Marin was a pleasant surprise for Aubrey. She always had aspirations to include fine arts in her job, but she hadn't really thought about teaching until Chloe had suggested it during their senior year at Juliard. But so far, she's happy with their tiny little town in the redwoods. It can get a little pretentious at times, but Aubrey finds the abundance of fancy coffee and farmer's markets quite lovely. Aubrey and Chloe even have a nice little garden in the backyard to their studio.
Chloe on the other hand, had wanted to and planned on moving to Marin since high school when she had gone to a summer dance intensive near a beach in the county. She loved the beautiful and varied scenery of the place, there were woods and beaches and foggy bits and sunny bits, and sometimes it rained in the hills while it was sunny in town. And the community there had been exactly what she'd wanted, people were eco-friendly, mostly accepting, and generally happy, which made Marin the perfect place to set up an arts academy.
The girls have been in town for about a month now, teaching classes in painting, drawing, sculpting, singing, ballet, jazz, tap, tumbling, modern, lyrical, acting, and aerial trapeze, of all things. Their students range in age from two to sixty-five, and they have a few student teachers already. Chloe and Aubrey have really created a little niche for themselves in their small town's culture, even selling dance and street clothes that have become a big hit among the kids at the town school, even the ones who don't go to Starlight Academy. Aubrey and Chloe really feel at home in Marin, despite having only been here a little while.
Which is why it surprises Chloe that she's never been to the confectionery down the road from Starlight. Usually she doesn't particularly want sweets, and she makes her own coffee every morning, but one Saturday in November, after the teaching is done for that day, she gets a craving for a cookie. She knows that she and Bree are out of oreos, from a text her best friend had sent her asking her to buy more. So she stops by Sweet Delights on her way home, to get a coffee and two cookies for her and Aubrey.
The first thing that she notices about the place is how it smells. It's cinnamon and vanilla and, since it's november, pumpkin, along with the unmistakable smells of chocolate and fruit flavored candy. And Chloe loves the way it smells.
Chloe walks up to the counter, ready to order two pumpkin spice lattes and two snickerdoodles. The woman behind the counter says, "Hey there, what can i get you?" Chloe immediately notices how attractive the woman is, she's quite petite, but slender, with clue eyes and brown hair, and her red flannel shirt is opened to reveal a low cut black tank top, which shows of just enough of her cleavage. Chloe smiles at the shorter woman, subtly flirting with her.
"Can I get two snickerdoodles and two pumpkin spice lattes to go please?"
"For your boyfriend and you?" the young woman asks, a hint of flirtatiousness in her voice. Chlow blushes and chuckles a bit, before saying "No, for my best friend Aubrey and I. I do not have a boyfriend." Chloe says, conveying her singleness to the attractive woman in front of her.
"Wonderful," the smaller girl says, as she puts everything into a bag, "I hope your friend enjoy the snack. I'm Beca, by the way." Chloe smiles and takes the bag, before handing the girl a yip.
"I'm Chloe." She says, "It was lovely to meet you, Beca."
"Likewise." The redhead leaves the store, smiling.
….
"Get it, Shortie!" Stacie shouts enthusiastically as she emerges from their back room.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Oh please, you totally liked that girl who just came in!"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Anastacia." Beca is now washing the day's dishes, getting ready for closing.
"Yeah you do," Stacie says, drying a plate, "and don't call me Anastacia."
"I won't call you Anastacia if you don't call me Shortie."
"Fine. But you totally wanted to get in that girl's pants earlier."
"That's one way of putting it."
