Chapter 2
"Hello?"
"Hi, this is Beca Mitchell." The brunette said before zoning out as she read the ad over and over again.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"Um, yeah, sorry, I was just wondering if you were still looking for a babysitter?"
Chloe sat up straight in her chair as she started to look through some paperwork.
"Oh, yes! Yes I am. Are you interested?"
"Yes, but-"
"When can you start?"
Beca was startled, "Oh! Don't you need to, like, meet me first? I mean, I could be a serial killer. I'm not but you never know, Mrs Beale."
She heard Mrs Beale laugh at the other end.
"Of course! You're right," Chloe said and looked at her calendar, "So, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"
"Yep, totally free."
"Is four o'clock okay?"
"It's fine with me, Mrs Beale." Beca lied. She usually slept all afternoon.
"Good. You have my address, right?"
Beca hummed in response.
"Good. See you then. Bye bye!"
"Bye"
Before Beca could even step back inside the cafe, Aubrey jumped her, "So? What did she say?"
"I'm meeting her tomorrow."
Aubrey smiled at Beca and went to the back room. She came back with a paper bag and handed it to her friend. The brunette raised her brow at her.
"Croissants. In case you get hungry."
"You're really happy I called her, aren't you?"
Aubrey nodded and smiled wider.
Beca was standing at the front door of a small but very nice looking house. She made sure she was at the right address fifty times before finally ringing the doorbell. She felt her insides tighten as she thought of everything that could possibly go wrong. She snapped out of it once the door opened, though.
"Who are you?"
Beca looked down at the tiny redheaded girl standing in front of her. Her blue eyes scanned her up and down, her head tilting far back for her to see Beca's face.
"Hello, um, I'm Beca. Is your mom around?"
The girl frowned before turning around.
"Mom! Someone's at the door!"
The brunette heard someone walk down the stairs and then…
"Ouch, dang it! El, how many times have I told you not to leave your toys lying around?"
Chloe was now standing behind the girl, looking at the brunette.
"Hi, you must be Beca. Chloe." She shook her hand.
"Nice to meet you, and this is?" She looked down to smile at the now very shy looking girl.
"I'm Elsa." The girl said from behind her mother's leg.
They went inside and Beca looked around, amazed by how clean the place actually was, apart from a few toys lying on the ground. There were pictures on the wall, mostly of Chloe and her kids, some of Chloe with friends and one of Elsa with a dog. No sign of other relatives though. She didn't want to ask.
"Here's the living room, I'm sorry for the mess. Elsa only watches TV when Scooby Doo is on, so around six o'clock every day. There are some books right there, you can always borrow some if you like reading. I don't really have time to do that anymore. You don't have to do any cleaning or ironing but I could really use some help with the groceries every Wednesday."
Beca nodded. Looking around, she realized why this place looked so clean. There wasn't much furniture anywhere and all the walls were white and blank except for the picture wall. She liked it but she could never call it home. It looked too much like a hotel or something. They moved to the other room.
"Here is the kitchen, I don't usually have time to cook so, um, we're used to eating out or having food delivered." Chloe looked at Beca, smiling sheepishly, "You must think I'm a terrible mother. It's just hard to make the kids eat healthy, you know. Especially this one." She looked at Elsa, who was walking behind her.
"Hey, no judging. I totally get it. I don't like broccoli either." Beca smiled. Elsa laughed.
Chloe was almost done showing Beca around the house when crying was heard from upstairs. The redhead excused herself and quickly ran up the stairs. After a few minutes, the crying stopped. Chloe came back and walked towards the living room. She stopped when she heard someone talking. She stepped aside and listened.
"Why are you here?"
"Well, see, your mom needs to do her job and she needs to take care of you. And I think that's really hard and tiring sometimes. So I'm here to help her. Is that okay?"
"What is tiring?"
"It's kind of like being sleepy."
"Oh. How will you help mommy?"
"Well, I'll be looking after you. I'll be your friend."
"Okay. Can we play now?"
"Sure."
Chloe smiled. It seemed to be going better than she expected. She thanked no one in particular before walking into the room.
Beca looked up and saw the redhead holding a very sleepy looking baby.
"This is JJ. He just woke up so I'm sorry if he's kind of fussy." She smiled as Beca stood up and walked over to hold the boy. He leaned his head on Beca's shoulder and Beca aw-ed in response. It actually felt kind of nice to Beca, she didn't know babies were this soft.
"I think he likes you so much, he's going to fall back asleep."
Beca just smiled and rocked the child.
"He is so tiny, Mrs Beale."
"He sure is. The doctors say it's not an issue, though."
The brunette nodded her head slowly. They sat on the couch and just stared at the sleeping baby in silence. After a few minutes, Chloe got into a more comfortable position, facing Beca while their knees were touching. The brunette noticed but it didn't bother her much. She was calm and starting to get sleepy herself.
"You don't have to call me that, you know." Chloe broke the silence.
"Hm?"
"Mrs Beale. I actually go by Ms Beale. But you can call me Chloe."
"Oh, okay. Chloe." Beca smiled and closed her eyes.
She woke up on a couch. She was still at Chloe's. She must've fallen asleep. Amazing work, Beca. Looking around, Elsa's head was in Beca's lap and JJ was still in her arms. No sight of Chloe. She tried to get Elsa off her without waking her up and weirdly, it worked. She put the boy down on the couch and went upstairs. She looked in all the rooms, except for one which Chloe hadn't shown her before. She heard sounds coming from that door. She opened it and there was Chloe, sitting on a chair behind a desk, her back facing Beca.
"Chloe?"
The redhead turned around, her lips turning into a smile.
"That was so cute." She said.
"I'm so sorry, I promise it won't happen again." Beca panicked.
Chloe laughed and walked to the young DJ. She tapped her back and pinched her cheek.
"Don't be sorry. It happens to me all the time."
Beca followed the redhead downstairs and grabbed her coat. It was getting late, anyway. She went into the living room where Chloe was trying to wake up her daughter. After failing to do so, Chloe sighed and looked up at Beca,
"She's such a heavy sleeper. Are you leaving?"
"Yeah, it's getting late and I still have to find my way back home." Beca laughed quietly, looking down at her feet. She looked back up and watched her boss pick up the sleeping child.
"Oh, here. Let me help you." She took Elsa from Chloe and she smiled back gratefully. The kid wasn't that heavy and Beca easily carried her upstairs.
She was almost at the door when she head a clinking noise behind her. It was Chloe with her car keys.
"Ready to go?"
"Oh, you don't have to do that. I can walk, really."
"Don't be silly! These streets are dangerous, especially at night. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to you. Plus, you could get lost."
Beca smiled at how concerned her boss looked. It made her feel ridiculous how happy she was that the redhead cared.
They drove for about fifteen minutes before they took a turn into the street where she lived. Chloe stopped the car and turned to Beca.
"You got everything?"
"I think so."
Chloe didn't say anything, she just kept looking at the brunette.
Beca felt like she should say something. She kind of didn't want to get out of the car.
"Are you going to be okay?" She asked.
Chloe smiled, sadly but genuinely. Then, she nodded.
"I should get going."
"Do you want to come in? I mean, I'm sure the kids will be fine."
"I would love to. But I've got tons of work to do, Beca." She sighed.
"You look really tired. If you really have to go, promise me you'll go to sleep?"
Beca didn't know where this was coming from, but she felt confident.
Chloe nodded again. Then, she leaned in. They were dangerously close and Beca suddenly felt really warm and her palms started to sweat.
"I think we're going to be really fast friends." The redhead smiled wider and tucked a strand of Beca's hair behind her ear.
"I would like that."
Exhausted, Chloe closed her eyes. Beca watched her. She still had a smile on her face. Looking at her chest, Beca watched Chloe's breathing get slower and her smile fading away. After about half an hour, when she felt the urge to close her own eyes, she remembered the kids. She quickly sat up in her seat.
"Chloe… Hey, Chloe?" She tried waking her boss up, but to no avail. Beca guessed Elsa wasn't the only heavy sleeper in this family.
She didn't know what to do. She kept trying. It scared Beca. She knew the kids were sleeping, but they were alone. And Chloe had mentioned earlier that those streets are dangerous.
Suddenly, she started moving. It began with murmuring and pressing her hands against the passenger's seat. The brunette watched her. Then, she frowned and started shaking. She really looked like she was in pain. Beca got even more scared. She almost yelled but then realized Chloe was probably just having nightmares. She tried taking her hands, but she pushed them away. The redhead was shaking violently and Beca hugged her, tight. Even though it hurt when Chloe tried to push her away, she didn't let go. She held her and then, Chloe inhaled sharply. She screamed. And then it stopped.
The brunette held her while she was crying. After a few minutes, she backed away.
"I'm sorry."
"Hey, it was just a nightmare. It's okay."
"Been getting lots of those."
Beca couldn't help herself.
"What happened?"
Chloe shook her head, looking at the empty street ahead. She felt a comforting hand on her own. She looked down and Beca felt a teardrop fall on her hand.
"I can't."
She nodded and wiped at Chloe's tears.
"You're tired. Let me get you home."
