A/N (Smeeg): Hey guys, I'm so sorry this has taken so long to get out. I'd blame part of it on being stuck in Mexico while a hurricane is barreling down on us. But that's really only for the tail end of the delay. Most of the rest of it was me just slacking. Anyway, another chapter of Timbre for everyone. I hope you all enjoy it, and please comment if you do (or if you don't, tell us what you hate it's ok). As Zap's note mentions we have a few exciting things coming to share as well, so I hope everyone stays tuned! Anyway, on with the chapter!
A/N (Zap): Yay it's finally done! Hope you enjoy it. We've got some great stuff coming up next, some of which might be a little different from our normal fare, but hopefully you'll like it. We'd also like to announce that we've set up a tumblr page, you can find it at teamzogfic dot tumblr dot com. It's still a work in progress, so bear with us. I can't speak for the Smeghead, but I'm certainly open to prompts, though there are certain pairings, like Aubrey/Jesse for instance, that I will not write. While you're there, you might want to guess what show I'm thinking of crossing Pitch Perfect with next. I'm yammering. Enjoy the story, have a great whatever is whenever you read this.
The Vocation Initialization
Aubrey paced the room in irritation, unable to stop herself from muttering about how things seemed to be going from bad to worse. Ever since the previous Thursday when she'd made her startling discovery of the identity of the mysterious "DJ 22", her mind had been a writhing turmoil. Part of her wanted to completely fangirl out, because while she taunted Chloe mercilessly for her apparently love of the mystery artist who helped them come so close to achieving their aims back at the ICCA championships, she couldn't deny that she was a closet fan of the DJ's music.
Of course, another part of her wished she could just forget the epiphany that had come to her as she stared at the Periodic Table of Elements emblazoned across the boys' shower curtain. Forget the mental connections that had leapt into place, falling together like the elements in a star creating whole new elements. In this case, it was the fact that she and Chloe were now living across the hall from a girl whom Chloe has had multiple fantasies of the kind that made Aubrey thankful that she had some noise canceling headphones to wear.
The same DJ who, Aubrey felt, was quite possibly the worst person for her best friend to obsess over. Beca Mitchell was bad news for Chloe. Aubrey knew that to her core. But she didn't know how to convince Chloe of that. And therein lay the rub.
And she didn't know what to do about any of it. But she had a feeling she knew someone who might have some ideas. Pausing in her pacing, she pulled out her phone and sent off a quick text.
Aubrey (4:15 PM): You able to jump on Skype for a bit? I need you. Your help, that is.
Looking the text over, Aubrey nodded once before hitting send and resuming her pacing while she waited for the reply. It came back almost immediate.
SexKitten (4:16 PM): I'm always available for you, babe.
Aubrey smiled. She'd known that that would most likely be the answer, but it was still reassuring to see the words pop on her screen. Walking over to her laptop, Aubrey flipped the lid open and hit the power button. Her fingers drummed nervously on the table as she waited for the machine to POST and work its way through the Windows startup. Signing in and firing up Skype at least gave her hands something to do, and it wasn't long before the name she was looking for turned green. Clicking the call icon, Aubrey was soon treated to a view of the inside of a dorm at Barden, which was quickly replaced by a smiling, brunette face.
"Hey Beautiful." The brunette said, before Aubrey could even get a word in. Of course the compliment, despite it not being the first time she'd heard it, caused the blond to blush. On the screen Stacie just grinned before she said, "So, what's got your panties in a bunch? Or are you not wearing any, and that's the help you need?"
"Do you ever not think about sex, Stace?" Aubrey asked, rolling her eyes as she half-heartedly considered taking her yoga pants and panties off. She may have been called an "Aca-Nazi" by some of the Bellas last year behind her back, but she wasn't a robot. She quickly dismissed the idea though, not knowing when Chloe would be home and wanting to get onto her more pressing issues. As quickly as she could she told Stacie about Beca, about how Chloe was already half in love with the girl, and how she'd figured out who Beca really was.
"Wow. I mean, I know you're having a crisis over there. But, seriously, what are the chances that you two just happen to move in across the hall from DJ 22. Like, seriously, that's nutty." Stacie said after Aubrey explained the situation.
"I just don't know what to do Stace." Aubrey replied, her head dropping to the table as a desire to cry snuck up on her.
"Well, at this point babe, it's just speculation still too. You don't really know that Beca IS DJ 22. Why don't you just ask her? Or her girlfriend, Kate I think you said her name was? Anyway, hadn't you said she seemed nice?" Stacie suggested, her confusion evident in her tone. Honestly she didn't understand why it was such a big deal if Beca was DJ 22, seeing as she had a girlfriend, so she decided to voice that very same question, "Why do you care so much anyway? I think it'd be awesome to meet DJ 22, I've got some ideas for that Ho Hey/Call Me Maybe mix."
"The problem is Chloe's totally into her and there's just something about her that rubs me the wrong way." Aubrey explained with a huff. She had known it was going to be a hard sell, convincing Stacie of the problem inherent in the situation. Stacie didn't know Chloe like she did, and more importantly, she didn't know Beca at all. Slowly, trying to find the right words, she tried to explain the situation to the brunette, "Chloe wears her heart on her sleeve and sees the good in everyone, it's up to me to protect her. She has no filter, you know that. No defenses to use against someone who wants to… She's drawn to Beca like a moth to flame. I don't want her hurt. A hurt Chloe is not a pretty sight believe me."
"Bree, sweetie, can I ask you a question?" Stacie asked, looking directly into the camera. When Aubrey nodded, Stacie took a deep breath as she figured out how to phrase something that had been on her mind for a good portion of the time she had known the two. Choosing her words just as carefully as Aubrey just had, Stacie asked, as delicately as she could manage, "Do you have a thing for Chloe? It's ok if you do, you know. I'd get it. She's hot, you've known her forever…"
"Why does everyone keep asking that?" Aubrey asked, her tone a mixture of exasperation and curiosity. Rubbing her eyes with her hands, then running both hands back through her hair she shook her head at the screen before adding, "I swear, Penny asked something similar the other week. I mean, yes when we first met I couldn't… Her ass is a thing of beauty. But no. There may have been a brief window at one point, but it closed years ago. She's my best friend, and that's all I ever want her to be."
"But not like we're friends." Stacie confirmed, raising her shirt up just enough to give Aubrey a peek at the bottom of the lacey black bra she was wearing. Teasingly, she ran one hand up over her toned abs, fingers bumping over each rib, to toy with the bottom edge of the cup. As she let one finger slide underneath the lacey material a noise sounded deep in Aubrey's throat.
"Stacie…" Aubrey groaned, her breath catching in her throat as she saw the deliciously wicked smile on her former lover's face. With an act of will she didn't know she possessed, Aubrey hitched a stern expression on her face as she said, "Not that I don't appreciate it, because you know I really, really do. But now's not the time for that, Chloe could be home any minute."
"Sorry Bree." Stacie said, dropping her shirt, though one of her hands still casually caressed her chest as she sighed longingly. Catching sight of the time she realized that she had to actually leave fairly soon, else she'd be late to Bellas practice, and that was a bad precedent to set as one of the Captains. Smiling ruefully at the blond who looked a little jealous of the hand, Stacie added, "I should get going anyway, it's almost time for practice. Just stay vigilant I guess, sooner or later you'll find what you're looking for."
"As far as I'm concerned the Ho Hey/Call Me Maybe mix is all the proof I need." Aubrey said with a little shrug. She knew that it was kind of antithesis to being a scientist where everything was discredited until thoroughly proven, but her gut told her she was right on this. She just still didn't know what to do about the situation. If nothing else, it was nice to have someone to air the situation to. Giving Stacie a sincere look she told the brunette as much, "Thanks for listening to me rant. I miss you."
"I miss you too Bree. I heard Nationals are in LA this year, who knows, maybe we'll make it and we can catch up in person." Stacie smiled wistfully into the camera. They had never been a super serious item, Aubrey had always been planning to leave at the end of the year, but Stacie had been quite happy with the arrangement they'd had. And if the claw marks she used to sport on her back were any indication, Aubrey had been happy with it too.
"I'd like that." Aubrey said, a lump forming in her throat. In the all the craziness that had been happening since they'd moved here it had slipped from Aubrey's mind how much she was missing the Bellas. Missing Stacie. Casual sex or no the brunette was probably her second best friend in the world, after Chloe of course, and it suddenly hit her how much she missed seeing her every day.
"Hey, hey, don't be like that sweetie." Stacie said, noting Aubrey's mood. The brunette really did have to go, but she wasn't going to leave Aubrey looking as sad and depressed as she was now. The rest of the Bellas would understand. Actually they'd probably assume she was covering for a Skype-sex session gone long, but either way they'd be cool with it. On the spot she made a vow to herself to try and stay in touch with Aubrey, and Chloe, more and told the blond as much, "Don't worry, we'll talk again soon, I promise! Maybe next time you'll even be able to see the girls again."
"I'd really like that, and I'm sure Chloe'd like seeing everyone again too." Aubrey perked up slightly, though still with a hint of melancholy. Of course Stacie had known what was bugging her, the brunette just got her. Wiping at her eyes, which were suspiciously damp, she tried to put on a smile for Stacie as the brunette smirked at her.
"I didn't mean the Bellas…" Stacie said as she grabbed her chest with both hands and squeezed. That got the laugh she had been hoping for, and a little more. The look on Aubrey's face had changed from sadness to desire, something that got Stacie wet whenever she saw it. Sadly, they REALLY didn't have time today. Instead, she simply said, "Moi et toi ma chère. Moi et toi."
"Moi et toi." Aubrey said, her lips curling into a sultry smile. She knew that Stacie was aware of two things that could instantly flip her switch. The brunette touching herself, and Stacie speaking French. She wasn't sure what it was about it, but the way the brunette's luscious lips seemed to caress and stroke each sound… Shivering and blowing a kiss to the screen, Aubrey answered her as she always had back in Georgia, "Au revoir ma petite renard."
"Au revoir ma belle" Stacie said just before ending the Skype session, leaving two very horny girls on opposite sides of the country each wishing it wasn't a five hour flight to the other. C'est le vie as they say.
Saturday morning, well Saturday afternoon, came earlier than Beca would have preferred. Then again, it usually did of late. Thankfully she'd come to accept it, in fact she was almost happy for it. Proud even. Because it meant that she'd been out on Friday night. Now for your normal nineteen year old being out late on a Friday night was something that generally made them happy but proud generally didn't fit the bill. Beca, though, was anything but your normal nineteen year old.
And for her, being out late on a Friday night meant she was working. Putting herself out there. Making a name for herself. It wasn't much, yet. But it was a start. And in her mind it seemed like it was a good start. Crowds were responding, they were liking what she was doing. And because of that, Pulse was becoming more popular.
Regardless of that, the afternoon sneaking around a crack in her curtains was a definitely unwelcome shock to the system. But, despite her best efforts to the contrary, it seemed like her body was ready to wake up, even though her mind said it wanted another hour, maybe two. Which was how she found herself stumbling clumsily out of her bedroom and, bracing herself against the wall in the hallway, managing to make it out to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.
In a very zombie like state Beca proceeded to tromp around the apartment as the life-giving substance brewed slowly in its pot. After what seemed like hours, though was likely only a few minutes, the brunette DJ found herself back in the kitchen, pouring the sweet nectar of the gods into one of her mugs and scrolling through the notifications on her phone that had come in while she'd slept.
Fourteen emails, most looked like junk, though one was from her boss, the club owner, and she reminded herself to read that later. A double handful of tweets and even a few Facebook notifications. Though a second look over the latter told her they were mostly just inane crap from one or another of the groups she'd followed on there. The tweets were more interesting. Nearly all of them were tagged with #PulseNow, the twitter hashtag that Sidney the club owner had set up as part of her marketing plan.
What was even better were the one's talking about #DJ22. The fact that she was out there, with her own hashtag even, combined with the coffee to wake the brunette up and put a smile on her face. People WERE noticing.
Lastly were a few text messages she'd gotten. One from her dad, asking her to check in. She deleted that. Another from her mom, telling her she should come to visit for Thanksgiving. She kept that one, and made a mental note to call her before she went to work tonight. The last three were from Kate.
Blondie (10:22 AM): Hey sexy thing! I know you're probably asleep, but I wanted to say that I hope your night was awesome… We should meet up tomorrow, maybe for a late lunch/early dinner, before you spin.
Blondie (11:35 AM): I know, probably still asleep. Just wanted to say that I think I'm gonna come to the club tonight, maybe bring some friends with… That cool with you?
Blondie (1:07 PM): I'm heading down in your direction. Call me if you want me to grab some food…
The last text message was sent about ten minutes ago. Beca knew that it took Kate about twenty minutes to get down here from where she lived, and decided that maybe some food might be a good thing. Hitting the call button she tapped the icon for speaker phone and went to pour herself a second cup. Kate answered on the second ring.
"Hey sexy bitch. I was hoping you'd be up soon, I'm starving." The voice said, rising up from her speaker. Beca chuckled at the nickname. Kate called her that a lot, in fact, it had been what she'd said to her when they first met at the club. So it held a special place in Beca's heart.
"Yeah, well, you know how mornings and I get along. Thought I'd just skip right past it…" Beca answered as she poured in her cream and added some sugar. Stirring it briefly she took a sip and sighed, which drew a laugh from Kate.
"Second cup or third?" The other girl asked. Beca could hear honking in the background and other car noises which told her that Kate was still on the road.
"Only second. You got high priority today, apparently. Anyway, food sounds great. What are you thinking?" Beca grumped, downing about half the cup in one go before replying. Running a hand through her messy bedhead, she realized she didn't want to go anywhere today, so she hoped the other girl didn't want to go out or anything.
"Mmmm, I'm flexible." Kate answered briefly, before swearing at a car whose driver, apparently, needed to learn how to fucking drive. Beca rolled her eyes. Kate was the sweetest thing in person, always super nice to Beca, when she wasn't being naughty, but put her behind the wheel of a car and a whole other demon came to life. The brunette blamed it on Kate's having grown up in LA and all that this city's traffic entailed. As though she could read Beca's mind, the blond spoke up, "Don't roll your eyes at me. That asshole in a fucking BMW almost side-swiped me. Dick."
"Should have let him. Law suit, aw yeah!" Beca said with a laugh. She knew that Kate loved her car too much to let that happen. And sure enough the other girl protested that she would never "let her baby get hurt like that". Putting as much feigned hurt into her voice as she could manage Beca said, "And here I thought I was your baby…"
"Well, I mean…" Kate said awkwardly. Beca knew that she had figured out that she was joking, and was responding in kind. Hell she could see the blond giving an innocent little glance around the car before she spoke again, "You're like, yeah. The sex is great and all, but… Anyway, back to food. I wanna be lazy and pick something up. Any ideas?"
"Haha. I hate you, you know that?" Beca said jokingly. Filling her cup once more, which emptied the pot, Beca was starting to feel more human and as she mixed in creamer and sugar she thought for a second before coming up with an idea. Taking another, smaller sip, she said, "I'm feeling lazy too. How about that little taco truck down on 47th? The one with the breakfast burritos… You get that, I'll jump in the shower and load up Netflix. Sound good?"
"Sounds like a date, babe. I'll be there in about 20." Kate answered, and Beca could hear her turn signal turn on over the speaker. Rather she heard the warning noise of her blind-spot monitor going off, which meant she'd put her blinker on and someone was in the way.
"Awesome, you got the door code and I'll leave my door unlocked in case I'm still in the shower. No you can't join me, I'm too hungry for sex right now." Beca said, as sternly as she could manage. She could hear Kate's pout over the phone however.
"Awwww. Later maybe?" The blond asked hopefully.
"Later definitely. Now I gotta go. See you soon." Beca said with a chuckle. After Kate said her own goodbye Beca hung up and downed the mostly full cup of coffee before heading off to get into the shower.
About twenty or so minutes later, feeling much more awake and less zombie like, Beca emerged from the bathroom in a cloud of steam to hear sounds coming from her living room. She called out a hello to Kate and told her she was going to get some clothes on. Which earned an "Awwww" from the older girl, and caused Beca to roll her eyes. But after throwing on some sweats and an old t-shirt and tying her hair up into a messy bun on the back of her head, she rewarded Kate's extreme patience and willpower with a kiss when she finally came out into the living room.
Of course, the blond earned a second kiss by having the food already on the table by her couch, complete with beverages. Looking over the scene Beca said, after giving her a third kiss just because, "You know, you'd make a half-decent waitress. Better than that blond girl downstairs, whatever her name is."
"Ugh, tell me about it. But she's cute, so I guess there's that. And her name is Penny. Which you should know by now, she's only told you like five times… And so many better options for food than the Cheesecake Factory." Kate agreed, taking a seat beside Beca and starting to tuck into her burrito.
"Yeah, she's cute enough I guess. And you know I'm terrible with names. Anyway, shall we carry on? I think we left off at the end of season 4, right?" Beca asked, sitting beside Kate and taking a bite of her breakfast burrito. A happy moan escaped her as the savory food hit her taste buds and, after hearing Kate laugh at her, Beca got a sheepish expression on her face. Swallowing her food, she asks, "What? You know I like my food. Shut up. What episode are we on?"
"You're adorable, babe. And you were right, start of season 5. But I'm sure Netflix remembers that…" The blond girl answered, taking another bite of her food. As Beca brought up Netflix the show they've been watching, despite Beca's protests at the start, is right there and wanting to know if they want to start Season 5, Episode 1. Gesturing towards the tv with her burrito she says, "See. Told you it would remember."
"Hmmph." Beca grunted, her mouth full of food as she hit play and Bob Saget's voice came on the tv to explain the setup for this episode of How I Met Your Mother. As the older Ted Mosby explained to his kids the over-arching premise of this episode Beca shot a glance at Kate, who was already enthralled, and said, "You know, I still don't know how you talked me into watching this show. I mean, sure, TV is better than movies as you sometimes get some variation. But, seriously, he explains what the episode is about at the start of each episode. And don't get me started on sitcoms in general. The canned laugh track, the stale jokes and recycled plot lines, every trope you can basically throw into thirty minutes to get a laugh…"
"I told you I'd have sex with you." Kate answered, rolling her own eyes at Beca who, not for the first time, was complaining about watching a sitcom. Pointing a finger at the short brunette Kate said, "And you can fake it all you want, but I've seen you laughing at this show. Hell, we've gotten through four seasons already, so it can't be too terrible. Admit it, you like it a little."
"Well, ok. I mean, it's better than some of the trash on TV, I guess. Besides, Alyson Hannigan is hot. She's the main reason I watched all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not gonna lie." Beca said as said redhead came onto the screen. Kate, after giving Beca a playful smack on the shoulder, just shook her head and took another bit of food.
"I mean, Aly's ok, but it's all about the brunettes. If there was one reason to watch Buffy it was for Faith. God, the things I'd do to Eliza Dushku…" The blond girl said, her eyes glazing over for a second before she turned to look curiously at Beca. Lifting one eyebrow she said, "So, if you get rich and famous enough, Alyson is on your exemption list, eh?"
"Exemption list?" Beca asked curiously. Then her brain caught up with the conversation and she said, "Oh wait, lemme guess. A list, probably small, of famous celebrities that I could sleep with and not get in trouble for either not sharing 'em with you or just sleeping with 'em in general?"
"Yeah, that's basically the gist of it. You can have Aly, I guess. Though I get Eliza." Kate said, holding her hand out to Beca, who laughed, but shook it to seal the bargain. The pair watched the episode a few more minutes, each eating their food, before Kate turned to Beca and asked innocently, "So, you've got a thing for redheads, eh?"
Beca spluttered, choking on the cup of coffee she'd just taken a sip of and tried, but failed, to stop her mind from thinking of another redhead that lived a lot closer to her than Alyson Hannigan. Once she got her breathing under control, she said, "I said nothing of the sort. I just said that Aly was hot. And you even agreed with me."
"Relax babe. I'm teasing you." Kate said, laughing at Beca's reaction. Finishing up her food, Beca had finished just before her, the blond got up and took the plates into the kitchen and put them into the sink before returning to the couch and sitting down next to Beca. The shorter girl put her arm around Kate and pulled her in closer, and when they were both settled comfortably, Kate added, "And I can't really blame you, either. Redheads are hot, most of 'em at least."
Beca just murmured her agreement and the episode rolled on. Half paying attention to it Beca caught the gist of what was going on. Ted was having a rough day his first day as a professor, getting himself into a quandary about what sort of teacher he was going to be and mixing up his classrooms. Sort of typical things, but the acting was good enough to sell it for her and she did in fact find herself chuckling from time to time as Kate had noted previously.
But what was really distracting her was the secondary plotline going on. Mainly because it wasn't too far off of some thoughts she'd had on her own recently. At the end of the previous season two characters on the show, Neil Patrick Harris' character Barney and Cobie Smulders' Robin, had hooked up. This was the follow-up to that, and started with them hiding their relationship from everyone. Eventually it came out that they had in fact been seeing each other over the "summer", the time that sitcoms usually glossed over while they weren't on the air, and Lily, Alyson's character, was cracking the whip over the two to get them to label themselves. Quite literally cracking a whip too. And that made Beca laugh too.
Kate must have noticed the pensive look on her face after the episode ended though, because she paused it before the next one could start and sat up asking, "Hey, what's going on? You're looking mighty thoughtful there."
"Well, uh… I mean, I guess I am." Beca said, fumbling over her words as she tried to get her thoughts in order. With a vague gesture at the TV, then between the two of them, the brunette asked, "I guess, well, I guess Lily's thing there kinda had me curious… What are we?"
"Sex partners? Lovers extraordinaire? Brunch and Netflix buddies?" Kate supplied, not very helpfully. At the semi-serious look on Beca's face, though, the older sighed and said, "Honestly, Beca, I don't know. I mean, I've never really been a fan of labels. And I know how you feel about commitment, god knows I've heard you rant about your dad often enough. I do know that I would need that exemption list, though, cuz I'm not sleeping with anyone but you. And I hope…"
"I'm not either!" Beca said quickly, wanting to reassure the older girl. It was times like this that it hit Beca how different the two of them were. Beca was 19, a fresh-faced, up-and-coming DJ in LA. Kate, while not a lot older at 25, had seen much more of the world than she had. She'd also been in more relationships than Beca had… And sometimes that made the younger girl wonder. Sitting up on the couch and running a hand through her hair Beca went on, "I mean, well, I'm not sleeping with anyone either. But, well, I guess I just… I don't know."
"No. I get it babe. I do. I understand where you're coming from." Kate said, putting a reassuring hand on Beca's thigh and giving it a soft squeeze. When the brunette's dark, stormy navy eyes turned up to meet her own she said, "We don't need to call it anything but us. And we can keep it casual, as long as it's exclusive too. That's cool. I don't think either of us are thinking that long term yet."
"You're probably right." Beca said, replaying the conversation so far run through her mind. Eventually Beca decided that casual but exclusive was enough. With a reassured smile, Beca leaned in, capturing Kate's lips in a soft kiss. What started out sweet and tender got heated quickly as Beca slipped her tongue into the blond's lips and teased for all she was worth. When they finally separated, both panting a little breathlessly, Beca said, her voice huskier than normal, "I think that sounds perfect. Now, how about that sex? Netflix can wait…"
A couple hours later, after another shower that took much longer than the first, apparently she'd been really dirty according to Kate, Beca turned off the music that the blond had put on before they'd beat a hasty retreat to her bedroom. She thanked the blond who was handing her a water bottle from the fridge and the pair got settled back onto the couch to carry on with the binge watching of How I Met Your Mother. As the next episode started up though, Beca remembered her plan to do some laundry at some point in time before work, but realized she was far too comfortable on the couch to do it now. So she grabbed her phone and gave herself a couple hours to relax, and recuperate, before she needed to get off said couch.
As one episode rolled into another, Beca realized that this might very well be the thing she was missing before Kate, but never realized she was missing. Before meeting the blond girl Beca would have spent the whole day either sleeping or stressing herself out mixing one thing or another. She realized, thinking back on her time prior to the older girl asking her what she did to relax in her spare time at the club when they first met, that prior to Kate she never really had done anything to relax. Unless you counted random sex with strangers at the bar.
Over the next couple hours, spent idly running her fingers over Kate's arms and stomach until the blond slapped her hand away because it tickled, Beca started to reevaluate her whole "no connections, no distractions" plan. And while self-realization was never one of her strong suits, being the irritatingly stubborn girl she could be at times, she was starting to think that maybe mistakes had been made. Unfortunately, before she could really start getting into things, her alarm went off and she reluctantly got off the couch, telling Kate that she had some laundry to do, but that the blond was welcome to keep watching the show.
After retrieving her hamper and dumping it into a laundry basket, Beca made her way back out into the living room where she found Kate pausing Netflix and getting up off the couch, obviously intending to tag along. Raising an eyebrow at the blond she said, "You know I'm perfectly capable of doing my own laundry right? I have been doing it for years."
"I know baby, but you'll be busy most of the night in the booth and I've got my uncle's rally tomorrow so we won't get to spend much time together." Kate replied, rolling her eyes at the brunette's smirking comment. As the shorter girl closed her apartment door, she couldn't resist giving her ass a little squeeze and adding, "Plus you know I'll take any chance I can to get my hands on your panties."
"Like you need an excuse." Beca laughed as they made their way downstairs. Kate shrugged, not at all repentant based on her expression, and Beca just chuckled again. Telling Kate to remind her to check the mail on their way back up, the couple made their way into the basement laundry room and Beca stopped briefly, causing Kate to walk into her from behind. The room wasn't empty and they were surprised to find a tall man obsessively folding his clothes. Not bothering to give more than a cursory effort to hide her disappointment at the room being occupied Beca said, "Oh, uh, didn't think anyone else would be down here now."
"Babe, be nice." Kate chastised, swatting the short DJ on the arm as she took a step towards the tall, skinny man. Holding out her hand she nodded over her shoulder to Beca and said, "That's Beca, I'm her girlfriend Kate. She doesn't mean to be rude, really."
"You're the infernal noise maker!" Sheldon called out, recognizing both her name and her voice from the few times she'd pass his door on the way to her apartment. He turned from his partially folded laundry and glared at Beca, seemingly hardly noticing Kate at all.
"Excuse me?" Beca asked as she carried her laundry basket to a free machine. As was her usual habit when around the apartment she was doing her best to ignore the tall man, Sheldon she thought his name was. Casually waving off his words she started dumping her clothes haphazardly into the washing machine and said, "I don't make that much noise."
"Yes you do!" Sheldon argued. Turning to follow Beca as she walked through the room he leveled a finger at her and said, "You play that infernal noise you call music at all hours of the day, forcing those of us living in the same vicinity as you to have to listen to it as well. For instance, this afternoon, for at least an hour, we were made to suffer through more than an hour of your infernal noise! Chloe and I are planning to file a petition against your actions with the management of 2311 North Los Robles Avenue to have you evicted."
"Whatever you say, slick." Beca said, rolling her eyes as she put the detergent into the machine and started it up. Turning back to face the now thoroughly irate Sheldon, his face twitching with his suppressed fury, she leaned back against the washing machine and just shrugged as she added, "Nobody else seems to mind."
"That's just because they're too lackadaisical to report you to the management." Sheldon pointed out matter-of-factly. Finally turning back to his laundry he resumed pulling out clean clothes and putting them on the folding board and quickly getting them folded properly. Casually over his shoulder, as though he felt the argument was over with his statement, he said, "But Chloe and I aren't. We're not going to have any of your shenanigans."
"That's strange, Chloe seems to like me." Beca said giving Sheldon a smirk and an attitude that said he was clearly mistaken. A quick glance towards Kate showed the blond giving Sheldon an odd look and mostly ignoring her, which was a relief considering their recent conversation about redheads. Her brain apparently hadn't finished trying to get her in trouble, however, as she found herself saying, "She barges into my apartment all the time. At least she used to, before Kate and I started dating."
"That's because she's on my side, gathering evidence against you." Sheldon said, still convinced that he had already won the argument.
"You do realize how crazy you sound right?" Beca asked rolling her eyes and moving over to stand beside Kate near the doorway. She knew that the washing machine here took about a half an hour to finish a load, and would usually just drop her stuff and go. However with Sheldon in the room, and from what she'd heard about him from Chloe before the redhead had made herself scarce, he might do something drastic. Like hang her stuff from the telephone lines outside the building as he'd, apparently, done to Penny at some point.
"I'm not crazy, my mother had me tested." Sheldon gave his usual response. To Beca it seemed as though the tall scientist almost stamped his foot in irritation as he said it, too. Beca almost laughed, and definitely smirked at him, because it seemed it was something that had been brought up, and more than once evidently.
"I had a kid like you in my government class last year." Kate chimed in, wrapping an arm around Beca's waist and leaning into her. She had originally been planning to try and smooth things over between the two, but it had been so amusing watching the scene unfold that she'd forgotten about the plan until just now. When both Beca and Sheldon turned to look at her she shrugged and elaborated by saying, "He was always convinced people were out to get him. You might want to consider getting retested, because there's clearly something going on."
"Do you even live here?" Sheldon asked, sizing up the blonde. He had occasionally seen the blond around the place, though generally in the company of the noise maker.
"No we haven't been going out that long, we aren't u-hauls." Kate explained, chuckling as her comment was vaguely reminiscent of the conversation that Beca and her had had a few hours earlier. She could tell without even looking at Beca that the brunette had rolled her eyes and was shaking her head, but just caused her to chuckle a little more.
"What does you two not being a moving truck have to do with you living here?" Sheldon asked, clearly confused.
"It's a joke, supposedly lesbians move in together quickly." Kate explained while Beca just watched, amused by the conversation. Sheldon still looked vaguely confused as though he still didn't get the joke, so Kate just gave up and said, "It doesn't have anything to do with anything. Regardless, Beca's music is good, she's a DJ actually. DJ 22, you might have heard of her."
"I don't really listen to music. Unless... Maybe she's done something for a show or movie that I know? Like Chuck. That show used a lot of popular music that Leonard seemed to know." Sheldon replied, sounding slightly more interested. He'd met a few actors from shows he liked, but never someone who had made the music for them. This might be an interesting new experience after all.
"I'm not that big yet." Beca said, waving it off. Finally getting tired of the conversation, Beca put her variation of closing arguments in as she said, "Seriously though, I don't know what your problem is, and I don't care. Until someone in some position of authority tells me to stop, I'm going to keep right on doing what I do. And judging by the fact that I had to walk down six flights of stairs to get here instead of using the elevator, those in authority don't care."
"Who needs an elevator when we have perfectly good stairs?" Sheldon asked as he folded the last of his clothes. Sheldon shrugged and gestured vaguely towards Beca and then up towards the elevator and added, "Your music, like the elevator is not needed."
"What did you say?" Beca asked, angrily rounding on Sheldon, near ready to attack him. She felt Kate's arm around her waist tighten as though to hold her back. It wasn't like Beca would actually do anything to him, but she had heard enough about how her desired career choice was "just a hobby" or "not going to last" from her dad that she didn't need to take it from Sheldon too.
"Sweetie, calm down, lots of people like your music." Kate said making sure she had a firm grip on Beca's waist, just in case. She knew that the brunette was very defensive of her music, though she had never really gotten around to asking why. Maybe it was just because it was so hard to make it in the music industry in LA that she was naturally going to fight for whatever it was she got. Stepping out in front of Beca, putting herself between the short brunette and Sheldon, who seemed taken aback by the outburst from the DJ, she put both hands on Beca's hips and said calmingly, "You know you're not going to win over everyone. Just forget it, someday you'll be out of here, living somewhere on the beach, and you won't even remember this guy."
"You will, because I'll have won a Nobel Prize by then." Sheldon said with a nod of certainty. Taking his laundry basket full of folded clothes, he dropped in his folding board and detergent and headed out of the room, brushing past the two girls who had left his thoughts as they were no longer relevant to him.
"Whatever dude." Beca said, rolling her eyes and turning away to end the conversation, only vaguely aware of Sheldon leaving the laundry room. Walking over Beca smacked her hand down onto the table that Sheldon had just abandoned and let out a growl. She felt Kate walk up behind her and start to rub her back and let her head drop down as she tried to calm down a little.
"Chloe, you should know the infernal noisemaker is in the laundry room." Sheldon said as he encountered the redhead with her laundry heading down the stairs. Looking back over his shoulder towards the basement, he'd heard a loud smacking sound from down there just a moment before, so he felt maybe he should give his redheaded coconspirator a heads up. With a significant look he said warningly, "She's causing trouble, be careful."
"Really? Good to know thank you. Have a nice night Sheldon." Chloe said happily, bounding down the stairs. She actually hadn't run into the brunette lately, mostly her own doing as she didn't really want to run into her being all couple-y with Kate. As she was heading into the laundry room, she called out in a near sing song voice, "Hey Beca, Sheldon said you were down here."
"Hey Chloe." Kate called out as the redhead entered, turning around from where she and Beca had been standing by the table. She didn't really know the redhead very well, but Chloe always seemed nice enough whenever they met. Running her hand up and down Beca's arm, she smiled at the redhead who almost seemed to falter a little as she entered.
"Oh, didn't realize you were here too." Chloe said, her tone changing. Realizing that she'd just about winced when she heard Kate's voice, Chloe instead hitched a smile onto her face and tried to sound excited as she said, "How are you doing Kate?"
"Good, hanging with my girl before we go out." Kate replied cheerily, and seemingly more or less oblivious of Chloe's falter. She gestured to Chloe and vaguely upstairs as an idea came to her and suggested, "You and Aubrey should come with us to the club tonight."
"Thanks for the offer, but I'm not feeling up to it, raincheck?" Chloe asked as she headed for an available machine. Once her back was to the couple she rolled her eyes as she tried to still sound cheery. The absolutely last thing she wanted to do was be around Beca and Kate where music and alcohol were flowing freely. Who knows what she might see Kate and Beca doing, or even worse what she herself might do.
"That sucks, hope you feel better." Beca said, the first time she'd spoken up since Chloe had walked into the room. Something about the redhead always seemed to stun Beca a little, and she had a feeling it was the constant energy that Chloe seemed to radiate like a star. Unlike Kate, however, Beca had noticed the falter and was a little curious about it, but didn't feel like asking right now. She made a mental note to ask her later.
"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Chloe said as she went about starting her laundry. As she was putting her things into one of the empty machines she heard Beca say softly to Kate that since that tall idiot wasn't around, they could probably go watch an episode while her things were washing, and the redhead felt relieved that she wouldn't have to make any more awkward small talk with Kate and Beca. Which was the funniest thing, because most of her other conversations with Beca had been easy and casual and fun. Really it was the small talk with Kate that was the problem. She bade goodbye to the two girls as they left and let out a sigh a moment later. And made a mental note to smack Sheldon at some point for not telling her that Kate was in the room too.
As with every time that her phone had rung since Aubrey and she had settled in California, Chloe had gotten a jolt of excitement when her caller ID showed the name of the agent that Penny had hooked her up with. However, after so many calls that went along the lines of "they wanted the other redhead" or "they were looking for someone a little less perky" Chloe had quickly tamped down the surge of excitement. Especially considering he had just called her up a few days earlier to tell her of another part that went to someone else. It was getting to the point where it was almost starting to maybe, partially, diminish her cheerful optimism… Maybe. Well, not really.
"Jackson. If you have another bit of bad news for me, you owe me a meeting that involves both coffee and food." Chloe said, still sitting slumped on the couch beside Aubrey where the pair had been watching some old movie off Netflix.
"Hmmm, well, if that's the case for bad news, what would I get for good news?" The man's voice, a deep baritone rumbling through the speaker of her phone like a bumblebee buzzing around her head, sounded quite happily pleased with himself. And Chloe felt that spark of hope kindle again.
"Well, then I might just have to give you a kiss. On the cheek, mind you, but still… What's the good news?" Chloe asked, standing up from the couch and starting to walk around the room. Aubrey mouthed a question to her, obviously inferring that it wasn't the typical call form the man, but Chloe shook the question off as Jackson started talking again.
For the majority of the short-ish conversation Chloe just nodded her head, listening to what her agent was telling her with the occasional "Uh huh" or "Got it". The couple questions she did ask, mainly trying to get more details that Jackson didn't have, just increased Aubrey's curiosity. About halfway through her conversation she saw the blond get up off the couch and after mouthing "What's going on? Did you finally get something?" which Chloe again shook off, the blond growled under her breath and moved into the kitchen.
Chloe could hear, though she wasn't really paying that much attention, Aubrey moving around the small kitchen doing something. If Chloe had to guess it would have been a tossup between cleaning and making tea, but considering the blond had just cleaned the whole apartment a few days earlier she was leaning towards tea. Finally having wrung out all the details she felt she was going to get, not very many to her mind though Jackson had assured her that it was fairly standard, she wrapped up the call, "That's awesome, Jackson! I'll look forward to your email. And thanks a ton."
"What was that all about?" Aubrey asked as she emerged from the kitchen having caught the tail end of the conversation. Chloe's suspicions were confirmed as the blond woman carried out a tray that held the kettle, two mugs, a selection of teabags and honey. Settling the whole array on their coffee table, the blond looked up to where Chloe was basically bouncing and said, "It certainly sounded like something good."
"Jackson said there's a call for a bit part on Castle I might be perfect for." Chloe said, smiling at the blonde and moving around to sit on the couch beside her and start pouring some tea. While it wasn't a guaranteed thing, Jackson had sounded really confident about it, he said he knew one of the casting assistants and could probably get a good word in for her. Dropping her own teabag into her mug, along with some honey, she added, "They're looking for a college age girl. And Jackson says he knows a guy on the staff."
"That's great Chloe, I really hope something comes of it" Aubrey said proudly, giving her a one-armed hug as she sat beside her on the couch before starting to fix her own cup of tea. After getting things set up and steeping, she spoke up again in a quiet, cautious tone, "You should still think of looking for some kind of other job to supplement things until things start to take off for you. I mean, it's great that this might work out, but it's only a bit part… We could really use a more consistent stream of income."
"I know Bree, I will." Chloe said, restraining herself from rolling her eyes. She didn't hold back the sigh the blond's words had caused though. While she was still excited for the situation, Aubrey's comment reminded her that a bit part was just that, a bit. It wasn't steady work. And though sometimes bit parts became recurring bit parts, which then led to regular roles, more often than not they were one-and-dones. Putting her hand on Aubrey's knee, trying to show her friend that she wasn't upset about the lack of enthusiasm and just knew that Aubrey was trying to watch out for both of them, Chloe said, "I'll find something, don't worry."
"I know you will." Aubrey said, realizing how her cautious words must have sounded to the redhead. An encouraging smile grew on her lips as she rubbed Chloe's back and tried to turn the atmosphere back around. In a voice that didn't even hint at falseness she said, "I hope you do get this part Chlo. And who knows, something could come from it, it does happen after all. Yeah, we do have bills to pay, but that's the point of a part-time thing, it's part time."
"Well from what I was told it's just a small role with a couple speaking lines that might even get cut. Hell, knowing my luck they will cut the part entirely in editing…" Chloe said, her own doubts starting to creep in now. A second one-armed hug from the blond combined with a sip of her tea, which was warm and deliciously sweet, helped bring Chloe back to herself though. A smile started to grow on her lips and she said, suddenly starting to feel more positive already, "But hey, it's a start. And I'm gonna be aca-awesome!"
"Absolutely it is." Aubrey nodded, feeling, as she so often felt in the redhead's ever optimistic, bubbly presence, that there was literally nothing that could keep Chloe down. Letting the redhead go, she reached for the remote and hit play on the movie. As the movie started up she felt Chloe's positivity starting to infect her too and she couldn't help but add, "Everyone has to start somewhere. And this definitely isn't playing Titania and Sally Bowles at Barden. This is the next level shit, Chlo. And as you know 'if you aren't here to win…
"Get the hell out of Kuwait." The redhead finished the oft repeated statement and smiled at her best friend. As much as she may be pissed at her dad, his teachings still ran deep in her. And besides, it wasn't who said the words originally that mattered. It was who was saying them now, and the emotions that Aubrey put behind them that meant everything. Smiling at her friend she just said, "I know, Bree. Thank you, for everything."
"Anything I can do to help you… You know I'm here for you." Aubrey said, returning the redhead's smile before leaning back against the couch cushions and settling in to finish the movie.
The smell of coffee and pastries and the quiet susurrations of low conversations was the perfect background for Chloe. It was just the atmosphere she'd been craving unconsciously that had driven her out of the apartment an hour earlier. As much as she loved Bree, and she did love her as only the best of friends could, sometimes that woman drove her crazy. Well, crazier.
It was a few days after her phone call with Jackson, and the man had come through in spades. That evening she'd gotten the initial script, well the cut back version that contained the lines she'd be giving during her audition, and she'd jumped right into her prep work for it. And true to her word, Aubrey was there with her, every step of the way, helping and aiding and doing anything she could for Chloe.
Except sometimes Bree's idea of help wasn't so helpful.
And that's how she had found herself here, ensconced in a comfortable booth in the back of the coffee shop she'd found a week or two earlier a few blocks from their apartment. Spread out on the table in front of her were the pages that she'd printed out with her lines, and the lines of whoever she'd be auditioning beside. She knew that, like with the Wendy's commercial she would be up against other girls, and that bitter disappointment still was in the back of her mind, but she tried to not let it affect her.
With her Surface beside her, webpages open to the various sites she'd found for her research into what background she could glean about this role to help her prepare, Chloe's attention was focused intently on the lines she'd be reading. Her own internal monologue repeating the lines, first one way then another as she tried to figure out the perfect delivery, so perfectly drowned out the world around her that she started in surprise when the bottom half someone's torso appeared in her peripheral vision. Putting her hand to her chest to calm her heart and help slow her breathing she looked up into the face of a rather attractive brunette holding a coffee and looking a little sheepish.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I scared you. I just wanted to ask if this seat was taken?" The brunette asked, gesturing to show how packed the shop had gotten. Most of the tables that Chloe could see were in fact quite full. The only ones she saw that had room had some rather, well, interesting characters at them. When she looked back up at the brunette Chloe saw her make a face that basically said "I'd rather sit with you than anyone else in the room." Out loud she said, "As you can see, It's kinda crowded in here."
"Huh? Oh, sure, go ahead, sorry." Chloe answered, a little bit distracted by the girl who was quite attractive with her long, straight, light brown hair. What captivated the redhead the most, though, was the girls sharp, light blue eyes and the intelligence that sparkled there. Her mind finally catching up with the situation, Chloe gestured for the girl to take the other seat and added, "I'm Chloe."
"Alex, nice to meet you." The girl said as she sat. As Alex settled herself into the seat across from Chloe, the redhead saw her looking at the papers that Chloe had spread out in front of her with a curious look. Realizing that it was probably best to not be showing off a script for an active TV show to the whole world, Chloe started to gather them into a neater pile. After taking a sip from the cup she was holding, Alex lifted her chin, indicating the papers that Chloe had just picked up, and asked, "What's that you're so focused on?"
"Oh, just some lines for a part I'm up for." Chloe waved it off as she put the papers into her bag. She realized as she said it that the words could be considered a bit conceited and was opening her mouth to apologize or explain that it was just a bit part and nothing serious, but Alex spoke before she could.
"You're an actress? That's cool." Alex said before taking another sip from her drink. The redhead was a little surprised by Alex's lack of reaction to her words for a moment before something dawned on her. For people who grew up in LA, as she was assuming that Alex had done, seeing a struggling actor or actress reading lines in a coffee shop was probably actually pretty common. In fact, another glance around the room showed her at least three other people who could very well be reading scripts as they sipped their coffee. Her companion's voice brought her attention back to her table as Alex said, "I just graduated Stanford and will be starting a doctorate at Cal Tech."
"My best friend and my brother both go there! And my neighbors work there." Chloe said excitedly, sitting up and leaning towards the brunette across from her. It took a great deal of restraint for the redhead to not leap across the table and grab hold of Alex. Her belief in personal boundaries was, as Aubrey had pointed out many times, quite different from other people's however. So with a great effort of will, Chloe kept her excitement in check and just said, "That's so cool. It really does seem like a small world sometimes, eh?"
"Yeah, it really does sometimes. I actually came here because there's this brilliant scientist, Dr. Sheldon Cooper, that I am hoping to work with for my postgraduate studies." Alex explained as she took another sip of her coffee. Chloe couldn't help but giggle a little at Alex's words though, because the world definitely seemed to be getting smaller and smaller. Then again, she guessed someone like Sheldon must be pretty famous, or whatever the scientist versions of famous would.
"Oh my god! He's totes, like, my neighbor." Chloe said reaching across the table and grabbing one of Alex's hands in excitement. The brunette across from her started at the action, then looked confusedly back and forth between Chloe's hand clutching her own and the redhead's face. After a moment it dawned on her what she'd done and so she, slightly reluctantly, let go of Alex's hand and said, albeit in a more normal tone, "He really is a genius but… He's a bit of an odd duck, and he has a massive ego. If you want him to like you, I'd def play into that."
"Uh, ok. Thanks for the tip, I'll remember that." Alex said with a smile, though her tone said she was still a little leery of the redhead. Moving the hand which had so recently been assaulted by an over-exuberant redhead into her lap, Alex obviously felt a change of topic was in order as the brunette nodded towards the pages Chloe had put away and said, "So have you been in anything yet?"
"Just some plays in college and high school, I just graduated from Barden in Atlanta in May." Chloe explained, a slightly disappointed look on her face despite her best efforts to hide it. As she'd expected it seemed that, for Alex at least, struggling actresses reading lines at coffee shops was a standard thing because the brunette had asked if she'd been in anything, not if she'd been in anything Alex may have seen. A fine, but distinct difference and one that Chloe noted. Waving her hand vaguely towards her bag she shrugged and said, "Still looking for my big break."
"Well when it comes I'll be sure to tell everyone I know how I met you one time in a little coffee shop before you made it big." Alex said, a bright smile blooming on her face as she tried to reassure the redhead. Chloe appreciated the effort and gave a weak smile back.
"Thanks. Also, sorry about the thing earlier… I just get excited." The redhead said, gesturing with her hand towards Alex's side of the table. The brunette just shrugged it off, waving her hand dismissively.
"Don't worry about it. I get the same way sometimes, just over different things." Alex said with a pleasant smile for Chloe, who immediately felt better about the whole interaction. Especially when the brunette added, "Also, it'll be one more thing to tell my friends about when you're a famous movie star."
"And I'll be able to tell everyone I know that I groped your hand in a coffee shop when we barely knew each other when you win your Nobel Prize." Chloe said, smiling playfully at the other girl. Alex just laughed a soft laugh and raised her cup up in a salute to the future the two had just created. Chloe smiled, returning the gesture and added, "You know, I think I'll mention it in my Emmy speech."
"Sounds like we have a plan." Alex said with another laugh. A sound chimed from the brunette's phone, which drew Alex attention away from their conversation and also made Chloe realize just how much time had passed since she'd come down to the coffee shop. Wondering if she had any messages from Bree, the redhead reached for her own phone.
"We do." Chloe said with a nod and a grin as she pulled her phone from her bag and saw a couple of missed calls from her friend and two texts. The most recent displaying on the screen said, "You out looking for a job or something? Call me when you can."
As she straightened back up, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement in the window of the record store across the street. Someone was putting up a help wanted sign. An idea jumped into her head, as excellent, and sometimes terrible, ideas often did. Pulling out a pen, she jotted her number on a napkin and handed it to Alex. She wanted to continue her conversation with the brunette who might soon be working with her neighbor, but she knew that she'd better act on her idea now and make friends later. Nodding to the paper she said, "Until then, I've got to find something to pay the bills. Shoot me a text sometime. Maybe next time we can plan to meet for coffee. It was nice meeting you Alex."
"Nice meeting you too Chloe." Alex replied, unlocking her phone and entering the number. The brunette looked up, her phone still showing the contacts page, as Chloe stood and started gathering up her stuff. With a cheerful smile Alex added, "Good luck."
"Thanks!" Chloe said with a smile as she headed out the door. She had just started across the street when she heard the Bella 'Ahhhh' that let her know she had a text. Pulling her phone out she grinned as she saw a text from a number she didn't recognize pop up on the screen.
650-163-8792: It's Alex. Now you've got my number too.
Chloe smiled at the text before putting her phone away and looking up at the front of the music store. Big, bold letters on the roof displayed what she could only assume was the store's name, and based on what looked to be little light bulbs outlining each letter, she expected that it was lit at night. A nice, though old-school kind of touch that Chloe definitely appreciated. Pushing open the door, she stepped inside and smelled an interesting mixture of cleaning products, air fresheners and old vinyl records. A familiar smell that brought her back to her childhood and listening to records with her grandpa. A male voice interrupted her trip down memory lane as someone spoke up from not too far away.
"Welcome to Damn the Man, how can I help you?" A tall-ish, stocky man in his mid-30s said. He was wearing a badge on a lanyard and was standing beside what looked to be the main checkout counter. His hair was a bit unkempt, but in more of a "I'm too busy with other things to care that my hair isn't perfect" way and as far as Chloe was concerned, it seemed to fit the vibe of the store.
"Hi. Uh, yeah. I saw you just put a help wanted sign up." Chloe said, gesturing towards the sign hanging in the window to her right. Taking a few more steps into the store she saw that her nose hadn't been wrong and, in addition to the large selection of CDs the store had a section with old vinyl records. A small smile grew on her face as her eyes trailed lovingly over the relics of a bygone age.
"Yeah, my niece just headed off to Harvard so I'm looking to replace her." The man explained, his eyes looking Chloe up and down as he spoke, though as far as the redhead could tell it wasn't in a creepy manner either. More of a sizing someone up sort of way. Turning to fully face the man she turned her smile up to it's highest setting and let her big, baby blues do the talking as he went on, "I really don't want to go through a long process of finding someone. You know music?"
"Yeah, I know music." Chloe nodded, a bit of confidence entering her voice as she thought of all the experience she'd had with music over the years. She knew that, more than likely, her time as one of the Barden Bellas wasn't exactly what this guy was looking for. But the earlier memory of listening to records with her grandpa was by no means a solitary event, and she had a feeling that that was exactly what he'd meant.
"What's this band?" The man asked, holding up a sticker with a winged P on it. Chloe almost chuckled as she realized that the interview must have just started, or maybe it started the second she'd walked in the door. Either way, she knew she could ace this test.
"Pixies." Chloe answered without hesitating. She had a few Pixies songs on some of her playlists, and while they might not be her go-to for lady jams, they were better than a lot of trash coming out of record labels these days.
"Good." The man said with a nod. He paused for a moment to think before smiling and looking back at Chloe. As he spoke, Chloe could tell he loved his music and his next question proved it as he said, "Name five Clash songs other than Should I Stay Or Should I Go."
"London Calling, Clampdown, Train in Vain, Rock the Casbah, and a cover of I Fought The Law." Chloe listed off, pausing for only a moment in between songs. She could easily remember the lecture she'd gotten from Aubrey during their sophomore year for playing her music too loudly while the blond was trying to study. Aubrey was most definitely NOT a Clash fan. But Chloe didn't hold that against her.
"Complete the lyric 'If you wanna be my lover'." He instructed. He had walked up into the checkout area and was now leaning on the counter as he fired off his questions. Chloe thought she'd impressed him with the Clash songs, but her mind knew what he was looking for with this question. And it definitely wasn't the Spice Girls.
"You better take me home." Chloe said with a grin, and though the poppy, sappy part of her wanted to make a comment about the other way that lyric could have gone, she figured it was best left until AFTER she got the job. Feeling more and more confident with each hurdle passed, Chloe leaned against the nearest stand of CDs and waited for the next challenge.
"Good girl." The man smiled with a nod. Straightening up he pursed his lips and thoughtfully ran his finger along his chin as he pondered the next question. After a moment he smirked and said, "One final question. Who would win in a wrestling match between Lemmy and god."
"Trick question, Lemmy is god." Chloe replied, standing up straight and grinning broadly at her, she suspected, soon to be boss. Her belief was confirmed with his next words, and she couldn't help the little happy dance she did on the inside as he said them.
"You're hired."