Chapter 2

'You're Late'

"Falling in love is not a choice. Staying in love is."

Chloe never gives up on anything. Once she sets her mind and heart to it she sticks with it to the end—because making decisions requires consulting not only your head but also your heart. Unfortunately, all of Chloe's relationships don't seem to share the same view. But despite that she continues to take one step at a time, even if she needs to redo her steps and start again.

At 28 years old, she's redone her steps about three times.

After a breaking up with her first real relationship in high school because of immature reasons, she thought she'd die from the heartache only to find that the basketball player wasn't really a waste of her tears. Basketball may have brought them together it also was the very thing that tore them apart. Also, he was an immature ass. Back to step one it is then.

College came and she finds that she has a thing for musicians and falls completely in love with one. Chloe's always loved music and it's beautiful to find someone with the same amount of passion for it. The relationship, although intense and exhilarating was very messy and chaotic. It wasn't healthy at all and Chloe stumbles back towards another heartbreak, far worse than the first one.

Months before graduating college, Chloe's heart flutters for the third time again, relentless in hoping that she'd find love once more. This time, she made sure that it's going to last even if they came to the point where the kisses don't make her stomach flip anymore or his habits that were once 'cute' started to annoy her.

Graduation came and the long distance thing made them drift even further apart.

He broke up with her and is quick to jump in another relationship. It shouldn't really hurt but it still does because Chloe gives her all when she falls in love and maybe that's where the problem lies. She's been easily handing her whole heart to the wrong people.

Or maybe, she just doesn't try hard enough to make it work?

Her best friend, Tessa, thinks she's an idiot for blaming herself. But a relationship doesn't work one sided and so, she's still partly to blame.

Anyways, she tries dating for a while and this time she's learned to be more careful with who to give her heart to. Promising herself that the next one is going to be her heart's forever because Chloe doesn't give up. Never.

The next one comes in the form of Matthew Brandt, an American-Swedish aspiring DJ with gorgeous dark blue eyes and a panty-dropping smile. He's a musician and because she has this certain attraction to people passionate in making music, Chloe's heart takes an immediate dive for him. Add in that perfect charm, delicious abs and great sense of humor, how could she not fall for him?

A couple of dates and Chloe proudly introduces him as her boyfriend. A year later, they decide to move to Los Angeles together so Matt can pursue his DJing career and Chloe resigns from her job at a company for live concert events to support his dream. That's how much she was willing to give up just for him. She loves him that much. Besides, she's always wanted to go to LA.

The first year was the hardest. Matt was DJing in clubs, hoping to get his music heard by music executives from various media companies while she was juggling in between part time jobs. It's a struggle especially when none of the bigger companies she's applied to considered her for the final interview. Competition is tough at the center of the media and music industry.

It got harder when they constantly argued. Matt works at night. Chloe works during the day. They almost never get to see each other and that could cause loads of issues and misunderstandings.

Chloe tells herself that giving up because of something as small as that isn't acceptable. It's not worth it. Even if there's that gnawing feeling again deep down telling her that there's just something missing. It's a bad feeling which she's had the displeasure of having to feel ever since her first serious relationship.

But no, Chloe believes that a relationship works when you want it to work and entertaining thoughts like that is not going to keep a relationship going. So she stretches her patience and widens her understanding.

Another year passes and finally, Chloe's efforts paid off. Like a gift from the heavens wrapped in gold, a famous digital music company who also handles live music events and promotions suddenly opens a position Chloe has experience with so she doesn't even think twice in applying. Good luck and hard work truly make a good combination and Chloe finally gets the job.

The only problem is, the overall producer of live events hates her.

The woman is literally a rock, void of emotion, compassion and lacks any sense of camaraderie. She doesn't even give her ideas a chance and keeps squashing all of them down the ground, all of which starts with the depressing opening line of 'let's be real here'. What makes it worse is the fact that it seems she's the only one in the office being showered upon this misfortune. Yeah, the others get their fair share of icy remarks but she takes the cake for the number of times she's dealt with the winter storm thrown her way. It's as if whatever she does is just not up to her standards.

And if that's not enough, Chloe has apparently added fuel to the fire and those stupid round of shots last Friday night are to blame. It's also best to consider that losing this job is never an option. Which now might happen because she practically harassed her boss. But she reasons that it's not entirely her fault. That woman doesn't have a heart and Chloe forgets personal boundaries by getting very touchy-feely when alcohol is involved.

Nonetheless, Chloe does what she does best when encountering mistakes in life, redoing her steps and starting fresh. Giving up is not an option and Chloe prides herself for her undying perseveran—

"I give up!" she storms in the pantry, earning confused and shocked looks from both Jesse and CR.

The two friends seated on one of the tables look up at her, Jesse mid-sip on his coffee and CR mid-bite on her sandwich.

"Uhm good morning to you too, Chlo," Jesse greets her cautiously as he adjusts his green tie, a typical color for his lazy Monday vibe.

Usually she'd given him a bright smile and a cheery greeting as well but instead, she sits down heavily on the empty seat in front of them, elbows on the table as she miserably holds her head with both her hands.

"She's not human. She doesn't have a heart. She's—she's a vampire!" she groans.

"Oh we're talking about Beca, for sure," CR smoothly comments, going back to eating her sandwich and Chloe finally looks up at the mention of the name that will haunt her in the upcoming nights.

The two friends only sigh at her plight as if it was something they were already used to. Chloe's heart sinks at that.

"Did she not get any hugs when she was a child?" she inquires in a rather serious tone because what else could it be? It's either that or she fell when she was an infant and acquired some serious brain damage.

"She hates hugs," Jesse says after sipping his coffee and Chloe's mind wanders back to Friday night when she got a little… touchy.

She almost forgot about that.

It didn't end well by the way and the repercussion of said abominable act has now taken effect this Monday morning.

Honestly, her morning started good. Matt had brought her flowers, showing how committed he was in making their relationship work after their huge fight days ago. He also got them reservations to the Red Garden, a five star restaurant on a Wednesday night—the only night he can be available—and Chloe could not wait. This would be good for them.

Great things like that are supposed to bring great luck all throughout the day. That is until, Chloe decided to redo her steps with one Beca Mitchell, the one woman in their office that has the ability to make her life hell.

It was only right that she apologize for last Friday night—wherein she aggressively confronted her boss, lost control of her words due to alcohol and hugged her for approximately more than five minutes before the poor brunette managed to shake her off and run. Let it be known that Chloe has indeed chased her out of the club complete with 'grabby hands'. Let it also be known that from that day onwards, she has promised herself to stay away from Tequila shots until Christmas vacation rolls in.

But not to worry, Chloe has always been successful in redoing her steps. And she starts it with a sincere apology.

That is until, Beca coldly and unabashedly tells her that her proposal is 'lacking' and that she needs to 'step up' or else their decision to hire her 'is a mistake' before setting a deadline to present a new proposal. It's even absurd that the deadline is marked two days from now. Which would then mean that Chloe has to give up sleeping and eating—basically living like a normal person—in order to produce quality content that Beca would approve.

It's clearly unfair and close to impossible which she totally voiced out in a polite manner, asking her for at least an appropriate amount of time. Only to receive another blow regarding 'work ethic' and having a 'pathetic' goal that strives for 'just average'. Followed by a 'if you want to quit then stop wasting our time' speech in a challenging tone and leaving her no choice to say otherwise.

And now here she was, in full murder mode, slathering an unhealthy amount of peanut butter on her bread as she rants about how her boss must have been made in a lab where happiness does not exist.

"No wonder she's single. No man will ever want to deal with… with that piece of brick," she spats, angrily munching on her bread.

CR bursts into a laughing mess, almost falling down her chair while Jesse almost chokes on his coffee from trying not to spit it all over the place—or on his tie.

Somehow, despite her anger, she can tell that there's something off. What with CR trying to wipe her tears due to uncontrollable laughter and Jesse falling to the floor in a coughing fit. Other employees eye them curiously and Chloe is sure that she's missing something.

But with CR tapping her hand on the table a few times as she tries to regain composure and Jesse crawling back up his chair, looking like he had ran a marathon, it's hard to tell what exactly she isn't getting.

"Beca with a man?" CR starts before she's laughing like a maniac again and this time she manages to shove Jesse, who falls back to the floor again.

Chloe only looks at them in confusion, wondering what could possibly be funny enough to pull out a laughter as heavy as this.

"What?" she asks as Jesse climbs on the chair next to hers this time.

Wiping her tears and letting out a couple of broken chuckles, CR finally breathes out, "Beca isn't into men,"

Which only makes her pause and frown.

Sighing, CR starts to explain further but Jesse beats her to it, "She's a lesbian" before slipping a teasing, 'Harold' at the end.

"Since birth! Which is pretty damn obvious, Red. How come you didn't know?" CR adds before laughing like a hyena again.

Chloe literally drops her sandwich on to her plate, jaw slacking and eyes open wide as she looks at CR to figure out if she's messing with her then at Jesse who nods, proving it to be solidly true.

"B-But she doesn't—" she stutters, mind running at all the details she's missed, which doesn't really happen often.

Note that Chloe Beale doesn't usually make mistakes like this. A proof of that is her figuring out that CR is a lesbian and Stacie batting for every team from the minute she met them. She even sensed the sexual tension between Stacie and Aubrey. Even Benjie being gay was easy to see. Heck, she had so many friends from the rainbow community back in college—blame a capella.

But Beca? Chloe feels like she's having a heart attack.

"Yeah, she looks pretty feminine all over but you have to admit there are straight girls who look very lesbian too. Still, Beca has that vibe if you get what I mean. It's clear as day," CR continues before biting on her own sandwich.

And she's right. Now that Chloe thinks about it, Beca does have expensive clothes but they are mostly long-sleeved blouses, button-ups and well, pantsuits. Never had she once wore a skirt and Chloe had thought that it was a power move since the higher ups were mostly men and surviving, as Beca says, the cut-throat industry, women have to unfortunately hold back their feminine side in order to be taken seriously.

She does give her salute to the women who take command in high positions without having given up any of that because 'fighting like a girl' isn't supposed to be considered as weak or negative.

"Shit," she hisses as she goes back to holding her head with both her hands miserably.

"Why? What… did you do?" Jesse curiously asks her, a slight tone of dread in his voice.

Silence passes for a while before Chloe admittedly groans in defeat, "I told her I'd be her wing woman and introduce her to hot guys last Friday,"

There's regret in her voice and in a second, Jesse is gasping out a huge 'You did what?!' and CR is about to roll down the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

"B-But how could I have known? She's so… she's so… cute and pretty! I-I just don't know!" she gives up, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Okay, now that sounds gay," CR comments while Chloe groans.

"Somebody just kill me now,"

"Cute and pretty. Yeah, that totally describes Beca," Jesse sarcastically mutters in jest.

"I should have asked!" Chloe blurts out in frustration, more to herself than to them, before her eyes light up again once more.

"What's done is done. I was drunk and I'll apologize, again—you know what? I'll correct my mistake and introduce her to a girl then!" she finally says, pointing at CR proudly as if it was a smart idea

Both friends however pause at the suggestion. CR blinks at her, smile disappearing while Jesse slowly shakes his head.

"That's… not a good idea," Jesse manages to say as he looks down at his coffee.

"Why? Does she have a girlfriend? 'Cause she's not doing her job right if our boss is being a pissed off cat every morning," she grumbles.

"Nope. Beca's been single for a while now and… that's partly why we drag her out to the club every last Friday of the month," CR slowly explains and Chloe frowns.

Now add that to the list of things she didn't know. So, Beca is the cause for their little gatherings but… why?

"And why is that?" she cautiously asks, looking from Jesse to CR who both now can't seem to look at her in the eye.

"Uhm, let's just say that we really wished that you should've started working for Beca years ago because we're pretty sure that you'd get along better with her," CR vaguely answers and Chloe's frown deepens.

"What happened?" she asks, curiosity growing with the thought that Beca seemed like a different person years ago.

"We don't really talk about mistake number four," Jesse finally speaks up, eyes moving towards CR who sighs heavily.

"All you need to know is that Beca was supposed to… get married. They broke up a year ago and it was really ugly. It… really broke her. Ironically, she got a promotion at the same time. The last Friday next month was supposed to be the wedding," CR admits quietly, toying with the paper napkin as she speaks. "So, we planned it for almost a year hoping not to make it too obvious that we don't want her to be left alone on that day. If she knew about the plan or if we held a get together out of the blue on that specific day she'd surely never come. It's the only way to make sure…," she trails off before noticing Jesse a giving her a look.

"What? She's part of the group now, she needs to know at least that much," she explains to him in defense while Jesse sighs and then nods in surrender.

"It might've been a year since it ended but it's a big deal and it'll be great if you don't talk about love around her. She gets… defensive," Jesse tells her. "And you know, in regards to work, Beca is the most professional person I know. She just likes challenging people and pushing them to their limits. She can be quite harsh but it's for the best," he says before standing up and patting her on the back.

CR follows him after a couple of minutes and Chloe is left pondering about this new surprising information.

Glancing over to Beca's office, she watches the brunette drowning herself in work, face stoic and focus unbreakable. She recalls her sarcastic introduction last Friday night and the sadness those eyes hold as Chloe tries to pry open the layers she is hiding in. There's anger and hurt in it as well.

She tries to find the resentment she harbored earlier for the thorn in her life right now but comes up empty. Instead there's something stirring inside her chest, pressing down on her heart. It's not pity even though it almost feels like it. No, it's something else.

She's curious.

Curious about just how many layers she's buried herself under, how badly had she been damaged and how… much care would it take to fix her.

"Nobody deserves to be in that much pain," she mumbles softly.

Chloe never gives up on anything.

And anyone.

Tuesday morning

Chloe sluggishly gets up, almost clumsily tripping over air with how disoriented she still was on the way to the bathroom. There are papers messily scattered on her work table and empty bottles of energy drinks from last night. She's been working on the proposal, gathering information on the music festivals last year, from the artist lineup down to the smallest production details. She needs to figure out how to get people and the media talking about this event in a positive way. Not only that, she needs to plan on how to woo artists—Rihanna—to participate in it.

She came up with nothing, templates blank and cursor blinking all night, before passing out on the bed. Matt was already sleeping next to her when she wakes up, dead to the world from working all night.

Mallows, her auburn colored American Bobtail, crosses in between her legs, rubbing himself against her while she prepares what she needs for a simple breakfast early in the morning. Chloe loves cooking. It's the satisfaction of seeing people light up at the food she made is what makes her want to do it even more. Besides, it takes her mind off of things that shouldn't be occupying her head in the morning, like work.

She pours milk in her coffee and adds sugar. One sip and that's it, the start of her morning.

She leaves food for Matt to reheat later and gives goodbye kisses for Mallows before she hurries out of the door.

"Morning!" she greets enthusiastically to everyone she passes by at work, earning equally warm morning greetings and smiles her way.

Well, everyone except for one.

"Morning," she repeats, only this time her voice falters into a much subdued tone yet as always even as the elevators close all she gets is a hum.

It doesn't even sound like a friendly hum. More like annoyed and not in the mood for basic human interaction.

She smells good though. Beca always does. In contrast to her powerful presence, her skin looks smooth, hair so soft and her features delicate, feminine. Chloe wonders what beauty products she uses.

But unfortunately questioning her is impossible when she stares straight ahead, stormy blue eyes empty and her stance still. It's like she'd freeze you to death if ever you tried to even utter a single word. Everyone keeps out of her way, intimidated and nervous with just the mere sight of her. Beca has truly made a mark within the company and is not one to mess with.

"Traffic sucks," she suddenly blurts out before she could stop herself, taking a step closer to the brunette who remains standing in her spot.

The few other people in the elevator are now looking at her like she's gone mad.

"Have you had breakfast? I have an extra sandwich if you want," she continues, her mouth just babbling words uncontrollably.

She takes a step even closer, now standing beside her as she flashes her a smile.

"I'm good, thank you," the curt reply comes and Chloe's smile widens.

That's a start.

"How's Bella?" she excitedly asks this time and finally something breaks the ice.

Beca, no matter how unaffected she may seem, looks taken a back at the question. Her grip at the strap of her shoulder bag tightens. Her eyes blink once and shoulders tensing up that Chloe is almost certain that she's about to get reprimanded for being nosey.

"Bella is good," was the only soft reply she gets before the elevator opens to their floor and then Beca is striding towards her corner, chin up and posture ready to seriously get straight down to business.

Chloe smiles again.

Tuesday afternoon

There is no hope for the brunette. None whatsoever and Chloe is already scrunching her hair in frustration with how irritating the petite producer is. How can somebody cute-sized be so frustrating.

Yes, Beca is cute-sized.

Slim neck, pale skinned, pretty faced and cute-sized. They may be almost the same height but the couple of inches Beca lacked compared to her has Chloe mentally giving her that description. It helps thinking about it whenever Beca coldly throws her the snow storm—shit storm.

"We can't get people to come if we don't pull up the big guns but how do we do that if the budget is tight? But that's not just that, there's another huge music event happening around the same time and now we are competing for artists to perform for us," Chloe says in a defeated sigh, head already planted on the table after having run back and forth.

"And then the Queen of the Damned says that I need to 'fix it'. Fix it my ass!" she whines while CR pats her head encouragingly.

Moreover, her messy work area has been criticized and at some point she gets yelled at because she almost spills coffee on important papers.

Beca may be cute-sized but her temper is nowhere near cute.

Tuesday evening

She doesn't even look away from her computer as Matt hurriedly kisses her goodbye. He only shakes his head when she exhales heavily and types furiously on to her laptop.

She chugs four cans of energy drink all night before passing out.

Wednesday morning

She wakes up to dark eye circles two hours later since she passed out. She looks like shit and make-up doesn't really help but she doesn't have time. She's seriously going to be late but nonetheless, she never fails to greet everyone a good morning.

"I'm sorry I'm—"

"You're late,"

Beca doesn't even look up as she speaks and Chloe flinches at the cold tone. She swallows down hard knowing how much Beca has stressed about punctuality. It doesn't matter how they dress or what they do on their free time. The company isn't so strict on any of that. There's always a free vibe around the building and they've always encouraged creativity.

Just don't be late.

"Your proposal is due tomorrow so I expect that you won't be late again. We pay you by the hour to not only get the job done but to do it flawlessly and failure to do that is unacceptable,"

"I promise, I'll do my best to—"

"Clearly, you're not doing enough. There are hundreds of applicants who would kill for the position you are in now. So, get your shit together and don't be late," Beca firmly says and Chloe could almost hear the threatening tone, taunting her to quit.

Her chest starts to feel heavy, mood dropping down fast and there's a mix of all sorts of feelings that make Chloe want to scream.

Alluring steel blues look at her intimidatingly, prickling at her skin, making her fingers clench hard on her palm.

"I won't," she says and never had she felt so small.

Chloe doesn't give up. She'd fight until she couldn't physically go no further. She fought to get here and she's not backing down from this.

No matter how much Beca seems to want her to.

Wednesday afternoon

Her body feels heavy and weak that she wants nothing more but collapse on a bed. She's drunk about four cups of tea and swallowed vitamin tablets yet her body still feels like it's waving a white flag furiously.

Now she feels a headache brewing and she massages her temples. It's the lack of sleep and the stress but she's not done just yet. There's a bit more to do. Just a little bit more until she can finally be finished.

She can do this. It's the only positive thought in her head right now.

Her phone beeps and it's a text from Matt reminding her of their date later this evening and she slaps her palm against her forehead because she totally forgot about that. It's the only time he will be available and Chloe wants to seize the opportunity but with the heavy workload, chances are they'd have less time.

On the bright side, less time is better than no time so Chloe vows to get the work done as fast as she can. She just needs to focus.

Mind over matter, right?

She doesn't see the worried looks coming from both Jesse and CR or a pair of stormy blues momentarily glancing her way.

Wednesday evening

Chloe wakes up with a start. She finds herself still in the office. Her table is filled with papers yet what stands out is a cup of warm tea and calming oil. She should be touched by the gesture of her office mates but as soon as she glances at the time she suddenly sits up straight, flinching at the sharp pain of her neck having slept in an uncomfortable position. The blanket draped over her shoulders falls and only then does she realize that someone must've placed it there. She doesn't have time to be touched though.

Well, she doesn't have time.

She's supposed to be meeting her boyfriend at seven. It's now ten minutes after eight and Matt is probably waiting for her at the Red Garden. There's probably about three missed calls from him on her dead phone. The phone she forgot to recharge because she was too busy to do so.

Scrambling to her feet, she saves all her files and unplugs her USB harshly before stashing it into her jacket pocket. She takes a quick sip of the delicious tea and throws the small bottle of calming oil in her purse, taking note to thank either Jesse or CR for it before rushing off to the restaurant.

It would've only taken her about twenty minutes to get there from the office but traffic is heavy and by the time she reaches the Red Garden it's already fifteen minutes before ten.

Matt is gone.

He left after an hour ago.

She tries to apologize yet they still end up fighting.

She's past breaking point now.

They keep shouting at each other.

It's horrible.

He says that she doesn't care.

It's not true.

He's done.

Now he leaves.

The door closes with a bang and Chloe is left with nothing but tears.

It's a Wednesday night. The clock reads eleven past five yet Chloe is lost in misery with a bottle of Tequila. Drowning away the sorrow in her heart. It's over and it rings repeatedly in her head.

She wants to scream but it doesn't come up. She didn't want to give up. She cares but he says she doesn't and maybe it's true. Now she doesn't know why she even tries. She's not even sure about what she's even doing with her life anymore. Matt had been her life these last two years. But there's nothing to think about anymore. It's over. She's tired and her feet ache.

She feels like crying again when she reaches the door but she swallows it back in, knocking loudly, fist pounding relentlessly against wood.

He says she doesn't care.

So she gives up caring, for now maybe. Her one goal left is to rap her palm against the damn door until it opens. The whole neighborhood can wake up and yell at her.

She doesn't care.

For a moment, despite her inebriated state, she wonders if she's got the address right.

No, she's sure this is it.

She even cried in front of the receptionist telling her how important this is. It's a matter of life and death. Nobody can resist a crying woman. Also, she may have twisted the truth a bit but there's no remorse tonight. There's a lot she wants to unload off her chest and she will.

She doesn't care after all.

She almost gives up though, body pushing against the door out of fatigue and dizziness. But the moment she falls forward was the moment it suddenly opens and she stumbles straight inside.

She flails a bit, her hands reaching out to grasp on to anything until it does and when she looks up, her bright blues connect with surprised dark blues looking wildly back at her.

"H-How did you—"

"You!" she angrily says, pointing at the one true source of her misery who nervously backs away from her.

"This is all your fault!" she accuses in the same angry tone as she steps forward. "You, Beca fuckin' Mitchell!"

"Don't you come near me or I-I'm going to call security!" Beca threatens her, grabbing whatever defense weapon she can grab—the TV's remote control.

But all that falls into deaf ears as she continues to sway around forward, "I came here to LA so I can be with him… because I love him. We had it all planned out and now you… you come along and decide that I take everything for granted. You gave me an unreasonable deadline because you think your employees don't have a life just like you!" she presses on, chasing the visibly panicking brunette around the living room, clumsily dodging whatever is thrown at her—pillows—until Chloe corners her.

"You… you don't hate me. You hate love. You hate it so much that you… you,"

Tears roll down her cheeks one by one until she breaks into heart wrenching sobs.

"He's gone," she whimpers as she slides down the floor pathetically, one hand on top of her heart while the other clutching the fabric of Beca's pajama pants right near her ankles.

"And it hurts. It hurts so much and I'm exhausted. I haven't slept in two days and my head hurts. Now it hurts everywhere and it's all my fault. I should've been there on time. I should've apologized some more. I should've…" she cries, the reality of what had happened finally catching up to her.

"It's not your fault,"

Gentle hands slowly hold her, helping her up until she is standing upright. The world spins for a moment and she almost stumbles back down but those same hands pull her close to keep her still, her body leaning in to the comforting warmth.

"He left. You love him and yet he still left you like this. That makes him garbage. He's worthless and he doesn't deserve your love."

The words are like a blanket wrapping her through a cold night, soft yet warm, and she clings to it, coiling her arms tightly around her last lifeline.

Her eyes are slowly shutting close, desperate for sleep, and her body feeling heavier than ever. It's so warm and she's more than willing to give in to it. Everything blurs until it fades and the last thing she remembers is strong arms securely holding her close, catching her every time she starts to fall back again.

She lets exhaustion and alcohol take over her, the world giving way to the silence and the darkness yet she doesn't feel afraid.

She'll be alright here.

Safe, at last.

Author's Note:

I love the responses. You guys are all darlings. For the old readers: Hey loves, thanks for still being here. You know I love you all, right? For the new readers: Heeeey! Welcome aboard the Red Panda Express. Here, have some virtual hugs and chocolates. Updates are once a week and my inbox is always open to all of you.

Chloe is falling.

Beca has her arms open and ready. This will be fun.