Thursday May 7th , 1.15pm

The back room wasnt what Blaine was expecting at all.  It was much larger than it looked from the main office and was spotlessly tidy. 

Maps of all shapes and sizes hung from the walls.  There was a cubby hole storage unit against the far wall, filled with excess brochures, and a small table with two chairs in the corner closest to them displayed a vase full of brightly coloured flowers.

"A gift from a grateful client of mine that recently returned from Europe" Kurt explained, and nodded toward the arrangement on the table.

"Theyre lovely." Blaine replied. 

Kurt gestured toward the wall opposite them.  A white screen had been mounted to the wall, and Blaine realised that this was it.  This was where the magic happened.

"Ok.  So if you want to stand in front of the screen, Ill just set the camera up."

Blaine moved towards the screen, before remembering he was still wearing his backpack and jacket.  "Can I...where can I put my things?" he asked.

"You can put them on the table if you like?"

Blaine removed his jacket, and swung his bag from his shoulders to the table beside him. 

Sending the vase toppling over.

He watched, open mouthed, as water poured out of the vase and onto the floor.

"Oh my god.  Oh  my GOD.  I am SO sorry.  Ill clean it up" Blaine rambled, reaching for the first thing he could find to mop up the water. 

"Blaine!  Its ok!!  You dont have to....your jacket!" Kurt exclaimed.

It was only then that Blaine realised his mop of choice had been his brand new jacket.  He dropped the jacket to the floor, and sank into one of the seats beside the table, hands over his face.

"Im useless" he whispered to himself.

Kurt sat in the seat beside him. 

"Blaine.  I dont know you at all. Ive met you three times.  But from what Ive seen, youre not useless.  Clumsy as hell, maybe.  But not useless." 

Kurt placed a hand on Blaines arm and smiled at him. 

Blaine felt his heart stop.

"Im...Im not usually this clumsy." Blaine admitted.  "I just...Im so sorry. This is completely inappropriate, but youre kinda...well...intimidating."

"Youre ridiculous."  Kurt stated, getting to his feet and pulling Blaine up by the arm. 

"Lets not let that adorable bowtie go to waste, shall we?  I believe we were taking photos?" he smiled, guiding Blaine toward the wall.

Adorable.  He thinks its adorable.  Win for the bowtie.

**

Keeping a straight face for the photo when all he wanted to do was smile from ear to ear wasnt easy but he made it through.  And the photo wasnt actually too bad, if he might say so himself.

"So, whats next?" Blaine asked Kurt, as they sat back at his pod in the main office.  Santanas client had left, and he ignored the eyebrow she raised at Kurt.

Kurt shot Santana a warning glare.

"Im going for my lunch, Hummel.  Call me if it gets busy." Santana declared with a smile, before heading into the back room.

"Oh, and make sure you order some more toilet paper for the bathroom. You know the stuff I like..." she called with tone in her voice that Kurt knew far too well. "Also, you owe me ten bucks." She turned and closed the door behind her.

 Kurt turned back to a very confused looking Blaine, suppressing his urge to kill Santana. 

"Do I want to ask what that was about?" Blaine asked.

"Oh, thats just how she is sometimes, dont worry about her." Kurt said.  "Anyway, where were we?"

"You were going to tell me what I have to do next to apply for my passport?" Blaine prompted.

Kurt smiled. "Well, next, you need to take the forms and these photos over to the post office.  Youll need to take your birth certificate and drivers licence, too.  Theyll sort you out there, and in four to six weeks youll have your ticket outta here".  Although Kurt was still smiling, Blaine could see a hint of sadness behind it.

The shop was still empty, and Blaine couldnt help but ask. 

"What made you want to become a travel agent?"

Kurts smile grew - it was obvious he loved his job. 

"Ive always wanted to travel" he explained.  "Money hasnt always been something Ive had a lot of, but I love working with people who love to travel.  This way, I get to earn a buck and live vicariously through their travels.  The downside is that my bucket list grows longer by the day, and Im adding more places than Im ticking off. Saying that, it does have its perks.  Sometimes clients bring us gifts..."

"Like the flowers I ruined" Blaine interrupted.

"Like those" Kurt teased.  "And I get to send people like you to...well...Sweden, apparently..."

Blaine blushed, lowering his head.  "About that..."

"Wait, you dont want to go to Sweden?" Kurt asked, feigning shock through a smile. 

"Intimidating, remember?"

Kurt laughed.  "So where do you want to travel with your new passport?"

Blaine shook his head. "Im really not sure.  Europe, maybe?  Or Asia? Or Australia?  Australia looks awesome."

Kurt stood, and pulled a few brochures from the shelf before placing them in front of Blaine.  "Here.  Take these.  They should give you somewhere to start?"

Blaine placed his bag onto the desk, and slipped the brochures inside.

"These...these will definitely help. Thank you.  And sorry again for the flowers."

"Dont even mention it." Kurt smiled, and then lowered his voice slightly.  "But to make up for the flowers that were not mentioning, maybe we could grab a coffee and go through some of those brochures?  You know, in a strictly professional manner?"

Kurt slid his business card across the desk. Blaine picked it up.

"Kurt Hummel, Travel Expert" Blaine read.  "Thats a pretty neat job title you have there."

Kurt plucked the card from his hand.  He turned it over and wrote on it before placing it into a side pocket of Blaines bag.  He smiled, keeping his hand over the card so that Blaine was unable to read what he had written.

A family walked into the office and Kurt moved his hand away quickly, and stood from his seat.

"Ok then.  Keep in touch, Mr...?" he asked, extending his hand for Blaine to shake.

"Anderson.  Blaine Anderson." Blaine confirmed with a grin, taking Kurts hand.

"Blaine Anderson" Kurt repeated, letting Blaines hand fall from his own.  Blaine left the pod and left the store. 

Once he was out of view from the office, he reached into his bag and pulled out Kurts business card.  He couldnt stop the smile that spread across his face as he read what Kurt had written, beside what Blaine assumed was his personal cell number.

"Kurt Hummel, Travel Expert. Drinker of coffee. Friend of bowties. Fan of Sweden"