For Becommissar Week day two Fake Dating AU. Shout out to Valnixyrie again for the idea for this fic and beta work. Sometimes I don't write in coherent English and she has todeal with that. She probably deserves a medal.

Beca huffed and crossed her arms. She didn't want to be here, but she had to kiss enough executive ass to get a promotion sometime this fucking century. She didn't want to stay an associate producer forever. But still, she didn't understand why there had to be this big banquet, party, whatever the fuck this was, just because they were working with an up and coming movie studio. Then again it seemed like everyone in LA was just looking for an excuse to have a party, so really she shouldn't be surprised.

She snagged a glass of champagne off one of the trays circulating and took a long drink. In order to actually come out of the corner she was hiding in she was going to need some alcohol to make herself less socially awkward. But while that was kicking in she looked around the room again. Several of her coworkers were already on the way to being very drunk. Beca sort of hoped that they would make complete fools of themselves. Not only would that be hilarious to watch, but it would probably be in her favor for that whole promotion thing too. If that made her a horrible human being for hoping something like that happened, well so be it.

Beca looked towards the door to see one of the guys from the film company coming in. Beca thought he was the composer of the score they were going to produce. He wasn't particularly interesting, he just looked like a regular dude and so she almost looked away, but then a tall blonde was walking over to his side. She almost lost her grip on her champagne glass. Holy. Fucking. Shit. No one had the right to look that fucking good. Beca had the urge to stomp over there and yell at the woman about just how attractive she was, but she managed to reign it in.

But still, the woman was wearing a black cocktail dress, classically cut, plunging low enough to hint at the cleavage below and the skirt short enough to provide a good view of long, toned legs. It was the ultimate in giving just enough to leave the onlooker wanting more. And then her makeup...damn Beca couldn't get her makeup that on point if she tried. Her blue eyes were framed with smoky shadow and eyeliner, but not so dark to look like she was going out to a club, and she completed it all with bright red lipstick. Beca didn't know if she wanted to be this woman or fuck her brains out.

Beca groaned and downed some more champagne. Normally she could keep the whole lady crush thing to a minimum, but right now was not one of those times. That whole hetero-flexible thing or whatever that she had going on was definitely acting up in full force tonight, even if normally she chose not to think about it. It was just a party, though, she could make it through no problem, and it wasn't like it mattered anyway. From the way tall, blonde, and beautiful was hanging off the composer dude, they were totally together. So she wasn't available. And her brain should stop with the imaginary fucking right now.

It was going to take a lot more alcohol before that happened, but whatever. She downed the rest of her glass in two swallows and set the empty glass on the tray of a passing waiter. Distraction was good. She would just go talk to one of her bosses and make it look like she was being a good little producer, mingling with all the right people or whatever it was that they expected of her. Ugh, being an adult sucked sometimes.

She approached one group of higher-ups in her company with a smile on her face and said her hellos. And from then on out it was just a mess of fucking small talk that Beca had to try and keep herself interested in, for her own survival. Mostly she just nodded and smiled, and whenever they actually mentioned something really relating to music she would jump right in, give a very mild opinion on the subject, and then go back to smiling. From the vibes she was getting from the dudes, she was impressing them and they seemed to like her, which score, at least her being bored out of her mind wasn't for nothing, but Jesus, this was grating on her nerves in the worst way. The part of her still left over from college that was the rebellious music kid who wouldn't listen to anyone was screaming bloody murder inside her and she really didn't blame it. She'd be screaming too if she could.

Beca was about to exit the group, maybe make her way to another one or two, and then call it a night, when the blonde and the potato-looking guy walked up. Every man around Beca perked up, standing up a bit straighter, looking up at the woman who smiled at all of them with pretty white teeth. For some reason Beca got the impression that the woman was more lethal than a shark, but maybe that was just because her teeth were that fucking perfect and not because she actually looked like she was about to bite anyone's head off.

"Gentleman," she said in a beautifully accented voice, German if Beca had to guess. God, foreign lady with an accent to die for and a body for sin. She was sinking even faster than normal.

Which she couldn't because the woman had a boyfriend. Jesus. She really needed to get laid soon if a pretty face was doing this to her.

Potato boy stepped up beside his date and offered his hand out to the first male closest to him. "Jesse Swanson, I'm the composer for the joint project. It will be an honor to work with your company. I'm honestly excited about everything and have so many ideas." He shook everyone's hands, including Beca's. Weak grip, shook for too long, everything that her Dad had told her not to do. She was even less impressed now.

"And who is this marvelous woman beside you, young man?" One of the old dudes asked. Beca didn't remember his name, but she knew he was the head of accounting for the label, and therefore not really one of the people she needed to super impress.

The woman stepped forward and offered her hand to the man. "Mina Stauss, it's an honor."

"Pretty name for a pretty lady," Mark, the head of production said. "German?"

Beca held her face completely still as she tried not to snort at that tired old line.

Mina nodded. "Yes, I am, and thank you."

Accounting dude chimed in again, "And how in the world did Jesse here manage to snag you."

Ugh, upper management sexism was literally the fucking worst, Beca was convinced. She should have just excused herself earlier and then she wouldn't have to be here to witness this, but then again, now she knew the woman's name a Mina and that she was German. She supposed that was worth at least a little bit of the imaginary throw up that this ridiculousness was producing.

This time Jesse chimed in. "My father was in the military and was stationed in Germany at one point. He made friends with Mina's father during his stay there and they stayed in contact. Mina's family moved over to the states when we were both about sixteen. I swear, they practically shoved us together from the beginning, and for a long time we weren't for it, but a few years ago...well now here we are." He gave a little knowing smile and the rest of the men laughed along with him.

"Congratulations, son, not everyone ropes in someone like that," John, the senior talent scout said with a smirk.

Beca looked up and met Mina's eyes and it was clear to Beca that the woman was just about as done as she was with all of this. Her face was impassive, still with a good natured smile on her face, but her eyes held a slight look of murder. Maybe that whole thing about her smile looking like a shark wasn't too far off base.

The men rambled on for a little while before Mina butted in. "I'm terribly sorry, but I haven't caught any of your names." She was staring right at Beca when she said it but tore her eyes away to look at everyone else in the group.

All of the bigwigs introduced themselves and then Beca stepped forward a bit, unsure of what to do really, but she offered her hand to Mina, just avoiding giving a little awkward wave. Mina took her hand firmly and shook it twice before letting it go.

"Beca Mitchell, I'm an associate producer for Magic Records." She smiled and stepped back to her place again.

"Beca, it suits you." Mina smiled.

"Um, thanks, it was either that or Rebecca, and there was an obviously better choice there."

Mina laughed and opened her mouth to say something, but Mark cut her off.

"Ah, yes, Beca is on the short list of people to help with the movie project. Her work is great." He smiled at Beca.

Beca knew she should be pleased at the compliment, and she did smile for all she was worth, but she was really just irritated that Mark had cut Mina off. She wanted to know what the other woman had been about to say.

Jesse looked her over and nodded. "Awesome, I looked forward to working with you, then."

"Of course, me too."

"And say, Mina, what is it that you do since we're all music businessman?" one of the head guys from marketing asked.

"Oh, I'm in the business as well, just the other side of it. I'm an artist."

Beca saw her hand close into a fist as the men around them made barely interested noises, giving her those stupid smiles that just screamed 'oh, isn't that so cute.'

"Anyone we know?" John asked.

"I'm the female lead of Das Sound Machine. I just got done with a tour in time to come with Jesse to this lovely gathering, actually." She put her hand in the crook of his arm and smiled again.

Everyone around them straightened up. "My, my, you definitely do look different out of the leather and mesh get ups you guys wear," Mark said, looking Mina up and down again.

Wow, could these guys be subtle at all? This was the reason that Beca wanted to become a hermit on some days.

"So I have been told."

"What even brought about that choice of costume?" marketing guy asked.

Mina smirked. "Everyone always loves a bad boy or girl, ja?"

Everyone nodded. "Oh yes, it was a good choice on your part, very easy to sell," the guy continued.

"Thank you, I'm glad our choices years ago paid off then."

Slowly the conversation shifted away from Mina and back to whatever the men found interesting. Soon Mina and Jesse excused themselves to mingle with other people and Beca was soon to follow. There was nothing really interesting about that group without Mina in it.

She floated off to another group of people, talked for a little while, but her eyes kept straying back to Mina. She shook herself multiple times and subtly as she could. She kept chanting not available too, but nothing was working, it was like she was a compass and Mina was magnetic north, no matter what, no matter how she was shaken up or moved, she'd always come back to her. Which was ridiculous because she had literally exchanged one sentence with the other woman. Ugh, maybe she really was just a sucker for a pretty face or something. Well, Mina was a drop-dead-gorgeous face, but the point still stood.

After a third group of people, Beca wasn't drunk enough anymore to deal with the public, but yet she still wanted to stay at the party. She grabbed another glass of champagne and walked towards the terrace the hotel had. At least there she could get some air and hopefully no one else would be out there. It was sixty degrees or so, which for anyone who had lived in LA for a while was almost blizzard like temperatures. Even having lived there for a while, Beca thought the sixties were nice, and so maybe she could have some peace.

She opened the door and stepped outside. She slugged back some of her drink and grimaced. It definitely wasn't the good stuff, but that really didn't surprise her. Her bosses weren't exactly loose pocketed, even when throwing a nice party.

Beca walked out farther, heels clicking on the stone below her. She smelled a hint of smoke on the breeze and scrunched her face. Ugh. She started to walk the opposite way of the smoke, but a voice stopped her.

"Beca, was it?" Mina asked.

Beca turned around to see Mina leaned on the stone railing of the terrace, looking at her, moon reflecting off her skin, making her looked otherworldly.

"Yeah, that's me. And you're Mina." She felt like a little bit of an idiot tacking on that last part, but oh well.

Mina smiled. "And so I am." She took a drag on her cigarette. "Learning your name was the only good thing that came out of that conversation."

"Honestly, I felt the same way," Beca said before she could help herself. She felt like she didn't actually have full control over what she said when this woman was around her, and she wasn't sure if she hated it, or didn't mind because it was Mina who was making her have those control issues.

"I'm glad you feel that way." She exhaled smoke through her nose, looking like some sort of dragon.

"You know that's horrible for you, right?" She resisted the urge to rub her face because she felt like so much of an idiot.

Mina laughed and took another drag, the cigarette now a little nub which she extinguished on the stone railing. She played with the butt, twirling it around, but still holding onto it. "Oh, I am well aware. I think anyone who's existed in the world in the last twenty-five years knows that cigarettes are bad for you. I assure you, it's not something I do for my health...well physically." She looked over her shoulder towards the party that was still going on without them. "Mentally, well, there's a reason why I only really smoke at gatherings like this. I can only put up with so many comments before I need something to take the edge off my rage. Were this a professional function of my own, I would not tolerate it, but it is Jesse's and so I play nice." She walked across the terrace and slipped the butt into the trashcan meant for them before walking back.

"I don't exactly see you playing nice girlfriend."

Mina smirked at Beca before turning to look at the garden below them, lush and green in the middle of the desert. Beca thought it was a hell of a waste of water in the middle of the drought.

"Funny how we never mentioned that we were dating, isn't it? Everyone just assumes, which of course we do count on for various reasons. But eventually it will come to light that we are not, and then we can say we never truly lied to anyone, they just assumed." She looked back at Beca. "And maybe that will happen sooner rather than later."

Beca walked towards her now that the cigarette was out and the air was clearing of the acrid stench of smoke. "Why do you want people to assume?"

"At first it really was our parents. They shoved us together towards the end of college because obviously if we hadn't met someone by the end of college we were going to end up alone. We were tired of the nagging and so we started acting like a couple and they ate it up, as parents are wont to do. Now, with my career, it keeps rumors to a minimum and with Jesse's...well you saw how those men reacted. It gives him points with the good old boys and allows him to advance perhaps that much quicker." She shrugged. "He's been one of my best friends for a long while and I want that for him, and so I shut up for a couple of nights a year."

"Oh, well, good, I couldn't see him actually getting someone as hot as you." Beca closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the sky. Way to insult the woman's best friend. Way to go Beca.

Mina laughed again, however. "Perhaps he would, if he were actually interested. He is a good man...but we aren't each other's types." She looked at Beca significantly.

It clicked into place for Beca instantly. "So you're each other's beards."

"I never have understood that particular American idiom, but yes, we are." She looked back at Beca. "Walk with me?"

Beca found herself nodding before stopping to think. They made their way into the gardens, heels clicking on the stone below them in the quiet of the night.

"Military families...aren't the easiest to come out in sometimes. Our families are very like minded in that way. I have no doubt that both of our families would come around after a while, but at first it would be. Well, not good, to put it lightly. College for us was freedom, but also I believe that both of our parents figured out that something was up. Thus the pressure to find someone, thus why Jesse and I pretend to date, thus a great many things." Mina stopped, bending down to smell a particular group of flowers. She hummed. "Night blooming jasmine, always a favorite of mine. It's not very pretty, but it does smell very, very good."

Beca inhaled and the scent was all around her. It was relaxing, and yet she still watched Mina carefully, feeling that there was at least a little bit more.

Mina stood up again and started to walk once more. "Once we started the lie, it was easy to continue. We were best friends and the closeness came easily to us. But I think now both of us are asking the question when is enough, enough? And I think we are both quickly reaching that point. We are financially stable on our own, we can weather whatever storm our parents would like to throw at us while they are getting used to the idea, and while we hope they come around...well, I don't believe they have to for us to be happy, not anymore. It is a sad reality to face, but it is."

The more that Mina talked the more that Beca was falling in love. She was so very well spoken, and Beca wondered if the effect of the night settling around them like they were the only two people in the world had anything to do with that. Perhaps it was part of it, but most of it, she thought, was Mina herself.

"I believe it would be worth it to be ourselves, and perhaps to be who we are with someone else we find along the way, maybe fall in love, the things people dream about." Mina looked away towards the garden ahead of them. "I believe Jesse will call an end to this soon. Pieter, the other lead of DSM and my grade school best friend, I introduced him to Jesse last summer and I don't think I've heard about anything else from the two of them since. They're happy, and I'm happy for them." Mina stopped talked for a second, inhaling again, jasmine still strong in the air around them.

"But you want that for yourself, too," Beca said, breaking the quiet that had settled between them.

"Yes, I do." Mina turned to her, deep blue eyes turned grey by the dim silver light around them. "Perhaps you can help me with that?"

Beca blinked a few times. "H-how?" Why would someone like Mina even ask that of her? She could probably have anyone she wanted.

"Tomorrow night, have dinner with me? It's foolish, I know, but I felt a connection with you and that's only intensified now. Would you like to see where that goes?" Mina looked hopeful, eyes shining like a mirror that Beca could see the future playing out in. There were flashes of smiles and laughs, soft skin, and the scent of jasmine contained in her eyes.

"Yes," Beca said, barely a breath, but it was enough.

Mina smiled and grabbed for her purse. She handed Beca her cell phone and Beca put in her number dutifully and texted herself so she would have Mina's as well.

"Tomorrow at seven?" Mina asked, accepting her phone back.

"Yeah, that sounds good, really good."

"Wonderful." Mina sighed and looked back the way they came. "I suppose we should head back."

Beca looked around them and the quiet night. "I don't think they'll miss us for another little while." She extended her hand, looking up at Mina hopefully.

Mina took her hand within a second and smiled. She pulled Beca closer and Beca's breath hitched. "I like the way you think, little mouse."

"Mouse?" Beca questioned, frowning, but the warmth from Mina's body being so close to her own was distracting and took any real heat from the expression.

"Because you are so tiny."

Beca rolled her eyes. A short joke, of course. "Right, let me just get my mouse ears and wear them around. Not everyone can be like six feet tall, you know. That's just not natural!" Unconsciously she stepped forward as if to intimidate Mina, but she just pressed their bodies flush together.

"Feisty mouse, then." Mina laughed and Beca couldn't really grudge anything that made the woman make that sound. It was nothing like the laugh she had around the men inside, polite and almost disinterested. No, this laugh was real and full and it made Beca laugh with her even though she wasn't amused at all. She felt Mina's body moving against hers and it was intoxicating.

"Hush," Beca said when she finally stopped laughing. "And come on, there's still a lot to see." But Beca didn't actually move from where she was. Mina was just too hard to leave.

"Oh, of that I am sure." Mina looked at her for a long moment before bending down and kissing Beca so very lightly that it took what little breath Beca had away. Beca stood up just a bit on her toes and kissed Mina back, keeping the pressure light, but it felt like she was going to get blown away. That connection she had felt with Mina since she first laid eyes on her had manifested so entirely it felt as if she was melting into the other woman with only the barest of contact.

And then it was over as soon as it began, Mina smiling down at her, eyes sparkling. Mina pulled away and all that Beca wanted to do was pull her back.

"Come on, little mouse, as you said, there is much to see." Mina tugged on her hand and Beca went willingly in the jasmine scented night.