Chapter Text
“My feet hurt,” Rachel complained, leaning more heavily on Blaine as the two of them walked along the side of the street.
“Maybe no heels next time,” he told her in amusement.
“Santana said no one would want to hire an elf,” she grumbled, “and since she already has a job lined up for the summer, I thought taking her advice couldn’t hurt.”
“Well, we can always stop for lunch -”
“No! We have to keep going, Blaine! I’m determined not to be stuck in some dead-end job that saps the creativity from me day by day until I can’t muster a single note! We will find roles in professional productions, I know it!”
Rachel knew she was being a bit silly; it was just a summer job, after all. But she didn’t want to spend her first summer in New York cleaning toilets or working a cash register. She was determined to make her professional debut as a singer and actress somehow. Blaine had already performed professionally in the past, so it wasn’t as big of a deal for him. Still, she hoped that they could find work together. There would be plenty of supporting roles in whatever play she was cast as the leading lady for, she was sure. And Blaine was a wonderful actor.
“Look, there’s a diner up ahead,” Blaine said, “The Spotlight Diner. Why don’t we stop for a quick bite, rest our feets, and then hit the pavement again?”
“I suppose it couldn’t hurt to replenish,” Rachel said, and she let Blaine lead her across the street. The truth was, there were only so many times she could drop off her resume with some completely uninterested worker who was as likely to toss it in the trash as pass it on to the important people, only so many times she could deal with the disappointment of thinking she had found something she could audition for, only to find out it was too late.
She hated the idea of missed chances.
“Wow, this place is great,” Blaine said, and Rachel found herself agreeing. The diner was a huge, retro restaurant, filled with servers in cute red uniforms and gogo boots or black pants and red and black shirts. Just as they were seated, music blared through the speakers above them and Rachel gasped in delight as the servers near them started to dance, jumping up on the bar and boogieing past tables.
“We definitely need to come back here,” Rachel said to Blaine, looking around at the performers. “We need to bring Kurt for sure! Even Santana might like it.”
Blaine smirked. “I was thinking more in terms of getting a job here.”
“Oh!” Rachel pursed her lips. While it was true that the place was full of energy and the serving staff looked like they were having fun, Rachel wasn’t quite ready to give up on her vision of a summer filled with stage lights and roaring applause. “Well, maybe…”
***
A couple days later, and Rachel could feel her vision fading. She had had no luck. She’d been to a few auditions and it was always the same thing: “too green”, “not what we’re looking for”, “we’re going in another direction”, “well if you’re not comfortable with nudity why did you bother to audition?”. Things were getting desperate, and she was starting to think applying with Blaine at The Spotlight Cafe was her only chance for job that would still allow her to perform.
Needless to say, she was discouraged, feeling down. Which was why she couldn’t help but choose an appropriate song for her last audition of the day. She was singing and reading for a production with a tiny, tiny budget aiming for a modern day reimagining of My Fair Lady set in Alaska that Rachel really couldn’t wrap her mind around, but a part was a part.
“Hi, I’m Rachel Berry,” she said as brightly as she could, standing on the small stage, “I’ll be singing a classic song about nostalgia and missed opportunities.”
She placed her CD in the player provided and listened to the opening notes.
“Yesterday all my troubles seemed so far away…”
Perhaps it was a melodramatic choice, but she couldn’t help it. Seeing the New Directions up on that stage, winning that Nationals trophy as confetti rained down around them...well, it wasn’t as though she wanted to go back to high school, back to Lima. But she had found something special there, shared special times with people she loved. And while her first year in New York had certainly had some bright moments, she couldn’t help but feel like she was still searching for something.
“...love was such an easy game to play, now I need a place to hide away…”
She closed her eyes and focused on the delicate vocal runs of her rendition of the Beatles’ classic.
“Oh, I believe in yesterday.”
“Thank you, Rachel,” the casting director said, “that was beautiful.”
Rachel pressed her hand to her chest and did a little curtsy.
“...but, to be frank, I didn’t really understand your song choice.”
Rachel closed her eyes, nodding along when she invited her to do a reading, but she already knew she wouldn’t get the part. The truth was, she needed a win, something to give her her inspiration back. And she wasn’t sure a job at a singing diner would be the thing to lift her spirits, if she could even get hired there.
After her audition, she walked to the subway, hugging her arms and trying not to replay her failed auditions over and over in her head. This was just a temporary setback. She’d only been in New York for almost a year, after all. All her dreams, of stardom, of love and fame and art, would come true, as long as she kept chasing them.
Sighing, she looked up ahead and saw a familiar face.
“Derick!” She blurted out without thinking, cheeks heating up when Derick looked up from his guitar case, which he was just clicking shut. He looked extra cute in the pretty evening sunlight.
“Rachel,” he said, smiling in surprise, “hi.”
“Hello,” she said, clearing her throat and walking over to him. “Were you busking?”
“Yeah, didn’t do too bad.” He squinted at her. “Um, I promise I was. Busking, I mean. I didn’t, like...I’m not following you around or anything.”
Rachel let out a small laugh at his red face. “I didn’t think you were.”
A moment of silence passed between them and it reminded Rachel of just how much she hated moments of silence, especially such obviously awkward ones.
“I just wanted to…” Rachel said, stalling when he looked at her with those big blue eyes. “I wanted to apologize.” At his look of confusion, she ducked her head. “The last time I saw you, I acted kind of crazy.”
“No, you weren’t-”
“You sang me that beautiful song and I just ran away. It was very rude. I wouldn’t blame you if you never wanted to see me again, I acted so erratic.”
He shrugged. “I mean, it’s not a big deal.”
Rachel blinked at him. “No?”
Derick pulled his guitar onto his back, pushing his arms through the straps of the case. “No. Obviously, I have a thing for you. And I guess I just came on too strong. So I’m sorry if I upset you, if you have things you’re dealing with and I just added to your stress. But I didn’t think you acted crazy. And…” he fiddled with the strap of his guitar. “If you ever did want to spend some time together...well, you’ve still got my number from your busking club, right?”
“Right,” Rachel said, blushing to think of the times she’d stared down at his name in her phone regretfully after his serenade.
“Right, so.” He smiled, wide, eyes sparkling. “I’d love to hear from you, if you ever decide you want to give me a call.”
“Okay,” Rachel said, answering his smile with one of her own. She smoothed the front of her dress down. Her heart was beating fast in her chest, her palms were suddenly sweaty. “That’s good to know.”
He started to walk backwards away from her, in the direction she had come from, still grinning. “I’ll see you around, Rachel.” She turned to walk away as well, her chin lingering over her shoulder as she waved goodbye to him.
When she turned the corner, she pulled out her phone and texted Blaine to tell him she wanted to apply at The Spotlight Diner. She put her phone away, smiling to herself and hugging her torso again, but this time with a skip in her step as she made her way down the stairs to the subway.
Trying something new couldn’t hurt.