Chapter 1

'Alone'

"Falling in love with a straight girl is like jumping off a plane without a parachute"

Now, if only Beca Mitchell knew that way back when she was still a young, tiny fool then maybe she could've spared herself the pain every tiny and foolish baby lesbian experiences. To her defense though, even the not so tiny, young and foolish still commit the same mistake so what chance did she have of being spared from a broken heart?

But that's a thing of the past. Beca, now with a stable career in one of the biggest digital music service companies has learned, through the hard way—that falling in love only causes disaster and will surely throw you in a pit of endless misery. It's pathetic and is the number one 'must never do' in Basic Lesbian 101.

Which is why, Beca has ultimately sworn off relationships. All of them, be it with a confused straight girl or not. Completely opening yourself up to someone, body, heart and soul where you let the person have so much power over you that it's either they catch you or let you fall and die?

Hell, no.

Extreme as it may be, the twenty seven year old producer of live events has stuck to this belief since she vowed never to fall in the same trap again. The trap which she had unfortunately dove down embarrassingly three times—not counting the fleeting unrequited girl crushes which mind you, also stings but just a little bit.

Unfortunately, the source of the problem, as it seems, is that the brunette has had the misfortune of being attracted to a specific type, the feminine straight girl type to be exact, and despite all the warnings before the clumsy 'fall', she had still stupidly crashed down, hard.

Three times.

And before anybody tries to judge her, it really wasn't entirely her fault that girls are so beautiful—and act all clingy and affectionate around her despite the general knowledge that she's definitely not straight. It gets even worse when she's been made as the 'experiment'.

To elaborate further, let's revisit the past, most specifically, mistake number one.

It seems that there will be a time that straight girls would try to 'experiment' with their 'besties' because 'hey, what's the harm in kissing your female lesbian friend—who is secretly crushing on you—for experiment anyway?'

It's like some sort of achievement that once unlocked would suddenly make you cool, wild, or talked about when it really isn't. It's wrong and it makes you feel used. Beca hates that feeling the most because she's been there before.

Three fuckin' times, remember?

How about lgbt++ friendly bars, some might say.

Well, not everyone in a gay bar is gay just like the fact that not everyone in the bar downtown is straight, take note of that because Beca certainly did after mistake number two. There's just something about straight girls with their innocent-yet-comes-out-as-flirty smiles, their captivating, beautiful, soulful eyes and their comfortable—too comfortable—and naturally affectionate gestures.

It's a trap so before you engage, abort mission. Abort!

Because right at the end, you're just a friend—or worse, sister—to them and you'd be left in a corner once a 'cute guy' comes along. Okay so maybe that second was more of her fault for hoping otherwise—as all lesbians do with the straight girls they fall for—but still, she can't help her heart.

Now the third mistake, well, that was definitely not her fault. Sexual confusion is normal to those who are suddenly realizing that they're preferences might actually be different than the norm. This third one had been confused and Beca had become the source of said confusion. It was supposed to be heading in a good direction, the feeling is seemingly mutual and she thought maybe this could be something—or a beginning to something.

Turns out, mistake number three who still happens to be confused and still in the state of 'experimenting', deemed their relationship a mistake—along with their nights of endless passion. In the end, she wanted picket fences, biological children and a husband that her religious parents would be proud of. As if Beca would never hit the mark on any of those—okay, biological children from two women is still impossible but there doesn't mean that there isn't a way.

The story is longer than that and is sure to create headaches but bottom line is, Beca's learned that three mistakes is enough and should never, ever, be repeated. She's done and out.

Her life is good without any of those complicated relationships or catching those stupid feelings anyway. She has an awesome job which she loves, a high-end condominium unit all to herself, a brand new car, her precious cat, Bella, and unlimited amount of freedom to do whatever she wants.

What more does she need?

"Hi! My name's Chloe. Chloe Beale. I'm the new promotions assistant. It's a pleasure to work with you," a chirpy voice breaks her intense scrutiny over the initial plans for the upcoming project they will be hosting next month.

Beca looks up to meet dazzling bright blue eyes, glossy auburn hair and a smile that could melt the polar ice caps—which would then be the end of the world, her world.

A hand is offered towards her for a handshake and Beca stares at it for a few seconds before lifting her eyes back up to the painfully beautiful stranger named Chloe.

One look, that's all it takes for Beca to figure this one out. From head to foot, this woman screams straight girl vibes and therefore, belongs to what Beca labels the extremely dangerous zone and should be kept at a safe distance away from her—a million miles away from her. She knows better now, which means, steer clear from danger and form a barricade in order to protect thyself.

By now the hand in front of her wavers a bit at the uncomfortable—hostile—silence yet remains there as the redhead speaks again.

"You're… Beca Mitchell, right? The over-all producer for live events? They told me to report straight to you," the uncertain tone is unmistakable yet Beca does nothing to alleviate the discomfort. She has zero intentions to do so too.

It's part of her rule book of protecting thyself.

Rule 1: Recognizing a threat as soon as you see it and proceed to expel said threat.

Lifting up the folders from her table, she hands them over to the redhead's outstretched hand and without missing a beat, replies in monotone, "Review those. I've compiled them all in order so it won't be that hard. We're having a meeting tomorrow. I would have given you more time but you're reporting in late for the festival season and we are in a rush. I'm expecting fresh ideas and punctuality," she finishes in a tone that clearly means business before motioning over for her assistant producer, Jesse.

With that, she gets back to her papers as Jesse, already sighing and internally shaking his head, quickly comes to the newbie's side. He adjusts his tie out of habit, a signature of his among their workmates. Jesse's neckties are one way to let everyone know what kind of mood he is in. Today seems like a good day with the vibrant yellow tie designed with what looks like robots.

"Assist her," she orders him without looking back up and based on experience, Jesse proceeds to follow the protocol for situations such as this.

He gives a stunned Chloe an apologetic smile before handing a couple of papers towards Beca that would require her signature.

The redhead, looking like she's still trying to process the fact that Beca doesn't seem to have no emotional capabilities or basic human social skills, tries to speak but Jesse's warning grip on her arm and eye signals hinders her from doing so.

Well, friendliness is simply not in Beca's blood and it's just best not to tap into her bad side if pushed further.

Rule 2: The only way to distance self from threats is to be cold. Be very cold.

"Contract from the energy drink sponsor," Jesse explains the papers he handed over to her before ushering the newcomer further away from Beca's work station.

Given the chic and creative vibe of their company, she doesn't really have a private four-walled office. Instead, she has her own space, distanced from the group of cubicles and tables in the center belonging to her team, just the way she likes it. There's a fully equipped snack bar with good coffee, mint-scented comfort rooms, a cozy area on the far left filled with plush cushions in the company's signature vibrant green hues for their meetings, a cushion hammock for those trying to find inspiration, artsy decors all over the place and of course, most importantly, everything and anything related to music from popular artists to indie bands from all over the world.

Rule 3: Stay in the safe zone at all times.

She glances up at the direction of the newcomer who is still talking to an ever enthusiastic Jesse as he gets her acquainted with everything. Maybe even teaching her that approaching one Beca Mitchell is supposed to be done with caution and that she should never expect any sort of emotional response when within the confines of their office building—and maybe even outside of said building.

Beca values professionalism to the core and is a strong believer that work and pleasure must never mix. Besides, she's always been more of a reserved type of person unless it's meeting with clients and sponsors. Socializing has never been her biggest strength ever since her school years and had been described along the lines as aloof, quiet, shy and awkward but in the business she's currently in Beca has learned to hide her introverted personality behind the position she holds. Now she just comes off as the strict and cold woman in charge—Rule number 2.

Besides, it's better that way. People are quick to follow her orders and commit less mistakes in fear of being reigned down with her wrath. Sometimes, you just need that sort of discipline to keep them from slacking and it works. Once you start letting your guard down and getting emotionally attached that's when they start abusing you.

Very much like those three damn mistakes she made in her life.

Beca's day ends late. The office is already as quiet as a church with most of the staff heading home when the clock strikes five. Beca, on the other hand, only calls it a day after seven. Amy, her friend who proudly introduces herself as 'The Fat Amy' also known as Beca's favourite friend—which isn't entirely true but Beca's not going to tell her that out loud—calls her regular overtime in work an old maid's mentality or 'the great drought', as she also describes Beca's romantic life. But then Beca only shakes her head and throws back something sarcastic or the nearest object her hands could reach.

Tonight is no different. The clock reads seven-twenty and Beca is shutting off her computer. Stretching her neck a bit, she exhales before getting up to grab her things and head home.

With her car keys in her hand, she is greeted a pleasant night by the security who opens the glass doors as she heads out. She walks towards her car, a black Lexus, and that's when she notices the blue Ford Escape parked opposite her. It wasn't exactly the model of the car that had made Beca notice it but the occupants of said car.

It's the redhead promotions newbie with most probably her boyfriend, who typically seemed like the type of guy to post work-out photos on his Instagram page with his chiseled face, impressive jaw line, broad shoulders and all. From the looks of it, whatever conversation they are currently having doesn't seem to be going smoothly, not that Beca really cares.

Entering her car, she naturally turns on the radio before strapping on her seatbelt and bringing the engine to life. Adjusting the rear view mirror in a perfect angle, an irritating habit of hers according to Cynthia-Rose who slaps her hand every time Beca does it because 'That's what serial killers do,', her eyes somehow flit down to the car parked across from her to find that the argument seems to have ceased and her presence—or her headlights—might've been the cause.

When she's found the perfect song choice for the night, she hears a car door slam closed and looks up to find that the newbie had left her grumbling boyfriend—who now looks like a dog has pissed on him—and is now walking towards the street seemingly opting to grab a cab instead—or Uber.

But again, that's none of her business so she drives without stopping, passing by the troubled newbie. She's just glad that she's not into the relationship thing because, well, that looks like a headache, a really huge unrelenting headache.

By the time she reaches her apartment building, the newbie and her personal problems are the last thing on Beca's head. The receptionist greets her like clockwork and Beca just gives a light nod like always, her heels tapping against the marble floor as she heads for the elevator.

When she enters her apartment, she gives a huge sigh of relief. It's quiet and peaceful at last. With her shoulders slouching, she kicks off her shoes tiredly and hangs her coat by the door before hearing a familiar little sound. It instantly brings a smile on Beca's face, the only genuine smile she's ever given today most probably.

"Hey baby," she coos as she kneels down to gently touch her cat's head, lifting her up a bit to plant a soft kiss on her nose, an act people in her office would never have thought she was capable of—with the exception of Jesse and Cynthia-Rose, of course.

She slips on comfortable cotton slippers on the way to her kitchen, her cat following right behind her. Bella, her beloved cat-child, is a gray Scottish Fold which Beca got as a present from her best friend, Stacie Conrad—who actually gave it to her with a joke that is as green as the inside of her brain but then what's life without Stacie and her sexual innuendos?

Music naturally drifts through the walls of her apartment as she turns on the microwave to heat up frozen pizza which is most likely her dinner for tonight. In the meantime, she pours herself a glass of red wine before padding towards her sofa to sit, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she does. Nothing is ever going to top these quiet moments of bliss. Propping her legs up, Bella jumps up the sofa and curls on the opposite side, tail tickling Beca's feet. She looks out to the city lights scattering all over the buildings nearby and leans back contentedly.

And really, she'd never ever trade her serene nights for noisy, messy, stressful relationships that will only make you age thrice as fast than the average rate and give you heart problems, figuratively and literally.

She doesn't understand how people would trade freedom for pain or torture when you can live a life without any of those.

Love? That's just a temporary thing until the shit storm takes over.

Mornings are only complete when there's coffee.

Beca, a certified coffee lover, strongly believes in those words and takes her coffee, black with a little bit of sugar while she gets some snuggles with Bella—who doesn't always like snuggles because that's just how cats roll. It all depends on her mood, to be honest, which is why seeing her cat always snuggled up against Stacie Conrad is something which Beca deems unfair because somehow, her cat seems to love her best friend more than her. So naturally like any decent pet owner, she tries to break them apart.

Before anything else, it is important to highlight that in spite of her infamously cold and distant personality at work—or life in general, Beca actually has a best friend—also a group of friends too—and they go way back in college, freshman year, right at the time of Beca's second mistake.

Stacie is gorgeous with those long legs that seem to go forever and oozing sexual appeal that if made equivalent to electricity, could power a whole nation. It's easy to say that everybody is attracted to the tall brunette. Even Beca, before they had gotten close, admittedly had a small crush on her. Yet when Stacie catches Beca throwing heart eyes at her second mistake and is ready to offer her soul for the sake of unrequited love, she stages an intervention because as she says, 'Been there, done that. Girl, that's never gonna' do you any good'

Nonetheless, when Beca gets drunk beyond the point of no return for the first time due to heartbreak and has embarrassingly done things that are… too embarrassing to mention, Stacie is there—to literally drag her out of the dumpster—and after that they seem to have formed some sort of brotherhood which ultimately wiped out every trace of attraction she had for the tall brunette. Besides, they are terribly alike in so many ways that they might as well have been brought up in the same home. Now, it makes her cringe to think that she ever had a crush on Stacie to begin with.

"Don't forget about Friday," Beca catches her best friend saying and doesn't hold back a groan of complaint.

Stacie rolls her eyes at that and sharply flicks her on the forehead with her fingers in response.

"Ow! Why? Why do you always do that?" she protests, rubbing the sting.

"Because it pisses you off and distracts you momentarily from heading down the path to eternal singlehood," her best friend simply states before snatching Bella away—again—from her and cradling her in her arms fondly.

Childishly, she retorts by lightly kicking Stacie's precious red Loboutins that had been neatly placed on the white carpet floor of her living room while Stacie herself perches on her black leather sofa. Everybody knows that Stacie's heart belongs to her shoes or as she calls them, her 'babies'. It's only fitting that she works as a top fashion designer, she looks like a model herself with the way she dresses up.

"I'm holding your child, if you haven't noticed," Stacie threatens as she strokes Bella's fur and plants kisses on her head—while her traitor child purrs contentedly.

Obviously, the threat doesn't weigh anything just like the billions of threats they had thrown at each other through the years and just makes Beca sigh in defeat.

"I don't need a girlfriend," she finally lets out, sitting down the other side of the sofa and this time it's Stacie who sighs out loud.

"You do," her best friend counters and Beca already knows what's to come next. "You're all work, work, work. Hell, you'd even go to the office on weekends and on holidays if we don't drag you in the opposite direction! Your dedication is amazing, Becs, but it's starting to become very unhealthy,"

Beca knows that somehow, Stacie is right and that her closest friends only worry about her but it's easier said than done. Love isn't her priority right now—probably not ever but they don't have to know that—and she's simply better without it. No more one-sided attractions, no heartbreaks, no complications and no problems. Besides, the more she distances herself from love the more successful she becomes with work.

She's doing fine and she could never understand why they are all so adamant on getting her to be in a relationship when she can just pick a woman to sleep with for a night. A much better option than being left torn and broken into pieces. Isn't that what their last Friday of the month get-togethers are for?

She's smarter now and never will she go back to the girl she once was.

A girl easily fooled and toyed with.

"No. What I need is to release some tension," Beca replies before smacking Stacie's arm playfully when the taller brunette makes a disgusted expression and a side comment along the lines of, 'Ugh, are you going to be doing it in the back of your car again because, I need to know before I sit my hot ass in it,'

"Work is stressful, okay. I need to relax," she continues before emphasizing, "In a non-sexual way this time,"

"Sure, Becs. Whatever you say," Stacie mumbles before eyeing her with sudden interest, as if she found out some dirty little secret Beca had been trying to hide for days now.

Based on experience that look—the filthy Stacie Conrad look—doesn't spell anything good for her. Although, honestly, it's better than the scheming Fat Amy look or the pleading kitten Benjie look which she can't refuse.

"Whatever that is, it's a no," Beca beats her to it but Stacie is basically an unstoppable force at this point.

"So, I've heard from CR that your new employee is a very pretty redhead with amazing bright blue eyes, an angelic smile and well-toned legs that would be nice to look at when spread apa—"

"She's also straight, in a relationship, and if you sleep with any of my employees, I'll burn your children starting with your favorite pair," she interjects even before Stacie could finish her sentence, the smirk the taller brunette was sporting now turning into a look of someone who had just stepped on watery poop, a mixture of horrified and mad.

"Okay, one, I've never met a straight Chloe, that name screams gay from a mile away two, a boyfriend might just mean that she's bisexual or pan, like me, and lastly, I've never heard that bullshit rule before so, just admit that you're getting all possessive and don't like to share—which, by the way, is fine with me. You need happiness,"

Her words makes Beca press on the breaks hard as she looks at her best friend in disbelief, her defensive walls hike up to the roof and she's ranting about professionalism in seconds.

"Work is work and should never ever be mixed with pleasure. Not everyone named Chloe is gay and also, no, I do not like her. I'm very happy with my life right now! Oh and did I mention she has a boyfriend?" she says sarcastically, looking up before nodding dramatically, "Yeah, I think I did. End of discussion,"

"Alright, alright, you don't. Got it." Stacie exhales, putting her hands up in surrender as she stands up.

Bella jumps out of the sofa as well and heads off to probably the kitchen where she's definitely going to demand for her food in a minute while Beca follows her best friend to the door.

"Which means Chloe, whom you don't like and is not single, can come with us on Friday and we can all be friends without anyone getting hurt," Stacie drawls out dramatically and Beca is close to actually burning all her shoe collection because really, there's no need to bring past mistakes into this.

"That's your plan all along, isn't it?" she groans, shaking her head but still, she doesn't squirm when a grinning Stacie gives her a kiss on the cheek and a tight hug, as she always does before leaving for work.

"Oh shut up, Becs. I know you don't like having new people but we really need to expand our circle of friends. The hotter, the merrier!" Stacie says as she heads out the door looking like a runway model with her handbag and sunglasses preparing to strut down at a fashion show.

"I need new friends," she grumbles before heading off to the kitchen where her whining cat awaits her.

Friday morning comes five days later and what greets her on her desk is a bright yellow coffee cup, a contrast to her black and white themed office table—as is the color theme of everything she basically owns. And as if the offensive color wasn't enough, there's a post-it with a note that reads, 'Good morning!' with a smiley face drawn next to it.

One look and it doesn't take Beca a second to figure out who did this.

Chloe Beale, walking sunshine and Queen of all that is sweet and nice, has been everyone's favorite person in a span of five days with all these thoughtful gestures and her infectious sunny personality. It's like suddenly the bubbly redhead has made their office filled with some bright pink gooey aura.

Yesterday, it had been a small pack of chocolate chip cookies wrapped in bright blue ribbons sitting on Beca's desk with a post-it greeting her a good morning and then the smiley face. Of course everyone gets cookies and Chloe becomes an instant favorite. Even her presentation the other day was filled with flowery designs and cute little scrapbook-like things which is very irritating to someone like Beca who prefers things in a more… un-Chloe way. For some reason, it irritated her so much which may have been the main reason why she so harshly criticized the proposal despite it actually having a bit of potential. Well, you have to keep them on their toes every once in a while, right?

Today, however, it seems that Beca's the only one with coffee on her table.

Guess, Chloe has finally figured out that there's only one person in this building which she hasn't won over yet.

Good luck to her on that because Beca has no intention on joining the Chloe craze. It's too loud, colorful and that's just not her cup of tea. It's like that time back in grade school where she avoided sleepovers because all the girls ever do is talk about girly stuff, watch rom-coms and talk about boys. The only time she had ever joined in was because she couldn't say no to Lucy Ellison's pleading green eyes.

She's always been a sucker for pretty girls with equally pretty eyes ever since then.

Chloe has pretty eyes and Beca hates looking at them not only because they are really mesmerizing and that's how you fall for her trap but also because they remind her of her cat, Bella's big blue eyes which she can never say no to.

Damn it!

"Hi, morning!" Chloe's sugary sweet voice cuts through her daily ten minutes of silence before work—because it helps her focus—and whatever warning Jesse might have told her must have escaped her head because she's quickly crossing through the forbidden invisible line between Beca's world and… the world outside her world.

It takes a lot for Beca not to throw icy comments and glares. The newbie is a newbie after all—a very irritating one—and still needs to learn what's not allowed so she internally swallows her annoyance instead and mentally reminds herself to tell Jesse that he needs to run down the rules in a precise manner to the newbie again, if possible with neon colored highlighters because Chloe seems to be the type to easily memorize things when they are all sparkly and bright.

Opening her eyes and swiveling her chair towards the smiling redhead, Beca prepares what she calls as the 'happy virus' assault. The girl was just always impossibly bright and positive all the time. She doesn't know exactly what it is but it's just very irritating to her.

"This is the edited proposal just like you asked," Chloe says as she hands over a folder towards Beca.

She takes it immediately, eyes on the folder as she falls into work mode, "I'm going to be reviewing this before passing it over to the clients. I'll get back to you if there are changes," she says absentmindedly as she checks her e-mails.

But then the redhead doesn't turn to leave just as she expects everyone to do so after the obvious end to the conversation and Beca feels that tingle in the back of her head which happens whenever people stare. She hates that feeling the most especially when she wants to be left alone—which is like ninety percent of the time.

Exhaling, she finally speaks, trying not to put a bite to her tone, "Is there anything else, Ms. Beale?" her eyes looking everywhere except the redhead.

"Uhm," she starts and Beca could tell that she's got that sheepish smile on her face when she says this.

"You have a little something on your—uhm, I think that's white… fur?"

The babbling mess of words makes Beca's brows scrunch up in confusion as she looks up to find the redhead motioning over towards the side of her black blazer which is, well, decorated in cat fur. Her beloved cat must've rolled on it before she hurriedly grabbed it to wear to work today.

"Bella," she blurts out, scolding her cat through telepathy—because cats do have telepathic abilities—while trying to dust off cat fur.

As adorable as her beloved child is, all that fur getting all over the place drives Beca crazy sometimes. Especially when most of her outfits are dark in color.

"Her name is Bella? That's cute! Is she a cat?" Chloe says and before Beca could even think she goes on to reply.

"Yeah she is. And no, her name's not from Twilight. It's a cocktail drink that I got wasted on when I—never mind" She stops herself, clearing her throat. The realization that she was just about to share too much information all of a sudden is so mortifying that she resorts to aggressively rubbing cat fur off her clothing.

Beca Mitchell does not do awkward, at least not in public and especially when in work. She's supposed to be the epitome of smooth, calm and collected. She's the boss of this department after all. Funny enough, awkward Beca only appears in public during three occasions. One, when genuinely embarrassed. Two, when she lacks sleep. And three, when in front of pretty girls she has a crush on.

Surely, it's reason number two. The incoming music festival season is a nightmare and naps are now a blessing.

It's unacceptable so she quickly gets a grip of herself—maybe even decides to take off her blazer because all that fur isn't coming off easily. Unfortunately, she left her lint roller at home and heading off to the bathroom to dab water on the fabric is a hassle for such a busy morning.

"Here, let me," Chloe suddenly says and before Beca could say otherwise, proceeds to grab a film of scotch tape from Beca's desk and rips it from the dispenser.

In seconds, she's stepping in Beca's personal space all of a sudden without a warning and pressing the sticky part of the tape against the fur covered blazer. She then repeatedly dabs it on the fabric where Bella's gray and white fur finally come off easily.

"I have a cat too. His name is Mallows, you know, from Marshmallow. Got to be creative when removing all the fur on clothes," Chloe says and she's so close to her that Beca can smell that fresh fruity-floral scent coming from either her perfume, or her hair or her body wash.

Let it be known that currently Beca is concentrating hard on not pushing off the newbie far away from her because, rule number 4. Yes, there's one more rule and it is actually the most important.

Rule 4: Avoid unnecessary physical contact.

A rule, Chloe 'the perky newbie' Beale is breaking by touching Beca's side. Gentle fingers press against her shoulder, her ribs down to her back as Chloe finally kneels down to work on getting out all the damn fur.

The moment this happens, panic floods through her and Beca instinctively backs away, catching the newbie's wrist in the process to stop her—also, she's poking on her side and it tickles. However, it only makes things worse when Jesse suddenly appears out of the blue to bring the documents Beca had specifically asked for.

It must've been a sight to see and Beca is certain that Jesse is itching to whip out his phone and take a photo—or a video because that would be ten times better. Her assistant producer gapes at them as if a miracle has happened in front of his very eyes.

And a miracle it is.

There was Beca frozen on the spot, looking like a burglar caught in the act, as she holds on to Chloe's wrist to stop her while the redhead is kneeling in front of her. Not to mention the single film of scotch tape dangling on the newbie's fingers.

It only takes a second before Beca lets go of Chloe's wrist like it burns and is up on her feet to take—harshly snatch—the document from Jesse's hands. Clearing her throat, she begins, "I have to go make a call," she says towards a still speechless Jesse before moving her attention towards Chloe who is now up on her feet as well.

"Thanks, Ms. Beale. I can take it from here," she says, her tone as cold as ice. "Oh, and I also appreciate the coffee and all the sweets but I prefer to see my table without it. We hired you for the specific set of skills you applied for and not waitressing,"

The silence that follows is terribly awkward and Beca is quick to grab her phone before walking off, not even bothering to glance at the look of hurt in the newbie's face.

She mentally curses the heavens for having to resort to putting her spikes up. It's harsh but that's the truth and the truth is better said early on rather than be all nice for the sake of satisfying others.

She ends up discarding her blazer like it was made of every single regret and embarrassment she's had in life.

She dreads Friday, more than the usual, and wishes that it suddenly disappears in the face of the universe.

It comes rolling in without fail nonetheless.

Jesse hasn't mentioned anything about yesterday's incident and Beca has a feeling that he's just keeping it in until their crazy gang is all together to listen. It's even unnerving to know that the cause of this impending embarrassment will be present tonight as well.

Looking at the bright side, there's alcohol in the club and a lot of distractions—she's taking back what she said about non-sexual tension relievers and Stacie can say whatever she wants to say but she needs tension relievers.

By now, she's probably already the topic of the group discussions because she's the only one missing and like any group of friends that's exactly what they'd do. But then she had to make another important phone call earlier and Cynthia-Rose before she left with Jesse had given her a look that screamed, 'You better get your ass down to the club after all that or I'll come back to drag you there and believe me, it'll be ugly', and Beca takes it seriously because she's done it before. When office hours are over, she's not their boss anymore and couldn't fire them even if they forcibly hoist you up on their shoulders to the club.

So here she was, entering the club and automatically heading up to the flight of stairs to the right. When she checks her watch it reads eight thirty-five and she knows that it's considered late.

By now, Amy is probably crazy dancing, Stacie is probably already throwing sex-eyes at someone, Flo has already made everyone wear animal headbands, Cynthia-Rose is definitely yelling obscenities, Benjie is more likely to be laughing like crazy, Jesse is probably loudly re-telling his a capella story for the millionth time and Aubrey is… wearing an owl headband and currently throwing daggers at her with that pointed look.

"And finally, our black sheep has arrived," she says in that familiar anti-hero tone she always does while a chorus of cheers from the bunch of hyenas erupts at the sight of her.

Internally groaning, she drags her feet towards their corner and sits down the further end of the couch, crossing her legs and leaning back lazily. She grabs a drink immediately and avoids looking up into baby blue eyes that are certainly glancing her way. Flo throws her a sheep headband which she reluctantly puts on.

Aubrey stands up, flipping her glorious blonde hair backwards and Beca tries not to roll her eyes, "Okay, now that we're all complete. In behalf of our newest member of the couch," she motions over to a delighted looking Chloe, who was given a lady bug headband, comfortably sitting in between Jesse with his puppy headband and Cynthia-Rose with her tiger headband. "It's time for the introductions," she announces before getting straight to the point, which is very much like what Aubrey does with regards to everything in her life.

"So, it's only right that we start with Chloe, of course," Aubrey continues, facing the newbie with a sugary smile. "I hope you don't mind, Chlo Chlo it's sort of tradition and so you can be welcomed properly,"

The newbie is quick to her feet while Beca sighs, gaze dropping to the crowd down below. Her lack of interest does not draw much attention except for Stacie, in her fox headband, who using her foot, subtly nudges her on the leg to pull her attention back but that only makes her look elsewhere—in the opposite direction.

"Hello everyone! I… didn't know we had to do introductions—BUT anyways, my name is Chloe Beale. I work at the same company as Jesse, CR and… Beca,"

The mention of her name finally pulls her attention back as she glances up towards the redhead to surprisingly find baby blue eyes staring back at her. It catches her off guard yet she doesn't look away and so does Chloe. The moment seemed to last longer than intended and when the newbie looks away to continue enumerating a couple of fun facts about herself—blue is her favorite color, she loves tea and music has always been her passion—Beca gives an internal sigh of relief because she couldn't pin point whatever it is stirring at the pit of her stomach just a second ago and she has no intention of figuring that out because whatever it could be is definitely nothing good.

There's laughter around the table because of some adorable joke Chloe's said but Beca's already tuned out the discussion with thoughts of being back in her apartment watching a good series on Netflix and curling up in a ball underneath warm sheets.

When she tunes back in—also because her glass is empty—Flo, with her giraffe headband bouncing on top of her head, is done talking about learning how not to burn food by taking lessons and now it's Amy who is at the center of everyone's attention talking about something bizarre like alpacas or an ex-boyfriend that reminded her of a monkey—just like her monkey headband.

Looking around, she spots one of the waiters, Ashley, and raises her glass up. Being already familiar with her drink, she gets a smile and a quick nod that would mean she'd get her refill in a minute. Meanwhile, Benjie, who Beca considers as her precious son, is under the spotlight looking adorable with his koala headband while he talks about his favorite cake and some sweet memory of his childhood. When she turns back, Stacie is eyeing her curiously and it's probably because of their talk days ago where she had so confidently said that she isn't looking for a sexual tension reliever.

Well, she didn't feel like wanting one days ago!

Based on experience, when she lets alcohol flow fast in her system she's clearly looking to get wasted and going to bed in somebody else's apartment. Thus, the questioning look on Stacie's face.

So, she answers it with a shrug before turning back her attention to Jesse's introduction. He babbles about his favorite movies, his morning routine and something about his ideal date—where he always turns into a gross cheesy lovesick puppy and makes everyone except for Chloe groan. Cynthia-Rose comments about his neckties and everyone jumps in to tease him about it.

This then makes way for Cynthia-Rose's introduction, telling Chloe to call her by her nickname, CR, like everyone else and how much she loves Drake. Everyone sighs at this because it's surely going to take hours and her making everyone sing, 'In My Feelings' or 'Passionfruit' before she stops so, Aubrey cuts it short when the opportunity comes and begins her own introduction. Now it's Beca who is sighing because she'd rather dance to Drake's 'In My Feelings' than hear about Aubrey Posen's hundred million accomplishments that led her to become Velvet magazine's editor in chief.

When Beca gets her refill, it's Stacie who is speaking and it's nothing that Beca doesn't know of—shoes, Paris, love and constantly being featured in Velvet magazine—so she doesn't really pay attention. When she swallows the bitter liquid, she feels everyone's eyes on her and internally curses because of course, she isn't spared from this back to school 'introduce yourself' portion. Beca hates that part of school the most. That, and group activities.

Having been left with no choice, she puts her glass down after Stacie nudges her again and sighs, "I'm Beca and I'm late today. I'm going to be late again for our little gatherings for the rest of the year because I'm in a relationship with my work. I eat with it on my mind, I hug it to bed and wake up to it in the morning. It's a very beautiful relationship that will last until the end of the time," she deadpans, knowing that everybody has already thought of that description when it comes to her.

"Here we go again," Aubrey sighs.

"That's a prison sentence not a romantic relationship," Cynthia-Rose mutters as Jesse snorts.

"You need to break-up," Flo declares, pointing at her.

"Or probably sex. You need sex. The romantic kind," Stacie slips in casually, giving her a look as she takes a sip.

"The classic Beca intro," Fat Amy comments as if she doesn't expect anything less before egging her on, "Continue, grumpy cat,"

"I'm going to leave now and search for new friends. This has been fun," she finalizes before lifting her glass up in a goodbye toast and gets up amidst their relentless teasing.

Ripping out her sheep headband, she settles on one of the bar stools and opens up her phone to check for emails from sponsors, managers and event coordinators as the bartender, Jessica, Ashley's girlfriend, gets her another drink. When a glass is served her way with a different drink, Beca offers a light smirk at Jessica's knowing look. She highly appreciates that Jessica doesn't have to ask what she's in the mood for.

The noise at the back tells her that her friends are now moving on to drinking another round of shots and dirty dancing—not the movie kind but literally dancing dirtily. In a few hours, she'd surely be getting Ubers—or Lyfts—for all of their drunk asses. That's if, nobody catches her attention and drags her to wonderland.

"Hey!"

Beca almost chokes on her drink as red passes her peripheral followed by impossibly blue eyes looking right at her.

Chloe hops on the stool next to hers without even asking and flashing her a friendly smile which wasn't the reaction Beca's expecting ever since she snapped at the redhead for something about… waitressing.

It was harsh and offensive. Beca should apologize but it's all part of the job and she herself had some fair shares of harsh words thrown her way.

Look where she ended up though.

But despite that excuse, yeah, she feels guilty. Guilty over the fact that there's nothing really wrong with home-baked cookies and warm coffee waiting for her every morning. That it's just in her nature to push people away to protect herself because nothing is forever. Besides, you get used to something for a while and then before you know it, it's gone and you are left on your own reeling from the loss. It's ugly.

'Sorry', a simple five letter word but for Beca, it's hard to speak it. So she settles for, a soft 'Hey' instead and plans to buy the redhead a drink as a silent apology, hoping Chloe gets it. But as soon as she executes that plan, Chloe speaks.

"Why do you hate me?"

Beca pauses, surprised at the blunt question—assumption—before slowly turning to look at her with a light frown. The redhead is surely intoxicated what with the slight slur of her words and the way she's leaning the side of her head on her hand as she looks at Beca with those blue eyes.

"I don't,"

"Do you hate cookies and coffee?"

She has an idea where this is going and contemplates telling Chloe the truth or not.

"No," she answers shortly opting for the truth because there's probably no use lying.

"But you threw them away. I saw them at the garbage bin and you didn't drink the coffee I gave you. Was it too sweet?" now the redhead looks concerned and Beca clearly doesn't think that pout is adorable.

Absolutely not.

"The cookies or the coffee?"

She stalls because this sudden forwardness is making her very uneasy. She's never really been naturally… confrontational.

"I get it about the cookies but I made the coffee exactly how Jesse said you liked it," Chloe explains earnestly that it baffles Beca.

"I—Why does it matter and how many shots have you drunk?" she asks, observing how the newbie sways a bit as she studies Beca like some specie she has never seen before.

"Because I want to be your friend!" she whines and there's that pout again.

It's not cute.

"Why?"

This certainly has never happened before and she tries to put as much distance between them as possible because Chloe keeps leaning closer as if Beca was magnet and it's… uncomfortable.

"Because I feel like you need one!"

Beca scoffs at this reasoning. Drunk Chloe is very amusing but this is getting really out of hand. This isn't grade school to need companions all the time. And speaking of companions, she glances back at her friends to find them already singing like a bunch of idiots—Aubrey and Stacie are already making out which Beca can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing for the ex-lovers. Everything's starting to go out of hand much earlier than she expected.

"Thanks for the offer but I don't. I already have a bunch of monkeys to look out for as you can see. Now go find somebody else to be your friend," she says as if she's talking to a toddler before trying to move to the next stool. She's trying to find someone to intimately spend the night with and having Chloe next to her is minimizing those chances of happening tonight—the cute girl she's been eyeing unfortunately left the second the newbie came crashing in.

A hand latches on to her arm hindering her from moving and Beca felt like she's being burned.

"You do hate me," Chloe accuses, looking much more sober as she looks at Beca intently.

"Giving you snacks and drinks isn't a bribe, that's just how I am when I feel like somebody needs cheering up. I minored in psychology and from the minute you saw me I can tell that you hated me. You hate me and you're sad for some reason which you don't have to tell me but it's affecting your view of me. You don't like any of my suggestions even if you haven't even given it a try. I work really, really hard, Beca. I am willing to learn from you and I'm very passionate with what I do, that's why I think I got the job. You're methods are strict and harsh at work and I get it, it's effective when striving for good results but we also need healthy working relationships and You. Hate. Me," she says and there's a slight tone of hurt in it.

She suddenly feels conflicted again and this woman is driving her mad.

"You still hate me after seven in the evening and now I'm starting to think that it's personal,"

"No—it's just," she huffs out not really knowing what to say. How could she when she's not even sure about why herself.

"I promise to be a good friend. How about I be your wing woman tonight and find you a really cute guy? I know you're single. Jesse told me. I mean, if I introduce you to your potential love will that make you hate me less?" Chloe interrupts her, alcohol clearly melding with her rational thoughts and that, Beca thinks is one of the reasons why she doesn't hang out with straight girls.

It's always about men.

She lets out a sarcastic laugh and Chloe's face scrunches up in confusion.

"C'mon, what's your type? Cute, boy next door? Bad boys? Smooth gentleman? Softie with muscles? Or just hot?"

"None of the above," she answers shortly before finishing her drink and getting up. "Nice try though, Beale but I don't think you'll ever figure out what my type is," she adds as she pays for the drinks.

"Really? Or is it just you don't want to give people a chance?"

She's already moved to leave but stops at Chloe's words and turns around to face the newbie again, there's something in her chest and she feels like it's about to spiral into something dark and unhealthy.

"You know what? Maybe if you stop caring too much about what other people think about you, you'd be able to throw out the garbage in your life. You strive to please people to the point of letting them abuse you and that's your problem. You're too soft and this life is ruthless. You're not going to last in an aggressive industry like this and even if you did, you will never be able to move forward. I'm sorry that our work relationship isn't compatible. I need someone who is cut-throat and if you can't be like that, then leave,"

She's storming away with success when an arm latches around her neck and a warm body flushed against her side. Fruity floral scent disarms her as she frantically flails, trying to keep her balance. She mutters a string of curses until she finally steadies herself only to freeze as arms wrap around her body, tightly.

"I hate you too," Chloe mutters, warm breath hitting Beca's neck.

"Then why are you hugging me?" she says in disbelief and horror, her hands hovering in the air as the redhead clings to her like a lifeline. Not even her family and friends have ever hugged her like this.

"Because you're probably right about me but I can't stop caring and you," she pauses before continuing, "I think somebody you cared about broke your trust,"

"Do you really want to get fired?!" she almost screams.

"You can't fire me after office hours because I genuinely hugged you in a club. I want to see you write that reason on my document of termination," Chloe yawns sleepily and Beca almost cries out in frustration as she tries to pry Chloe off her. There's a childish whine and arms tightening around her, all efforts wasted.

"I can do that. This is harassment! Stop hugging me!" she angrily, or more like desperately, says all the while tearing off Chloe's grip from her but loses. The girl is surprisingly strong and now she is internally panicking.

"I won't,"

"Why?"

"My mother said you should hug the people who hate you because it freaks them out,"

Rule 5: Run away from drunk straight girls named Chloe.

Authors Note:

Hello, love.

So... Early Christmas gift?

Type Boo Hoo for 'What the hell is this? Me no likey this cookie' or Woo Hoo for 'Where the bloody potatoes have you been?! It's about damn time! Keep writing this shit you idiot and release the second fuckin' chapter before Christmas!'