Chapter 1

Monday - April 4th

The cubicle was a gaudy baby blue, one of twenty-five on this floor. Inside, there was a rectangular wooden desk with a semi-circle cut out of it for two people to sit. The desk had two computers on it, beige boxes at best. The chairs were standard black office roller chairs. This would be her workstation for the foreseeable future.

It wasn't as bad as she was expecting. It was next to a window so there was plenty of sunlight coming in. The people in the other cubicles seemed to be happy, at least outwardly. The place hadn't crushed the spirits of those working there unlike her previous job.

The advertising company, Pitch Perfect, had just let go of several employees in the creative department. It needed to replace these employees quickly and finding talent from within the company had seemed like the best idea. The financial department and the sales department had an abundance of employees and she was one of the people promoted to creative. She didn't mind though, she was being paid more and knew she would be good for the job.

Standing in her black blazer and pencil skirt combo with a poorly ironed white shirt, the thing that made her anxious wasn't the job. It was the redhead sitting in one of the roller chairs in the cubicle. Beca wasn't fond of working with others. It wasn't that she didn't like interacting with people, she was just incredibly bad at it. She tended to get on people's nerves with her sarcasm and lack of communication. The financial department didn't require her to voice her ideas, not that she needed to have any ideas in the first place.

Tentatively taking her seat next to the other girl, she put her 'amazing' communication skills into action.

"Hi, I'm Beca. I think I'm your partner," she said, surprised that she managed to put some enthusiasm behind it. Putting on her best smile, she tried to make a good first impression. By now, the redhead had turned to face her and she was greeted to a bright smile much like her own.

"I'm Chloe. I think you're my partner too," she said with a wink, the smile still beaming into her. The newly introduced Chloe was dressed in a grey pencil skirt much like Beca's that reached just below her knees. Combined with the skirt was a bright white shirt with a pink blazer.

Beca was pulled out of her observations when the other girl grabbed both her hands and gave them a squeeze. She was looking right into the brunette's eyes and Beca was astounded by how blue they were. Chloe let out a giggle.

"I'm really excited about this."

The two began discussing what they were going to be doing as part of their job. They were creating advertising campaigns for a variety of products. A lot of ideas were tossed back and forth during the hour.

From her first impressions, Chloe seemed great. She was bubbly, smiled a lot and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. She would describe her ideas by using elaborate hand gestures or doodling in a sketch pad. One idea got her so excited that she ended up knocking over her yellow cup of pens.

Beca, on the other hand, was cold and hesitant to share her ideas. She hated it. This working as a team thing was never one of her strong suits and she was paired up with someone who seemed to be great at it. It wasn't that she hated Chloe, she was far too nice for anyone to hate. The problem was that Chloe was going to be disappointed when she realizes that the person she is working with can't interact with others properly.

The brunette was becoming more and more fidgety as their discussion progressed. She couldn't keep her hands still and her palms were becoming sweaty. The redhead seemed to power through the awkwardness which she appreciated greatly.

At one point, Beca managed to bump her head against the other girl quite violently. She sprung into a series of apologies while the redhead insisted that she was fine.

After an hour, it seemed even Chloe could not take it anymore and stood up and walked away from the cubicle. Beca smashed her head against the desk and cursed herself. She had made her partner run away on her first day. The introverted girl was clearly not mixing well with the bubbly, outgoing one.

Needing to clear her head before the redhead came back or HR came to take her away for being unable to function as a normal human, Beca pulled out her iPod. Music was a drowning tool for her. It drowned out her parents arguing before the divorce, it drowned out angry teachers and it drowned out bullies. It was an escape.

It also made it easier to forget that she was completely alone.

Her mother had passed away some years ago, the only person she really had any connection to. Her father had left home when she was thirteen and the few friends she made over the years hadn't stuck around. She hadn't made it easy by moving to a new city. Her previous job was mostly done in isolation so she wasn't making friends there and she wasn't someone who went outside often either. Two years here and no one would notice if she disappeared.

It was probably for the best that she didn't have many chances to make friends as the display today showed she isn't capable. It was confusing because she could be considered confident in a lot of situations. She wasn't afraid of public speaking and she did amazing when interviewed.

Her depressing train of thought was interrupted by a body moving into the chair next to her. She then noticed two cups being placed on the desk, the steam indicating the contents were hot. Turning towards the owner, she was met with the Chloe. The girl was smiling again.

The bubbly girl reached over and took Beca's earbuds out. She then took one of the cups and handed it to her.

"I got us some tea. You seemed really nervous and tea always helps me with that," she said. Beca was surprised that she even returned at all.

"Thank you. Sorry about that. I don't usually work in a team. Didn't expect to be this much of a mess though."

Chloe took Beca's free hand into her own.

"Just be yourself Beca. You don't have to be nervous around me, I'm not going to judge you. You've probably been so worried that you haven't even noticed we've made great progress despite it being our first time on the job."

Racking through her memory of the last hour, Beca was surprised to realize that she did contribute a fair amount to the work, albeit in a mumbling unsure way.

"You're already a great partner Beca. I know you're going to make a great friend as well."

The next action surprised the brunette. Chloe placed her tea back on the table and pulled Beca in for a hug. It apparently wasn't going to be a quick one either. This seemed to be a warm embrace. The shorter girl was pulled in close against the redhead who didn't seem to be letting go anytime soon.

"I find the best way to deal with awkwardness is to acknowledge it openly. So let's be awkward for a bit. The longer this hug goes on for, the more awkward it will be," Chloe said with a giggle.

Beca couldn't suppress the laugh in her throat. She had hoped that the other girl would brush aside the problem until the brunette became comfortable. It was the best she thought she was going to get after her behaviour today. Chloe had gone out of her way to welcome her. She wasn't just happy upbeat type, she genuinely seemed to care.

Weirdly, the hug wasn't awkward at all. Chloe had gone all out on the embrace as they were pressed together very tightly. The redhead was comfortably warm and when she spoke, the movement of her chest and the sound passing past Beca's ear were strangely pleasant.

"In a few seconds, you should try and break the hug but I'll keep holding on to maximise the awkwardness," Chloe joked. Beca, in an act that even surprised her, made her grasp on the taller girl slightly firmer. This elicited a delightful laugh from her.

"Thank you." Beca wished to say it normally but it came out as a whisper.

"Don't thank me. This was all just an excuse to hug my adorable little partner."

Following the very direct talk about the problem, Beca became far more relaxed. Now that she was aware of things other than her behaviour, she was pleasantly surprised by how well the two worked together. Both were creative in their own way and their styles complimented each other. Chloe was like a big child with outlandish ideas that she had to reign in. It warmed her heart to see someone so passionate for a job that some would consider to be the devil's work.

Just after noon, the redhead insisted that they have lunch together and dragged Beca to a diner nearby. The twenty-four year old had no real say in the matter as Chloe had stood up at half twelve on the dot and started pulling her into the elevator. During lunch, the pair talked about their previous work in the company. Chloe had come from the sales department and hadn't enjoyed it that much. She had taken the first opportunity out of it and was thrilled to be working on what she considered to be a far more interesting job. Her real passion was writing but wasn't confident enough to present it to anyone. Beca could relate.

As the rest of the day progressed, the real girl behind the nervous brunette began to appear. Her sarcasm was the first to come back. Chloe was initially taken aback by it which worried Beca. Usually, people didn't like it but her fears were allayed when Chloe returned her sarcastic comments right back at her.

As she bid goodbye to Chloe for the day, she was surprised that her heart was beating at a steady rate and she was smiling. After a rough start, the day had gone smoothly and she was surprised by how much she enjoyed it. Telling Chloe that it was all because of her would be a little weird so she decided to keep that to herself.

Tuesday - April 5th

Beca Mitchell's eyes were wondrous. Drops of blue highlighted by the darker makeup around them. There was something magical about them. When Chloe had looked into them yesterday, they had conveyed the brunette's fear quite clearly. She hadn't been completely lying when she said she did it all for a hug. Every time Beca had made eye contact with her, Chloe had wanted to wrap her arms around her and tell her not to be so nervous. She was like a newborn doe, learning to walk.

Today, she got to see something different in those eyes. Chloe had arrived late and found Beca with her head against the desk, writing on a notepad. There were two cups of hot liquid next to her. She seemed oblivious to the world around her. It was also a strange way to write. With her head against the desk, there was no way for her to see what she was writing and yet the symbols on the page were appearing in a perfect line. They were symbols specifically and not words.

Musical notation.

Beca's eyes did not show fear but there seemed to be activity to them. They were focused on the pencil in her hand, watching its movement. The concentration required to write in such a way had made her open them wider. Chloe's eyes were blue as well but not in the same way. Her eyes conveyed her happiness. What she saw in the shorter girl's eyes was a hint of sadness. They were the most beautiful she had ever seen, albeit in a depressing, almost heartbreaking way.

Taking a seat and making her presence known, Chloe looked to see what Beca had been writing. The musical notes were preceded by words. They looked like lyrics. Apparently they were for Beca's eyes only as she quickly closed her notebook and sat up straight.

There was a big smile on her face. She pushed one of the cups next to Chloe.

"I got us coffee. I wanted to return the favour and thank you for being so understanding yesterday," She said.

"Thank you, Beca," Chloe beamed.

Before Beca could stop her, the redhead took a big gulp of the drink. The change in the face was almost immediate as she realized her mistake. The scalding hot coffee in her mouth either needed to go down her throat, doing more damage to her or she would need to spit it out.

A second later, the contents of her mouth were scattered all over the desk, keyboard and computer monitor. Luckily, none of it landed on Beca, who had stood up and was running to the office kitchen.

She returned with a glass of water.

"Soo... The coffee was hot," Beca stated, a smirk creeping onto her face. The pout from the other girl indicated that she wasn't amused.

After cleanup, the duo began working again. After a strange start to the day, there was little that could go wrong. Beca concluded that her attempts to thank Chloe had gone well if looked at in a certain light and that was good enough for her. Everything was fine for a whole ten minutes before she started noting that there was something weird about Chloe's behaviour. Specifically her coffee.

Glancing to the side when the older girl took a sip of her drink, she could see that the redhead was wincing as the coffee entered her mouth. Swallowing also seemed to be a difficulty. It couldn't have been the scalding as Beca had been rather quick with the cold water. Chloe's coffee cup was also mostly full, even after the previous explosion while Beca's sat empty.

Figuring out what was going out, Beca decided to see if the other girl would come clean herself.

"Chloe?"

"Hmm."

"Is something wrong?" Beca questioned. Chloe turned at this moment and wondered what she was referring to.

"I don't think so." Clearly a lie. It was time to see how long she was willing to keep it up.

"Well, it looks like your coffee's getting cold. You might want to drink it before it goes bad." Beca then looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to drink it. "Go on."

Chloe picked up the cup and slowly raised it to her mouth and starting gulping down the liquid, unable to hide her displeasure. She had managed to drink about a quarter of the cup before she had to come up for air. She visibly steeled herself before placing her mouth on the cup once again.

"Chloe stop!"

Beca waited. The forced smile from the taller girl was different from the genuine ones she had received yesterday.

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't like coffee?" Beca enquired.

"I do like coffee." Apparently she was going to continue with the lie. Her attempts to drink from the cup again are quickly intercepted. Beca needed a new plan to get her to admit it.

"Well then, let me get you another. You spat out most of it and it's gotten cold. I wouldn't want you to drink sub par coffee," she said sarcastically. Slowly getting out her seat, she made exaggerated motions towards the office coffee machine.

She made it three steps.

"Ok fine!" Beca grinned to herself for a moment before turning around to feign ignorance.

"What seems to be the problem, Chloe?"

"I don't like coffee." she stated simply.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

A blush appeared on her cheek. Strange. The lack of eye contact and general anxiousness indicated that she was possibly feeling guilty.

"You were trying to do something nice for me and I didn't want to say I didn't like coffee because it would make me seem ungrateful."

Beca was stunned. Apparently this girl was so nice she was willing to do something that looked like it was making her gag. Despite it being a stupid thing to do, it made Beca like the girl more, to know that she had her own insecurities. It was endearing.

"So not only did you burn your mouth but also continued to subject yourself to displeasure all because you didn't want to hurt my feelings?"

Chloe nodded dumbly.

"That's incredibly sweet," Beca said, smiling. Chloe looked up at this point, making eye contact with her, smiling. The blush has intensified slightly.

"You said yesterday that you wanted me to be myself. I think that applies to you too. Although in your case, it's referring to you being truthful about what you like to drink."

This managed to make Chloe giggle. The brunette got up at this point and made her way out of the building.

Beca had gone somewhere, it gave the redhead time to catch up on the work the other girl had done up to that point. It also gave her time to contemplate on being caught red handed doing something that in retrospect, was very stupid. What would have been the worst thing that would have happened if she had told Beca she didn't like Coffee? It's not like she was going to freak out. That was not giving Beca enough credit.

In fact, she had surprised the older girl yesterday. Chloe had expected Beca to dislike her. People tended to find her overly enthusiastic nature and positive personality to be annoying. Beca seemed like a far more reserved person who Chloe was bound to infuriate. While working yesterday, despite Beca's nervousness, it was clear that she was intently listening to Chloe and actually taking in what she was saying. After their talk, she even seemed to enjoy her company.

Beca returned moments later with tea.

There was something different about her from earlier. Specifically her eyes. The sadness that was there was less pronounced. Her smile seemed brighter and there was a confidence to her that wasn't present yesterday. She was still reserved but seemed comfortable, almost serene.

When she handed the cup to Chloe, the brunette gave her another smile, her blue eyes looking straight at her. She was unsure as to why blood seemed to be rushing to her cheeks when Beca gave her that look. Her being unable to speak in that moment was also unexpected.

"Thank again for yesterday."

Wednesday - April 6th

Beca didn't like him. The guy in the grey suit who didn't look too smart. The sort of guy who was at his current position because of daddy's money. A 'traditionally' handsome sort with dark hair who was currently trying to put the moves on Chloe. Beca initially didn't have a problem with him when he showed up earlier this morning and attempted to flirt with Chloe. It was almost sweet. Now, if her count was correct, was attempt number five and his reasons for needing to pass by their cubicle were becoming more and more dubious.

Chloe had effectively shut him down on his first attempt by telling him that she was in no way interested. This began the slow process of him pretending that he wasn't asking her out but totally asking her out. Apparently this guy had nothing else to do all day but interrupt the two of them. It was far worse for Chloe than it was for her though, Beca only had to listen. She picked up that his name was Tom.

She wanted to do something. Chloe was becoming more and more agitated and looked uncomfortable with the whole situation. The problem was that the guy hadn't done anything yet. He was just being pushy. He wasn't the misguided nice guy type either, most of the time when he intruded on the pair, he would leer at the redhead. The shorter, more stilted responses from Chloe combined with all the dead air between them made her want to get away from the whole thing.

And the touching. Whatever chance this guy could get to touch Chloe was taken. Again, it started as something nonchalant but the frequency of the contact was starting to become worrisome. Touching her shoulder when looking over their work, not too strange. Touching her hair as he departs, a little creepy and most definitely unwelcome. Touching her face when he approved of their work, that was too far.

It got too much for her when he started asking Chloe for her phone number. Apparently it was for work. Beca suspected that this may not be the case because he made no attempts to ask for her number, let alone acknowledge that she was even there.

"Chloe, could you get the mockups from the printer?" This would give her an opportunity to talk to Tom alone. Chloe left immediately, giving a small wink to her for the save.

Tom looked like he was going to follow. Beca stood up to block his way.

"Could I talk to you for a second?" she asked, putting on her best fake smile.

"Uhm, sure."

Beca looked behind her to make sure the redhead was out of earshot.

"Look, Chloe isn't interested in you, I think you should stop whatever it is you're doing here, it's not working." She wanted to let him down easily, perhaps he hadn't understood that Chloe was uninterested.

"Nah, she's totally into me, dude. She's just playing hard to get." Nevermind. The probability that this guy is an asshole just increased.

"No she isn't. She outright rejected your first attempt and has continued to avoid doing anything else you've suggested."

He reduced the distance between the two so that he was now looking down at Beca. It seemed like an attempt to scare her.

"Why don't you mind your own business?" He said quietly, his voice low. Definitely an asshole.

The thing about Beca was that despite her small size, she could be incredibly cold and intimidating when she needed to be. He tried to push past her, placing his hand on her shoulder to move her out of the way. Beca proceeded to grab his hand, stopping his motion.

"I'm not going to ask again. Back off."

Another push was made against her shoulder, this time more forcefully. The surprise on his face when the brunette didn't shift even slightly quickly changed to an expression of pain when Beca used the hand holding his arm to squeeze rather harshly while taking it off her shoulder. She was now making eye contact with him. Anger, the only emotion present.

"From now on, your relationship with Chloe will be strictly professional. If Chloe is even remotely interested in you, she will come to you."

Beca was unaware that she could deliver a line with as much venom as she did then. The simple sentence held a threat within it and she wanted him to know. Her hands had balled into fists and there was a visible shake to them.

It seemed to have worked though. The place where her hand had gripped him had reddened. He seemed to have nothing to say. She must have dented his pride some as he looked like he contemplating pushing past her again.

"Am I understood?" Beca didn't shout but her speaking volume increased, causing him to flinch.

"Are you aware that I am on the same level as your superiors? I could have you fired for this. Especially a new transfer to an already struggling department. A few words and you would be gone," he said.

Beca grinned.

"So your plan is to go to my superiors, tell them you were harassing one of their employees before I stopped you and then they are going to fire me. Is that correct?"

It seemed like he had a response to that but Beca cut him off.

"Alright, let's say I am fired. All I would need to do is go public with this story. Pitch Perfect isn't in great shape currently and the last thing they want is a media shitstorm about treatment of their employees and their poor management. This followed by a lawsuit against you would mean the company would immediately distance themselves from you. Do you really think they are going to fight on your behalf on a case they have no chance of winning? You're a nobody. At best, it will end in a settlement costing them more money. They will hang you to dry the moment they realize what actually happened."

Tom said nothing, he was visibly angry but defeated.

"So I'll ask again. Am I understood?"

She got her response when he walked away. It was satisfying.

"So I ran into Tom on the way back," Chloe said

She had returned a few moments after the incident. She was much calmer now that Tom was no longer present.

"Cool"

Chloe looked at Beca skeptically. "Yeah, it was weird, I waved at him because it would be rude not to but he completely ignored me. I know he recognized me because he looked at me for a second before turning his head and looking in the other direction as he walked past."

"That is weird," she replied.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, do you?"

Beca answered very nonchalantly. "Nope". She never took her eyes off the monitor. Leaning back against her chair with one hand hanging off the side of it, she looked as casual as she possibly could. She looked way too casual, something Chloe picked up on.

"Well, you know, the walk to the printer isn't that long so I came back pretty quickly. When I got close to our cubicle, I heard someone telling Tom to leave me alone. It sounded like a woman, a totally badass woman. I especially loved the bit where she told him what would happen if he got her fired."

Beca turned to her at this point having been caught. She looked almost bashful which was in complete contrast to the confident, strong woman Chloe had secretly witnessed a minute ago. There seemed to be a blush forming on the brunette's cheeks as well.

"Look I was just trying to help ok," she replied defensively. It was adorable. The badass from earlier had disappeared.

Chloe reached for Beca's hand that was on the table. She placed her hand on top of the brunette's before giving it a small squeeze.

"Thank you Beca, it's only the third day and you're willing to get fired for me." She was truly grateful for what the other girl had done.

"It was nothing." Her voice was much softer now.

Thanks for reading. Would love some feedback. Feel free to write the most horrible, damning things you can.

I'm going to try and update at least once a week.