It was another scorcher of a day. Brittany parked her cab in the taxi rest area and began to walk to The Oasis for a soda and snack. She looked over at the main entrance to The Dalton and wondered if Santana was working. She had meant to text her last night but the sudden appearance of Paul Pierce had thrown her off. But, now that she thought about it, Santana hand't texted her either. Maybe she got busy too.
Brittany looked at her phone and saw she still had over 30 minutes before her shift started. She took a deep breath and headed to The Dalton. She was glad Mike wasn't at the valet stand because he would have probably made a big deal of her going inside alone.
The glass doors slid apart and Brittany made her way in along with a group of Japanese tourists. As she walked in, the noise of the slot machines and that distinct casino smell hit her and she stopped walking. All those bad memories from her childhood started flashing through her mind and with her father back in town, her anxiety seemed to have gotten worse. She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there before she heard her name.
"Brittany?"
Brittany saw Mercedes standing in front of her. "Oh, uh hey Mercedes."
"You OK, girl?"
"Fine, uh, I was just looking for Santana. Uh, Lopez. Santana Lopez. You know her right?"
"The mean lady? Yeah, I know her." Mercedes reached out and squeezed Brittany's arm. "You look like you'd rather be swimming in a pool full of scorpions than be in here."
"Eww no, I don't want to do that either."
Mercedes looped her arm around Brittany's. "Come on Britt, I'll walk with you to the reception desk. I was just headed there to start my shift."
Brittany nodded and followed Mercedes. This was ridiculous, she thought. She was a grown woman and not a kid anymore and she should be able to enter a casino without having a mild freak out. She should have just texted Santana.
"I'm good Mercedes, thanks," she said when they reached reception. She leaned against the counter as Mercedes went around to the other side. She picked up the phone and pushed some buttons. Brittany heard her ask for Santana and then hang up. "Is she here?"
"Sorry girl," Mercedes said, "Finn said you just missed her."
"Oh." Brittany's anxiety was replaced with disappointment. "That's cool. I wasn't sure if she was working or not. Thanks Mercedes."
"You and the mean lady friends?"
"She's not mean," Brittany defended, "She super nice and yeah, we're friends."
"If you say so," Mercedes said shaking her head, "I've interacted with her twice and both times she was in a shitty mood."
"She's probably stressed." Brittany felt like she needed to defend Santana because she really was a cool person. "I'll just text her."
"You want me to walk you out?" Mercedes asked, concern all over her face.
"Nah, I'm OK." Brittany gripped the edge of the counter. She could do this. She needed to do this on her own. "I gotta go. Hey, you going to Kurt's birthday party next week?"
"You know I am! And you better be there too."
"I will. Jenny would kill me if I didn't go. She says I need to go out more."
"Little sister is right," Mercedes said.
Brittany heard some people behind her and saw the Japanese tourist she had walked in with waiting in line to check in. "I'll let you get back to work. I'll see you later Mercedes."
With one squeeze to the counter, Brittany turned around and quickly made her way to the front door. When she was just a few feet away, she heard her name.
Santana had been sitting at her desk monitoring the cameras when she had seen Brittany walk through the front doors. She had sent Brittany a text last night thanking her for showing her around. She had waited for a text back, but one never came. She almost texted Brittany this morning again but didn't want to come off as pushy. When she had seen Brittany enter the casino and for a while just stand there, she had left her office and gone out to find Brittany.
Santana was lightly jogging to Brittany in her power pant suit and boots. "Santana. Hi."
"Hi," Santana said a bit out of breath when she reached Brittany. She inched closer and brought Brittany in for a hug since that's what friends did. Right? "Hi."
Brittany leaned in to the hug and wrapped her arms around Santana. "Hi." Brittany breathed in Santana's perfume and closed her eyes. Any anxiety she felt at coming into the casino seemed to disappear. "You smell really good." Brittany snapped her eyes open and let Santana go. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Is that…what perfume is that? I'm looking for a new perfume."
Santana let out a small laugh to hide the fact that she felt her face heat up at Brittany's words. "Whatever you're wearing smells really good too, so you don't need a new perfume."
"I'm not wearing any perfume," Brittany admitted.
"Even better," Santana said with a wink. She saw the embarrassed look on Brittany's face and stepped back a bit. "Sorry. Umm, so what brings you to the hotel?"
"It's OK." Brittany smiled and wished she could hug Santana again. "Umm, I actually came to see you."
"You did?" Santana felt warmth spread across her chest. She really needed to get this little crush under control but it was proving to be very difficult. She was sure it was because she hadn't been with someone in a long time. That had to be it. "What for?"
"I just, uh, I wanted to see if you had a good time yesterday." Brittany was amazed how just talking to Santana made her forget she was inside a casino.
"I did. A great time," Santana said a bit confused, "Didn't you get my text?"
"Text? What text?" Brittany reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone not liking the thought of her missing a text from Santana. "I didn't get a text." She pulled up her messages and there were no texts from Santana.
Brittany showed Santana her screen and sure enough no texts from her were displayed. Santana saw that Brittany's last few texts were from her sister, Artie and Kurt. "Oh God. I wonder if I sent it to the wrong person." She quickly pulled out her phone and saw that she hadn't sent her text to someone else. She hadn't sent it to anyone. "Oh crap," she said with an embarrassed laugh, "I guess I forgot to hit send."
Brittany leaned over and saw the unsent text. "Send it now."
"Britt…"
"Send it." Brittany couldn't help but smile at Santana.
Santana looked up at Brittany and grinned. God, she's adorable, she thought. Santana hit send and within seconds Brittany's phone chimed.
Brittany read the text. "'I had a great time today. You're an awesome tour guide and I hope we can do it again soon.'"
"Well that solved that mystery," Santana said feeling a bit embarrassed, "I thought maybe you didn't have a good time and were just trying to spare my feelings."
"No way. I would have told you if it sucked," Brittany said, "But in a nice way."
"That's good to hear," Santana said with a chuckle, "But, since you did have a good time, I was wondering if we could do it again. I'm sure there's still plenty of Las Vegas yet to see."
"Oh there is!" Brittany tried not to show how excited she was that Santana wanted to hang out with her again. "We should totally do another tour and I can try to borrow a car or something so you don't have to ride on my scooter."
"You know what? Riding on that scooter was actually fun. I mean, after getting used to it," Santana said.
"Sweet!"
Santana knew she should get back to the command center soon but Finn and Artie were watching the cameras so maybe taking a little break wouldn't be a problem. "Let's make plans over a drink? Non-alcoholic drink that is, since we're both working."
"Like a soda?" Brittany felt her heart start beating just a tad bit faster.
"Yeah, like a soda." Santana smiled. She had only seen Brittany yesterday but Santana had sort of missed her. Santana had chalked it up to it being nothing more than missing her one and only friend here in this new city. Oh and of course, there was the fact she had that tiny crush on her too. "We could go to The Elixir. Kurt's working there now and he can get us free drinks."
"You met Kurt?"
"I did," Santana said, "And I think we may be sort of friends."
"Kurt's one of my good friends. You two are going to get along great. He's really nice." Brittany loved that Santana was making more friends and also that new friend was her buddy Kurt.
"Come on, I've got 15 minutes and I want to plan this new outing," Santana said as she began walking into the casino floor.
Brittany took a step and then stopped.
Santana turned back to look at Brittany but saw her standing in her spot so she went back. "Brittany? You OK?"
"Umm, yeah, sorry." Brittany bit her lip. "Can we go through the back or something?"
Santana reached out and took Brittany's hand. She had read her file earlier and had an idea where Brittany's phobia of casinos came from. "It's faster through the casino, and I'll hold your hand the whole way."
Brittany swallowed trying to wet her dry throat. "I have to be on the road soon. Maybe we can met up after I get off my shift? I'm not working late today, only until 8."
Santana lightly squeezed Brittany's hand. She was making excuses and they both knew it. "Do you hate casinos because of your dad?"
Brittany's eyes went wide with surprise. She pulled her hand away from Santana. "How…why would you ask me that?"
Crap, Santana thought, maybe I shouldn't have said that.
"Santana?"
Santana let out a breath. "I read your work file and it said you were arrested for being in a bar fight when you were 18. It was just a misdemeanor but I…"
"You what?" Brittany asked, her voice sharp.
Santana wished she hadn't said anything but it was too late now. She couldn't read Brittany's expression. "I looked up your arrest report and it said you were there to get your father and bring him home. He was drunk and started a fight. You were just trying to defend him."
"So you figured cause of that fight that I hate casinos?" Brittany clenched her jaw trying to keep from crying in front of Santana.
"I checked up on you dad," Santana said gently, "He's…"
"Stop!" Brittany almost shouted, "You read some files and you think you know my family?"
"No, of course not," Santana quickly said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
Brittany quickly wiped away the one tear that had fallen. "No, what you shouldn't have done was spy on me. That's none of your business."
"I wasn't spying on you." Santana felt like the more she tried to explain, the worse she seemed to make things. "You know I've been reading the files of everyone who works for the casino."
"Nothing personal, right?" Brittany just wanted to get out of here. "That's what you told Mike. I don't have any keys to anything at this hotel. I don't even come in here! I only came in here to see you. See my friend. But I guess I'm just part of the staff that you have to check up on."
Santana took a deep breath trying to calm herself and trying to to feel this dreadful feeling that she was losing her friend. "Brittany, I'm sorry, OK? I didn't mean to pry into your life. It's just…your file was with the others and…it was just part of my job. I shouldn't have looked up your father, that was too far."
Brittany saw that Santana was indeed sorry but she couldn't forgive her right now. Seeing her father again had been too much and now hearing that Santana knew about her father made things even worse. She crossed her arms and shook her head. "I don't think I have time to give you another city tour. I have work."
"Brittany, I'm sorry." Santana reached for Brittany but she stepped back. "Let's meet after your shift and talk. You said you got off at 8? I'll meet you anywhere, you name it."
"I…I'm going to go home after work to help Jenny with a school project," Brittany lied, "I have to go. My shift starts soon."
Santana slowly nodded. "OK." She honestly felt like crying, something she only ever really did when she was drunk. She had touched on something too personal. "If you're busy, I understand. Say hi to Jenny for me."
"Sure," Brittany said softly. She took one last look at Santana and turned around and left the casino.
Santana watched Brittany go and blinked away unshed tears. She jumped when her talk-talkie went off.
"Hudson to Lopez."
She unclipped it from her waist and brought to her face. "Lopez here."
"We have a situation with the whale."
"Fuck." Santana pushed the side button. "I'll be right there."
She'd have to find a way to fix things with Brittany later.
###
Brittany was grateful that tourist season was in full swing because she was able to pick up fare after fare and keep her mind off Santana. One of the things she liked about this job was that she got to talk to so many interesting people all day. Well, not all of them were interesting, but a lot were. She forgot about her problems and just focused on her passengers.
By the time her break came around, she felt a little better. She parked her cab and headed to The Oasis for something to eat and wondered if Santana could see her through the cameras. For a moment, she considered just going to the McDonald's down the block but The Oasis had better, free, food. She realized she was being silly and decided to just go in and eat.
She got her food and found an empty table by the window. It had been a few hours since seeing Santana and she now realized she probably overreacted. It wasn't Santana's fault she had such a shitty childhood and it really wasn't Santana's fault that her father had decided to come back in her life.
"Who died?"
Brittany looked up to see Puck taking a seat across from her with his own food trey. "Hey Puck."
"You look like your cat died or something. Did a passenger cause you any trouble? Cause I'll hunt them down." Puck took a bite of his burger. "Wasmph wrogmp?"
"Gross, Puck. Don't talk with food in your mouth."
Puck swallowed and took a sip of his soda. "What's wrong?"
"My dad's back in town." Brittany took a bite of her tuna sandwich.
"That's a good thing right?" Puck asked, "I didn't even know you had a dad. You never mentioned him."
Brittany had only known Puck two years and by then her father had been long gone and she didn't see any reason to bring him up. She also liked that some of her friends didn't know her family history. The only ones who knew about her father were Artie, Mike and Kurt and that was only because they had all gone to high school together. Everyone else, like Mercedes, just knew that she hated casinos and gambling.
"Never mind," Brittany said, shaking her head, "Anyway, what time you off?"
"Eight."
"Me too," Brittany said, "Hey, you wanna get a drink after work? Jenny has a really early morning tomorrow so she's going to bed early and I don't feel like going home to just watch TV."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"Great." Although she had wanted to hang out with Santana after work, Puck would have to do.
###
Santana really wished her office had windows. Sometimes she had the urge to look outside into the real world really nagged at her. But of course, casinos didn't have windows nor clocks. It was a calculated move to keep people from realizing how long they'd been gambling.
She checked her phone hoping that maybe Brittany had texted her, but there was nothing. Santana really hadn't meant to dig that deep into Brittany's life but that arrest report had made her so curious. She would never have guessed Brittany would have an arrest record. One file had lead to another and she had found out that Paul Pierce had a long rap sheet and he had a gambling problem.
Santana sighed. Brittany had a point. Santana sure as hell wouldn't like it if someone checked that deep into her family. Well, it's not like they'd find anything interesting in the Lopez family tree. She had grown up privileged and with loving and supporting parents who didn't blink twice when she told them she was gay. Yeah, her childhood growing up had been damn near perfect.
She logged in her report for the night and turned off her monitors. She looked out into the control center and saw it was well staffed for the night. She was glad Blaine would be here tomorrow because she wanted him to start as soon as possible. She had gotten to know the people working the control center a bit better and they seemed competent and dedicated but she still wanted Blaine here.
Santana's eyes drifted to Artie and she contemplated asking him if he knew about Brittany's father. "Don't go there Santana," she told herself. She was already on thin ice with Brittany and if she didn't want to make it worse. She didn't like this feeling of having Brittany mad at her. She needed to do something about it.
She packed up her things and headed out to the The Dalton valet service.
"Hi Mike." Santana was glad he was the one on duty.
"Miss Lo…Santana," Mike said, surprised, "Hi."
"Hey, do you have a company car I can borrow for like a couple of hours?"
"Yeah, sure," Mike said as he typed something into his laptop, "I have a town car available but not a driver. At least not for another 15 minutes."
"Actually, if you don't mind, I'd rather drive myself," Santana said, "If that's OK?"
"No problem." Mike made a call and in couple of minutes a black Lincoln town car pulled up.
Santana thanked Mike and headed to Brittany's house. She had gotten her address from her file and she just hoped Brittany wouldn't be mad about this too. She programed the address into the car's built in GPS and drove out of the hotel. She drove on to the strip and cursed under her breath at all the traffic and wondered how Brittany did this every night. She finally managed to drive off the strip and turn into streets that didn't have as many flashy lights and started to resemble just a regular town.
She followed the directions dictated by the GPS and in about 25 minute found herself in front of a brown complex.
"You have arrived at your destination."
She parked the car and headed to the front gate. Luckily, a man was just coming out of the building and let Santana in. She saw a pool right in the middle of the complex and a small picnic area to the left with many of the units surrounding the main area. Santana almost wished she lived here too. Living where you work had its benefits but it also had its downfalls.
She quickly found Brittany's unit and went up to the brown door. She took a breath and she hoped Brittany would already be home. She knocked.
No answer. She knocked again. Nothing.
"Damn." She saw the door bell and decided to give it a try.
She heard someone moving around inside and soon the door opened to reveal a young brunette who looked like she had just been woken up. "Can I help you?"
"Uh, hi. I'm sorry did I wake you?"
The young woman yawned and when she finally really focused on Santana, let out a surprised "Oh!"
"I'm sorry. I think I have the wrong apartment." Santana looked at the young woman in front of her and she looked the opposite of Brittany.
"Santana Lopez!" Jenny said with a smile, now wide awake.
"Are you Jenny Pierce?" Santana asked with a small smile.
"I am!" She stepped aside and motioned Santana to come in. "What are you doing here? Is Brittany meeting you here?"
Santana was relieved that she hadn't knocked on some random door. She stepped in to the small apartment and smiled. There was a modest size living room in the middle, a kitchen to her left and three doors to her right, which she assumed where the bedrooms and maybe bathroom. The place looked like a home. One wall was full of pictures of the sisters and another woman who Santana assumed was Mrs. Pierce.
"How did you know who I was?" Santana asked, "Oh wait. Brittany said you Googled me."
Jenny smiled and Santana saw the resembles to Brittany. "Sorry, but I just wanted to make sure my sister wasn't going out with some psycho."
Santana's eyes went wide. "Oh no. No, it wasn't…we're not dating….she was just showing me around."
Jenny giggled and again Santana saw some of Brittany in her. "I know. Brittany said the same thing. I meant, going out as friends. So, since you freaked out about me thinking you and my sister are dating, I guess you know she's into woman too."
Santana just stared at the younger Pierce unsure of what to say. Just like her sister, Jenny pretty much just said what was on her mind. She chose to ignore the last statement and focused on the first. "I'm not a psycho. Umm, is your sister here? She told me she got off at 8 and I was hoping to talk to her."
"Uh no, I thought she was out with you," Jenny said, "She told me this morning that would be late cause she was going ask you to hang out after work. Did that not happen?"
"No," Santana said sadly, "Something came up. Anyway, I'm sorry to bother you. It looks like I woke you up. You weren't working on a project?"
Jenny looked confused. "No, no project. I have to be at school early tomorrow so I wen to bed early. Why?"
Santana tried to smile. She already knew Brittany's excuse had been a lie but she still felt a bit hurt at Jenny confirming. "No reason. Listen, I'm sorry I woke you. When you see Brittany, please tell her to call me."
"What's going on?"
This time Santana forced a smile. "Nothing. Everything's fine. I should really get going. It was nice to meet you Jenny."
Jenny followed Santana to the front door. "Nice to meet you too."
Santana left and headed back to the car and hoped that Brittany would call her tomorrow.
-tbc-
A/N: Sorry for the long wait peeps but being summer, I get the chance to do some traveling.