Wiping down the last table left in the restaurant, I let out a breath of relief. I can't wait to get home and rinse the grime from the day off my body. Working at a country club filled primarily with stuck up men and their roaming eyes and lousy tips certainly isn't the job of the century. But, whatever problem I have with my workplace doesn't matter because money's an essential when it comes to living on your own.
Finishing up, I threw my dirty cloths in the respective basket and headed to the front counter to let Quinn know I was leaving. Quinn's the hostess, and we both arrived at the country club around the same time, so we hit it off pretty quickly. As I approach the hostess stand, I see that Quinn's counting her tips she made from the afternoon.
"I'll take that," I say as I swipe the cash from her hands. I snuck up from behind, so she never saw me coming. She tries to reach for the bills in my hand, but I'm too far away.
"Santana, give it back,"
"Damn, Quinn," I start going through the money in my hand, noticing it's mainly made of big bills, "How do you make more in tips than me? You're a hostess. All you do is show them to the table…I'm the one that brings them the shit they came here for."
"Maybe it's because I'm actually nice to them," She says as she walks around the wooden stand and snatches the money from my hand. She sorts through it again before folding it up and shoving it in her back pocket.
"That's not how I roll, Quinn," I roll my eyes.
The men that come to the restaurant are usually either creepy, snobby, or a mixture of both. I can't count the times I've caught one staring at my ass, or my tits, or wrote their number on the ticket despite having a ring on their left finger. Assholes.
"Well then don't come bitching to me about how I get my money."
She walks back around the hostess stand before bending down, out of sight, to retrieve something in the storage underneath. When she pops back up in sight, she has her purse on her arm, and cell phone in hand.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" She asks as she types something on her phone and looks back up at me.
"Why?" I ask with an eyebrow raised. Quinn almost never asks me to hang out, unless it's sipping wine and watching rom coms at her house.
"There's a couple of girls from the pro shop that are going out clubbing tonight. Wanna join?"
Clubbing does sound like a lot of fun. And I do have the next two days off. Girl Chang would kill me though, I promised I'd play in her boring game night she has set up for us and a few close friends.
I almost give in, but I can't screw over Tina like that. She's been my best friend for forever, and she was there for me when I really needed it…so I guess that means I have to go play Monopoly instead of drinking and dancing.
"I would, Q, but Tina and I have plans tonight."
"Bring her along," She says with a gesture of her hand. "Come on, I need you to come with me tonight." She's almost begging at this point.
"Quinn, I'm sure you'll be fine. Plus, I know some of the girls from the pro shop, and they're cool…for the most part."
While I don't specify how I know the girls, I'm not lying when I say I know them. We may not have done much talking during our interactions, but they seem cool for the most part. They haven't given me too much shit about our time together, so I respect them for it.
"Yeah, but…I need my wingman." Quinn says with her voice a little lower. I look at her curiously.
"For what?"
She looks hesitant to tell me, but I stay quiet, knowing she'll give in eventually.
"We're going to Dusk & Dawn," She spits out rather quickly.
So that's why. She doesn't want me to go for the sake of hanging out. She wants me to help her get Lumps the Clown back.
"Oh hell no," I say, crossing my arms, "No way am I ditching Tina to help you get your mack on with some douchebag that has proved time and time again that he's no good."
Truth is, this is making me a little angry. I've had my fair share of temper fueled wraths, and if I go with her tonight, I know I'm going to release another one.
"Please, Santana. This is the last time I'll ask."
"You said that last time…so no."
For the past year or so, Quinn's had this on-again-off-again relationship with Finn Hudson. Best way to describe him would be "a complete asshat." I can't count the times he's cheated on Quinn, stood her up, disrespected her, or emotionally abused her. I don't understand why she keeps crawling back to him.
"Fine…" She says with defeat as she puts her phone in her bag and huffs past me.
I don't even try to catch up to her. If she's gonna continue to go down this road, it's going to be all on her own. No way she's bringing me in all this drama again.
Finn works a couple nights a week at Dusk & Dawn, a popular nightclub downtown, but his main job is an ID checker at the Army base. Basically when you drive into the gate, he's the guy that's standing there with a scanner ready to check your ID. He's ranked as a private first class, which he often brags about, but coming from a military family, I know it's not that special.
Glad I avoided that impending disaster, I grab my things out of my locker in the back before exiting the building and heading to my car for the drive home. I don't live too far away, but it's enough of a distance that's too far to walk.
The ride home is smooth like normal. I blare Alanis Morrisette through the radio and sing along. It kind of reminds me of the glee club days back in high school. When I arrive at my apartment building, I park in my usual space before turning the car off and heading inside.
Opening the door, I'm instantly hit with the smell of pizza. I hang my work cardigan on the coat rack and put my keys in the little bowl by the door Tina found when we first moved in.
"Hey, you made it!"
Kurt spots me when I enter the kitchen and immediately makes his way towards me, stumbling a little over the chair he was sitting in.
"Woah, you guys are drunk already?" I ask as Kurt slings his arms around my shoulders.
"Nope…just him. Apparently he and Blaine are on the rocks again." Tina explains as she sets a pizza stone on the island counter, freshly baked margherita pizza sitting atop it.
"You said we wouldn't talk about it tonight!" He exclaims, nearly busting my eardrum, as he slowly unwraps himself from me and turns to glare at Tina.
"Sorry," Tina puts her hands up in surrender, "But you need to get some food in your stomach now…maybe it'll sober you up a little."
Kurt doesn't make a comment, but plops back down on his chair and accepts the plate of pizza that Tina slides to him, taking a big bite.
"How was work?" Tina asks, fixing herself a plate.
"Ugh…the usual. You know, I don't know where these men think they get the audacity to treat us the way they do. One minute they're all 'yes, dear, that'll be swell' and the next staring at your tits like they're purposefully there for them to look at!"
"I'm sorry, Santana. But hey, the money's really good and we're saving a good amount every month, so hopefully you can make a job switch soon."
"Thanks," Santana gives her friend a side hug before reaching down and stealing a slice of pizza off her plate.
"Hey!"
Before Tina can protest any more, Santana interrupts.
"Where's everyone else?" She asks, looking around. The apartment her and Tina share has a pretty open floor plan. When you walk in, there's a foyer where you can take off your shoes, hang your coats, and a table to leave your keys. As you head further inside, there's a spacious kitchen/dining room on the left and a living room on the right, with the bedrooms and bathroom down the hall straight ahead.
"Mike and Mercedes went to get some chips for later. I thought we had a whole bag of the sour cream and onion chips, but when I went in the pantry to get them, they weren't there." Tina's staring at me with her eyebrows furrowed, looking like I'm the one to blame.
Maybe I am, maybe I'm not.
"Weird…" I shrug my shoulders as I take another bite out of the pizza. "This pizza's really good by the way, was the dough homemade again, or?" I ask, trying to change the subject.
"Santana…I know you ate the chips." She says in the same stance she was a minute ago.
"All I can say is…you ate all my Cheerios two weeks ago, so this is payback!" I say, pointing my finger.
She opens her mouth to argue but the front door opens, effectively cutting her off. I stick my tongue out at her, knowing I got the last word in, before turning around to greet Mercedes entering the kitchen.
"Hey, girl! Glad you made it home okay," She says as she gives me a hug.
Mike comes stumbling in a few seconds later with about 5 grocery bags hanging off his arms.
"Yea, no, I'm good guys. Thanks so much for the help."
"Holy shit! I told you guys to buy a couple bags of chips. What is all this?" Tina takes the bags one by one off Mike's arms and sets them on the counter before she starts digging through them.
"Well, we did get the bags of chips, even getting an extra one in case Santana eats it again like you said," I shoot Tina a glare, "But then Mercedes saw these new ice cream sandwiches she thought we should try. Then she saw the soft drinks and thought we should get a few bottles so that we have something different to drink tonight other than alcohol…mainly for Kurt. Then when we got to the register, she saw the big bags of Twizzlers were buy one get one free, so she got 4 bags…"
Tina looks over at Mercedes, who looks in complete contempt with what she did.
"What? I paid for it!" Mercedes says after Tina doesn't stop staring at her. "And don't worry, you don't owe me anything," She says as she walks over, pats Tina on the back, and then reaches over her to grab the boxes of ice cream and stick them in the freezer.
Tina shakes her head out of her state and gestures to the pizza for Mike and Mercedes to get pieces of.
After everyone's finished eating and Kurt's mostly sober, we start a game of Monopoly. Tina's rather excited about this game though, because it's not your normal Monopoly. This game is the "Cats and Dogs Version," meaning the different properties are made up of different breeds of cats and dogs, and the game pieces are shaped like the animals.
Fun fact about Tina…she collects Monopoly's. I know it sounds totally boring, and it is for a normal person, but watching how excited she gets when she gets a new one is like watching a kid on Christmas. It also makes holiday shopping really easy and cheap, and I never have to wonder what I'm going to get her.
The game's been pretty relaxed with small talk being exchanged through the group, except for when Kurt flipped when I bought Boardwalk out from underneath him. We're all just enjoying each other's company for the moment.
"How've you been lately?" Mike asks. I look up to find all eyes on me, making me effectively uncomfortable.
Man, way to ruin the vibe, guys.
"I'm fine, Mike," I say with a shrug of my shoulders as I roll the dice. "Work's hell, but I'm making money and getting by, so that's what matters right now." I move my game piece the correct number of spaces, hoping my response satisfied them enough to move the conversation along.
"Well…I know physically you're fine, Santana. It's the mental and emotional we're all worried about." He explains. I once again look up to find everyone staring at me with pity in their eyes. I hate that.
"Ok, listen, Boy Chang. We're not here to play therapist with Santana and find out what I'm really feeling. We're here to play a fucking board game and have a relaxing night for a change."
This doesn't seem to faze anyone, nor get them to back down.
"We're just worried about you, Santana." Mercedes said as she rolls the dice, signaling it's now her turn.
"Yea, well, you guys can worry about yourself. I didn't invite you to dig into my business, nor did I invite you to care."
"You don't have to invite us to care, Santana. We're your friends. We're going to care about you whether you like it or not." Tina pitches in.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath in. I could totally blow up at them right now, put my walls back up, go to my room, and then sleep it off. But they have a point, and whether I like it or not, I care about them. I'd never let them know that, though.
I open my eyes and look at everyone.
"Listen, I appreciate you guys, and I appreciate that you actually give a shit about me, unlike other people," I say with a bit of venom in my voice, "But I'm fine. If anything changes I'll let you know, but right now I'm functioning fine and that's the most important thing."
No one says anything for a good bit after that. The silence isn't necessarily uncomfortable, but it's definitely heavy.
"Why don't you come to work with me sometime this week, Santana. Tina's coming on Wednesday to have lunch. Why don't you come with me in the morning, have lunch with us, and if you want to stay you can stay, but you can also leave with Tina at lunch if you want to go."
I hate how courteous Mike is. Mike's a scientist, a really cool one at that. He works with technology, electromagnetic waves, and energy. No one really knows what he does exactly, because it's so complicated when he tries to explain it, but we all know his job is extremely sophisticated.
I've expressed interest in going to check out Mike's work on multiple occasions, and now he's inviting me to do exactly that. Should I go? I know he's only asking out of sympathy, but I've been wanting to see what he does for a long time.
I look up at him, still considering my options.
"Why're you offering now?"
He thinks it over before responding. Smart move on his part.
"Well, I was going to offer eventually. And Tina's coming this Wednesday, so why not?"
"Don't bullshit me, Mike. You of all people should know that it never works with me."
He takes a deep breath in and releases it before continuing.
"You seem stressed. About your job, about…your parents," He says a little quieter, causing me to tense up at the mention of them, "Just about a lot in general. You've expressed interest in seeing my workplace before, and I genuinely think you'd enjoy it. So, I think it'd be good for you."
He has a point. I am stressed, and I desperately want a break. I want just a day to forget about everything and just relax. Plus, I'd get to call out of work and not deal with the pervy old guys that come with it.
"Fine," I say with a monotone voice. I don't want him to know he was right, that he knows me probably better than I know myself. "I'll go. But if it's ass then you'll never hear the end of it, got it?"
"Got it," He says with a smile and a single nod of his head. He looks over at Tina and they share what seems to be a small smile of victory over the game board.
"Alright…who's turn is it?" Mercedes asks as she picks up the dice to hand them to whoever the next player is.