Fic: The World is a Stage - Part 10/?
Previous chapters here: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9
The shrill of the cell phone filled the silence of the dark room. The brunette scrambled to find the offending item, desperate to shut off the sound that was causing her headache to worsen. Feeling around her bed and grasping blindly in the dark, her hand hit the rectangular object and hurriedly picked it up, accepting the call without looking at the display to see who it was.
“Hello?” she said sleepily. Santana had been enjoying the peace and quiet of her bedroom, the comfort of her bed and the much needed sleep she had been deprived of the previous evening. She was also grateful of the break from the multitude of thoughts that had been swimming around her mind all day, primarily the responsibility of one particular blonde.
“Santana, is that you?” a deep husky whisper asked. The Latina’s interest piqued, she frowned, wondering who would be calling her at this hour - glancing at the clock she realised it was only ten o’clock in the evening, though it had seemed much later.
“Who is this?” she asked cautiously.
“San, it’s me, Brittany.” The other voice whispered. Santana sighed with relief, thanking the gods silently that she wasn’t the victim of a dirty or stalker style phone call, although now knowing it was her former lover, she wouldn’t mind if the blonde decided to talk suggestively down the phone.
“Hey.” Santana said, rubbing her eyes, “What’s up Brit? You ok?”
“Yeah I think so.” She replied quietly.
“Does he know?” Santana asked. She was referring of course to Bryan, Brittany’s husband. He had earlier that day yelled and banged forcefully on the actress’ trailer door in search for his wife. He had inadvertently interrupted a tender moment between the former lovers, although, neither woman knew just how far they would have gotten had they not been interrupted. Having sprung apart like two horny teenagers caught making out on the sofa, Santana opened the door as casually as she could, however, Brittany darted past her, avoiding eye contact, though she did throw a departing message over her shoulder as she hurried away with her husband in tow. Santana was left somewhat bewildered and a little bit frustrated at the whole situation. She knew Bryan wouldn’t be suspicious of the two women alone in the trailer, unless of course he had been informed of their past.
“I don’t know, he hasn’t said anything, but he’s like really quiet and he’s gone to bed. He doesn’t go to bed this early.” Brittany explained quickly.
“Slow down Brit. It might not mean anything.” Santana reassured.
“Ok.” The blonde said taking a deep breath.
“You have nothing to feel guilty about, it’s the past remember?” The Latina said almost bitterly. Brittany hadn’t picked up on the tone, only the words that were muttered, a pang of hurt pulled on her heart strings.
“The past. Right.” She agreed. Brittany was torn. She had thought she was over Santana and could go back to being friends with her, however, the actress had stirred old feelings and being around her again was confusing her. She loved Bryan, she knew that, but right now she wasn’t sure just how much she loved him, was it as much as when he had proposed? She guessed not. Admitting to Santana that he had changed and was no longer the man she married had the cogs turning viciously in her head. Although Santana had the blonde thinking more than usual. She had come to one conclusion, confusion was not the word, they needed to invent a new word for what she was feeling. “Did I wake you?” Brittany asked as an afterthought.
“Yeah.” Santana replied with a yawn.
“I’m sorry.” She stated.
“S’ok, I would be mad if it was anyone else. I was waiting for you to call, to make sure everything was ok.”
“I think it is, I guess I’m just paranoid.”
“Brit?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t worry about it ok? Get some sleep.” Santana said sweetly.
“Ok.” Brittany agreed. “Thanks San.”
“You’re welcome. Goodnight babe.”
“Goodnight.” Brittany said and hung up the phone. Both women looked at the handsets in their hands and sighed, simultaneously running a nervous hand through their hair and closing their eyes in anguish.
++
“And cut. Great shot guys, take ten and we’ll go again.” The director called. Santana stretched her back, it had been a tough, physical scene.
“Hey Santana.” The brunette rolled her eyes sideways and looked at the other girl.
“Berry.” The Latina said with a snarl.
“I would like to say how much I appreciated you talking to me the other night at the party. I feel we are finally turning a corner in our relationship.” Rachel said as she stood swaying excitedly.
“Relationship Berry?” Santana asked. “I wouldn’t go that far.” The Latina said. She tried her hardest not to bite her tongue. Her mission was to find out how much she had shared with Bryan, revenge for posting the photograph of herself and Brittany on the internet would have to wait. She put on her best Emmy nominee performance.
“I actually wanted to invite you and a plus one to my birthday party Sarurday night.”
“Saturday? Isn’t that a bit short notice?” Santana asked.
“I have had it planned for some time and given our strained rela- friendship, I was reluctant to invite you and have the risk of you ruining my meticulously planned soiree. But, well, my dads love you and so it seems does Brittany and as I’ve invited her and Bryan and Quinn and Puck, I think I should invite you too.” Santana stood staring at the rambling Rachel Berry. She was astounded by the words she was hearing, she held her hand up as if to stop the other girl from talking.
“Ok, first of all, there are far too many revelations in what seemed like the longest sentence in the whole world. I still don’t get how you can talk so much and not breath.” Santana said with a frown.
“It’s a talent I have, very useful in the world of musical theatre.” Rachel beamed.
“I don’t doubt that.” Santana sighed. “I’m going to accept your invitation Berry, your dads have good taste. But I’m not going to forget everything you just said. Got it?”
“Yes, I understand Santana. Just, please don’t ruin my party.” Rachel as good as begged.
“I have no intention of ruining your party Rachel, I’m going to keep an eye on Bryan.” The Latina said with narrow eyes.
“W-why? Why would you do that?” Rachel asked nervously.
“Did you just stutter Berry?” Santana asked, a smile plastering her face.
“What? No, I err, no I didn’t.”
“What’s up with you Berry? You seem . . .” Santana stepped closer to the other girl who gulped as she felt the Latina’s breath on her face, her eyes darted everywhere in an attempt not to make eye contact with the former cheerleader “ . . . nervous.” The actress finished with a slight tilt of the head and a cocked eyebrow. The other girl straightened her back and raised her head.
“I don’t know what you are talking about Santana Lopez, I have nothing to be nervous about.”
“Riiiight.” Santana drawled, disbelieving of the girl’s words. “In answer to your q-q-question, Bryan is not very nice to Brittany sometimes and I don’t trust him.”
“He seemed nice to me.” Rachel said. “In fact, we got on really well, we talked for ages.”
“Really Berry? What the hell would you two have in common?”
“Oh you would be surprised. He’s a sound engineer, so we had a lot to discuss in terms of music.”
“He’s a what? Seriously?”
“If you spent less time pining over Brittany and being jealous of Bryan, you might realise he’s actually a nice guy.” Rachel accused, hands on hips.
“I am not pining over Brittany, she’s my best friend and she’s married.”
“You’re still spinning the ‘we’re friends’ line? I can’t help what I see Santana, I have a gift for these things.” Rachel observed.
“Well you can take your gift and shove it up your . . .”
“POSITIONS PEOPLE.” The director yelled, cutting Santana short.
“Damn you Berry, I didn’t even get to pee.” The Latina seethed.
“You’re so good at acting Lopez, pretend you don’t need to.” Rachel grinned and sashayed into position in triumph.
++
Brittany was sat at one end of the sofa, sipping loudly on a cup of coffee as her eyes were trained on the television before her. Every now and again her husband would look in her direction and sigh loudly. The blonde was oblivious, enjoying the hot strong, sweet liquid, eagerly awaiting the interview her renewed best friend was about to give. It was an early morning show and Santana Lopez was about to appear on her television screen. The dancer sat up as she heard her friend’s name announced and clapped her hand against her pyjama clad leg while the other just about remained steady enough without spilling her coffee.
“Why didn’t you ever mention you knew her?” Bryan asked without looking at Brittany.
“It didn’t seem relevant.”
“Why not? She’s like one of the most famous people on TV right now.”
“We lost touch.” Brittany stated simply.
“Whatever.” Bryan snarled.
The interviewer was about to ask Santana her first question following a brief montage of her work.
“Santana Lopez, welcome to the show.”
“Thank you it’s a pleasure to be here.” The brunette answered with a smile.
“I have to first congratulate you on your Emmy nomination.”
“Why aren’t you at work?” Brittany turned to look at her husband, she was annoyed he was talking over the interview with her best friend.
“I’m working late.” Came her simple reply.
“Me too.” Bryan said. “I’m at the Bowl tonight for a gig.”
“You haven’t done many gigs lately.” Brittany frowned.
“Figured I could do with a change.” He shrugged.
“So I have to ask you Santana about something which is doing the rounds on the internet.” The interviewer paused as an image filled the screen, wolf whistles were heard from the audience as the camera then steadied on Santana’s face. She smirked a little, however she wasn’t giving too much away from her body language.
“I wondered how long it would be before this came up in an interview.” She smiled.
“What’s the story? There have been a lot of rumours.” Santana shrugged casually as she was asked the question.
“That’s Brittany.” She said as if those two words explained everything. “She was my best friend in High School and we hadn’t seen each other for five years.”
“As simple as that.” The interviewer stated.
“Exactly. She’s the sweetest person you’ll ever meet and she’s happily married to an extraordinary guy.” The Latina smiled as if butter wouldn’t melt. She wasn’t wrong, Bryan was extraordinary, he was unlike anyone she had ever met, although he did remind her of the jocks she loathed in High School. So saying he was extraordinary wasn’t exactly a lie, she just didn’t intend it as everyone would take it.
“Ok, that’s cleared up. Can I ask you something else?”
“This is an interview right?” Santana asked before looking at the audience and laughing with them.
“Yes, yes it is. So, the question on every man’s lips is, are you seeing anyone?” Santana rolled her eyes with exaggeration.
“I’m single.” She declared with her hands in the air, this earned a rapturous applause from the audience, along with a number of whoops and whistles.
“I think you’ve just made America’s day.”
“She didn’t answer the question.” Bryan stated.
“What?” Brittany asked, turning her head and frowning at her husband.
“He asked if she was seeing anyone. She said she was single.” He explained.
“Well that means she’s not seeing anyone.” Brittany said.
“Not necessarily. You see she’s single yes, she’s not married and she’s not publicly dating anyone. But she could be seeing someone.” He offered. Brittany shook her head sideways.
“I don’t get it.” She said blankly.
“Jeez Brit, what don’t you get!?” Bryan shouted with frustration.
“I know she’s not seeing anyone, she’s single, so really you don’t need to try and explain what you think she might be saying.” Brittany said, taking a moment to make sure what she said was actually what she meant. She gave a little nod of confirmation.
“Just because you’re back in her life Brit doesn’t automatically make you her best friend again. She could be fucking her way through the crew and not tell you.” Bryan got up to leave, his anger growing with his frustration. Brittany jumped up off the couch.
“Take that back.” The blonde growled.
“Come on Brit, don’t be so naive.”
“She’s not like that.” Brittany said quietly.
“Of course not.” Bryan said flippantly, however the blonde didn’t seem to notice the tone of voice. Her eyes were again transfixed on the screen before her, hoping Santana was not the promiscuous girl she once was. “Brittany?” Bryan asked in an attempt to regain his wife’s attention.
“Yeah?” she said, half-heartedly.
“I want to start a family.” Bryan stated, slightly louder. Brittany whipped her head around, a look of pure surprise on her face.
“What?” she asked.
“I want us to have a baby.” He repeated.
“No, we discussed this before we got married.” Brittany said.
“I know but I think we’re ready.”
“Really?” the blonde asked, confusion written all over her face.
“Yeah, we need this Brit, I just feel like we’re drifting a bit lately and I think a family is what we need to bring us back together. What do you think?”
“I-I don’t know.” She stuttered, having been put on the spot. “You can’t just blurt that out during an argument. I think I need to think about it and we should talk about it some more.”
“Ok.” Bryan smiled, “That’s great.” He said as he walked towards and hugged the blonde tightly.
“It’s not a yes Bryan.” Brittany stated.
“I know, I know, but it’s a start.” He said, he gave her sweet kiss before disappearing into the bedroom whistling with joy. Brittany slumped back onto the sofa and sighed heavily. She looked to the screen before her, Santana’s interview was being wrapped up.
“Shit San, what do I do?” she asked the image before her. The blonde shook her head before placing it in her hands. This had not been on her agenda.
++
“Brittany you are late.” Mike called from the front of the dance studio as the dancer hurried through the door.
“I know, I know, I’m so sorry, I had some . . . issues.” She said. She could feel Santana’s presence and knew the Latina’s eyes were burning into the side of her head. The blonde couldn’t bring herself to look at the other woman, she concentrated on Mike’s features. She could tell he was annoyed, but sighed and let it slide.
“Ok, we’re a dancer down, you’re with Santana.” The tall choreographer ordered.
“What? But . . .” Brittany began, she halted when she saw the raised eyebrow of Mike’s, daring her to question his authority, she quickly shut her lips and sauntered over to the actress.
“Anyone would think you didn’t want to dance with me.” Santana said, her hands on her hips, a questioning look on her face. Brittany shook her head and sighed in defeat. It seemed the world was out to get her today.
“You’re my favourite person to dance with. That’s the problem.” Brittany said quietly. Santana opened her mouth to speak but was quickly cut off by Mike barking orders from the front of the room. The Latina closed her mouth and began to follow the instructions, Brittany’s words going over and over in her mind.
“OK guys take a break. You two . . .” Mike pointed at the two former Cheerios, both women hung their heads. “. . . what the hell is going on? You’re all over the place.” Mike blasted. Brittany looked up and squared her shoulders.
“It’s my fault, my head’s not in the game.”
“She can’t even keep up with the individual steps Brittany.” Mike said pointing at Santana who in turn scowled. He ignored her and continued, “I thought you two would be ok working together, you assured me it would be ok Brit.” Mike said sternly.
“It has been so far hasn’t it?” Brittany dared to stand up to Mike. “We’re just both having an off day.” She finished.
“Fine. You can stay till you get it right. I’m trusting that you’ll get it right.”
“We’ll do it. I promise.” Brittany reassured with enthusiasm in her eyes. Mike turned to Santana for confirmation.
“We will.” She confirmed with a nod.
“Alright then. Don’t let me down.” He said. He turned and began to walk toward the door. Santana immediately turned to Brittany.
“What the hell’s going on Brit?” she said sharply.
“Can we sit down?” the blonde.
“Is it that serious?” Santana asked.
“Yeah.” Brittany answered as the two walked over to the benches. They sat down, Brittany took a moment to compose herself before speaking. “We were watching your interview this morning.” She started. Santana smiled.
“What did you think?” the Latina asked.
“It was a great interview, you were great, so funny and beautiful.” Brittany said wistfully. Santana blushed, she was used to compliments, but hearing them from Brittany was something special and words she cherished.
“Thank you.” She said. “I’m sorry, carry on.” Santana winced, realising she had interrupted her friend. She looked at Brittany, properly for the first time that afternoon. Her hair was tied back, she wore a tight light blue t shirt which enhanced the colour of her eyes and baggy black tracksuit bottoms with a pair of old Nike sneakers. She wasn’t her bright bubbly self, in fact, the blonde appeared slightly withdrawn, Santana recognised this as a sign the blonde had a lot on her mind and was struggling to deal with it. In the past, it had been Santana who acted as a soundboard and helped Brittany with her troubles, however, upon learning of Brittany’s pregnancy as the reason for their breakup, the Latina was unsure if Brittany would want or need her help. She let the other girl speak.
“We argued again.” Brittany said. “When he asked you if you were seeing anyone, you said you were single. Bryan said you didn’t answer the question and you could be fucking the entire crew or something like that.” The blonde sniffed not quite remembering her husband’s exact words, evidence of tears began to show on her cheeks.
“Hey now.” Santana said softly, scooting closer and hugging her friend tightly, she ran her hand up and down Brittany’s back to calm her. “He thinks I’m fucking the crew? I’m not fucking the crew Brit. I’m not seeing anyone.” Santana confirmed.
“See? I knew that! He didn’t believe me and said I’m not your best friend.”
“He knows Jack Shit about us Brit.” Santana said, “Literally.” She added as an afterthought.
“Bryan wants us to start a family, to have a baby.” Brittany said, she turned her head to look at Santana, trying to gage the other woman’s reaction. Santana’s face was blank, the blonde couldn’t read her expression. “Say something. Please.” Brittany all but begged.
“What do you want me to say?” the Latina asked. “Congratulations?” Santana pulled away from the blonde and stood, her back facing Brittany. The dancer stood, hurt by the Latina’s reaction, not yet having heard the full story. She reached out with trepidation, her arms open, she reached around Santana and clung onto the Latina’s waist, pulling her back into her body and rested her cheek against Santana’s back, she squeezed, holding the actress close. The brunette’s head dropped, tears stinging her eyes. “What are you doing?”
“Don’t be like this San. Please.” Brittany’s voice sounded broken. Santana gripped the blonde’s hands that met at her stomach.
“You’re starting a family, it’s what you want isn’t it?” Santana said almost coldly.
“No. It’s not.” Brit said. “Not right now.” She said defiantly. Santana froze, she could sense there was more to come, she turned slowly in Brittany’s arms.
“But?” Santana asked, “There’s a but isn’t there?”
“I told him I needed to think about it.”
“Okaaaaay.” Santana drawled gazing directly into Brittany’s eyes.
“But I don’t want to. I’m not ready. He’s right that we’ve been drifting apart.” She said sadly.
“You have?” Santana asked hopefully.
“Yeah. He thinks a baby will bring us back together, like we used to be.” Brittany admitted.
“What do you think Brit? What do you want?” Santana asked.
“I don’t know.” Brittany broke down. Bryan hadn’t bothered to ask Brittany what she had wanted, he barely asked her opinion on anything, always taking the lead. Hearing Santana ask those questions, say those words were enough to make her realise that she was unsure what she wanted. Bryan had been her security blanket, they were married and Brittany had understood it was a lifelong commitment. However, standing here, in Santana’s warm arms, the other girl obviously caring about her had, in those few words questioned Brittany’s whole life. One thing she knew for certain, Brittany had to think about what she did want and while she didn’t want a family immediately with Bryan, could she see a future with him? Or did it lie somewhere else, with someone else? She couldn’t handle it anymore; she threw Santana an apologetic look before shrugging out of her grip and bolted for the door. Santana could only watch as Brittany ran from her, she hugged her arms around her body having missed her friend’s contact immediately, a tear dropped from her eye and ran a path down her face, closely followed by another, then another.