Rated E/T for out of this worl- I can't do this. There's no bad language or sexy stuff.
"Let it be known that I'm here under duress."
Chloe scoffed but quickly tried to cover it up as a cough when Stacie nudged her.
After leaving from the party on Friday, after she had filled Stacie in, they had decided she'd play it cool, act like Beca didn't wind her up.
But "under duress"?
Really?
Chloe patted her curls self-consciously, then straightened her floral red top. She could do this. She didn't even have to look at Beca.
Except…
Except the young producer was wearing a tight, dark grey jeans, and a deep purple flannel, with leather bracelets stacked on both wrists. Except she was wearing those Docs again, and her hair fell in simple cresting waves that broke over the headphones around her neck, over the planes of harsh, proud shoulders. Those shoulders were pulled back in defiance, regardless of her limited stature, and Chloe had to fight to stand tall across from her.
Except she looked so good.
As Chloe looked up to her face, Beca's dark eyes met hers across the studio - the same studio from Friday, when she and Beca had almost…
Almost nothing, she told herself. Nothing "almost" happened. She was messing with you.
She schooled her face into a bored mask, meeting Beca's raised brow with what she hoped was an impassive glare.
"Sorry," Chloe said, careful not to let the spite coat her tone. "Allergies."
"In January?" Aubrey piped up nervously. "Are you sure it's not Covid? Should we be wearing masks?"
Chloe bit her cheek to keep from rolling her eyes.
Not one for subtlety, that Aubrey.
"Yeah, I can't get sick," Fat Amy chimed in, her Australian accent drawling over every word. "I'm expected to make an appearance at a Hemworth's later."
She turned to the group conspiratorially.
"Not all Australians know each other or anything, but I try to visit with every one I know," she continued, leaving a pregnant pause.
"In the biblical sense, I mean."
CR shook her head with a quiet, "mannn." Their PR manager Jessica let out a little chirp of excitement, and her friend Ashley - who was the group's vocal coach - outright laughed. The Bellas choreographer Flo crossed herself in silent prayer, and even their most reserved supporting member Lilly gave a small smile.
The studio was considerably more crowded than it had been on NYE. The four singers - CR, Fat Amy, Stacie, and Chloe - were up by the mixing board, and Aubrey had brought their supportive staff to sit in, to offer help where they could. But with those four on the couch, Aubrey, the four singers, and two from Residual by the door, the room felt stiflingly full to Chloe.
Or, maybe, that was just the new normal whenever Beca was around.
Chloe hoped not.
"Seriously, Chloe," Aubrey said, stepping around Stacie now to stand in front of the redhead. "Are you feeling tired at all? Fever, cold sweats?"
She put her fingers to Chloe's lymph nodes, pressing hard enough to make Chloe cough again.
"It's not Covid!" Chloe replied sharply, and Aubrey took her hands away. The manager folded her arms over her chest as she eyed Chloe suspiciously, and the redhead sighed loudly.
"We all took tests this morning, and they were all negative. It's… it's nothing."
Her fears assuaged for the moment, Aubrey stepped back behind her group, turning her attention back to the producer and the young executive.
"…right," Jesse said after a beat. "Beca was just about to explain-"
"-that I don't work with newbies," Beca jumped over him. She pointed a smirk at Chloe, her eyebrow raising mockingly, before she added, "especially ones that are clearly inexperienced."
They stared each other down, and Chloe swallowed the objection threatening to jump up her throat.
Childish, immature, insolent little-
"Hey, no disrespect here, chief-" CR jumped in, and Beca dragged her eyes away from Chloe's.
The redhead breathed out suddenly, not even fully conscious that she had been holding it.
"-but we're not exactly fresh off the boat."
"Which is what I explained to Miss Mitchell," Jesse spoke up again, condescension seeping through as he threw an elbow into his producer's shoulder. Beca just rolled her eyes.
"We're well aware that The Bellas have recorded in-studio before, and that your group already has an ample following online, on TikTok," he went on. "And according to the contract, which was skillfully negotiated by Miss Posen here, we're here to master the already-popular tracks, add five to ten new ones, and get you talented artists on tour by fall."
"I don't know," Beca interrupted, her mirthful gaze settling back on Chloe. "Isn't fall a pretty bad season for allergies?"
Chloe bit her tongue. Hard.
"We'll be fine. We have been so far," she ground out, and that temper that Beca had showed on Friday - that flare, when she found out that Chloe was a Bella - lit the producer's features again.
"You think so?" she shot back. She stalked towards the mixing board, jamming a thumb drive into the computer. A few clicks, and The Bellas single began to hum through the speakers.
It was good, if not a little simple. Chloe hadn't done much of the writing on this one - that was all Stacie and Fat Amy - but she stood by it. The vocals weren't crazy harmonies, but they were distinct, and solid, sung over a modded piano and percussion that CR had written. Rhymes about selfish boys who only wanted clout, on a repetitive beat.
Beca gestured to the computer roughly.
"This?" she barked rhetorically, slamming the space bar on the keyboard. The song cut off, leaving a harsh silence.
"This is what you consider 'fine'?"
Chloe felt her face flush indignantly, but it was Aubrey who spoke up first.
"I want someone else," she said sharply, staring daggers at Jesse. "I want another producer assigned to this."
"No!"
"Not a chance."
Shocked, everyone in the room turned to one of the two women who had spoken up.
But Chloe and Beca only had glares for each other.
Beca sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Everyone out," she said quietly. Over her shoulder, Chloe could see Jesse bob his head, his mouth a tight line. She couldn't tell if it was a grimace or a smile.
"Everyone out," the producer repeated, looking up. "Except you four."
The room stayed quiet as everyone filed out. Aubrey looked like she was going to pop a blood vessel as she turned back to her singers.
"Say the word, and we get a new producer," she said, making eye contact with all of them before landing on Chloe.
"And miss this?" Amy laughed. "This is better than crocodile wrestling!"
"I love a good cat fight," CR added with a wicked grin.
Only Stacie seemed to take their managers words to heart, reaching out to take the blonde's hand.
"We'll keep you posted," she said. With a sharp breath, Aubrey plastered on a tentative smile, but her eyes remained angry.
"Mr. Swanson? A word?" she seethed as she followed the rest of the bystanders out and then, it was silence again.
In the ensuing awkwardness, Chloe held off as long as she could before she looked up at the young producer. Surprisingly - or, perhaps, unsurprisingly - Beca was already staring at her with an expression that Chloe couldn't read.
Determined eyes, something like a smirk on her lips, heat in her eyes.
Heat- like anger, but also something else. Softer, but not pliant. Chloe couldn't place it.
"Who wrote this?" Beca asked as she dropped into a rolling chair. It was made for a large man - way too big for the tiny woman - but she leaned forward, steepling her fingers, and suddenly the size of the chair didn't matter. Amy cleared her throat.
"Well, Stacie wrote her verse, the first one, and I wrote mine," she began. She looked between her bandmates and shrugged. "The beat came from CR, accompaniment extraordinaire. We all wrote the bridge, and, uh, Ginger Spice took the chorus."
Beca let her eyes glance over each of them as Amy spoke, but when the Australian referred to Chloe, she looked away before meeting the redhead's gaze. She turned her attention to the mixing board in front of her, staring into the middle distance.
"And the ad-libs?"
"No one 'wrote' those," Stacie spat back venomously. Amy agreed when Stacie added, "we just added what sounded right, when it sounded right."
Beca nodded slowly. Whether it was in response to Stacie's comment or in regards to something else, Chloe couldnt tell. The producer was so deep in thought that Chloe could swear she saw hers turning, saw the melodies and meter shift in her mind.
Beca sighed and stood from her chair.
"Okay," she said finally. "Let's go in the booth."
The Bellas followed Beca into the recording booth, moving to help as the producer grabbed mismatched wooden chairs. They sat as tension thrummed through them, only to be interrupted by Beca standing again.
"Amy-"
"Fat Amy, if you would be so kind."
The producer rolled her eyes.
"Fat Amy," she began again, met with a quiet word of thanks from the Australian. "Start your verse. Stacie, do the ad-libs as you remember them."
They'd sang this a couple times since they had recorded it. No shows yet, but they put up a few performance TikToks when they needed the views. So Amy was okay to start the song, and Stacie jumped in when needed.
After about half of the first verse, Beca cut them off.
"Beat-master? Is that what they call you?"
CR huffed in response.
"CR is fine," she clarified, and Chloe saw the corner of Beca's mouth twitch up, just a smidge.
"They're going to sing that again, and I want you to be here," she said, and then she started to sing.
Chloe was not ready for the way her body reacted to the young producer's voice. Like a siren's song, her pitch- her control- everything was perfect, alluring, ideal. It was like she stepped into the song and pulled the heart out, perfectly matching the tone while also cranking it up, bringing it forward, taking it higher.
And this - this was why they couldn't have anyone else.
Chloe knew it. And by the astonished looks on her bandmates' faces, she knew they knew it too.
Beca finished the uncomplicated harmony under Amy's second set of lines. They sang through, and Beca nodded before turning to Stacie.
"And Stacie? I'm guessing you can really belt."
The brunette bombshell crossed her arms with an expectant glare. Chloe watched as Beca held her gaze- impressive, considering that not only were Stacie's boobs almost up to her chin, but her icy stares rivaled Aubrey's.
"At the end of the first stanza, I want you to take the run up, not down." Beca said evenly.
Stacie began to protest, but Beca held a hand up.
"I'm still building to the bridge, and I want to ramp up as much as I can."
"You're still building?!"
Beca's nostrils flared at Stacie's pushback. She closed her eyes as she let out a deep breath, once, before speaking again.
"Try it," she reasoned through gritted teeth. "Just try it, once. Instead of here-"
She sang a perfect imitation of Stacie's metered notes. It might have sounded better than when Stacie did it. Stacie bristled.
"Take it here."
She reversed the notes, ending on the high instead of the low, her voice thrumming with powerful control. Stacie shifted uncomfortably, and Chloe instantly felt that the brunette felt a little intimidated.
"Can you sing it once?"
Stacie sat up straight, fighting a blush that threatened to bloom up her neck, and sang the run. It was shaky, and when Chloe thought Beca would tease Stacie, she merely nodded.
"Good. That was good," Beca asserted.
"I can do better," Stacie spat, and Beca smiled.
A real one, not the smarmy smirk she'd been giving Chloe.
So. Fucking. Beautiful.
Shut up, brain!
"All right, do it," Beca challenged, and, without missing a beat, Stacie sang again. Stronger this time, but the notes weren't what Beca sang originally. Beca tamped down her smile, nodding, and told her to take it again.
The pair went back and forth a few times before they got it right, and then the group put it all together.
Amy's clear, distinct voice played wonderfully off CR's sultry support, only to be capped by Stacie's run. Better. So much better. Beca was watching them closely, eyes darting between each singer, but glowing. Smiling eyes. The rest of her expression betrayed nothing of the emotion, but Chloe could see in her eyes that she was excited.
They kept singing, finishing the verse with CR's same harmony, but Stacie took it harder, pushing even further than what Beca had written for the first half of the verse. Chloe was so excited to add to it, taking a breath to sing, and-
Beca cut them off.
"Yeah, that's good," she said, and Chloe deflated, confused.
"Now do that, with all of these songs. Push them. Try other things. Think about singing, together, adding to each other. Don't detract, don't distract. Add. Elevate," Beca said confidently. Chloe watched her friends nod, and she smiled in spite of her confusion.
"Take a couple days," Beca added, checking her phone. She stood and moved her chair back to the corner. "You can use one of the other studios. No instruments, and no choreography. And definitely no social media."
She shuddered.
"I'll see how you're doing on Thursday morning," she said. "But right now, you dudes have to get out."
Chloe balked as Beca held the door for them. This was ridiculous. Sure, her tips had helped, but now they were supposed to just leave, to not get any help for two days? After twenty minutes of help on a single verse?
And beyond that, she wasn't going to let Chloe sing at all? She wasn't going to give her any notes to improve?
Was she really that petty?
"Got a date with the blonde, Mitchell?"
Chloe cringed and felt her face flush, but Beca barely blinked. It was quite a shock, on Saturday morning, to wake up to tabloid articles about Beca and some other woman, just hours after Beca had left her in the studio. They were at a club, not at the Residual party, but they'd been photographed leaving. Beca had wild eyes, and the woman was flushed, and they were holding hands, leaning into each other, falling into an SUV together…
She told the girls not to bring it up, but maybe CR was as pissed off as she was at Beca's sudden abandonment.
"I do, actually," she said, flashing a smirking smile. This one didn't reach her eyes. "Now leave."
Why won't she look at me?
The women filed out, with Beca slamming the door as soon as Chloe stepped into the hallway.
"Jerk," Stacie growled, and Chloe shushed her. Amy sighed.
"So… what do we do now?" she asked.
CR, Stacie, and Amy all turned to Chloe. Pity, defeat, and frustration was etched into their features, and Chloe took a deep breath.
They needed this. They needed to rise to Beca's challenge, to come out victorious on the other side.
So they could stick it to Beca, sure, but also for themselves. They deserved the chance to prove themselves.
And if Beca wouldn't help them do it, Chloe would.
"We do what she said," she said, determined. "We do our best."
Three nods mirrored her own, and she let herself feel optimistic. Happy, determined, and more like herself than she had in days. But just there, under the unrelenting bubbly-ness, something darker simmered.
She'd prove to Beca that they could do better without her.
Just to wipe that smug look off her stupid, beautiful face.