Chloe dressed up slightly for her dinner at Beca's mothers home, not knowing what to expect. When she arrived at the modest ranch-style home, she couldn't help but notice how simple and cozy the home seemed from the outside. Quiet neighborhood, children playing in the streets. It seemed really nice.
As she approached the door, she didn't even get a chance to ring the doorbell before Grace bounded out to greet her and ushered into the family room, where Beca sat at a short table with her headphones around her ears.
"Beca…oh Beca dear, you have a guest…Remember?" Grace mentioned through slightly gritted teeth at the completely inattentive attitude her daughter displayed at Chloe's entrance.
Beca suddenly felt the bump of her mother's hip as she was setting up her new laptop. She turned to greet Chloe, unable yet to fully stand without assistance. Her mother quickly retreated to another room, leaving the girls to themselves.
"Hi, Ya!" She said, slightly embarrassed.
"Hi Beca, how you doing, leg still giving you trouble?"
"Nah, I totally love the…" oh I wish I could go out, but I have this broken leg and rib that keeps me pretty well stuck at home, crap" She mocks snaps her fingers. "Comes in real handy for me, it's freakin brilliant really." She joked.
"Oh I see, one of those gloomy loner types, I love that dark mysterious thing."
Beca's heart jumped a little at the comment, but she brushed it aside.
"So, what's for dinner, or will we be serving the princess in her current chair, I'm not up on the Beca Mitchell dinner etiquette." The redhead easily jabbed back.
At that moment Beca's mother entered the room.
"Oh dear Chloe, I completely forgot about a prior work um…meeting, that I had this evening, I hope it's not terribly rude to leave you and Beca on your own tonight. I have already prepared dinner, and all are situated in the dining room for you both. I hope you enjoy lasagna."
"I do, it's a favorite of mine." Chloe smiled genuinely.
"Great, well please just leave the dishes for me, I'll be home a bit later. I really hope to get a chance to get to know you more Chloe, I'm sorry this work commitment came up….uh suddenly." Grace said, a little less convincingly than her name would suggest.
"Not a problem Mrs. Williams, I will enjoy Beca's company, and I will for sure have the opportunity to catch up with you another time. I can tell Beca and I are going to be fast friends." Chloe's eyes twinkled as she looked directly at Beca.
With that, Grace walked over a kissed her daughter on the cheek, who unsuccessfully tried to pull away too late. Grace smiled largely and looked at Chloe with a wink. With that, she was out the back door and off in her car.
"Well, so it sounds as though dinner is ready, shall we?" Beca said, still a little uncomfortable now alone with this beautiful redhead.
"Sure, let me help you to the table." Chloe walked over to the smaller girl and started to giggle as she faced her to help her up.
"What's so funny?" Beca asked.
"Mommy's girl, it's so cute!" Chloe exclaimed, smiling brightly.
"Cute, I'm not cute, she just still thinks I'm like ten." Beca snarked.
Chloe suddenly reached forward and began to wipe Beca's cheek where her mother had kissed her good-bye, as there was a perfect lipstick kiss left in its place.
Beca froze at the action but didn't pull away; even when Chloe licked her finger a bit to aid in the cleanup. She did, however, feel her face flush immediately.
"There, now not nearly ten years old, more like sixteen," the redhead teased as she put her arm around the younger girls waist and helped her stand.
As they made their way to the dining room, the room and table were set perfectly, and the lighting was dimmed ever so slightly, to give the candlelight the perfect ambiance. Soft jazz music could be heard coming from the other room.
"Wow, your mom is like Martha Stewart, this is like the perfect dinner setting," Chloe said kindly.
Beca just shook her head, and quietly took the first seat as Chloe helped her to sit. She was completely red faced now at seeing the room, her mother was playing matchmaker again, and she hardly knew this girl.
As the dinner progressed, Beca found it strange how easily the conversation flowed between the two of them. It felt as though they had known each other for years by the time they finished up their meal.
Chloe was able to pull more information out of Beca than anyone had ever done in such a little time.
Beca, on the other hand, heard mostly general information, about Chloe's ambition of becoming a Surgeon, of her good friends back at school, and of course, her biggest passion, singing in her A Cappella Sorority, the Barden Bellas.
It is here where the conversation took a turn towards awkward for the first time in the evening, as Beca found the whole idea of A Cappella a bit..well weird.
"Alright, Beca Mitchell, music extraordinaire." Chloe seemed to mock her slightly. "I'd like to place a wager on this then….you say you don't want to come to Barden, you say you had an opportunity out west with your music. Well, let's make a deal here and now. I'll get you a shot with the label of your choice if you can audition, make it into the Bellas, and help us win the ICAA competition this year. You do ALL that, and I'll get you your chance to break into the business"
"Wait, what? How could you even swing that?" Beca asked in complete disbelief
The sly redhead just walked up to the smaller brunette and reached out her hand, "Trust me I have connections...Is it a deal" Chloe said confidently. Her big blue orbs looking straight at Beca's, their faces only inches apart.
Beca found herself drawn to them and to the redhead. Without even thinking, "Deal" escaped her mouth and she was shaking the gorgeous girl's hand.
"Alright then." Chloe smiled triumphantly. "We have auditioned the first week of school, you must come to find me at the activities fair and I'll give you all the details. I'm going to hold you to this Beca."
"I don't go back on my word Chloe, so a deal is a deal. But I won't promise you'll be happy to deal with me every day, when it comes to music, I'm pretty confident about all this." She gestured to herself.
Chloe giggled and just helped the smaller girl back up and to the living room. She knew it wasn't she who would be regretting anything when it came to Beca, however, Beca and Aubrey would be a whole other story.