A/N: Here's the next chapter folks! AKA the one where Adrianne finds out about everything and totally chews out Alaric von Albrecht (we get the Adrianne VS Alex scene the chapter after the next one). BTW, this is Adrianne's chapter.
In any case, the chapters I'm building up to (because I did promise a riff-off…) shall be coming soon! And like I said, the ring and proposal mishap haven't been forgotten, they'll all fit somewhere along the way. :)
Thanks for the reviews and comments so far! If there's anything you'd like to see (or request a song for the said riff-off) just let me know, just message me or hit me up on tumblr (thehypotensivegrad). I'm pretty much open to requests or suggestions. ;)
I don't own pitch perfect.
Adrianne had always been very patient.
She knew that timing is everything, and to get what you want, you need to wait for that perfect timing.
But she knows just as well how bad her patience is when it comes to the most important things in life.
Which is quite possibly the reason why she's been driving herself insane over the weekend, and the whole week that followed.
She knew, of course it was an obvious choice, she could have easily asked Nate to look into it.
Nate and any other person who works for her.
But she's been resisting that urge, that obsessive compulsion of getting to the bottom of the truth. The one singular thought that's been occupying her mind since that afternoon at the theme park.
Mostly because she didn't want to disappoint herself.
Relive the hurt all over again if she's wrong.
Theories and deductions she trusts.
But emotions and wishful thinking, not so much.
Especially when it was only just a split second.
But then again, the ring she's been playing with in the palm of her hands was as real as the day and the café she was in, so there was that.
And Adrianne was sure that ring was in the pouch that fell from the girl who bumped into her in that theme park.
That girl who looked a whole lot like Beca – if it wasn't actually the real person.
But how?
Beca was alive?
And with a ring, a ring that Adrianne was sure she's seen somewhere before.
Does that mean Beca was alive and was proposing?
But Chloe's girlfriend was potentially proposing?
Is Chloe's girlfriend Beca?
Chloe did say she saw her once at Barden…
And the fact that Chloe mentioned the whole thing that happened with her girlfriend…
These were the questions that plagued Adrianne's mind all week long.
And she really couldn't get to the bottom of the truth because she's been flying all around the world all week long for business and what-nots that her grandparents were having her do.
So maybe that's why she was definitely looking forward to meeting Chloe that afternoon.
And hopefully help her get some sort of justice with the help of her lawyers.
Well one of her lawyers.
Adrianne's attention was completely on the ring that for whatever reason she's been keeping close to her ever since she's found it.
She needs answers.
And she needs it soon.
"Do my eyes blind me or are you finally ready to settle down? Aren't you a little too young?" Adrianne heard her lawyer say. He walked around the table, past Adrianne, before pulling up the chair opposite of her.
Adrianne instinctively closed her fingers around the ring, retrieving the pouch that it was in from her pockets and placing it inside before keeping the whole thing safe in her pocket.
"The ring isn't mine Alaric." Adrianne replied dryly to the charming blond man in front of her.
"Then why do you have it?"
"I found it." Adrianne simply replied.
Adrianne watched as Alaric settled down, ordering a cup of coffee while they waited. In return Alaric watched as Adrianne nervously tapped away at the edge of the table. And Alaric smiled.
It's always been a nervous tick of hers.
Yeah, patience when it comes to the things that matter the most was definitely not her game.
"Care to elaborate about your friend's ordeal? You sounded vague about it in your message." Alaric then said.
Adrianne shrugged. "It's her stuff, not mine, I just wanted to help out. I think it's best if she explains it to you herself. Honestly, I think she's just thankful they're past it, but you know me."
"Yeah, you always had a thing for superheroes and justice."
"I just don't like it when other people feel they have a right to trample on others. I know the world's a giant gray area and all, but that's still not an excuse." Adrianne said, just as Alaric looked up looking a little surprised…
…and tense.
Adrianne gave Alaric a questioning look before turning to see Chloe looking equally surprised as she approached the table and took the seat next to Adrianne. "Why do I have a feeling the two of you know each other?" Adrianne asked.
Chloe and Alaric simply exchanged looks before both of them simply shrugged.
"Alaric?" Adrianne pushed, her voice was calm but the tone of command was hard to miss.
And Chloe watched a little more confused as to how easy Alaric caved just from the tone in Adrianne's voice.
But of course Alaric would cave.
No one would take a young adult seriously.
And yet even the fiercest of sharks would tremble before Adrianne.
More than just being a Sinclair- which already meant a lot – it was hard to not be at awe at her brilliance.
Especially since Adrianne's very calculating, every movement was precise.
Which means she always gets what she wants.
And that she never loses.
Chalk it up to the upbringing of being a Sinclair plus the whole child prodigy thing.
Especially when child prodigy purposefully lost three matches in a game of chess before winning with a checkmate the next game with a complete psycho analysis of the opponent.
Which Alaric experienced firsthand.
Adrianne moves in mysterious ways…
"Well, we sort of had some affairs to deal with but that's all straightened out. It was a whole mess involving my sister and Chloe's DJ girlfriend…" Alaric started to say.
Adrianne didn't need to hear the rest of what Alaric had to say.
She knows.
It wasn't hard to piece together.
"You essentially committed kidnapping." was the first thing out of Adrianne's mouth. Her voice was calm, cool…
…and apparently very unsettling to Alaric.
"Well, like I said. No harm was done. Alex was a little obsessive with Julienne…"
"Who?" Adrianne asked, cutting Alaric short.
"Alex's girlfriend who died in an accident. They closely resemble each other." Alaric explained.
"Never met her." Adrianne then said. "Irrelevant information Alaric, resemblances aside."
"I know. But I was explaining and it was part of the explanation. Besides, Alex did in the end let go of her obsession, and she did save Chloe's girlfriend, Beca."
"You knew her name? From the get go, you knew who she was?" Adrianne said, voice barely a whisper.
A very cold and icy whisper.
"Well, Alex did have a dossier on Beca when she was figuring out who she was."
"Then you know. Then you both knew." Adrianne said, doing her best to mask her rising anger.
Her sister was alive, she never died.
And she was missing from the lives of people who cared about her because of selfish reasons.
Granted she was back, her life was saved, yippee.
But the stolen moments, the stolen years?
They were irreplaceable.
And the grief that had to be endured by the people who loved her?
Adrianne patiently listened through all of Alaric's explanations, all while Chloe simply observed.
And she was a little irked about the fact that she had let herself be swallowed whole by responsibilities over the last year that she wasn't really able to keep in touch with her mom.
Then she would've known about this whole mess from the start.
When everything was said and done, Adrianne noticed that Alaric was still missing one key point.
"So like I said, everything was squared."
"Not everything." Adrianne said. "You missed one important information."
"What?" Alaric asked.
"The fact that you essentially kidnapped Beca Mitchell."
"I thought I already… hand on… I never said Mitchell… how do you know Beca's last name?"
Adrianne was about to speak but Chloe cut her short. "As I found out over the weekend," Chloe started, "Adrianne is Beca's half-sister."
"Wait, you're…? That was never in Beca's file..."
"Guess why." Adrianne deadpanned and Alaric realized the obvious.
It was because Adrianne's a Sinclair.
And the Sinclairs were untouchable.
"Oh dear." Alaric then said.
"That sounds about right." Adrianne then said. "I'll be in contact with you over the weekend so I'd keep my phone close if I were you Alaric. "
"Adrianne, before we get out of hand here…" Alaric started to say.
"Don't 'Adrianne' me. Out of hand was letting your sister's delusions go on for five years, throwing away your common sense, and putting to waste you Ivy League education. Out of hand is your sister coming to visit me and my grandparents in Paris over a year ago, raving about her girlfriend who couldn't come, who by the way is my sister, just in case you forget, without even having the slightest idea that I was grieving over someone I lost without ever making things right. Out of hand is making me feel bad about missing the chance to reach out to her earlier, ignoring the stupid laments of my grandparents, and wasting all the years wondering what could have been. Out of hand is you selling whatever crap you fashioned as the truth to my mother when she found out Beca was alive. That's what's out of hand."
"I'm just saying…" Alaric started to say again before Adrianne leaned back on her chair and waved her hands to signal him away.
"You're dismissed Alaric. I'll call you when I come up with a punishment most fitting of your crimes."
"You're not pressing charges?" Alaric asked surprised.
"Oh, if I do, you'd be expecting that and I'm sure you'll get off easier than you should." Adrianne simply replied.
Alaric sighed. "Of course."
Alaric nodded, to acknowledge Chloe before once again addressing Adrianne, apologizing yet again.
"That was a little impressive, I have to admit." Chloe then said, completely dumbfounded with what just happened, once Alaric was out of sight.
And Adrianne simply smiled before almost tipping her chair back. She took a deep breath, running a hand through her hair. "Beca's alive." she said with a smile before looking back at Chloe. "And apparently you're my soon to be sister in law. Small world."
Chloe laughed a little. "Yeah, small world sounds right. That explains why I saw you at Barden. Oh, and you were wrong Beca didn't propose."
Adrianne simply hummed as a response. "Guess she didn't after that little mishap, but I would've thought you'd propose."
"No I didn't, Beca was acting weird all day. And what do you mean mishap?"
"She bumped into me in the theme park." Adrianne simply replied.
"Huh, guess that's why she told me over the weekend about you. She pretty much kept that to herself you know. She probably thought you're around LA." Chloe replied.
"Yeah, our mom told me." Adrianne then said. "And I highly doubt she recognized me, she didn't even look twice before going her own merry way."
"Then what mishap are you talking about?" Chloe asked a little puzzled.
Adrianne gave Chloe a knowing smile before retrieving the pouch from her pocket and waving it at Chloe. "Oh, I'm never wrong Beale. My sister lost the ring, and lucky for her I found it." Adrianne said before placing the pouch safely back into her pocket.
Chloe looked at Adrianne amazed. "Guess that explains why she was feeling down." the redhead then said still sounding stunned. "Can I at least see the ring?"
"Nope." Adrianne replied. "You get to see the ring when Beca does her job right. Losing said rings foiled our romantic plans the last time. I say we set things – and by things, I mean everything – right, don't you think so?" she asked with a coy smile.
Chloe looked at Adrianne suspiciously for a minute or two, still trying to recover from the fact that Adrianne was right about Beca. "What do you have in mind?"
"Nothing yet. I'm still scheming. Truth be told I'm kind of tired."
"That's understandable." Chloe replied gently.
"I might head home now. Don't worry, I'll call you when I have things in mind for the von Albrechts as well as with the whole Beca thing."
"No prob. And really you don't have to… Beca's kind of letting things go…"
"Well, I'm not." Adrianne said as she stood up. "I grew up with people like Alaric and Alex, if they always get away with things, they'll take their power for granted. Teaching them a lesson once in a while should set them on the right track. How is Beca? Does she… you know… know that you know me?"
Chloe chuckled. "No. You're a whole like her in some ways, it's just so… I don't know. It's subtle, so maybe that's why I missed it. Anyways, Beca doesn't know. I don't exactly know how to tell her I know you even before she told me."
Adrianne nodded, processing what Chloe said.
Her mind already coming up with dozens of ideas.
"Guess we'll pick up from there." she said and Chloe agreed. "Oh, and Chloe? I'm glad Beca has someone like you." Adrianne said sincerely and Chloe simply smiled back.
The coming days were bound to be very interesting for Adrianne.