there.

*0*0*

We stop and the driver comes around to open our door. We get out and the building in front of us is grand. I'm glad I brought a jacket because the night had a chill. Santana had her own on as we made our way inside.

It was an opera house. The inside was so elegant, it was no wonder she said to dress fancy. Men and women alike were talking and drinking before the show started. They were all dressed in top notch dresses and tuxedos. Crystal chandeliers hung from above. The walls were intricately designed. It was all so marvelous.

"We can turn in our jackets her." Santana said to me from the side.

I was so mesmerized by the spectacle I hadn't noticed she was waiting for me. We turned in our coats and got ourselves some champagne.

"This is really nice." I told her with a smile. "I rarely get to dress up this extravagantly."

"You should, you'd put all those red carpet celebs to shame." She added a wink that just made me melt.

We soon made our way to our seats. Actually Santana got us a box up top and there was only another couple in there with us. It was cozy and nice. The curtain rose and music soon started. I sat there excited. I wasn't excited for the opera itself but the fact that Santana once again reached for my hand. I faced forward waiting to see what show had in store for us.

*0*0*

"You're not enjoying this are you?" I asked the Latina.

"What? No. Don't be crazy. I'm enjoying myself." I knew she was lying.

We were out on a small intermission and we had escaped to a small balcony. I knew she was lying because she seemed so tense inside. The fingers that weren't intertwined with mine were on her chair tapping away. She looked bored and annoyed but not with me.

"Why did you take me to an opera if you didn't like them?"

"It's not really my cup of tea." She let out a loud sigh and let her shoulders fall forward. "I'm sorry if I'm not making this fun for you. I know you really wanted to come."

She knew I really wanted to come. What was she talking about?

"What do you mean?"

"Beth. When we were out last time she told me that you had been saying you wanted to watch an opera. So I thought I'd be nice if I took you to one."

Now this had me intrigued. What had my daughter told her that made her think that?

"She said I wanted to watch an opera?" She nodded. "Why would she think that?"

"She said you were going on and on about some singer and that she was going to be on opera and…"

Bingo! I light bulb went off in my head. Right away I began to laugh. It was loud and hearty and I could not stop.

"What's so funny?" She stopped rambling and questioned looking amused.

"I was telling Brit… that I wanted to see and interview… on an artist who was going to be on Oprah….not an opera." I finally managed to say between laughs.

Her eyes went wide and she too joined in on my laugh. "Oh wow, so you didn't even want to come to this stupid thing?"

"No, I didn't say that. I don't mind but clearly you do." Our laughter already died down. "We can go Santana. We don't have to stay for the rest."

"No, I brought you here. Let's enjoy the show. I'm sorry for being so rude. It was just starting to really annoy me."

"I don't really mind as long as it means this date isn't over." A flirty smile to over my face.

"Definitely not." She said. "I have other plans, now they've just been moved up in time. That's ok."

"Let's go get our coats then."

"I'll call Fred to come around with the car."

We got our coats and went back into the night. This time with a new destination. In the car I couldn't stop thinking about all the effort she put into taking me some place she thought she knew I would love to go. It was nice. It felt like she actually wanted to take care of me, not just wine and dine me, so she could sleep with me.

This was a feeling I had not felt since, well I'm not quite sure I ever felt that way. And it was all thanks to the brunette still holding my hand in the car.

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A/N: Hello everyone! I apologize for such a long wait. That was not my intention at all. I assure you that that was just a temporary thing. Not, gonna happen again. The reasons will bore you but still I apologize. The next update will be sooner. I promise. Thank you for reading! Maybe be kind enough to leave me a review. Thanks!