Serendipity

CHAPTER 10

Quinn nervously pulled her shirt over her head and smoothed it out over her stomach before she tucked it into her slacks. Her hands trembled slightly, making the process take longer than it should, and by the time she finally managed to zip and button up her pants, a light sheen of perspiration coated her brow. She kept telling herself that this was just work, that she had kissed tons – okay not tons, but a good number – of people in front of the camera and that nothing different, but her heart knew that that was a lie.

Because everything about this situation was different.

The scene James wanted to sneak in that evening was originally scheduled to shoot next Monday. Their first lovemaking scene scheduled for two and a half weeks after that, which was right before a three-day weekend that marked their filming transition from being primarily on the Paramount lot to doing more stuff on location. After that, the romantic scenes were spaced out over the rest of the shoot. There were a grand total of three lovemaking scenes and a dozen or so kissing scenes. She didn't know the entire shooting schedule by heart, but she had memorized which days she'd first be expected to kiss Rachel, to touch Rachel, to get naked with Rachel.

She wasn't ready.

Her heart clenched as she realized that in roughly twenty minutes she would be actually doing what she'd dreamed about doing for so long, and she couldn't help being bitter and angry about it. Bitter that her first kiss with the brunette would be for pretend, angry that she was going to be forced to share that moment with who knows how many people. When they filmed their love scenes it would be with a skeleton crew to make the undeniably awkward situation less awkward, but this was just a kiss and that meant that everybody would be there. Watching. Judging. Intruding on what, to her, at least, was an especially private moment.

"It's not fair," she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of her overwhelming emotions. The statement was childish, but there was nothing childish about the heartbreak she was experiencing. She would finally get to kiss Rachel, and she knew that meant nothing. There was nothing fair about that.

She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the ceiling, trying to use gravity to force her tears back as she took a deep breath and held it, foolishly hoping that the extra oxygen would calm her nerves. Keep cool for now, Q, and when you get home you can lose it, she told herself sternly. Two, maybe three hours and then you can cry, scream, throw shit, whatever, but for now you have to behave professionally.

If only it were that easy.

She took one last ragged breath, opened her eyes to study her reflection in the mirror to make sure that her internal distress wasn't visible, before she walked out of the trailer and started across the lot to the set. Her feet moved slowly, heavily, and she jumped when the sound stage door slammed shut behind her.

Across the large shell of a building, she could see Rachel sitting on top of one of the desks in the 'bullpen' chatting amiably with Chase. The brunette was dressed similarly to herself, slacks and a shirt, fake gun holstered on her right hip, badge hanging off the left side of her belt, and Quinn eagerly drank in the sight of her. Rachel was laughing at something Chase had said and when she looked up at Quinn, her eyes twinkling with mirth and a large, happy smile on her face, Quinn couldn't help but smile back. Her smile must have been off, however, because as she walked up to Rachel and Chase the brunette took one look at her and quickly excused themselves from the writer. Quinn shivered ever so slightly as Rachel's fingers wrapped around her arm and she allowed the brunette to drag her across the set to a dark, quiet corner away from the action.

Rachel frowned as she studied the blonde's face intently. "Are you okay, Quinn?"

No, I'm not, Quinn thought to herself even as she nodded and focused her attention on the wall just over Rachel's right shoulder, not able to meet the brunette's eyes as she lied. "Yeah. Fine."