relationship lore: st. berry
rachel and jesse knew each other back in new york. they met when rachel was cast as satine in moulin rouge! alongside jesse's christian. jesse disliked this new casting; he'd built a rapport with his previous leading lady, and in his opinion, rachel simply could not compare to her. they immediately got off on the wrong foot. the way that rachel played the role was everything that the previous actress didn't do, and whenever jesse attempted to steer her in the other direction in his way, rachel would reject it. after all, jesse was not her director
night after night, they would get into arguments and full on fights. on stage, however, they were as in love as two could be, fooling the public for the entire show each night, experts in their field. rachel would never admit to jesse how talented she really thought he was because he could never seem to muster up anything nice about her, and she wasn't about to give him any kind of satisfaction.
eventually, he left the show for LA. she was glad to see him go, but something in her wouldn't stop poking at her. she won't admit this, but his move to hollywood did inspire her a bit. she began thinking about auditioning for movies and television, wondering if she had the it they were always talking about. she'd proven herself on many broadway stages over the last few years, what was wrong with trying to prove herself elsewhere?
so, after her contract with moulin rouge! was up in late 2024, rachel decided to pull the trigger and move to LA, get an agent, and start auditioning. it wasn't like she'd see jesse in such a big city, right?
well, she made friends and foes in the city of angels, and somehow they were all connected to one jesse st. james. first they end up in the same show, and now in the same friend group? she wanted to run, but after a childhood of not making friends super easily, she felt like he should be the one to run. he was the one with the charisma and qualities more conducive to forming friendships. he should go make new friends! of course, this didn't happen, and they had to simply agree to be civil for the sake of the group.
the first few months were a struggle. she had savings from broadway and working at the spotlight diner, but they were starting to run dry. she was this close to giving up, and then sir andrew lloyd webber came knocking. she'd auditioned for christine on broadway years ago, but she'd been written off as too green at the time. however, ALW remembered her, contacted her agent, and asked if she'd be interested in auditioning for the new film adaptation of the musical.
of course she was!
she auditioned, and long story short, after a few screen tests and callbacks, she was the new christine daae. rumor had it that tom francis had been tapped to play one of the leading male roles and she couldn't have been more excited.
uncharacteristically, before preparation for the film began, rachel said yes to a vegas trip with her friend group - a trip that included jesse. normally, she would say no, wanting to stay disciplined and working hard as always, but she was so over the moon at her new job, that she said yes.
she woke up in the morning naked in bed, an unfamiliar ring on her left hand, the warmth of someone next to her whose scent was familiar...oh no. she'd done the unthinkable. she'd lost complete control.
she'd gotten drunk and married jesse st. james. not just hooked up, not just kissed, which she'd done before on stage - Married with a capital M.
*elizabeth taylor voice* MARRIED??? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
now, the two are keeping this under wraps until it can get resolved, but oh, what if they end up not wanting it resolved? oh my god? i don't know how to wrap this up, bye.