A/N - Thanks to my wonderful beta, as always.
.oOo. Chapter Fifty .oOo.
When Beca heard the bedroom door open with the softest of pops, she was gently drifting from one dream to the next. She opened her eyes just enough to see Alex poke her head around the door and stare at her.
"Alex, come away from there please."
Beca heard Aubrey's authoritative but hushed tone from somewhere deep within the lounge area. Just as Alex closed the door, she lifted her head from the fluffy pillow she just knew she'd spent all night drooling onto. Beca looked around the room, blinking at the morning light as it flittered through the curtains. For a few moments, she couldn't understand why Chloe hadn't woken her up if the girls were awake.
Turning to check if Chloe was still lying next to her, and it was perhaps earlier than she thought it was, she was a bit surprised to find the other side of the bed empty, Beca quickly noted that the blankets on the other side, while ruffled, didn't look as if they had been slept in. Sitting up in bed, Beca rubbed her eyes and scratched the back of her neck while she yawned unashamedly. She checked her phone's lock screen and gave a crooked smile when she saw she had no notifications. At that moment, she wasn't in the right frame of mind to cope with anything work-related.
"Hmmm," She said softly as she swung her legs out of bed, her feet hitting the soft carpet. She stood up, straightened her pyjama shorts and slowly made her way to the bedroom door, pulling it open after completely missing the handle the first time.
"Morning." Luke said, his face serious as he sat perched on the arm of the sofa.
"Mommy's here, yay! I love my Mommy!" Alex called out and Beca froze. That was the first time Alex had said that in front of other people. Deciding there wasn't anything wrong with it, Beca rapidly blinked away her sleep and bent down to hug the little girl who came running up to her.
"Hey baby," Beca said as she kissed her cheek.
"Coffee?" Luke asked as Alex ran back to sit on the sofa and join in the story that Aubrey was reading to those that couldn't read. Jessie waved at Beca but Kate was too enthralled in whatever book Aubrey was reading to them to acknowledge her.
"Yeah, um, yes please."
"We ordered some from room service about twenty minutes ago. It still should be hot," Luke reassured, as he walked over to their little table set up. Beca could see a shiny coffee pot and a few cruise branded mugs resting on a silver tray.
"What time is it?" She asked, clearing her throat a little.
"It's just after eight."
Beca watched Luke pour her a cup of black coffee while she nodded slowly, absorbing what he was saying.
"Where's Chloe?" She asked.
Luke shot a look over to Aubrey who looked up from the book she was reading. She glanced down to the girls, then back to Luke, signalling something with her eyes.
"Um…" Luke turned the mug in her hand so she could take the handle from him.
"What's… going on?" Beca asked, taking the drink from Luke but eyeing him suspiciously.
"Nothing," Luke muttered, but Beca could tell he was lying.
"So, where's Chloe?" Beca repeated her question.
"We don't know," Luke answered honestly with a slight shake of his shoulder.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Beca said, craning her neck to see if Chloe was on the balcony.
"I was up at six and went for a run on the top deck, as I said I would. It started to rain so I came back to the suite at around six thirty. Kate and Jessie had just gotten up and were making tracks across the lounge to go into your room. I didn't know if you two were… um, if you two had… um-"
"-No. Whatever it is you are thinking of, we weren't doing that," Beca's face pinked up slightly.
"So I called them back, thinking it would be better to knock first. I told them to go wake Alex up and I thought I'd take them to the Gallery for breakfast. But then I realised I didn't know what they were supposed to be wearing and really didn't feel comfortable changing them if they needed help."
"Dude…" Beca pressed.
"I made them brush their teeth in the bathroom and thought I'd just order room service and we'd hang out with the television or something until everyone was awake."
"Okay, but how does that tell me where Chloe-"
"-Aubrey got up around seven and came out to get some water as we'd not taken any to bed last night. Kate was getting a bit jumpy so Aubrey said she'd wake Chloe so quietly knocked on the door to your room. No one answered so she opened it a little but Chloe wasn't in bed. She checked the bathroom too but she wasn't there."
"And she's not in the room somewhere?"
"No, we checked the spare top bunk in the girls room, the bathrooms, the closet, the balcony," Luke shrugged his shoulders.
"Did she go for a walk?" Beca asked.
"I would have thought she'd have left a note if she did, I understand I don't know Chloe all that well, but I know she keeps you updated wherever she goes and she wouldn't leave the girls without telling someone, would she?"
"Yeah, there's only been a handful of times where I don't know where she is," Beca agreed, thinking back to the time when Chloe was filming and she couldn't get hold of her. "She can't have gone far."
"I checked the gym and walked around the promenade upstairs a couple of times but couldn't see her."
"Did she go for an early breakfast?" Beca questioned.
"I didn't check the restaurants as I didn't think she'd go there without the girls at least. I called for some coffee and asked if there'd been anything else charged to the room since last night but our dinner at Le Mer was the only item on our account."
"Aubrey?" Beca said, spinning around. Aubrey looked up from the book she was reading and saw the look of worry on Beca's face. She handed the book to Jessie who pretended to continue to read it, mimicking Aubrey's voice as she did so. Aubrey pointed to the bathroom and Beca joined her just inside the doorway.
"I don't know where Chloe is but she seemed a little off yesterday evening. Quiet, you know?"
"Yeah, I asked her about it and she said… something… about just wanting to listen. I don't remember if she said anything else."
"She's probably gone for a walk or stepped out to take a call or something."
"Aubrey, this is Chloe we are talking about. The girl who announces what she is doing every five minutes of the day," Beca urged, keeping Luke's words in her mind.
"Yeah, I know. But she can't have gone far."
"I just said that to Luke," Beca sighed, trying to get her brain into gear. "Are you worried about her?"
"No, not really. I know she sometimes gets a little overwhelmed and needs to be by herself for a little bit. She must have slipped out early this morning and gone for a walk, but Luke just hasn't seen her. I mean, this ship is huge and she may just be looking out at the horizon and lost track of time."
"Okay, I get that. I don't want to disturb her if she's taking some time out, you know?"
"But I also agree with you, it's unlike her," Aubrey nodded.
"I didn't say-"
"-I can see it on your face," Aubrey said.
"It's just, the kids," Beca turned around towards the lounge area.
"I know. Look, standing around worrying isn't going to solve anything. She'll be back and calling us all silly for sitting around in our pyjamas worrying about nothing instead of having some fun."
Beca nodded, "Yeah, you're right. I'll get the girls and me dressed. I'll shower later, when we know what's what. I think we should take them down for breakfast. They must be starving."
"Please don't be mad but they were hungry so I gave them some of those pastries from last night," Aubrey said, a little guiltily.
"I'm not mad. It's what I would have done. Chloe's the one with the healthy eating regime, not me," Beca half smiled. "It's Christmas too, if you can't eat pastries for breakfast, then when can you, huh?"
Aubrey smiled, reached out and rubbed Beca's arm, "Right, I'll get them washed and dressed and we'll head out in a bit, yeah?"
"Sounds good. I'll tell Luke."
Half an hour later, Beca was just slotting Kate's bright pink hoodie over her head when Luke called out from the lounge.
"Who's hungry?!" He said jovially.
"Me!" Alex, Jessie and Kate all chorused from various places in their suite.
"Then who's going to fetch Uncle Luke some breakfast?"
"I will!" Alex shouted, running over to Luke and throwing her arms around his waist. She squealed with delight when he scooped her up and threw her over his shoulder, pretending to nibble on her belly.
"My first victim!" He laughed. "Kate… Jessie… are you ladies ready for some grub?"
"Grub?" Jessie asked, pulling a face. "We don't eat grubs!"
"Ah, my bad. I thought you girls liked worms and beetles… that's what I ordered you all for breakfast with your cereal!" Luke shot a look over to Beca who looked as confused as the girls did. They were busy exclaiming over his choice of food for them. Over his shoulder, he stage whispered to Beca, "Grub is an English word for food."
"You're so weird," Beca rolled her eyes, tugging on her hair tie to loosen her ponytail. She re-tied it quickly into a messy bun and asked if everyone was ready to go.
They left the room as soon as Aubrey had finished scribbling a note to Chloe in case she came back and found them all gone. They made their way down to the Gallery buffet restaurant and joined the short queue to get a table.
Beca was busy pointing out things along their route to the girls, items they may have missed the day before with all the excitement of arriving. As they waited for their table, she quizzed the girls about what they'd seen.
"Good morning. How many in your party?"
"Um, there's six of us this morning, although we may have a seventh joining us," Luke said to the waitress as she smiled from her podium. Her name tag said her name was Camille.
"Your room number?"
"We are in the Seahorse Suite."
"Oh, sir, there's a VIP section upstairs for you if you'd prefer?"
"We thought with the girls, we might be allowed…" Luke trailed off.
"You are welcome to come in, of course. My apologies. Some VIP members just prefer to stay upstairs," Camille said, her face pinking slightly.
"No problem."
"Please follow me," She said, collecting up three activity sheets and a cup of crayons.
The group made their way through the restaurant. Alex was hanging onto Beca's hand as they were taken, to the girl's absolute delight, to one of the booth tables overlooking the pool area.
"Look at the pool!" Kate exclaimed, pointing as she climbed up onto the bench seat and scooted to the end. "Can we go?"
"If your Mama says it's okay, then we can go," Beca said, taking a seat at the end so the girls could sit by the windows and look out.
"We're very high up," Alex said to Beca. "Like we is in the clouds?"
"Feels a bit like being on the airplane yesterday, doesn't it?"
Alex nodded happily, smiling broadly as she stared out of the window.
"So, the buffet is self service," Camile explained, laying down the activity sheets in front of the girls and placing the crayons in the middle of the table. "There are four stations with different options. The hot food is just behind me, and there's a waffle station behind that. If you need anything, just stop one of us in a uniform and we'll be happy to help you out."
"Thank you," Aubrey smiled.
"You're welcome. Can I take a drink order for you? There is a refill station for just about everything on my left but I can see you have your hands full with these guys," Camille smiled, nodding at the girls who were busy fighting over the red crayon.
"Coffee for me please," Aubrey said. She nodded towards Luke. "He'll have an English Breakfast tea if you have it. Beca?"
"Um, coffee. Please."
"And for the girls?" Camille asked.
"Do you have juice?" Beca asked.
"We do. Apple or orange?"
"They'll probably go for apple."
"We have milkshakes too, if you like them?" Camille offered.
"Oooh Mommy, can I has a milking shake?" Alex said, her head snapping up at the sound of one of her favourite things in the world.
"Of course you can. Jessie, Kate… do you want juice or milkshake?" Beca asked.
"Juice please," the twins chorused together, not taking their eyes off of their colouring in.
"Strawberry or chocolate?" Camille asked Alex.
"Strawberry please," Alex answered, beginning to vigorously colour a tree in orange.
"They are all so polite," Camille said, reaching into her pocket. "I have some stickers for you and if you ask at the customer service desk on B deck, they have a log book the girls can collect different stickers from different areas of the ship."
"That's a cool idea, isn't it?" Beca said to Alex who nodded back and took the stickers that were offered to her. Camille handed the others to Beca to hold.
"I'll be back with your drinks in just a couple of minutes but please feel free to take advantage of the dishes before I come back."
"Thanks Camille." Luke said.
They left the table to collect their breakfast and soon the group were tucking into an array of food on the table. Luke had opted for bacon, eggs and sausage with a side of hash browns. Aubrey had chosen a healthier option of muesli and banana and Beca was splitting a waffle with Jessie. Kate and Alex both chose a muffin and a yoghurt each.
"Where's Mama?" Kate asked as she finished her juice at the end of the meal. Beca was surprised it had taken her this long to notice.
"She went for a walk this morning," Beca lied to her.
"When will she be back?"
"I don't know sweetheart. She might be walking around the whole ship. And that could take all day. Have you seen how big it is?" Beca asked, trying to distract her.
"It's this big!" Kate said, spreading her arms wide and almost taking Aubrey's eye out with her fork at the same time.
"That's right," Beca said. She locked eyes with Aubrey. "Is everyone ready to head back to the room so we can make plans for the day?"
.oOo.
"Okay, now I'm getting worried." Beca said, as she checked the clock on the wall for the umpteenth time since they'd been back from breakfast. They'd returned to the room to find it empty and still no Chloe. Beca had unpacked the girls' suitcases and given them one of the activity packs from their backpacks to share in front of the television while she unpacked her own things, trying to keep busy.
She debated unpacking Chloe's things but decided against it, not feeling all that comfortable with going through her stuff. She'd straightened up the room, double checked for a note and was sorting out the pillows when a sliver of a memory flooded her brain.
'I'm sorry but I can't do this.'
She had a sudden rush of dread run through her, a fleeting feeling that Chloe had said it just as she was falling asleep the night before. Shaking her head, unable to pull the memory together in a coherent thought, she'd joined everyone back in the lounge.
"Me too," Aubrey said, following Beca's eyes to the clock.
"I know it's only just after ten but she's usually really good at checking in. But she promised Jessie that she'd take her down to that kiddie art gallery and book a session for her. She doesn't go back on stuff she says like that, you know her as well as I do."
"Are you sure she didn't say anything last night?" Luke asked Beca, chewing his lip a little.
"No… not really."
"But she said something?"
"I just remembered something earlier but I figured it might be part of my dream," Beca explained.
"What was it?"
"I thought Chloe said something to me just as I was going to sleep but… I… um, don't remember what it was," Beca lied, hoping her face wasn't giving it away. "It's probably nothing."
"When did you last call her cell?" Luke asked, pacing the floor.
"It's dead. I left a couple of voicemails and sent a bunch of messages," Beca answered.
"You don't think something's happened to her, do you?" Aubrey said, her voice strained. She knew they'd searched the room for a note, in case Chloe had left something to let them know where she was.
"Like what?" Luke asked, pausing his steps.
"Was she unwell in the night perhaps?" Aubrey questioned.
"She would have woken one of us," Beca sighed. "Look, I'm not great at sitting around waiting. Would you mind keeping an eye on the girls?"
"Of course, no problem. Where are you going?" Aubrey said.
"I'm going to take a walk and see if I can find her. I've got my cell on me so call me if she comes back. I'll come back in an hour if I don't find her and by then, I think we need to let someone know that she's missing," Beca said and Aubrey and Luke both nodded silently. "I'll see you soon. I'm going to sneak out while the girls are busy."
"No worries, Beca. Good luck and see you later," Luke lightly punched Beca on the arm.
Beca slipped out of the door, closing it quietly behind her and headed down the corridor. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and dialled Chloe's number once more.
'Hi, you've reached Chloe. Leave me your name and number and I'll call you back as soon as I can. Have a great day!'
"Hey, it's me again. Just wondering if you are okay. Not heard from you since last night and I…" Beca looked up and down the corridor, checking if there was anyone else around. "… I'm not sure I did something wrong or said something to upset you. I'd had a lot to drink so please forgive me and my drunken ass if I did a bad thing. If you are just wanting time out right now, we all get it. Just let us know that you are safe, kay?"
Beca ended the call and, keeping her phone in her hand, headed towards the elevators. She had no idea which way to go, but figured she might as well start at the top of the ship and work her way down.
Stepping off on the highest level that passengers were allowed to go to and headed straight from the small promenade deck immediately to her left. The wind stung her face as soon as she was outside and she wished she'd picked up a jacket before leaving the suite. Wrapping her arms around herself, she walked quickly and quietly around the promenade, avoiding contact with everyone who was taking a stroll or watching the horizon.
She did a loop of the top deck, pausing to look over the railings when she could, and casting her eyes back and forth, looking for somewhere that Chloe might have fallen asleep. Feeling incredibly frustrated and just a shade annoyed at the waste of the morning, Beca headed back towards the elevators but took the stairs down one level, instead of riding the lift.
She was nearing the bottom step when she saw Jimmy, the friendly steward from the day before, hurrying up the stairs, going in the opposite direction.
"Miss Mitchell!" Jimmy smiled, coming to a halt in front of Beca.
"Hi Jimmy."
"I'm so glad I've run into you, I was just about to ask the concierge to call you."
"Oh? Is there a problem? Do you need me to come and sign for something?" Beca asked, worrying slightly because she really wanted to look for Chloe and didn't need to be interrupted in case she forgot where she'd already looked.
"No, not at all. Sorry, I don't mean to worry you. It's just that we found Miss Beale asleep downstairs in the internet cafe, and honestly, we didn't know what to do with her."
Drawing back and looking completely confused, Beca blinked a couple of times before registering what Jimmy was saying, "I was just looking for her," she explained lamely.
Smiling, Jimmy nodded, "I thought someone would have missed her by now. Are you able to..."
"Yes, of course," Beca nodded, following Jimmy as he turned to walk back down the steps he'd just come up.
"Sorry that she-"
"-Oh, there's really no need to apologise," Jimmy said somewhat formally. "It's just down this corridor."
Beca followed Jimmy down the short hallway until they reached a crossroads.
"Barely anyone uses that room when we still have service range. Everyone is connected with cell phones and laptops these days," Jimmy explained, pointing to the internet café at the end of the hallway. "I'm not sure when she got here. It closed at midnight and we only just opened at eleven but I'm really glad I bumped into you so she can get back to her room without any fuss."
"Me too," Beca nodded. "Thanks Jimmy. Sorry if it's caused any problems."
"Oh it's no problem for us," Jimmy stressed. "Ms Beale is perfectly within her right to get Jorge fired for leaving her in there all night."
"That's not her style! Please tell Jorge not to worry. Honestly, I'm sure it's all good. Thanks again," Beca said, walking away from him.
Beca walked up to the café half glass, half wooden door and nodded at Jorge, the café worker who looked uneasy.
"Jorge?" She asked as she pushed gently on the door. "I've got this, thank you. Would you mind letting me smuggle her out of here?"
"No ma'am. I recognised her and didn't want anyone else to find her in this state, I'll make sure the corridor is kept clear for you to exit," Jorge smiled politely.
"Thanks. I'll get her up and out as soon as I can."
"No rush. I'll check back in ten minutes if you need anything."
Pushing open the door further, Beca stepped into the room, relief flooding her face when she saw Chloe slumped on one of the bucket seats by the window. The computer in front of her was flipping through previous cruise photos and advertisements for the spa, and various day trips that the company encouraged guests to take.
Reaching out, Beca shook Chloe's shoulder gently, leaning forward and speaking softly into her ear, "Chloe."
Chloe's eyes flew open and she looked sharply round the room, clearly confused where she was. "Beca… hey."
"Beca, hey? You go missing for hours and all I get is a 'Beca, hey?'," Beca said, anger warring with relief as the dominant emotion at finding Chloe.
"Missing?" Chloe shook herself, trying to wake up as quickly as she could. "What do you mean?"
"It's almost eleven Chloe, you've missed breakfast and had us all shitting ourselves as to where you were!" Beca exclaimed, relief flooding through her so intently that she could feel the back of her head starting to hurt.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry. I had to..." Chloe trailed off, pulling her phone out of her pocket.
"Yeah, there'll be a dozen messages and calls asking you where you are on that thing. You might want to charge it up."
"Yeah, uh huh..." Chloe nodded. "I must have lost track of time."
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Beca asked, waving her arm around the room.
"I needed to use the internet," Chloe ran her fingers through her hair.
"We have wifi in the suite. If you needed to look at something, why didn't you just use your phone or you could have used my laptop..." Beca paused, suddenly wondering if Chloe was up to something she didn't want Beca to know about.
"Yeah, sorry, I didn't think I'd be gone so long," Chloe stretched as she spoke. "Are the girls okay?"
"Of course, they are with Aubrey and Luke in the suite. We took them for breakfast, and they are just hanging out in the room at the moment."
"Thank you," Chloe said, standing up and gathering all the printed papers around her. There was quite a stack on the desk in front of her. She was discreetly turning the pages away from Beca, something that didn't go unnoticed by the brunette.
"What's going on Chloe?" Beca cantered her weight onto her left hip and slotted her hands onto her hips.
"Nothing."
Beca narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "What's all that then?" She gestured at the paperwork in Chloe's hand.
"It's nothing," Chloe shook her head.
Beca clicked her tongue, "did I do something Chloe?"
"Huh?"
"Last night... did I do or say something to make you mad?"
"No, not at all. We all had a lovely evening."
"It's just that... you were gone this morning when I woke up and... last night, just as I fell asleep, I remember you saying something like 'I can't do this' and it made me think that you've changed your mind about us."
Shaking her head, Chloe gave a light laugh and Beca could see her cheeks pinking up. Getting ahead of herself, Beca immediately began to have her own doubts again, and the thoughts that had been building up over the last couple of months began to consume her.
"Okay, I..." Beca shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I was wrong about... everything."
"What do you mean Bec?" Chloe smiled sweetly, causing Beca to feel a rush of annoyance.
"I'll make this whole thing easy for you Chloe. You want to have your secrets, that's fine, but I'm not going to be strung along like a toy for your entertainment. I know what I heard last night and it sounded a lot like you've changed your mind. 'I can't do this'." Beca repeated, reiterating her worry
Ducking her head a little, Chloe left out another chuckle.
"Okay, okay," Beca nodded, more to herself. "The first place we dock, I'm getting off this boat-"
"-Ship."
"Boat, ship, whatever. Hardly the point," Beca almost growled. "I'll take the kids with me if you need me to, but I'm not staying on the cruise if you have changed your mind about everything."
Turning away in annoyance, Beca walked the short distance back to the door, pausing with her fingers on the handle when Chloe called out.
"Beca, no!"
Sighing heavily, Beca turned around.
"It's not what you think and God... I'm so embarrassed right now."
"Why?"
"Please sit for a minute," Chloe nodded towards one of the desk chairs, sitting back in the chair she'd occupied for most of the night. Beca took the seat that Chloe had indicated and waited for her to speak.
"Okay, so last night, during dinner and all of that wonderful food and wine, it got me thinking about how good our life could be together. I don't know how much you remember me saying to you last night when we were on the balcony..."
"Something about a good life but, I dunno what came after that," Beca said honestly.
"I said to you that I couldn't promise it would always be like this but we could have a good life together and then you segued into me introducing you as my whatever-"
"-Yeah, I remember that part," Beca groaned.
"And all I could think about was snuggling into bed with you, holding you, kissing you... hoping you didn't puke everywhere," Chloe quipped, causing a small smirk to post itself on Beca's lips. "And there was so much more I wanted to do with you last night. I want to do more than hold you, I want to show you how much I love you, in ways that only a couple who are truly in love can show each other."
"You talking about sex?" Beca said, a little blunter than she meant to.
"Yes Beca, yes. I had to leave the room last night because I was so ready to pull you into my side and kiss you asleep and wake you up in the morning with a different type of kiss…" Chloe paused, "but then David popped into my mind."
"Ugh," Beca groaned. "Cock blocked by your ex husband."
Chloe smiled, "Exactly. And I just knew in that moment that for me to go forward, without any guilt, or worry, or comeback, that I need to be rid of David once and for all."
Casting her eyes towards the stack of papers that Chloe was clutching in her hands, Beca gasped theatrically, "Oh God, please don't tell me you've been up all night researching hitmen Chloe!"
"No! I was emailing my divorce lawyer," Chloe explained.
"The night before Christmas Eve?"
"Yes, the paperwork has been in place for a while and I just needed to change a couple of things that weren't working for me with regard to items David wants from the house, and we need to legally sort out childcare and your role in Kate's life but yeah, it's ready to be signed."
"Wait, I'm confused," Beca rubbed the side of her nose. "Doesn't it take months to get divorced."
"Yes, it does, but this has been going on for a while anyway."
"You never said."
"I guess I just wanted to get it done. There's no contest from David's side, he's only getting a few things from the house and doesn't want anything from me. He's ready to propose to Holly and wants to move on."
"So, is Christmas the right time to be signing the papers?" Beca asked, still a little confused.
"Honestly, there's never a good time, it's been harder than I thought it would be."
"You could have told me what was going on," Beca looked Chloe directly in the eye as she spoke. "I could have helped you with some of it, or just listened if you wanted to talk. Oh wait, does Aubrey know?"
"No, I've not told anyone," Chloe said simply, not missing the look on Beca's face.
"I'm still a little confused."
Nodding, Chloe smiled gently, "I want to be your girlfriend Beca. I want to be your 'whatever', but I want to do this as a single girl. I want to be free of my former commitment so I can concentrate on you, and us, going into a relationship with no ties, other than the girls."
"That part does make sense," Beca agreed, understanding what Chloe was trying to achieve.
"So, as of January first, I will officially be divorced. It won't feel like cheating and I can be guilt free."
"But David cheated on you," Beca narrowed her eyes.
"It's not the same thing," Chloe tried to explain.
"But I can foresee a bit of a problem," Beca's voice went a little deeper.
"What?"
"Can you honestly hold out until January first?" Beca shot a wink in Chloe's direction.
"Well, if you keep on wearing sexy little numbers like you did last night, it's going to be pretty hard," Chloe laughed, standing up, laying the papers back on the table and holding out her arms for a hug.
"Well, that can be your punishment for making me worry all morning," Beca grinned, sliding off of the chair and folding herself into Chloe's embrace.
"There could be another form of punishment, if you are up for it?"
"Miss Beale, are you suggesting something?"
"Nope, not at all," Chloe laughed before her stomach let out an enormous rumble. "I am suggesting that, despite all we ate last night, that I'm clearly hungry now!"
Beca pulled apart from their hug and pulled her phone out of her back pocket, "Well, I guess, it's been about three hours since we last ate so I'm sure the girls are hungry too. Shall we head back?"
"Yes, I promised Jessie I'd take her for one of those kiddie arts classes."
"Yeah, and she won't forget that."
"Come on then, let's head back and join everyone," Chloe smiled, leaning forward and kissing Beca on the lips. "I can't wait until I'm officially divorced. I can't wait to lock our bedroom door, kiss you everywhere I've not kissed you before and take this relationship in a direction it was clearly destined to go in, from the start."
"I mean, that sounds nice and-"
"-Be prepared, that's all I can say," Chloe husked.
"For what?"
"To not be able to walk properly the next day."
.oOo.
A/N - Thanks for reading along. I sincerely appreciate all feedback, even if it is someone calling me an asshole. a piece of shit or just to tell me "omg, this is sooooooo terrible".