Chapter 37

MITCHELL ESTATE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA

Everything was back to normal.

It was as if nothing had happened.

Beca was back to her usual routine- she would head to bed late at night, possibly because of work, or just because of her thoughts were starting to cloud in her mind again. But then, she would get up as early as she could to prep for school.

She liked keeping herself busy, and with academics and her organization-everything seemed to be working out for her.

She was grateful for Stacie, Jesse and Benji- they would keep her company when there are times that she remembers Chloe. Indeed, they helped her move on. Not that they asked her to completely forget about Chloe, but rather, let her focus on what's ahead of her.

There are moments that Beca would remember Chloe though. It was unavoidable.

She would remember how Chloe likes her coffee with lots of milk, and two packs of Splenda, to be exact to go with it. She would remember how Chloe loved tucking her head behind her ears whenever it falls down her face. And how Chloe would just be Chloe.

Beca was out by her mother's garden when her Father walked in. She seemed to be in deep thought, making Senator Warren hesitant to disturb her.

"Rebecca?" Senator Warren sat beside his daughter.

"Dad." Beca was startled and tried to go back to jotting down notes.

"Are you alright?" The Senator asked. "Is there something bothering you?"

"Oh. No." Beca lied, but her Father could see right through her. "I was just… you know, thinking of my next mission for Helping Hands."

"Isn't Jesse planning on something too?" He questioned.

"Uh. Yeah. Yeah. He is." Beca bit her lip. "I'm thinking of another option. You know… just in case." Beca shrugged.

The Senator nodded his head while his daughter was struggling to ease rthrough their conversation. He knew that Beca was a strong woman, but he could see that his daughter was hurting.

"You miss her, don't you?" Senator Warren sighed as he looked at his daughter.

Beca looked up and fixed her gaze at her father. "She's in London, Dad."

"I know." He replied. "You could talk to me, you know."

"About what? My love for her?" Beca snickered. "I miss her, yes. But, Chloe dropped me in an instant. I should've have expected that she would fight for me, like how I stepped up for her infront of you and Mom, but she didn't." Beca sobbed. "I was a fool to expect that at the last minute, she would change her mind. But, yeah…" Beca wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. "Who am I compared to her dreams, right?"

"I should've told you this but…"

"I know, Dad. You don't have to." Beca interrupted her father's admission. "I know that you wanted it to happen. The moment you spoke so highly of Chloe back then, I already knew that you had something right up your sleeve."

"You have all the right to be mad at me, dear. And I can spend all of my life making up for it." Senator Warren stated.

"I should be mad at you. I really should." Beca closed her journal and moved her seat closer to her father. "But, Chloe deserved that opportunity. I couldn't take that away from her."

"Well, since you really love her, we could book you a ticket to London right now. You know, get your girl." Senator Warren smiled as he handed Beca his Visa.

"No. I'd rather not do that." Beca returned her father's credit card. "Chloe is Chloe, dad. She's living her dream, and I don't wanna interfere with that. I couldn't keep up with that, if that's the case. I don't want to be the second choice, dad."

"No one wants to be the second choice, I get you." The Senator replied. "What do you have in mind, then?"

"Let her be." Beca shrugged. "It hurts, but I know it's just a part of the process. And I know, that I'll be better."

"Are you really sure about that?"

"Uh huh." Beca agreed. "I can't mope around here. I have lots of things to accomplish, I'd rather focus on that."

"Well… It looks like you made up your mind, huh, Miss Smarty Pants?" The Senator held his daughter's hand, and lightly squeezed it. "But, I just want you to know, that if you want to talk…"

"Thanks, Dad." Beca threw herself at her Father's arms, and lingered on the hug. "I don't know if what I'm going to do is right, but it is the least thing I could do for myself."

"There's nothing wrong with self-love, honey." Senator Warren kissed his daughter's forehead. "Sooner or later, you'll be alright. I know you will."

"I love you, Dad."" Beca murmured.

"I love you too, Rebecca." Senator Warren replied. "Thank you for the second shot for being your Father again."

Beca missed her, but with the time spent away from Chloe, she knew better. Chloe is in London living her life, and she figured that it was time for her to do the same thing.

Chloe left her no calls, and no messages. And she was tired of waiting, wishing and hoping.

And, it was not long enough for Beca to realize that it was time for her to do the same.

3 years later…

HELPING HANDS HEAD OFFICE, NEW YORK, NEW YORK

As soon as Beca had graduated from Barden University, she immediately headed out to New York to continue what she has started with Helping Hands. She was able to make a career out of songwriting too. However, she only takes song writing jobs when she isn't pre-occupied with pending and upcoming projects for Helping Hands. Helping Hands was her first priority, and nobody was complaining.

Beca had been doing an excellent job for Helping almost travelled the whole world, and she as even granted awards and recognitions from different organizations who admired her work. Of course, it was expected that she would also be tied up with Unicef-she was chosen to be one of their Ambassadors. And that alone, made everyone proud of what Beca has become.

Stacie was already managing their Real Estate Business, and Benji was one of her top employees. Jesse, on the other hand, was still in line with Helping Hands, being a co-founder, but he never forgot to follow his dad's footsteps. He was being shaped as the next Congressman Swanson.

"Beca?" Jesse took a peek in Beca's office, and upon seeing that the brunette was drowning herself with paper work, he just let himself in.

Jesse studied the brunette who was signing papers here and there. He chuckled when he saw Beca flinch from a paper cut. "That's the universe telling you to take a rest from all the paper work."

"Jesse!" Beca stood up and hugged the man. "I'm so sorry, I didn't hear you. How are you?"

"Usual stuff. Nothing new. Dad's making me attend all these events, and he made me do all the speeches instead of him. You know, to introduce me little by little." He scoffed.

"C'mon, you're used to that." Beca snickered.

"Oh. Aren't we?" Jesse laughed. "So, I got a call from Harris…"

"Harris?" Beca quirked an eyebrow.

"Harris Stratford." Jesse stated. "You know, your classmate during boarding school…" Jesse was about to enumerate all the factors that would make Beca remember who Harris was.

"Ah! Harris! Yes, Yes! I was expecting a call from him though. Why did he call you?" Beca sat back in her swivel chair and tried her best to clear her desk.

"Well, that…" Jesse pointed to all the papers Beca put away. "might be the reason why he called me. He told me that he couldn't reach you, so he called me instead."

"So, you two are like, friends now?" Beca asked.

"Not really. It's just that I knew him since his dad was a friend of my dad, and your dad, of course." Jesse grinned. "You know how our circle works." He winked. "We met a couple of times when I visited you in London before."

"Right." Beca chuckled. "Uhm… What did he want?"

"What? You mean, you haven't talked at all?"

"Noooope." Beca said, emphasizing the "p". "Fill me in."

While Jesse started to pour himself a glass of wine, he started to tell Beca about Harris Stratford's concern. "He heard about Helping Hands, you see. And upon research, he found out that you were the brains of it all, and that I am your side kick, he suddenly had this proposal in mind. You know, for old times sake…"

"What kind of proposal is that?" Beca asked.

"Apparently, Harris is an artist." Jesse snickered.

"Oh, he didn't run their automobile business, huh?" Beca commented.

"Yes. Yes." Jesse continued to fill her in. "He saw all the work that we have been doing, and he told me that he does charity work too. Not as big as ours, but he does get involved in social work. The bottom line is that, he wants a collaboration to happen."

"Collaboration, huh." Beca stated. "Interesting." Beca tapped her pen on her desk, unconsciously. "Go on."

"Well, he would like to work with us, you know, he'll take photos, paint what his eyes desire while we do our work. We provide him with inspiration, he provides us with publicity." Jesse stated. "Not bad, right?"

"Sounds good." Beca nodded. "But I would have to think this over though. Since we have a lot of offers too coming from different people…"

"Of course, of course. Take your time." Jesse said as he sipped his wine.

"Where is Harris anyway? Maybe we could give him a call and invite him so we could talk things out properly."

"Oh. That's the problem." Jesse set his glass down, and looked at Beca. "He isn't here in New York."

"What? Where is he?" Beca asked. "I thought we would talk things over?"

"Harris is based in London, Beca." Jesse stared at the brunette. "Would you be willing to go to London?" He smirked.

STROKES, ST. JAMES, LONDON, ENGLAND

In 3 years time, Chloe was able to be the artist that she was meant to be.

True enough, she made a name for herself in the field of Art.

She didn't expect how things turned out for her when she first arrived in London. She struggled to cope up with the life in London while she quietly dealt with her broken heart.

She was able to make friends when she was in Royal, but she never forgot those who she left behind in Atlanta. Aubrey, though, would fly in and out of London when the latter would have free time or when Beca's mother, would let her stand in for her in conventions and meetings in Europe.

Upon finding out that Aubrey was offered a top managerial position in Mitchell Telecommunications, Chloe couldn't help but think of the brunette she had left behind. Aubrey sensed that Chloe was still sensitive about it all, so she refused to talk about Beca unless asked or necessary.

After Chloe's graduation, she never had the opportunity to fly back home. She was doing what she loved the most but sometimes, she couldn't stop thinking of what should have been.

Usually Chloe would spend her time in her own studio, trying to come up with more paintings which were usually sold out once displayed at their gallery. Due to combined efforts, Chloe and some friends from Royal was able to put up Strokes-which was now one of the best art galleries in London.

"Hey. I told you she's hot. Really hot." James, a fellow artist blurted out.

Chloe shook her head upon hearing James' comment. He's the flirty one of them all.

"I didn't disagree, man. But I just think she's too smart for me." Andrew commented.

Both guys were pointing at a magazine, which made Chloe curious. "What are you guys babbling about anyway?" She hummed while she continued mixing paint on her palette.

"Oh. We were just talking about Rebecca Mitchell." James shrugged.

Chloe stopped for a second, and tried to clarify whether what she heard was right. "Excuse me? What did you just say?"

"Rebecca Mitchell." Andrew repeated while he held the magazine for Chloe to see. "Here. Isn't she a 10?"

Chloe's eyes studied the cover, and boy, Beca was really pretty despite it being a candid photo of her smiling without looking at the camera. She had a Unicef cap on, paired with the Unicef Ambassador t-shirt they gave her. At first sight, Chloe knew what it was all about.

"She's okay." Chloe swallowed hard and focused back on mixing colors.

"She's more than okay!" James exclaimed. "I knew all about her through her charity work, and I've never taken my eyes off her ever since. She has a heart of gold, that one."

"She does." Chloe stated.

"Really? How did you know?" Andrew asked.

"Oh. Uhm… I read a few articles about her." Chloe smiled in response. She was relieved that her friends hadn't noticed anything suspicious yet.

"I wonder if she has a boyfriend." James flipped through the pages. "Might as well read about my dream girl." He stated as he walked away.

Hearing Beca's name made Chloe uneasy. She hasn't heard from the brunette ever since, and she also hasn't reached out to her. It was a whirlwind of emotions for her at that time.

Andrew stood behind Chloe and watched her do her thing. "So, you're still on for tonight, right? You're not bailing this time?"

"Yes, of course. I'll be there!" Chloe laughed. "I missed too much dinners already."

"Awesome. I'll let everyone know that you're joining this time, and I'll make proper reservations. I don't want the beast to kill me." Andrew sighed.

"What's going on anyway?"

"I don't know, honestly. I was just told that we're going to meet someone special tonight." Andrew scratched his head. "I heard that it's something big for us though."

"I wonder what it could be…" Chloe hummed while she continued to paint.

"Well, might as well be there tonight to know, right?" Andrew winked back. "See you, Chloe. I have to finish my sculpture for the Museum corridor."

"See you tonight." Chloe smiled in response.

HEATHROW INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, LONDON, ENGLAND

"I missed this place." Beca breathed in the scent of fresh air as soon as she stepped out of the airport. Jesse was able to catch up after giving directions to security.

"Well, this was your second home." Jesse grinned as he ushered Beca to the Chrysler waiting for them. "I tell you what, you're lucky my dad loves you. He actually allowed me to go on this trip with you despite of the pending commitments we have."

"Don't do that, Jesse. You and I both know you have work to do for your dad here in London. We're just doing work for Helping Hands first." Beca nudged Jesse's shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll accompany you to every trip you have."

"Thanks, Beca." Jesse replied. "Perhaps, if I continue this political career, would you like to be my Secretary?" He joked.

"You know how I feel about Politics, Jesse." Beca chuckled. "It's a good thing Dad finally understood that I can make a name for myself."

"He should. You're doing a pretty great job. Helping Hands founder, UNICEF Ambassador, role model for the youth…" Jesse enumerated. "Senator Warren Mitchell should be proud. Really proud."

"You forgot one thing, Jesse…" Beca scoffed.

"Oh yeah. Songwriter." He nodded. "You're such a wonderful person, Beca. You do everything." He laughed.

"You and I both, Jesse. Don't forget that you have accomplishments to boast too.." Beca replied. "I wonder what's for dinner, though." Beca randomly said.

"Of course! You would think of food the moment we arrive." Jesse put his palm on his face. "The side of Rebecca Mitchell nobody really knows about."

"Shut up, Jesse. I'm tired. I deserve food." Beca mumbled.

"You will eat." Jesse reasoned. "We'll drop our bags off at the hotel first, then we're good to go."

THE DORCHESTER, LONDON, ENGLAND

"Are we complete?" Andrew started the head count. "James, Stella…"

"Chloe." Chloe laughed as she stepped forward. "Sorry, I'm late." She shrugged.

"It's alright" Stella greeted her with a hug. "He isn't here yet so, that's fine." She winked.

"Why is he the boss of us anyway? Who made him the boss?" James voiced out. "I mean we're all partners, right?"

"He just had the most money to contribute." Andrew snickered. "But we're all equal. It's just that he knows these people we're going to meet. And based on what he told me, they're relly good friends of his. So, he just wants everything to be fine. He's on to a lot of pressure, I guess. But he's not bossing us around."

"Good point." Stella commented. "I would be too, if ever I were in his shoes."

James, Andrew, Stella and Chloe made their way into the restaurant, They were ushered to a table reserved for seven.

"Seven people." Chloe stated. "Must be a really important dinner."

"Yeah. By the looks of it. Pricey dinner here at The Dorchester, really set up for business dinners." Stella added.

"Hush…" James interrupted Chloe and Stella from making any more comments. "He's here. With our guests."

"Hello, guys." Harris stood by the table. "It's a good thing that all of you could make it to dinner tonight."

"What's up, Harris?" James asked before anyone else. "This feels weird. Fancy dinners without anything to celebrate."

Harris chuckled as he looked as his friends. "Tonight is special because I have two friends joining us for dinner this evening. And we look forward to doing a collaboration with them."

"Who are they?" Stella asked.

"More of, where are they?" Chloe added.

"Oh, they're in the car. I just wanted to talk to you first before I usher them in." Harris stated. "Don't worry, they're nice people. So, should I usher them in now? Are you all good?"

"Yes."

"Excellent. I'll be right back." Harris excused himself to usher their guests in the restaurant.

"I wonder who they are…" Andrew sighed. "I hate surprises…"

"Bloody hell…" James muttered. "It can't be…"

"What? What?" Stella couldn't picture what James was referring to, causing her to look around the restaurant.

Chloe, on the other hand, was too busy texting Aubrey that she wasn't able to hear James' comment.

"Friends…" Harris stood by the table, as he called everyone's attention. "I would like you to meet my friends, Jesse Swanson and Rebecca Mitchell." He grinned.

Jesse and Beca stepped forward, each extending their hands to James-who was so excited, Andrew-whose eyes never tore away from Beca, Stella-who was friendly enough to hug Beca instead of shaking her hands, and last but not the least, Chloe-who was so stunned to see the brunette.

Chloe wanted to excuse herself. She wanted to hide away. However, she couldn't think of any lame excuse to give Harris and her friends. She would have to deal with seeing Beca for the night.

She was thankful that Beca hasn't noticed her yet because James would start a conversation with Beca every now and then.

However, as soon as Jesse and Beca finally turned to meet the next one in line, Chloe's eyes met Beca's.

Beca couldn't say anything when she came face to face with Chloe. Jesse too, was unsure of what to do.

"Ah! Yes, Rebecca…" Harris turned to Beca, then to Chloe afterward. "You met the James, Stella and Andrew, but this is…"

"Chloe Beale." Beca smirked as she extended her hand for Chloe to take.

Chloe's hands was shaking, but she tried to compose herself just to show everyone that nothing wrong was going on. "Beca Mitchell." Chloe stated.

"It's been so long." Beca flashed her a smile, which Chloe couldn't figure out.

"You've met before?" Harris was confused, and he searched Chloe's eyes for an answer.

"Yes." Beca immediately replied. "We attended Barden together."

"Oh! How could I forget!" Harris exclaimed. "I assume you know Jesse Swanson too?" He again, asked Chloe.

"Yes. I sure do." Chloe replied.

"Nice seeing you, Chloe." Jesse hugged Chloe, which made Chloe feel relieved that her guy best friend isn't holding any grudge against her.

"You too." Chloe smiled in response.

"Isn't this lovely?" Harris turned to everyone as they took their seats. "Hopefully if we get this all sorted out, we'll all be working together."

Everyone on the table was excited for the collaboration Harris promised to share, except for three people-Jesse, Beca and most of all, Chloe.

"Chloe, since you know Beca and Jesse aside from myself, I would like you to be the contact person if ever they have queries whenever I am unavailable." Harris stated. "You know, while we're still working out things about this collaboration… I hope you don't mind…"

Harris, James, Andrew and Stella were still oblivious of the fact that tension filled the air. Jesse was subtly fumbling with his hands underneath the table, while Beca was breezing through the situation. Chloe's heart, on the other hand was thumping as fast as it can, she couldn't say no to the detriment of Strokes.

"Chloe?" Harris called her attention. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Yes." Chloe nodded. "Sorry, I just remembered something…"

"Rebecca, will that be alright, though? If Chloe would speak to you when there are times that I would be unavailable... James, is with Photographs, while Stella and Andrew are with Sculptures, since Chloe and I are both into Painting…"

"Harris… It's alright with me, okay? No need to explain further. I can work with anyone. Right, Jesse?" Beca stated.

"Yes, she's good with people. Put her in with anyone. She doesn't mind." Jesse snickered, but he earned a subtle eye roll from Beca. "She's a charmer, that one."

"I'm good, Harris. Don't worry about me." Beca smirked at Harris. "Better check with Miss Beale though."

"Chloe? Even with all the pending paintings you have, I'm sure you don't mind, right?" Harris said in a hopeful tone.

"No…" The redhead looked at Harris, then at Beca who was not even looking at her from her side of the table. "It's alright, Harris." Chloe forced a smile on her face before sipping her champagne. "I don't mind, not at all."

And just like that, Chloe knew she was going in for another roller coaster ride.

A/N: Took me long enough, right? I apologize for the delay. Again, I assure everyone, I will NOT be abandoning this story. I love this story too much.

So, how do you think things will work out between the girls after 3 years, huh? Let me know your thoughts. x