There's nothing better than a fourth cup of strong black coffee on a Sunday morning to really wake you up. Rachel pads across the cold tile of her parents' kitchen barefoot. Her small steps echo in the seemingly empty house; she knows her fathers are upstairs still asleep. The sunlight streaming through half-open blinds lighten up her way to the front door when she hears a thud against it. Opening the door, she catches sight of the back of a newspaper boy. Bending carefully, not to spill her precious coffee, she grabs the newspaper from outside, sitting on top of their 'Welcome Home' sign and brings it inside.
She skips the boring stuff and jumps straight to the Entertainment news. She's caught up reading about Lindsay Lohan going back to rehab for the hundreth time when her father comes in the kitchen, yawning louder than he really needs to be. "Morning, baby." He walks to her, itching the back of his neck and plants one on top of her head.
"Morning, Daddy. Dad's still asleep?"
"Yes, he got held up at the restaurant late last night doing inventory. And you know Saturdays are his busiest days."
Rachel nods, "yes, do you think he'll want us to wait for him so we can all go to the Goldensteins' together or do you think he'll use this as an excuse to get out of it again?" She laughs lightly and starts pouring her Daddy some coffee.
"Well, you know your father - he doesn't like those gatherings." Her Daddy pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and takes the Economy section of the newspaper to read while he sips on his coffee. They sit in amicable silence for a while until something hits him all of a sudden, "ah, it's your cousin's Brian second birthday party next Saturday afternoon. Your aunt Lily insists we all go."
Rachel groans out loud, "Aunt Lily is a bitch, Daddy." She hisses it at him, just so her Dad won't hear her in case he wakes up. "She's always giving me crap about wanting to be an actress."
He clears his throat and takes off his glasses. With both hands, he sets it on top of the table and says, "I know, baby, but this'll make your father happy. Just... Buy a gift, show up at around three and leave by four with an excuse." His tone is final, and even though she doesn't live at home anymore, she still respects his orders.
It doesn't mean she has to like it though, so she stands up and almost makes a perfect storm out of the room when she remembers it. She turns back around on her heels, "Can I bring a friend?"
The man with the curly hair looks at her with a measured look, thinks for a while, and agrees, "fine. But call your aunt to let her know."
"Cool! Thanks, Daddy." She leaves the kitchen on a mission.
She's been dying to call Quinn. She's been dying for a reason, itching to pick up her phone and ask her out, but she isn't even sure she's into women, and really, she doesn't want to freak her out. But now- this produces the perfect reason to call her and invite her to hang out. She didn't want to call her too soon after meeting her, or too late. Thursday would've been too soon; Tomorrow would've been way too late.
In a hurry, she picks up her phone from where it's charging on her nightstand. She unlocks it and only then she considers it might be too early. Well, she thinks about it and figures that a mother has probably been awake for hours now.
Without psyching herself out of it, she finds the number that belongs to the name and presses call. It rings once, twice-
"Hello?" Says a quiet voice on the other side.
Rachel stutters at first but corrects that by clearing her throat, "um, hi- hello, Is this Quinn?"
"Yeah, this is her. Who is this?" Quinn seems serious and impatient this morning, something Rachel hadn't considered and now she feels stupid for having called at nine.
