Summary: Chloe and Aubrey both graduated from Barden University. After being accepted to vet school in NYC, Chloe moves there; thus, she never gets close to the younger Bellas. One day in the clinic, Chloe recognizes a familiar face from her past—Beca Mitchell, resurfacing in her life and cradling a sick cat in her arms.
A/N: A new short story I wrote to "cure" my writer's block while working on my other novel, "Parallel Universe." Only four or five chapters are planned for this quick read.
The Cat Matchmaker
Chloe returns to her small, rundown apartment building, only to find that her previous subtenant left behind a mountain of trash in the room she had occupied, containing empty pizza boxes, beer bottles, dirt, and a pile of filthy laundry. The bed's mattress and the walls are stained, and cardboard boxes are stacked in one corner of the room, containing nothing of value.
Since her subtenant was a college dropout and then a jobless slacker who preferred to party all night and sleep all day, they had few opportunities to get to know each other. However, Chloe was not concerned about accepting the 19-year young woman because her parents had guaranteed her financial stability by signing a surety bond and paying her rent and other monthly bills.
Now, it will take Chloe some time to get the place back in order after her subtenant has left. Since the room wasn't cleaned up after her moving out—in violation of the contract—she will have to approach the girl's parents and request that they foot the costs for the repairs, trash disposal, and cleaning, deducting the expenses from the security deposit.
Why Chloe decided to accept the girl, though? For the simple reason that it brought to mind the person who had first made her feel a sense of familiarity and at home. Tattered jeans and checkered tops were typical of her subtenant's fashion sense, and she also had many tattoos and body piercings. That, and her wavy ponytail of brunette hair. Who, if anyone, did she resemble? Who was it that made Chloe take her as her roommate, despite her apparent unreliability, rudeness, and laziness?
After cooking herself a light dinner and reclining on her sofa in the living room, she texts Aubrey to ask if she has time to chat, informing her that Katherine has finally moved out this afternoon. Instead of replying, Aubrey calls her.
"I'm glad she did, Chlo," comes Aubrey's immediate response without skipping a beat. "You've been griping about her attitude for almost four months now."
She explains how she returned home to find the bedroom in chaos and what Chloe has to do to restore order and get back with Katherine's parents. Furthermore, she is hunting for a new roommate once again. Aubrey listens compassionately and offers suggestions on what to do, whom to go to in case Katherine's parents don't comply, and where to look for roommates. They have a long talk that lasts for an hour. Aubrey updates her on her day and mentions that she has been talking to Jesse. They talk about The Bellas and that they all graduated, informing Chloe of their third consecutive ICCA victory. Under Beca Mitchell's leadership.
While listening to Aubrey, Chloe stops suddenly, glances toward her bedroom, and then walks over to it. Where she pulls a box out of the back of the cabinet. She goes through the contents of the box.
"What's that noise?" Aubrey asks curiously.
"I'm just looking through old photo albums," Chloe says and places them on the floor beside her.
"Why?"
"I miss college and a cappella," she gives an honest response despite her uncertainty about her reasons. While Aubrey understands and sympathizes with Chloe, she views her college years as a chapter that has already been written. "I have to do a bit of cleaning and purging. Bree, I've got to go. Have a couple days where we can talk?"
"Sure, always. Let me know if you need any help," Aubrey tells her. "I'm always here for you."
"Don't make me cry," Chloe feels tears forming in her eyes and stops what she's doing to deal with them. She hates the feeling of loneliness. Hating the way that missing her best friend, Aubrey, made her feel.
She misses her time at Barden University. She misses being with her former a cappella group of all-females she used to be a part of. Almost five years have passed since then. Since she and Aubrey graduated, she has seen none of the Bellas. In addition, Chloe has found the academic requirements of veterinary school to be quite demanding, requiring her undivided attention from the start of her studies through the completion of her clinical rotations. Since moving to New York, she had been so occupied as a DMV student that she had not had the time for a meaningful romance. And maybe those casual flings at social events didn't truly amount to anything. It was never anything that lasted more than a few weeks at most.
She sometimes wonders what it would have been like had she stayed in Atlanta, living close to Aubrey and the girls.
She ends the call and immediately begins rummaging through old picture albums to find a recording of her college a cappella group. She comes upon old group photographs and captains' portraits, including Alice, who had been a source of terror for her and Aubrey since they were juniors. Chloe and Aubrey became the new leaders of the Bellas after Alice graduated. And that had been the best—and saddest—year of her life. Because it meant starting a new chapter for her.
As Chloe flips through the photographs, she experiences a wave of nostalgia that makes her eyes well up with tears.
Until, under all those photo albums and unsorted photographs, she unearths the picture she had unknowingly been searching for—of Beca Mitchell. Chloe understands now why Katherine's look first sparked such a strong feeling of familiarity in her, despite Chloe's instincts that this person gave her all the red flags from the beginning. They both dressed like typical rocker chicks and had perpetually grumpy expressions. Still, Beca's aggressive blue eyes and how she had worn her hair gave her a more alluring feminine touch. To put the cherry on top of everything, after Beca became a member of the Bellas and Chloe became her friend, she turned out to be a person who was loyal, dependable, and compassionate to all of her friends. She became a very lovable person.
Later that night, while Chloe is studying in bed, she finds herself wondering what the Bellas are up to now that they have graduated college. Moreover, what Beca Mitchell is doing now.
*,*,*
SIX MONTHS LATER
Chloe puts on her white coat and grabs her tablet to check for the patients she will examine today.
Dr. Han, her attending clinician, briefs her on the procedure that will be performed today. After shadowing the vet all day, Chloe gets to diagnose the next patient—a cat—and learns that the feline in question is a female 9 months old grey-and-white British Shorthair who is, according to the owner, sneezing and refusing to eat.
Chloe leads Dr. Han into the exam room, and he follows her there so that he may watch her examine the patient. A young woman with shoulder-length brunette hair, wearing black skinnies, a checkered long-sleeve top, and ear piercings, is cooing at her lethargic cat, which is cradled in her arms.
Upon recognizing the woman's profile, Chloe takes a deep breath and feels her heart leap to her throat. Seeing her in this setting, in New York, evokes memories of a time in her life when she felt the happiest.
The woman sets her pet on the table, rubs its head lovingly, and then looks up as she sees Chloe walk in, followed by the veterinarian close behind her. The brunette doesn't seem to indicate that she recognizes Chloe, too. So, maybe Chloe is mistaken about who this woman is.
After reviewing the cat's medical history form, Dr. Han greets the brunette, introduces himself and Chloe to her, and nods for Chloe to proceed.
"Hello," Chloe says, looking at her tablet as if reading the cat owner's name, but she does this to cover her surprise. No, this is really her. The name swims out of focus. Looking back at the client, she notices that the brunette's eyebrows barely visibly shoot up in acknowledgment of Chloe, but other than that, there is no reaction. "Miss Mitchell." Her voice catches in her throat as she tries to say the name aloud; her eyes dart to the attending clinician, who doesn't appear to notice her hesitation, then back to the brunette in front of her. "I will examine Bella today. Would you tell me what her symptoms are?"
This can't be. It's really Beca Mitchell, and judging from her provided address, she lives here in New York.
Beca's eyes briefly drift to the nametag on Chloe's coat. But still, her expression remains unchanging.
She looks back at her cat on the table and says, "She may have a cold, I think. She hasn't eaten in 2 days, she's coughing up dry mucus, and she's sneezing." She strokes the cat's back, and it's purring. As Chloe approaches the feline, Beca informs Chloe that Bella doesn't like examinations, vets, or other people in general and may react aggressively.
"It's fine," Chloe reassures her. She introduces herself to the cat by putting a relaxed finger toward its nose. After giving Chloe a cautious sniff, Bella's response is to push Chloe's finger with her head, allowing her to rub her on the face, purring. Surprised, Beca blinks at her cat's behavior. "So, you've been feeling a little down, Bella?" Chloe takes out her stethoscope while stroking the cat on the back of the head. Bella lowers down and begins hunting the stethoscope playfully. "You're very playful, aren't you? This might be a little scary, but it will be over quickly." She may seem reassuring the cat, but she's only trying to put the owner at ease. Beca's whole body posture softens and relaxes as she watches the interaction.
After the general examination, such as taking the temperature and examining the respiratory tract, Chloe recognizes the cat is slightly tachypneic. Still, lung sounds are normal; congestion leads to open-mouth breathing, and it has a runny nose. But Bella remains energetic, trying to nibble at Chloe's fingers. She informs Beca that it may just be a minor infection; thus, she provides medications to relieve the symptoms and resolve secondary bacterial infections. She injects an antibiotic into Bella and asks routine follow-up questions to rule out other conditions about lifestyle factors, including recent life changes—such as a relocation or the introduction of a new pet or significant other—as well as dietary or environmental ones. Because some pets react to stress with psychosomatic symptoms, especially if they are this young.
Beca responds to every question while watching her pet intently, as if she were keeping a careful eye on her. But the only answer that catches Chloe's attention is when Beca says, "To be fair, she and my boyfriend have not been getting along," she scratches her head, looking uneasy, "but that's not news. She used to eat normally before."
Chloe is interested and almost wants to know more about this boyfriend. She longs for the chance to reminisce with Beca and swap juicy tidbits of details about their shared past. But this is neither the time nor the place to go into detail about all that. Thus, she maintains her professionalism and shows compassion.
She strokes the cat's head, and it purrs again, even licking Chloe's fingers, before prescribing medication and requesting a checkup in 7 days.
"That's weird. She normally doesn't do that, this little traitor," Beca says tenderly about her cat.
"Cats are observant and have an innate understanding of their environment," Chloe adds as she hands the prescription to Beca, "This implies that cats can perceive our emotions and adjust their behavior appropriately," saying this with a smile, "Perhaps Bella feels comfortable and at peace since you are now exuding these emotions."
*,*,*
"Ginger, speak to Beca before you leave," Fat Amy said as she hugged her goodbye, tears in her eyes, "she's in her dorm and refuses to show up."
"I told her about your departure," Jessica told her. "And she said she'd come."
"Just go to her dorm," Stacie urged. "You still have a bit of time."
After their ICCA victory, Chloe had announced to The Bellas that she was leaving that same evening to head for New York and, thus, wouldn't be able to attend the party they had planned.
She tried to hold back her tears as she gave each of The Bellas a farewell embrace, and she had been successful thus far. Tom, who was going to take her to the airport, was urged to hold on. Next, she made a beeline for Beca's room and hastily banged on the door. Beca's roommate, Kimmy, answered the door and greeted her with her customary attitude of indifference. She made room for them to talk in private. With an excuse, she left the dormitory.
After closing the door, Chloe walked inside the room, where she found Beca being adamant about not moving from her position on the bed, where she was curled up in a ball underneath her blanket. Chloe climbed onto the bed slowly and carefully, sitting next to her.
"Beca, can we talk?"
Beca stirred, but only to pull the cover tighter over her head.
"Beca, come on, don't be like this." Even though she didn't want to shed a single tear today—on her last day at Barden—and even though she didn't cry once when she was telling the other girls, especially Aubrey, goodbye, the tears were stinging her eyes at that moment when Beca refused to see her. "Let me at least say goodbye to you." Her tears welled up and spilled over. "Please."
Over and over, she told herself, this really wasn't that difficult. In fact, she didn't give a damn and could just as well leave. And she didn't think she'd miss any of them, least of all Beca. Because, at the very least, she gave it a go. Beca wasn't even a close friend, for God's sake. Because of their a cappella group, they shared a common experience and developed something like a friendship. Because Beca was the driving force, who had made The Bellas better… for the first time in the Barden Bellas' history, Beca led an all-female group to victory at the ICCA championship. And she had ensured that Chloe had experienced it in her final year of college. Created a memory that will last a lifetime.
No, this didn't hurt the slightest.
Saying goodbye to them, to her, didn't hurt.
"I'm leaving, Beca. Please promise me to take care of this group," Chloe said, crying. She wiped the tears away and sniffed, "promise me to win all competitions because I know you can. I've always believed in you. Be a good captain to these girls." She reached over the sheet and put a hand on Beca's side, but Beca jerked at her touch.
Chloe got up from the bed, blinking the tears away.
"Look, we will keep in touch, okay? I promise you that. I will visit you, and you can always visit me," she said. She pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket where her new address in New York was scribbled down and put it on Beca's desk. "I'll leave my address here, in any case. And we can video chat tonight if you want."
She nudged Beca's leg, felt another jerk again, and a soft sniff from under the blanket.
It turned out to be less difficult than she had expected. Since this way spared her from looking into Beca's eyes, she found it easier. They never became very close. No more than fleeting friends from college. Only that. Somebody else would come along and take her place. And the tightening in her chest would eventually pass with time.
When she turned to walk towards the door, Beca resurfaced from under the sheet.
"Chloe, if you break that promise," Beca said with furrowed brows, eyes puffed red, smudged with mascara, "I swear to God I will come after you."
A/N: Check out my profile for more Bechloe stories. I'd appreciate every review or comment.
