Chapter 5: Business trips and Birthdays
Brittany's POV
*Saturday 4th January 2020*
Ms Lopez and I are currently on our flight to the mini business trip I'm accompanying her on. I thought it might have been a little awkward because other than in work, we have never spent time together just the two of us. Tonight, there is an event on for fashion designers where they all come and enjoy some drinks while discussing their lines. There is a really big fashion show coming up from my understanding and all these top fashion designers want to be included in it so tonight is about promoting their businesses but in a more informal setting with a party. Ms Lopez primarily designs children's clothes so she is going to be working extra hard tonight to promote her new venture in adult clothing. She wants these other designers and fashion show runners to take her seriously in adult fashion. All of this stuff is way over my head because as I mention all the time, I am clueless with fashion, but I am here to help promote the lines and make these people see how talented my boss is.
"So, if I remember correctly, your birthday is in January so have I missed it?" I ask curiously as I turn to look at her.
"It's next week" Ms Lopez mumbles.
"Are you embarrassed about having a birthday?" I ask amused.
"Not embarrassed, I just don't generally do birthdays" she shrugs at me. "If my family or friends are celebrating theirs then I'll join in but I don't really celebrate mine. I'm usually working anyway" she adds.
"Each to their own I guess" I say. "My birthday is actually in February" I point out as a silence fills the air around us.
"Ok" she shrugs at me like she isn't even that interested.
"I guess we don't need to make conversation. We can just sit in silence the whole journey" I state.
"Sorry" Ms Lopez apologises. "Have you got anything planned for you birthday?" she asks me.
"Not really because I'm scheduled to work and I don't think my boss will give me the day off" I reply.
"If you really want the day off then I can see what I can do" she tells me.
"Really?" I ask surprised.
"Yes, really" she nods her head. "You've done a lot for my business recently so if giving you the day off on your birthday makes up for it then I'll do it" she smiles.
"Ok thank you Ms Lopez" I smile back.
"I meant to say, you can call me Santana tonight. None of this Ms Lopez bullshit" she tells me.
"Oh wow, I am so honoured" I say sarcastically.
"I'm serious. There's no need to be so formal this evening at the party" she tells me.
"Ok" I nod.
For the rest of the plane journey, Ms Lopez briefed me on the plans for tonight and then she took a little nap. I wasn't nearly tired enough to nap so I basically spent my time flipping through a magazine. Once the plane eventually landed, we collected our bags and went outside to find a cab. We then made our way to the hotel. I've just walked over to the receptionist to check us into the hotel as Santana waits at the side with our bags.
"Good afternoon, I'm Brittany Pierce. We have a reservation under the names Pierce and Lopez" I tell the receptionist.
"Ok, let me just check the system" the receptionist says while looking at her computer. She then begins to check us in. "That's you all checked in so here is your key" the receptionist says while handing me the key.
"There should be two" I point out. "One for Lopez and one for Pierce" I add.
"Sorry, it's one room" she clarifies.
"Oh. I thought we booked two" I state. "I suppose we could share a twin room" I shrug. It might not be what I initially had planned but I suppose it could work out ok.
"It's actually only a double room as in one bed" she tells me nervously.
"That's not appropriate. I am on a business trip with my boss so we need at least a bed each if you can't give me another room" I say seriously.
"We're fully booked so we can only give you that one room" the receptionist tells me.
"Can you not switch us with another party that has a twin room then?" I ask annoyed. This isn't acceptable. I know I like to mess around with my boss but this just isn't something we can laugh off.
"I'm sorry, I can't. Most of our twin rooms are all occupied now so all the guests who have been assigned them are already in their rooms" the receptionist states.
"What do I do then?" I ask. I have no idea what we're supposed to do in a situation like this.
"The double room is a small suite so it has an area with a couch so perhaps one of you could have that" she replies.
"I did not just sit on a long plane ride to turn up to a hotel to sleep on a couch. If I wanted to be in discomfort this trip then I wouldn't have bothered sorting out accommodation and would have slept outside" I say unamused.
"Hey, what's going on?" Ms Lopez asks me as she walks over to us.
"They've messed up our rooms and all we've been given is a double room. Allegedly we're meant to share a bed but I've told them it won't work" I sigh.
"We'll figure something out, come on" Ms Lopez shrugs before taking the key from me and walking towards the elevator.
"We will?" I ask confused as I hurriedly follow her.
"It's no big deal" she shrugs. "It's certainly not the receptionist's fault either because she just gives out the keys and checks us in, she doesn't assign the rooms so there was no need to get annoyed with her" she adds.
"You fly off the handle all the time at people whether it's their fault or not" I point out.
"I know but I'm tired from the flight and I don't have the energy to fight someone. I just want to go to our room, shower and then get something to eat before having a rest. We've got a big night planned so I want to keep my energy for that" Ms Lopez tells me.
"Fine" I sigh. I don't know why she's so tired since she slept on the plane but whatever.
Once we get to our room, Ms Lopez goes for her shower like planned and I unpack a few of my things and iron my dress for tonight. I then take a lie down on the bed to wait until the bathroom is free. I'm just browsing on my phone when Ms Lopez comes out of the bathroom and sits on the bed next to me.
"Look, I know the hotel screwed up the room and we need to share a bed but that doesn't mean I am ok with you cuddling me in your sleep later. I like my own space" I smirk at Ms Lopez.
"Don't worry so do I" Ms Lopez replies.
"Seriously, all joking aside. Is this going to be ok?" I ask looking at her.
"I'm sure we can brave it for just one night" she assures me.
"Ok" I nod.
XXX
The party is in full swing now which also means I've got numerous drinks inside me. I do like that Ms Lopez invited me tonight but honestly, I feel so out of place right now. I don't know a thing about fashion, I don't look like I even know what fashion means by the way I'm dressed and I haven't the faintest idea what everyone is talking about to me. I've basically just followed Ms Lopez around all night and got us drinks. To be fair though, she doesn't seem to mind that I'm following her everywhere. We've currently just been approached by a man who clearly looks like he's in the fashion business judging by his suit. It looks dearer than my apartment so he's obviously got expensive taste.
"It's nice to see you again Santana, you're looking as lovely as ever" the man tells my boss with a smile.
"Thank you" Ms Lopez replies with a stoic expression. I guess she didn't take it in the same way as I heard it.
"Are you keeping good?" he asks curiously.
"I'm doing well, thank you Russell" Ms Lopez replies, her expression never changing.
"And the husband?" the man asks.
"He's very well" Ms Lopez smiles.
"Husband?" I say with a slight chuckle. "You don't have a…"
"Shush!" Ms Lopez tells me harshly as she interrupts me. "Yes, we're still very happily married and I'm still way off the market" she says turning to Russell again.
"That's a shame" he states.
"Not for my husband it's not" Ms Lopez shrugs.
"Who is this lovely young lady here?" Russell asks, looking at me with a weird smirk.
"This is Brittany Pierce, one of my best employees who is helping me tonight. She's my accounting and finance manager" Ms Lopez replies.
"So, Brittany, tell me are you…?"
"She's happily married, yes" Ms Lopez says interrupting me before I can even talk.
"Actually I'm…" I try to protest but she answers before I can.
"It's ok Brittany. It's fine to mention your husband tonight since we're not actually in the office and it's out of hours. You see Russell, I make a point of my employees not bringing up their personal life during working hours" Ms Lopez tells the man.
"What's your husband's name?" he asks me.
"Um…" I literally have drawn a blank, I don't know what to say.
"Stephen is her husband" Ms Lopez says, jumping in.
"Are you not allowed to talk yourself Brittany" Russell jokes.
"That's my fault, I like to talk but yes Brittany feel free to talk" Ms Lopez says turning to me.
"Thank you" I nod. Although I am grateful she jumped in because I am so confused right now. I'm not married and neither is my boss so what's going on.
"Oh, I better go actually but Stephen is a lucky man" Russell tells me.
"Um…thanks" I say.
"No doubt we'll meet again Santana" he says turning to my boss.
"No doubt, Russell" Ms Lopez nods. Russell then walks away and mingles with other people at the party. "What a fucking asshole" she says while shaking her head. "Look I'm sorry I said you were married but if I didn't then he'd be all over you and I didn't think you'd want that" she adds.
"It's cool" I shrug.
"I only said it because that guy is a sleaze. I don't want him coming onto either of us so I tell him I'm married even though I'm not" she points out.
"Good idea" I nod. I'd rather have some fake husband or wife than say I'm single and give the guy an opportunity to talk to me.
For most of the night Ms Lopez mingled with the other talented people at the party and like I say, I followed her around all night. It's not that I'm anti-social and can't talk to people, I just found this setting kind of hard since I'm not a fashion designer. Everyone here is here to promote what they do and really, I just work in accounts so there is nothing for me to promote. I could promote Ms Lopez's fashion lines but since I'm not that clued in about fashion then I'd probably do the opposite and end up putting people off her clothes.
Ms Lopez and I are just getting ready for bed just now. She used the bathroom first where she got changed and brushed her teeth. I've just finished my turn in the bathroom so I'm now helping Ms Lopez to prepare the bed. We're just taking some of the pillows off it to give us some more room because all the pillows aren't needed and we're taking the top sheet off because it's way too warm in this hotel for all these sheets.
"Bed time it is now" Ms Lopez smiles at me as she climbs into the bed.
"It is and it's a little more intimate than I was expecting" I say as I lie down, a little closer to my boss than I imagined we'd be.
"It'll be fine. I'm a relatively still sleeper so I won't move in the night" she shrugs.
"Let's make a pillow wall to be on the safe side" I suggest.
"I'm not going to jump you in my sleep so relax. We don't need no pillow wall" she chuckles.
"Just to be on the safe side we'll make one" I shrug while getting out of bed.
"It's going to give us less room to get comfortable if we have the pillows taking up space on the bed" she tells me.
"Maybe I should just sleep on that pathetic thing through there that the receptionist called a couch" I sigh.
"You are not sleeping on that thing. You'll wake up with a sore back and neck. Just make your damn pillow wall if you need to" Ms Lopez replies.
"Thank you, Ms Lopez" I nod as I start getting the pillows from the floor.
"Please stop calling me that. I told you to call me Santana" she replies.
"I thought that was just for the party" I frown in confusion.
"We know each other well enough now so Santana is fine all the time" she smiles at me.
"Ok" I shrug. I then start making a pillow wall up the middle of the bed. Once I'm finished, I get back into bed and lie down.
"I had a lot of fun tonight" Santana tells me.
"Sorry, what was that?" I ask teasingly.
"I had fun with you tonight. Quinn was right, you are a lot of fun on nights out" she smiles at me.
"I know we have a weird relationship and stuff but I do like you Santana. You're a great boss but also a really cool friend to hang out with outside of work" I say honestly. I doubt she'll admit to us being friends but I think we are. I mean if I really hated my employee as much as Santana claims to dislike me, I wouldn't feel comfortable inviting them on a trip like this especially one where we share a hotel room.
"I don't open up well to people but Quinn really likes you and I trust Quinn with my life so I am warming to you" she replies. Normally I would tease her about her lack of enthusiasm about us being friends. She said she is warming to me but she could have said we are friends and she likes me. I'm not going to tease her though because I'm getting the sense, she does have many walls up around people for a reason so it wouldn't be right to push it.
"I know I tease you a lot but I also have a serious side so if you ever want to talk then I am here. I can imagine that creating the whole company by yourself could be a little lonely sometimes so I'm here or at work if you need someone" I say genuinely.
"I do appreciate what you're saying but I'm ok" she shrugs.
"Quinn seemed to think you've been a little down recently so I'm guessing you miss Greg?" I say. It's only been 2 or so months since they split.
"Quinn can think what she wants but I'm not down about anything. I'm loving life at the moment because SL Designs have never been better and I'm young, free and single" she states. "As for Greg, no I don't miss him" she shrugs.
"That's good because I'd hate for you to miss someone that treated you like shit. You deserve so much better Santana" I smile.
"This kind of success I have comes with its downsides. I think people like Greg saw the dollar signs more than they saw the real me" she shrugs. I don't understand how she can be so nonchalant about this.
"Like I always told Quinn, Greg is an ass and you deserve better. I never liked him since the day I met him" I say. "You need someone who sees you for who you are not what they want you to be" I add.
"Do you think so?" she asks unsure.
"100%" I nod. "No one should change for anyone. We are all who we are for a reason" I smile.
"Thank you" she tells me genuinely. "It's nice to hear that I'm not always so bad" she says while leaning her head to the side to look at me.
"Whoever you decide to marry and settle down with is one lucky bastard" I say causing Santana to laugh. "Seriously, anyone would be lucky to have you" I state while looking back at her.
"Hopefully I do end up with someone decent" she says quietly.
"You will, I know it" I say honestly. We stare at each other for a moment before I decide to just do it. It being the thing I want to do all the time but never do because I'm too much of a sucker to actually bite the bullet and do it. As soon as my lips touch Santana's and I kiss her, I feel her kiss me back. We continue kissing for a moment before we both seem to pull away at the same time.
"Goodnight Brittany" she smiles at me.
"Night boss" I wink.
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*Sunday 5th January 2020*
We're on our flight back home now. The weekend was fun but it'll be good to get home and back to normality. I'm also looking forward to getting back to my own bed. I think I spent the night half awake last night because I was in such close proximity to Santana. She's my boss so it's a little weird sharing a bed with her but she's also the person I kinda kissed last night so it's confusing. It's not like I have all these romantic feelings for her but clearly, we kissed for a reason so why was that? We haven't spoken about it and I don't know that we will any time soon. I think we're both kinda pretending it didn't happen but also hopeful that it might happen again.
"I meant to ask earlier; can you work late again tomorrow night so we can hopefully finish the presentation?" Santana asks me.
"Yeah" I nod.
"Hopefully that'll be the last late night and you can get back to your life" she chuckles.
"I don't mind working late because I have no life to get back to" I shrug.
"Oh…uh…" Santana says awkwardly.
"Don't worry, I don't want to talk about my feelings or anything" I say laughing. I can't help it sometimes but say how I feel. I do understand though that Santana isn't that sort of person.
"Look, Brittany. We do talk more nowadays and I do see you as slightly more than my employee because you do work alongside me as opposed to for me but I'm just not someone that opens up to people or is comfortable with others opening up" she admits.
"I know that and I'm not going to pour my heart out to you about how miserable my life is right now. Sometimes it just slips out" I reply.
"Ok" she nods. We sit in silence, an awkward silence, for a moment. "Do you know what, this is a long plane ride home and I don't want to spend it in silence so if you'd like to talk then I'm here. Don't expect me to open up about myself though" she says.
"You really don't have to do that. We can talk about something else to fill the silence" I state. "Let's talk about work, you love work" I add.
"Honestly…I've had enough work talk this weekend" she admits which surprises me. Santana loves work. She lives and breathes work. "I spent the whole of last night talking about fashion, my designs, my future plans, my whole business and I think I need to take a break. I love what I do but I don't think I've grovelled so hard in my life before and do you know something, I don't think it's even worth it" she shrugs.
"Even if you're not invited to the fashion show, you can hold your own because your designs speak for themselves. They are amazing" I tell her.
"This talk is becoming too much about how I feel so let's change that" she states. "How's the dating life at the moment?" she asks me.
"Non-existent" I shrug. "I'm going to die alone" I chuckle. I don't find it funny but it's one of those times you either laugh or cry and right now I'm not about to cry in front of my boss or a full plane of passengers.
"That's not going to happen" Santana assures me.
"It will" I state. "I have a lot of issues so no one is going to want to be with me" I add.
"You are so confident at work so why are you like this outside of work so to speak. Why are you putting yourself down like this?" she asks me.
"Because the longer things go on the more depressed, I get about my personal life. It was funny in the beginning and I could joke about it but now time has gone on and I'm still single" I state. "There must be something wrong with me because I've been on dates but they never lead to anything."
"I don't think there's something wrong with you. You just know what you like and what you don't like so the dates haven't worked out" Santana shrugs.
"I haven't had a relationship in so long either" I say.
"I wouldn't worry about that too much because relationships suck so maybe you just need to look for someone to have fun with not a relationship" Santana points out. "Just get out there and meet people. Have some fun and later on down the line you can have a relationship. You're still young" she tells me.
"That is true but on the other hand, who wants fun these days. Mostly everyone I meet wants to either take things slow to eventually get together or are looking for a relationship right now" I reply.
"You're almost 24, right?" she asks and I nod. "Ok well come on, there must be other 24-year olds out there that aren't looking to settle down right now and are open to being young and having fun" she points out.
"There was actually one date that Quinn set me up on and the girl did seem like she just wanted a cool time and wasn't expecting anything serious" I say.
"There you go then. Give her a call and get some drinks or something sometime" Santana suggests.
"The problem is, I wasn't really attracted to her" I sigh.
"That probably would make it a little hard having sex with her" Santana nods.
"She was a great person and she might be cool to hang out with but yeah, I don't think I could sleep with her because I see her as being more of a friend" I say.
"Just don't give up though Brittany because things will work out eventually. I've learned that through business" she tells me.
"It's hard not to though when things really aren't working out like you wanted them too" I sigh.
"I know that. Believe me I do, but you have to stay positive. Who cares if you aren't in a relationship right now because plenty of people aren't? I'm not" she tells me with a shrug.
"Yes, but you've had some sort of fling recently. All I've had is some lousy dates and some less than interesting nights in bed" I state.
"Maybe it is you then. Maybe you're terrible in bed" she says smirking at me.
"Yeah, maybe" I shrug.
"Brittany, I'm joking" she laughs. "I very much doubt it's your issue or the dates issues. I think you just haven't found the right person yet to have fun with or a relationship with" she adds.
"Maybe I'm looking too hard. I always liked the expression, 'the best things happen when you least expect them to' so maybe if I stop looking, the solution will present itself" I shrug.
"Maybe" Santana nods.
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*Friday 10th January 2020*
We finally finished the presentation a few nights ago so things are all back to normal now at SL Designs. I'm busy working on my own things while Santana is working on yet another new design. She has so many amazing designs out there that I don't know where she gets all her inspiration from. When I first started working for her, she had the one main children's clothing line and now her brand is bigger than ever. She has all these cute designs for children and is now branching into adult fashion which is just as cool as everything she has done so far. Saying that though, I know nothing about fashion so maybe it is all horrible. I really doubt that but who knows.
I'm just sitting working at my desk, going through last month's expenses when Santana walks over to me. I'm a little surprised she is standing in front of me right now.
"Do you need me for something?" I ask curiously. I'm not really sure why she is here right now because I thought she was busy all afternoon in her office.
"If you're free next weekend then I need you to come with me on another business trip" she tells me.
"Yeah, I'm free" I smile. I had fun the other week so I would love to go again.
"Good, book yourself a flight then to New York with me. My assistant has the details so speak to her and tell her to add you onto my flight information" she replies.
"Wait…why aren't you taking your assistant with you?" I ask confused. That is usually the person that goes with her and now I think about it, she would probably go with her to this one. She only didn't go to the last trip because of childcare issues.
"Do you want to come with me or not Pierce?" Santana asks me unamused.
"Yes please" I nod.
"Ok, good. Talk to my assistant like I said then and she'll sort everything" she tells me.
"Cool" I smile.
"Also, we'll be going to a film premiere on the Saturday night so pick any dress you want from downstairs to wear to it" she states. She's slowly expanding the company to adult fashion as well so there's some nice pieces already manufactured downstairs in production.
"Oh, a little bit of self-advertising" I smile.
"You know it" she nods. "Anyway, I'll get back to work now" she says before promptly leaving and heading back to her office. The more I think about the weekend, the more I'm wondering if it really is a business thing. We're going to a film premiere so apart from wearing a couple of the designs she has, how exactly are we doing business? I think it's more a social event where she has been invited to attend the premiere and needed someone to tag along with her. If I am right then I'm quite interested to see why she asked me and not someone else like her best friend.
"Hello! Earth to my boss!" Jack says loudly, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Sorry, I was miles away" I say shaking my head.
"Everything ok?" he asks me concerned.
"Yeah. Absolutely" I smile. "So, what's up?" I ask.
"I'm just concerned about the finances last week so do I speak to you about it or go to Ms Lopez?" he asks me.
"Talk to me" I reply.
"Well, the business trip you went on at the beginning of the month doesn't seem to add up. I might have misheard you but I thought you told me you ended up having to share a room. According to the hotel bill, we seem to owe money for two rooms" he points out.
"We did share a room" I sigh. "I knew we booked two rooms because that's what it said on the accounts but when we turned up, apparently we only had been assigned one so I doubted what I saw" I shake my head. I'm pissed off right now because the company does not owe the hotel for two rooms when they barely gave us one.
"Will I call and see what they say or is that Ms Lopez's assistant's job since we just prepare the accounts and finances and don't handle complaints and things like that?" he asks me.
"It's a financial issue so rightly our department should handle it" I state. "I'll call though and see what they want to do to fix this because I was in the situation first hand."
"Ok" Jack shrugs.
"Thank you for telling me Jack" I say before making my way to Santana's office. As soon as I get there I knock on the door.
"I'm busy, who is it?" Santana says through the door.
"It's Brittany" I reply.
"Make it quick then" she tells me so I walk inside.
"You are never staying in that hotel again that we were in last weekend" I tell her.
"Um…ok" she looks at me confused.
"Jack was looking at the finances last week and the invoice says two rooms. We shared one room so they've charged us for an extra room" I state annoyed. The company is paying for it so I guess I shouldn't be that pissed since it's not coming out of my pocket but it's the principle. It's also the fact that this was a very expensive hotel we booked into so the extra room is quite a bit of money.
"Does it affect the finances significantly?" Santana asks me.
"Not too much but it's the principle Santana. They think they can charge two rooms to SL Designs and get away with it. That's not appropriate and its money being thrown away that you could put elsewhere in the business" I point out.
"I'll call them myself right now then. Get me their number" Santana states.
"It's fine, I'll call" I state. I walk over to Santana's side of the desk, push her gently to the side in her chair and then start dialling the number on the phone on the desk.
"You could have said excuse me but ok" she says waving her arms at me.
"Shush, I'm on the phone" I say frowning at her as I listen to the annoying tone on the phone. Obviously, no one is in a hurry to pick up and answer.
"You might as well take my seat since you're at my desk and on my phone" she tells me as she stands up.
"Thanks" I whisper while taking the chair.
"I was being sarcastic but whatever" she shakes her head at me.
"Again, I'm on the…yes hello" I state. "Hello? Hello…fuck it's a recorded message" I say aloud while rolling my eyes. "Yes, I will press 2" I say before aggressively pressing two on the phone.
"Wow, just wow" Santana says while laughing. I have no idea why she is laughing right now.
"Customer services please…no I don't want to hold…can I speak to the manager please…what part of no I can't hold don't you understand…no I won't lower my tone" I say getting annoyed.
"Brittany, calm down" Santana whispers to me.
"What seems to be the problem? I think what you mean is what don't I have a problem with because I've got many" I say as a woman from customer services appears on the phone. "I'm Brittany Pierce and I'm the head of the account and finance department for SL Designs and the invoice you have sent us is completely incorrect. It states we had a reservation for two rooms which was correct but when we got to the hotel, we were only given one room. I know that for a fact as I was a guest with Ms Lopez herself."
"Ok, if you give me a second while I pull up a copy of the invoice" the woman on the phone tells me.
"Ok" I sigh. I wait for a few minutes before she comes back on the line.
"I have the invoice here Ms Pierce and it does seem like you have been charged for two rooms but according to the check in details you were indeed only provided the one room" the woman replies.
"Tell me something I don't know" I sigh. "This kind of mistake isn't appropriate to a company of this size. I don't care what kind of mix up was made, I want to know that you'll put this right. Ms Lopez enjoyed her stay in the hotel and she was willing to put a lot of business your way in the future for whenever she was to stay in the area. However, I have assured her that she shouldn't stay with you again if you're going to provide these kinds of unacceptable situations. Not only have you charged us more but you also messed up our booking in the beginning. I don't want SL Designs associated with a company that does that."
"I cannot apologise enough for the mistakes and we will refund you the full price of the room" the woman tells me.
"Thank you" I say. "I want to point out that this isn't just about a room, this is about the service Ms Lopez received. I really don't think it is appropriate for us to turn up and you to tell us we have only one room booked and then make us share a double room. It's highly inappropriate" I add.
"I can assure you it will not happen again and I am sending you an updated invoice as we speak" the woman tells me.
"That's good, thank you" I say.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?" the woman asks.
"No, that is all thank you" I state. "I shall not be doing business with you again, goodbye" I say before hanging up the phone.
"Wow" Santana says while smirking at me.
"What?" I ask.
"You really laid into the person on the phone" she tells me. "I'm not sure if I find that kinda cute or if I kinda feel bad for the lady on the other end of the line."
"It wasn't just about charging you for something you didn't have. It was more about the emotions I had to let out about how I feel about that place. The incorrect invoice gave me more ammunition to call and complain" I state. Santana is a nice person and I have mentioned I had a slight crush on her but I still felt incredibly uncomfortable sharing a bed with her. Not only because of personal issues but from a professional standpoint to. I just think it was highly inappropriate for the hotel to not give us another room or do something because I was sharing a bed with my boss. Would they had done that if I was with a man?
"Apart from the room mix up, I thought the hotel was ok" Santana shrugs.
"That's fine but I still felt weird having to share a bed with my boss. It's nothing to do with you, it's me and my own issues" I tell her.
"If I made you uncomfortable Brittany then you should have said something" Santana tells me seriously.
"No, I said it wasn't you" I state. The only reason I went through with it is because I like Santana but had I been on a business trip with someone else then I would have walked out of the hotel and went somewhere else.
"Ok" she nods.
"The main thing is I got to vent to them and you're getting a refund so it's all good now" I shrug. "Anyway, I should get back to work now" I say before leaving.
Santana's POV
*Sunday 12th January 2020*
I took a little inspiration from Brittany and I decided to look for a new place. I had been thinking about it for a while but when Brittany moved into her new apartment, it made me realise that I do want to move so I put my plan into motion. I found a great house really quickly because Quinn is the best realtor that I know and she managed to pull a few strings for me. Today is the day that I'm finally moving so I've got my friends and family all here to help me. My brother thinks I'm being tight with money by not hiring a moving firm but I just don't see the sense when I have people that can help me for free.
"Hey" James, Quinn's boyfriend, says cheerfully as he walks in carrying empty boxes.
"Hey, how are you?" I smile.
"I'm good, you?" he replies as he sits the boxes down on the ground.
"Yeah, I'm ok" I nod.
"The empty boxes are for you. Quinn thought you might need them" James shrugs. I've got to laugh because my best friend knows me so well. I'm supposed to be moving today but just like Quinn predicted I'm not even fully packed up yet. I'm so organised at work but at home, not so much.
"I do need them so thank you" I say gratefully. "Speaking of Quinn, where is my best friend?" I ask.
"She'll be here shortly. She thought if would be better if we both took our cars and that way; we would get more things moved at the one time" he replies. Two cars are better than one so it makes sense.
"Cool" I nod. We all get started on moving my things into cars and the removal truck my dad hired.
"Hey, it's me. I brought an extra body to help" Quinn says as she walks inside.
"Well I hope they're female because I'm off men remember" I joke. "And I hope they're hot…oh shit."
"Hi" Brittany smiles at me. "Do I live up to expectations?" she asks with a smirk.
"What are you doing here Pierce?" I ask.
"Helping you move. Isn't it obvious?" she replies laughing. "Quinn said you were moving and didn't hire a moving company and I had the day off and was bored so thought I could help" she adds.
"I thought it made perfect sense" my best friend tells me.
"I suppose an extra person will help" I shrug. "Just don't nosy around my stuff though, yeah?"
"I would never dream of it" Brittany smiles at me while grabbing a box.
"Good" I nod. The three of us start taking some more boxes outside.
"Today is not exactly the birthday I would have planned for myself but what can you do when someone doesn't want to acknowledge their birthday" Quinn shrugs. I literally want to hit her right now. She knows I wanted an extremely lowkey birthday so I wanted to keep busy and not remind myself I'm turning another year older.
"Wait a minute…today is the big 4-0?" Brittany asks with a smirk.
"Yes, today is my birthday and no I am not turning 40" I sigh. "I've told you before how old I am" I add.
"I know you're 26, I'm just teasing" she smiles at me.
"Good. Now let's keep going because we have a lot to move and I want it all done by the end of today. Also, I'm not fully packed yet so we have a lot of work ahead of us" I state.
"I knew you hadn't finished packing" Quinn says while laughing at me.
"I know you knew but anyway, keep taking my boxes outside please" I tell her. She nods at me and then gets moving again.
"Honey, where did…uh hi there" my mom says, stopping talking when she sees Brittany. "I don't believe we've met" she adds.
"No, you haven't met mom. Brittany this is my mom and mom, this is Brittany Pi…"
"Brittany Pierce, it's nice to finally put a face to the name" my mom says while walking towards Brittany. "Honey, come and meet Brittany" she says while pulling on my dad's arm.
"It's nice to meet you Mr and Mrs Lopez" Brittany smiles at my parents as she shakes their hands.
"We were wondering when we would meet you. Santana doesn't mix work and friends but we knew we would eventually meet you because she talks about you a lot" my dad tells my employee.
"No, I don't" I say, looking down embarrassed.
"You are not the first people to say that actually" Brittany smiles at my parents.
"Uh…excuse me. Who else lied and said I talk about you all the time?" I ask.
"They didn't lie but it's not important who else said it because they're in your past now" Brittany states.
"Whatever" I wave it off. "Can we all please help me move house now" I state annoyed. Everyone is talking a little bit too much now so I want things to get moving.
XXX
After I finished packing everything up, Quinn helped me load the last few boxes into my car and we met everyone at my new house. I ordered pizza for everyone and we took a short break before all my happy helpers started to help me unpack. Once it was starting to get late, I sent everyone home and said I'd finish unpacking myself either tonight or tomorrow. Everyone gratefully went home because I think they had enough of me bossing them around except for Brittany. She was having none of it so decided to stay and continue to help me. It was free help I was getting so I wasn't going to stop her.
"Wow, a pool" Brittany says surprised as we walk outside to get some air. Moving really works up a sweat so we needed a moment and some fresh air.
"I've always loved the idea of a pool but I wasn't necessarily looking for one but when I saw this house, I just knew I had to have it" I shrug.
"It really is a lovely place you have here and once we finish unpacking properly it'll look even better because it will have your own personal touch on it" Brittany says.
"Hey, let's forget about the unpacking. I can do that another time" I state.
"Oh…uh, ok" Brittany nods sadly. "I'll see you at work tomorrow then, I guess" she shrugs.
"No, I didn't mean for you to leave. I meant let's forget about unpacking and do something else" I reply.
"Are you asking me to hang out with you?" she smirks at me.
"I thought we could test out my pool. I'm so warm from all that physical work today so I want to cool down" I say. I know I'm not exactly answering her question but I don't care.
"Ok" she shrugs.
"I'll get us some drinks from the kitchen and you make yourself comfortable" I tell her. I then head inside and throw my bikini on and get us some drinks before joining Brittany outside again. When I walk over to her, she is sitting at the side of the pool with her feet dipped into the water.
"Really? Shorts?" I ask laughing. "You're getting into the pool in your shorts?"
"Yeah" she nods. "I wasn't going to go under water so my bra is fine because it won't get wet but I don't have a bathing suit with me so I'll need to go in in my shorts otherwise you'll see my butt through the wet material" she shrugs.
"I'll lend you a bikini" I smile.
"Honestly I'm fine" she shakes her head.
"I wash them obviously" I laugh.
"Really I'm fine. I'll just go in like this so I don't need to borrow anything" she assures me.
"Ok, fine" I say letting it go. If she would rather wear shorts than a bikini then it's up to her. Once she slides into the pool, I slowly slide in next to her and bring our drinks closer to us.
"Cheers to your new place" Brittany says while picking up her glass and holding it in the air.
"Yeah, cheers to me" I laugh while clinking my glass with Brittany's.
"Your family seem great. They were all really nice to me" Brittany tells me.
"My family are the best" I smile. "They're nothing like me, of course" I say laughing.
"You're a lot nicer than you give yourself credit for" she shrugs at me.
"No, my family are really great and my parents brought me up so well. They didn't bring me up to be the kind of mean bitch I can be. I adapted that way all on my own" I point out. "Underneath it all, I can be just as nice as them because you've seen Quinn. There is no way she would be my best friend if I didn't have a couple of nice bones in me" I shrug.
"I totally get it" she smiles. "You have to be that kind of person in business to be successful. I like to think I can be a little hard sometimes when I'm really working on something I'm passionate about" she adds. We fall into a silence for a moment as we sip our wine.
"So, tell me, did Quinn make you come today or did you want to come and help?" I ask curiously as I turn towards Brittany.
"When she told me what you were all doing, I wanted to help" she shrugs.
"Why?" I ask curiously.
"There were many reasons actually. One - I was bored so wanted to hang out, two – I wanted to do something to keep my mind occupied or I'd just sit around lonely constantly overthinking all of my thoughts and three – I like you Santana. I know you're my boss but I feel weird when we don't see each other so I wanted to see you today. I mean don't read too much into it because it's not like I…"
"Shush" I say as I lean in and kiss Brittany. She starts to kiss me back for a moment before momentarily pulling away to place her wine glass down. I place mine down too and before I get a chance to reach out and kiss her, she pulls me towards her and places her hands on my cheek and kisses me. As we continue kissing, I feel her tongue gently enter my mouth which just makes me pull her even closer to me as I grip her waist.
"Wait, what are we doing?" she asks pulling away.
"Having fun" I shrug.
"I don't think we should" she sighs.
"We're both young and I don't want a proper relationship and you should just relax and have fun. I'll have fun with you" I tell her with a smirk. I told her before that there was no point rushing a relationship right now so she should just have fun while she's young.
"That's not funny" she shakes her head at me.
"I'm serious actually" I tell her honestly. "I'm not ready to get serious with anyone anytime soon and you want some fun. Plus, we're both hot and not that I've thought about it before but I don't see why we wouldn't find each other attractive so the sex would be amazing" I shrug.
"It's still a silly idea" she shakes her head again.
"But it's not really though, is it" I smirk while pulling her towards me and placing my hand on her neck so I can lean in and kiss her.
"We're not doing this" she says, pulling away from me.
"It's just sex Brittany, god" I sigh.
"There's things you don't know about me" she points out.
"I don't need to know about you if we're just having fun and nothing serious" I shrug.
"I mean before we have sex, there's things you don't know about me" she states.
"Oh my god, you're a virgin. Fuck" I state.
"No. I am not but I'm glad you would be so understanding if I was" she says rolling her eyes at me.
"This was just about sex so if you were a virgin then it wasn't going to work, was it?" I say. "Look, I have no problem with people who choose to wait so I wasn't judging. My point is that I'm not looking for anything serious so all it would be was sex. I opened up so much to Greg and he threw it back in my face. Now I don't care about him anymore but I do care about me and I'm not ready to open up to anyone yet so this was just about fun" I admit.
"Ok, fair enough" she nods. "I'm definitely not a virgin because I've got a couple of exes; I'm just unlucky in love these days hence the reason I'm not really with anyone. What you're suggesting can't happen though" she points out.
"I don't get it. We both don't want a relationship so why can't we just fool around a little to keep ourselves occupied?" I ask.
"If you fire me because of this then I'll get legal action" she says worriedly.
"Relax your job is safe. I'm not going to fire you just because you won't sleep with me. I'm really not that desperate for a hook-up" I say rolling my eyes at her.
"I'm going to go" she states while pulling herself up from the water and jumping out. She grabs her things and hurriedly leaves. Honestly, I'm so confused. We've kissed a couple of times now so what's the big deal and what exactly would I need to know if this was just fun?
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*Monday 13th January 2020*
Last night is still playing on my mind a little bit so I want to talk to Brittany today to see what's going on. Usually I wouldn't really be bothered by this because if someone isn't into you then they're not, it's not a big deal. The way Brittany ran off though was weird to me because all we were doing was kissing. Also why did she kiss me back if she didn't want us to do anything?
"Morning" I say walking towards Brittany's desk.
"Morning" Brittany says coldly.
"I think we need to talk about last night because things weren't left well" I state. "Shall we head to my office for privacy?" I suggest.
"I don't want to talk about last night" she shakes her head at me.
"These things wouldn't normally bother me but because we work together then I don't want things to get uncomfortable between us. I think we should have a quick chat to clear the air" I shrug.
"Fine" Brittany sighs. She then follows me to my office and I close the door.
"Take a seat" I say while gesturing to the chair in front of her.
"No thank you, I'll stand" she replies.
"I'm sorry for suggesting what I did because clearly you're offended. To be honest though you've kissed me before so I don't think I was totally in the wrong to suggest we hooked up" I say.
"We just can't do it" she tells me.
"Ok, fine" I nod. "You're my best employee Brittany so whatever happens outside of work doesn't reflect inside of work. You can stay mad at me if you want but you've always got a job here" I tell her.
"I'm not mad as such. I just feel weird about last night because you're right I did kiss you back but at the same time, it can't happen" she tells me.
"I really won't lose sleep over this so I don't know why you're so bothered by it. You said no and that's fine, let's leave it there."
"Ok" she replies.
"Ok" I smile. "Now, before I get started on work. Are you ok still accompanying me next week on my next business trip?" I ask.
"I am" she nods.
"I will double check the reservation the day before to make sure it's all appropriate and we have a room each" I say.
"That's fine" she nods again.
"Anyway, I will head back to work now and anything else you need to know about the trip will be with my assistant. I've got meetings all day today so I'd be grateful if you could handle things here today because I don't want to be disturbed" I say.
"No problem, boss" she tells me.
"I'll see you at the end of the day then" I say before heading back to my office. I'm not hugely satisfied that everything is ok between us but I think the air is cleared somewhat. Brittany does still seem a little off with me but she might just be embarrassed or something because she did kiss me back so clearly a part of her wanted something to happen.
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*Saturday 18th January 2020*
Brittany and I have just gotten back to the hotel from the film premiere we were at tonight. We had a good flight here and were well rested so we were looking forward to a fun night out. The premiere kinda let us down though tonight because it wasn't as good as we were hoping so I'm a bit worried it's been a wasted journey coming here. We're currently just getting comfortable in Brittany's hotel room. We have got our own hotel rooms this time but the party after the film was really lame tonight so we went back to the hotel early. Brittany asked me into her room for a drink and I thought, why the hell not. We might as well liven up the night ourselves. We didn't come all this way to sit alone in a hotel.
"There's not a lot of alcohol here but I think I have enough to make you a cocktail" Brittany tells me.
"Sounds good" I smile.
"I'll have it ready in two minutes" she tells me. I then sit down on the bed and flip through a couple of leaflets in the drawer as I wait. "Here we are" she says as she joins me on the bed and hands me a cocktail.
"Thank you" I say while taking the drink.
"Tonight, was a bit of a let-down wasn't it?" Brittany sighs.
"It was" I nod.
"I'm still not sure why I'm here though because we haven't promoted your brand at all. Was this trip really just about a movie premiere or do we have business to do tomorrow?" she asks me curiously.
"What's up with the air conditioning in this place?" I ask as I begin fanning myself. It is so warm in here for some reason.
"Avoiding the question. Clearly this is all tonight was" she smirks at me. Ok fine, I was invited to this premiere tonight and I didn't want to go alone so I asked Brittany. There really isn't much in the way of business tonight.
"Sorry, I just didn't want to go alone" I admit.
"It's cool because I like it when we hang out" she smiles at me. "You are right though; it is warm in here" she nods.
"I feel like there is actual droplets of sweat running down me, I am that warm" I state.
"Yeah" Brittany nods, looking at me. I turn my head away because eye contact isn't something I'm that into but I notice out of the corner of my eye that Brittany keeps looking at me. I say looking at me but I think she's more looking below eye level, maybe even below chin level.
"What?" I ask, looking at her once again.
"Uh…nothing" she says while turning her head away.
"I'm not desperate and I really don't care if you aren't into me, but are you?" I ask bluntly.
"Uh…what?" Brittany laughs nervously.
"Are you into me?" I ask.
"You're my boss Santana" she tells me.
"That's not what I asked" I point out. "And come on, we've not got the normal boss-employee relationship. I mean we've already kissed" I add. We were drunk but we still did it.
"I know" she nods.
"I'm attracted to you but like I say, if you're not into me then it's cool" I shrug.
"I am attracted to you" she sighs. "We just can't do anything about it though" she adds. I've heard all of this before many times.
"What did you mean when you said there's things I don't know about you?" I ask curiously.
"I don't care if people knock me back because it happens but because we work together then things could get really weird if you suddenly didn't like me anymore after what I need to tell you" she replies.
"I don't get it" I say confused.
"If you were any old person then I wouldn't care but I don't think I can work with you if you rejected me because of something and I don't think you'd want to work with me either knowing about me" she tells me.
"What the hell are you talking about Brittany?" I ask. I have no clue what's going on right now.
"There's a reason for why I was uncomfortable with us sharing a bed, and making the pillow wall and pulling away from you last weekend in the pool. All of those things add up and it's because I didn't want you to find out about a medical condition I have. I would need to tell you eventually I guess but there never seemed to be a right place or time" Brittany sighs.
"Medical condition? Is it serious?" I ask concerned.
"Certainly not life threatening but it's something rare and would make a big difference to who I sleep with" she says. "It's not contagious before you get worried" she adds.
"Just tell me what it is Brittany" I say. I can be mean but I'm not about to be right now when it's something this personal.
"Ok" she says while taking a deep breath to work up the courage to tell me. "I won't bore you with medical jargon but basically I have male genitalia which clearly I shouldn't" she states.
"Oh…uh…ok" I say and there's a short silence filling the air around us. "Wait, that's it?" I ask confused as she doesn't continue.
"Like I say it's not life threatening and doesn't exactly affect my quality of life. I've just been born with the wrong part I guess" she shrugs.
"So, we can't fool around because of that?" I ask for clarification.
"Exactly. I don't think I could handle you seeing it and getting repulsed by me and then us having to work together" she states.
"Brittany, I'm ok with that" I say honestly. I'm not into people by what they have in their pants. I'm into all different things and there's so much more to a person than that.
"You are?" she asks shocked.
"Of course, I am. Everyone is different for a reason and I dare say I won't look exactly like all the girls you've slept with before" I tell her.
"I guess I can do this then" she says before leaning in to kiss me.
"You definitely can" I smirk before leaning back in to kiss her. "I'm not like in love with you or anything though" I point out as I pull away. Brittany's cool but I don't want a relationship with anyone.
"I know" Brittany laughs. "This is purely sex" she smiles.
"Exactly" I nod while leaning in to kiss her.
