"I'll never understand why this uniform even has a scarf," Chloe grumbled, trying to knot the scarf around her neck without consulting a mirror. The very second she finished verbalizing her thought, she quickly looked around, as if girls of Barden Bellas past would spring out of nowhere to reprimand her voicing such a complaint, for even thinking it… and for still not knowing how to knot her scarf properly.
"But you're willingly wearing it for the sixth straight year," Stacie noted dryly, watching Ashley swat Chloe's hands aside and fixing Chloe's scarf.
Chloe cut a glance at her, before quickly glancing away, biting her lip.
Stacie narrowed her eyes at the very suspicious behavior, but she wasn't able to give it more thought, as Fat Amy returned to the group and announced that it was almost time for the Bellas to take the stage.
It was, technically, a school event. The Barden Bellas had been invited to perform a short set for local employers and members of the administration and faculty of nearby colleges and universities. Honestly, the event seemed to be too stuffy and serious for the Bellas, but they had been invited by the local group through Barden University itself, which made it impossible for them to refuse the invitation.
And because it was a technically a school event, the Bellas had to behave themselves, which was proving difficult because they had arrived early, and boredom had quickly set in. Aside from the occasional person passing by who oddly followed collegiate a cappella, nobody seemed particularly interested in socializing with the obvious students.
"Please don't be bored," Denise mumbled as a plea to the crowd in general.
"Please don't touch yourself," Beca directed at Stacie, who rolled her eyes in response.
"I'll try." Stacie drawled, because of course she wasn't going to touch herself during their performance. For one thing, she was on a scholarship, and she wasn't about to risk the free tuition just for kicks. The other reason was that there was no audience to win over, or a panel of judges to subtly seduce: it was just a bunch of older people who needed some quick entertainment to mark the break between the conference and the social hour.
But she was willing to forgive Beca her lack of discretion, because Beca was working hard on their set list for finals, making small changes to their existing set to find the fine line between what was popular and catchy, and what would be unique and extraordinary. The ICCA Finals were just a few weeks away, and with that and their school finals, Beca had the unenviable job of keeping the Bellas on the straight and narrow; because the last thing they needed was to get disqualified for whatever reason.
Stacie peeked out from behind the stage towards the crowd, hoping to find a familiar face: she had glimpsed Dave when the Bellas had entered the hall, and she seriously hoped he would still be around; a friendly face would be a blessing in this room full of stuffed shirts.
Beca had picked the safest, most listener-friendly set they had in their arsenal, more of the vein from the days when all they really did was sway in place – honestly, it was the kind of set Aubrey would have insisted on in the past – and even though the crowd aren't too vested in the performance, at least nobody was talking loudly over their singing.
That is, until a phone starts ringing during a break in their set, and Stacie knows she's not imagining the oh-so-familiar voice that answers the call. Or the blond head that disappears behind an exit.
She has no idea what Aubrey is doing in Atlanta, or why Aubrey hadn't told her ahead of time, but now that she knows Aubrey is here, Stacie couldn't wait until the set was over and she could hunt her girlfriend down.
They had barely finished singing the last note when Stacie was shoving her mic into Jessica's hands in the hopes of quickly walking towards the direction of the exit she'd seen Aubrey disappear to.
"Whoa there, where's the fire?" Fat Amy asked, grabbing her arm.
"Um," Stacie hesitated, before she quickly flicked her gaze down in the direction of the Hunter, making Fat Amy frown.
"In this room?" Fat Amy asked skeptically.
"Aubrey's here." Stacie clarified, a little offended that it needed to be said.
"In this room?" Fat Amy repeated, still skeptical. And then she paused, reconciling what had been their experience in the hotel ballroom so far and associating the stiff crowd with their former captain, and acknowledged, "Never mind. Are you sure?"
"Pretty sure." Stacie nodded.
Fat Amy released her arm. "Well, go!"
Stacie did, and when she followed Aubrey out of the same exit doors, she found the blonde standing by a table a few feet away from the hotel ballroom, standing with a redhead. The two of them were both on their phones, passing back and forth a piece of paper, occasionally pointing to something on it to emphasize their point.
Stacie paused her approach, frowning as she watched the similarly-dressed women stand closely with each other, their non-verbal communication through gestures and pointed glares emphasizing their individual points and clearly operating on the same wavelength regarding whatever it was they were dealing with.
Finally, the redhead smiled widely at something the person she was talking to said, and she gave Aubrey a thumbs-up, earning her a nod.
Their heads bent together to read whatever it was the redhead was writing down, and then Aubrey straightened up, nodding, before she left the table to continue her phone call, apparently needing to pace a bit. The redhead didn't follow, instead staying at the table to finish her own phone conversation.
Stacie didn't know the redhead, but she could hazard a guess.
But seeing Aubrey, and seeing her busy with something obviously related to her job, gave Stacie pause, as she knew Aubrey was uncomfortable exposing Stacie to certain aspects of her job, and tried to separate her personal life from her professional one.
As she turned back towards the ballroom to return to the Bellas, someone caught her wrist, and she turned to face a contrite Aubrey Posen, who was pocketing her phone.
"I guess this ruins my surprise," Aubrey said wryly, pulling Stacie aside.
Instantly forgetting about what she had just witnessed, Stacie slowly raked her gaze over Aubrey head to toe before looking back up and smiling at her. "If I'm getting Oversight Junior Executive Aubrey Posen in return, I'll take it."
Aubrey also gave Stacie an appreciative once over, enjoying the way the Bella uniform fit Stacie, her gaze flickering to certain assets, "Nice set."
Stacie smirked, "The 'set' could use some more of your attention."
Aubrey smiled back, drifting closer to the promise Stacie's lips offered, before she seemed to suddenly catch herself and took a hasty step back, blushing. "I really do mean the performance set."
"Sentiment stays the same, since you left in the middle of it." Stacie reminded, taking the hasty backpedal in stride. At Aubrey's sheepish nod, Stacie offered slyly, "I'm sure a private performance can be arranged."
"I'm only interested in one performance." Aubrey replied.
Stacie arched an eyebrow. "Choose your next words very wisely, Miss Posen."
Aubrey smiled. "I have a room."
"Let's—"
"Have you seen this?"
Both Aubrey and Stacie turned at the intrusion, and Stacie frowned as she came face to face with the redhead Aubrey had just been associating with.
"I literally just ended a call." Aubrey answered her.
"Nashville's making noise again."
"They're always making noise."
"Well, they're making noise about how we're doing things." She noted.
"'We'?" Aubrey repeated, amused. "Speak for yourself."
The girl shot her a glare. "Not funny." She lifted her phone as she asked, "What do I tell them?"
"Let me read it first." Aubrey replied. "Bad?"
"It's heading there."
Aubrey made a face, but glanced quickly at Stacie, remembering her personal mandate not to discuss work around Stacie, and wondered the logistics of that mandate if Stacie was at a work function. Her gaze quickly went from Stacie, to the redhead, and back, before she took a deep breath, bracing herself, and made introductions. "Stacie, this is Kathryn, Oversight liaison to the southeastern region. Kathryn, this is my girlfriend Stacie."
"Oh!" Kathryn expressed, her breathy tone and overt – possibly even exaggerated – surprise a telltale sign of her feigned enthusiasm, and Stacie wondered if it was possible to loathe someone based on a single syllable. She gave Stacie a scrutinizing head-to-toe once-over. "Right. You're a Barden Bella."
In return, knowing she was already treading thin ice with Aubrey regarding this woman, Stacie forced a smile at Kathryn. "It's nice to finally put a face to the name."
Kathryn arched an eyebrow, and tilted her head as she glanced at Aubrey, whose lips were pulling into a hard line. "You talk about me, Posen?"
"We work together," Aubrey reminded.
Kathryn smiled knowingly, and turned back to Stacie. "All good things, I hope."
"Your job keeps her in New York, so I have no idea," Stacie replied.
Aubrey sighed, but Kathryn only laughed, turning to Aubrey. "Well, she's honest."
"Isn't it refreshing?" Aubrey quipped.
"It's so quaint." Kathryn agreed amiably. "Your set was… cute."
Which, with the way she said it, was like the direct opposite of a compliment.
Stacie stepped closer to Aubrey. "I guess."
"Kathryn," Aubrey sighed, but her tone carried with it an undercurrent of a warning, "Be nice."
"She's dating you, clearly she can take it." Kathryn pointed out.
"Not the point." Aubrey shook her head.
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll play nice." She smiled at Stacie. "Don't you think her protective streak is cute? She must do it a lot when it comes to you."
The smile that had been frozen on Stacie's face faded slightly at the remark, since it was becoming increasingly obvious that Kathryn was enjoying taking shots at Stacie, and that one had to be a pointed remark; and if Stacie were to guess, it was about her still being in school.
"You're both in Atlanta?" Stacie asked politely, hoping to steer the conversation back to safer waters.
"I've been in Atlanta," Kathryn nodded. She pointed at Aubrey. "This one's supposed to be in Savannah."
Aubrey smiled faintly at Stacie. "My boss is being honored at a dinner tonight. She told those of us in the area to show up for it."
Stacie's reply was interrupted by the approach of the Bellas, calling her attention as Beca informed her, "We have to head back to campus."
"Now?" Stacie whined.
"Already?" Aubrey asked.
Kathryn regarded the flock of Bellas, and pursed her lips, her gaze flickering over each of the Bellas and clearly generalizing her opinion of Stacie and how young she was and applying it to the rest of the Bellas.
Beca glanced at the girls with Stacie, and she did a doubletake as she took in the girl who had once been their Barden Bella captain. Impulsively, she threw her arms around Aubrey. "Aubrey!"
"Aubrey!" The group, clearly relieved to see a familiar and friendly face, all gathered around Aubrey to take part in a group hug.
"What are you doing here?" Fat Amy asked.
"Work." Aubrey said plainly, with a small shrug.
Chloe glanced around the room, at the older crowd that had barely brought themselves to applaud the Bellas' performance. "This is your job?"
"Afternoon socials that get us out of the office are a fringe benefit." Kathryn replied, earning her a round of curious looks.
"And who is this?" Cynthia Rose asked, eyeing Kathryn appreciatively. The rest also eyed the redhead, but in a far less complimentary fashion.
"Kathryn." She replied, holding out her hand to the other girl.
"Kathryn." Chloe repeated.
"I work with Aubrey," she explained.
"You work for me," Aubrey corrected dryly.
Kathryn gave her a playful glare. "Don't an asshole, Aubrey."
Aubrey shrugged again. "I'm the person the people you correspond with escalate to, though."
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "They only escalate because you never answer my emails."
"I have three other people to talk to at your level, and at least five higher up." Aubrey reminded.
"But you like me best, right?"
The Bellas watched the interplay, uncomfortable at being present for what could easily be construed as possible flirtation, with a few of them glancing over at Stacie, who was watching the whole thing with an inscrutable expression.
"Aubrey, Kathryn," someone called their attention, interrupting the scene, making the two older women turn at their names, and apparently the person calling them made them stand up straighter and adopt a more professional mien. The Bellas also turned to check what had their former captain going from a casual countenance to something far more intimidating, and saw an older woman a few feet away, motioning for the two women to approach.
Kathryn sighed, and muttered under her breath, "Command me, mistress."
Aubrey turned quickly to Stacie. "Duty calls. I'll call you later?" At Stacie's nod, she affectionately squeezed Stacie's arm as she left.
With Aubrey gone, the Bellas resumed their exit.
Once the doors were firmly shut behind them, Chloe declared, "So… we hate her."
"Who the hell was that?" Fat Amy demanded.
"She was hot." Cynthia Rose noted, to Denise's nod of agreement.
"She was not hot." Chloe retorted.
"She was kinda hot," Stacie reluctantly acknowledged, to which the other Bellas also nodded along.
Chloe rounded on Beca, who had concurred with Stacie's opinion. "You thought she was hot?"
"She's kinda pretty!" Beca said quickly, hoping to defend herself but mostly just increasing Chloe's ire. Beside her, Lilly gave her a sidelong glance before shaking her head in dismay.
"It's the red hair," Jessica mused, to which a few of the girls, including Beca, nodded vigorously in agreement.
Chloe scoffed. "As if. It's from a bottle."
Ashley glanced at Stacie. "You're okay?"
"I guess." Stacie shrugged. "Aubrey says there's nothing going on, and I trust her."
"Were they flirting?" Flo asked. She turned to Beca. "Was that flirting?"
Beca shrugged helplessly, unsure. "How would I know?"
On that point, at least, all the Bellas were in agreement.
Stacie jumped when she felt her phone ringing, and she fished her phone out from where she'd tucked it to her back with her skirt. "Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"Uh, outside?"
"Okay, I'll be there in—" Aubrey stopped short when she emerged from the ballroom and found herself surrounded by Barden Bellas. She dropped the call, frowning at them confused. "Were you waiting for someone?"
The Bellas glanced at each other.
Aubrey shook her head, and turned to Stacie. "Are you doing anything tonight?"
"I was hoping my girlfriend, but…" Stacie shrugged with feigned nonchalance, her answer making Aubrey blush while the other Bellas gave Stacie exasperated looks. "What did you have in mind?"
"Would you like to go to tonight's gala with me?"
Stacie didn't bother hiding her surprise. "To a work thing?"
Aubrey smiled faintly. "I know, it's almost guaranteed to be boring, but—"
"No, hey, I mean, I'd love to, mostly just to hang out with you, but are you sure? Because—"
"She'll go." Chloe interrupted, earning her surprised looks from both Aubrey and Stacie. And possibly all the other Bellas, too.
"I just said that." Stacie noted dryly.
"But, like a date?" Denise asked dubiously, because even if they were in Atlanta, they were still in Georgia, and Georgia voted Republican.
"Well, no, not like 'a date'," Aubrey acknowledged. "Unless you count pretending to care about work and what my coworkers have to say, or my boss interviewing you about your career prospects, as a date."
Stacie was starting to reconsider.
"But there'll be food and an open bar." Aubrey finished.
"Just know that if you're not going, I will." Fat Amy told Stacie in a stage-whisper. When Aubrey gave her a weary look, the other woman shrugged. "You had me at 'open bar'."
The impasse was broken by Aubrey's phone, and she glanced at it briefly before looking back up at Stacie. "I know it'll be boring, and depending on the crowd we'll have to tone down the PDA, but—"
"Do you want me there?" Stacie asked.
Aubrey chuckled wryly. "For my sake, yes. For yours…. that's up for debate."
Stacie rolled her eyes with good humor, but nodded. "Pick me up."
"Awesome." Aubrey grinned at her, and kissed her quickly. "See you later." As soon as she said so, she turned and answered her phone. "This is Aubrey."
There was a collective pause, until Cynthia Rose let out a low whistle. "Dinner with the boss."
"Heavy stuff." Jessica agreed.
Stacie paused, frowning, and then her eyes widened as she realized the implications of accepting the invitation.
"Don't panic," Chloe advised.
"Too late." Stacie murmured.
"You'll be fine." Ashley assured her.
Stacie still looked doubtful, but allowed her friends to lead her out of the hotel and towards their van.