Beca sat in front of the mixing board and placed the headset over her ears, allowing her heart to synchronize with the angry drum beat. Music is power and magic, magic that she can control. Music is home.
"Do you seriously think you can do this?" Jesse spat, eyes blazing. "You won't last a month without me. You will be lost and alone in some gutter. There is no way you will ever sell a single record. Just give it up!"
Except Jesse had never said any of those things. He hadn't begged to come back. In fact, they had barely spoken at all since the morning she moved out.
Still she needed to give a face to her self-doubt, to her fear and insecurity. And it helped her to stay mad at him in the early days, to keep from running after him and trying to piece together a puzzle that no longer matched up at all.
Beca eased the levers in tandem as the music shifted into something light and easy.
Her fears never materialized. Quite the opposite in fact. Since they had separated, Beca's life had drastically changed for the better. The Evolution of Woman album had already sold 9 million copies in the two months since release. Next week, she was scheduled to meet with Beyoncé Freaking Knowles-Carter to talk about producing her next album.
There were times when Beca missed Jesse like crazy. Hell, she even missed Aubrey. But, Chloe had been amazing. On the one hand, she had been her rock. At the same time, in a way that Beca couldn't really articulate, she had let Beca find her own strength, helped her realize that she didn't need another person to feel her own value.
The two would meet together at least once a week and talked almost every day on the phone. Chloe had returned to being the affectionate flirty friend she had been all through college, though she always backed off whenever Beca got too worked up. There were days that she felt a little like Chloe deliberately pushed that boundary until she was as taught as a cello string and oh what she wouldn't do to let her play... wow, focus Mitchell.
Beca listened to the last section of music again and nodded before taking off her headset. She had survived and come out stronger. She was realizing her dream. She was a record producer and important people knew her name. She was independent, strong and confident.
Her cell phone buzzed and she saw the text:
Chloe-bear: Becs, I really need to talk to you tonight. Meet me at the good place and wear something nice ;)
Beca swallowed hard. Yeah sure, strong and confident.