Aubrey
"Aubrey?"
"Hmm?" She heard the deadened way that Beca said her name but she was too lost in her mind to notice it.
"Aubrey?"
"Hmm?" Her name didn't penetrate as she, on auto pilot, began to wipe the mantel for any traitorous dust that might be there. Her mind was too full of spinning thoughts for her to focus on much of anything else.
The thing was - she wanted this.
Well no, what she had said to Beca was true. She didn't want this.
She could never let her family know what she was doing. She could never let her co-workers know either and if she had any friends -outside of her trio - then they would have to be kept in the dark too.
She would have to hide this but this was still a good idea. It was their best idea.
So, she wanted it; because she wanted them. She wanted them in a way that she rarely allowed herself to want people when she was sober. She wanted them. She wanted both of them, a fact that still sent her mind reeling with confusion. That didn't matter though because earlier she had her lips on Chloe's and she had Beca under her and whether or not she wanted them could not be questioned. Every time she remembered those things, remembered how they felt she had to get up, she had to move. If she sat, if she let herself focus on that, then she would feel herself grow slick again and if she felt that one more time today then she would go mad.
All she knew was that she wanted them and now that she knew she could have them together, she wanted that too.
Perhaps it was wrong, perhaps it was deviant of her; and while the idea of not one but two women in her bed was intimidating and terrifying, she did want it. She wanted it in that exact moment. She had been fighting the desire to simply drag them back to the bedroom all day.
That desire only grew as the day progressed and as it continued to be entirely average. She had done her best to not be...herself...about this, but had they made a decision? They were supposed to by the end of the day and how could they when today had felt like every other day they had ever spent together?
Maybe she should make it different; but would that be in the name of...science… or would that simply be to satisfy her own lusts? Was that in the hopes of spurring a conversation or was that only because she was weak?
She turned away from the mantel. She couldn't answer that question, she couldn't honestly say which it was and so she would not allow herself to act.
She needed them to have made a decision.
She needed them to make the right decision.
What if they didn't?
Oh god, she was going to throw up!
She squared her shoulders, swallowing it down. She would not. She was not - that would be entirely unsatisfactory. She had been through her own boot, she was no longer a green soldier - she would not vomit! She would stiffen her upper lip and she would move on. Oorah!
She felt the pressing wave of nausea abate a bit and nodded, satisfied.
"Aubrey?"
How could they really make a decision without the day having been different at all? That worried her more than she was comfortable with. She didn't like to worry. She liked to prepare for every available path so that there were no surprises.
"Bree?"
She should have spent more time researching before she woke them. She should have presented better evidence. They should have spent more time in bed together and talked about it more.
"Aubrey!"
She gave a yelp and the rag fell from her hand.
When had she picked up the furniture polish and rag?
Guiltily she looked up and saw that both Beca and Chloe were sitting on the couch together, their feet tucked up and watching her.
"Uuuuuh, what's – what's up, Beca?" She knew she was being crazy. She could see it on their faces.
"Dude, are you okay?"
"What?" She frowned, trying to put down the rag and polish without attracting too much attention to them. She looked around the living room and realized that it was perfectly in order. How long had she been stress cleaning? "Of course I am!"
"Really?" Beca frowned, "Because you just took my cup of coffee out of my hands and washed it."
"What?" She flushed, "No, I didn't." Had she? She was vaguely sure she had recently washed a cup.
"Literally out of my hands."
"What's on your mind, Bree?" Chloe asked, cheerful despite Aubrey's behavior.
"Nothing." She picked up the rag again, folded it - folded it again and then set it down. She sighed, "It's just, the day is almost over."
"Yeah?"
"Well," she felt her head tilt as it always did when she was uncertain, studying her hands, "We've been here all day and nothing about today felt different. I'm," she sniffed, "worried about what that means."
"Isn't it possible that the fact that it didn't feel any different is actually a good sign?"
Aubrey just stared at Beca, not sure she understood that entirely.
They had to make a decision and they had to do it today. She couldn't put it off. She just couldn't. She couldn't let them leave here without some type of answer. She didn't think she could take it.
Chloe's face was thoughtful, her lips twisting in a way that Aubrey thought was adorably sexy,. "How should it have been different?"
She paused, realizing she was polishing the mantel decoration with the rag again, "I don't know," she admitted.
"Well. Um," Chloe turned a little, still leaning heavily into Beca's side and reached over to intertwine her fingers through Beca's.
Aubrey watched her do it with a concentration that was probably a little much. She took everything in, every flick of an expression change on their faces, the way that their hands looked so different and yet so similar. She couldn't stop studying the way that Beca and Chloe were looking at one another. What did those looks mean?
Finally Chloe broke eye contact with Beca and looked up again. Carefully she reached out, waiting for Aubrey's hand.
Aubrey paused, not sure that she was able to simply sit and be still right now. Chloe's face grew serious, her eyebrows pulling together in a silent reprimand and since Aubrey didn't really want to hear her say whatever words were forming, she took it. Chloe gave her arm a pull and Aubrey toppled into them, letting out a girlish cry of surprise. "Mmmm," and then she was sighing as Chloe kissed her. She felt better when Chloe was kissing her, her mind cooled and for those few moments her thoughts slowed to a peaceful hum.
It wasn't a long kiss but it was just long enough for Aubrey to need to blink a few times to refocus. Feeling a bit guilty she looked to Beca but Beca didn't look upset or angry. No, she had a very different look on her face, part baffled, part something else entirely.
"So." After a second Beca gave her signature huff, the one that puffed her thin cheeks out and made her eyes pop for a moment; the one that said she had no idea how to ask her question or say what she needed to say. "So how does this work? Like, I kiss her should I then kiss you? Like a one for one type of thing? Because that might get kind of hard."
Aubrey frowned, settling herself between them where she felt Chloe cuddle in without a thought and Beca, as usual, hesitate a bit, leaning in a little closer but not quite all the way like Chloe did. It made Aubrey wonder what it would take to make her entirely comfortable with them.
"Does it bother you that I just kissed Bree?" Chloe asked, leaning around Aubrey.
"No," But Beca's face just seemed all the more confused by that, "I kind of weirdly, I dunno, like it, maybe? Just trying to - I'm not sure how I feel. But mostly I just want to know. I mean, it's not that I don't want to kiss both of you like all the time, but mostly, how is this supposed to work?"
Aubrey was a bit caught on the all of the time thing. All of the time? Did she really mean that? If she leaned over now and kissed her then how would Beca meet her?
"It might upset me to see you guys kissing." Chloe admitted and then jumped when they both turned to look at her, "I'm just being honest! I might be a little, I don't know, but I think that is kind of how it goes, right? There's no way this can happen without some jealousy, right?"
"Talking," Aubrey said, a bit unsteadily. She was sitting between them and talking about kissing them. "We will need to do a lot of talking."
The other two made small noises of agreement, their faces still contemplative.
"But if I wanted to kiss you?"
"I think you should."
Aubrey opened her mouth, needing that final confirmation, needing to hear the official 'yes, we are doing this' but instead she closed it, deciding that maybe she wouldn't press. She already felt better than she had all day.
They were going to do this. She didn't need to hear those exact words in that exact order.
They had just said it.
They were doing this.
She was sitting between them, both of them leaning in now against her.
She liked the feel of them like this. She liked their different scents, the different weights of them and postures.
They didn't stay much longer after that, both insisting that they had to get home and get ready for the next day.
Aubrey walked hand in hand with them to the front door and then they all paused, looking at the door and then between themselves.
"We're really gonna have to figure out a lot of things on our own, aren't we? How do we say goodnight?" Beca asked.
Aubrey shook her head, stammering out, "How do you want to say goodnight?" She watched as Beca looked to Chloe and they smiled at one another for a moment. It was strange. There was so much that they were going to need to learn to do.
"Maybe we're all just overthinking this." Chloe offered, "Bree said that everyone described their relationships as totally normal. Maybe that's what we need to be doing."
Beca nodded, her face thoughtful as she stepped up to Aubrey. The action was so small, and the look on Beca's face so serious that it shouldn't have blanked Aubrey's mind the way that it did. She just waited, wanting to see what Beca was going to do next.
She was surprised, perhaps stupidly so when Beca, worrying her bottom lip, cupped her face. Aubrey had just a moment to lose herself in the sweetness of the nerves in Beca's look before Beca kissed her. She was so small, so short that Aubrey had to lean down to reach her properly but something about that Beca seemed to like. She felt Beca's breath leave her quickly and then she stepped into Aubrey, her hands running down Aubrey's throat and landing on her collarbones as she all but forced Aubrey's lips to part. From behind them Aubrey heard a little squeak, but she couldn't tell if Chloe had just made the noise because they were kissing or if Aubrey had hurt her fingers when her hand had convulsed, squeezing Chloe's own smooth fingers with a sudden aching grip.
Why were they leaving? Why would they ever leave? They should stay.
Beca pulled away a bit suddenly, as though she realized she had pushed too far, making Aubrey's head spin. The smile she gave her was small and shy before she reached back and took Chloe's hand again.
She was still dizzy when Chloe gave her cheek a stroke and placed a long, shockingly soft kiss on her lips.
"Try not to overthink this tonight."
Aubrey nodded, not fully sure what she was agreeing to but just feeling like she should agree. She watched them head out of the gate and her thoughts began to swirl again. What would they do when Beca dropped Chloe off? Would they kiss too? Of course they would, she chided herself, but - Would they...would there be more than kissing? They wouldn't - do much more than that, right? Then again, they had not discussed how their… physical relationship should work. She wasn't sure that she knew.
Rules.
Next time she saw them they would discuss rules and in the meantime, she turned and searched out her computer. She had more research to do. She opened google and searched 'the physical relationship of a Triad'.
It felt strange to go back to work the next morning. Something so large had happened in her life and yet she had gone to work like normal. Well, perhaps not entirely like normal. She had been distracted all morning, her thoughts fluttering around Chloe and Beca. If she were being honest, she often thought of them during the day but she rarely let her daydreams overtake her; turning her into a zombie until Chad snapped in front of her face or one of her employees gave her a worried look.
That was in every way her today though. When she looked down at the order sheets she needed to complete, she was thinking of something funny that Beca said. Pouring herself a cup of coffee in the break room, her mind was busy drifting through the sound of Chloe humming as they walked through the dusty antique shop so that she forgot about the coffee and overfilled her cup.
She just wanted to get through her day quietly and go home.
Would she see them tonight? Would she see them more now that they had changed?
"Are you even listening to me? It was the best thing ever!" Chad cried while Donald, Chad's new assistant snickered.
"Bumper, man, where'd you get it?"
"I dunno, at that place on Tchoupitoulas," he shrugged, looking at his new assistant like he couldn't understand why he was speaking at all.
Aubrey's lips just pursed and she continued her task, rewriting the huge whiteboard monthly calendar that Chad had ruined. She had told him time and time again, if they were going to work on separate accounts then they needed to make sure the calendar was up to date and there was room for both of them. Chad usually nodded in agreement and then scrawled his appointments and lists of crew across the entire square, leaving no room for Aubrey's tall and looping hand.
She wasn't even sure why both men were in her office and she was even less sure of why her brother was going on and on about his stupid sandwich like this. She was trying to concentrate. The way he talked about his seafood muffuletta was bordering on pornographic and it was not helping her propensity toward vomiting.
"Seriously, there was butter dripping down my face. It looked like a stick of it nut on me and I didn't even care. That's how good it was."
"Chad!" Aubrey scowled, erased the mistake she had just made and then started again.
From on the desk behind her she heard the soft chime of her group chat with Beca and Chloe and crossed the room fast, scooping it up. She hadn't meant to leave her phone on the table with Chad. He had a bad habit of trying to snoop through her phone despite her passcode lock.
She must have been obvious though as she turned back to the whiteboard and opened the text because for the first time in an hour, Chad stopped talking.
"Oh thank god for small miracles," she muttered, sending him a death glare and then paused mid step, the phone held protectively to her chest. She didn't like the look on his face. Without having read the text yet she snapped her screen off so the phone would lock.
"What-what was that?"
"What?" She asked in her best casual voice, shoving her phone as deeply as it would go into her front pocket, which was not very far at all, and turned back to her job. She did not want him to notice that the sound that had just played was a specific one, different from her normal text sound. She doubted he paid that much attention to her but it would be her luck for him to notice today.
"Who's texting you, Bree?"
"What?" She rolled her eyes at him, "That is none of your business!"
"Let me see."
She pushed her phone deeper into her pocket, wishing that it fit better. "No."
He gasped, "Do you have a boyfriend, Virgin Mary?"
"Chad," Aubrey groaned.
"Oh my god!" He squealed, "Oh my god, is it a dick pic? Is it bigger than mine? Let me see!"
She scoffed, "It wouldn't be hard to be."
She hadn't meant to say it at all. It was her general rule to calm him down or ignore him when he was like this, not to engage in any way - and in reality she had no idea if what she had said was true. She didn't know or want to know that about him. He, however, had been talking about his sandwich like it was sex for at least fifteen minutes and she had been aggravated so the words had just popped out of her mouth without her permission.
He had gotten up from her office chair behind her desk and now, with Aubrey's insult, he let out a high-pitched gasp and all but screamed, "Let me see!"
"Chad! We are adults. Can we please act like it? I respect your privacy, now please respect mine."
"No, really, I can't. Let me see! Let me see!" He cried, trying to reach into her pocket.
She turned, trying to ignore him, "Donald. Go do something else, please."
Donald grinned but he did as he was told, as slowly as possible.
"I wanna see! I wanna see!"
"Chad. Please, stop it. Chad!"
He had been dodging this way and that trying to find a way in. Annoyed he gave up and Aubrey let out a yelp. He had grabbed the cartilage of her ear and twisted, yanking down so fast that before she had even fully registered she had dropped down to one knee. It was the trick he had used all through his teenage years and she was less than happy to know it still worked, and hurt.
"God damn it!" She cried, humiliated and furious as he used her thumb to open her phone.
He read the text and groaned, "God you're so boring, nut bread," and he dropped it on the floor, making a graphic hand gesture.
"Chad! That is rude and demeaning and inappropriate! We are at work! Stop calling me that!"
"Aawe, boo-hoo, what are you going to do? You gonna tell dad? I'm getting a cup of coffee, you want one?"
She stared after him, her mouth hanging open and tears welling in her eyes. How was it he could behave that way and then move on as though it was completely normal? A wave of furious hate filled her and she had to clench her teeth to avoid yelling after him.
She sat back behind her desk when he was gone, tears swimming and biting her lip.
This was not how life was supposed to be. This was not how her life was supposed to be. She had to figure out something. She couldn't keep doing this. She loved this business but this was just not sustainable.
In the end her brother would eventually get bored and move on, she knew that. She also had no idea how long that would take.
There had to be something that she could do.
Her brother strolled back into her office a few minutes later with two cups of coffee. "I spit in that," he said as he handed over her favorite coffee mug.
The problem was that this city fit his personality a little too much. How long would he want to stick around?
"Did you really, Chad?"
"Bumper."
"Chad."
"Bumper!"
"Did you spit in this?"
"Call me Bumper and I'll tell you."
"Really, Chad?"
"I don't know. Why don't you drink it and let me know?"
Resolutely she pushed the cup away, pulling out a few documents to read over.
"Whatever, toe jam," he shrugged, "I'm gonna have sex tonight so I have to go shave my balls."
She recoiled at that, images flashing through her mind that she didn't want at all, "That's disgusting, Chad."
"You're just jealous that I'm getting some and you're not. Seriously, Aubs," he groaned as she took a seat on her desk and patted her shoulder. "You really need to get some. Uncork. You know."
She let out a menacing growl that even her brother had the smarts to move away from. She knew she was a little touchy about this subject, she knew that. She also knew that right now, today, the day after she had two beautiful, kind, wonderful, sexy women in her bed and had done nothing about it, that was probably not a good day to bring sex up or the fact that she had not had it in a very long time. Anger lashed through her, fed by the steady pulse of pain in her ear. "Oh please, Chad, what woman would let you have sex with her? I can't imagine who she would be since the name 'Bumper' doesn't exactly speak well to your sexual prowess. That sounds like a little boy who is just discovering his penis."
His face dropped, all expression wiping clean as he registered what she had said. His stupid eyes blinked, his mouth in a round O. "Yaow," he suddenly bellowed, "kitty got claws!" And then he just stood there for a solid thirty seconds, looking like a boy that had forgotten his line in the school play. The confusion was a little cruelly satisfying. "Well I will have you know," he finally cried, backing away and all but pouting, "that lots of women want up on this and I have a date tonight so fuck you, Aubrey." His face was turning pink. He looked like he was about to have a tantrum. She must have really gotten him where it hurt. "See this," he suddenly shouted, "this is why I don't want to be in business with you anymore!"
"What?" She looked up, hopeful. This had to be a good thing, right?
He saw her face and he sneered right back. "Oh yeah. I'm tired of it! Tired of it! I'm tired of how uptight you are and how bitchy you are." He spat. "All the time! What, are you always on the rag? This is why no one likes you, not our employees or clients. This is why the business is going to fail!"
What? The business was coming out of the red. It had been since they had begun to separate their clients. What was he - but then her eyes rolled when she realized that those weren't his words but instead the words of their father. She could almost hear him saying it, 'Son, if you can't get your sister to be more personable then the business is going to fail. No one likes working with people that uptight.' Which was ironic because the few times that she was 'loose' about things were also the times that he told her she needed to stiffen up her act.
She growled again, furious. Her father had seen the books. He knew the business was coming out of the red and though he would never admit it, she knew that he was aware of why they were coming out of the red. She knew that he was aware of how hard she had been working. "If you have a problem with how I run the business then you can just fuck off and eat your shorts, Chad!" She had risen to her feet, her fingers steepled on the edges of her desk.
Her brother took an alarmed step back and then, seeming to realize he did it, he scoffed. "Yeah. Real nice. Totally my point, Pee-Bree." He flipped her off and then stormed from the office.
She watched him go, hearing her phone go off again.
She had no idea what that had meant but maybe that was stage one of his eventual departure. If nothing else, she had just learned that she could scare him, a discovery she appreciated. She sat back in her chair, prim as ever, imagining for the first time that day a very different kind of scene. If Chad got angry and stormed away from the business then it would be all hers, fair and square. She would be able to run it efficiently, effectively and with pride.
She pursed her lips and gave a small nod. Yes, she would hope that her brother got angry enough to run all the way back to the beaches of California.
She opened her phone and read the messages. The first was from Beca asking in an overly polite she-must-be-nervous voice if they could do something that night. The next was from Chloe, apologizing because she was doing a tour for herself and then one for Stacie so she wouldn't be off of work until one. The last message was in a private thread from Beca asking how she felt about taking a ghost tour that night.
Aubrey was pleased not to see Chad for the rest of the day. She efficiently got her work done and even was able to leave thirty minutes early because of it. She got home and showered her day off of her. She then changed into a soft sweater and jeans. Next she blow-dried her hair and, a few bobby pins between her teeth, she began to pull her hair up. At the last second she reconsidered, letting her honey-blonde hair fall back to her shoulders.
She had seen the looks from Chloe and Beca both of the times that she had worn her hair down. She didn't often do it. Perhaps it was her father's military upbringing, perhaps it was that she had only seen her mother with her hair down a few times in her life, or perhaps it was that all of her childhood photos had been plagued with buns and braids. The way that the girls had looked at her when she let it go was something she liked. The way they looked at her made her feel beautiful; a thought which made her blush and laugh at herself. Still, she brushed her hair so it framed her face and with a secret smile into the mirror, she moved on to her makeup.
Beca's apartment was on the way to the Quarter for Aubrey so they decided that she should just drive; so forty-five minutes later Aubrey picked her up.
She wasn't sure what to do when Beca slid into the car, her face one large grin. Did she lean over and kiss her? She wanted to. Her hair was down and fluffier than usual but her red plaid flannel shirt and skinny jeans were so her - and so attractive, so hot. Aubrey's fingers twitched, wondering which would be softer: the material of her shirt or the skin underneath. She didn't know what to do but the way that Beca was smiling at her made her feel foolish in a good way so she just reached over and carefully gave her arm a little squeeze.
Beca laughed, seeming to understand. Aubrey's eyes rolled but she didn't respond.
"You know," Aubrey frowned, having just pulled into the Basin St Station parking lot, "if we're going to keep seeing Chloe then maybe one of us needs to rent a parking space and carpool each time. The parking down here is beginning to become worrisome." She glanced at Beca, a grin already growing as suddenly her finger shot into the air. "Not it!" She cried as Beca's finger slammed down on her nose.
"Okay!" Beca cried, pointing to her polite finger in the air. "That is so not how you play that!"
"What? Of course it is!"
"Dude! No!" She must have looked confused because Beca broke into laughter, "That is like the politest version ever. Oh my god, that is so you."
"What?" Aubrey rolled her eyes,."I will have you know, that is how my family has always played that game."
"Uh huh." Beca nodded, "Honestly, I'm surprised by the fact that you even played at all."
"Well." Aubrey's lips gave a haughty purse, "It is clear that I won."
"You did not!"
"I did so."
"Oh my god," Beca rolled her eyes, laughing openly at her and yet Aubrey wasn't offended.
"We're early."
"Yup."
"Should we just stay here until the tour is about to begin? It wouldn't be much of a surprise if we showed up early."
"True." Beca smirked that dry, witty smirk that Aubrey loved, "We could uh," she jerked her head back, "spend a while making out in the back seat."
Aubrey's stomach seemed to drop out of her body. Her mouth popped open and closed again as her hands clutched at the steering wheel.
"Do you think Chloe would be okay with that?"
Aubrey needed another second before she was able to speak, "I don't think any of us would be completely comfortable with seeing the other two do that yet."
"Yet?"
"Yes!" Aubrey grinned, turning a little in her seat.
"Uh oh. You've done more research."
Aubrey paused, "How did you know?"
"You looked all excited. Never mind, don't worry about it. What did you find out?"
"Well." Aubrey took a deep breath, unable to deny the pleasure of being able to answer a question thoroughly. "I have been researching. I've been researching the physical relationship of a Triad."
"Oh yeah?" Beca's throat gave a gulp and she pulled her legs up to her, wrapping her arms around them.
"Yes."
"And?"
"And, unfortunately it seems different for everyone. They also emphasize on the fact that each relationship needs to do what feels right for them, not as a Triad but individually."
"You mean like you with Chloe, me with Chloe, and you and I?"
"Exactly. The most successful stories I have come across are Triads that are comfortable with sex as a Triad as well as sex as couples within the relationship. What I have read harps on the idea that a Triad is four relationships in one and we need to honor that."
"Okay," Beca's eyelashes fluttered for a moment and Aubrey worried that perhaps she was talking too much or going too fast. "So in other words, the end goal would be eventually pretty much being okay with knowing that the others might be doing something we wish we could get in on, right?"
"I suppose so. I'm not sure. I think, I think that might take some work for all of us." Aubrey admitted. And she was fairly sure that kind of comfort could not be developed until after they had - she swallowed and tried to get her cheeks to cool.
"Right." Beca nodded, her face thoughtful, "Maybe, but I dunno, I kind of like watching you and Chloe."
"You do?"
"Yeah. Is that weird? Okay, I mean, like, I'm weirded out by myself the entire time that I'm liking it but yeah, being between you two was kind of, I dunno, good, I guess."
Aubrey knew that the grin on her face was a bit foolish but she couldn't seem to stop it. Warmth had flooded her chest. She liked having this conversation with Beca. She liked the way that Beca listened to her. She leaned over and placed a soft kiss on Beca's lips, enjoying the way that Beca squirmed to get a little closer. "I think we should go inside."
"Yeah." Beca nodded, her eyes on her lips. "Probably smart. Until we, uh, yup. Let's do - that."
They walked into the building together, Aubrey's mind distracted. Could she hold Beca's hand? Perhaps it was smarter not to do anything that set apart who was in the couple - the relationship - in a place so connected to one of them. She wasn't sure if some of the things she had read were true, if there was really a reason to fear people discovering them. She couldn't imagine. But just in case.
"Hey!" Stacie was behind her usual desk.
"Hey!" Beca grinned and started over, "I thought you were off tonight."
Stacie rolled her eyes, "I was supposed to be. Chloe's covering my tour so I can cover Mark's shift. Whatever." She picked up her nail file again. "What's up guys, you looking for Chlo?" She asked, her eyes shrewd and a little jealous.
"Yes." Aubrey nodded, seeing Stacie's cautious glance. She wasn't sure what she had done to Stacie when they had met but Stacie still hadn't gotten over it, even after their drunken night in the Quarter.
"She's not here." Stacie frowned, pausing her nail filing. "She's doing a ghost tour. Not a history tour."
"Shit!"
"If you hurry you'll just make it."
"Come on," Beca pulled Aubrey toward the door.
"Jackson Square on the Chartres side!" Stacie called after them, "When you see her remind her that I want to hang out with her sometimes soon too!"
"Okay!" Beca dismissively called behind them.
Aubrey had just enough time to see Stacie slump behind her desk, a look of frustration on her face before Beca pulled her from the room.
They did make it, but only just. They barely had enough time to sneak into the shop and buy their tour tickets before they could hear Chloe's voice gathering people outside. With smug grins they rushed to join the crowd, pushing until they broke through to the front and far side.
"Jesus." Beca all but moaned.
The first time that Aubrey had seen Chloe's night time attire she had been stunned, too stunned to really notice what her body was doing or feeling. She had never found the attraction to gothic attire in her youth, it screamed of disorder. This time, aided by the blatant look on Beca's face...Aubrey noticed.
Chloe was in the front of the tour group in long leathery leggings, a lace covered corset top with a zipper up the middle, a black blazer and tall, high black boots. Her hair had been wildly combed, her eyes painted with dark eye shadow, her lips blacked and to cover it all, she wore a delicate mardi gras mask made from thinly spun black metal that looked more like lace until it caught the light and glittered.
She looked - terrifying, Aubrey thought. She looked terrifying and so alluring. Looking around the group she felt a pang of jealous anger as she realized that many of them seemed to be sharing her opinions. It made her want to hide the pale skin under the corset, it made her want to claim it for her own.
She glanced down at Beca, amused when Beca was just staring at Chloe, a blankly dazed look on her face.
Chloe cleared her throat, her hands coming up to grab everyone's attention, "Good evening, ladies and -" she paused, her air of a woman of mystery popping for a moment when she saw them and, almost without thought, she rolled her eyes and laughed.
Aubrey just smirked back.
It was strange being back in this situation with the two of them on such different terms. Aubrey and Beca didn't distract Chloe - at least, not really. They listened as she told them stories, giving a few more architectural facts than a ghost tour needed which made Aubrey wonder if she was giving them for her. Chloe was amazing to watch in her element, was amazing as she tried to get through her speech at the LaLaurie house, her cheeks a permanent pink.
When they paused for their mid-tour break at Laffite's Blacksmith Shop she felt Beca's hand softly press to the small of her back as she whispered, "So, um, if you're going to make a scene then I would say right now is probably the best time."
"Shall I? Should I start yelling?" She laughed a little, surprised that making fun of herself didn't sting. She was sure that had something to do with Beca's hand on her back.
"I mean, history does repeat itself, right?" The fingers of Beca's hand began to sway, lightly stroking in place and it drove whatever witty comeback she had planned from her mind.
She just looked at her. She liked the way that Beca was looking up at her. She liked the way that she was touching her. She gave a small little laugh as Beca smirked, aware of what she was doing.
"Oh my," she rolled her eyes at herself, but she also stepped in a little closer.
Chloe tried desperately to make it over to them throughout the break but, as they were beginning to see, the evening tours were not the same as the day. They had heard this over and over again and while Chloe made it a step closer every few minutes, her finger coming up in an apologetic hold on, her alarm went off before she could actually make it to them. Chloe shot them an apologetic look and then rushed off the opposite direction.
They didn't mind. They walked side by side, bodies brushing on occasion and sending one another small smiles whenever that happened.
"So," Chloe stopped so suddenly that the group had to stumble and tilt in order to not run her down, "I'm going to tell you a story that most of you haven't heard. It's a little controversial so many guides don't tell it, but I have some friends here and they have heard everything else, so we're going to stop here tonight."
Aubrey looked down, the warmth in her cheeks making her a little shy. Chloe had acknowledged them and it had gone to her head like liquor.
Chloe just gave her a long smirk before she began the story, "This bar right here is known for being one of the Quarters best sports bars, something you don't see very often down here, right?"
"Who dat!" Someone yelled from the back of the group and there was a cheer from a few locals walking by, including Chloe. Aubrey was fairly sure that Chloe didn't care much for football but she imagined that it probably wasn't smart to admit that while on a tour, right beside a sports bar, in a city that was as proud of their team as New Orleans was.
"Well," Chloe continued, her eyes brushing over Aubrey and Beca in a way that felt like a caress, "forty-three years ago the space above this one was something very different from what it is now. It was a bar called the Upstairs Lounge. It was one of the only gay bars in the area."
Aubrey subtly looked around, trying to judge people's reaction to this news but it seemed that no one had one.
Chloe didn't seem to think that this space being a gay bar once was news because she just moved on, "The bar was not big at all, only holding about seventy-five people at one time so, thankfully, the fifty people in the bar did not fill it to capacity. It was early evening when someone discovered that the only entrance - and exit from the club was on fire. Someone had come in from the outside and had purposely set it, trapping all fifty people inside. The bar went up very quickly. A few people escaped through the fire. One man decided to jump through the flames, 'I thought that would be better than being dead', he told the authorities later. A few people who were very thin had been able to fit through the bars on the upstairs windows, but thirty-two of the fifty did not find escape. The fire burned well into the night, taking most of this building with it. There are photos available inside as well as a few up at Basin Station and they are horrifying." She looked up at the building, her mask glittering in the glow of the streetlamp, giving her a menacing air. "They did their best to match the bodies they found after the fire was finally put out, however before Hurricane Katrina this case held the record for number bodies to remain unclaimed post city catastrophe. I would like to say that I don't know why, but the reason was easy to discover. Coming forward and claiming the body meant that the family would also have to come forward and admit they had a homosexual child. This was the seventies and people were afraid." With a pause for a sigh, she went on, "It soon came to light that a man named Roger Dale Nunez was a suspect, as a matter of fact, he was the only suspect because Nunez all but confessed. He was caught one night laughing and bragging and yet no charges were ever filed against him."
"Why?" Beca cried, her face tight.
Chloe gave a somber head shake, "In the early seventies the attitude toward the LGBTQA community was not a pleasant one, even in a city as progressive as New Orleans. Most of the city stood behind the local law enforcement's inaction, believing that, and I quote, 'they got what they deserved'." She paused again, giving her tour a stern look as though daring anyone to agree.
No one did.
"It's no surprise, of course, that this is the home of many strange encounters. To this day, it's said that the stairwell leading up to the second and third story is always uncomfortably warm. The owner has done everything in his power to cool it and yet it always feels like it is a hot summer day in there. A few researchers have come in and gathered a number of EVPs within the walls. Some of the recordings are jumbled, but there are many in which you can hear a number of people laughing, some speaking and one or twice even calling the researcher's name. While a few have reported seeing people walking around the building, only to disappear a few moments later, the strangest things about this location actually happen outside of the building. To this day the local police report getting phone calls about this spot claiming that the caller heard agonized screaming coming from the building. Many of them can be reported as pranks, however, I had the local sheriff on my tour once and he said that he would count many of these calls as real. He said that the terror in their voices would be hard to fake. The other thing that has been reported comes from our tours. Time and time again tour goers have suddenly burst into tears while out front of this building. And while the tale of so bad a mass murder is moving, often the tearful guest would admit that they were not upset, not sad but simply could not stop crying for reasons that were completely unknown to them." She gave them all an expectant smile, like she thought that one of them might suddenly begin to cry. When no one did she smirked, "Alright, follow me. Let's turn this way and start making our way back to Jackson Square."
Aubrey and Beca waited for a bit once the tour was finished, knowing they weren't going to be able to drag Chloe away but hoping that they might at least be able to say hello. When she finally rushed over her face was a little frantic.
"I have ten minutes! Hi!"
"You look so hot!"
They both turned to look at Beca, who was blinking at them a little confused. She looked a bit like she had just been hit over the head with a club.
"Sorry," she muttered, shaking her head. "Didn't mean to say that."
Chloe just laughed, gently touching either of their arms, "I wish I could go home with you guys instead of doing this last tour!"
Beca just gave a high, tittering laugh. "You know what?" She mumbled, "I'm just uh, I'm gonna get some air." She turned, her head shaking and walked away.
"Is she okay?" Chloe asked, her eyebrows high.
Aubrey smiled after her, "I think so. She's right though, Chloe. You look -" but then she couldn't find the words.
Chloe's beaming grin twisted, her look something altogether new. Aubrey felt something squirm to life in her belly.
"So. Did you like the tour?"
"We did." She stammered, "We did."
"Good." Chloe grinned, swallowing the last bit of her water, her eyes never leaving Aubrey's.
It was almost too much.
"I-" she cleared her throat but she had nothing to say, "why don't you let me fill that up for you. You'll need it for the next tour, right?" She asked, trying hard to stand her ground and hold the eye contact that Chloe was keeping.
"Yes. I will. Thank you, Aubrey."
Aubrey licked her lips and nodded. She opened her mouth to say something else, but she didn't know what she could possibly say while they were in public so she just turned, chuckling. That warmth was back in her chest, that fond affection.
The bar beside them was filled to the brim and she had to fight to get through the crowd. She worried for a moment that perhaps the bartender would be unwilling to take the time and fill her bottle for her but when she told him it was for Chloe the tour guide he took it, filled it and also brought her a styrofoam cup of coffee. She thanked him and started pushing her way through the crowd again.
Her mind was a bit occupied as she left the bar, enjoying the way it felt to do something so - girlfriend like for Chloe. That was why it took her a second to understand what she was seeing.
Beca had Chloe tight against the metal fence, not seeming to care that people were walking up and down the street, not seeming to care that they were in public at all. She had her hot against the bars and even from Aubrey's distance she could see that Chloe was a puddle in her hands, her head back, her hands wrapped around the bars behind her while her chest rose and fell fast.
Aubrey blinked, staring in shock as Beca leaned forward, saying something into Chloe's ear. She saw Chloe shudder and -
Hot raw anger ripped through her so fast that it was blinding.
She had only just left! They knew she would be coming back. They knew she was not far! They were in public! They were in front of everyone and -
Jealousy, blatant, sticky jealousy ripped through her, rattling her body and shaking her to her core. She had never felt it in such hot flashes before, she had never felt it so strongly that it burned her insides. She turned, ready to leave. She needed to leave. She wanted to leave. Only, she had Chloe's water bottle in her hand.
You know what? It was fine. She would just give it to her and she would go.
Her back straight, she marched over to them, her heart hammering in her throat, set down the drinks and turned to go but a hand had caught her by the wrist. She let out a snarl, turning to yell, to bite, to force her to get her hand off of her.
The sight before her was distracting, the flush that spread clearly over Chloe's throat and chest, the way she was bent with her shoulders resting on the cold metal behind her while the rest of her body was bowed into Beca; the way that Beca was holding her up with one arm around Chloe's waist, her face flushed as she pulled herself from her hiding spot and turned ever so slightly. They were both breathless and Aubrey found that for a split second she was distracted, she was too distracted to remember she was angry.
Beca's voice was thick, full of guttural gravel as she spoke just loud enough for them to hear. Chloe twitched and let out a small moan in anticipation of hearing the words again. "I just told her that I wanted to see what her black lipstick would look like," Beca turned and looked her dead in the eye, "on the inside of your thighs."