[Fanfiction] Love at first sight {Lost}
TITLE: Love at first sight
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Rachel Carlson/Richard Alpert (mentions Jack/Juliet, Amy/Horace)
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 1,715
SUMMARY: When Amy sets Rachel up on a blind date, she has no high hopes, but then a tall, dark hair man shows up, changing everything. Written for challenge #14 "the ship that never was" for lost_land and for prompt "Wild Card" at schmoop_bingo.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. Spoiler for season 6
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
Note: This is a "missing scene" set in the same universe as my Jack/Juliet sideways world story "Family Portrait", but can stand alone (and you don't need to read it).
~*~*~*~*
Rachel didn’t know how to feel when Amy invited her over for dinner one day. The invitation came out of nowhere, and although Rachel loved dinner parties and she really liked her new colleague Amy Goodspeed, she wasn’t so sure she should go. Amy was a nice woman and a good listener, and they got along pretty well. She was funny, but could also be cruel and stubborn, when something wasn’t running smoothly enough or the way Amy wanted it to be, without ever being rude or mean. Rachel liked that, and although Amy was a few years older than she was, it worked between them pretty good. They had much fun working in the library together and together they managed to make it through the even worst days of the weeks - most of them were Mondays, when their boss Jasper Hayworth would be in, infecting everyone and everything with his bad mood. Hayworth was constantly mad at everyone and everything, and when Rachel had first met him (one week after she’d started this job) she couldn’t believe that someone like Hayworth could be working at a place like a library with costumers going in and out every minute. But Hayworth was there and no one seemed to consider firing him for being rude to customers.
Rachel hated him and before the library had hired Amy to work with her, she hated going to work on Mondays at all.
Of course, she went anyway, since she needed the money to pay the rent and everything else they needed. Juliet had this college fund, but that was just enough money to cover her expenses for med school, text books and whatever else she needed. And ever since Jack Shephard had come into her life, the few free hours Juliet had outside school were absorbed by her boyfriend and there was no more room for a job.
Rachel was fine with this. She liked Jack and he was good for Juliet. She wanted her baby sister to be happy.
Although, sometimes it was hard to watch them and to see how it looked like when you were madly in love, while there was no man in her own life, no one to keep her warm at night or someone she could just call when she needed to talk.
Back in Miami, Rachel knew tons of boys, but ever since she moved to California with Juliet, it was hard for her to find someone interesting. The boys her on the west coast were so different from what she was used to, and to be honest, she was in that stage now where you started looking for something different, something more serious. A date for a night or someone she could hook up with every once in a while wasn’t really what Rachel had in mind anymore.
Unfortunately, every guy she met thought different, and after a few disappointed dates, Rachel had given up on dating completely - much to Amy’s disapproval.
Amy wanted Rachel to be happy, and although she assured her every time Amy asked about her (non-existing) love life that she was fine, Rachel knew that Amy was unsatisfied with the whole situation. It didn’t really come as a surprise, then, when Amy invited her to this party, letting her know that she had also invited some of Horace’s (male) co-workers and that Rachel shouldn’t dear to show up in anything other than this flower summer dress that looked so nice on her.
Rachel hadn’t been sure, if that was really necessary. Horace was a bit older than his wife, and Rachel hadn’t high hopes that whatever man Horace had invited was someone she should consider as a potential date.
But it should turn out that she was wrong …
When Rachel entered the Goodspeed’s backyard on Friday evening (for lack of alternatives, she’d followed Amy’s wish and wore the dress and a fitting pair of high heels) she expected it to be already crowded with all kinds of people in all different ages (but everyone much older than she was). Instead, the only part of the deserted backyard that seemed to be prepared for a party was the left side of the patio.
Rachel spotted a huge in-wall grill at the far end of the patio, a camping table set up for four persons and … well, and nothing else. There was no crowd, no loud music and no party going on, and when Rachel started to assume that she’d either entered the wrong backyard or got the dates confused, a tale, dark-haired man stepped up behind her.
“Excuse me,” he said in a gently voice that almost instantly transformed Rachel’s knees into pudding making it hard for her to keep her countenance. Never before in her life, had she heard a voice that was so sexy and engaging, and when she slowly turned around to get a better look at her company she felt her jaw drop by surprise.
Those eyes … those dark and mysterious looking eyes …
They couldn’t be real, could they?
Rachel blinked, but the man (his eyes) just didn’t vanish into thin air. But he couldn’t be. Could he? This was all just a dream, something her mind was making up, while she was still in her bed fast asleep. She had heard about this phenomenon of a subconscious, that, in your dreams, you often process what you have experienced or thought about by day and that, sometimes, these things were mixed up to something surreal and confusing - or, in this case, something impossible.
That was what had happened. It must be.
For a long while, they just stared at each other, silently, and at one point, Rachel had almost laughed at this impossible man in front of her, but when he opened his mouth again to speak and his hand reached out to carefully touch her arm, Rachel just knew that this wasn’t a dream. All of the sudden it felt so real - and just so right.
“Excuse me,” the man said again, this time there was a slight nervous undertone in his words that made his voice even sexier, “are you … are you Rachel?”
Rachel kept staring at him and hardly managed a nod. That must be how it felt, when you are hit by a bus - or frozen in shock; you want to move, you want to speak, but every single cell in your body is numb and you have no control whatsoever.
She knew that she must look stupid and the impression she was making right now was far from something she wanted to make, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
The mere sight of him stunned her.
He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt he had rolled up his sleeves, giving her a good look on two tanned arms, and Rachel started fantasizing about how it must feel to be hold tight by these strong arms - or what else these arms could do to her …
She looked away quickly as her mind wandered into areas she was not yet ready to discover, and was again caught by his intense stare.
Rachel kept staring into these dark eyes, wondering, for a second, if this man was maybe gay - because of the eyeliner - but as she took a closer look she realized that this wasn’t eyeliner. This was real, natural, and even the eyelashes were …
“Men shouldn’t have eyelashes like this,” she blurt out, before she could stop herself and she quickly covered her mouth in terror.
“I … I’m sorry …,” she muttered, feeling herself blush. “I shouldn’t ...”
“It’s okay,” the stranger interrupted her with an amused smile. “I get that all the time. And believe me … if I had the chance to get rid of them I would’ve long done it. But I was born with these eyelashes and I think I will also die with them some day. I’m Richard, by the way.”
Rachel automatically took the hand he offered her, while her mind still tried to progress the information he’d given her, and as their hands touched, it struck her like a bolt of lightning. This was her blind date, the man Amy and Horace had picked for her, and instead of an old, bald man with three ex-wives on each hand and a lot of emotional baggage to bore her with for the rest of her life, they set her up with Mr. Eyelashes.
That was unbelievable …
“It’s nice to meet you, Richard,” she said, still keeping eye contact and just when she was sure she would get lost in these dark round lakes, she heard footsteps behind her and the magic was gone.
“There you are, Rachel,” Amy shouted, walking down the small stairs that led from the patio onto the lawn.
“I thought I heard voices. You are right on time ... Horace is getting the salads and …” Amy trailed off and she looked from Rachel to Richard, as if it was only then that she realized Rachel wasn’t alone.
“Oh … you two … you’ve already met.” Her eyes wandered down to their hands that were still intertwined and a big grin appeared on her face.
“Of course, you’ve already met,” she said, giving Rachel a meaningful look. Rachel just grinned back at her, still feeling stupid for her limited ability to communicate, but when she noticed that Richard wasn’t doing any better than she was, the embarrassment inside of her vanished and a feeling of deliriously happiness filled the void, and Rachel suddenly understood why Juliet was constantly running around with this big smile on her face, ever since she and Jack met.
That must be what love felt like; true love, love at first sight … and as she followed Amy to the table - Richard still at her side, his hand gently pressed against her back as he led her way and walking as close as two people could walk next to each other without stumbling over each other’s feet, Rachel sent silent thank-yous into Amy’s direction, while she hoped that this night would never end … and if it does eventually, that Richard wouldn’t be gone with it.
- The End -
FANDOM: Lost
AUTHOR: nicis_anatomy
CHARACTER: Rachel Carlson/Richard Alpert (mentions Jack/Juliet, Amy/Horace)
GENRE: het, romance
RATING: PG
WORD COUNT: 1,715
SUMMARY: When Amy sets Rachel up on a blind date, she has no high hopes, but then a tall, dark hair man shows up, changing everything. Written for challenge #14 "the ship that never was" for lost_land and for prompt "Wild Card" at schmoop_bingo.
WARNING: English still isn't my native language (although I wish) and the story is not beta'd. Spoiler for season 6
DISCLAIMER: I don't own these characters. I just borrow them from time to time to have some fun with them.
Note: This is a "missing scene" set in the same universe as my Jack/Juliet sideways world story "Family Portrait", but can stand alone (and you don't need to read it).
~*~*~*~*
Rachel didn’t know how to feel when Amy invited her over for dinner one day. The invitation came out of nowhere, and although Rachel loved dinner parties and she really liked her new colleague Amy Goodspeed, she wasn’t so sure she should go. Amy was a nice woman and a good listener, and they got along pretty well. She was funny, but could also be cruel and stubborn, when something wasn’t running smoothly enough or the way Amy wanted it to be, without ever being rude or mean. Rachel liked that, and although Amy was a few years older than she was, it worked between them pretty good. They had much fun working in the library together and together they managed to make it through the even worst days of the weeks - most of them were Mondays, when their boss Jasper Hayworth would be in, infecting everyone and everything with his bad mood. Hayworth was constantly mad at everyone and everything, and when Rachel had first met him (one week after she’d started this job) she couldn’t believe that someone like Hayworth could be working at a place like a library with costumers going in and out every minute. But Hayworth was there and no one seemed to consider firing him for being rude to customers.
Rachel hated him and before the library had hired Amy to work with her, she hated going to work on Mondays at all.
Of course, she went anyway, since she needed the money to pay the rent and everything else they needed. Juliet had this college fund, but that was just enough money to cover her expenses for med school, text books and whatever else she needed. And ever since Jack Shephard had come into her life, the few free hours Juliet had outside school were absorbed by her boyfriend and there was no more room for a job.
Rachel was fine with this. She liked Jack and he was good for Juliet. She wanted her baby sister to be happy.
Although, sometimes it was hard to watch them and to see how it looked like when you were madly in love, while there was no man in her own life, no one to keep her warm at night or someone she could just call when she needed to talk.
Back in Miami, Rachel knew tons of boys, but ever since she moved to California with Juliet, it was hard for her to find someone interesting. The boys her on the west coast were so different from what she was used to, and to be honest, she was in that stage now where you started looking for something different, something more serious. A date for a night or someone she could hook up with every once in a while wasn’t really what Rachel had in mind anymore.
Unfortunately, every guy she met thought different, and after a few disappointed dates, Rachel had given up on dating completely - much to Amy’s disapproval.
Amy wanted Rachel to be happy, and although she assured her every time Amy asked about her (non-existing) love life that she was fine, Rachel knew that Amy was unsatisfied with the whole situation. It didn’t really come as a surprise, then, when Amy invited her to this party, letting her know that she had also invited some of Horace’s (male) co-workers and that Rachel shouldn’t dear to show up in anything other than this flower summer dress that looked so nice on her.
Rachel hadn’t been sure, if that was really necessary. Horace was a bit older than his wife, and Rachel hadn’t high hopes that whatever man Horace had invited was someone she should consider as a potential date.
But it should turn out that she was wrong …
When Rachel entered the Goodspeed’s backyard on Friday evening (for lack of alternatives, she’d followed Amy’s wish and wore the dress and a fitting pair of high heels) she expected it to be already crowded with all kinds of people in all different ages (but everyone much older than she was). Instead, the only part of the deserted backyard that seemed to be prepared for a party was the left side of the patio.
Rachel spotted a huge in-wall grill at the far end of the patio, a camping table set up for four persons and … well, and nothing else. There was no crowd, no loud music and no party going on, and when Rachel started to assume that she’d either entered the wrong backyard or got the dates confused, a tale, dark-haired man stepped up behind her.
“Excuse me,” he said in a gently voice that almost instantly transformed Rachel’s knees into pudding making it hard for her to keep her countenance. Never before in her life, had she heard a voice that was so sexy and engaging, and when she slowly turned around to get a better look at her company she felt her jaw drop by surprise.
Those eyes … those dark and mysterious looking eyes …
They couldn’t be real, could they?
Rachel blinked, but the man (his eyes) just didn’t vanish into thin air. But he couldn’t be. Could he? This was all just a dream, something her mind was making up, while she was still in her bed fast asleep. She had heard about this phenomenon of a subconscious, that, in your dreams, you often process what you have experienced or thought about by day and that, sometimes, these things were mixed up to something surreal and confusing - or, in this case, something impossible.
That was what had happened. It must be.
For a long while, they just stared at each other, silently, and at one point, Rachel had almost laughed at this impossible man in front of her, but when he opened his mouth again to speak and his hand reached out to carefully touch her arm, Rachel just knew that this wasn’t a dream. All of the sudden it felt so real - and just so right.
“Excuse me,” the man said again, this time there was a slight nervous undertone in his words that made his voice even sexier, “are you … are you Rachel?”
Rachel kept staring at him and hardly managed a nod. That must be how it felt, when you are hit by a bus - or frozen in shock; you want to move, you want to speak, but every single cell in your body is numb and you have no control whatsoever.
She knew that she must look stupid and the impression she was making right now was far from something she wanted to make, but there wasn’t anything she could do about it.
The mere sight of him stunned her.
He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt he had rolled up his sleeves, giving her a good look on two tanned arms, and Rachel started fantasizing about how it must feel to be hold tight by these strong arms - or what else these arms could do to her …
She looked away quickly as her mind wandered into areas she was not yet ready to discover, and was again caught by his intense stare.
Rachel kept staring into these dark eyes, wondering, for a second, if this man was maybe gay - because of the eyeliner - but as she took a closer look she realized that this wasn’t eyeliner. This was real, natural, and even the eyelashes were …
“Men shouldn’t have eyelashes like this,” she blurt out, before she could stop herself and she quickly covered her mouth in terror.
“I … I’m sorry …,” she muttered, feeling herself blush. “I shouldn’t ...”
“It’s okay,” the stranger interrupted her with an amused smile. “I get that all the time. And believe me … if I had the chance to get rid of them I would’ve long done it. But I was born with these eyelashes and I think I will also die with them some day. I’m Richard, by the way.”
Rachel automatically took the hand he offered her, while her mind still tried to progress the information he’d given her, and as their hands touched, it struck her like a bolt of lightning. This was her blind date, the man Amy and Horace had picked for her, and instead of an old, bald man with three ex-wives on each hand and a lot of emotional baggage to bore her with for the rest of her life, they set her up with Mr. Eyelashes.
That was unbelievable …
“It’s nice to meet you, Richard,” she said, still keeping eye contact and just when she was sure she would get lost in these dark round lakes, she heard footsteps behind her and the magic was gone.
“There you are, Rachel,” Amy shouted, walking down the small stairs that led from the patio onto the lawn.
“I thought I heard voices. You are right on time ... Horace is getting the salads and …” Amy trailed off and she looked from Rachel to Richard, as if it was only then that she realized Rachel wasn’t alone.
“Oh … you two … you’ve already met.” Her eyes wandered down to their hands that were still intertwined and a big grin appeared on her face.
“Of course, you’ve already met,” she said, giving Rachel a meaningful look. Rachel just grinned back at her, still feeling stupid for her limited ability to communicate, but when she noticed that Richard wasn’t doing any better than she was, the embarrassment inside of her vanished and a feeling of deliriously happiness filled the void, and Rachel suddenly understood why Juliet was constantly running around with this big smile on her face, ever since she and Jack met.
That must be what love felt like; true love, love at first sight … and as she followed Amy to the table - Richard still at her side, his hand gently pressed against her back as he led her way and walking as close as two people could walk next to each other without stumbling over each other’s feet, Rachel sent silent thank-yous into Amy’s direction, while she hoped that this night would never end … and if it does eventually, that Richard wouldn’t be gone with it.
- The End -