Cynthia and Ashley can see it. Beca and Chloe can see it. Stacie wants it to be true. But Aubrey… Aubrey refuses to admit what's going on. But is what people see actually the truth?
Stacie and Aubrey only went out that one time for drinks. Afterwards, Aubrey had gotten cold feet about work conflicts again since Stacie was her boss. The blonde had always been stickler for rules and was terrified to step out of line. Stacie tried to assure her that wasn't the case, that because she was the boss, it would be okay. But Aubrey wasn't hearing it. Eventually because Aubrey was so adamant, Stacie respected her wishes and backed away.
As Aubrey began to fight the possibility of Stacie being her soulmate, both the women's dreams began to deteriorate. The clarity that had developed after they met at the party faded. Neither could see the other woman's face but only the back of a naked form in an increasingly thickening haze. Stacie became more and more frustrated but realized if she pushed Aubrey on spending time with her away from work, Aubrey would either report her to HR or worse – quit the firm all together.
Aubrey angrily threw up her hands. "Copy ad? Again?" She had been assigned yet another a text advertisement with an established company with an existing logo. Her sole responsibility was to write copy that would fit into the space provided and arrange the logo "artfully".
Before she was hired on, she was doing full page advertising layouts, television commercial story boards, and complete campaigns. Now her responsibilities were menial at best. She felt no more respected than an intern fresh out of college. Granted she had been given some proof-reading tasks but that wasn't even in the realm of her job description and seemed ever worse than the copy ads.
Aubrey went to Cynthia to talk to her about the assignments she'd been given since starting with the company. "I thought with the portfolio I came to you with, I would be working on something a bit more exciting than eighth page print ads and bulk mailers."
"Stacie makes all work assignments Aubrey." Cynthia sympathized with the blonde, but her hands were tied.
"It's Stacie now, huh? What happened to Ms. Conrad?" The blonde spat out as she flew out of the room and returned to her office.
Aubrey knew she was being unreasonable, but she had worked long and hard in New York City and earned her spot as well as her reputation. Here, there was barely enough work to keep her busy for her eight hours a day. In fact, the company policy was to take Friday afternoon off if your projects for the week were complete.
Each Monday, a team meeting was held to discuss the status of various projects and for Stacie to dole out new projects that had come in. Normally Aubrey would sit in the corner of the room, arms crossed and speaking only when spoken to – particularly if that person was Stacie. Perhaps another reason for Aubrey ignoring Stacie was that every time she looked at the brunette that an overwhelming longing and desire had shifted into her realm. Despite her being the boss and Aubrey's wants, the blonde treated Stacie as persona non grata.
After one particularly cold meeting, Ashley stepped into Cynthia's office to gossip. "Well that was a chilly meeting," the brunette secretary giggled.
"Don't you mean hot?" Cynthia rolled her eyes. "Those two have it so bad for each other that I can barely stand it. I wouldn't be surprised to walk into Stacie's office one afternoon to find two little piles of ashes on the floor because they spontaneously combusted."
"Or to find them naked on the drafting board doing the wild thing," Ashley giggled. "I bet you a twenty that the drafting board sees some action between those two within the month."
"You're on." Cynthia gave her friend a high-five. "Plus, you see how boss-lady has changed her outfits. She's no so casual anymore. Those skinny pants stretching up those long legs with a simple t-shirt. My god, she must have her suit jackets custom tailored to fit her frame. You know she has the hots for Aubrey if it's gotten her out of her jeans and college sweatshirts."
Stacie knew Aubrey was frustrated at her for the types of assignments she had been given, but honestly Stacie didn't have much of a choice. The Atlanta agency had yet to earn the local status of Aubrey's old office or even of Conrad Agency's home office. They had to build their reputation one job at a time, and sometimes that came by giving her best employee the most challenging work which were indeed the smaller jobs.
The brunette boss was also frustrated because the more Aubrey pulled away and the colder she became at work, the more and more fuzzy the dreams became. And less frequent. Stacie feared she had misjudged the meaning of her dreams, particularly after having those few nights of perfect clarity after she and Aubrey had spent the night together at Beca and Chloe's.
When she shared her concerns with her best friend, all Beca could do was to tell her to hang in there and maybe Aubrey would come around. "I know you like her Stace and that you want her to like you back. But sometimes you simply have to have patience."
"She won't ever let me in Becs. Aubrey despises me." The smaller brunette wouldn't or couldn't share if Aubrey was talking to Chloe about things. Therefore, Stacie was stuck with an unhappy employee and a nearly broken heart.
"I don't know what to do Chloe. I'm so furious I could scream. I hate going to work. I hate my job. And I hate Stacie Conrad. She hates me."
Chloe had been Aubrey's punching bag for a few weeks now since her friend had started at the ad agency. Aubrey felt her skills were being grossly under-utilized and was growing quite bored with the slow pace of the office.
The redhead tried to steer the conversation in a better direction. "You said your dreams had improved. How are they now?"
Aubrey scoffed. "I hate my dreams, too. They improved slightly after your party. But now…" Aubrey huffed in disgust. "Now the haze is now as thick as a West Texas sandstorm and I can barely see a human through the sand. I can't believe I ever thought Stacie Conrad might be my soulmate. Jokes on me."
When Beca got home that evening, she and Chloe exchanged notes. They had promised when they got married to never keep anything from each other but tended to protect their friends by not betraying their confidences to the other person involved.
"Stacie is heartbroken. She knows Aubrey is unhappy but doesn't have a solution to the problem. Plus, she's losing her grip on her soulmate dream." Beca had truly never seen Stacie so downtrodden.
"Aubrey is pissed, flat out angry. She's unhappy with the entire situation and wants to move back to New York. There's so much more to this than either of them realizes. I wish we could get them in a room and get them to really talking." Being the proverbial problem solver, Chloe was always looking for a solution.
"No then they would be mad at us for talking to each other. It's a no-win situation." Beca frowned. "One thing that I do know – is that want each other. Bad. And they are oblivious to the desires of the other. Once they let lose, lord help us all."
Two weeks later, Aubrey finally exploded. She roared into Stacie's office and slammed the door. "What the actual fuck Stacie?"
Stacie calmly looked at her employee. "How may I help you Aubrey?" The brunette was struggling to not let her eyes roam up and down Aubrey's body. She swore that the blonde had been wearing outfits just over the line to mess with her. Her light green silk blouse hung right above her tan skirt which clung to her body in all the right ways. Stacie could not objectify Aubrey right now, especially when she was upset.
"I didn't move all the way from New York City to do your menial jobs – print ads the size of an eye on a needle, mass mailers that junk up our mailboxes. I moved here for a change in pace. But that doesn't mean that I want your busy work. The things you give me just to keep me out of the way."
Stacie kept quiet long enough to make sure Aubrey was finished yelling at her. "First, the jobs aren't menial." The brunette's voice was calm, steady. "They are given to us by paying customers, and even if we see them as junk, they are important to those customers. The work may seem like scut to you, but it pays the bills. Second, we haven't built a reputation here in Atlanta yet. That busy work is how we are going to do that. If you have a problem with your assigned jobs, I suggest you look elsewhere for employment."
Stacie had been waiting for Aubrey to come unhinged at any given time and had tried to plan out what to say but telling her to look for another job was not in that plan. The fire Aubrey had in her eyes when she stormed into the office had been extinguished but replaced by something else. Aubrey… was about to cry in shock at Stacie's words. Stacie was out of her chair immediately and by Aubrey's side.
"Hey… Aubrey, look at me." Stacie wrapped her arms around the blonde. "That came out wrong. I do not want you looking for another job. I don't. I just… don't have enough work for you yet. Look at me." Stacie turned Aubrey's face upward. As her eyes connected with Aubrey's green eyes, Stacie felt that spark again, the one she had felt at the party.
Stacie moved forward. Light blue eyes implored emerald, as if asking for permission. Aubrey did not move away but towards Stacie. Their lips met and were still, each person soaking in the energy created by the touch. Each body melting as if the kiss was more than they could handle. Aubrey's lips separated as she tasted Stacie's breath. Every sense was telling her to move closer and closer. They kissed until they had no breath left, holding each other until the only thing they could hear was the beating of their hearts.
Arms intertwined, bodies pressed together. Such power it would have taken to separate, each set of lips lingering on the other. No more words were spoken. There was not room for words as tongues tumbled over tongues and flesh. Lips moved over necks and down shoulders.
Stacie's fingers moved to the front of Aubrey's shirt. As their kissing continued, Stacie began to skillfully unbutton the blonde's shirt to give herself better access to the silky skin beneath. Stacie could only see the woman in her dream becoming more and more clear once again.
Suddenly Aubrey broke the kiss and pushed away from Stacie, clutching her open shirt together. Her eyes flashed in fear as if they hadn't just been sharing the kiss of two women who'd been in love their entire lives. Her eyes ducked to the floor to hide the shame and torment. "I'm sorry Stacie. I can't do this. I'm sorry." Those were the only words she said as she raced out of the room and fled to her own office.
Ashley saw Aubrey fly out of Stacie's office in her state of partial undress. What she missed was the tears in the blonde's eyes. She grabbed her phone and texted Cynthia. You owe me $20.