'And who the bloody hell are you?'
A voice from the doorway made the pair of them jump.
'Shit,' Beca muttered, jumping down from the table and pulling herself away from Chloe's hand. She didn't know why she felt it was appropriate to have spent the last few moments with it resting on Beca's knee; it had just seemed like the done thing to do.
'Chloe, this is Jesse,' Beca said. Chloe waved a hand awkwardly in the direction of the man who had entered the radio station room, and, in her eyes, ruined a moment.
'Nice to meet you Jesse.' she said. He blinked at her.
'Sure.' he said, before turning back towards Beca. 'She's not supposed to be down here, you know that.'
Chloe raised an eyebrow. Jerk, she thought.
'It's ok,' Chloe said, 'I was just leaving. I only dropped in to find out when Beca finished work.'
Jesse dropped the two bags of takeout food he had been carrying on the desk next to where Chloe was still perched.
'In an hour.' He said, without even looking at either of them.
'Actually...' Beca said, and Chloe looked over to her. She was chewing the nail of her thumb on one hand, and had her other arm folded across her chest. 'About that...'
Jesse turned to face her, and rolled his eyes. 'What about that?'
'I was wondering - you know, seeing as how I'm pretty much done with my work - and it's not like we're rushed off our feet - I mean, would you - you know - cover, for me, if I had to leave early?'
Chloe suddenly felt all warm inside. Beca was adorable when she was nervous. And she was doing this for her. For them.
'No, Beca-' Chloe tried to interject, waving her hand in protest and sliding off the table 'it's totally fine, I'll wait for you outside.'
Jesse noticed Chloe watching him closely as she made for the exit. He raised an eyebrow at her & glanced between the pair of them. Beca looked at him silently, with pleading eyes. He couldn't refuse her when she looked like that.
'Fine.' He sighed. 'Go. I'll cover for you if Luke turns up.'
'Thanks Jess!' Beca grinned, but she was already out of the door, with Chloe close behind, before Jesse even had a chance to drop in with another cheeky wind up.
He pulled up a chair at the desk where the last of his unsorted discs lay, and began unwrapping the Chinese food he had brought back in. He left one carrier untouched; he had brought that food parcel back to surprise Beca with. He'd take it back for Benji now instead, he'd appreciate the sentiment, Jesse thought. He also toyed with the thought that Beca wouldn't have appreciated the sentiment whether this Chloe had rolled up or not. She was a tough nut, he thought - and found himself smiling. A tough nut - but not an impossible one.