AN: In case you didn't see it. I posted two chapters on Sunday (3&4). So if you are a little confused when you start reading this you might want to go back and read the last chapter...
CHAPTER 5: CAN WE TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL, BABY, DO YOU DARE?
Day Two
Beca took a sip of the coffee and sat the mug down on the counter top. She flipped on the water faucet and ran her hands under the water to wash off the remnants of the veggies that she'd cut up for the morning omelets. She shook the droplets off her hands and into the sink when she saw a plate being sat on the counter next to her.
"Hi" Chloe smiled as she leaned against the counter.
Beca looked from the plate and up to Chloe. "You shouldn't be doing that." Beca said with a smile. "Fat Amy would kill Flo if she saw you carrying your own dishes."
Chloe shrugged. "I don't mind and it gives me a reason to come and thank you for another delicious breakfast." She watched as Beca smiled softly. "You're very talented Beca."
"Thank you." The brunette whispered. She looked over her shoulder to make sure they were alone before turning back to Chloe. "Would you maybe want to take a walk on the beach with me and Tuck?" Beca asked softly.
Chloe smiled but didn't have a chance to respond.
"There you are" Aubrey said entering the kitchen. "The girls want to head into town to do some shopping. Maybe hit up a few antique shops. I was going to call Jesse to take us. Sound good?"
"You'll want to go down to the Marina. They have a bunch of shops there and Jesse knows of a couple of local places if you're interested in more non-touristy things." Beca said turning around. She dried her hands on a dish towel and tossed it on the kitchen island in front of her. "You should call Amy to arrange it. She'll make sure that Lily has security escort you."
"Thanks Beca." Aubrey replied. "So, we'll leave in like an hour. You good with that Chlo?"
Chloe smiled and nodded at her best friend without offering a verbal response.
"Great. I'll call Amy and set everything up." The blonde said as she left the room.
"So I guess I'll see you tonight at dinner." Beca said after they were alone in the room again. "Enjoy your day." She said as she walked around the island.
"Wait!" Chloe said a little loudly flinching at the sound of her voice.
Beca stopped and looked at her questioningly.
"Is your offer is still good?" Chloe asked sheepishly. "For that walk?"
"What about your friends and shopping?" Beca asked.
"We do that all the time and I don't really feel like going into town. I'd much prefer to hang out around here." Chloe smiled. "And I met this really handsome guy last night and I heard he was gonna be walking on the beach."
Beca's smiled dropped slightly.
"I think Tuck and I had something special and I'd really like to see him again." The redhead teased. "So, if the offer still stands I'd love to take that walk with you."
Beca nodded slowly. "Yeah." She replied softly.
"I'll meet you outside in about an hour?" Chloe asked.
"Okay." Beca replied. She felt the butterflies swimming in her stomach as she watched Chloe walk out of the room. Beca snapped out of her daze a few seconds later and hurried out of the house and towards the guest house. "Hello?" Beca called out as she walked through the small house towards the living room.
Jesse held up a finger to her while he used his other hand to hold the phone to his ear. "Yeah of course." He answered.
Beca plopped down on the couch and placed her feet on the coffee table in front of her. She pulled her lips back against her teeth and lightly blew air over her curled tongue and out of her mouth creating a high pitched whistle. Seconds later Tuck jumped up on the couch next to her and laid his head in her lap. "Hey buddy" She said scratching his head.
"At what time?" Jesse asked and then listened. "Yeah, I'll be there." He said quickly. "Bye."
"What up?" Beca asked presuming he was talking to Amy about the girl's plans to go shopping.
"Orders from Amy." He answered. "How was breakfast?"
"Good" Beca smiled.
"Uh huh." Jesse replied with a large grin.
"What?" Beca asked.
"Nothing." He shook his head. "I got to go fill up the SUV. We'll talk about that face" he said motioning to her, "tonight."
"What face?" Beca asked turning her attention away from him and to the dog next to her.
"That smitten face you've been sporting for the last couple of days." He said with a laugh.
"Smitten?" Beca questioned teasingly. "Do people still say that?"
"I do. I say it all the time" Jesse smiled, "and don't try to change the subject. You are totally smitten."
"Whatever" Beca mumbled as he made his way out of the room. "Want to go for a walk on the beach?" She asked the dog. "Chloe will be there."
Tuck's head popped up and twisted as he looked at his owner.
XxXxXx
"Hey Bree" Chloe said as she walked into her best friends room.
"You ready?" Aubrey asked not looking up as she strapped her foot into her sandal.
"I'm just going to hang back here." Chloe said. "Don't really feel like shopping."
"What?" Aubrey's head snapped up.
"I'm going to stay here." Chloe repeated.
"Yeah, I heard you Chlo. What's wrong?" Aubrey asked standing and crossing the room quickly to stand in front of her friend.
"Nothing. I just don't want to go." Chloe said quickly hoping to be convincing enough that Aubrey would believe her and let it go.
"Chloe" Aubrey said warningly.
"Beca asked me to go for a walk with her." Chloe said spilling the truth.
"I see" The lawyer said taking a step back. "So" Aubrey paused, "Do you want to tell me what's going on there?"
"Nothing's going on." Chloe said blushing.
"You know I don't believe that right? Like not even for a second." The blonde said backing up to take a seat on her bed. "You walked out to the beach last night to talk to her and then you came back wearing her shirt. The way you look at her is the exact opposite of 'nothing's going on'" Aubrey said quirking an eyebrow.
Chloe shrugged. "I like talking to her. She's interesting."
"Chloe" Aubrey breathed. "You know I'm on your side right?"
"Um? Yes?" Chloe replied unsure of what Aubrey was saying.
"I want you to be happy but I also want you to be careful." Aubrey stood from the bed and closed the distance between them. She ran her hands down Chloe's arms until their hands were joined together. "You don't know Beca. You don't know her intentions. You don't know if she's looking to make a quick buck by selling information about you to the tabloids." Aubrey swallowed, she knew the next part was going to sound horrible but she couldn't think of a better way to say it, "It's one thing to be the girl that gets cheated on but it's a completely different thing to be the girl that cheats on her boyfriend while on vacation with her friends. That's a story that you don't want written about you. People would look at you completely different and that's not the image you've built."
Chloe stepped away from her friend. "Right well ... thanks for that Bree."
"Chloe." Aubrey said again.
"No. It's fine. I know what you mean … I do. And you're right. I don't know Beca very well. And I don't know if she want's anything from me. And I should be careful so I will. Thank you for reminding me. I won't forget again." Chloe said as she turned and began walking of the room. She paused at the door and turned back, "Not everyone is after something from me Bree. I have to believe that or else I'll never meet anyone new. I have to believe that or else I'm trapped in this life just because of what I do. You know, I never wanted to be famous. I just wanted to act."
"I don't know if you can trust her Chloe." Aubrey said quietly. "Besides, doesn't everybody want something from somebody?"
"Maybe" Chloe conceded, "But, maybe she just wants to walk on the beach." Chloe said quickly as she left leaving Aubrey standing in her room.
XxXxXx
Beca resisted the urge to look back at the house once again. It had been over an hour and the thought that Chloe had changed her mind had been swarming through her head for the past several minutes. "Okay" She said as Tuck dropped the tennis ball at her feet. It was wet and covered in sand when she picked it up. He sat down calmly by her feet and tried as hard as he could to be patient. Beca reached back and threw the ball, launching it in a large arc, sending it flying down the beach as far as she could. As soon as the ball was in the air Tuck's feet were moving quickly, racing to get it and bring it back so the process could be repeated.
"Nice throw." Chloe said as she approached Beca from behind.
The voice immediately sent a shiver down Beca's spine. She turned with a smile towards the approaching redhead.
"Going incognito?" Beca asked poking fun at Chloe's oversized straw hat.
Chloe rolled her eyes. It's to keep the sun off my face and shoulders you jerk. Sorry I'm late. The girls just left. They were running late of course." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"No worries." Beca smiled. "So what did you tell them?" She asked curiously.
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.
"I'm sure they weren't happy that you were ditching them. What excuse did you give?" Beca asked.
"That I was gonna hang out at the beach." Chloe said simply. "With you."
Beca's eyes lit up hearing the last part. Beca tilted her head in the direction she threw the ball inviting Chloe to walk with her. As they started down the beach Chloe smiled as Tuck came sprinting back in their direction. "He's so cute" Chloe said. "He must attract a lot of attention. Admirers." She was fishing. She knew she was and so did Beca.
"Oh yeah. That's why I got him. Without him I'd never get a date." Beca said with a smirk. She felt Chloe brush gently into her shoulder.
"I was kidding." Chloe smiled.
"But no." Beca said bravely.
"No?" Chloe asked.
"I'm not seeing anyone." Beca answered as Tuck took his place walking next to her.
Chloe's head flew back in laughter. "That's not what I was asking."
Beca smiled, holding back her own laughter, "It wasn't?" She knew better.
Chloe's eyes crinkled at the corner as her smile grew. She choose not to answer as they continued to walk.
After the giggles died down Beca struck up the conversation. "Why acting?" She asked.
Chloe took a deep breath as she looked at the beautiful white sand beach laid out in front of her. The ocean to her left was bright blue and beautiful and there wasn't another soul for miles. "Have you ever just wanted to be someone else? If only for a minute?" She asked hesitantly.
Beca didn't reply but she knew that feeling.
"So that's why." Chloe continued. "Because I can be someone else. I can feel what they feel. I can be what they are. I can be strong. I can be funny. I can be confident." She chanced a look at Beca who was looking intently at her. "I can be sexy and flirty. I can be anything."
Beca reached down and picked up the ball Tuck dropped as they continued walking. He sat as soon as she picked up the ball and she didn't waste any time throwing it down the beach. "It can't be that bad being you. Can it?" Beca asked.
Chloe thought about it for a second. "No. It's not. I've had rough moments, especially growing up, just like everyone else I guess." Chloe answered. "Not that my childhood was horrible but it wasn't like my friends." She stopped talking quickly as she remembered their conversation from the night before and about Beca's parents. "Acting was just an escape. An outlet." She turned back towards the brunette who was watching her dog. "Much like I would assume music is for you."
"Just so you know." Beca swallowed, "I think you're all those things."
Chloe looked at her questioningly.
"I think you're strong and funny. Confident. Flirty and sexy." Beca said with a gentle smile.
Chloe bumped into her shoulder again, this time a little more forcefully. "Wow!" Chloe giggled. "Now that was smooth Beca Mitchell."
Beca blushed. "I'm wasn't." She stumbled over her own words. "I'm not. I was just." She stopped again trying to collect her thoughts, "whatever. You are. All those things." She forced the words out of her mouth with less elegance than she would have liked.
"You're cute."
Beca rolled her eyes and groaned in response.
"What? You're not cute?" Chloe asked.
"The cute one, never gets the girl." Beca said quickly with a teasing smile.
"I thought you didn't watch movies?" Chloe questioned suspiciously.
"I don't. Everybody knows that the girl never goes for the cute one. It's the dark mysterious ones that always win. Right?" Beca asked playfully.
The thought that Beca knew about Luke passed quickly through Chloe's mind and the smile she'd been wearing since they started their walk fell from her face.
"Hey" Beca said grabbing her hand and pulling her to a stop. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked. "I'm sorry if I did. I didn't mean to upset you."
Chloe searched the dark blue eyes but didn't see anything but sincerity in them. "No. You didn't say anything wrong." Chloe whispered softly. She looked down to see that her right hand was still joined in Beca's left. She liked the way it felt.
The loud sound of Tuck barking jolted them both from their trance.
"He doesn't like to be ignored." Beca said as she turned back in the direction they were walking. Chloe's hand still firmly in hers. "So your childhood." Beca said striking the conversation back up. "Why was it not like your friends?"
"Oh" Chloe said bringing her left hand up to lightly touch her chin momentarily before dropping back down to her side. "My parents split when I was young. Which isn't uncommon, I know. But they split up me and my older brother. He went to live with my dad and I stayed with our mom. He was my best friend. I loved him so much and then he was just gone. Moved to another state with my dad and you know we were kids. We didn't exactly have a way to stay in touch."
"That sucks." Beca agreed.
"None of my friends could relate to that so I felt alone." Chloe shrugged. "So I pretended a lot. Pretended he was there. Talked to him. I guess that's how I figured out I was pretty good at acting."
Tuck dropped the ball in front of Beca asked her to throw it again.
They stopped walking and dropped hands. Beca bent down to pick up the ball. Chloe immediately feeling the loss of Beca's hand, reached back and stuffed her hands in the back pockets of her cut off jean shorts. Beca turned back. "We should head back towards the house." She said not realizing how far they had walked. Beca threw the ball back in the direction of the house and watched as Tuck took off again.
"Now it's my turn." Chloe smiled with her hands still tucked in her jean shorts.
"For?" Beca asked.
"Questions."
Beca groaned. She hated talking about herself.
"So why Cabo? How did you get here from Paris cooking school?" Chloe asked genuinely interested.
Beca took a deep breath. "Well." She paused thinking of where exactly to start. "When I finished cooking school I went back to New York."
Chloe quirked a questioning eyebrow.
"That's where I grew up." Beca answered. "I got an apprenticeship at Per Se with Thomas Keller."
"I've been there." Chloe said quickly with a smile. "Last year. It was really good."
Beca nodded. She'd really enjoyed her time there. Cooking school was great but she really learned with Thomas. "I was about 3 months from opening up my own restaurant. When my parent's plane went down." She chanced a glance over to Chloe before continuing. "After that, the restaurant plans pretty much stopped. I sold off what I'd started and left New York."
"For Cabo?" Chloe asked trying to put the pieces together.
"Not originally." Beca answered. "I didn't have any other family."
Chloe's heart physically hurt for the brunette.
"No brothers or sisters. No grandparents. My mom has a sister that we were never close to and I think she has a few kids so I have some cousins somewhere that I've never met." Beca answered Chloe's questioning eyes. "But I had Jesse. He's my family now."
"Jesse. Our driver?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah. We grew up together. After high school we both went to NYU and I hated it. After the first year I went off to Paris and he stayed in NYU film school. When he graduated he moved to LA to try to make in movies around the time I came back to New York. But when my parents died I sold off the restaurant and I went out to LA for about 6 months. He was struggling in LA and we both just wanted a change of pace. A place to get away from everything. So we hopped on a plane and ended up here." Beca said telling the shortest version of the story possible. "We'd been here for a month or so before we met Amy. She was trying to build this vacation company and that's how Lux Cabo came about. My inheritance supplied the start-up capital and we picked out the house and had it remodeled, picked out a few other smaller properties and the rest is history."
Chloe stopped suddenly.
Beca took a couple more steps before she realized Chloe wasn't next to her anymore. "What?"
"That house is yours?" Chloe asked.
"Yeah." Beca answered. "But not really. I mean I own it but I don't live there. It's for company business only. I live in an apartment in town."
Chloe began walking again and Beca fell into stride when she caught up with her as they continued back down the beach towards the large house. There was a lull in the conversation as they wondered down the beach closer to the water.
"So" Beca cleared her throat. "Last night" She said nervously.
Chloe froze. She knew Beca was going to ask about the kiss. She could hear the nervous shake in the brunette's voice.
"You um" Beca continued but stopped when a strong wind ripped Chloe's hat off her head and sent it tumbling down the beach.
"Ahhhh" Chloe giggled as she instinctively began running after her hat.
Beca smiled and jogged after the redhead. Tuck jumped and barked as the actress tried valiantly to collect her hat.
"Stop laughing and help me" She called back to Beca.
The hat floated through the air and landed in the shallow water that crawled up the sand allowing Chloe to catch up to it. She bent over and picked it up out of the water.
Beca caught up to her and stopped right behind the redhead. She gently placed her hands on Chloe's hips as the actress stood up with her wet hat in hand. Chloe leaned back into Beca's body as the chef slid her arms around her waist. They stood looking out over the water enjoying the feeling of their bodies against each other and the silence that surrounded them. "I really like you." Beca whispered.
Chloe turned in Beca's arms. The sight of the house just up the beach got her attention. She hadn't realized they were that close to the mansion. "Do you want to come in?" Chloe asked looking back into Beca's dark blue eyes. "I mean come in the house? With me?"
Beca nodded slowly as she stared into Chloe's eyes.
"Give me five minutes?" Chloe asked. "I just want to make sure the girls aren't back yet."
Beca swallowed and nodded again. She loosened her grip on Chloe and turned to watch the redhead jog up the beach towards the house. She turned back towards the ocean when she'd finally lost sight of the actress. Tuck sat down next to her and dropped the ball at her feet once again. He looked up at her with his chocolate brown eyes.
"What?" She asked the dog. "Don't look at me like that." She said continuing the conversation with the dog who held eye contact with her. "No" Beca rolled her eyes at the dog. "I'm not in love with her." She said. She knew she wasn't in love with the beautiful actress but she couldn't help the feeling that she was beginning to fall in love with her. She stood looking over the ocean for a couple more minutes before she turned back towards the house and started the walk up the beach. Tuck was right behind her as they climbed the wooden staircase that led from the beach to the pool deck. "Stay" She said snapping her fingers and pointing down. She heard Tucks feet stop and turned to see him lay down with his legs stretched out in front of him. He dropped the tennis ball in his mouth gently between his front legs and dropped his head to the side. His eyes watching her enter the house.
She didn't see Chloe in the living area when she walked into the open house. So she continued towards the kitchen. "Hello?" Beca called out.
"Beca" Chloe's voice was hushed but urgent from behind her.
Beca stopped and turned. "Hey" She greeted.
"I'm sorry" Chloe said quickly catching Beca off guard. She was about to ask why she was apologizing when she heard another voice bounding down the stairs getting closer to them.
"Where did you run off too?" The man's voice called out.
Chloe's eyes were panicked as she turned away from Beca and back towards Luke who rounded the corner and entered the room they were in.
"Oh. Hi." He said with a smile. "That was fast. I'd just asked Jesse to send someone over." He said.
Beca stood silent. She was completely confused. "Jesse?" She mumbled.
"Yeah." Luke said as he walked up and wrapped his arms around Chloe from behind the way she had just stood with Chloe down at the beach. "I'm starving babe. Are you?" He asked softly into Chloe's ear.
"N" Chloe stuttered. "N no."
"Okay well I'm going to have something." He said placing a kiss to her neck that she tried to lean away from.
Beca's gaze dropped from the pair to the floor. She wanted to get out of there but she felt like her legs weighed 2000 pounds.
"Could you clean up the table over here?" Luke said tipping his head backwards. "I'll eat there. Is there like a menu or something? Or will you just get me whatever I want?"
" don't have to do that" She said to Beca with panicked eyes before turning to her boyfriend, "Luke. It's not her job to clean the" Chloe started.
Somehow Beca found her voice. "Yeah. Sure." She was amazed when her feet started to move towards the small table that sat in the corner of the room overlooking the pool. She grabbed the glasses that sat on the top from the morning and a couple of plates that had remained there from where Jessica and CR had their breakfast.
She past them quickly and headed back to the kitchen. Once her back was to the pair she squeezed her eyes shut tightly as if it would make her disappear.
"So" She heard Luke's voice behind her. "I surprised you right? You love surprises." He said playfully. She didn't want to hear Chloe's answer but it was impossible to block it out.
"Yeah. You surprised me." The actress said looking at him but trying to keep Beca in her peripheral vision.
"Excuse me." Jesse said loudly as he entered the room. "Someone will be here to make you lunch in about 10 minutes." He said to Luke. He saw the look in Chloe's eyes but didn't care. He turned back to Beca who stood looking away from them in the kitchen.
"Oh great." Luke said. "You sure you don't want anything babe?" He asked.
Beca dropped the plates loudly in the sink and turned back towards the pair just in time to see Luke lean in and kiss Chloe on the lips. The redhead bent backwards but was unable to escape his lips. Her hands held tightly to his arms as she tried to push further away from him but it was impossible with the way his arms were tightly wrapped around her waist.
Beca was moving again. Her feet carried her past Luke and Chloe. She felt Jesse's eyes on her as she walked out of the living room and onto the pool deck making a bee-line for the stairs. "Let's go Tuck." She said just above a whisper.
The black and white dog stood quickly, grabbing his ball in his mouth and turning to quickly catch up with her.
AN2: I'm ready for your thoughts...
Song Cred: James Arthur, Naked