#darequinn

This day had not started as well as Tina had hoped it would. She had planned for herself to be in bed really early, then she could be out the door long before her shift at the Chamber, a coffee shop close to her house, would start. But the Mack had been standoffish, as of late, and she missed her, so when she showed up, the night before, asking to hang out, Tina said yes and didn’t end up asleep until 3 in the morning. Then, of course, she was up late and had no time to eat breakfast, take a shower, or iron her uniform, so she was rather positive that she looked awful. As if fate hadn’t worked against her enough, her dad’s car broke down and he took her car, as she hadn’t told him she had to work in the morning. After riding her bike to the little cafe, she remembered that she’d be working alongside someone else, today, and was both apprehensive and thankful. Her first two shifts, with the manager, had been her training, and today, she was meant to prove she could handle this job. Having someone working with her, would be nice for extra help, but would suck if they ratted her out to the boss for her mistakes. She tied her bike to a little tree and walked in a little over 60 seconds before her shift, and saw a familiar blonde behind the counter. ‘Welp, good job, Tina. Good job,’ she thought to herself, as she walked closer to Quinn.

Quinn had always been used to a hectic schedule. She liked to keep herself busy. In between Cheerios, Celibacy club, the church’s youth group, and school, she hadn’t had time to herself much other than her gym sessions and running. Although now, her schedule wasn’t as packed, she still preferred to keep herself busy thus why she managed to find a job. Being exiled from the church’s youth group (whom looked up on unexpected young mothers) and the celibacy club, she couldn’t rely solely on Cheerios to keep herself busy. Another benefit of her job employment was that she earned, which was really a nice added bonus.

Quinn arrived in time for work to open up and start through the early morning rush. She was expecting another employee coming into help her out since being a barista and a cashier was not something she’d very much like to experience so quickly. The last time, she nearly throw a mug at the customer and gave away the wrong change. “People, honestly,” Quinn muttered as she remembered how relentless un-caffeinated people could be and being so early in the day, her patience quickly wore thin. Hearing the familiar chime of the door opening and closing, she looked up and left her thoughts to the back of her mind to find Tina Cohen-Chang walking in. She would’ve greeted her like any other customer but considering she was wearing a uniform similar to her own, all she could was raise an eyebrow and curiously watched her until she was close to her behind the counter. “You work here? Since when?” She asked, unable to stop her curiosity, before glancing at the woman across the counter from them, “take her order. I’m the barista today.”

Rather shocked by this turn of events, Tina scrambled to the register, behind the counter and took the woman’s order, with as good a smile, as she could offer. “Cappa-chamber. No whipped cream, and I could ask you the same thing,” she said, reaching for a cinnamon roll to wrap, while Quinn worked. “This is only my third day. I just finished training.” She handed the wrapped pastry to Quinn to place with the coffee, then tried to focus on being a charismatic cashier, but she’s a socially awkward person and Quinn made her nervous. “How long have you been working here? I didn’t realize you needed a job.” She tried not to sound rude, but she was pretty sure, the Fabrays had money. Why would Quinn focus her energy on a dead end job, as opposed to taking extra classes or something? To her, it didn’t make sense. Tina was jarred from her thoughts by another customer trying to get her attention, and her face turned beet red. She’s not taken two orders, and she’s already messing up. At least Quinn seemed too busy to morph into her true form and bite her face off. Tina just smiled, apologized, and reminded herself to breathe. The day hadn’t started well, but she could turn it around.

Deciding to ignore the jab about her not needing a job, Quinn focused on getting the orders out and the customers pleased, giving a well-practiced smile she had been giving for years. “I’ve been here since March and why do you care about where I work or why I work? I assume you’re here for the same reason,” she replied once all cleaned the counter off any milk spills and coffee grounds, “third day, huh? You should be careful with giving out change when lunch rush comes.” She checked the fridge for the milk bottles, counting them in her head despite having stocked them up when she came in. She didn’t quite appreciate being judged. It was bad enough that the entire school feared or hated her guts, she didn’t need this kind of environment in her work place. Standing up, she wiped her hands on her apron and cleaned the coffee machine of any more spills she missed. “While we don’t have customers, check the display and keep count of the pastry. You will have to make note which ones need filling so I can get some on the back and don’t leave your post for now.” Grabbing a cloth, clean one, Quinn sighed and headed to wipe the tables and chairs, making sure everything looked pleasing as they should. “Do you know the promotions we have for the morning rush?” she asked as she glanced over to Tina.

The answer to Quinn’s first question came to Tina easily. It was, in fact, what she was thinking when she asked, “I care because, aren’t you a bit too good for this job? It will, ultimately, lead you nowhere. It doesn’t seem beneficial to you, for you to spend your days working here, when you have the money and could be using your time to take more classes. Like, college level courses, seem more worthwhile to you than,” she gestured to the now empty cafe, “this. And thanks,” she said, gratefully, “I’ll check my cash before giving it, thoroughly.” Tina set to doing as Quinn had asked. She understood most of what Quinn had said. They were things the manager had explained, but then she blanked. “Promotions? I’ve got no clue what you’re talking about.” Again, Tina needed to keep herself from panicking. The manager had mainly given only, the bare minimum, as far as the job went, but she didn’t realize she needed anything more than that. Had they told her and she missed it or forgot. This was too stressful. But why? Tina’s face scrunched. She’d had jobs before. Hectic first days at jobs, too. Why was this different? She looked up at the blonde wiping tables and found her, quite obvious, answer.

Quinn couldn’t help but scoff (although, she had to admit, she felt a slight appreciation) at Tina’s perspective of her life was. Money troubles had been far from her mind growing up and hadn’t expected half the things that happened to her last year, much less imagined herself actively working on this quaint little coffee shop. Once again, she chose to ignore on the possibilities of what she could’ve been doing had she not screwed up last year. True to what Tina expected, yes, she probably would’ve been in a college-level course, ensuring her grades to be of exemplary record for all the Ivy Leagues. She was doing the same, though, just without the college-level courses.

“What?” Quinn asked suddenly, abling to read the array of expressions passing across Tina’s face before she sighed in frustration. “Great. This is going to be a long day,” she thought to herself before finishing up the tables. “Okay, I’ll tell you and you better remember this so write it down,” she spoke as she returned back to her post behind the coffee machine and pointed to the menu boards above them, “for breakfast, we have a promotion for two things. No order changes can be made to this. We sell a medium sized coffee with a croissant for $5 but the only coffee available is either white coffee or black coffee.” She pointed to the other menu item. “Another one is for the bear claw and medium cappuccino at the same price,” she looked over to Tina, “they cannot be changed at all. We also offer two grilled cheese for $3. Are you with me so far?”

Feeling annoyed with herself, that she’s already managed to upset Quinn, Tina apologized meekly, and searched for something to write on and with, and found a receipt and a pen. Unfortunately, the receipt was wet and the pen was out of ink. For a second, she rolled her eyes, because her luck, this morning, was reaching the level of comical. Quinn started naming the special orders and Tina payed attention, willing herself to NOT forget the instructions, she was being given. Not wanting to inconvenience Quinn, any further, she nodded, “I’m with ya, boss. Croissant and coffee or claw and cappa for five, or grilled cheeses for 3.” At the mention of grilled cheese, her stomach growled, loudly. Tina tried to act natural, hoping Quinn didn’t hear the sound, but it was a reminder of her missed breakfast. She knew she should have, at least, had a snack last night, after Mack came over. Wait! Did she even bring her wallet to pay for lunch, when that came about? Because that sandwich sounds amazing.... Nope. No wallet in her pocket. Sigh.

Quinn was about to reply to Tina about being patronising by calling her ‘boss’ but her words were lost on her lips as soon as she heard the unmistakable growl from the other girl’s stomach. Sighing, she looked at her for a moment, allowing herself to wonder how Tina, who was normally on time and on point about things, seemed scattered right now. “Wait here,” she said simply before turning around to head over to the back office to grab something off her bag. After a few minutes, she returned behind the counter to the anxiously looking girl and handed her two muesli bars. “You can have this for now. Do you want coffee as well?” Quinn asked as she picked up a small cup of from the stacks, “you will need your energy if you want to finish your shift, especially when lunch rush comes. There’s a separate promo menu for that but we won’t get into it. I don’t want to confuse you.” Just before she made Tina her choice of drink, she took out a small note pad with a pen from her apron pocket. “That wet receipt is going to be useless so here’s the breakfast menu for you to remember.” She flipped the notepad to the page and handed it to the girl once more. Somehow, she wasn’t going to last if Tina could take the stress of a busy coffee shop being scattered like this. “Also, don’t forget to breathe...and smile. No one’s going to kill you...yet,” she chuckled teasingly as she frothed the milk.

Planting herself to the spot she standing on, Tina patiently waited, as Quinn had ordered her to, and focused on her breathing. Upon being given food, she gratefully, thanked Quinn, and tore one bar open, devouring it like the most ferocious animal, until she remembered her manners. Hoping Quinn hadn’t witnesses her behavior, Tina opened the second bar and took tiny rabbit bites out of that one. “Yes, please. However you have coffee, is fine.” She watched Quinn, with utter fascination. The girl seemed frustrated, but she was being kind. And helpful. And generous. Tina knows how much rumors suck(intimately), so she might have brushed off the things people said about how awful she was, if it weren’t for the fact that Tina had seen it, first hand. But that felt like such a long time ago. So much had changed. Tina knows she’s changed. She smiled at Quinn, hoping she had, as well. She brushed those thoughts away. Now wasn’t the time. “I really appreciate your help.” Quinn laughed, and Tina grinned from ear to ear, at the sound, and teased back, “Was that a joke? From the once, so scary, Quinn Fabray?”

“Once, huh?” Quinn hummed as she wiped the machine and the counter, handing the small flat white coffee to Tina, “No worries. I need you energised to handle customers.” With that, she left the counter once more to do a little of cleaning around the tables and chairs. “Also, keep an eye on the sugars box. Make sure they’re all filled up. There should be two packets of sugars and stirrers under the cupboard,” she spoke while she cleaned. She quickly returned to her post behind the machine when the trickle of customers wanting to beat the morning rush came in until it was busy. Shouts of coffee orders and promo orders and Quinn was quick to make sure every order was given out accordingly, however, she couldn’t say the same to Tina. She kept her eye on the girl with taking orders and giving change, occasionally giving her a look of whether she needed help or not. “Breathe, please, these people smell fear,” she joked as she whispered to her when she reached for a sugar packet, hiding a subtle smile before returning to make the coffee order.

A chuckle escaped Tina, before she could stop it. Quinn’s words of encouragement did more to calm her than breathing did, but she did as the blonde asked. Eventually the morning rush died down and Tina felt relieved. She’s still alive. Not killed by herself, her customers, or her coworker… Speaking of, she turned to Quinn and muscled up her bravery before moving in, to give Quinn a hug, “Thank you for your help. I really needed it. Only gave the wrong change once, and it was a quarter.” She pulled away, while still talking, “Write down the lunch thing, for me, please?” Her smile was radiant, and she realized, that she could really get used to, and even like this job!

Quinn was caught off-guard by the hug, immediately making her stiff under the pressure of being squeezed. Thankfully, Tina didn’t seem to notice when she realised her and she felt like she could breath again, smiling as she always would to anyone despite what they do. “It’s okay. I can’t be both a cashier and a barista so I’m thankful you’re here. Last time I was, it didn’t go quite so well,” she explained before holding her hand out so Tina could return her notepad. Once she did, she flipped the pages to the lunch menus. There wasn’t much other than five promo items before she handed it back. She changed the menu boards for the lunch menu. “Okay, lunch is a bit difficult because not only do we sell coffees, we also sell shakes and fruit juices. I list the flavours on the next page and their prices. We also might need to add a few pastries on the display.”

“Thanks. You’ve been very helpful. I couldn’t imagine doing both jobs, at once. I nearly got flustered doing one.” Tina examined Quinn openly, for a few seconds. “I’m sorry for hugging you. I won’t do it, again. It was mostly, a test, to see whether you would hit me, if I did it.” Her own, lack of a filter, caused eyes to go wide, and she ducked away, in a submissive manner. At Quinn’s mention of pastries, Tina sprung into action, placing enough to fill every open spot in the container, without crushing anything. “I’m sorry if my question before, about you needing the money and whatnot, was rude. It’s not my business. I’m just trying to be more social. No one ever explained to me that the line between being social and being nosy, is very fine.”

Quinn gave Tina a knowing look and smiled weakly. “It’s alright. I...I’m not really used to contact,” she said quietly, not wanting to delve the specificities on why she was like that, ignoring the odd evasive move Tina did. What had the school rumour mill really churning about her? It wasn’t that she was out of the loop, per say. She preferred to tune her hearing to better things than just normal high school drama. When Tina proceeded to refill the displays, Quinn refilled the napkins on the counter and looked up surprisingly at Tina when she spoke. “It’s okay but you do kind of sound like another Rachel Berry,” she teased the girl, knowing it’ll shove the conversation to a different direction, “you haven’t been hanging around with you, have you?”

“I’ll be sure to keep my hands off you, as best as I can.” Tina’s face scrunched, as soon as that sentence left her mouth. Would she have said that if she wasn’t into ladies, and Quinn wasn’t a girl or super attractive? Wait! Hold the phone! Quinn is super attractive?... Why, yes. Yes, she is. But that’s whatever. She’s straight. It’s not a big deal. Tina brushed off her awkward comment quickly, when she heard Quinn’s follow up, “Oh God! If I ever sound like Rachel Berry, I’d LIKE you to punch me. She drives me fucking crazy!” Tina quickly glanced around, to make sure the cafe was still empty and no one heard her cursing, but she kept the disdainful look on her face and went back to refilling the sugar containers.

Quinn had raise a curious eyebrow at the huge reaction Tina had in regards to her comment about Rachel and Tina being similar but she kept her thoughts to herself. “I wouldn’t actually punch you but I don’t think anyone in Glee would ever cope having two huge personalities. We already enough of those around in the choir room anyway,” she pointed out before shrugging then moving towards behind the counter. She proceeded to make herself an iced coffee. “How’s your energy level? Lunch rush lasts for two hours and if you think uncaffeinated morning people are evil, hungry caffeinated people smell blood,” she smirked, enjoying the little banter between them because it helped working together and it looked like Tina needed those ice breakers.

For whatever reason, Tina felt a lot happier knowing Quinn wouldn’t punch her. “Oh yeah. I love everyone in Glee, but I just don’t know how Mr. Schuester handles it all.” She paused for dramatic effect. “Oh right. He doesn’t really.” She turned at the sound of Quinn’s voice, “Oh no, I’m fine. I can’t have too much, or I’ll be bouncing off the walls, and I’ll be no help to you. I’m sure I can handle it. Tina the super cashier to save the day from rabid, white-collar workers of the Chamber! You and I make a good team.” Tina was feeling more like herself. After the start to the day, she was convinced, she’d be fired, then her bike tire would go out, on the way back home, then a masked psycho would appear and leave her mangled corpse for the buzzards, but this was proving to be a good day. She was even acting like herself. Quinn had made her feel comfortable, really quickly. She wasn’t even being shy. Sure, she was putting her foot in her mouth a lot, but Quinn seemed far more chill than she used to, and Tina had to admit, it was a good look on her. Maybe she’ll say that to her, soon...Not now, though.

With the lunch rush beat and the long hours of people facing interactions soon began to take its toll on Quinn; she was getting a headache again. “I’ll be in a minute,” she said to Tina quietly before heading to the back to take a seat and given herself a breather. Sometimes, situations like this often reminded her how easily her tolerance for people would fill up and she needed a minute to reset herself. It wasn’t that she was anti-social or anything, she simply and so easily tires out from interactions. It was no wonder how she even survived being in the Cheerios and surrounded by people constantly. Once she had her minute, she went to the freezer to grab some ice and to place them a cup then returning to her post shortly. “So, your shift will end soon at 2 pm. Was it as bad as you think it was?” she asked Tina before placing a small piece of ice into her mouth then proceeding to collect any used coffee cups left on the tables.

Giving Quinn, her space when she asked for it, Tina kept herself busy, wiping down the counters and refilling the empty, pastry container. She would occasionally sneak glances at her coworker, but tried not to stare for too long. It might be weird if Quinn catches her looking at her from across the room. When Quinn returned, Tina quirked one side of her mouth up and responded, “It was not. It was even, dare I say, fun. Huh. Fun. With the Quinn Fabray. I’d have laughed at my own self, had I come from the future, and told myself from two years ago. I hope I wasn’t too much trouble. Was I? I’ll get better, especially if you tell me about the things that bother you, ‘cause I’ll be sure to cut back on, whatever that might be.” Tina moved to help Quinn, by picking up any stray cups, when she noticed the cup full of ice, “Oh, is this yours?” A pause, “Why, just ice?”

Quinn looked at Tina for a moment, studying her features before she pursed her lips. “Neither would I but it seems things had worked out fine. As for you, you were okay. You just need to pace yourself better in order to stop being frazzled by the customers and practice more on getting a rhythm in working but I suppose such things come from practice and more work shifts. I would also recommend you to not be tardy because that wouldn’t go well with Eric,” Quinn explained, ignoring the statement where Tina offered her to speak out about the things that bother her. She knew Eric would have a final say on who to take on with the new trainees. “Yes, that’s mine. Just leave it on the corner,” she said before pulling out the bins from under the machine to put them for the next trainee who will do an afternoon shift.

Tina focused her brain power to remember every bullet point, Quinn mentioned. It was mostly common sense, but in today’s day and age, common sense is neither common, nor sensible. “Eric seems like a real hardass. But you’ve been an absolute lifesaver, today. Really. Thank you.” Tina may have forgotten herself, and went to give Quinn another hug, then quickly caught herself, “Right. You don’t like contact.” She quickly, put her hands behind her back and smiled, “See? I’m already working on the bothersome things!” She left the ice in it’s place, for Quinn, noticing Quinn’s still being ever, the talkative type. After glancing down to the trash Quinn pulled out, she pointed to it, “I can get that, if you like. Just tell me where the dumpster is, and it’ll be gone.” Tina was eager to help today. A bit out of the ordinary for her, but she payed no mind.