The driver

chapter 10: Damage

Rachel stood wide eyed in front of the table wringing her hands to keep them from trembling, she knew she was in trouble, she just didn't quite know how much. There it was, a picture of her and Finn making out in the Limo, and worse still, the Paparazzo from the night before had gotten another shot of them both looking at the camera before he ran away. Everyone in Hollywood knew Rachel's face and it had nothing to do with her singing.

"This is very disappointing Rachel, what is the first rule in the employee handbook?" Mr. Figgins, the owner of the limo service said.

"No fraternizing with famous clients," she said under her breath. "Mr. Figgins I assure you I wasn't attempting to besmirch the good name of your company. What happened with Fi— I mean Mr. Hudson was completely unintentional."

"Am I supposed to believe he fell and you caught him with your lips?" he said sternly.

"Truthfully, that's not far off from what actually happened."

"These pictures are all over the internet, by tomorrow they'll be all over the tabloids. My phone has been ringing off the hook, mostly teenage boys wondering if I charge extra for your services."

"Mr. Figgins, I assure you this will never happen again," Rachel insisted.

"I would have to agree, I'm sorry but I'm going to have to let you go."

"B-but Mr. Figgins I need this job."

"I'm sorry Ms. Berry but my hands are tied. Please turn in your badge and see Gabriella for your final paycheck."

Rachel opened her mouth to say something, but for the first time in as long as she could remember, she had no words. Instead she tossed her badge onto his desk and turned around before he could see the tears glistening in her eyes.

"Are you out of your goddamned mind Finn?" Puck said as he paced around his distraught friend. "You turn down the hottest chick on the planet so you could play tonsil hockey with your friggin' driver."

"I can't believe this is happening," Finn said looking over the article on his laptop. "This is bad, this is really, really bad."

"No shit, how are we going to explain this to the press?"

"I don't mean bad for me Puck, I've been dealing with this crap since I was 18 years old, I can handle it. Rachel may not be able to. There are going to be paparazzi stalking her for weeks, she could lose her job over this, and for what?"

"Are you kidding me? She's probably loving every minute of this, do you know how many chicks would kill to be caught sucking face with a movie star?"

"I have to go talk to her," Finn said, scrambling up.

"Dude, if you're really worried about Rachel than you need to stay away from her, you can only make things worse."

"I just need to know that she's okay,"

"Finn, what is with you and this chick?" Puck exclaimed

"I care about her, I don't expect you to understand," he said before shoving past Puck.

"Finn, wait," Puck said.

"What?" Finn said.

He reached into his inside pocket. "Here's her address, I got it off that Ben-Israel son-of-a-bitch after I threatened to break his camera."

"What did you want her address for?"

"Damage control, I was going to bribe her not to talk to the press."

Finn clenched his jaw angrily "I'd kick your ass for that but I don't have the time," Finn said taking the address and bolting out the door.

"I can't believe you would do this Rachel, you knew that I liked him first," Kurt said as Rachel stared in horror at the computer screen.