[A/N1]: Okay, this has gotten a little out of hand, but I've a feeling that you won't blame me ;)
the IT folk out there: I'm deeply sorry, I'm sure I butchered your field of work. I keep writing about stuff I don't know, why though? Maybe I should write about microbiology, but I think nobody's intested in this xD
TW: Light verbal sexual harassment
Aubrey puts the hairdryer into the bathroom closet and powerwalks into the kitchen. She can't risk her risotto to burn, not when the atmosphere may already be a bit loaded due to the expecting guests.
She and Chloe have been dating for roughly a month now and it's great. Nice dates, heavy make-out sessions, cuddly movie nights and in-depth conversations about everything and anything. Aubrey is falling for her and has a feeling the red-haired consultant reciprocates these feelings.
Meanwhile, she and Beca had continued the act of reconnecting - now they often join each other for lunch, talk on the phone about old times and even have established a weekly pizza night. It's evolving into a comfortable friendship which Aubrey didn't know she'd need; work consumed her for the last few years.
So at this point one thing was inevitable: having Chloe and Beca together at her table. It's not as if both women hated their guts, no. The fact that Beca was attending the anti-harassment seminar because of good reasons and didn't behave all contrite at first could have provided some kind of defensive attitude on Chloe's part though.
She hopes for the best while she stirs the food; then the doorbell rings and of course it's Chloe who is first to arrive. She walks upstairs and Aubrey is again enchanted with the women's beauty - she has straightened her red curls and wears a black dress which hugs her in all the right places. Suddenly, Aubrey wants nothing more than to burn the food and cancel Beca.
"Hi baby" Chloe grins and goes in for a full hug. Aubrey clings at her while smelling her perfume and greets back. "Hey babe, you look amazing."
"Thanks, you too" Chloe replies and kisses Aubrey gently a few times before they make it inside the apartment.
"What do you think about canceling everything and getting cozy tonight?" Aubrey asks and lets her hands wander up and down Chloe's sides.
"Sounds great, Aubs" she hums while being felt up, "…but I remember that this was very important for you. So I'm totally ready for doing this tonight. I… might have brought new underwear for tomorrow?" Chloe asks and raises an eyebrow.
"Is this, uhm, are you saying that; I'm sorry, what?"
The redhead laughs at the incomprehensible rambling and squeezes Aubrey's lower arm. "I was thinking that I could stay here tonight. Whatever that means." Her raised eyebrows now move into a wiggle and she smirks mischievously.
Aubrey only stares at her, so she backtracks. "I mean, only if that's okay with you, baby. I don't want to force you to anything you don't want. Oh god, was that a bad idea?"
"NO!" Aubrey shouts and startles them both. "Uhm, no. I just couldn't wrap my head around the fact that I get this for myself the whole night." She points at Chloe and wants to seductively kiss her when a completely other thought runs through her mind. "Oh shit, the risotto!"
...
Ten minutes later, the doorbell rings again and Beca arrives. By her standards, she is dressed up, wearing a jeans and an ironed black shirt. She's not really Aubrey's type, but the lawyer can appreciate her appearance.
"What's up Posen?" Beca greets her and gives her a quick hug, something that has developed on their last pizza date.
"Hey Beca. You're okay with white wine or do you want a beer? I still have this IPA in the fridge."
"I'll gladly take the IPA, thanks." Beca enters the living room and sees Chloe sitting on the sofa. Her back doesn't touch the back of the piece of furniture and her hands are folded properly in her lap. Beca has to suppress an eyeroll and remind herself that this is Aubrey's girlfriend (?) and somehow, they have to get along. She doubts that this woman even owns a pair of sweatpants.
"Hey Chloe." They never introduced themselves by their first name and it feels awkward in her mouth.
Chloe is well-behaved and gets up to greet her with a handshake. "Hello Beca, nice to see you again."
They smile politely at each other and Beca is relieved when Aubrey gets back with her drink.
"There you go. Oh, and wash your hands, dinner's ready in 5."
They manage to make idle chit chat during dinner and mostly talk about the upcoming baseball season, of which Chloe is a big fan. She even owns several jerseys and a season ticket for the Braves, which on one hand irritates Beca; on the other hand it makes Chloe appear less uptight. The atmosphere is more relaxed after the second glass of wine and beer and Beca recognizes that Chloe got her heels off while they ate. Maybe the woman was equally nervous at the beginning.
"So Beca, anything new about you and Stacie?" Aubrey asks after she comes back from the kitchen where she changed their emptied dishes to a bowl of M&Ms.
"Uhm. New? I don't know…"
"Aren't you and her… you know?" Aubrey wiggles a bit from left to right.
Beca shoots her an uncomfortable frown and glances at Chloe. "M-Ms. Conrad's and my relationship is on a purely professional level."
Chloe chuckles and takes a sip of her wine. "You don't need to justify. As long as everyone is on the same page, people can do what they want."
"We're not even real co-workers, I mean she's a lawyer and I'm in IT, so."
"Beca, I get it. Relax"
"Just wanna make sure that I'm not the bad guy this time." She holds her hands up in defense.
"Well, that is very appropriate of you"
"You wouldn't have thought, would you?"
Chloe leans forward with a serious face now. "Maybe I am surprised"
"Yay me, not just a horny molester."
Chloe sets her glass down, stands up and is about to retort something, when Aubrey interferes.
"Enough!" She pinches the bridge of her nose. "Okay, I certainly didn't want to start something like this, but I get that this was probably very stupid. I'm sorry for asking about you and Stacie, Beca." She points at both her guests. "You need to stop behaving like this. Yes Beca, you were pretty oblivious back then. And Chloe, yes, she made some mistakes but worked on them. There. Can we move on now and just change the topic? ...How about a game?"
Chloe and Beca have an equal sour look on their face, but Chloe is quick to recover. She's here for Aubrey and promised to get along with Beca, who was a pain in the ass while they had the seminar. But she also knows that her soon-to-be-girlfriend is really happy with this renewed friendship and that the small woman might be alright if they could forget about the way they got to know each other.
"You're right baby. I'm sorry, to both of you. And yeah, why not?"
Beca just hums and manages to roll her eyes without them seeing it. "'M sorry, too." She looks at Aubrey first and then to Chloe. "Yeah, sure. Got something in mind?"
So Aubrey gets to her shelf and browses. It takes only a couple of seconds before she regrets her suggestion. The playing cards are old and yellowed, she lacks several dice and the playboard of Monopoly falls apart. Not that it'd be a good idea to play Monopoly with those two right now. Or ever.
"Um, okay I might have been a bit hasty with this. The only game that's not like a hundred years old is this" she holds up a box of Scrabble, something she got to her birthday by her father two years ago.
Beca watches her incredulously. "Scrabble? Dude, you need to update your shelf like yesterday. I'll send you a link, there's this awesome game called Dinosaur Island…" She already gets her phone out and starts typing, while Chloe watches her and then turns to Aubrey.
"I'm in. Nothing like a good battle of words."
Aubrey shoots her a small smile. "Yeah, I mean… I really need to gets some new stuff probably, but I didn't have time the last years and… no one to play with I think."
"Aww baby. Well now you do." Chloe takes the game from her before she gives her a kiss and they start setting everything up.
...
40 minutes later, everyone is pretty focused on their available letters. Beca and Chloe started the first round using some kind of insults and each word was accompanied by a short glance to each other. Chloe laid child, to which Beca answered douche. After Aubrey's cinnamon, Chloe continued with jerk and she earned herself a skeptical look by her hopefully-still-soon-to-be-girlfriend. After that, Chloe and Beca changed their strategy. While Aubrey still laid regular words and focused on the most possible points (which made her win the last round), her guests tried to exceed each other by expanding their words. Beca's driver for example became a screwdriver, while Chloe's soft (she laid it with a sweet smile at Aubrey) was getting changed to software by Beca, who grinned devilishly.
In their third round now, the terms have changed back to normal. Aubrey is still a bit skeptical but can't make out any foul strategy, so she plays along. Then Beca wants to pick up the blank stone from Aubrey's caram _l to change it with one of her own letters and Chloe pipes up.
"You can't do this!"
"Why not?" Beca asks back.
"Because it's against the rules!"
"What kind of shit rules is that? I have the fitting letter, why wouldn't I do this?"
"It's not right."
"But it makes sense! This way, the blank stone can be used again by us and it keeps the game going?"
"But-"
"I have another word for you." Aubrey swipes the board clean with her arm and takes specific letters from everyone, while the other two only watch her with open mouths. Slowly, Aubrey forms several words everywhere over the board, crossing over various bonus fields.
Youre a
bunch
of assholes
"Oh, look!" she squeals with fake surprise. "Now I get… let's see. Two times a triple word score, two double letter scores and a triple letter score! Nice. I think I'll win!" She writes an epic number on her scoreboard and shoots Beca and Chloe an angry look, while the two women eye each other for a few seconds.
Then Beca starts to laugh hard and ends up with a few tears in her eyes. When Chloe sees the corner of Aubrey's mouth twitch, she can't help but join Beca. Aubrey tries to stay serious, but a grin forms on her face.
"You really are! You're both stubborn and can be so bossy and it's infuriating!" She says it while still grinning and Beca and Chloe calm down eventually.
"Guess she's right, Red." Beca comments with a smirk in Chloe's direction.
"I'm afraid so, halfling." Chloe answers with a smug look.
"Haven't heard that yet, very original." Beca still has a smile on her face. "So, who's up for another drink and a last round with forming insults only?"
...
After Aubrey's little outbreak, the mood changes significantly. They're indeed able to play together, laugh about their attempts to score and use each other's words to make it a rich game. Aubrey wins nonetheless, much to the dislike of Beca and Chloe, but they're good losers.
Then the glasses are almost empty, and the game is forgotten - lose goofy words are laying around on the board and Beca yawns before she downs her drink.
"Guys, I think I need to sleep. Thanks for dinner, Posen."
"You're welcome."
They get up and see Beca to the door.
"See you for lunch on Monday?" Aubrey asks while Beca puts her shoes on.
"Ah, I don't know yet, we get a new team member on Monday and I was chosen to be the supervisor and familiarize them with everything."
"Oh, really? Do you know anything about them?"
"No, just that they're like fresh from college or something. Some rookie ready to grind my gears probably." She holds up a peace sign and smiles. "Thanks again, I had a good time. Eventually." She winks at Chloe and hugs Aubrey again. "Make good choices" she shouts behind her and leaves the hallway.
Aubrey shuts the door and turns around, while Chloe stretches herself and yawns loudly.
"I'm pretty tired now, I think it'd be best if we just get some sleep." With that, she leaves the corridor and enters the bedroom, a mischievous grin on her face. Aubrey just stands there and can't hide a bit of a disappointment.
"Oh. Okay, babe. Let me just clean up the living room." She makes sure everything food related goes back into the kitchen and turns off the lights. When she enters the corridor again to go to her bedroom, Chloe's tight black dress hangs from the door handle outside.
Then Chloe's voice emits from inside with a sultry undertone. "If you want to find out if I wear anything aside from that, you should join me in here."
That, she does gladly.
On Monday morning, Beca enters the large building with her sunglasses on and the usual reusable to-go cup in her hand. She checks herself in with the ID card dangling from her neck and gets into the IT wing, passes several offices and arrives at her own room. She enjoys the quiet peace the first few minutes after she's arrived every morning - no calls, no problems, no service tickets. Not yet. The coffee is finished while she looks out of the window and observes the hustle on the streets.
When she turns on the computer, an intranet message is already waiting for her.
[CR]: Morning Mitchell! Group meeting and welcome of the rookie 10 am in my office. Don't be late!
Beca answers with a short aye cap! and starts the usual programs for daily test runs. Still 90 minutes of quiet work for her.
At 09:59, she enters CR's office. "Hey guys. How is it going?" She fist-bumps with CR and waves at her co-worker Benjamin, who smiles at her.
"One minute early! I like this attitude. Had a good weekend?" CR asks irritated.
"Uhm. The usual. A reasonably filled fridge, no need to leave the house and my Xbox. So, yeah" Beca replies with an approving expression.
"Any ladies visiting?" CR presses with wiggling eyebrows.
"Maybe. A gentlewoman never tells."
"I see, good for you. So, back to business. I sent Ashley to get the rookie from the reception while I fill you in." CR implies Benjamin and Beca to get closer to her. "Her name's Emily and she finished college a few months ago. She has no work experience; however, she's graduated with honors and was the leader of a college IT workgroup which got an innovation award for a security project. She was recruited because I wanted someone who is able to breathe new life in our in-house security reconditioning. Your job-" CR turns to Beca, "is to familiarize her with our daily work, answer her questions and integrate her in our team."
Beca groans quietly. "Why is it me again?"
"'Cause you're my best woman, Mitchell. I know that if I wouldn't be here anymore, you'd lead the department. Oh, and because you lost a bet, remember?"
Beca does. Damn those arcades and their basketball stations that look so easy. Benjamin chuckles and lays a hand on her shoulder.
"If it bothers you so much, I can do it. It would've been my job otherwise."
"No, no. It's okay. Thou shalt honor thy gambling debts, my granddad used to say."
"Did he now? What did he bet on, horseraces?" Benjamin asks.
"Bingo tournaments."
Their little chat is interrupted when the door opens, and Ashley enters the room. "…and this is CR's office, if you need to speak to our boss."
Behind her, a woman follows. She has long, brown, wavy hair and a gentle face. Her eyes shine golden brown and her lips look soft as a pillow. The smile on the girl's face is by far the cutest Beca has seen in a long time. That includes Aubrey's reaction when she remembered her favorite pizza toppings.
Beca has an irresistible urge to take this girl on vacation to a lake in the woods; canoeing on the day, grilling marshmallows at the evening bonfire and snuggling in a large bed with tea at nighttime. What the actual fuck? She forces herself to close her eyes and get herself together.
CR moves from behind her table and greets both women. "Thanks for getting her, Ashley. Hi Ms. Junk, I hope you had a good trip?"
"I'm fine, thank you! Hey y'all, I'm Emily Junk. But you can call me Emily, I guess. I brought muffins!"
y'all? Beca wrinkles her nose. Next to her, CR starts to introduce everyone.
"Welcome aboard, it's nice having you with us. You can put the tray on the table in the corner, thank you. So! You already met Ashley, who is mainly responsible for the internal IT service. You know, haywire computers, software restrictions and so on. Benji here-" she moves on to their male colleague, "is maintaining the general software and keeps an eye on the databases; sensible client files and stuff like that."
Emily shoots him a smile and he waves back at her, grinning. How adorable.
"And then we have Beca."
CR's and Emily's eyes land on her and she coughs shortly and stands a bit tighter than before.
"She's the one responsible for the server hardware and software and has worked with me on the extension of the out-of-the-box internal security system. Which is the project I want you on as well. She will also show you around and is your contact person for the next few weeks. Everything you need to know is in her head."
"Hey what's up." Beca mumbles and locks eyes with Emily. It is like looking into Bambi's eyes and she wants to drown herself in them. A smile forms on her face and Emily smiles back.
"Hey Beca, nice to meet you."
"Hey what's up." Beca says again, still staring.
CR raises an eyebrow. "Are you alright?"
That gets Beca back and she looks at her boss. "Yup. Sure. I'm good." Gay panic, really? After all those years?
"O-kay..." CR sighs and gets a folder from her desk. "This folder here contains a profound description of the security system installed right now and the changes we want to incorporate. This is not allowed to leave this building; this wing; this area of authority; your charge. Is that clear?"
Emily turns to her and nods. "Crystal!"
"Good. Now Mitchell, please show our new team member around and get her a cup of… coffee?"
"At this time of the day, gladly" Emily answers with a perfect polite smile.
"Wonderful" CR deadpans and shoves them out of her office.
...
The tour through their rooms was over quickly and now Beca and Emily exit the IT wing, each with a muffin in their hands, while Emily holds a mug of coffee as well. She already brought her own to store it in the break room and of course it has a photo of a kitten on it. They cross the entrance hall to get to the other offices.
"Well, that was our kingdom. The larger complex now belongs to the women and men in suits." Beca explains while munching the little cake.
"I see. Are you over there often?"
"Hm, depends. Only if I'm on ticket duty actually."
"Ticket duty?" Emily asks amused.
"Yeah, like, when there are a lot of tickets simultaneously and too much for Ashley to handle. I mean we're not the biggest company out there, but sometimes it's jinxed and every one of them has some problem that needs to be solved like asap." Beca makes quote signs with her hands when she says the last words. "Most of them are pretty okay though, even if some people's ties are too tight."
Emily giggles. "Not everyone can look good in flannel shirts" she quips back and winks at Beca. Dear Lord.
They walk through the main corridors and eventually Beca decides to walk by Aubrey's office to say hello and show her the new co-worker. She knocks and enters when she hears the typical "yes, come in" from her friend.
"Hi Posen, just wanted to say hi and introduce you to Emily here."
Aubrey rises from her desk and gives them a polite smile. "Good morning, Beca. Hi, Aubrey Posen." They shake hands, exchange pleasantries and Aubrey seems delighted by the polite woman. She obviously likes this new IT girl and shoots Beca a smirk.
"I'll take it you get lunch together and familiarize her with everything?" she asks when she returns to her desk.
"Yup, that's the plan. Lunch on Wednesday, then?" Beca answers easily and lightly shoves Emily out of the office.
"Wednesday it is."
Beca stands in the door frame and before she closes the door, she shoots Aubrey another look. "So, any fun after I left on Friday?" she stage-whispers into to room.
Aubrey looks at her wide-eyed but the smile on her face betrays her reaction. "Maybe?"
"That's a yes!" Beca shouts and closes the door. They slowly make their way back to the IT wing.
"You're friends with Ms. Posen I suppose?" Emily asks, both of her hand around the kitty mug.
"Yeah, I am. She makes a serious impression, but she's a good one."
"Well, she doesn't wear a tie, so…"
Beca laughs. "No, she doesn't. At least most of the time."
"How did you become friends then?" Emily asks carefree, not knowing that this question might be a bit loaded.
Beca thinks hard before she settles for the easy answer. "We met in college."
...
The next two weeks pass by smoothly. Emily is a great addition to the team and adapts to their banter really quickly. She regularly hangs out with Benjamin, and when they sit in the break room, they often get caught giggling about something they don't want to speak about. It doesn't bother Beca. That's what she tells herself. They're almost the same age, so that must be the reason for their mingling. Emily has still the most mesmerizing eyes and a smile Beca wants to cast in plaster to put it in her apartment as decoration, but that's just creepy so she suppresses this thought and acts as professional as she can. Besides, Emily is like an innocent puppy that needs to be protected.
In the third week, Beca and Emily find themselves in Beca's office. Emily stands next to her at the desk and they huddle over some plans to change the server structure in favor of the security system. Emily is close to her, closer than necessary, and it's surprising how often her arm touches Beca's accidentally. Or is it? Beca has been more sensitive since the anti-harassment seminar, because it opened her eyes to her own behavior. It's probably nothing. Then it knocks on the door and Stacie comes in.
"Hey Becs, how long did you think you can avoid m-, oh! Sorry, I didn't know you had company." Stacie starts as soon as the door opens and Beca looks up from her desk, surprised.
"Hi Stacie, sorry we're in the middle of something here, can we talk later maybe?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." She says mindlessly and walks over to Emily looking at her up and down. "I don't think we got introduced yet? Dr. Stacie Conrad, divorce lawyer, at your service." She bows before she takes Emily's hand to shake it and the younger one gives her a sheepish smile.
Beca can't believe what she sees. Um, hello? She's standing right next to them! All that's missing is that Stacie kisses her hand.
"Hi, Emily Junk. I'm the new one? Been here for just around 3 weeks now, so we haven't seen each other yet." Emily answers politely and Stacie gives her an approving broad smile which is emphasized by her deep red lipstick.
"Well, I hope that this changes in the future then, Ms. Emily Junk." Stacie replies with a raspy voice.
Beca coughs now to get their attention. "I'm sorry, but we really have to finish this…"
Stacie raises an eyebrow. "U-huh. I'll get out of your hair then… I'm free the upcoming weekend, Mitchell. We could… continue the game from last time. You wouldn't want to miss out, would you?" She sends Beca a wink and turns to Emily. "Bye, Emily" With that, she leaves the office.
"Wow."
Beca chuckles. "Yeah sorry, she's a bit much sometimes."
"She was super nice! And you said that they all have a stick in their butt."
"Yup. Wait, what?" Beca's jaw fells down and turns to Emily.
"I mean she looked a bit intimidating but until now everyone turned out to be really friendly." Emily beams at her a second longer than usual and then refocuses on their plans.
...
"Sorry Beca, Benji's on duty, too. Take Emily with you, she needs to know the procedures as well."
Beca sighs. "You got it, boss." She ends the call with CR and lefts her office to get Emily helping her with ticket duty. Ashley was booked out the whole day and somehow, it's one of these days again where it feels like every employee managed to break their computer or whatever. She arrives at the small office they gave Emily and knocks twice before she opens the door without waiting for an answer. A clear mistake.
Emily stood with her back to the door but turns around now, only in her bra. Well, she wears pants, but Beca is busy with the upper body and her cleavage above some prominent abs.
"Oh my god, I'm sorry" Beca squeals and turns on her heels to exit.
"No, wait!"
The door is ajar and Beca is focusing in the ground. Since when do they have orange lines on the grey carpet in the corridors? "Um, would you mind telling me what's going on, Em?" She really hopes that no one comes along, this situation doesn't need to get public.
"I spilled coffee on my shirt. I'm afraid I can't get it out.
"And your solution is to just wear nothing, then?" Beca answers into the corridor. The image of Emily flicks through her mind and she forces herself not to go in there until the girl has covered herself. God, she looked so good. A few months ago, she would have just stayed in the doorframe probably.
"Clearly not." Emily lets out a giggle. "I was hoping to get a spare shirt or something. I called you, but you didn't answer. Obviously on your way to me."
"Okay, give me a minute, I'll get you something."
A bit later, she arrives with a worn-out sweater saying 'Science. It works, bitches' on its front. Beca opens the door a few inches and throws the sweater in.
"There you go. I hope it fits; when I wear it, it looks like a kid wearing adult clothes."
"I bet you look very cute in it" Emily replies, opening the door while she puts the sweater on, a bit of her skin still showing.
Beca covers her eyes with a hand. "Dude! What are you doing? Can't you get dressed like… alone?"
Emily chuckles and exits her office. "Calm down, I'm decent now. What's getting you all flustered? Liked what you see?"
"Just… let's go." She turns around to hide her red face.
"Where are we going anyway?"
"It's ticket duty day. Remember? Gotta help the suits."
Their first stop is actually Aubrey, who complains about her computer shutting down and not turning on again. They promise to get her a spare laptop as a temporary replacement and leave when the blond is already on her phone again, probably talking to some judges or paralegals. Two assistants and a secretary on another level later, they end up in a group office with Bumper, one of the other attendants of her seminar weeks ago. Please don't say anything, please don't say anything, please don't say-
"Mitchell!" Bumper calls her and Beca clenches her jaw.
"Good morning Mr. Allen. We got a ticket from you saying you got a freezed image?"
Bumper approaches her with the intention of giving her a high five. "Why so serious, Mitch? Got dumped by someone?"
Beca's eyes nervously flicker to Emily, but she doesn't notice anything suspicious. "I don't know what you're talking about. Can we just take care of the problem?"
"All business, I see. Well, I was doing research, working as usual, and then it just stopped doing anything."
She sighs, frustrated with the non-existing amount of information. "Okay, let me have a look."
It takes some time and Beca sits at the desk, trying several possible solutions while now and then giving Emily some indications of her doing. She knows that Emily is just as fit as she is doing this, but they have something like a standard operating procedure which needs to be worked though.
"So who's the sexy newbie, Mitchell?" Bumper asks, as if Emily wasn't there with them. "Care to introduce yourself, Ms…?"
Beca turns around. "Excuse me? Are you serious?"
"What? I was giving you a warm welcome, but you we're all uptight. I hope Ms. I-don't-know-her-name-yet is more relaxed. Hey, I'm Mr. Allen, but you can call me Bumper if you want." he says, holding out a hand.
Emily turns around, and if she's offended, she doesn't show, but gives him a smile and declines his hand. "Hi, I'm Emily Junk. Nice to meet you, Mr. Allen."
"Emily would you please do me a big favor and get me a coffee? There's a small kitchen at the end of the corridor" Beca asks Emily and hopes she'll get the meaning.
"Yup, no problemo" the girl says and walks out. Bumper's eyes follow her and are sticking at her butt.
"Dude, what the hell? Have you learned nothing?" Beca hisses.
"What? Come on, she's hot. Already called dibs, Mitchell?"
"I swear, if you do so much as look at her when she comes back-"
"You did! And what are you going to do then, huh? I'm pretty sure my uncle, who happens to be one of the CEO's, is not very interested in what you might have to say."
Well, that explains while he is still here. Chloe needs to know about that.
"Just shut up and let me work."
Bumper makes faces at her and she tries to distract herself with his computer. A few minutes later, there's a silver lining. Bumper seems to have used an illegal program to circumvent the security settings and get on a porn site. What a surprise. The side effect was a shit load of trojans. But he doesn't need to know that Beca knows. That is pure evidence for his fuckery.
"Okay I need to run some… maintenance software, but I can do that remotely from our offices. Meanwhile you'll get a spare laptop." Which will be heavily secured, my friend.
"Seriously? Well you better hurry up then, I've important work to do."
"Sure." She writes him a renting voucher. "Get this to the issuing office on the ground floor and you'll be fine."
Beca gets up to meet Emily halfway, so she doesn't need to meet Bumper again. What an ass.
...
Beca's and Aubrey's weekly pizza night rolls around and they lounge on Beca's couch with their respective food. Aubrey has been gushing about her relationship with Chloe, who is her official girlfriend now, and Beca is genuinely happy for her.
"Random question." Beca starts, chewing. "Does she own sweatpants?"
Aubrey laughs. "What? Why wouldn't she?"
"Just checking. Good to know." Beca muses and Aubrey shakes her head.
"I'll just ignore this. So, enough about me, us. How are you? How's working with Emily? She seems nice."
"She is. It's been good, she's learning fast and is pretty smart. I withdraw from the security project now, she's a better help for CR than I am. Did you know she can multiply three-digit numbers in her head like, in a blink?"
"Is that important for your work?"
"No. It's cool anyway. Much cooler than her ability to get what she wants, though..."
"What do you mean?"
"Ugh, she made me watch this Taylor Swift documentary on Netflix. And I have to admit that it was not as bad as I thought. Actually it was pretty good."
"U-huh." Aubrey muses.
"What?"
"Nothing. Your eyes shine when you talk about her."
"Taylor Swift?" Beca asks, finishing her slice of pizza.
"No idiot, about Emily"
"Pshh, they don't." Beca quickly averts her eyes and takes another slice.
"Oh, but they do, Mitchell. Is it possible that you have a tiny crush on her?" Aubrey nudges Beca with her foot and grins. "Aw, you can tell me!"
"There's nothing going on!"
"…but you want to?" Aubrey is still grinning and Beca kicks her calf. "No need to get physical… speaking of, are you still seeing Stacie?"
"Nah. Last time I saw her was on the weekend of our little Scrabble intermezzo."
"Don't remind me."
"Of what? Your love night with Red?"
"I was thinking about Scrabble, but of that you can gladly remind me of." Aubrey looks into the distance dreamily and Beca makes a gag noise.
"Douche. So are you asking her out or what?"
"Who? Stacie?" Beca asks, obviously knowing who Aubrey means.
"So damn funny, Mitchell. Forget Stacie. She seems nice enough, but Emily would do you good."
Beca exhales slowly. "She's like the kindest and most innocent human being. I don't think I'd be good for her."
"Please. You were some kind of jerk with a big dick energy then, but you've changed a lot. Especially since the seminar. Look at us! I mean we always got along somehow, but I wouldn't have called you my best friend in college."
"Aw, but now you do? You do love me a little bit, don't you Posen?"
"Don't be smug about it, hobbit."
"I'll take that as a yes. Don't worry, I won't tell Chloe" Beca winks at Aubrey and flushes her pizza down with a swig of her beer.
...
Beca walks through the familiar corridor, turning on the lights. It's almost half past two in the morning and she wears sweatpants and an old hoodie. She strolls in the direction of the server room, as she passes Emily's office and sees light emerging from the slit under the door. What the hell? Beca knocks but gets no answer. She slowly opens the door, not keen on surprising a half-naked Emily again.
"Hello? Emily? Are you dressed?"
She's met with silence and opens the door further. Emily lies on her desk, head propped on her arms. She's totally knocked out above some files, obviously she was working late. Beca approaches her and tries to wake her gently.
"Hey Emily… Em! Sleepyhead, wake up!"
"No, I don't want any raisins!" Emily jerks up and in one corner of her mouth is a small white crust from her saliva. Beca thinks it's the most adorable view.
"Hey Junk, what are you still doing here?"
"Beca? Oh my stars, I totally fell asleep…"
Beca chuckles and steps back. "You could say that, you really shouldn't work so late. Don't you have to be home by your cat or something?"
"I don't have a cat."
"Oh, I thought… well, your mug?"
"Oh, no that was my cat. Tupac. I got him when I was little, but he died a few years ago. As a happy grandpa I must say." Emily looks pleased for a reason Beca can't wrap her head around.
"Uhm. Good for him? Look, I gotta go, there's some emergency with the servers, the system sent me an alarm…"
"Can I come with you?" The younger woman beams and stands up.
"Sure, I don't see why not. You're sure you don't want to head home?"
"Meh, doesn't depend on an hour."
The emergency turns out to be remedied after 30 minutes and now Beca and Emily sit next to each other on the ground of the server room, waiting for the control program to finish so they can head home.
"Did you watch the documentary yet?" Emily asks out of the blue and smirks at Beca.
"Would you believe me if I say no?"
"Depends. Look into my eyes and answer."
Beca rolls her eyes and declines at first, but then does it anyways. She digs those eyes. "No."
"Liar."
"Come on, how do you know?"
"Oh, so you did watch it!" Emily giggles and shoves Beca a bit.
"Screw you, Junk. Yes, I did. It was cool. That doesn't mean I like her music, though."
"Not even a tiny, tiny bit?" Emily presses and her voice goes up a bit.
"No!"
"Look into my eyes-"
"No, I won't, you little devil." Beca stands up but grins as she walks over to check on the servers. They're comfortable hearing only the humming of the server fans for a bit.
"Hey Beca?" Emily breaks the silence.
"Hm?"
"Is Stacie your girlfriend?"
Beca almost chokes on her saliva. "No! God, no. She isn't. Don't get me wrong, she's nice and all, but no." Somehow it's really important to Beca that she makes sure how very not Stacie is her girlfriend.
"Just having fun, then?"
"Sorry?" Beca tries to act the innocent.
"Beca, I know the game you play is not available on Xbox." Emily replies, looking down while she plays with a strand of her hair.
Beca swallows and sits down next to her co-worker again.
"The game is over for a while now. Didn't like the genre anymore." Beca mumbles insecurely.
Emily turns to her and they lock eyes, faces just inches apart. "I might have a suggestion for you," she whispers back, "but I don't know your preferences or if this is okay with us working together."
Beca isn't dense. Sure, she has been oblivious in her life from time to time, but right now, she knows exactly what Emily's implying. The girls eyes briefly glance to her lips and Beca knows she could just close the distance and get away with it, but then panic arises.
Emily is so soft and good, but they're co-workers and the voice of the HR person handling her case rings in her ears. Mitchell, if we get one more complain about you, we can't continue this employment contract. We let you pass the test Ms. Beale gave you because you're an important employee, but you are not indispensable! This is your last chance.
"I-I'm sorry I have to take this." She stands up abruptly and takes her phone out, pretending that she got called. Her legs carry her out of the server room to the end of the corridor and she dials a certain number out of sheer fear.
A few miles away, Chloe wakes up from the sound of her mobile. She's disorientated but acts automatically. "Hello?" she answers with a raspy voice.
"Hey, it's me, Beca!"
"Beca? What…?" She looks at the alarm on the nightstand. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. No. I mean. I don't know."
"Okay, well take you time, it's not as if you just woke me up or something."
"Sorry. I'm at the office with Emily."
"What? Why? Did something happen?"
"We had an emergency with the servers, but it's okay now."
"What's the matter then?" Next to Chloe, Aubrey turns around and snuggles into her side. Chloe strokes her hair to calm her.
"It's Emily, she's very… forward?"
"Forward? What do you mean? Is she hitting on you?"
"I think so." Beca's voice sounds nervous.
"Okay, wait a second…" Chloe, completely professional, carefully rummages in her purse next to the bed, so as not to wake up her girlfriend. She finds a pen and some piece of jotting paper.
"Alright. Is this the first time or did it happen before?"
"Phew, I don't know, a couple of times now that I think about it."
"Okay… and have you told her that it makes you uncomfortable?"
"Uhm, no?"
"I know it can be intimidating and unpleasant to turn down a co-worker but remember that your wellbeing is more important than some working atmosphere! She needs to know that it makes you uncomforta-"
"I'm not uncomfortable!"
"You're not uncomf-, wait. What?"
"I'm not uncomfortable with her flirting with me actually."
"…then why do you call me in the middle of the night?" Chloe asks a bit louder and Aubrey mumbles into Chloe's side. "Tell Beca that she needs to get her shit together. She should just ask her on a date or something."
"I just wanted to behave correctly, and you know all about it, okay? HR told me that if anything like that happens again, I'll fucking lose my job for Christ's sake! And Em is my direct co-worker, so-"
"Beca you don't need to report flirting or else as long as it's consensual!"
"Oh. Right."
Chloe facepalms and shakes her head. "Didn't you tell me she was some womanizer in college?" she side-whispers annoyed to Aubrey.
Aubrey hums affirmatively and mumbles, eyes still closed. "She was until of late. Seems like Emily made her loose her swag."
"Is that Posen? Tell her I heard that!"
"Jesus, halfling! Either go out with her or turn her down. As long as nobody's getting harassed it's not my freaking problem! Good night!" Chloe ends the call and slides her phone on the nightstand. Aubrey hugs her tight and kisses her cheek. "Don't be mad at her babe, she never knew she would be soft for a girl someday."
At the company, Beca puts her phone away and sighs, sliding down the wall. She breathes slowly. After a moment of sorting out her thoughts, she comes back to the server room, which is now empty. She takes a look at the servers; the control program has finished and greenlights. Giving the room a last look, she turns off the lights and locks the door, only to see Emily leaving the IT wing.
"Emily!"
The taller woman stops and turns. "I'll head out, I'm pretty tired."
"Wait, please!" Beca jogs and stops in front of Emily, who starts talking before her.
"Listen Beca, I'm sorry; I obviously crossed a line. I won't bother you again. I'll just, um, keep my distance from now on, please don't be mad at me."
"What are you talking about?"
Emily smiles embarrassed. "You don't need to lie, you know. I accidentally heard you talking about losing your job and so on while I went into my office to get my stuff."
"What? No Em, that's not…" Beca exhales, this was not going the way she wanted it to go. "Look. Stuff happened in the past I'm not proud of, but it has nothing to do with you. I panicked. I… don't want you to keep your distance." She strokes her forefinger over Emily's hand while she keeps her eyes down. "Maybe I'm scared about what could be."
"Do you want to find out what could be, together?" Emily asks quietly and grabs Beca's finger.
The older woman looks up and is met with Emily's eyes, those eyes again that lock her gaze like a flytrap.
"Yes."
She moves on her tip toes and presses her lips against Emily's, who inhales through her nose and moves against her welcoming. Everything is soft and warm, and a feeling of hot lava runs from her mouth to her lower body parts when Emily's tongue strokes her own.
They break the kiss eventually and Emily holds Beca tight to her body. "I've been wanting to do this since I first met you."
Beca chuckles and enjoys the moment of getting hold securely. This feeling was long forgotten and never came back with Stacie. "Oh yeah?"
"U-huh. You looked so damn cute while CR talked about your tasks here."
"Shut up. I looked cool. Nerdy cool."
Emily laughs loud and kisses Beca on her head. "Yeah, you did."
"Wait, what about Benji?" Beca squirms out of Emily's hug.
"What about him?"
"Aren't you two…"
"What? Don't say dating."
Beca shrugs. "No. I just thought… because you've becoming so close each break and everything."
"Benji is dating Luke from the second level, Beca. Tall, blond, muscular?"
"Oh. OH!"
"Oh my god, you totally didn't know this, did you?"
Beca smiles sheepishly. Yeah, maybe she can be pretty dense. Emily comes in for another kiss and Beca gladly reciprocates. They're tangled in each other on the corridor, when a light flashes over them.
"Hey you! Stop moving! Who are you and what are you doing here!"
It takes a few minutes to convince the night guard of them being there legally as authorized employees and he lets them go with a warning. They walk hand in hand to the underground carpark and kiss goodbye before leaving for their respective cars. Before Beca gets in, she shouts at Emily.
„Hey, random question. Have you ever been on vacation to a lake in the woods?"
[A/N2]: The Scrabble idea is actually not my own, I got inspired by Amanda Holland's one shot about Kendrick and Snow in the "Queer as fiction" podcast. If you haven't listen to it, DO IT! (not just this episode, but the whole podcast, it's with Ashly Perez and Kirsten King and it's hilarious)
... and yes, the Taylor Swift reference is inspired by a true story. *cough*