I really didn't expect to get this much of reviews. Thanks, guys!
purplefurball: It's easier to break someone's heart than fix it. Trust me.
Guest (Mar 4): Thank you so so much! :)
shadowx n shadex, Rennie Laroche: I wonder if you're best friends.
Guest (Mar 4): That I can totally promise.
Crabapplekid89: Honestly, I've considered that, but I thought it's not really about giving up, just simply moving on. Although I've drawn some inspiration from it. I guess I can put it in my profile instead.
sherralotz: I wanted to capture the feeling of losing someone you really love and at the same time the process of, perhaps, growing up to accept that things like that happens.
avidreader: Come on, who doesn't love them?
oilzz and stuff: I love to tease! LOL.
airdr12: Opo naman. :)
Guest (Mar 2): Welcome to the party!
PitchPerfectLover: Had I known I would be writing a sequel, I would have find another way to include Stacie in here. I really loved her character in Stolen. About Ben, I still have to figure out what to do with him. So far, I call him 'the back-up plan'. LOL. By the way, it's nice to see you back, cricket! :)
RobOverstreet: So a little back story: Beca constantly pays visit to her mother and one time, Maverick saw her and found out that she's alive. So let's just say, everytime she goes to Barden, the kid gets a chance to spend some time with her. I'm sorry I couldn't find a way to incorporate that in the story. Also, I wanted to put it in a surprise. You know, just when Chloe had grasp the idea that Beca's dead, he would casually tell her she's not.
AlphonseAl, Guest(Mar 2): We'll get there, dear.
Natali1798: If I'm ripping your heart out then I'm probably writing this story properly. :)
asdfg, amused, Guest (March 1), LOL: LOL.
madness2013: I love Ronie!
badwriters: Thud is a cutie, but his humongous size covers that up which is funny for me. Ben will be... you'll know.
Guest (Mar 2), itsmefiebs: One update coming up.
Moxain: I'm just smiling while reading your review. I don't know why.
MysticFalls94: We don't call it a roller coaster ride for nothing.
NightmareWalker: At the end of this chapter, I hope you don't find me.
BeChloeFan01: Will you still smack me if I give you a chance to help me out with something? I may need a favor.
Gosh, I can't wait for you all to read this! It has got to be my favorite so far! Not let's party...
CHAPTER SIX: Surprise
"What the H-E-double-L are you doing here again, young lady?"
Ronie put her hands on her hips and put on an angry scowl to give some sense of authority. Her notorious daughter, however, deliberately ignored the effort as she flopped into the chair intended for guests and placed a black gift box on top of the table.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't just come barging into Barden whenever you want?" the Chief Directress scolded pushing the pair of black boots off the table.
Beca shrugged her shoulders a little as an attempt for a decent reply.
"It's bad enough that Maverick already knows that you're alive!" exclaimed Ronie. When would mothers learn that unresponsive daughters meant it's the end of a boring conversation? "If he says something and people actually believe him, you know I won't be able to do anything to fix that!"
The mighty Phoenix absentmindedly nodded her head for the sake of it. Yes, she was at least responding which contrasted with her rude personality.
"And it's my birthday today! Don't you dare ruin my birthday, young lady! Yes, I know that's the only reason why you're making this silly ways of responding to me. Your friends are throwing me a not-so-surprise birthday party. That means they'll be here any minute, so unless you want to blow your cover, you may leave now. I'll just see you at dinner, I reserved that time for you, remember?"
The young Mitchell slowly directed a blank stare at her mother.
"And stop doing that to my secretary! You're giving her the wrong impression! Oddly, she thinks it's your way of flirting with her, and now she has a crush on you! God, I may have to fire her sooner or later. It may be the only way to stop her from letting you in without my necessary permission."
Because she was growing tired of it and honestly, she was already running out of ways to show that she at least gave a damn about the whole situation, Beca let out a heavy sigh and sank deeper on her chair.
"Beca!" her mother shouted in frustration. "For the love of God, say something!"
So the notorious brunette took a deep breath and muttered, "Can't a girl come and greet her mother a happy birthday and bring her a gift without getting the third degree?"
"Aw Beca."
Eventually, Ronie warmed up to her daughter's extremely rare state of not being rather cold about everything in this planet. At least the horrible monster still knew how to care, and that's the best birthday gift so far. The older brunette wore a grin as she pulled the black box closer.
"So what do we have here?" she inquired, curious and excited. "Is this Joffrey's head?"
The expression on the Phoenix's face demonstrated the confusion stirring in her brain. Who the fuck was Joffrey?
"You don't get it," Ronie waved a hand then proceeded to untangle the golden ribbon to open the box. "Well, I didn't expect you to prepare anything at all."
"My team started giving me gifts to give to you," admitted the cold-blooded monster with a sense of irritation while her mother went over the contents of the box. "I didn't know people still do this during birthdays, or the fact that people still make a big deal out of it… Your favorite perfume from CR."
"Perfect."
"Thud bought you a portable player or whatever it's called, said so you can bring your lame songs with you everywhere you go."
"I know you're the one who added the word lame on it, okay?"
"And the lighter's from Lilly."
"But I don't smoke."
"Neither does her so it makes sense."
"I'm sure I'll find a purpose for it," Ronie concluded in kind acceptance. "Wait a minute. Which one's from you? There's nothing else in the box, young lady."
"I collected everything and put it in a fucking box!" replied the young Mitchell with much indignation as if her contribution was the greatest yet offensively being disregarded. "For your information, mom, I had to learn how to tie a fucking ribbon too."
"Glad to know that the color gold doesn't kill you," her mother held up the golden ribbon alongside a mocking smirk. "But watch your mouth. I don't want the kids to pick up something from you."
Rolling her eyes, Beca pushed herself up from her chair then turned towards her mother this time with an apologetic look painted across her face. Something about it exposed that she didn't really come over for a merry birthday celebration as the celebrant had thought all along.
"I won't make it to dinner," she revealed the catch.
Letting out a long sigh of dismay, Ronie asked, "Can't you take a break from that treasure-hunting? Just for today."
"We finally have a reliable lead this time, mom. I have to go to Savannah to check on it."
"So I guess you only came for this then." The older brunette paused as she pulled her drawer open and retrieved the old renaissance key her daughter had entrusted to her for safekeeping. Ronie stared at the key for a moment, envied its irrefutable significance, before handing it over to Beca. "About time for you to make use of it."
"Thanks," mumbled the mighty Phoenix. "You've been a very big help to me, mom."
The Chief Directress couldn't help but chuckle when the horrible monster had gotten out of character again. "Off you go, young lady. Be careful, alright? I need you alive no matter how much of a Wednesday Addams you are."
"I'm the mighty Phoenix," Beca pointed out as if it was an assurance of survival.
"But you're still my baby," teased her mother.
Letting out a sigh mixed with a pinch of reluctance, the cold-blooded killer machine walked around the table to envelope her mother with a hug. "I came because I love you, okay? It's your first birthday since you came back to us, and I want to be part of that. So… happy birthday, mom."
"Aw Beca."
With a big grin plastered on her lips, Ronie hugged her daughter tighter than ever because if the mission turned out to be a trap, it could be the last time that she would be with an alive Beca. And it's the kind of a birthday present she would never dream of receiving.
The remaining few items owned by Clarence Beale was carried out of the door by two men distinctly in black suits to be transferred in a much smaller room somewhere in the Phoenix Tower. The enormous office intended for the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation had officially turned into a world ruled by Richard Posen. He stood by the large window overlooking the beautiful cityscape of Midtown Atlanta; the dream was finally happening. He had the entire Corporation under his full control, and the sinister smirk just wouldn't leave his lips for that.
"Dad?" his daughter's voice infiltrated his sweet moment of victory. "Can I head out now? I have a very important appointment today."
The Posen patriarch slowly turned around to see her standing timorously by the main wooden desk; her head slightly lowered, her teeth silently chewing on her lower lip, one hand clenched on the strap of her bag while the other was nervously balled into a fist. This was a very uncommon picture of Aubrey Posen. As a matter of fact, there was only one person in this lifetime that had enjoyed the pleasure to witness this from time to time – her very own father.
"Straighten your back," he commanded, or more like making judgments about her, circling around her for inspection. "Chin up… relax your shoulders… be proud and confident… You're a Posen. Make sure everybody knows that."
"I-I know the drill," she stammered her words.
"There's no drill, Aubrey. It's just the way we are. Superiority is what defines our family."
Richard made a halt and his sharp eyes were especially directed towards the young heiress. Aubrey knew it was time to recoil in silence and swallow hard what little remained of her decaying courage.
"So," the new CEO of the Phoenix Corporation walked over to his chair, settling down, and enjoying the surge of power that came with it. "What can you say about my new office?"
She discreetly took a deep breath as she opened her mouth to answer, "It's... nice."
"Well, Clarence must have enjoyed it all those years. But it's mine now, and I won't let anybody else take it away from me. Your mother has already moved to my old office in our old company, you can have her old one if you want. You should be learning how to run a business, Aubrey, and quit hanging out with poor and disgusting people. It's only a matter of time before we start running a global empire."
"But I don't want to be anything like you, dad," she was able to whisper before she could even bite her tongue in apprehension.
Taken aback by the sense of insult, Richard threw a dirty look at his daughter. "That's what you get from hanging out with Beale's daughter, isn't it?"
"Her name is Chloe, dad… and she's my best friend."
"You don't need friends!" he angrily exclaimed what he thought was the most obvious thing in the planet. "All you need in this game, Aubrey, are competitors and what you do with them is crush them into tiny little pieces. You don't share. Don't be friendly. Always be aggressive and superior. Just grab everything you can. Show no mercy. Chloe Beale is not your friend, you understand, Aubrey?"
Left with no other choice, Aubrey lowered her head once more and made a small nod as she whispered, "Yes, dad."
"Very good," Richard found the reason to display a fatherly smile. "Now you may leave."
Finally, she thought. Aubrey hurriedly turned around to search for the door and make her most desired exit. She couldn't stay another second in the same room with her father. She would either break down into tears or she'd literally go insane.
"You're carrying our name," Richard reminded. "Don't forget that. Be a Posen all the time, Aubrey. Make them respect you."
But the sound of that last statement just didn't sound right. Suddenly, the young heiress just couldn't take it anymore. She stopped right by the door feeling the anguish growing in every vein in her body. So with every might she had been storing deep in her emotions, she turned around once more to face her jackass father. Okay, maybe she had gone completely insane.
"You don't impose respect, dad," she told him as calm as possible – standing straight, chin up, proud and confident. "You have to earn it. And you don't earn it by stealing other people's accomplishments. I know it's you. You're the one controlling the media so Mr. Beale could maintain the dirty image, taking advantage of the kidnapping fiasco. You have been manipulating the Board of Directors into losing their confidence in him, to abandon him, and then convince them to root for you for this position. Am I right, dad? You know, all my life I'm scared of you because you always make me feel like a total failure. But I can't respect you. Truth is… you disgust me, dad. And if this is what defines us, then I don't want to be anything like a Posen. I'm not a thief. And I'm more than just a stupid heiress. I pity you, dad, because I have friends, unlike you. Frankly, they make me a better person than you will ever be."
Caught with his mouth hanging open in shock, Richard remained speechless. How dare his daughter speak to him like that! Nevertheless, Aubrey gave him one last look before proceeding with her delayed exit. Who cared if she was surely going to be reprimanded for everything she said to the Posen patriarch? She was always being reprimanded anyway. More importantly than that, it was a pleasant surprise. She felt truly free and happy after years and years of imprisonment; she just couldn't wait to see her friends.
The lone hall at Barden Homes was specifically decorated for such special occasion. There was an entire buffet table by the window, party balloons of various colors were scattered everywhere, and the ensemble of people were up on stage below a huge banner quietly waiting for the celebrant to arrive. A few minutes later, the silent excitement and anticipation in the room grew even more when the Chief Directress sporting a blindfold around her head had stepped into the room with her secretary to guide her towards the right spot. One… two… three…
"Happy birthday, Miss Grant!"
The kids burst out in a lively chorus of cheers and applause including Chloe, Stan, Jesse, Fat Amy, and practically the rest of the Barden staff. Ronie's face beamed in delight and a half image of shock. This would have gone a lot better if she had never known about the plan beforehand. If only Jesse didn't blurt it all out when Ronie only casually asked two days ago. Way to ruin a surprise, Swanson! Fortunately, the celebrant agreed to keep the plans in secrecy.
"Swanson, get the cake!" Fat Amy immediately ordered, and the guy rushed to where the rest of the food was arranged to perform his task. "How could you forget about the cake! Jesus Christ!"
Stan had to wait in line behind the battalion of kids to hug his own mother. "Happy birthday, mom."
"Thanks, honey," Ronie reached for her tall son's face to plant a kiss on his cheek.
"Happy birthday, Ronie," Chloe came in to give a warm hug as well.
"Thank you, Chloe. I know this whole thing's your idea."
"All those sleepovers were actually worth it," Stan supposed when the redhead didn't air any complaint regarding the fact that the boys destroyed almost everything in her house. "And, mom, Chloe actually got you a really nice gift. It's a brand new turntable… which I helped her pick."
"An official girlfriend of yours could have been a very much appreciated gift, you handsome jack-A-double-S who wouldn't take a pick between two amazing girls," the celebrant playfully squeezed his face so hard that his mouth was shaped into fish lips in spite of his muffled protests. Oh how could he still look so adorable midst that silly picture!
Speaking of potential official girlfriend for Stan Mitchell, Candidate Number One finally arrived at the party with her chauffeur carrying additional treats for everybody and a special gift for the Chief Directress. She gave Ronie a quick hug along with her birthday greeting before throwing herself impatiently to her best friend leaving the other three utterly baffled by the sudden show of affection.
"Hey," was the only way Chloe could start her response, letting out a few chuckles at the pleasant surprise, but found the decency to hug the blonde back when it didn't end. "Who are you, imposter Aubrey? What did you do to my best friend?"
"Chloe?" Aubrey spoke in all seriousness and showed no indication that she would let go of the redhead any sooner.
"Uh… yeah?"
"You're my best friend in the whole wide world. You're the most important person in my life. I don't care if Stan's listening to this right now, but I am certain that you're on top of my list of favorite people on earth. I promise."
The other three laughed altogether at the extraordinary pronouncement.
"What's wrong with you today, huh?" Chloe had to ask.
And the Posen heiress shook her head almost immediately. "I'm just really really happy right now. And I want to share this moment with you… 'cause that's what we do, right? You should know I will never do anything to hurt you, Chloe."
"I know," the redhead said softly, gently rubbing her best friend's back because it felt like Aubrey was actually going to cry any moment. "Come on, silly. We're here to party! It's Ronie's birthday!"
"It's Ronie's birthday," the blonde repeated to herself in realization, quickly regaining her poise for the occasion.
As if on cue, Candidate Number Two held the microphone over her mouth to gather everybody around for the blowing of candles. Publicly, she summoned for Jesse with loud and demanding 'hurry up, Padawan' on repeat causing the poor guy to panic even more. Plus, the huge chocolate fudge cake consisting of three layers was really heavy that even the food trolley was having a truly difficult time. Nonetheless, everybody patiently waited. Really, it was just a few meters more – just a little bit more – when Jesse had lost control and balance, and as destiny would have it, the food trolley tripped to the side and the entire birthday cake went tumbling down leaving everybody slack-jawed in utter surprise. Nobody dared to breathe after the collective amount of gasps.
"Uh…" Jesse's voice trailed off while his trembling hand fretfully scratched the back of his head. "C-Come to think of it, w-we should have just gathered around the cake instead of bringing it over to the group… Yeah, t-that could have been a much better idea."
However, the damage had already been done. There's no more cake for everyone.
"You had one job, Swanson," muttered the Australian blonde on the microphone. Quite honestly, she was trying so hard to calm herself. She wanted to taste that cake so bad! It looked so delicious, but then it's gone. "One H-E-double-L of a job."
"I'm really sorry," was his sincere response along with an apologetic and very embarrassed expression. Yeah, way to ruin a birthday party, Swanson!
Beca drove down the road in what she had been convinced to be the middle of nowhere despite of the assertion from Cynthia-Rose that they were still travelling within the bounds of Savannah, Georgia. The woods gave this creepy feeling and the location was so remote from the rest of the city that the entire scenario looked like a scene ripped out straight from a horror movie. It was like they were a pair of local tourists seeking for some kind of a mindless adventure and then any moment, a family with cannibalistic behaviors would come appear somewhere into the picture for the mere purpose of slaughtering them ferociously using an old and rusty chainsaw.
"Nobody said about a top-notch hotel," CR pointed out to induce mostly herself. "I can't really blame Applebaum when the guy had to conceal a treasure from the rest of the world."
The Head Phoenix smoked on her cigarette for one last time before throwing it out of the window.
"We've been travelling for fifteen minutes now," the other checked on her watch. "If the old man back at the store was telling the truth, then we're almost there. I just hope he didn't give us a bum steer or god forbid what you gonna do to him."
Beca decided to speed up a little more at the information and soon enough a view of a cabin had finally come into sight. Before long, the black Ferrari pulled over at a short distance from the main door. The driver switched off the engine and both Phoenixes looked on the wooden structure. It appeared normal. It was rather simple, not glamorous or fancy in any way.
"Behold Back to Basics," CR pronounced letting out a long sigh.
From an ordinary man's perspective, it was only a rectangular prism with a roof, or in its simplest terms, an abandoned cabin in the middle of the woods. The mighty Phoenix, however, had a different point of view.
"Keep your guard up," she had to remind her teammate.
"Of course."
"Now let's go get that fucking treasure."
They both climbed off the car. Cynthia-Rose maximized her senses to get a feel of the unfamiliar surrounding just in case danger was vigilantly lurking around while Beca only had eyes on the front door. For fuck's sake, please be it already!
"Should we knock?" CR asked, unsure, when they had reached the doorstep.
Obviously, the old renaissance key was not intended to open this door, but if this was Benji, it shouldn't be that easy to simply enter the cabin. The mucky Welcome mat they were standing upon was starting to get to Beca; it had to mean something. Benji was expecting, and the only logical thing to do was prepare for the arrival of his uninvited guests. Nevertheless, it seemed like the safest way to enter the cabin was the conventional way which was through the front door. Thus, the Head Phoenix reached for the knob and very slowly in a cautious manner, she began to turn it open. It felt strange as her hand continued with her moderate pace. There was something odd about the weight of the knob - it was kind of heavy in a light kind of way - yet she had to keep going. Click, she ultimately heard at the end of the turn and had instantly figured it all out.
"Move!" Beca pushed Cynthia-Rose to the side and moved herself just enough and just in time to miss the speeding bullet intended to kill off any intruder.
"What the fuck just happened?"
They barely even had the time to catch their breaths when from out of the blue, a large area of the doorstep mechanically dropped down, and in the absence of a surface to hold them up, the two bodies descended along into the pit. Luckily, the mighty Phoenix had the right presence of mind to grab hold of the edge of what's left of the floor and quickly snatched her friend's hand.
"I'd fucking kill Benji if he was still fucking alive!" CR yelled out her anxiety.
"Hang on," said Beca while she racked her brain for a brilliant plan, helplessly watching her own fingers gradually slid off from the floor. It was already a miracle that she could still hold on to it actually.
"Oh I'm not going anywhere," the other guaranteed in between the line of sarcasm and the tragic truth. Where else would she go in this unfortunate circumstance? Foolishly, for an additional dose of bad decisions, Cynthia-Rose let her eyes looked down to what was anticipating for them below. There was nothing but pure darkness which made it more disturbing. The fear of the unknown – both enigmatic and fatal – was more than terrifying. "Uh… Mitchell? Yeah, don't ever let go of me, okay?"
"I'm gonna have to let go of you," warned the mighty Phoenix all the same much to CR's utter aggravation.
"That's exactly what I told you not to do!"
"Now make sure to grab my feet."
"What? Wait!"
But the notorious brunette had already let go of her hand. Cynthia-Rose could hardly process anything when her weight had naturally dragged her further down once more. Happy thoughts! Pixie dusts! Fly! She had never been this distraught in her entire life. Grab the feet! Grab the feet! And that was all she was so sure to accomplish during those crucial seconds.
"I'm alive," she mumbled to make her own self grasp the fact, looking down at her feet still dangling in the air. "I'm fucking alive. And you're the worst, Mitchell."
All of a sudden, she could feel her body moving up. She turned her head up towards Beca and the mighty Phoenix, then with both hands in use, struggled to pull them both up. Good thing it was Cynthia-Rose who she chose to bring along to this mission because if it was Thud, they could just forget about the whole thing and die in peace.
A few moments more, Beca's upper body was already back at the ground level, and using what little remained of her strength, she had to pull herself up even more dragging along the human luggage desperately clinging on her feet. When the danger was finally over, the mighty Phoenix traded her tough image in order to feebly collapse on the dusty floor and went on to catch her own breath. She instinctively put a hand over her breast pocket just to make sure the key was still safely secured in there next to a packet of cigarette.
"You're actually pretty heavy," she told her teammate in between gusts.
Panting, CR apologetically nodded her head in admission. Then as if it was some sort of a practical joke, the doorstep slowly went back to its original place, covering the death trap on the ground, leaving the old Phoenix completely exasperated.
"Seriously?" she turned to Beca and gasped, shaking her head in disbelief. "Okay, that was not funny!"
The other stood up and shrugged her shoulders in response. What would she say anyway? So back in her normal self, the mighty Phoenix walked back to the door which had been decorated with a large crack courtesy of the bullet that almost killed them earlier. She kicked the door down not caring anymore if another danger was waiting at the other side of it; she had enough for the day to even put her off.
Compliant to Beca's previous hypothesis, they were met with a shotgun directed towards the door, its trigger clearly connected to the knob with the use of elaborately employed strings. The door mat had certainly lied, they weren't welcome at all. What they didn't expect to see, however, was the emptiness of the cabin interior. There was nothing there except from various items each mysteriously covered with black cloth. The mighty Phoenix already had a bad feeling about these. She had easily hated Back to Basics in all honesty.
"Do you think the treasure may be in one of these?" Cynthia-Rose curiously uncovered an item.
"No!" Beca, sensing it was another booby trap, dashed towards her teammate, pushing her away from the item until they stumbled on the floor. True enough, a mouse trap designed to hammer down human beings almost killed the careless Phoenix.
"Holy shit!" was all the other could utter, shaking off the feeling of a mini heart attack built in her chest. "What the fuck did Benji build in here?"
"Just… stay alert," the mighty Phoenix coached. "And yes, the treasure might be in one of those."
Both looked around the cabin and heaved a long sigh of remorse. There were more than a dozen of mysterious items carefully covered with black cloth. Seemed like the only way to find the treasure was to expose all of them, and they could possibly die even before that could happen. It was going to be a long day for the pair of Phoenixes. It would be one hell of a ride on the death train. It was basically a real-life Cabin in the Woods where they had the chance to choose the way they die.
"Maverick!"
Chloe walked over to the brave little warrior sulking by the door, a sunny face on display and an obviously delicious cupcake on hand specially intended for the little man weirdly isolating himself from the rest of the party.
"There you are," she bent her knees to level with him. "I haven't seen you join any of the games. Fat Amy prepared really nice prizes for everybody. But you have to play, of course."
"Maybe later," was his only meek response unintentionally disregarding the redhead's efforts.
"What are you even doing here all by yourself, huh?"
"I'm waiting for Becky."
Again, there was that innocent statement and the innocent look upon his face as he began to eat the cupcake leaving a mess of frosting mostly on his nose. Chloe, for a moment, was taken aback by the idea – the growing belief that the mighty Phoenix was still there – but she was done waiting for nothing and so she put on a smile for the little warrior who was brave enough to even consider that his dead friend would arrive at the party.
"What makes you so sure she's coming?" she had to ask out of harmless curiosity.
"Because Miss Grant is her mom, right? And it's Miss Grant's birthday, so she should come and spend the day with her."
Chloe chuckled at the notion; that made sense.
"Besides, I want her to see me play musical chairs because she doesn't think that I can actually win it. Then I'm going to give her my prize so she doesn't ever forget."
The present tense was in use again.
"Look, Maverick." The redhead gently grabbed him by the arms with a positive look on her face. "I know you miss Beca. I miss her too. I honestly wish she could be here with us today. But Beca… she went somewhere far far away. I don't know how far it is because I've never been to that place, but I know that it's very very far from here. It's so far that there's no way she would… ever come back… Maverick, Beca is gone."
It was weird, totally weird, that the words were coming out of her own mouth. It was the same words Chloe had never thought she'd say more than a year ago. But maybe that's what she should have done in the first place – let the words slip out and the truth to sink in.
"But she's not," the kid insisted with more conviction than the last time.
Uncertain of what to do next, Chloe maintained her smile and wiped the frosting off his face with a handkerchief.
"Maverick!" Stan came rushing to the kid as if there was something that needed to be addressed urgently. "I need you to be my partner for the next game. Please say yes, please please please say yes."
"I don't know," replied the brave little warrior lacking some sense of enthusiasm.
Confused, the young Mitchell turned to Chloe questioningly which the redhead responded by secretly mouthing 'Beca'.
"You know, when Beca and I were as young as you, she used to love having fun," was Stan's attempt to cheer the little guy up. The young heiress grimaced at the thought of such thing; well, it wasn't entirely a lie if you consider playing with knives and destroying an ant colony as fun. "I know so because we practically did everything together. We were partners. So now that she's… gone, I would really be honored to have you as my new partner in crime… kiddo."
If there was one person who would be allowed to share the same nickname as the horrible monster, it would be cute little Maverick. Beca wouldn't mind for sure (probably… maybe…).
"Okay," Maverick ultimately agreed, happily holding on to Stan's hand as they march back to the party.
"Where's Stan?" Fat Amy and Aubrey stopped by Chloe, both panting heavily, desperately searching for the man of the hour. "It's time for hanging apple eating contest!"
"Sorry, girls. Stan's already teaming up with Maverick."
Devastated by the fact that the only chance they could kiss the young Mitchell on the lips without seeming too obvious about it or without the risk of being accused of sexually harassing him had gone with the wind, Fat Amy sadly turned to leave to look for Jesse. He could be the back-up plan minus the possible kiss. The apples looked delicious.
"I could be your partner," Chloe volunteered to her best friend.
"At some point, our lips may touch. Kissing you would be, like, the worst-"
Before Aubrey could finish her statement of rejection, the redhead had already cut her off with a quick kiss on the lips.
"Worst thing happened," she winked teasingly. "Now let's go play that game."
Frenziedly brushing her lips with the back of her hand in utmost disgust, the Posen heiress called out, "We shall never speak of this again!"
Ronie balanced a paper bag filled with birthday presents on one hand and a pack of take-out food on the other. Stupid birthday, the children's party had totally worn out her body. And stupid daughter for bailing out on her. She should have been enjoying a juicy steak by this point as originally promised by Beca, but instead, the celebrant had to settle down with Chinese take-out like it was any other regular day. She just closed the door and locked the car after a few struggles when a familiar black Ferrari came roaring down the quiet neighborhood and making noisy tire screech as it pulled over by Ronie's house. Much to her surprise, her daughter ran to her in haste. Almost out of breath, Beca stopped in front of Ronie and held up a bottle of a Domaine de la Romanée-Conti wine.
"No steak," she huffed. "I got wine though... I hope I'm not late for dinner."
"I thought you're not going to make it?"
The notorious brunette shrugged, "I can stay in Savannah all night and try to kill myself over and over or I can be here with you and not ruin your birthday."
"I got Chinese take-out," Ronie cheered mostly because her daughter hated it.
Nevertheless, Beca helped her mother with the rest of the packages and they quietly walked to the door. Ronie enthusiastically unlocked it, pushed it open, then from out of the blue, the lights switched on automatically while some confetti was programmed to blow off in synchronization.
"Surprise!"
Aubrey, Fat Amy, Stan, and Chloe emerged from behind their hiding place with Jesse securely holding up a red velvet cake (to make up for the one he ruined earlier). Truth was Jesse spoiled the children's party surprise plan on purpose so Ronie would never anticipate that there would be a surprise party for adults came nighttime. Everything went according to their plan… except they didn't expect to see an additional guest.
Nobody dared to neither breathe nor say a word. All eyes and jaws were simply left wide open. Jesse ruined the cake again, unintentionally dropping it on the floor, while a waterfall of tears slowly stained Chloe's cheeks, her body paralyzed in the moment, her heart racing wildly and her breath caught up in her throat. Oh my god, she was looking straight at Beca Mitchell – undeniably real and very much alive! She was right all along. Beca Mitchell was indeed alive!
And there you go. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect.