Weddings and Champagne

"Just offer champagne and smile for god's sake!"

The words of her boss whirled around her brain as Beca made her hundredth perimeter of the tent.

Six months into living in LA and Beca had managed to rent a small (tiny) studio apartment by the beach and secure a job as a waitress for a catering company – becoming a successful music producer was still in the process of happening; well, no, not really, but it's only been six months...

Another wedding, another pay check – so here she was four hours into the reception, with a tray of champagne glasses and a forced smile greeting the guests. Beca usually eavesdropped on their conversations as a way to pass time, but listening to rich people complain about their "problems" would cause her to say something she would soon come to regret.

After all, she couldn't afford to lose this job; expensive mixing equipment and rent was not going to pay for itself.

"Hey, hold my tray; I'm nipping to the rest room."

"But it's not your break?"

"Emily, just hold the fucking tray."

As she made her way outside and up the grass banking she could hear the faint sounds of the first dance being introduced; she rolled her eyes and started walking faster.

Jesus, weddings are awful.

Once Beca had worked less than half a dozen of them, she had become all too familiar with the way weddings worked – the teary parents; the uncomfortable silence between in-laws; the grooms wandering eye; the drunk and embarrassing maid of honour, and do not get her started on the synchronised dance routines.

She pushed the toilet door open - at least in the bathroom she could play on her phone for twenty minutes and take a break from all the smiling. Three levels into candy crush and there was a slam of the door and heels tapping on marble floor. Beca heard them stop and the sound of a bag landing on the sink. Willing herself to focus on her game, she ignored the conversation starting up on the opposite side of the door.

One of the voices spoke a little louder than the other, "So, seen anyone you like?"

Beca couldn't help but roll her eyes at the women chatter in bathrooms. It seemed their venting or heart to hearts always seemed to occur in a rest room, where other people were just trying to pee. Surely there were more hygienic and appropriate places to have a conversation?

She couldn't help but lend some of her focus to their conversation, causing her to mouth a silent "fuck's sake" as she lost yet another life on the same level of the game lighting up the screen in front of her; the words from outside echoing off the tiles.

"Stacie, this is Fat Amy and Bumper's day, I'm just happy to be here."

"Hey, a wedding is basically a giant excuse to hook up with someone?" Stacie replied with a tone that said duh.

"If you say so..."

"C'mon, you really think I haven't seen you eyeing that brunette handing out the champagne?"

If Beca's attention was grabbed before, it was now tightly gripped in a strong hold, her game abandoned. Her eyebrows shot to her hairline and the feet that were once comfortably resting on the stall door slipped downwards, almost sending her toppling to the ground.

There was a slight pause.

"Chloe, you've been watching her from the moment we got here" Stacie said bluntly.

Chloe.

Beca mouthed the name, trying to recall if she knew a Chloe.

Nope.

"Maybe..."

Chloe's voice sounded guilty, but Beca had a feeling it was said with a smile.

"So, go out there and do something about it. After all you're going to be the only bridesmaid not getting any tonight."

There was another tapping of heels and the sound of the door closing. Beca let out a breath, thankful that she had gone unnoticed. Her mind wandered to the guests at the reception; surely she had served at least one of the bridesmaids' champagne tonight? Where there three, four? She couldn't remember. The sudden sound of a tap running startled her.

So much so, Beca's tight grip on her phone relaxed, causing it to fall to the ground with a clash. She watched in horror, unable to move, as the device bounced, hitting the side of the stall, before - defying all rules of fucking gravity – flying under the gap of the door and outside the stall.

She tightly closed her eyes, before getting to her feet, silently praying it was Stacie behind the door. A quick flick of the lock and she was staring at her phone; miraculously not smashed and level three of Candy Crush illuminating the heeled shoe next to it.

"Hey" she said, calmly reaching to retrieve the phone.

"You just heard everything, didn't you?"

The almost flustered voice most definitely didn't belong to Stacie.

She isn't too sure what she was imagining this Chloe to look like when she was eavesdropping in the stall, but she's pretty sure she could never have pictured the redhead in front of her. Beca was sure she hadn't seen this woman all night, because if she had, Beca would have remembered.

She took solace in the way Chloe looked almost embarrassed by the current situation and after a second or two of silence and awkward eye contact in the mirror, Beca snapped back into action.

"Yeah, start to finish. We can pretend I didn't if that makes you feel better?" she said nonchalantly, throwing in the shrug of her shoulders just for good measure.

Chloe laughed, watching Beca quickly rinse her hands in the sink.

"I'm Chloe" she offered with a smile.

"Hello, Chloe-the-only-bridesmaid-not-getting-any-tonight. I'm Beca-the-brunette-handing-out-champagne."

The redhead laughed, before reapplying red lipstick.

"You're not very good at pretending, are you?" she mumbled.

Beca wiped her hands on a paper towel in order to busy herself, pulling her eyes away from the other woman's lips.

"I try, you know?" she replied sarcastically, discarding the towel into the trash can.

Chloe put the lid back on the lipstick and dropped it back into her bag, locking eyes with Beca, with what looked like a mischievous smile. There was a moment of silence, where both women just shared a look, until Chloe was putting her bag back over her shoulder.

"Alright, I suppose I better get back out there" she said with finality, turning to face the door.

"Yeah, me too" Beca muttered quietly.

"Well, it was nice to meet you."

Beca couldn't believe what was happening right now and before she had a second to filter her thoughts, words were tumbling from her lips before she could stop them.

"Seriously, that's it?" she called out.

The redhead was turning on her heels, no longer facing the door and looking at Beca expectantly, "I'm sorry?"

She was thankful of the two glasses of champagne she'd downed before pawning her tray off to Emily and making her way to the bathroom, because she's one hundred percent sure if she hadn't, she would be a stuttering mess right now.

"I overhear your conversation; that was about me by the way; and you're going to leave me with "nice to meet you"?" she asked, slightly exasperatedly.

Chloe took a step closer, "What was I supposed to say?"

"I don't know something along the lines of "I'll find you later"?"

If there was ever a reason Beca didn't drink champagne, it was completely defined in that sentence. It was a bold move and she knew it, the confused look on Chloe's face made her wish she'd never said it. Then she was taking another step further into the bathroom and closer to a now suddenly nervous Beca.

Why didn't she listen to her boss' advice; "just smile and serve champagne."

Chloe was now smiling at her and stopping a little closer than was deemed socially acceptable.

"Well I could do with a glass of champagne" she challenged, the trace of a smirk on her face.

Beca couldn't help but smile at that.

XXX

A/N: I couldn't decide if Chloe was going to cry or embarrass herself in the bathroom. In the end I went for the latter, I'm giving you guys way too much angst, sorry.