A few days later
Beca quickly checked the text from Tish as she sat in the November all-call meeting.
We got the dress back, thanks again! Also Brad told me that you and Chloe are actually cool, so glad to have you as part of our team. 😘
They weren't really doing much - in fact, at the moment, Sammy was yelling at Dax over something inconsequential again - but Beca still didn't want to be caught not paying attention for the second meeting in a row, because last month that was seriously annoying.
Being in a room with twenty-ish people and being the only one who looks like a dick (again) was not on the agenda.
Plus, she didn't really want to respond to Tish anyway.
After the premiere, she'd gotten a similar text from Jessica. It seemed like somewhere between "Chloe's go-for bitch" and interrupting Chloe's interview, Beca had ruined Chloe's plan of keeping a safe distance from her team.
At least Gail hadn't really picked up on it.
Or, maybe she had, since she had spent ten minutes of the red carpet pre-interview time interrogating Beca about her representation needs after basically ignoring her at Chloe's.
"Pieter, you finished the weird Bieber tracks?"
Beca adjusted her textured red jacket so it covered more of her low-cut tank as she turned around to see the tall, dark-haired German nod.
"Ja," Pieter confirmed. "He loved the insane, mellow beat under his incredibly uncomfortable lyrics."
Sammy pointed a threatening finger at him.
"Hey, I don't know what they do in Germany, but we don't make fun of billionaires over here. Especially when they hire us," he said seriously.
"What else… Bumper, you locked in Dua Lipa?"
"This close, chief!" the slippery little shit replied, and Beca tried not to roll her eyes.
As if Bumper could convince anyone to work with him.
"Okay, well I'm out all of next week and also all of December and won't be back until mid January," Sammy went on. "I've been invited into spend a month learning how to harvest seaweed with one of Destiny's Children and two of the guys from BTS, and I will not be telling you which ones."
"Oh, do not forget your other thing," one of the executives said.
And Beca knew that voice, even before she turned to confirm.
That was Mina.
Aka "The Kommissar."
Gorgeous and formidable, Kommissar was one of the people who oversaw a group of mostly German producers that Beca had little to do with. They were still under Sammy's purview, but they pretty much did whatever they wanted.
Beca didn't know why Sammy had invited these German douchebergers to their production team, to their meeting.
Sure, Germany and Europe in general had that whole EDM house market that Beca actually really liked.
And obviously they were talented musicians, to someextent.
But they were absolute tools that always brought the vibe down with their snooty bilingualism.
It didn't help that Mina - with her amazing stature, perfect bone structure, and blonde hair - was, like, physically flawless.
A fact that Beca had accidentally blurted out at her on more than one occasion.
Why was she even in this meeting?
"Oh, right," Sammy replied. "Yeah, so, Reggie, with all your- uh- press or whatever, we thought it'd be a good idea if we listened to that song you did that Chloe Beale keeps talking about."
Beca's head whipped around at the nickname, but she just gasped out a laugh at the suggestion that they would want to listen to anything during this meeting, as that was, like, the only rule of the whole thing.
Nobody wasted Sammy's time like that.
But when she looked around and saw that nobody else was laughing - though there were a few smiles, and a few scowls - she stopped abruptly.
"Oh seriously! Oh!" she said, scrambling. "Yeah, I, uh, I can get it on my phone, sure."
She knew that everyone was looking at her as she fumbled with her phone, scrolling over into the secure link where she kept all of her unreleased songs. It took a few seconds for the song to re-download on her phone, and she couldn't help but vamp in the mean time.
"It's not, like- like obviously, we don't have to do anything with this," she said hurriedly. "It was just something I was working on, I didn't even know why Chloe brought it up, but-"
"Well, she did, and now we're getting people asking about it," Sammy snapped back. "So can you just play it so we can all move on with our lives? I have a private jet to hotbox."
She nodded, muttering a quick, "of course" before hitting play.
Having been a music producer for years now and working with each of her coworkers on their projects, Beca was intimately familiar with what they looked like when they heard a song that they didn't like - whether they were trying to hide it or not.
Sammy usually sighed with raised brows, then he rubbed his face sometimes.
Bumper would scrunch his face like he just smelled something nasty and shake his head, because subtlety had never been in his wheelhouse.
Last year, when they worked on some Black Mirror Nine Inch Nails pop cover together, Pieter had sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes.
Dax usually went back to eating.
And all of them, every single one, was doing their things right now.
So that's great, Beca thought sarcastically.
Beca glanced over to see Kommissar smiling, so at least that was-
Oh that's a mean smile.
Shit.
The song came to a close, and the room fell into a charged silence. Beca waited about as long as she could - approximately six seconds - before she cleared her throat.
"This dead air between us is a good sign," she joked.
Sammy sighed, leaning forward and rubbing the inside corner of her eye.
"So that was that Ruby Rose song? From- what was that- one-two-three, like three months ago?" he asked. Beca waited a beat in case the question was rhetorical, and when he looked at her expectantly, she replied.
"Yep," Beca confirmed.
"How's that doing?" Sammy sighed as he turned to one of their data guys.
"50,000 streams, give or take."
"Right, so we have a song that everyone wants us to release that's a cover of a song that we basically did as a narcissistic ego-boost- which is fine, except that it's not making us any money - and it sounds like-"
"Like stupid pop bullshit!"
Beca spun at the voice and was not surprised at all to see Bumper looking around expectantly.
"Oh, don't look at me like that," he scoffed. "That was bad!"
Dax shook his head.
"I don't think it was bad," he said. "Kinda an Emily Junk/Renee Rapp vibe, vulnerable but a-"
"-snoozefest!" Bumper cut back in. "It was boring!"
Beca felt her cheeks warm as Pieter jumped in.
"I will admit that it was lacking in certain - was ist das - engaging element. There was no entertainment quality," he added.
"Do we even own that?" Sammy asked impatiently, spinning around to another employee.
"I mean, I wrote it," Beca spoke up, finally finding part of her voice. "She came in with nothing, so I-"
"We own it," someone called from a few seats over. "Any writing that Ruby did was absorbed under our copyright."
"Right, because she sucks at business," Sammy sighed, then he clapped his hands together.
"Okay!" he shouted. "That's over. I'm out-ie."
The rest of the meeting broke up once Sammy walked out, and Beca quickly folded her laptop closed and moved to exit the space.
That was mortifying.
Like the kind of mortifying that's typically reserved for nightmares and young adult fantasy novels.
Nobody was talking to her, so she was able to move rather quickly across the conference room and towards the hallway, towards her office and the solitude that it afforded, when Kommissar stepped in her way.
"Tiny human, do not try to make original songs; it is not for you," she frowned, but it was more mocking than actually sympathetic.
"And next time we give you an opportunity, do not waste it."
Beca gritted her teeth as the Kommissar turned and walked away without even waiting for a response.
"No sir, will not waste it," she mumbled under her breath.
Her phone vibrated against the laptop in her arms, and she shuffled some things around so she could check the screen.
It was a long message from Chloe's Jessica, so Beca ignored it and went back to her office instead.
She got in, slammed the door, and dropped heavily into her desk chair.
It was 3p on a Thursday, the week before Thanksgiving.
And Beca had never been so embarrassed and upset in her life.
That song wasn't supposed to be a single or an original or anything! It wasn't even supposed to be heard by anyone, really. She liked it, of course. She preferred it to the other version. But the idea that that song was what her colleagues were going to think of when they thought of her- that was…
No, Beca asserted to herself. It's a good song.
It was a good song.
Beca knew music, and just like she had talked to Chloe about, some songs just sounded right.
And her version sounded right.
She thought they knew it too - they'd probably be assholes regardless, even if they liked it.
The lyrics, whatever.
Pop wasn't known for its poignancy.
But it was at a more appropriate tempo, and her voice sounded good with the piano. She wouldn't let those dicks convince of her anything outside of her truth: the composition was nearly perfect.
It was a good fucking song.
Damn their opinions.
She didn't want to spend another second thinking about their awful taste.
In fact, she didn't really want to think about anything, she discovered as she stared at her inbox. She knew that artists and producers weren't really expecting anything before the holiday.
Besides prepping for the few clients she had in December and then later, in the new year, she didn't really have anything that she could throw herself into right away.
And she didn't really want to.
She was downright pissed, even worse than she usually was when she had to collaborate with these assholes.
Giving into her newfound habit of distraction, she clicked on her phone to go scroll through instagram or twitter or something, only to see the background of her phone.
It was a picture of Chloe, which was only a little creepy, she reasoned. She wanted to make the actress laugh if she, like, borrowed the phone during the premiere.
Like, she goes to unlock it and bam! she was staring at herself.
Getting ready, when she was telling some ridiculous story to her team in the bathroom.
She thought Chloe would get a kick out of it.
Plus, the lighting was good.
But Chloe hadn't looked at her phone again, so she hadn't seen it.
Beca hadn't changed it back.
It'd probably add authenticity if someone, like, saw my phone or whatever.
But then she remembered the text from Jessica, and she pulled up the app.
Hey B, it read, and if Beca was in a better headspace, she probably would've been more peeved by the nickname. Heard that CB spilled the beans on the Applebaum invite. Let me know when you're going to swing by the set, and I'll call in some paparazzi. Here's all the deets.
The next message had the location and set details.
She stared at the messages for an extra beat.
She checked the time.
She wasn't going to get anything productive done today now - all her emails would probably sound passive (or just outright) aggressive.
She didn't work well when she was angry or sad or whatever this fucked up embarrassed shit was.
So instead of thinking about it, she packed up her laptop and walked right out the door.
Beca knew that Chloe didn't have her phone, so she didn't even bother trying to text her before heading to the set.
She gave her name and info to the gate, momentarily distracted out of her bad mood with a bit of anxiety that she wouldn't be able to get on, but the person at the gate quickly waved her through to the parking lot.
Then somebody came over to pick her up on a golf cart, and the young dude was thankfully too awkward to say anything to her as they drove across the lot.
She didn't even know why she came here.
It was one thing to bail on work and skip the end-of-the-day bullshit in favor of a stiff drink or a greasy meal.
She didn't even think that some of her coworkers would blame her for leaving, after the way that meeting ended.
But why did she come here, of all places?
Why didn't she turn around when she realized that this was where she was headed?
As the wind whipped through the open car, the young guy skillfully dodging important-looking people and random set pieces, Beca thought it out.
If I would've, like, scheduled a visit, I'd have to deal with paparazzi and stuff, she thought. If it looks like I was already planning to just pop in, then I can avoid all that.
And she wanted to see Chloe.
She could admit that to herself.
After being buried in her work for weeks - which now felt more like a "fuck you" than a positive - the premiere last weekend was - well, okay, it was weird as fuck - but it was also fun.
It was always fun to hang out with Chloe.
She didn't need to do shit like that all the time or anything, but she got the appeal.
She'd hadn't looked up any of the fallout from the interview interruption, though.
She knew what she said, what she had wanted to say, and what Jessica or Gail wouldn't actually be too pissed at her for saying. Not that she cared - in that moment, she'd only cared about Chloe - but she didn't want to make things harder for the actress by saying something that would actually get her in trouble.
Either way, she avoided what people were saying about it, because she didn't want to know.
And besides, Chloe had kissed her on the cheek after.
So that made it all worth it.
Chloe hadn't texted her telling she had screwed up and this whole thing was over, so Beca figured that it couldn't have been that bad.
And if it made Chloe kiss her on the cheek, Beca would probably do it again.
Maybe a cool hundred times or so.
Because as much as she loved having Chloe as a friend - because she really did think of her as that, as someone that she would support and stand by, no matter what - it was nice to get a kiss on the cheek from a beautiful woman.
One that she definitely still had a crush on.
But it's all different now, right?
Crushing on a friend is kinda gross.
And there was this other thing - this gnawing, growing itch at the top of her neck and the pit of her stomach.
This thing that said "crush" didn't really feel like enough of a word anymore.
Like this thing with Chloe was more than just a crush.
But that part was one that Beca wasn't quite ready to face.
As the golf cart slowed by the door brandishing the number "47", Beca summoned whatever impulsiveness had led her here in the first place and got off the golf cart.
She followed the guy inside, through the loading area, and into the actual studio.
Immediately, she was confused, because - through the scaffolding and false walls - she could see the set, but the set looked like a set. There were big green screen walls with pieces of set dressing in front of it, but it all kinda looked the same to Beca. There were monitors and those cliche director chairs, and big can lights, but then there were other monitors and other director chairs and-
"Beca!"
A warm, familiar body wrapped around her - well, familiar except for a giant fake belly - and the collision expelled an oomph from deep within her chest.
Chloe was tucked against her shoulder, and Beca leaned away to see that she was wearing a coverall jumpsuit with arms tied around her waist but below the fake pregnancy belly. On top of the belly, she had a two-sizes-too-big long-sleeved t-shirt that was pulled taut across the fake stomach. Her darker hair was pulled back in a tight bun, and she was smiling wider than Beca had ever seen her.
"I almost didn't believe it when the PA said he was coming to pick you up, but you're here!" Chloe said quickly. "Hi!"
Chloe leaned back, and Beca couldn't keep her expression from falling into a grimace.
The weight of the whole day hit her - all the work she'd done before the meeting, then being diligent and responsive during the meeting, and then getting shit on in the meeting - all scored beautifully by the slightly confusing yet steadfast Chloe-missing that had apparently been there the entire time.
She felt relief in seeing her friend - her friend? - but that relief she only added to the frustration and- well- sadness.
She was sad.
Like, stupidly sad.
Purposelessly sad.
And she knew she was showing it.
Man, this sucks, she thought. Why did I come here? I'm gonna bring down the whole vibe.
"Hey Chloe," she sighed.
Beca saw the moment that Chloe clocked the bad mood, and Beca braced herself for the inevitable "what's wrong" or "is everything okay."
She deserved it, after all, for coming to Chloe in her desolate mood.
But the questions never came.
Chloe took one look at her pained expression and whatever weariness accompanied it and, instead of asking anything, she nodded thoughtfully.
"We're about to do a start a new scene, want me to get you set up so you can watch and listen?"
Beca nodded, not sure if she trusted her voice at the moment.
She didn't know if she would cry or sigh or yell, but all of her emotions rolled up like a snowball careening down a hill, gaining mass and hurtling nowhere.
But Chloe ignored it, pulling Beca over to one set of chairs - must be the real ones then - and forcing her into one.
"Okay, I'm gonna get some headphones and also grab Benji so you can meet him- uh, small warning, but he- okay, hah- he wanted you to come by because he believes that we're, like, really good for each other," Chloe said hurriedly, swallowing thickly before tacking on, "Specifically in relation to the, uh, depth of love my character has for a partner. And how that can drive a person into a psychotic break."
"Oh wow," Beca scoffed sarcastically. "So no pressure?"
She really didn't feel like she could put on a show right now.
"Just be your wonderful self," Chloe grinned. "And if he asks if we're in love, be chill."
"The chillest," Beca replied with a tight grin, but Chloe just winked at her as she trotted over to the collection of monitors that was the furthest away from everything.
Beca took a second to look around, immediately aware that there were a decent number of people getting ready for the next scene.
Two of them were dressed like Chloe - one woman who was sitting, reading a book away from the set, and one guy who was on set next to the set version of the director chairs - but everybody else was wearing black.
And though they all pretty much looked the same, Beca felt like she could tell which ones were actors pretending to be crew and which ones were actually crew.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone gesture towards her, and she looked over to see Chloe pointing at her while talking to some young dark haired guy.
He was sporting a giant headset with a Britney Spears-esque mic, positioned off one ear, and he was wearing an oversized black and white striped sweater with clean-cut blue jeans.
Beca expected Chloe to walk over, but the other guy did instead, and Beca watched as Chloe practically skipped over to the guy near the chair on set.
She took a seat next to him, their backs to Beca, and Beca turned her attention on the approaching dude.
"I believe these are for you," the young guy said as he got close. He put his hand behind Beca's head and twirled it by her ear, producing a pair of headphones that had clearly been in his hand with some other equipment.
"Oh, awesome," Beca replied stiltedly as she accepted them. "Cool."
"It works better when it's a quarter," the man sighed. He was on the shorter side - not that Beca had any room to talk on that subject - and the one ear that Beca could see was sticking out just slightly from around curly brown hair and the beginnings of sideburns.
Beca nodded with a tight-lipped expression as she adjusted the headphones around her neck. They were bluetooth and already on, so she didn't hit any buttons as she positioned them into a resting position.
"Benji Applebaum, at your service," he said after a beat. "It's a pleasure."
"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry," Beca replied quickly, feeling heat rush her cheeks.
"It's quite all right!"
"I'm Beca, I'm Chloe's girlfriend," Beca added self-consciously.
"Of course, I've heard about you!" the director grinned. "I'm glad you were able to make it to my set."
"Thanks for, like, letting me come by. That's really cool of you."
Benji didn't say anything, but he nodded like there was some secret that the two of them shared. Beca did her best to mirror the look, but she knew she wasn't effective.
Panicking, she started to talk again.
"I'm sorry, again," she started. ""I'm, uh, just getting into this whole movie thing. Chloe's teaching me a lot about it."
"She warned me that you had remained unpersuaded by the glitz and glamour of movie life," Benji said wistfully. "I assume it's a personal reason?"
"No, I just- well. I just get bored," she floundered.
She needed to shut up.
Like, now.
She was being the rudest bitch she could imagine, to the director of all people.
But then the silence stretched, and she heard herself continuing her thought.
"I think I'm just really good at guessing endings."
So much for shutting up.
"Like in, uh, in Star Wars- because 'vader' in German-"
"-means 'father,' right?" Benji finished for her.
Beca nodded slowly.
Benji sighed.
"It is the folly of man to let inspiration dictate art," he said softly. "Lucas toiled with balance in that regard, especially when his wife left him. Looking at it now, I can see that it's a bit much."
This time, when silence settled over them, Beca kept her mouth shut. Instead, she watched as the set lights blinked on, and someone rushed over to Chloe and the guy sitting next to her, using some brush to fix their make-up.
And then Benji took a deep breath and started talking again.
"But I'd argue that while the endings may be predictable, the growth experienced to reach them often isn't. For me, the efficacy of endings doesn't lie in the pre-credits scene, but in the number of times I wondered if we'd ever get there."
"Woah," Beca replied with a small smile.
"You've thought about this a lot, huh?"
"Well, it is my job," he teased back, and Beca chuckled before he went on.
"But don't worry, I'm not a total dork. I'm also super into close-up magic. Like-"
He placed the things in his hand on the seat behind him and pulled the sleeve of his baggie sweater forward, using the momentum to shake something into his hand.
And when he pulled the sleeve away, Beca was shocked to see a small hamster in his hands.
"Oh my god," she gasped out an incredulous laugh. "How long has that been in there?"
"Several days," Benji said off-handedly.
He used one finger of his not-holding-a-hamster hand to pet the tiny rodent on the head.
"Chloe absolutely loves him. She's thinking of getting one."
"Hah!" Beca laughed. "Of course she is."
"You don't approve?"
Beca was about to laugh again, but then she saw the genuine concern and sadness in the director's expression, and she pushed down the instinctual reaction.
"I'm sure her cats would love it," she said instead, and then she added, "-though that doesn't surprise me. Chloe loves all animals, big and small."
Benji's excitement came back when Beca brought Chloe up, and he glanced at the set before he leaned towards Beca conspiratorially.
"She's amazing," he whispered. "I could hear her rehearsing all the time. I could probably step on set and do her part, just from listening."
Beca smiled and was about to say something back - what exactly, she wasn't sure - when somebody said something from the set. Benji looked over, shifting slightly as he moved towards the chair behind him.
He must've seen Beca's confused face, because he motioned for her to put her headphones on.
Beca obliged, pulling them over her ears to hear the tail-end of whatever someone was saying.
"-two? Camera two is ready. Okay, Benji, we clear?"
Beca glanced over to see that Benji had apparently relocated his hamster back into his sleeve and picked up the other thing he was carry, which was an iPad-looking screen that was apparently hooked up to the set equipment.
He clicked a few things and was able to see two camera angles - one that was off to the side of Chloe and her male co-star, who was a beefy light-haired dude - and one focused further towards the green screen.
He reached beside him, fiddling with something before saying, "Can we move that camera just two inches back please? And re-adjust?"
Beca turned toward the set to see that there was a person with a camera mounted out in front of their chest who was standing a few feet away from Chloe. The guy stepped back and adjusted something that Beca couldn't see, and Beca assumed that he was doing what Benji had just asked.
"Great! Perfect, even!" he sighed happily as he perched on the chair with the screen out in front of him. "Benji's giving the all clear."
He went to pull his headphone over the ear that he had exposed, but Beca cleared her throat before he could.
"You can, like, go back over there," she said quickly. "I'm good here."
"Nonsense, I'm able to see everything I need to from right here," he replied. "Besides, this will be a treat. Watch."
He pulled his headphones on and leaned towards her, holding the screen between them. Beca did the same, and she could practically hear the bated breath of everyone on set as one of the other important people called, "background action!"
A group of people started to mill about behind and around Chloe and the other guy, and Beca looked over to watch through Benji's screen.
"Whenever you're ready, Christopher," the person said, and the beefy guy took a deep breath.
And just like that, the scene started.
Beca tried to pay attention to what was going on in front of her as well as what was going on on the screen. But with the actors talking in her ears while she tried to watch, she really couldn't get her bearings enough to take it all in.
She could see on the screen that Chloe was speaking flippantly, handling what looked like a complicated piece of machinery as she basically talked at the co-actor in the scene.
And Beca thought back to the scene she'd encountered - there was a pregnancy, and a cheating guy, and-
And duh, they were actors.
So that was what the whole fake-set must've been about- they must've gotten to the scenes where the actors were their actual characters, and this was them filming the other movie.
The one in space… right?
Beca still wasn't clear on all that.
"You know, I've got this director friend," the beefy guy was saying in Beca's ears, and she glanced down at the screen to watch him smile graciously at Chloe. "He would probably love to sit down with you."
Chloe began to smile and nod in return, but then there was movement on the other camera view that drew her attention.
And apparently everyone else's too, because Beca watched as Chloe's head spun towards the direction of the sound of someone entering the set.
He was tall and gangly with a long, black cardigan on and thick framed glasses that momentarily distracted from his shiny bald head and bushy beard, and Beca almost giggled, because he was like Dax and Sammy combined.
"Christopher, can I talk to you over here for a second?"
All eyes tracked the movement as Christopher got up, flashing Chloe a guilty grin before cutting across the set.
Beca dropped her eyes back down to the screen in time to see Chloe pull tightly on a looser piece of the machinery in her hands, and something snapped off.
Beca barely held her gasp in as nearly the top third of the prop broke off in Chloe's hand, but before she could react, Chloe had jumped up, and the camera was following her across the stage.
Beca couldn't decide whether it was better to watch on the screen or in real life, but as Chloe disappeared behind a fake wall, she had to look back down on the screen to see what the hell was going on.
Chloe paused on the other side of the wall, and the camera zoomed in a bit as she kept a stiff jaw and forced neutral expression. She shook off the tension and replaced it with a sly smile - one that Beca hadn't really seen from her before - and then she stepped out from behind the wall and up to the fake snack table.
The camera swooped around to front of the table and focused on her again, and Beca finally glanced over at the other video feed, then one that was on the guys.
She focused on the dialogue so she could actually get some context.
"-but I guess, so… do I love her?"
"Which one?" the tall bald guy asked.
Beca watched the screen as Chloe stepped up to the snack table and began busying herself with making a cup of coffee.
In theory, she was close enough to hear what the two guys were talking about, and, by the way she kept glancing up at them, Beca assumed she was supposed to be eavesdropping.
"Both? Either?" the muscular actor replied.
"I think that's up to you to decide," the nerdier guy said pensively. "I think you can be conflicted and carry all of those unresolved, angry emotions about Blair, and you can also interpret your relationship with Olivia as a clean slate. A chance to love without all that baggage. So there's guilt, shame, but also hope. Maybe there's love for the possibility of it all."
The lines petered out, so Beca figured that some other kind of acting was happening.
She had to look up to orient herself, because on the screen, she couldn't really tell what was happening, but after looking in real life and then at the screen again, she finally figured it out.
Christopher, aka Mr. Meathead and presumably the "actor" playing the "character" that Beca had read lines for, the dick that cheated on Chloe's movie character Blair - he was looking at Chloe.
And Chloe was looking back at him?
No, that wasn't right.
Chloe was looking at the other guy.
Probably the "director," right? If he's talking about character choices?
So Chloe's actor was in love with the director, or at least infatuated.
And the other actor had similar feelings for Chloe's actor character.
Well that was fun.
Complicated and confusing, but probably interesting to see unravel.
Beca stopped herself before she thought something crazy, like I wonder how it ends.
Or even weirder - one she hadn't ever thought about before meeting Benji Applebaum today - I wonder how it all happens.
"Does anyone know where the maintenance hub prop is?" somebody else yelled out, and Beca watched the screen as the focus of the boys' camera swung over to a person in all black.
"Loni, did you have it after your scene?"
Chloe (or Loni, Beca assumed- and that's right, she did tell me that.) had a tiny widened of her eyes before she frowned convincingly, but not convincingly enough for an audience who knew what the situation was.
Beca let out a soft laugh when she realized that that was definitely the prop that Chloe's actor character broke.
"Oh, yeah, I dunno," Chloe said quickly, and she put a earbud in her ear as she sank back into an actor chair and pulled out her phone.
Beca watched the screen as the camera stayed on her, and as the background chatter picked back up, Chloe looked up and over at the director again over the edge of her phone.
Benji stirred next to her, and Beca glanced up at him as he kept his eyes on the screen in front of him, on Chloe, and then he stood.
"Cut!" he called out, and everybody relaxed, even Beca.
"Guys, that was amazing," Benji grinned. "Chloe, excellent work."
There was a smattering of applause, and Beca wished for a moment that she had the screen back so she could see Chloe's reaction up close.
But she didn't, so she settled for watching Chloe give a little curtsy from across the room.
"I think we take the whole thing one more time for safety, and then I want some alternates on the Christopher-Nate conversation, but wow," Benji enthused. "Seriously. This is exactly what I wanted. Back to one, everyone."
They reset and ran the same scene, but Benji had gotten up and walked over to the monitors and people instead of sitting by Beca this time. She settled for actually listening to the dialogue and trying to watch the scene without having the screen.
She picked up on other things this time - how people stood when they weren't onscreen, and how the background actors moved when they got onscreen, motivated and moving with purpose.
It was contrasted with the way Chloe moved, like she had all the time in the world but she was also nervous?
Like she couldn't sit still, but not in the same way that the others moved.
It was cool how she was able to change the way she moved, and so unlike her normal movement in real life.
Chloe was more like the background actors- driven, motivated, though maybe a bit more fun.
There wasn't anything aimless or anxious about her.
Distressed sometimes, maybe.
Put-upon.
But not aimless.
Chloe always knew exactly what she wanted to do. She set her mind to a goal, and, while Beca had heard her second-guess her motivations at time, she was always actively working towards something more.
It was the kind of drive that made Beca a little jealous.
Or envious.
Whichever one mean she thought it was cool and also wanted it for herself, but she'd never take it from Chloe.
Benji called "cut" again, and he said something that Beca didn't really understand due to some combination of lingo and residual deejay deafness.
She was about to grab someone to ask - one of the people who actually worked for the movie set, not just dressed like it - but then she saw Chloe coming over.
"Nice job, superstar," she teased as Chloe got within earshot, and Chloe giggled as she pulled her into her arms. She kissed Beca on the cheek as Beca tried to tamp down her goofy smile.
"I hope it wasn't too awful, for a non-movie watcher," Chloe teased right back.
"Nah, it was pretty cool," Beca answered truthfully, and Chloe's reserved smile turned realer and bigger.
"High praise!" Chloe giggled, and Beca nudged her with her shoulder. Chloe took the hint and sat in the chair next to her.
"So how much longer are we here?" Beca asked, and Chloe brows furrowed slightly.
"Oh, we can go now, actually," Chloe said. "Well, after I get out of wardrobe."
She gestured to belly, and Beca laughed.
"I almost forgot you were wearing it. It looks so natural."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at Beca, glaring at her for a moment before speaking again.
"Usually I'd want to hang around and introduce you to some peeps," she threatened, and Beca was about to claim illness, injury, or death to try to get out of it, but Chloe cut her off as she went on.
"-but I got a message from Aubrey this morning about going to dinner. If I hurry, I think I can still make it. It's, what, 5ish?"
Beca checked her phone and nodded.
Oh, shit, am I supposed to have my phone?
She quickly stuffed her phone back into her pocket and turned forward.
The guys were setting up for another camera angle, and Benji was talking to the person who was calling action before, and it looked like they were about to get going again.
And Beca was - of course - pretty stoked about not having to be introduced to tens of people whose names she'd forget and jobs she wouldn't understand.
But…well… she thought they'd be there for a while.
She thought it'd be one of those things where she showed up and got bored for long stretches of time, and then she'd go home too exhausted to think about anything.
Too exhausted to think about the day she had.
And now she just had to go home and hope that her "forget the world and drink to very specific rhythms" playlist would carry her through to tomorrow.
When I have to go back to work and act like every person there doesn't piss me off beyond belief.
"We should probably go now, before they start filming again," Chloe nodded seriously. "Did you drive?"
Beca sighed.
"Yeah," she said, trying to push her thoughts back down.
Seeing Chloe was a good distraction.
This was cool.
But it's time to face the real world again.
"-yeah, I drove," she clarified. "Want me to, like, drop you off at dinner?"
Chloe turned to her with a start, and Beca finally looked over at her completely. She was leaned forward in her chair, but she had also started undressing, pulling the costume t-shirt over the breadth of the belly, so a wide, uncovered and slightly yellowish belly was currently smushed between her thighs and the extra fabric of the shirt that was bunched up at her chest.
"Wow, what a look," Beca deadpanned, and Chloe grunted disapprovingly as she stood.
"You try being fake-pregnant all day," she lamented. "Sometimes I actually feel like I'm two trimesters in. C'mon."
After a quick detour to the monitor station to drop off audio equipment, Chloe led Beca further into the building, off the set floor, and into a hallway. They passed through another door, and then they snaked around a few random things and into a room with a plethora of empty clothing racks.
"Margie!" Chloe called out. "I'm wrapped!"
An older woman with greying hair and high cheekbones came through an opening on the opposite wall. She had a bundle of clothing in her hands - jeans and the black sweater that Beca had seen Chloe wear before.
"Chloe Beale, a delight as always," she said, a slight British accent affecting her words. She glanced at Beca and smiled softly.
"You didn't tell us that your esteemed girlfriend would be on set today!" she chided Chloe gently, and Beca felt her face scrunch up in embarrassment. "Hello, Beca, lovely to meet you."
"Likewise," Beca replied, reaching over and shaking the older woman's hand.
"Beca surprised me!" Chloe raved. She untied her coverall arms from around her waist and pulled the lower half of her costume down, and Beca felt her cheeks heat up even more.
"How sweet," Margie agreed, and then she leaned towards Beca.
"We love Chloe around her," she whispered. "She always brightens our days."
Beca's scrunched face got scrunchier when she laughed softly.
"It's infectious, isn't it?"
"Certainly," Margie confirmed.
"Okay, I need help!"
Beca and Margie turned around to see Chloe with her fake belly half-wrapped around her head, as she had evidently tried to shimmy out of it herself.
Margie tutted and rushed to her side, scolding her lightly for attempting the impossible before she lifted the prosthetic off Chloe's slender frame.
The t-shirt came with it, and Chloe was now standing in a thong and a sports bra, and Beca was trying to decide where to let her gaze rest.
"So you're going to come to dinner, right?" Chloe asked before bending over to grab her jeans.
Beca glanced down before quickly blinking up to the ceiling.
"Uh," she stalled. "I don't want to crash it."
"Oh, you're not," Chloe said as she stood all the way up. She pulled the jeans around her waist to button them, and Beca let her gaze come back to normal eye-level.
Although that was a mistake, because Chloe was still shirtless, and Beca could see the hard-earned muscles that defined her obliques, taut as she bent slightly, fiddling with the button, and her biceps were flexed, and the sports bra had pushed together her-
Chloe glanced up, and Beca blinked, resuming eye-contact where eyes typically were.
"C'mon, it'll be fun," she pressed. She grabbed the sweater that Margie was offering her and pulled it over her head as she added, "I have to make you be friends with somebody tonight."
"Excuse me, love," Margie butted in, clearly over-exaggerating her shock. "Beca and I have become quite close."
Beca nodded with fake seriousness.
"Quite," she echoed, and Chloe shook her head with a laugh.
"You have to come," Chloe insisted, and Beca sighed.
"I want you to come."
It's probably better than going home and drinking alone, her mind reasoned.
"Fine," she relented. "But I'm not staying out late."
"Well, you're off then," Margie said cheerfully. "Enjoy your night."
Chloe gave the costumer a quick hug, then pulled Beca away again, through the wardrobe room and the make-up room (empty, thankfully, and Beca guessed that all the touch-up artists were on set). They stepped out into another hallway, and Chloe paused at an intersection of doors.
"Hold on, gotta pee!" she said as she ducked towards one of the open doors. "B-R-B!"
Chloe stepped in and closed the door, and Beca took a deep breath as she stood there alone.
She was about pull out her phone or start wandering the halls when a nearby door - connected to set, apparently - flew open.
A smaller, young woman with long black hair stepped into the hallway and stood next to her awkwardly.
"You're Beca, right? Not some other rando?" the woman asked after a moment, and Beca nodded.
"Oh gosh okay good," she sighed, relieved. "Benji sent me to drive you and Chloe back to the front of the lot. Sometimes she just takes off and walks all the way back if we forget, even if it's been a super long day."
Beca chuckled softly.
"That sounds like her," she said.
"Yeah, and it's crazy, because we actually, like, fight over who gets to drive her," the crew member went on. "She's literally so nice."
Beca nodded, but she didn't say anything in response.
Because what could she say?
That Chloe was the nicest person she'd ever met?
That just being around the actress had lifted her out of her shitty mood better than any drink or drug ever had?
That Chloe was, in effect, the best part of her life?
Even if it was some confusing mash-up of crush and camaraderie?
Crush isn't enough.
She couldn't say that, and she felt like she hadto say something, so she started to form words without knowing where they were even headed-
And then crew kid spoke again.
"It's real, isn't it?" she pondered aloud. "I kinda thought the whole 'positivity' thing was an act or at least, like, an weird coping mechanism, but it's for serious? She's actually just, like, a beam of sunshine?"
Beca felt her face contort into frown, her eyebrows pulling together slightly.
She thought of that person she met - really met - at that dinner, all those months ago.
And the one with the fans, from last weekend.
The one that got embarrassed by Fifty Shades of Grey and had a little art studio and stables - actual fucking stables - for her future horses and pigs.
But she also thought about the woman who was hurt by those questions.
Who had to deal with the paparazzi and fucking Gail.
The woman who was taking a stand for herself.
Who was so determined and driven and somehow - inexplicably, irrationally - so damn kind.
"I mean, she's a person," she said, and immediately the crew person tried to walk her comment back.
"Of course, no, I-"
"No, hold on," Beca cut in. "She's a person, so obviously she has her good days and her bad ones, right? Like she's not always going to be able to be everything to everyone, but…"
She thought of Chloe's smile.
Slow, and spreading, and bright.
"But yeah," she said finally. "It's real. She really cares. It's, like, instinctual for her. She's not faking it."
She thought for a moment longer, and then added, "It's safe to assume that she has more good days than the rest of us."
The woman from the crew laughed, and Beca smiled.
"Well, you're really lucky," she said, and Beca turned to face her.
"Why?"
"If I had somebody like Chloe in my life, I'd feel like I could do anything."
Beca let the last shittiness of her day melt away as she smiled even wider.
"Yeah," she chuckled.
"I'm definitely lucky."
"Okay, so then why is it called The Coriolis Effect?" Beca asked as she held the restaurant door open for Chloe.
"I think it's a weather thing?" Chloe winced. "I mean, Benji's explained it, but it all went way over my head. All he said is that the props moving and breaking was a metaphor for the displacement that we all experience over the course of a project."
"Told you there were metaphors," Beca teased, and Chloe spun around to stick her tongue out at her.
"Sit wherever," a passing waitress told them, and Beca glanced around.
She definitely hadn't been expecting a diner when Chloe had told her they were going to dinner with her paparazzi friends - though, knowing Chloe, that descriptor was probably too reductive for her friends.
It was old-school, with vinyl seats and booths, but spacious and relatively empty for a Thursday night at 7pm. Chloe was able to spot Stacie and Aubrey relatively quickly, and Beca followed a few steps behind as Chloe nearly sprinted across the restaurant and wrapped her friends into a tight hug.
"You made it!" Aubrey said in lieu of a greeting.
"Oh my gosh, I totally forgot to text you- I'm sorry, I don't have my phone on, and I didn't remember-"
"Don't worry about it, Chlo-ster," Stacie grinned. "We're just happy you're here. And I don't think I've told you this in person, but I love the dark hair."
Beca stepped up awkwardly next to the group, and of the pair, Aubrey was the first one to see her.
"And… Beca," she said, surprised. "So good to see you again."
"I hope you don't mind," Chloe rushed to say. "I can't believe I forgot to text you. Beca surprised me at set today! So I invited her to come, was that okay?"
"Of course," Aubrey smiled, but Beca noticed it was a little rigid around the edges.
"Another photo-op?" Stacie asked as she popped one of her fries into her mouth.
"Nope," Beca said simply, and when neither she nor Chloe elaborated - choosing to take their seats at the long, cafeteria-style table instead - Beca felt her cheeks heat up.
Chloe didn't seem to notice the obvious pause as Chloe's friends waited for them to explain why they were hanging out outside of contractual obligations, as Beca watched her grab a menu and scan it quickly.
"Okay, so Becs, you have to try the nacho fries," Chloe explained effusively. "The burger is good too, but if you get it, you have to give me a bite. It's basically, like, the law."
Beca kept her eyes on the tiny red print, ignoring the shocked look that Stacie and Aubrey shared.
"Figure out what you want later; I want details!" Stacie demanded fussily, and Beca froze.
Details?
About them?
"What's Applebaum like? And Miles Teller? Like hello, tell me everything!"
Beca let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding.
She didn't know why that theoretical situation had rattled her so much.
She didn't want to think about it.
Thankfully, not-thinking was incredibly easy to do when surrounded by three friends who apparently hadn't caught up in a while.
Chloe went first, telling Aubrey and Stacie all about Applebaum and how awesome and patient he was.
But when they asked about the actual movie, she told them she couldn't give too many details.
(That made Beca weirdly proud.
That she was allowed to know something about Chloe's life that nobody else was.)
And then Aubrey talked about the It's All Good, Baby premiere, and Chloe got to rehash all the particulars of the event that Beca didn't even realize.
Like the fact that Beca knew the last reporter, at least socially, from events and stuff?
And she'd done shitty things like that before?
They teased Beca about her outburst but pulled back pretty quickly, saying that Vi was being unnecessarily mean (and confirming that she had totally made up the whole Y rumor thing.)
They even said that either one of them would've done the same thing.
("I mean, probably smoother than you did it- though the protectiveness was kinda hot," Stacie added with a wink.)
And Beca got to relish the feeling of knowing that she wasn't crazy, because Stacie and Aubrey also said that the movie was pretty bad.
("The framing needed work," Chloe finally relented.
"Yeah, and the actors needed direction," Aubrey insisted before tagging on a quick, "but not you."
"No, I could've used some help, honestly," Chloe confessed, and Beca gave her a small smile.)
They had their burger, fries, and salad before the conversation even returned back to Beca.
Aubrey cleared her throat and re-positioned herself, staring at Beca head-on.
"And how are you, Beca? You're a producer, correct?" she asked politely.
"Yep," Beca confirmed, even though that was the last thing she wanted to talk about right now.
She had half a mind to quit.
She had an even bigger half (yeah, I know it doesn't make sense, shut up brain) to make their lives into vindictive, specific little hells.
"That's also very hot," Stacie hummed with a critical eye. "You're a hot person."
"Stacie," Chloe chastised. "Down, boy."
"Ignore her," Aubrey hummed at Beca, who was letting her eyes dart between them. "Do you like it?"
Beca sucked on the back of her teeth.
"Some days," she replied truthfully.
But the tone must've communicated something else, because nobody asked a follow-up.
Beca just stared at her plate.
Cool, now I've made the vibe weird and I'm dissociating in public, she thought blearily.
Thankfully, the quiet didn't last forever, and Beca glanced up when Stacie decided to end it.
"Have you worked with Taylor? Can she actually sing? Because I heard that she has a vocal double."
"No you didn't," Aubrey laughed.
"She's so sweet," Chloe frowned. "I hope it's real. Beca, tell me she's real."
Beca just laughed.
"I haven't worked with her, no, but she can definitely sing," she said, and then she smiled wider when she thought of the one opportunity that Residual did have to work with the famous singer.
"One time, my boss Sammy- Sammy Key, you know him? - well, yeah, he followed her all the way up to the Hamptons or some shit, just because she forgot to send him some background vocals."
She laughed louder when she remembered when he came back into the office the next day.
"He was literally at Burning Man the day before," she laughed. "So he was fucking zonked on peyote or some shit. He chartered a plane, ordered a car service, got out there- turns out she was in fucking Kentucky or some shit. He was pissed."
"Oh damn," Stacie laughed.
"God, that fucker deserves it though."
"You're telling me," Beca agreed as she sipped some of her milkshake.
"I don't like him," Chloe said loudly and firmly, with a hint of a waver in her voice.
The table erupted into gasps.
"Chloe, lower your voice!" Beca teased.
"Yeah, you don't need to cuss him out!" Stacie piled on.
Even Aubrey chuckled when she added, "I think that's the most scathing comment that Chloe Beale has ever made on a notable figure."
Beca laughed again as she elbowed Chloe, who had donned a light blush.
Beca tilted her head at her plate to offer her some food, and the actress grinned before grabbing a fry and dipping it into Beca's side of nacho cheese.
Beca could get used to nights like these - easy jokes between friends who actually knew and respected each other, who felt like they could speak freely, even in semi-public places like a restaurant.
Sure, Stacie was a bit of a wild card, and Aubrey was way too intense, but they balanced each other out.
And with Chloe there, they were probably on their best behavior.
And Chloe was at her most relaxed, which made Beca really happy.
"So when does this end? You two, I mean."
Beca felt her mental breaks grinding.
The rollercoaster of thought came to a complete stop.
Metaphorical hands back inside the car, dummy.
Because this was Chloe's life, not hers.
She was only a passenger for a little while.
Chloe coughed at her side as she forced another bite of fry down.
"Sundance," she said softly.
"That's mid January?" Aubrey asked.
"Yup," Beca confirmed as she swirled a fry around her cheese sauce.
She shouldn't have gotten all caught up in everything.
This - the premieres and the movies sets and the dates and the cool friends - all this wasn't her life.
For one, it didn't suck.
And for two, people were actually happy to spend time with her here.
She was about to get up and excuse herself - maybe to just go the bathroom to collect her thoughts, or maybe to leave completely - when Chloe nudged her.
"But we're going to stay friends though… right?" the actress said hopefully.
Beca glanced over and realized with a start that Chloe had somehow snuck Beca's burger off her plate.
She had the monstrous entree poised to take a bite, mouth fully open to accomplish the task, and when Beca caught her eye, she lowered the burger just slightly and narrowed her eyes at her.
"Right?" she pushed.
Beca rolled her eyes.
She was just so… Chloe.
"Not sure you would let me go back to sulking alone anyway," she grumbled.
"Wait that's so cute," Stacie teased.
"You too are pretty adorable," Aubrey agreed.
"Whatever, we're friends," Beca sighed. "It's fine. Shut up."
"Best friends," Chloe insisted through a mouthful of burger, holding the burger all tilted in front of her as she cuddled into Beca's shoulder.
"We never agreed to that. And your face is greasy, get away," Beca said as she wrinkled her nose and leaned away.
"You like it," Chloe shot back.
"It's gross."
"It's delicious."
"It's not."
And when she glanced back up at their tablemates, she saw they were looking at each other again - wide eyes, secret smiles, shifting glances.
Beca ignored those looks, too.
"-so anyway, that's how it ends."
"And what happens to Loni?"
Chloe sighed.
"I like to imagine that she avoids any criminal charges and goes on to have a powerfully mediocre career, but I'll have to ask," she said thoughtfully. "It's weird because in a way, I'm rooting for her, but I also kinda hate her."
"She's a piece of work," Beca chuckled.
"It's been super fun to play," Chloe said with a bright smile. "But I don't think I could live like that. It has to be draining."
Beca pulled into Chloe's driveway and threw the car into park.
"Oh," she said suddenly. "-before I forget."
She pulled her phone out of the cupholder - next to the kiddie-sized milkshake that Chloe had insisted on ordering to go - and unlocked it, clicking over to Spotify.
"I'm going to send you some playlists - I already have them downloaded, so just let me know which ones you like, and I can throw them on a flashdrive or something."
"Wanna just put them on right now?" Chloe asked quickly, hopefully, and Beca just grinned.
She could tell that Chloe was excited for the new music.
"I trust you- and I like to be surprised."
"If you're sure…" Beca hedged, but Chloe had already fished her MP4 player out of her bag and practically thrown it into Beca's hands.
"Do you want to come in?" Chloe asked, but Beca waved her off. She jumped out of the car and stepped over to the backseat door. She brought everything to the front seat and opened her bag, removing her laptop and balancing it on the seat as she kneeled on the ground outside of the car.
They were quiet as Beca found the right cord, hooked everything up, and began to transfer the music.
"So are you going to tell me what happened today?"
Beca kept her eyes trained on the screen as Chloe asked her the question.
"Uh, sure," she sighed. "Basically my coworkers were super dicks."
"Are we talking, like, steroids or Marvel?" Chloe joked, and Beca exhaled a laugh.
"Neither," she replied, glanced up only to see Chloe staring directly into her soul in the dim light of the car's touch screen.
She looked back down.
"No, they- uh- they made me play that song that I worked on, the one that you talked about," she stammered. "They didn't like it. The Germans were really cruel, and Sammy basically didn't acknowledge it. Although even if they liked it, they probably would've acted the same way, just because."
Beca stared at her computer.
There were still 104 files to transfer.
Right, because why wouldn't there be? she thought sullenly.
"With all this stuff - getting to work on more projects again, and having to, like, prove myself again… it just feels like everything's changing so fast and I'm putting all this pressure on myself, ya know?" she said to the laptop screen. "I don't want to fail."
"You could've said something-" Chloe started to say, but Beca cut her off.
"Yeah, I know, but I'm weird about that stuff," she said. "I thought I could figure it out, but I can't. I don't know what they want from me. And I really can't tell if they're just being jerks- like, I really like the song. But one of them told me I shouldn't write any originals, and maybe she's right. Maybe I don't have anything original to say."
Beca glanced up again, thankful that Chloe was looking away this time.
"You wrote those lyrics?"
Beca nodded.
"Yeah, for the most part," she confirmed.
Chloe was quiet for a moment, and Beca looked down again.
38 to go.
"I think they're lying to you," Chloe said seriously. Beca looked up to see that she was staring through the windshield of the car. "I don't know music, but I know what I like. I - okay, I showed the song to one person, and it was Benji Applebaum, and he only heard, like, a minute - but I haven't shown anyone else. But I like it. And I think other people would too. I think you deserve to hear an honest review."
Beca watched Chloe's profile as it slowly turned, and then Chloe was looking at her again.
And Beca felt delirious for a second, because the eye-contact was almost tangible.
It was so potent.
It felt heavy, like a shoulder bag.
It felt loaded.
Like a… potato?
God, it's been a long day.
"Can I send your song to some music people I know?" Chloe asked urgently. "They've worked on a couple movies with me - Jesse's working on Coriolis, actually, he's a really good friend of Benji's. They're good people. And you're good people. You deserve someone who's going to cherish you for your immense talent."
Beca laughed, letting out a breathless, "wow" as she broke eye-contact to glance at her laptop.
File Transfer Complete.
She ejected the music player and handed it back to Chloe.
"The song can't get leaked," Beca sighed.
"I trust them," Chloe replied.
"Then I trust them too," Beca heard herself saying.
Would she get in trouble?
Would Residual even care, if they found out?
Did Beca even care if Residual cared?
Not anymore, I don't.
"Go ahead and send it."
It's weird that Star Wars was kinda mentioned twice in the first movie. Like two unique and discrete references. Like were they being sponsored.
Anyway I made it a plot point.