So, so, so sorry for taking such a long time to update. Things got a little bit hectic and I didn't have time to write at all, but everything has calmed down now and hopefully there won't be that much of a wait between updates anymore.
Hope you guys like the new chapter! Enjoy. :)
New York City – West Village
Rachel trudged up the three flights of stairs and fumbled with the keys trying to enter her apartment, completely drained. As she walked into the living room she flung her purse on the couch and threw herself face first onto the sofa and let out an aggravated sigh.
"I. HATE. MY. LIFE." She yelled into the couch cushion.
Out of the kitchen her roommate and best friend walked out and chuckled at the sight of the petite young woman sprawled out on the piece of furniture, looking incredibly defeated.
"I'm guessing the interview didn't go well?"
Rachel sat up and blew her hair out of her face.
"No! It went great! That's what makes me so angry! I blew it out of the freaking water! We went over my impressive resume and I wowed them with my professionalism and everything. But then I walked out of the conference room and there they were, all these adults with their suits and ties and fancy briefcases waiting to be interviewed. It doesn't matter how well I did, I'm never going to compete with them, Blaine! I just graduated college; I'm a kid in their eyes. Any person with actual job experience would get picked over me."
Blaine walked over to the couch and pulled up her feet and placed them on his lap as he sat down.
"Come on Rachel, you're gonna get hired really soon. I can feel it. Patience is a virtue darling."
Rachel let out a scoff.
"I graduated in May! It's been four months and I'm still unemployed. Am I really that terrible of a person that no one wants to hire me? I interned at a really great place in college and I was so involved in school activities and programs and it's gotten me nothing." She tossed a couch pillow across the room in frustration.
"Hun, it's gonna be fine. I'm sure you're not the only college graduate having trouble right now. There are tons of people having the same problem, it's tough out there."
Playfully kicking his side she said "Yeah, easy for you to say. You got a job offer before you even graduated; you've been set for months already Mr. Fancy Lawyer. Not everyone has your same luck; my internships didn't turn into a career like yours did."
Blaine laughed as he got up and grabbed her hands to pull her off the couch.
"I know, I know. I was lucky, but don't give up, I'll keep an eye out for any job opportunities for you and I'll spread the word. By the way, I don't mean to push any sensitive buttons, but why not give the audition front a try? You could send out your resumes and go on job interviews and try out for some shows at the same time."
Rachel went to the kitchen and reached into the cupboard to grab a couple tea bags, letting out a long breath.
"I don't know Blaine. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. Or if I'll ever be."
Auditions and pretty much anything to do with singing was a sore spot for Rachel. Her first three years at NYU she had busied herself with so many plays and musicals and vocal lessons, pretty much anything that would help her perfect her craft. She had been the lead in almost every single production and had served as the understudy for the ones she wasn't. Rachel was convinced that this was just the beginning of a bright and blossoming Broadway career, destined to be the next Patti Lupone.
Singing had been her passion and her talent was out of this world. Growing up in small town Lima, Ohio Rachel was determined to get out of there and make it to the Big Apple to be a star. Her two dads nurtured her in a way to take advantage of the arts, signing her up for dance classes, singing classes, and acting classes as well. By the time she was in high school Rachel was actively involved in community theatre, had starred in all the school musicals, and had helped lead the glee club to multiple first place wins at their competitions. Everyone knew that Rachel was meant for so much more than Lima, stardom was simply an inevitability for her. Once she arrived in New York and started college she saw that she wasn't the only one who was immensely talented, she was rejected from her top choice, NYADA, after all. But she didn't let it deter her; she took it as a challenge and worked her butt off to prove she deserved to be there. And that's exactly what she did. Despite the fact that she didn't attend a prestigious performing arts school like she wished she had, Rachel loved NYU and was proud to have gone there.
College was some of the best years of her life, she had met Blaine her freshman year during a student production of West Side Story. He was her Tony and she was his Maria, despite him being a couple years older they had become instant friends along with everyone else in the theatre department. Rachel still kept close with several people from school including her good friends Tina, Santana, and Mercedes. Blaine was accepted into Columbia Law at the end of her freshman year but they still managed to see each other despite their busy schedules. She loved her life and the people surrounding her, she really thought it was all uphill from there. That is until the last semester of her junior year when her dreams of performing on Broadway were dashed. After a major blow to her future plans she decided to focus her entire senior on her education and on what she thought were more realistic goals. Rachel even managed to snag a great internship at The New Yorker. She considered changing her major but settled to stick with it, and then on May 14, 2012 she graduated with a major in music theatre and a minor in media, culture, and communication. Almost immediately after graduation she went to work sending out resumes to any and every company she could. That included magazines, newspapers, advertising agencies, any sort of multi-media company. Blaine had tried to get her to audition for some roles but she refused every time, claiming that she "wasn't ready yet".
"Rachel," Blaine walked over to her and put a warm hand on her shoulder, "you are ready. You always have been. Don't let one bad experience ruin your lifelong dreams, hell, your lifelong work. It's been more than a year since all that happened and the diva inside you should be able to put it behind her and trudge along despite that setback." He gave her a knowing look. "In fact, I don't think Barbra Streisand would have let that stop her."
Rachel's breath hitched at her best friend using her idol against her.
"Bringing out the big guns there huh Blaine?" She stirred her hot mug of tea and took a sip. "I know that you're right, but it's so hard. It hurt so much and my self-esteem was completely shot to hell. It made me question everything, whether if all those years were for nothing, you know? A part of me still wants to pursue those dreams but I'm so scared. Getting a stable job at an established company or something is just a more solid future. I already know that I thrive in that environment and I have the references from my internship at The New Yorker to prove it. So that's what I want to focus on for now. Maybe next year I'll audition for some shows again, but right now my priority is to get a job somewhere."
Blaine took a deep breath.
"Ok, if that's what you really want. I won't push Broadway on you anymore. Let's change the mood here, wanna go out to dinner tonight? I know we've hardly been able to eat together for a while because I've been so busy at the firm. We could go down to the Village and eat at that vegan place you really liked in college."
"Sure, I'm starved. But Iet's go somewhere else, someplace we haven't been to in a while. Your pick."
Blaine walked over to the coat closet and grabbed his jacket and slipped on his shoes.
"Alright, how about that Italian restaurant in midtown that we went to with your dads last year? You loved it."
Rachel's face brightened immediately, that day had been nearly perfect and the restaurant was bound to bring back good memories; she desperately needed to go somewhere that would help brighten her mood and dinner there seemed like the perfect solution.
"Oooh! Sounds great! But let me pay my share this time, I hate it when you pay for dinner. I feel like such a moocher."
Blaine chuckled and held the door open for her leading out of the apartment.
"Stop, I like paying for friends. Especially my best friend and roommate. But just to make you happy how about I pay for dinner and you pay for cab fare, deal?"
She smiled and walked out, satisfied with the arrangement.
"Deal."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dinner had gone wonderfully for the two of them, so much that Rachel had completely forgotten about all the job hunt stress and was enjoying a nice night out with her best friend. She and Blaine had laughed for a couple hours about old college memories while sipping on wine and eating amazing pasta, they hadn't realized how long it had been since they had some time for just the two of them, despite the fact that they lived together.
After nearly choking on her drink when Blaine re-enacted his embarrassing meeting with a client from a previous day a neatly dressed man about their age approached the table politely and cleared his throat before speaking, directing himself to Blaine.
"Hi, sorry to interrupt but I saw you as I was about to leave and I can't help but think that you look awfully familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"
Blaine squinted his eyes a bit in thought rifling through his brain trying to place his face with a name until he finally matched it, stretching out his hand at the dapper young man.
"Yes! Mr. Hudson! We met at a meeting with the HP board members not too long ago; you were there along with your mother. I guess you can say I'm one of your company's lawyers now. "He smiled widely blushing a little, "sorry, that's the first time I've ever said that I was a lawyer out loud. It's still strange to say."
"Oh yes, I remember now! Blaine, right? I remember your name seeing as you and I were the only ones in the room at least twenty years younger than everyone else. And by the way it's Hummel, Kurt Hummel, not Hudson unfortunately. Mrs. Hudson is my step mother, every once in a while I fill in for a family member at important meetings just to be up to date with everything. And by family member I mean my lazy step brother who is always too hung over or too busy sleeping with all the women in Manhattan. The things we do for family, right?" Kurt laughed.
Blaine chuckled as he took a drink of his water. "So you work for Hudson Publishing then? Helping your step mother?"
"Oh no. I do that on the side, whenever I can or if they really need me. I'm actually a costume designer for a Broadway show, well technically I'm an apprentice of sorts but I've pretty much been taking charge of it all since the actual designer is a raging alcoholic that hardly ever goes to work. Works out for me though. " He grinned.
"Wow, that's incredible. I never would have thought that's what you did just by looking at you. I figured you were also a corporate figure or something, you sure dress like it. You look so sophisticated, so sharp, so Upper East Side." Rachel, who was apparently left completely forgotten, had her mouth hanging open at the obvious sparks going on in front of her. Frankly she wasn't even offended that Blaine hadn't introduced her much less acknowledged her in the past couple minutes. She'd never seen him like this before, so captivated by someone. Sure he'd dated guys in college but he always liked to keep his love life under wraps. He never flaunted it or talked about it. Rachel had never seen him come anything close to flirting and now that she was witnessing it with her own eyes, well. It. Was. Awesome.
Kurt fixed his tie and blushed a bit. "Why thank you. Though I hate to state the obvious, I am very Upper East Side. I mean, if your father marries into one of the city's most affluent and wealthy families in the city, well you got to look the part. Although it's nothing I had to work at, I've always had a sophisticated taste in clothing and pretty much just a love of everything that has to do with fashion. And you look like you have that in common, I love the bow tie. It's very 1960's chic, I like it." Blaine's face turned red and looked almost flustered.
"Thanks. I like to have a unique style. I've always had a weird fixation with the 1950's and 60's and I like to show it sometimes." By now Rachel was a little tired of being ignored and cleared her throat, smiling at Blaine, trying to get him to introduce her.
Blaine shot up in his seat immediately. "Oh my god! Rachel, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. Kurt, this is my roommate and best friend, Rachel Berry. I can't believe I didn't introduce you two, that's incredibly rude of me."
Kurt took my hand and smiled, "Hi Rachel, pleasure meeting you. Sorry about completely ignoring you, we were so caught up in the conversation."
Rachel showed her thousand watt smile and tucked her hair behind her ear.
"Oh it's no problem, really. I love seeing Blaine make new friends."
Both young men blushed and looked down at their hands, like two kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.
Kurt attempted to change the subject.
"You know, I feel like I've seen you before. Have we met in the past or crossed paths?"
Rachel thinks for a second and shakes her head.
"No, I don't think so."
He shrugs and continues.
"So what do you do for a living Rachel? Do you work with Blaine?"
Her smile faltered a bit and she took a long drink from her wine glass.
"Actually I'm unemployed at the moment. I haven't been able to get hired anywhere since I graduated from college this spring. It's been a little difficult but I'm still working hard getting my resume out there."
Blaine placed his hand over hers and gave her a warm smile. "Yeah, it's been a tough few months for Rachie but I keep telling her to keep her chin up. Someone is bound to see how great she is and will hire her in a second."
Rachel squeezes his hand and smiles back.
"Blaine has been quite the supportive friend, listening to all my griping. Although at this point I think I'm going to have to sell a kidney or something in order to make some money. I can't keep having him pay my share of the rent and the bills. My savings are quickly depleting."
Kurt frowns and feels badly for her and the situation she is in.
"You know if you want I could see if I could pull a few strings and get you a job at HP. I'm sure we have someplace we could squeeze you in."
Rachel nearly dropped her wine and gasped loudly while Blaine's mouth gaped open and his eyes were wide as saucers.
"Kurt, no! No! That's- that's, oh my goodness! That's impossible! You barely even know me and it's just too much to ask for. Besides, I sent my resume to their HR department months ago and I never got called back."
Kurt put his hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.
"Rachel, it's ok. You're a friend now. Yes, a VERY, VERY new friend whom I just met, "he laughed, "But a friend none the less and this is what friends do. What's the point of being at the top of the heap if you don't use your privileges to help others? I remember going through times exactly like these when I was a kid. I haven't always been an Upper East sider you know, before my dad started his business we went through some tough times financially and if i can help someone get out of a situation like that, well, i'd be an idiot if I didn't."
She can feel the tears welling up in her eyes but refuses to let them fall in order to not make a scene.
"Now I can't positively guarantee anything immediately but I'll go have a chat with the newly appointed CEO, work my charm, and I'll see what I can do. Give me your number and I'll give you a call when I know of anything." He handed her his phone so she could program it in.
Rachel bit her lip and typed in her number and breathed out deeply as she handed it back.
"Thank you so much Kurt, you have no idea how much this means to me. I won't get my hopes up but just knowing that you'll try is enough." She got up from her seat and gave him a hug.
"By the way, what show are you a costume designer for?" She asked.
"Wicked." Blaine looked at Rachel whose eyebrows had shot up and had gasped quietly. "Why? Are you a Broadway fan?"
"Fan?" Blaine said with laughter in his voice. "Rachel is a Broadway baby, it was her first love. She's incredibly passionate about it to say the least. And Wicked is one of her favorites."
Kurt raised an eyebrow and grinned at the tiny brunette.
"Well, Ms. Berry, I think we're going to get along famously."
The story will pick up after this, just had to set a little bit of background for Finn and Rachel. They'll meet in the next chapter.
Tell me what you think! Reviews are love. :)