Seven Sins Of St. Berry
Wrath
"Shit, shit, shit!"
Jesse skidded to a stop in front of a familiar door, breathless from running up twelve flights since the damn lift was out of order again. He could hear the stomping of feet and clatter of crockery from all the way out in the hallway. He grimaced.
Entering the apartment and following the increasingly loud sounds of a bad temper in full flow, he stuck his head around the corner and stepped carefully into her presence, braced for the glower that was waiting for him.
"You're late."
"I know –"
She didn't give him a chance to finish, promptly turning her back and continuing her tirade as she stormed around the kitchen, clanging dishes and tossing things into the sink. "Well dinner is ruined. I told you the timings were critical, I had it all carefully planned out and executed, and you promised you would be back on time. It was perfect an hour ago. Perfect." She threw the burnt tray into the bin with a deafening crash and Jesse winced. Rachel Berry's foul mood really was something that would make lesser mortals quake.
"Do you have any idea how many arms I had to twist to get this afternoon off?" she demanded angrily, not even pausing to look at him as she slammed the extractor fan off before marching into the living room. Jesse sighed and tried again to interrupt her fuming diatribe, following in her wake as she violently blew out a few candles.
"Yes, but something happened –"
"I mean it's not like it's an occasion or anything, just our anniversary, but hey we have one every year. No big deal."
"Will you let me explain –"
"I guess it was too much to expect you to keep your word for once –"
"Rachel!"
"What!"
She snapped furiously as she span around to finally face him, her expression mutinous.
Jesse ignored her death glare and took a deep breath, the news bursting out of him all at once as he rushed to tell the one person in the world he wanted to share it with. "Christopher's leaving the production. Some conflict of schedules or slept with the director's daughter or something like that." He waved a dismissive hand before meeting her gaze meaningfully. "But he's leaving, as of next week."
Rachel stared at him for a moment as the words ran through her mind. She blinked and her frown instantly vanished, all anger lifting from her face like a blinding sun breaking up storm clouds.
"Oh Jesse!" she cried excitedly, all but jumping into his arms with such force that they staggered back across the floor. Jesse laughed and wrapped his arms tight around her, barely managing to keep their balance in the strength of her embrace. He spun her around as she squealed happily in his ear, his own grin beaming.
"An understudy no more," she declared proudly when he finally put her back on her feet.
"Yeah," he muttered, a little dazed, as if the full realisation was only just sinking in.
She took his face, her eyes bright and beautifully earnest. "You'll be amazing. It's perfect for you, it's your role. This is it, Jesse. Once the critics see what you're truly capable of there'll be no stopping us. This time next year, we could be at the Tonys, red carpets interviews...Oh! We have to call daddy, and Kurt and Shelby –"
Jesse laughed and kissed her, cutting her off before she got too carried away, her eager lips proving just too tempting despite how much as he loved hearing her planning out their successful futures.
"So am I forgiven?" he asked smugly when they broke apart to catch their breath.
"No," she retorted with a smirk, "but you have got yourself a reprieve."
He nuzzled into her face. "I really am sorry about dinner."
"Well, lucky for you, desert is still on the menu…"
Rachel grinned, drawing him into another kiss and hooking her fingers around his belt with a keen tug. Pressing smile to smile, she giggled in delight as he picked her up again and they fell back into the bedroom amidst a trail of discarded clothes.
[o]