- Part 1 -

Arrhythmia

She looks at life like it's a party and she's on the list.
She looks at me like I'm a trend and she's so over it.
I think her ever present frown is a little troubling.
And, she thinks I'm psycho,
'Cause I like to rhyme her name with things.
-Taylor Swift

The ballroom is extravagant and the grand piano is everything that Aubrey hoped it would be. It's the first thing that catches her eye as she and Chloe stop near the doorway. They're exactly on time. People are filing in and mingling around the round tables. Aubrey stands poised and collected off to the side, and Chloe is her normal bubbly self as she stares into the room with delight. The only reminder of their earlier shower excursion is the stinging in Aubrey's shoulders. She opted for wearing a white sundress to dinner because she realized the scratches are high enough that her hair easily covers them. Her blonde locks fall down over her shoulders in loose, natural waves. It's not like she even had time to fix her hair back up after it got wet in the shower. Not while Chloe was hogging the bathroom.

"Look, there's Ashley and Jessica!" Chloe pipes up and leans forward on her toes.

Aubrey isn't even sure who she's talking about until she spots them. She recognizes their faces immediately and feels momentarily guilty that she has already forgotten their names. Then again, she's not sure if she ever took the time to remember them to begin with.

"Come on," Chloe says eagerly and pulls Aubrey by the elbow. "Let's go talk to them."

Aubrey is about to follow her when her phone goes off from somewhere inside her handbag. She stops and looks at Chloe then waves her hand at her. "Go ahead, I'll catch up," she says.

"Okay, but no work calls," Chloe warns her teasingly. She walks off to socialize and Aubrey opens her bag and digs through it for her cell phone.

She finally finds it and pulls it out then briefly glances at the screen. Unknown Caller. She flips the phone open and presses it against her ear. "This is Aubrey Posen," she answers it. For a moment, there's silence. Aubrey pulls the phone back and gives it a look then presses it against her ear again. "Hello?" The quiet is broken by Wedding of the Winds playing through the earpiece. Aubrey squints her eyes and presses the phone harder against her ear to make sure she's hearing right. The person on the other end hangs up.

"So, how about that drink?"

Aubrey startles at the sudden voice behind her. She drops her phone and bag as she spins around to face Luke with her hands up near her face. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she sputters, her breath caught in her throat.

Luke quirks a brow in amusement. "I'm not really that scary," he tells her nonchalantly and squats down to gather the stuff that fell out of her bag.

Aubrey lets out a breath and quickly drops to her knees to help gather her things. "Oh, because only charming men creep up behind unsuspecting women like they're some sort of Jack the Ripper," she shoots defensively. She starts grabbing her belongings – chapstick, lipgloss, sunglasses, a Tide To Go pen – and shoves them back into her bag where they belong.

"I take it you're not used to being caught off-guard," Luke replies calmly.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that," Aubrey answers and glares at him. "It's unnerving."

Luke adjusts himself so he's kneeling on one knee and picks up her phone. He looks at the background image of Aubrey kissing Chloe's cheek before offering it to her. "Not your girlfriend, yeah?"

Aubrey grabs her phone from him and snaps it shut. "Not your business," she retorts and throws her phone in her bag then climbs to her feet.

"Becky's right about you being high-strung," Luke informs her as he stands up also.

Aubrey scoffs. So Beca has been talking about her. "Well, you're a douchebag," she snaps back.

"I'll buy you a round of whatever you drink," Luke offers.

Aubrey's next insult sticks to the tip of her tongue. That's not the direction this conversation is supposed to go in. She straightens her posture and looks into the ballroom. "Beca is expecting us to be in there for dinner," she replies.

Luke follows her gaze then looks at her again. "Becky wants you in there for dinner as much as I want to be in there for dinner," he states. "That'd be not at all."

Aubrey knows he's right about Beca not wanting her in there. She looks at Beca. Beca is sitting at one of the tables with her laptop but her eyes are locked on the back of Chloe's head. Aubrey wants to use the excuse that Chloe may need her, but Chloe is giggling about something with Ashley (or is Jessica the brunette one?) and looks perfectly content on her own. She weighs how much she doesn't want to be where she is against how much she doesn't want to be in a bar with Luke. She sighs and looks at him. "Just give me one second," she says and digs her phone back out of her bag. She scrolls through her contacts then shoots a text to Chloe that says, 'Going to be late. Text me if you need me.'

Chloe stops talking when her phone goes off. She pulls it out of her bag and looks at it then glances around before she spots Aubrey and Luke in the doorway. Her expression can only be read as what the fuck?, and she looks down at her phone again to text back. 'Ur srsly still trying to revenge bang Beca's boss?'

Aubrey rolls her eyes and chooses not to dignify that with a response. She just tucks her phone back into her bag then looks back at Luke.

Luke raises an eyebrow at her. "You ready?" he asks.

"Let's go," Aubrey answers. She's going to need a few drinks in her if she comes back and this dinner is still going on. She also needs to forget about that weird phone call before it has the opportunity to drive her crazy. She turns her back to Beca and her stupid dinner and makes her way down the hall with Luke on their way to The Cannery.

xxxxx

Aubrey feels overdressed and out of place at the bar. The locals, like Luke, are dressed in t-shirts and jeans. They're rowdy and touchy-feely and Aubrey gives them disgusted looks as she squeezes past them. She presses up against Luke's back with her hands on his shoulder blade as they make their way to the nearest empty booth. She'd rather be pressed against him than someone who is a complete stranger. He doesn't seem to mind how close she is, but he doesn't exactly help her stay out of everyone's way either. He really is a douchebag with a too pretty face. She quickly regrets not staying at dinner, but she doesn't want to go back either. She's set on avoiding Beca unless it compromises Chloe's happiness. If not having to deal with Beca means she has to put up with a building full of drunk strangers, so be it. The hatred she has for Beca feels like flames flickering in her lower stomach.

"Can we get two drinks over here?" Luke calls to the bartender. He slides into the booth and Aubrey sits in the seat across from him. "What do you want?" he asks her.

"I'll take a Tequila Sunrise," Aubrey answers and turns to face the bartender as she approaches to take their order. The bartender is cute – cuter than Luke anyway. She's a blonde with a gorgeously fit body, but she reminds Aubrey just a little too much of Beca. She has tattoos and there is a tongue piercing visible when she speaks that is even worse than Beca's ear monstrosities.

"Tequila Sunrise it is," she repeats Aubrey's order back to her then turns to Luke.

"Should've known you'd be one of those cocktail girls," Luke comments.

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey asks in offense and folds her hands on the table. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Luke doesn't acknowledge her question. He places an arm on the table and turns to face the bartender. "I'll take a half glass beer, quarter glass whiskey, and quarter glass 7-Up," he orders.

"Okay," the bartender replies slowly and jots that down in a notepad. "Half beer, quarter whiskey, and quarter 7-Up," she repeats.

"You just ordered a cocktail," Aubrey deliberately points out.

Luke laughs is disbelief and slouches back against the seat. "That's not a cocktail," he argues. The bartender arches her eyebrows and looks back and forth between them.

Aubrey is suddenly thankful for all the liquor lessons she's suffered through Chloe rambling about. She honestly never thought they'd come in handy in life. "A cocktail has two or more ingredients in it," she replies as though she's reciting it from a script, "One of them has to be a spirit, and whiskey is a spirit. So that, is a cocktail." She sits up straighter and doesn't bother to hide the smug look on her face.

The bartender looks at her, clearly impressed. "You're hired," she announces. She glances at Luke. "The girl knows what she's talking about."

Luke looks back and forth between them. "What are you two?" he asks. "The cocktail police?"

"I'll be back with your drinks," the bartender tells them. She winks at Aubrey then turns and walks away. Aubrey clenches her jaw, displeased to find Luke casually checking her out as she leaves.

xxxxx

Aubrey finds out right away that she and Luke don't have a lot in common, or a lot to talk about. Luke enjoys talking about himself. The bartender returns with their drinks and Aubrey sips on hers as she pretends to listen to him go on and on about his record label. She could speak up, but her mind wanders to her earlier phone call. That was weird, right? It was the same tune she had heard on the music box, and she tries to determine whether it was just as creaky. Even if it wasn't from the music box specifically, it's still too much of a coincidence that someone had played that tune into her phone for her to just let it go. The alcohol keeps her from getting too worked up over it. But she's still trying to picture who was around her, Chloe, and Maggie that might have overheard them and might have her phone number. Beca was there, but she doubts Beca would really call her phone with some creepy music. Unless she knows that it will drive Aubrey up a wall. She frowns and stares past Luke's head at a fish mounted on the wall.

"Your drink is getting warm," Luke points out.

Aubrey blinks a few times then glances down at it. The ice is melting. She hasn't downed as much of it as she thought. She tilts the glass up to her lips and takes a lengthy swallow. "I thought we were playing darts," she comments as she places the glass back down on the table and licks the alcohol off her lips. There is a thousand things she'd rather be doing than throwing sharp objects at a wall, but it's better than listening to Luke. He seems up for the game. He finishes his drink then leans forward and looks around for a dartboard. There's one on the wall near the front door.

The bartender must have overheard her suggestion, because she walks over to the table with three darts in her hand. "Just don't hit anyone," she warns them with a grin. "The sheriff is already on our ass about an incident with people throwing knives."

"People throw knives?" Aubrey asks, intrigued. That doesn't sound safe, but it sounds more entertaining than the dull darts she's holding.

"Not anymore," the bartender answers.

"I think you're stalling on losing," Luke tells Aubrey as he gets to his feet. He walks toward the dartboard and leaves Aubrey there at the booth.

The bartender watches him walk away then looks at Aubrey. "Where did you find a charmer like that?" she murmurs out of the corner of her mouth.

Aubrey might be offended if she actually liked Luke, but she just frowns at the back of his head instead. She tries to think of an answer to give, but nothing comes to mind. "Arch-enemy's boss," she answers simply.

The bartender looks momentarily confused but then just brushes it off. "Well, kick his ass and I'll buy you a round," she replies. Someone hollers from the bar and she rolls her eyes. "Relax, you animals!" she shouts across the room as she walks away.

Aubrey watches her go out of the corner of her eye. She can at least return to dinner and tell Chloe that she made a new friend now. She turns back to Luke with a confident smirk. She doesn't need the extra incentive to kick his ass. It's enough that she's a Posen – and Posens don't lose at anything, not even at mediocre games of darts in dingy bars.

Soon, she's gonna find,
Stealing other people's toys on the playground,
Won't make you many friends.
She should keep in mind,
She should keep in mind,
There is nothing I do better than revenge.
Ha.
-Taylor Swift