Author's Note: Chapter 3...Business dinner :)
Here I was sitting in hair and make-up finishing the last touches to the Rachel make over feeling like I could barely breathe wearing this tight outfit. We were in the middle of recording our episodes and things were looking really great for our show. The entire group had formed a great bond already. It felt like we all had known each other for years, even though I did know Jenna since childhood and Dianna was living with me. Our chemistry between all of us had grown to be something special.
"Hey Lea!" Ryan exclaimed as he walked into the trailer interrupting my thoughts. "Wow you look amazing, are you ready?" he said.
"Yea I am all set even though I almost feel like I can't breathe with these leather pants." I told him with a laugh.
"Great let's go then, we will start with you in the restroom then you come out to sing to Cory." he said as we walked over to the set.
"Finn!" I responded almost yelling.
Ryan chuckled "Why does it bother you so much that I mention Cory or actually I have noticed it bothers you when anyone mentions him? Are you having problems with him?" he asked.
"NO, of course not Ryan! It doesn't bother me and we are not having problems" I told him "It's just that I want to be in character before a scene and well my scene is with Finn not Cory."
"Oh ok, I understand" Ryan responded giving me a slight smile.
It was true I had no problems with Cory he had been great very professional we had actually developed a great bond like family, but for some reason I always felt nervous around him.
I arrived to set and there he was sitting in Rachel's bed talking with Brad. He looked so big compared to the little bed he was sitting in.
"Ok guys so Lea" Ryan motioned to me; Cory looked up to see me. Why was he looking at me like that? "You go inside the restroom and just say your beginning lines from in there, now Cory, uh I mean Finn" Ryan said as he looked my way "You are waiting for Rachel to come out, and well you guys know, Places everyone"
I walked passed Cory afraid to look at him but I could feel his eyes on me. If Rachel was to feel nerves before stepping out of the bathroom there was no need to try to act because I was feeling those nerves right now. Plus having this tight outfit was not helping by breathing issue.
"Ok silence on the set" I heard Ryan call out "Camera, lights and action!"
I read my lines from the other side of the wall as there was no camera to record me while I spoke. Ok Lea get your butterflies together and go out there. You are Rachel, you are Rachel and Rachel is not afraid I thought to myself. I stepped out from behind the wall and delivered the scene.
Finished the scene with flying colors. I felt so proud. I don't know what I was so afraid of in the first place but still felt so good to finally get that over with. We did the scenes a few more times in order to get the camera on Cory and then on myself.
"Great job guys' Ryan said "We will call it a wrap for tonight, see you guys tomorrow."
I started to walk away when I heard Cory call me "Hey Lea, wait up."
I was afraid to turn around so I decide to wait for him. I stopped walking and waited until he reached my side. It didn't take him long to catch up to me as one of his steps was like 3 of mine.
"Where are you going in such a rush? Is everything ok?" He asked.
"Yea of course everything is ok" I told him "I am actually in a rush to get this wig off its really itching my head" I told him with a smile and began walking again.
He laughed "Well if everything is ok I was wondering if you would mind coming to dinner with me today?"
I stopped in shock. Did he just ask me out? Was this a date? He obviously didn't realize I was in shock and had stopped as he kept walking. He then realized I was no longer at his side and turned to look at me.
"Lea it's ok if you are busy. Don't worry about it you can say No" he said "You don't have to always say yes to everyone. I just wanted to talk to you about Finn and Rachel, but its ok we can do it some other time"
I stared at him for a while, he was about to walk away as I was giving him no answer.
"Yes Cory I will go out to dinner with you" I told him
"No Lea I don't want to be a burden Its ok really don't worry about it" he said
"No Cory its no burden I was just thinking of if I had made any plans for tonight that's why I didn't answer you right away." I told him.
"Are you sure?" he asked again
"Yes!" I shouted "I just have to call Dianna so she won't wait up for me"
"Ok, Ok" he said putting his hands up like he was giving up "I will be in my trailer just text me when your done with your curly wig and I will come get you" he said as he grabbed a strand of the wig in between his fingers.
"Ok good I will be out soon, I'm going to go to wardrobe after removing the wig to remove this outfit" I told him " I can just take my car and meet you at the restaurant." I said.
" No of course not, we can take my car and then I will bring you back to pick yours up"
"Ok then, I will see you in a bit" I told him.
He turned away towards his trailer. I started to walk away as well when I heard him call from across the lot.
" Oh yea by the way Lea that outfit looks amazing on you" he screamed, I turned around to see where he was at " You are more than welcome to wear it to dinner" he said with a chuckle.
I had no response I just turned around before he could see me smiling. He was such a dork sometimes. He made jokes that made no sense. But they never failed to make me laugh, he never failed to make me laugh.
I was finishing up with hair and make up when I decide to text Dianna to not wait up for me that igt was going to be a long night. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about dinner with Cory I didn't want her to get the wrong idea. Was I getting the wrong idea? First I wanted to make sure this was a dinner to talk about work a "business dinner" yea that was all it was. Then why was I feeling so nervous, Why was my stomach turning so much.
I then decided to text Cory and let him know I was ready "Ok Cory all done meet you by your car" I typed, with a little hesitation before I pressed "send"
I then heard my phone beep. It was him. The text said "Great Lea! I will meet you there. Hope you are wearing your cat suit ;) "
I took a deep breath and headed out towards his car to have a "business dinner"
I had Never noticed how beautiful a night in LA was, even though it had no comparison to my hometown my city, my New York. There I was sitting in his car unable to speak unable to look at him. I felt the tension in the car. He didn't speak either. Was he nervous too? Could he hear my heartbeat? Because I could feel it and almost felt like it wanted to jump out of my chest.
"I hope you are hungry" he said as he broke the silence.
"Yea starving actually" I told him.
"Great" he said enthusiastically "We are almost there"
We arrived at a small little restaurant near the Santa Monica Pier I could hear the waves of the beach hit the shore as we walked towards the restaurant.
He asked for a private table. The waitress guided us towards a table on the corner away from the crowd but with a great view of the pier. He handed me a menu to look over as he ordered some red wine for both of us.
"Oh I am sorry Lea, I hope you don't mind I ordered you some wine, I guess I should of asked you first" he said shyly.
"Oh no its fine Cory great choice" I assured him. I actually would of have ordered that myself as I felt like I needed a little liquid bravery tonight.
The waitress returned with our drinks and we gave her our food order. My guess is she was very fond of Cory because she made sure to always look and smile at him, though she was not being rude to me I guess just extra friendly with Cory.
When the waitress finally left I looked across the table at him as he went through his thoughts trying to decide what to say next.
He smiled his crooked smile. "Lea are we really ok?" he said "I mean I think we are cool but recently its like…I don't know" he said rubbing the back of his neck. "Like you don't want to talk to me. I think you are a great person and if I did or said anything to offend you in any way I really want us to have this open communication and I would really like you to let me know"
I stared at him unsure of how to answer him. I then said "Cory, really like I told you we are ok, everything is fine. No you have not done anything to me or said anything to offend me, I think I should be the one to apologize to you if I made you feel that in any way."
He smiled at me and said "Great!, I think you are such a great friend and would hate to lose such a great friendship with you"
"Friend" why did I feel like I was just punched in the stomach when he said that. This feeling was so wrong.
"I think you a great friend too " I told him " I also value our friendship and I promise you that things will be different, no more awkwardness from me" I told him with a smile.
He stretched out his hand to touch my hand across the table. "Good I would love that" he said. His touch gave me a shock that ran up my arm and somehow I felt it all the way at the pit of my stomach. I took my gaze off the connection our hands were doing and looked up to see his face. His clear hazel eyes staring back into mine. There was something there, something was looking back at me from inside him like I could see his soul. I felt and heard my heart speed up its beat, what is going on I thought to myself. At that moment the waitress returned with our food, just in time before I could try to make sense of it all.
I felt like she paused to look at his hand over mine. She then just put our plates down and walked away. Cory's hand still over mine. I looked at our hands and then back at him.
"Um Cory, I do like my food that I ordered I don't think there is a need for you to hold my hand while I eat" I told him with a nervous laugh.
"Oh" he said as he moved his hand away very fast "Sorry Lea didn't realize I was still doing that" he said nervously. "Well Bon appetite"
I needed for him to let go of my hand there was no way I could sit there and pretend it didn't affect me the way it did. We ate our food in silence all you could hear was some light music coming from a speaker nearby. My food was really delicious and I was already on my second glass of wine. Cory was still on his first, actually he had barely even taken any sips of it.
"Hey Lea" he said in between the silence." I hate to ask this but can I taste your pasta?"
I laughed it was those moments those kind of request that he made that always made me laugh. "Of course it is really good you are going to love it"
He reached over with his fork and took some of my bow tie pasta. He put in his mouth and smiled and nodded his head.
"Mmmmhmm, You are so right it is delicious" he said.
"You are welcome to have some more if you like" I told him.
He then got up, picked up his chair and moved it beside me. "Why stretch across the table when I can just pick from you plate right beside me" he told me with a big grin.
I just smiled at him and took another sip of my wine. It was weird having him sit next to me but I felt comfortable. He turned to look at me as he saw me staring at him. I didn't turned away. I kept looking at him now really paying attention to his face. His beautiful hazel eyes again, he is cute, no he is handsome I thought. A cell phone ring broke my concentration. It was his cell phone. He reached into his coat pocket and took out his phone.
"Oops sorry Lea" he said as he frantically tried to silence his phone. "I forgot it's not polite to have a cell phone on during a date, I forgot to turn it off" he said as he turned off his phone.
"Date?" I asked him" I thought you wanted to talk about Finn and Rachel" I said to him confused.
"Well, its still a date" he said "Isn't it?" "Its not like a date-date because you have a boyfriend I know that"
he said looking down at his plate." But its still a friendship date."
'Oh right!" I told him afraid to hurt his feelings "Friendship dates are the best! Next one we have you are bringing me here again, the food is amazing" I told him as I grabbed some food of his plate.
The waitress came back with our check and looked at Cory sitting beside me. She now seemed irritated like she didn't like that he was so close. Cory gave her back the check with the cash inside "Keep the change" he told her.
"Wait! Can I know how much it is? We can go half and half on the bill Cory" I told him.
"Are you crazy?" he said "A gentleman always pays for dinner" he said.
"Oh gentlemen" I said "Yea I forgot what they looked like."
When we came out of the restaurant instead of walking towards the car he guided me towards the beach. I had not noticed how chilly the night was until we were only a few feet away from the waves. Instantly I reached for Cory's arm and pulled close to him to try and keep warm.
"Here Lea" he said as he came to a stop and put his coat on me "We can go to the car if you like?" You are so tiny I know this chilly weather is not good for you"
"No Cory I'm ok" I told him through chattering teeth "Its so beautiful out, Can we just stay out for a few minutes, the water looks so beautiful under this moon light."
"Ok fine we can sit here in the sand for a few minutes" he said as he pulled me into his arms. " Nature is very beautiful" he said as he stared out on to the water.
"Yea" was all I could say. We sat there just listening to the sound of the waves hitting the shore. Felt so peaceful, so free it felt so…right. I didn't even feel cold anymore. It felt great sitting there so…romantic.
"Theo" I shouted as I jumped up.
"Where?" Cory said as he looked everywhere around.
"No he is not here" I said, " I was just remembering that I have to call him later and my phone's battery is almost dying and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't call my boyfriend " I said the last part low.
"Oh right" he said, "well then we should go" he said as he walked towards the car without turning to look at me.
We walked in silence. He opened my door and I got in. I saw as he walked around the front of the car towards the driver's seat. He stood outside his door for a few moments as if debating to get in or not. After a few moments he finally got in the car. He started the car up in silence and began to drive.
"Thank you for coming to dinner tonight Lea it was great to talk to you away from the chaos" he said as he turned to give me one of his lovely smiles.
"Thank you for bringing me out today Cory, I really did enjoy our dinner even though I am still waiting for our Finchel conversation" I said.
"Oh right about that, actually I had no intentions to talk to you about our characters" he said shyly. "It was just an excuse for you to come to dinner tonight. I really just wanted to talk to you, you know about us. Just wanted to make sure we were ok."
"Oh, well you didn't have to lie to me Cory, you could of just said that" I told him.
"Yea I guess I should of, but now I know we have an open communication and I can tell you anything and you can tell me anything" he said.
After a few minutes I noticed he was driving nowhere near the studios.
"Um Cory, I think you might have taken a wrong turn somewhere because this I not towards the studios" I told him.
He chuckled "That's because we are not going to the studios, I am taking you home Ms. Lea Michele" he said with a smile "No way I would let you drive after drinking all that wine"
"Geez! It was only two glasses, you're making it sound like I chugged down a bottle" I told him.
He laughed. "It doesn't matter I feel much better knowing you got home safe, I wouldn't want anything to happen to you" he said softly.
I just smiled and looked down at my hands afraid to look up and find him looking at me. We finally arrived at my apartment complex. He entered the parking garage and parked near the elevator. I was a little shock when he turned off the car and got out to come open my door.
"You didn't have to do that Cory" I told him "I am perfectly fine now that you brought me here"
He laughed and said, "You really don't like people doing things for you, do you?"
"Guess not" I told him shyly "I am used to doing things on my own, you know be a strong independent women" I said winking at him.
"It doesn't mean you have to be that all the time" he said as he came close to me "You need to let others pamper you and treat you right, never sell yourself short"
He was coming closer to me. My heart began to raise. Oh no was he going to kiss me? Was I ready to push him away? I closed my eyes. Theo! Theo! Theo I love him! I thought. He then broke my concentration as I heard him close the car door behind me.
"Do you want me to walk you to your door?" he asked.
I opened my eyes and saw he was standing away from now.
"No I'm alright" I said "Thank you though, good night Cory." I reached over to give him a hug.
"Good night Lea" he said as he bend down enough to reach me.
As we parted from our hug he kissed me softly on the cheek. I could feel his warm breathing on the side and he whispered "Don't sell yourself short Lea make sure you get treated as the great girl, woman, you are" he said and kissed my cheek once more.
I just nodded and kissed his cheek back. I walked over to the elevator. When the doors opened I walked inside and turned to look his way. There he stood by his car looking my way. He waved me good-bye and on his face I could see a small crooked smile. I waved and smiled at him as the elevator doors closed.