Disclaimer: I own nothing
"Dude do you see the speed ginger went flying out of here?"
"I know, right? It was like someone told her there was cheesecake at the other end or something."
"Really Amy, cheesecake? Why not something practical, like a strap-on or something?"
"Well excuse me for wanting-" "Can we not, please and instead focus on the fact that Red and the DJ are probably having steamy make-up sex in the kitchen right now?"
"NOT THE KITCHEN! What if they get nasty ass on the food?"
"Really, can you guys just shut up?"
"Do you think they'd let me watch?"
"Stacie you are one twisted chicka."
"… So is that a 'No'?"
Chloe tightened her arms; her head bowed down to have her chin tucked overtop the smaller girl's head. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she didn't want to move. She probably would have stayed that way for the rest of eternity had she been given the chance, but eventually she felt the smaller woman shift around slightly in her arms and she reluctantly pulled away.
She bit her lip and for the first time appraised the young DJ. Her eyes did a leisurely sweep of the small DJ's body and she found her mouth curling up into an unbidden smile. Yeah, Beca was hot, but she'd always been hot. It was just sort of a thing that was generally understood about her. She was sarcastic, she lived and breathed music, and she was drop-dead gorgeous. Just another day in the life of the DJ. But something was different.
It wasn't that Beca was any more confident, she'd definitely always had that natural swagger. It also wasn't the fact that she'd changed anything about her appearance, although Chloe though she saw the faintest edge of a tattoo that definitely hadn't been there at the time of their shower encounter (yes she'd looked. Extensively). No, something else was different about the girl and damn Chloe would be thrilled to spend the rest of her life trying to figure it out.
Kat felt like groaning and hitting herself in the head with a frying pan. No, she took that back. She felt like hitting her friend in the head with a frying pan. And yet, Kat could in all honesty say that she had never seen Beca look at someone the way she was looking at the redhead in front of her right now. Beca was looking at the woman like she was the universe's best kept secret. While Kat could in all honesty say that the woman was quite attractive, she was so far from Beca's type that it was almost funny.
In all of the time that Kat had known her best friend, Beca had been more of the type to, for lack of a less insensitive description, hump and dump. It was just a facet of the smaller girl's personality. And one look at the redhead and Kat could just tell that this was one of those relationship-y girls. The type that you couldn't help falling in love with. Kat felt all the red flags go up, like hell she was going to let her friend get hurt.
Step 1 to making sure that adorable little dumbass got her head out of her ass and more importantly her eyes off the redhead: figure out whose limbs were whose.
Kat cleared her throat pointedly and cheered internally when both the women seemed to snap out of whatever daze they were in and jumped apart. "Right," Beca said awkwardly, clasping her hands in front of her. "Kat this is an old friend of mine from college, Chloe Beale. Chloe, this is one of my best friends, Kat." Chloe smiled at Kat, her eyes slightly narrowed as she examined Kat's face. Kat recognized the look instantly as one where the person recognized her face but not her name.
"Nice to meet you," Chloe said anyway, her hand stretched amicably in front of her and a dazzling, sincere smile on her face. Well shit. Why couldn't she have been a bitch and made hating her easier? Damn Beca and her not horrible taste in women with killer smiles!
"You too," Kat replied guardedly as she reached to shake the ginger's hand. One nice smile did not a non-heartbreaker make. Until otherwise proven, Chloe Beale would be treated as the woman who could put Kat's best friend's heart (or what was left of it) through a meat grinder. As Kat was glancing away from the two women, her eyes were drawn to the clock on the oven. "Aw crap!" she exclaimed as she all but exploded in a flurry of activity. "Didn't you have to go see Sid and Manny today?"
"Yeah," Beca's eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed obviously confused by the change in topic. "Why?"
"Well it's already 8:30…" Beca eyes widened comically and her head automatically snapped over to the clock. The curse she spat was certainly more creative than the one Kat had just spouted and soon she was moving frantically with a well-practiced ease.
"Sorry guys," she looked apologetically at the Bellas. "I've got meetings all today. I'll see when I can get back. Until then, what's mine is yours, just please stay out of the locked bedroom. Uh… here's my number," Beca reached into a drawer and quickly scrawled some digits on a post it note and all but chucked the pad of paper at Chloe. "Call if you need anything. And if one of you could maybe let Teddy out some time today, that'd be great. Thanks!" And with that, Beca snagged a pair of car keys off the hooks by the door and was gone. The Bellas all blinked in shock at the sudden appearance and then disappearance of their former pint-sized alto.
"What the fuck?" Stacie asked when it became obvious no one else was going to say something. No one answered but Aubrey looked at her best friend in concern. Chloe hadn't really moved from her spot, her eyes trained on the front door as if wishing for it to swing back open. Like if she stared at it long enough, the DJ would burst back in. Back to her. Aubrey took the initiative, clearly sensing that Chloe was getting close to her breaking point (years of violent upchucking and friendship were very useful in this instance). She strode over to where Chloe was standing numbly and she rested her hand comfortingly on the redhead's shoulder.
"She'll come back, Chlo," Aubrey said softly, though in the stunned silence of the apartment she may as well have been shouting. For the first time since Beca had run out the door, Chloe twisted her neck to make eye contact with Aubrey.
Her voice cracked as she whispered, "But what if she doesn't?"
Aubrey sighed and said, "You just have to believe that she will." Only Aubrey was really aware of the emotional torture Beca had left Chloe with when she split town. The other Bellas had an inkling and had all felt the same sort of despair that Chloe had, just not on the level that she did. Aubrey had watched as the little munchkin had destroyed her best friend without even knowing it.
"Of course she's coming back," the black-haired pop star they had all evidently forgotten about snorted. "It's her apartment." Aubrey shot the girl a look for her blunt statement but it seemed to be what Chloe needed to hear as she sniffled and gave a half-hearted chuckle.
"I'm going to go get cleaned up," she murmured to Aubrey and then she shuffled out of the kitchen. The rest of the Bellas all mumbled something that sounded very similar and one by one they drifted off to the various bedrooms they'd crashed in to get ready for the day.
Aubrey shook her head at the mess the group of women had left in Beca's kitchen and rolled her sleeves up to get to work. She heard Kat walk over and help ease dishes into the sink where Aubrey made quick work of scraping the extra food off and loading the dish washer. They worked in an odd companionable silence that was more comfortable than it should have been considering they just met a couple hours earlier.
"So what's up with the ginger?" Kat finally asked as Aubrey was wiping down the counter. Aubrey's lips quirked into a smile as she had been waiting for the pop star to get around to asking that but they quickly fell back into a thoughtful frown. She wracked her brain trying to find the best starting point and coming up with few options. Evidently, she was going to have to go back to the beginning as she didn't know how much Kat knew.
"You know that Beca went to college at Barden with us right?"
"Yeah," Kat nodded. She slipped onto one of the stools at the counter and observed Aubrey who continued cleaning the already spot-less countertop. "She was in some singing group, there was a fall out, and then she came out here."
"Yes," Aubrey nodded, both relieved that she wouldn't have to recount one of her worst moments and yet at the same time a little disappointed that Kat had heard about how much of a bitch she'd been. "And we don't blame Beca for leaving, we really don't, but when she left, she tore Chloe apart. Chloe loved her more than anything and one day Beca was just gone."
Kat couldn't stop her eyebrow from quirking and asking, "Really, Beca did that? Because you do realize the girl is about as loveable as a barracuda right?" Aubrey snorted at the description and she smiled wryly.
"Trust me," she said with a sigh. "Chloe was head over heels for the alt-girl. Ever since we first met where your friend made a less than a stellar first impression, all she could talk about was how 'cool' and 'funny' and 'hot' she was." Aubrey rolled her eyes at the end of her description and accented each adjective with little finger gestures.
"So what happened?" Kat asked curiously. Aubrey sighed again and she finally gave up wiping down the counter that didn't need wiping down. She leaned forward against the counter and clasped her hands together.
"Beca left," she said bluntly and bitterly. Kat opened her mouth to argue when Aubrey held up a hand and silenced her. "I said I didn't blame her for leaving. I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive her for devastating Chloe the way that she did. She stopped leaving the apartment, she stopped singing, hell she stopped smiling. It took a long time, a lot of crying, ice cream, and Project Runway marathons to get my best friend back and even now she has a hard time getting into any sort of relationship. She thinks I'm too wrapped in my own drama to notice but I've kept tabs on her and I don't think she's mentioned a serious relationship for a solid two years."
Kat winced in sympathy. That sucked on several levels. But still… to think that her emotionally stunted best friend, the one who couldn't tell if someone was upset if they were wearing a sign around their neck proclaiming their displeasure, who one time ignored an entire room full of flirting Victoria's Secret models, who… you know what, it actually kind of made sense. Beca, while wonderful, tended to be a bit… well a lot, dense. It was one of those endearing qualities about the girl. However, while to her friends, Beca's obliviousness was amusing, to those who were attempting to get her attention it was extremely frustrating. And her pint-size pal had certainly left a trail of broken hearts, whether it be artists who just didn't make the cut to would-be significant others. Beca just didn't notice, and if she did, she just didn't care.
"Well… on that depressing note," Kat's upbeat tone took Aubrey by surprise. "You and your lot are now stuck here in LA with my sexy self and seeing as the pipsqueak is currently indisposed with the PR people who are probably going to go over every second of her stay in Miami and Sid is going to be chewing her out for extending her business trip for so long. So she's not getting out of anything anytime soon. And as the friend of the host, it is my duty and general pleasure to take you all on a trip around LA."
"You're going to be our tour guide?" Aubrey asked with a chuckle and a grin.
Kat smirked back and said, "I've even been practicing walking backwards just for you all." Aubrey smiled sincerely at Kat who responded in like.
"Well isn't this touching," they heard a groggy Jesse say snarkily. "Am I allowed to come or will my vocal chords be ripped out by wolves?" Aubrey flushed at the mention of the oath, no doubt passed along by Beca, while Kat just looked confused.
"Okaaaay," Kat drew the word out in bafflement when it became evident there was some sort of backstory she was unaware of judging by Jesse's smirk and Aubrey's blush. "Don't you have a hot date with Tara?"
"Nah," Jesse stretched and itched at his stomach. "She's locked in meetings the whole day. Something about a DJ gone awry and Miami." Kat and Jesse smirked, leaving Aubrey as the one confused this time but she shook it off.
"Get your khakis choir boy, we've got some sight-seeing to facilitate."
"What the hell were you thinking? You were supposed to be home months ago Mitchell. Moths!" Sid had been bitching to Beca for a solid hour and a half about her decision to stay cooped up in Miami. While originally he had been okay with the extension, the fact of the matter remained that any time CC Hale was at the turn-styles, TS Records was cashing in while at the same time Beca Mitchell was working in production, they were making just as much. But while Beca had been getting some R&R out in Florida, TSR had had to turn down numerous invites from around the world and from artists inquiring about her skill.
"Berlin! Hong Kong! Montreal! Paris! London! I had to turn them all down Beca and the pay days were in the six and seven digit figures Beca!" Beca rolled her eyes. She was done with getting chewed out.
"Come off it Sid. You know we probably weren't going to accept any of those jobs. I needed that break and you know it. I'm sorry I let it go as long as I did and that wasn't fair to you guys but I was going stir crazy here. I needed an out and I found one that still sent back a pretty paycheck with more than enough 0s for everyone to be happy. We got an exclusive deal with Ethan Powell who is so beyond psyched to do a song with yours truly, by the way, that he's flying in next week to start collaborating. Plus Tara has to be over the moon with all the positive PR I generated out there. Hell, I even managed to keep it in my pants for the last month. Get over it."
Sid met and held Beca's gaze with a glare. His brown eyes were steely and glinting in the soft light of his personal office. For a few more heartbeats the staring contest endured before he broke it off with a chuckle and a smile.
"That you did kid. Nice job." Beca smirked back, glad that Sid was off her back. While Sid was technically only her boss half the time, she enjoyed the easy going relationship they had and would hate to jeopardize it over something stupid like a business trip for her boss the other half of the time.
"So now that we're past me screaming myself hoarse at your dumb ass," Sid said with a wicked grin as he reached down into the hidden mini fridge (Beca knew for a fact that the two bottom drawers on the right side of his desk were faux and concealed the door to his hidden snack haven) and tossed Beca a bottle of water. He took a gulp from his own bottle and leaned back in his chair. "Tell me all about Miami and Powell. You think you'll be able to work with him successfully?"
"Definitely," Beca said in a strong voice. "He's got a certain style and flair but he's not so established that we can't tweak him and adjust some of his minor flaws. Plus he's got so much charisma it's hard not to like the guy."
Sid nodded once. If Beca said that Ethan was good, he was good. Beca didn't sugarcoat or bullshit. The first time she had told him that one of his artists was a piece of shit, he'd ignored her. Two months later and the man was in the tabloids for a drunk and disorderly and a domestic violence charge. That was the first and last time Sid had ever doubted Beca's ability to read someone.
While technically Manny was the boss and director of recruiting, he managed the DJ-ing side of TSR while Sid worked more exclusively with the already established artists who maybe just wanted a track with one of their permanent in house contracts. Some of the biggest currently with TSR was Max Travesty, a pop singer who had been compared with Justin Timberlake on numerous occasions, Kat Daniels who was quickly becoming America's sexy sweetheart, and CC Hale who took mysterious to a whole new level. As such, all three had people clamoring to work with them at all times of the year and even though it was only a couple days past Christmas, today was no different.
"I know you've got first priority on Ethan Powell, but take a look through your offers, let me know if any of them stand out to you," Sid said as he forked a positively massive stack of files. Apparently he'd been saving every invoice and request for CC Hale for the past two months and was now getting his revenge. His somewhat diabolical smirk did nothing to dispel that illusion. "Oh, and both Tara and Manny wanted to see you before you leave tonight."
Beca groaned. When your other boss and your PR agent both wanted to talk, you weren't getting any sleep any time soon. She had a feeling it was going to be a very long day.
So it's been a veeeeeery long time since I updated last. And I'm sorry. At some point in a story you know when you've reached the end and that you just can't continue writing it. I want you all to know that we are NOT at the point yet. I just got a little side-tracked by life and a new job. I can't guarantee that my updates will be regular or have any sort of rhyme or reason but I promise I'll try and never go as long without updating as I did. Sorry again and thanks for sticking with me so long.