"I'm going on break, Jerry." The waitress behind the counter untied her apron and hung it up on the hook behind her. Her manager peeped his head out from the window of the back room and nodded his head.
"No problem, Beca."
Beca smiled at a few regulars as she made her way towards a booth in the far corner of the coffee shop where she saw her friends lounging around.
"So I told my mom, 'Ma, I'm a big boy. I think it's time I pay my own rent from now on'."
"Aw, your mom still coddling you, Jess?" Beca chimed in as she slid in the booth to sit next to her friends.
Jesse rolled his eyes, "Yes."
"Maybe because it took you until you were 20 to finally move out."
Jesse dramatically banged his fist against the table, the force making the fork clink against the plate in front of him.
"Stacie, she didn't let me move out until I was 20. That was a year ago, I'm finally 21. The fact that I can finally go into a bar and not get kicked out should also mean I could pay my own rent without my mother worrying I'm gonna end up living on the street."
Stacie took a sip of her water and rose her eyebrows.
"Such a mama's boy."
Beca smirked and looked across from her where her friend Amy was sitting rather quiet.
"No opinion on the matter, Amy?"
Amy looked up from her phone, "What?"
Stacie leaned forward and stage-whispered, "We're talking about Jesse being a mama's boy."
Amy scoffed, "Oh, I know that already. Remember in high school when she almost took him to prom?"
Jesse groaned and ducked his head, "Can we change the subject, please?"
"Why? There's so many high school stories of you to look back to." Stacie laughed.
Jesse narrowed his eyes and interlocked his fingers as he raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah? How about in college when you streaked across the quad?"
Beca and Amy exchanged a glance before they broke out in laughter.
"I remember that-"
"-Most memorable time during Junior year!"
"Alright alright. Enough." Stacie rolled her eyes before she too joined in with a giggle of her own before Jesse added his own chuckles as they looked back at the foggy memory of their drunken college career.
"Where's Aubrey?" Beca asked, subconsciously swiping through her phone.
Jesse sipped at his coffee and looked through his recent text messages with the blonde.
"She should be here any minute. She had to stop by Luke's-"
"The boyfriend." Stacie sang.
"They're not together." Jesse contradicted.
"They will be if you don't do something about it." Amy muttered just as the door of the coffee shop opened with a chime from the bell hanging above it.
Jesse frowned, "What-?"
"Hey, Aubrey!" The girls greeted their friend as the blonde walked over with a smile on her face and her blazer freshly ironed.
"Hello, children." Aubrey sat beside Amy who ushered Jesse to scoot over to make more room.
"Rough day at the office?" Beca asked.
Aubrey sighed, "Fucking Heather is going to be the reason I go into cardiac arrest. I don't care if she's straight out of high school, your boyfriend breaking up with you isn't a valid reason to call out of work." The blonde shook her head, "Temps these days."
"Poor Aubrey had to get her own coffee." Amy cooed.
"It sucks." Aubrey huffed, "Bec, can you get me a coffee?"
"I'm on break." Beca whined.
"Ugh you're just like Heather." Aubrey mumbled as she took a sip of Stacie's coffee.
They sat for a while longer talking about anything and everything before they each had to leave, not before agreeing on meeting up later on at Amy's bar for a drink.
It was nearly closing time and Beca was humming along to the radio playing, a rag hanging off her shoulder as she sprayed down the counter.
She glanced over to the front of the coffee shop, looking out the large windows at the heavy rain falling hard against the glass while people sped walked down the sidewalk.
Beca smirked before she looked back down at the counter to wipe away the surface cleaner.
Jerry walked out from the back room with his hood thrown over his head.
"I'm heading out, Bec. Close up, okay?"
"Gotcha." Beca gave him a curt nod as he exited his shop, leaving Beca to clean up.
Just as she was finishing with the counter, Beca heard the door open with the bell jingling. She assumed it was Jerry before she looked up and saw the woman sigh heavily as she reached a safe haven from the rain.
"Hi, are you closed?" The woman asked.
Beca was momentarily speechless before she found her voice again.
"Not yet. What can I get you?" Beca watched the woman pull off her beanie to reveal ginger locks that flowed naturally off her shoulders as she walked over to the counter to sit on a stool.
"Thank you so much. Can I get a coffee?"
Beca gave her a lopsided grin and nodded, "Comin' right up."
"Thanks!" The woman chirped.
Beca eyed her for a moment as she poured fresh coffee into a mug.
"Are you new around here?" Beca asked with a quirk of an eyebrow.
The woman curled her lips with curiosity and raised her eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?"
Beca shrugged and placed the mug in front of the woman who somehow made her insides knot.
"This is a regular spot for the locals here." Beca smirked, "And I think I would have remembered you if you were one of them."
"Oh, really?" The woman took a sip of her coffee and laced her fingers around the mug, "Well, you're right. I just moved here and just my luck I picked the day of a storm to come out and familiarize myself with the area."
Beca chuckled softly, leaning forward slightly against the counter as she offered the stranger a handshake.
"I'm Beca. And I would love to show you around Manhattan some time."
"I'm Chloe." The woman shook Beca's hand and smiled, "And I'd love that."
Beca smiled and pulled away, "Where're you from?"
"Florida." Chloe stated with a lick of her lips. She watched Beca nod her head and shift awkwardly from side to side.
Beca ran her fingers through her hair before pouring herself some coffee.
"What brings you to the big city?" She asked.
"Oh you know the cliché. Wanting to re-invent myself."
Beca grinned, "Don't we all."
Chloe looked down at her phone and then looked outside, the rain continued to fall.
"I should get going."
Beca glanced at the clock and saw that it was a little passed closing time.
"Yeah me too."
Beca quickly washed Chloe's mug before she grabbed her jacket and umbrella and the store keys to lock up. Just before Chloe could say goodbye once they stepped out into the rain, Beca spoke.
"Do you need a ride?" Beca asked in a slight yell in order for Chloe to hear her passed the rain, "With weather like this, it's likely everything will be delayed."
Chloe weighed her options, the rain was an inconvenience and to be standing in it any longer to wait for a bus or a train would be an even bigger one. So she looked over at Beca, who stood under her umbrella with shrugged shoulders because of the brisk air, and nodded before quickly joining the waitress under the umbrella.
They scurried over to Beca's car, a black toyota camry with a Barden University logo stamped on the bumper, and Chloe was relieved once she slid into the passenger seat.
Beca slammed her door shut and let out a sigh. Chloe turned to look at the brunette and with a smirk she said, "You know I was always taught to never get in a car with a stranger."
Beca's lop-sided grin spread across her face for the second time that evening. She fired up her car, feet positioned on the pedals with her hands gripping the steering wheel as she backed out of her parking spot.
"I'm no stranger. We introduced each other, what- do I look like a psychopath or something?" Beca joked. They began to drive through the streets after Chloe put her address into Beca's GPS.
Chloe giggled and turned her head to look at the side of Beca's face.
"Who knows, you could be the unsuspecting type." Chloe raised an eyebrow.
Beca laughed lightly, she glanced to the side where Chloe sat and she smiled a bit before turning back to the road.
"So tell me about Florida."
"What would you like to know?"
Beca shrugged, "Why'd you leave sunny Florida to come here?"
Chloe laid her hands on her thighs, "I told you. I wanted to re-invent myself."
"From what?"
"Where's the fun in keeping you interested if I told you everything?" Chloe winked just before she spotted her apartment building up on the Upper East Side. They pulled up in front of the highrise building and Beca released a long whistle as she looked out the window to admire it.
"Thanks for the ride, Beca." Chloe pulled Beca out of her state of awe with a soft kiss on her cheek before she let herself out of the car and quickly made her way around the front of it.
Beca blinked and quickly rolled down the window just as Chloe approached the main door.
"Wait." Beca called out, making Chloe spin back around in a way that seemed like she expected Beca to do so. The doorman had his hand on the door handle, ready for when Chloe would enter the building.
"Yeah?" Chloe asked.
Beca shrugged a shoulder and tapped her fingers against the side of the car door.
"Can I have your number? Or is that going to remain a mystery too until the next time I see you again."
Chloe smiled and bit her lip, "Pretty much. I'll stop by for a coffee again soon and maybe I'll give it to you."
Beca smirked and shook her head with amusement.
"This your way of keeping me interested?"
Chloe shrugged and pursed her lips, "Could be. Is it working?"
"Yeah, definitely working."
A/N: hey guys. Just something that popped into my head, thought i'd put it out there to see if any of you like it enough for me to continue along with Liquid Courage.
Lemme know what you think!