"Beca, will you please stop," Trish said. "I'm fine. I passed out from the stress. That's all it was."
"That's all it was, she says," Beca says mimicking Trish. "I was scared to death."
"I know," Trish said quietly. "I'm sorry I worried you. The doctor said I need reduce the amount of stress I put on myself."
"Okay," Beca says. "I'll do my best to help with that."
"Hey, Trish," Chloe says as she enters the bedroom carrying a tray. "I brought you some soup since you missed breakfast."
"Thanks, Chloe," Trish said. "I think after I eat this, I'm just going to take a nap."
"Okay," Chloe said. "I'll just go and I'll check on you tomorrow."
"No," Trish said quickly. "I need you and Aubrey to stay. This one here is going to bother me all night long if someone isn't here to keep her occupied."
Chloe laughed. "We'll stay for a little while," Chloe told Trish.
"I don't need a babysitter," Beca mumbled.
Chloe and Trish both laughed. Chloe left the room and went to tell Aubrey they were staying for a while.
"Do you need anything before I leave you alone?," Beca asked.
"No, I'm good," Trish said.
"Okay," Beca said. "Just holler if you need anything.
"I will," Trish said.
Beca leaves Trish and goes to the living room to find Chloe and Aubrey chatting.
"How do we help relieve her stress?," Chloe asked. "I mean, with her father and the trust fund, and getting married, and the cancer. That girl is loaded up with things to be stressed about."
"We just need to keep her focused on other stuff," Aubrey said.
"Like what?," Beca asked.
"Take her on a trip," Aubrey said. "Tell everyone it's your honeymoon and they'll leave the two of you alone."
"That might work," Beca said. "We can go to my beach house. She loves the beach."
"That sounds perfect," Aubrey said.
"Can I ask you guys a favor?," Beca said nervously.
"Sure, Becs," Chloe said. "What is it?"
"Can you guys come with us?," Beca said. "I mean, she knows and trusts you both. It'll mean a lot to her to have someone other than me to talk to."
"I can," Aubrey said.
"I don't know," Chloe said. "I still have work to do for the move to LA. Plus, I need to go back to Tampa to help finalize things on that end."
"Oh, okay," Beca said looking dejected.
Chloe looks at Aubrey and then at Beca.
"Let me call Karen and see what I can do," Chloe said.
Beca's face lit up. "Thank you."
Chloe goes outside to the patio and calls Karen.
"Hey, Chloe," Karen says answering the phone.
"Hey, Karen," Chloe says. "How are things going?"
"Everything is going well," Karen said. "We've got a lot of the folks packed up and ready to go. Some of them are asking if they can leave in two weeks instead of later. They have rentals and housing already set up and they would like to get situated before they jump right into working."
"That's not a bad idea," Chloe said. "Are Steve and Jennifer ready to move out here now?"
"Yes," Karen said. "So are, David T and Michael F. I think Suzie is good to go as well."
"Okay," Chloe says. "Can you find out if Steve and Jennifer can be out here by the end of the week? I need to stay out here a little longer for personal stuff and will need them to keep things moving here in LA. Tell them I'll give them two weeks paid leave when I leave for Tampa. Also, tell the other three they can come out in two weeks. I'll plan to come back to Tampa then and can take care of the final aspects of the move when I get back."
"Okay," Karen said. "There are a few meetings on your schedule over the next two weeks. Do you want me to set them up as conference calls?"
"That would be great," Chloe said. "Just put them on my schedule with the call-in info. I'll let you know for sure when I'm returning so you can schedule my flights."
"No problem," Karen said. "Is there anything else?"
"That's it for now," Chloe said.
"Since you'll only be here for two weeks before you make your move to LA," Karen said. "How about we plan to have you over for dinner your last night here?"
"I'd love that," Chloe said. "Thank you, Karen."
"You're welcome," Karen said. "I'll send you the conference call info in the morning."
"Thanks, again," Chloe said. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay," Karen said. "Bye Chloe."
Chloe hangs up and runs her hand through her hair. She mentally chastises herself for feeling guilty about delegating the job of setting up the new office to her VPs. She has a right to take some time for herself. Doesn't she? Her thoughts are all over the place when Aubrey steps out to check on her.
"Everything okay, Chloe?," Aubrey asks.
"Yeah," Chloe said. "Just feeling guilty for making my VPs do their job."
"You never were someone who liked to delegate," Aubrey said. "You always felt guilty and would just do it yourself so you didn't have to bother anyone else."
"I guess some things never change," Chloe said. "Where's Beca?"
"She went to check on Trish," Aubrey said.
"Oh no," Chloe said. "Trish wanted us to stay to keep Beca from constantly bothering her."
Chloe and Aubrey go back inside to find Beca standing in the middle of the living room looking like someone just kicked her puppy.
"She kicked me out," Beca said.
Chloe and Aubrey tried not to laugh at the forlorn expression on Beca's face.
"She did tell you to not bother her so she could sleep," Chloe said.
"I know," Beca said. "But I was just worried about her."
"We know, Beca," Aubrey said giving her a hug. "But, you have to respect Trish's wishes."
Beca giggled.
"Sorry," Beca said. "Trish's wishes. It rhymed."
"You're such a child," Aubrey said with a chuckle.
"Aubrey?," they hear Trish's voice call out.
"I'll go see what she wants," Aubrey said and goes to Trish's room.
Beca sits down next to Chloe and leans her head on Chloe's shoulder.
"I rearranged a few things so I can go to the beach house with you," Chloe said.
"That's great," Beca said looking at Chloe. "Think we can leave tomorrow?"
"Can we wait until the day after?," Chloe asked. "I need to do a few work things and Stacie is flying in tomorrow afternoon. I'm sure Aubrey will ask if she can go with us."
"That should be fine," Beca said. "I'll go tell Trish and Aubrey."
Beca gets up and Chloe stops her.
"Let's give them a few minutes," Chloe said.
Beca nodded and sat back down.
"I know I've said it before," Chloe says quietly. "But I really have missed you so much."
"I've missed you, too," Beca said. "I know I acted like it was no big deal when we talked at the reunion. And as much as I wanted to, I could never hate you for what you did. Aubrey had told me about your dad and his plan. I wanted to contact you but I really didn't want to see you with Ray. I was also afraid that if I did get in touch with you, I wouldn't have been able to keep myself from being with you. I'm not a cheater."
"I get that," Chloe said. "We seemed to have cornered the market on wrong time, wrong place."
"I shouldn't have asked you to wait for me," Beca said. "I mean it's totally unfair to you. What if Trish gets better and we have to continue this charade? What if you meet someone you want to be with and can't because you feel an obligation to wait for me? This is so fucked up."
Beca leans forward putting her elbows on her knees and holding her head in her hands. Chloe take Beca's hands and lifts her head up by her chin. Beca keeps her eyes down.
"Hey," Chloe said causing Beca to look at her. "I've had five years to be with someone else. I haven't because I never stopped thinking about you. I love you. And as wrong as that is to say right now, it will be right sometime. I can wait."
"I still love you, too," Beca says.
Beca looks at Chloe and starts to lean in. Chloe pulls back and swallows.
"That's not a good idea," Chloe says.
"I know," Beca says. "I'm sorry. I just said I'm not a cheater and one look from you and I'm ready to become that person."
"Let's go talk to Trish about the beach trip," Chloe says.
Chloe and Beca go to Trish's room to find her and Aubrey chatting.
"Can we talk to you about something?," Beca asks Trish.
"Sure," Trish said. "What's up?"
"We thought it would be good for us to get away for a week," Beca said. "Go to my beach house and help relieve some of your stress. We'll tell people it's our honeymoon. Chloe, and Aubrey and Stacie will come with us."
"That sounds like fun," Trish said.
"Thanks for including Stacie," Aubrey said. "I'm sure she'll love it."
"Great," Beca said. "We'll plan to leave on Thursday. I'll call Mrs. Paulson and ask her to get the place ready for us. I'll also ask her to stock up on some groceries. Is there anything special you guys want?"
"Make sure there's plenty of fresh veggies on hand," Trish said. "And some fish."
"I'm good with anything," Chloe said.
"Nothing special I can think of," Aubrey said.
"Okay," Beca said. "I'll call Mrs. Paulson now."
Beca leaves and Chloe watches until she's gone.
"You've got it bad for her," Trish says with a laugh causing Chloe's head to whip around.
"Sorry," Chloe says. "I have to be better at hiding it. I don't want to tip off your dad. Although, if she wears a bikini while we're at the beach, I can't promise I won't look."
"And drool over her?," Aubrey asks causing Trish to laugh.
Chloe's face shows no emotion but her cheeks redden.
The next afternoon, Aubrey picks Stacie up at the airport. Beca and Trish invite Chloe to come by after work so she can stay with them giving Stacie and Aubrey some time to themselves for the night. Chloe is sitting and talking with Beca and Trish when her phone rings.
"Excuse me," Chloe says. "I have to take this."
Chloe walks out to the patio and answers the phone.
"Hey, Karen," Chloe says.
"Hey," Karen says. "Just wanted to update you on what's happening. Got a minute?"
"Sure," Chloe says.
"Steve and Jennifer will be flying to LA on Friday," Karen tells her. "Will you be able to meet with them?"
"No," Chloe said. "I'm leaving tomorrow for a week. I've left them a list of things they will need to take care of. The list is in my office, plus, I'll be reachable by phone the whole time."
"Okay," Kare says. "Anything else I should tell them?"
"I'll plan to spend the whole day with them next Friday," Chloe said. "They can update me then. Also, get me on a flight leaving the next day. I'll need a day to recuperate and get ready for those last two weeks in Tampa."
"You go it, boss," Karen said. "Talk to you later."
"Bye," Chloe says and hangs up.
Chloe goes back inside to find Beca sitting by herself.
"Trish got tired," Beca explained. "She said to give you her apologies."
"That's okay," Chloe said. She leaned her head to the side and listened to the music playing softly in the background. "Hey, is this that new song you were working on?"
"Yeah," Beca said. "Dance with me?"
"Beca," Chloe said quietly.
"It's just a dance, Chlo," Beca said holding out her hand.
Chloe sighed and took Beca's hand. Beca pulled Chloe to her and put her other hand around Chloe's waist. Chloe put her hand on Beca's shoulder and laid her chin on her hand. Beca slowly guided them around the living room, humming the song in Chloe's ear. The song ended and they just stood motionless, holding onto each other. Chloe finally pulled back.
"I'm going to go to bed," Chloe said. "Tomorrow's a busy day."
"Yeah," Beca said. "I'll, um, see you in the morning. Sleep well."
"Good night, Becs," Chloe said and went to her room.
The next morning, Trish and Beca were sitting at the kitchen counter drinking coffee when Chloe came in. Trish poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Chloe.
"Thanks," Chloe said.
"We want to get on the road soon," Beca said. "We still need to pick up Aubrey and Stacie and I want to get to the beach house in time for lunch."
"Okay," Chloe said. "Let me finish my coffee and I'll get ready."
The three girls get ready and grab their bags. They pick up Aubrey and Stacie and arrive at the beach house just before 1:00 pm. Traffic was a bit heavier getting out of the city than Beca allotted for. The girls all decided who was going to be in what room and went to unpack. Beca put her bags in her room and went back to the kitchen. She made a grilled chicken caesar salad for lunch. She was just throwing some parmesan cheese on the salad when Trish and Chloe come into the kitchen.
"That looks good, Beca," Trish said.
"Thanks," Beca said. "I figured everyone would be hungry but I didn't want to make something heavy. Especially since we're having dinner on the beach tonight."
"Dinner on the beach?," Stacie asks as she and Aubrey come into the kitchen. "What's on the menu?"
"Well," Beca said. "I made a few calls yesterday and we are having an actual crab boil. There will be crab of course, shrimp, sausage, corn, and potatoes. They'll actually cook everything over a fire on the beach."
"That sounds good," Aubrey said. "I love when you do the crab boil on the beach."
The girls spent the afternoon just hanging out on the beach. The area was private so they didn't have to worry about too many people crowding them. Beca did wear a bikini and Chloe's faced turned red when she saw Aubrey and Trish look at her with a smirk on their faces.
The guys putting together the crab boil for them showed up at about 4:30 to get things started. The girls all watched as they dug a small hole and got a fire going. They then put a wire stand over the fire and placed a large pot on it. They put in the potatoes and corn, adding just enough water to cover, and let that cook for a bit. They then added the crabs and sausage and some crab seasoning. It was almost 6:00 when they added the shrimp in the pot. About 15 minutes later it was ready and they called the girls over to the picnic table.
Chloe, Trish, and Aubrey threw on a t-shirt and shorts over their bikinis. Beca and Stacie opted to just stay in their bikinis. They all sat at the table and Beca placed a beer in front of everyone except Trish. The guys dumped the pot on the table and the girls started digging in. They all were laughing and carrying on while they ate. There wasn't much left when they had their fill. Beca collected up the leftovers and carried them into the house. She put everything in the refrigerator thinking she could make a really good seafood soup or chowder with them.
Beca went back to the table and the girls had cleaned everything up. Chloe said she was going to take a walk on the beach if anyone was interested. Trish said she was tired and was going to go rest for a bit. The other girls declined and Chloe headed down the beach.
Chloe enjoyed the walk. She was relaxed and enjoying herself. She hadn't had a real vacation in almost five years. Her father always said it was a waste of time because she had responsibilities. Chloe shook her head trying to shake loose thoughts of her father. She returned to the beach house almost 2 hours after she had walked off. She hadn't realized she had been gone that long.
She walked back into the house and found all four girls watching a movie. Rather, Trish, Aubrey and Stacie were watching a movie. Beca was sleeping with her head leaning back on the couch. Chloe smiled and laughed.
"This brings back some memories," Chloe said.
"Every Bellas movie night," Stacie said laughing as well.
"Tell me more about the Bellas," Trish said.
"Where do we begin?," Aubrey said with a laugh.
"How did you get Beca to join?," Trish asked. "She said something about her father telling her she had to join a group but she never did say how she came to be in the Bellas."
Chloe's face turned a dark shade of pink and Stacie and Aubrey started laughing.
"Well," Aubrey said. "Chloe and I were manning the Bellas booth at the Activities Fair when Beca walked by. Chloe had already noticed her and thought she was really cute. They started talking and exchanged numbers. Then Beca said she couldn't sing but that she'd love to take Chloe out sometime. Chloe was heartbroken about Beca not singing but did accept the offer of a date."
"And I heard her sing and talked her into joining," Chloe interrupted. "The end."
Stacie and Aubrey both laughed out loud.
"I can tell there is so much more to the story," Trish said. "Spill!"
"Okay, okay," Aubrey said catching her breath from laughing. "Any way Beca and Chloe made a date for that Friday night. Chloe had to use the showers at Baker Hall because I was sick and couldn't stay out of the bathroom."
Chloe snorted. Aubrey glared at her.
"Anyway," Aubrey said. "From what I pieced together from the story I got from both Beca and Chloe, Beca came in to shower and started singing. Chloe heard her and went into her shower stall, naked. She insisted Beca sing with her and when they were done she told her she had to try out for the Bellas. Later when Beca came to pick Chloe up for their date, Beca couldn't look at Chloe without blushing. Their date went rather well and they laughed about the shower incident. Beca decided to give the Bellas tryout a shot and she got in."
"You went into the shower stall," Trish said. "Of someone you heard singing. You had no idea it was Beca. It could have been anybody."
"In my defense," Chloe said. "She sounded really good and we needed good singers."
Aubrey and Stacie laughed harder.
"It was just a bonus for Chloe," Stacie said between laughs. "That it was Beca. A very naked Beca singing Chloe's jam. Her lady jam."
"Shut up," Chloe said getting redder by the second.
"Lady jam, huh?," Trish said laughing. "That is priceless."
Beca woke up when she heard Trish laugh.
"What'd I miss?," Beca asked stretching and yawning.
"From what I hear," Trish said with a giggle. "Not much."
Aubrey and Stacie snickered when Beca looked around confused. She looked at Chloe who was looking down at the floor, cheeks a crimson red.
"Let me guess," Beca said. "You told Trish about the shower incident."
The girls couldn't hold it in any longer and started laughing. Chloe finally gave up and laughed along with them. Shortly after everyone settled down, they decided to call it a night.
The next day was spent much like the first. Just hanging out on the beach, swimming and laying around trying to get a tan. After lunch, Chloe decided to take a walk along the beach. Beca asked if she could join her and Chloe agreed.
They walked for a bit and Chloe stopped and sat down. Beca sat next to her and put her head on Chloe's shoulder. They sat and just stared out over the water.
"This is so peaceful," Chloe said. "I haven't been this relaxed in years."
"I know," Beca said. "That's why I bought the beach house. It's private and I can come here and just do nothing. It's a great stress reliever."
They sat quietly for a bit longer. Chloe checked the time and said they should probably head back. She got up and held her hands out for Beca to help her up. She yanked a little harder than she intended, causing Beca to fall into Chloe. Chloe was caught by surprise and they both ended up on the sand with Beca on top of Chloe. They both started laughing and Beca put her head down on Chloe's shoulder. They pulled themselves together and managed to stand up. They wiped the sand off, well as much as they could and started walking back to the beach house.
"Thanks for including me in this trip," Chloe said stopping Beca before they got to the house. "I was serious when I said I haven't been this relaxed in quite some time."
"I'm glad you could come," Beca said.
Chloe pulled Beca into a hug. Beca hugged Chloe back and just held on for a few minutes. They finally pulled back and looked at each other. Chloe shook her head to clear it.
"We should get back," Beca said.
"Yeah," Chloe replied and they continued to the beach house.
Later that night, the girls were watching a movie when Trish's phone rang.
"Sorry," Trish said with a small smile. "It's my dad. He probably just wants to check on me."
Aubrey paused the movie so Trish could answer the call.
"Hey, dad," Trish said.
"You need file annulment papers immediately," her father said.
"What the hell, dad?," Trish said. "I thought you said you were okay with me and Beca being married."
"I was, her father said. "Until I found out she's already cheating on you."