A/N Sorry it took me a while! After I came back from a holiday I got all kinds of busy.
"Alicia, you can't just take three weeks off." Her manager told her. "Especially not in that time, right before your tour starts. A week from the 12th through the 18th was.. acceptable.. You have to fly back from Ohio to LA, have to deal with the jet-lag.."
"Then change the schedule." Alicia said, making Kimmy smile slightly. She continued when the others in the meeting just looked at each other. "I'm serious, I'm going to Ohio on the 12th, I'm not going to work for six whole days. After that I'm game, drag me off for rehearsals, meetings.. I don't care. Make my opening night in Lima on the 5th of July and then book me across the country on the way to LA. Or.. don't, I'm fine either way."
"That's really not acceptable." Her agent told her.
She looked at him. "I'm sorry, that's not acceptable? I've been doing pretty much whatever you guys have asked me for the last 8 years, this is the first time that I've asked you to change my schedule drastically. I pay you, not the other way around, don't forget that." They all shared a look. "I know you're all smart and good at your jobs, so I'm sure you can fix this. Book me between Lima and Los Angeles or not, I don't care." She got up. "But when I say, I want to start my tour in Lima, I'm starting my tour in Lima."
"Lima, Ohio is tiny, I'm pretty sure they don't even have a music hall, we'd have to book you in a high school.. There is no honour in performing there."
"That's where you're wrong, my career started on that stage. I started on that stage." She looked at her publicist. "You can spin that, can't you? Going back to my roots, performing on the stage where I sang my first song publicly. The place my inspiration for my first album came from."
"Yeah that's very easily spin-able, they would eat that up. It writes itself."
"Good, then it's settled?" She looked at the others but they weren't really responding. "Good publicity is good, you've been cramming that down my throat for the last 8 years." Alicia nodded when no one answered. "Great, give Kimmy the new schedule and remember, six whole days of no work." She walked out, followed by Kimmy.
"What's gotten into you?" She asked smiling. "I've never seen you like this."
Alicia smiled. "My best friend, old best friend. We lost touch a while back, but I'm sure he'll be there. I want to catch up."
"Ah, it's about a boy." Kimmy said smiling. "If I'd ever seen you in love I could've known."
Alicia laughed. "I'm not in love with Will, besides he's married and last I heard he was having a baby. Where are we off to?"
"Dance rehearsels, will last 3 hours."
…
Will grabbed the local newspaper and turned it around to read it, the headline immediately captured him. "Alicia Florrick starts tour in Lima." He read aloud and smiled, that would mean she would be coming to the reunion. He'd kept track of her career, even though it would take more effort not to. He heard one of her songs at least once a week, either on the radio, on tv or in his glee club. He checked his watch and saw it was time to go to glee, he was reading the paper while he walked there.
"Mr Schue!" Rachel said as he walked in. "Did you hear?! She's opening her tour here!" Everyone was very excited. "In our little town!"
Will smiled and nodded while he held up the paper. "I just read all about it."
"Can we do Alicia Florrick week?" Tina said excited. "I know you don't really like her songs.."
"What?" He said surprised. "What ever made you think that?"
They all looked at each other. "Well, we've had an assignment involving every other big artist, except for her.."
"That's not it guys.. If you want Alicia Florrick week, you've got it." He wrote her name on the board. He thought about her while he wrote her name. His kids were right, he had done every big artist other than Alicia. It wasn't because he didn't like her music though, it was because it was a little bit painful to think about her.
…
Alicia stepped off the plane and grabbed a cab, she'd worn a cap and sunglasses so she wouldn't be recognized. They wouldn't expect her in Lima so it shouldn't be too bad but she'd gone out of a hotel without any kind of disguise once and the police had to hold people back, it became crazy and her label, management, publicist and agent had all told her never to do that again.
"Where to?"
"Is there more then one hotel in Lima nowadays?" The man laughed and shook his head. "That hotel then."
"Got it." He smiled at her. "Don't see many tourists here, any reason for being here?"
"Just my high school reunion."
He nodded. "Are you happy to go or dreading it?"
She smiled. "So far I'm happy to go."
…
She'd checked into the hotel under a pseudonym and went up to her room. She dropped her bags and looked around smiling, she'd always be put up in big, fancy hotels.. this was neither but she didn't mind. "Back home." She said as she looked out the window. She checked the time on her phone, 3 pm. "Let's go look up Will." She checked her appearance in the mirror, unrecognizable, good. She walked the way to the school, it wasn't that far and she could have a look around in the meantime.
She stood in front of the school and smiled, it hadn't changed a bit in 15 years. She walked inside, well thank god it'd changed on the inside. She walked passed the wall with famous people that graduated from this school. All of them were athletes and then she saw her own picture, she'd always loved that picture it was taken right after they'd won nationals. She walked towards the auditorium, empty. Maybe the choir room then, she'd kept an eye on Will's career. It was local news when he'd won nationals. Ms Adler used to have her office next to the choir room, they probably hadn't changed that. She stood in the hallway and saw a couple of kids, Will was talking to them. She took Will in, he'd only become hotter. So, so much hotter. She watched as he did a song for his students, bust a move, he was break-dancing, that's the Will she remembered the crazy boy that would do anything. When he finished she walked in and applauded him. "Will Schuester as I live and breath!" Her cap and sunglasses were still on. Will turned around and it took him half a second to recognize her.
"Ally!" He ran towards her and hugged her, lifting her up. "I figured you'd show up for the reunion!" He put her back down and smiled at her. "How are you! I tried to get back into contact with you last year but you'd changed your number."
"I'm great, really busy."
He took off her cap and sunglasses and threw them onto the piano. "You haven't changed a bit." He took a good look at her before hugging her again. "God I've missed you."
"I missed you too." She pulled back and saw the stunned faces behind Will. "You're looking good Schuester."
"Oh. My. God." It was Rachel. "You're Alicia Florrick." Will let go of her and turned around, realizing what the cap and sunglasses were for. "I'm your biggest fan." She walked towards her. "I.. you know Mr Schue?"
Alicia smiled at her. "I'm flattered and yes. Me and Will go way back." She smiled at him. "I owe my entire career, my life to him."
"He taught you once?"
Alicia laughed. "God no, how old do you think he is anyway?" She patted Will's shoulder. "This man here talked me into joining him in glee, convinced me I had even an ounce of talent in me."
"You're not serious, are you?" Artie said. "Mr Schue didn't do that?"
"I did." He smiled at her. "You should've heard her sing Baby Got Back back then." He started laughing. "We forbid her to ever rap again."
Alicia laughed. "Hey, I owned that song."
"We did an assignment about you last month!" Tina said. "Mr Schue said we rocked."
"If Will says you did then it must be true." She turned to Will. "I didn't mean to wreck your entire rehearsal." She smiled at him before grabbing her cap and sunglasses. "So I'll just wait in your office if that's cool? And then I'm taking you out to dinner, with Terri's permission of course."
"We got divorced.." Will said.
She looked up at him. "Really? I'm sorry.. last I heard you were having a baby."
Santana laughed. "She was never pregnant, made up the whole thing."
She looked at him again. "Really?" He nodded. "Oh Will, I'm so sorry." She grabbed his hand. "Then you don't need anyone's permission for dinner?"
"Nope, I'm all free."
"Great, my treat." She turned towards the glee-club. "Please don't tell anyone I'm here? I want to stay a little under the radar for now."
"Of course." Rachel said.
"Thank you."
"Will you come back Wednesday?" Rachel asked. "We could perform for you?" She smiled.
Alicia glanced at Will, he nodded. "I would love to, I'll even throw in a song from me and Will. I'm moving to your office now Will." She let go of his hand, which she hadn't even noticed she was still holding, and went to his office. She sat down in his chair and sighed. "He's single." She told herself, she hadn't expected that. The moment he hugged her she could feel it in her stomach, she still loved him.