A/N: Hey everyone! I'm back with something new. This idea came to me because of something Redlance-ck mentioned in their fic Experimentation (which if you haven't checked out by the way, you really should). I'll post what that thing was in the next chapter because it might spoil things a bit in this one. Needless to say I'm still working on my other things, Nocturnal should get an update here soon, and who knows what else may be coming. Zap wanted to say a little something here, so...
Zap's Note: Sorry folks, I'm a horrible person I know. I've had this for awhile but kept getting distracted by other things like this weird need to become unconscious for hours on end, plus Star Trek Online and going to town for groceries. It should have been out much sooner and I can't apologize enough. I'm hella tired, so FSM only knows what I let slip. Blame there still being mistakes on me. I'm writing, I don't know when more of anything will come.
I'd also like to point out that this title is very much a work in progress. I'm not thrilled with it, but I wanted to post it anyway, so we'll let it stick for now. Let me know if you have any ideas for different names.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this. Please leave a review and tell me what you liked and didn't like. It's the only way we get better, right?
An Unexpected Encounter
Six Years Earlier – The Barden Bellas Rehearsal Hall, Barden University
Excitement buzzed through the air as the seven freshmen Barden Bellas danced gleefully in their chairs. Every single one of them had been through an emotional rollercoaster over the last couple of weeks. From the high point right after their performance at the Semi-Finals, to their lowest point just after Beca walked out and they found out they had come in third place. Walking out of the music hall after their defeat had been heartbreaking, and even Aubrey hadn't had the heart to criticize anyone after having ripped Beca up one side and down the other. Most of them were surprised, however, when they got onto the bus and found that not only was Beca missing, but all of her stuff was gone too. Aubrey, meanwhile, had simply ignored it and moved into her own seat, also ignoring the curious glances that nearly everyone had for Beca's empty seat and missing bag. The ride home was for most of them the worst thing they'd ever experienced.
Which made the elation that they felt when a week and a half later they had gotten a call from Aubrey saying that the Footnotes had been disqualified and that they, as third place and first alternates, were going to Lincoln Center for the Finals. All seven of the girls were talking excitedly, hyped up and ready to see what changes their captains, Aubrey and Chloe had in store for them to shake things up for finals. Only one, the buxom brunette, noticed that their tiniest and grumpiest fellow was absent, but just assumed that Beca was running late as was her norm.
When Aubrey strode excitedly into the room the girls' chatter got softer, but didn't stop entirely. The blond senior took note of how excited everyone was and felt a sense of triumph and empowerment fill her. Taking a handful of papers from her bag she noticed that Chloe had yet to show up, but didn't think much of it as she stepped in front of the girls sitting in the tiered seats before her.
"Ok!" She said, standing by the railing, the papers she held shaking slightly in her own excitement. As the group before her got even quieter she started to hand out the papers, the plans she'd so meticulously drawn up over the last week in order to ensure that their set list was on point. Handing a small stack of papers to Amy and CR, who took one and passed them along to the others she continued, "The aca-gods have looked down on us and they have given us a second chance!"
A frisson ran through the group as the girls giggled excitedly, thrilled to see their captain so energized. They knew that, whatever was coming, it was going to be great. As they were passing the papers out, Chloe strode into the room. The redhead walked with purpose, she had a goal for the day, one she hadn't bothered to discuss with Aubrey who was still stuck on the old set list. But after seeing a video of the performance while she was recovering from her surgery, and conveniently away from Aubrey imposing her views on everyone around her, the ginger had realized how Beca's additions had actually improved things. People in the audience, the few she could see from the camera angle, had perked up and taken not of things. And even the commentators, those two people from the ICCA board, had seemed more interested after Beca had broken in and layered her singing with Aubrey's.
A second and third watch through had followed… What could she say, recovery had taken a long time and Chloe needed to have something to entertain herself with, right? By the third watch through Chloe was feeling thoroughly depressed and extremely guilty. She hadn't realized at the time just how much of a difference Beca's performance had made. She had known that the short freshman was into DJing and stuff, they'd talked about it often enough outside of Bellas practices, but to have her pull something like that off on the fly in the middle of a performance was astounding.
Before she could really start to get down on herself, however, she had gotten the message from Aubrey. And Chloe knew, she'd just known instinctively, that it was a sign. And that's why the first thing she'd done after hearing from Aubrey that they were back in and that Bree would be calling the rest of the Bellas was to text Beca.
As she walked into the room and saw that the short brunette wasn't there, however, she realized that she'd never actually gotten a response back from her. She'd been so busy the last couple weeks with her physical therapy and vocal coach that she hadn't given it much thought. But she knew Beca's propensity for being late was pretty extreme, so she put it out of her mind as she heard the tail end of Aubrey's little speech.
"Shalom!" Fat Amy said in response, pumping her fist into the air. She saw the girls starting to look over the papers and had a feeling that many of them would soon realize what she had. Nothing was changing. Well, there was no time like the present to start that change.
"I texted Beca." She said simply as she walked past Aubrey. As expected, the blond froze for a second. Chloe knew that she was probably about to start a fight. But Beca's words after the semi-final performance made her realize that maybe a fight was just what they'd needed. She'd always just gone along with Aubrey's decisions, even when she disagreed with them. Well, either she was co-captain and her thoughts and opinions matter just as much as Aubrey's, or she was just a nobody on the team… And she wasn't sure if she wanted to keep on taking Aubrey's shit if that was the case.
"You did what?" Aubrey's voice conveyed astonishment and indignation. Just as Chloe had expected. Turning to face her best friend in the whole world, her best friend who could be the biggest controlling bitch ever at times, Chloe stopped and looked straight at her. She wasn't going to back down this time. This time she was going to win, and then they were going to win.
"She makes us better." She said back to Aubrey, a basic fact that she needed Aubrey to recognize. She didn't need to turn around to know that others agreed with her, Stacie, CR, and Fat Amy for sure. They just had to confront Aubrey and get her to realize it. Then when Beca walked in, maybe they could get over everything and figure out a way to win Finals.
"That's not an opinion for you to have, Chloe." Aubrey said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. The blond had fought with her every step of the way regarding Beca, so she wasn't even the slightest bit surprised that her tenacious blond friend was still putting up a fight. Well, it was time for the kid gloves to come off…
"Why? Because it's not yours?" She could almost imagine Aubrey recoiling mentally as she spoke. The blond had gotten so used to Chloe just doing whatever she suggested that she must have forgotten how the ginger had been during their freshmen, sophomore, and junior years. Deciding one more was needed, Chloe went on without pause and added, "You're not always right, you know?"
Of course, Aubrey could be just as stubborn and bullheaded as she was. So she wasn't surprised that the blond kept on trying to move forward with her plan. Aubrey took one of the packets she'd made and handed it to her with a nod that made it seem as though she'd already won the argument and said, "We will win without her!"
"Ummm…" Someone behind them said. Stacie, if Chloe wasn't mistaken. And she obviously didn't really seem that anxious to be interrupting the argument between them. When both herself and Aubrey had focused her attention on the buxom brunette, it was apparent she wasn't about to say the best news. Hunching her shoulder slightly, Stacie looked sympathetically at Chloe as she said quietly, "Beca's gone…"
Everything seemed to stop in Chloe's head as the words crashed down upon her. Time seemed to come to a grinding halt. The air around her seemed to have solidified, and sound seemed impeded in some odd way so that the rest of what Stacie said felt as though it crawled into her ears.
"Beca left Barden like a week ago."
Six Years Later. Los Angeles, California.
Beca felt the tension she'd been carrying in her shoulders start to melt away the instant she stepped inside the lobby of Serenity Spa. In an odd way, it shocked her every time it did too. There was a reason she'd had a regular appointment here every Friday for over a year. But even still, she was amazed at how walking into the spa alone was enough to start relaxing her.
Especially considering how much she hated having people touch her, even to this day.
Still, she'd found that there were a few instances where she didn't mind people touching her. Female people, at any rate. And ever since that damned accident back in the day, well, spa trips had become a thing in her life that she had, surprisingly, adjusted to fairly quickly. After a prescription written by her doctor. Then a strongly worded recommendation by her doctor. Then her doctor almost kidnapping her and dragging her to meet the massage therapist….
Then maybe going through 15 different masseuses at three different spas.
But she totally was into letting people put their hands all over her now.
Walking up to the front counter she saw that Cindy was behind the reception desk and smiled at the woman. Cindy was middle aged, a decade or two Beca's senior, but acted like her big sister sometimes and her grandmother at others. It was a strange relationship she had developed with the woman over the last year or so of coming here.
"Hey there, Beca." The blond woman greeted her as she heard Beca's boots clomping their way across the tiled lobby. She was already typing on the keyboard when Beca sidled up to the counter and leaned against it. Without looking up from the screen she said, "It's always a delight having you in at the end of the day. You're all checked in, so head on in and Carla will meet you in there in a few minutes."
Beca nodded, threw Cindy another quick smile before turning on her heels and heading towards the lady's side of the spa to change. By now she was basically a pro at this, but it had definitely squicked her out the first few times she'd come in and had to take off all her clothes. To say nothing of the "treatments" they made her go through. Well, ok, that was like the tenth time she was here that she finally acquiesced to that, but they pushed hard the first few times.
Walking over to her locker, yeah she was that much of a regular that she basically had her own locker reserved for her, Beca started taking off her clothes as quick as she could. Once she was stripped down to her birthday suit she took the bikini from the locker and quickly got dressed in it before pulling on the extra fluffy robe stamped with the twined S's that were the spa's logo and tied it shut securely. Once decently covered again, she reached in and grabbed the waterproof mp3 player she always left in her locker and dropped it into her pocket.
She'd have put the earplugs in and started listening but she knew that she'd just be interrupted. And in fact, just a minute or so after she'd slid her feet into the flip flops she heard the door to the spa open up and heard a quiet, "Miss Mitchell?"
"Come on in, Carla, I'm decent." Beca called out, knowing that even as many months after the fact now the hysterical screaming she'd done when Carla had walked in that first time before she was completely robed had left a mark on the steward. She really didn't think she'd screamed hysterically, but Ricardo Vallencia, the owner of the spa, had had some serious work to do to calm the poor, panicked Carla down afterwards. She'd only been a little surprised, really…
"It's always so good to see you, Ms. Mitchell. Especially as the last customer of the day." The older Filipina woman said as she stepped fully into the changing room and offered Beca her usual cup of cool water.
"Well, you know me, Carla, I like it here when there's as few people as possible." Beca said, gratefully accepting the water and sipping it down. She murmured her approval of the faint apple taste and followed the elderly lady out into the spa proper.
"Oh, I know, sweetie. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed that Mr. Vallencia has started taking an appointment at this time, but only for a very select few customers." Carla said, walking out to where the various treatment facilities were located.
Beca let her gaze roam the room for a minute, deciding what she wanted to do as she continued to drink the water. Sauna, for sure, and that meant the steam room too. Then maybe the hot tub before Donna came out to get her. Yeah… That was a good plan, nothing too complicated, which was definitely what Beca needed right then. Less complications in her life.
"Well, I think it's probably better for everyone involved if I stick to these late evening appointments, don't you?" Beca said with a chuckle. Carla returned the chuckle with a wide, genuine smile. At least they could laugh about things nowadays. "Though I do sometimes feel like I'm inconveniencing you guys, especially Donna."
"Oh Ms. Mitchell, don't you worry about it. You're never an inconvenience to anyone." Carla said, patting her arm gently as the moved to the middle of the room where Carla paused. She then half turned in Beca's direction, a curious quirk to her eyebrow as she surveyed the young woman.
"Don't you even dare think of it. I'm not going to try that foul contraption again…" Beca said, raising an admonitory finger at the older lady with a glare for extra measure. She'd known what Carla was about to suggest, she had been selling it hard for the last few months, but the one time Beca had tried it, it had just about ripped her top right off. And that was on an earlier appointment too so there was a couple sitting just a few feet away in the soaking tub.
Granted Beca had come to LA hoping to get some exposure and break out… But she'd really been hoping to break out into the music industry, not out of her top in public. Ever since that incident she'd avoided the so called "pressure shower" like the plague.
"I think I'll just do some sauna time, then hit the steam room, then jump in the hot tub." Beca said, handing over her empty cup. Carla took it with a smile and gestured for Beca to head to the sauna as she turned towards where the refreshment station was to fill it up again. They were all about hydration here, Beca had noticed that right away, but she supposed it was better than the Red Bull, coffee and liquor she usually lived on so…
Pausing outside she waited a moment until Carla came back before handing over her robe in exchange for a refilled cup. With a wry smile for the elderly Filipina who shot a grin back, Beca reached out to take hold of the door to the sauna. Opening the door she was hit in the face with a blast of air so hot it felt like she was walking into an oven. By the time she'd stepped inside her skin was already dotted with sweat. Gingerly she took a seat on the middle level, not quite ready yet for the top level, on one of the towels resting on the bench.
She'd have thought, after a year in Georgia followed by five years here in LA, that a little heat wouldn't bother here that much. However a glance at the thermometer on the wall showed her it was well over 120 degrees in the sauna, and that was blistering even for LA. Of course, that was the point of it, at least that's what they'd told her when they first suggested it. Something about opening her pores up, or something. Beca just knew that it was effing hot.
It had grown on her, though. Slowly, inching its way into her life. Nowadays she barely went a week without getting into a sauna, usually here at the spa, but she was seriously considering looking into having one built into her place. If there was one thing she'd learned from the accident it was that the weekly massages she'd initially had to be forced into going to had become just about the best part of her weeks.
After spending hours in meetings with executives at the record company she worked at, followed by even more hours in the booth behind the sound board trying to force whiny, arrogant, egotistical artists into believing her when she said that she really did know a thing or two about producing music she needed something. And yeah, sex was always a great break, but even after all her time in the business, and especially since her name had become a household item, at least among the elite of the music industry, she still wasn't completely comfortable with picking up randoms at a bar for sex. And seeing as she was currently quite single, with no plans otherwise, she would simply have to rely on her own skills in that particular area.
Moving up to the top level Beca laid back, resting her head on a rolled up towel on the bench and let the blisteringly hot air wash over her as though she was a Beca shaped pie baking in the oven. As she got settled in a laying position up top, after taking a healthy swallow of the apple flavored water, she thought about how her car accident had possibly been one of the best things to happen to her. The music industry was, to say the least, stressful at the best of times. And Beca would be the first person to admit that she wasn't easy to get along with. But she was right.
She hadn't realized until about a month after she started seeing the massage therapist post-accident how much shit she carried around with her that had just built up as tension in her back and shoulders. After her four weeks of prescribed massage therapy was over, she'd immediately sat down with Ricardo and scheduled regularly weekly massages. Sometimes more than weekly if it was a stressful time, like Grammy season or something. Thankfully they were nowhere near Grammy season presently, but she had still had a hell of a week, and today had been the capstone.
After about fifteen minutes in the blistering head inside the sauna, and moving once more towards the end to take a seat on the lower level, Beca emerged into the still essentially empty treatment room and saw Carla over by the coolers which held the various flavored waters of the day. Which was perfect, because Beca had finished off the last of her water about five minutes before she'd decided to leave the sauna, and by the evidence of sweat slicking her bare skin she knew that she could use another glass or two to rehydrate.
She paused for a moment after stepping out of the sauna partially to adjust to the seemingly frigid temperatures, though she knew it was probably about 75 in the room, and also to marvel at the fact that her thinking had shifted so much in the time she'd been coming here that "rehydrating" was even a word in her vocabulary. She must have chuckled at the unexpected additions to her vocabulary, because Carla turned around and smiled down at her before saying, "There you are, sweetie. How was the sauna?"
"A little bit chilly, I think they need to turn the heat up in there a bit." Beca said dryly, though whether due to her normal, sarcastic manner or from having spent the last fifteen minutes baking alive she wasn't sure. Carla however was well used to her sarcastic humor by now and merely laughed as she walked over to the short brunette carrying another glass of water.
"Well, I'll tell the maintenance guys to look it over. You still look a bit undercooked." Carla said, conveniently waiting until just after Beca took a sip of water to show off her own dry, sarcastic sense of humor. Snorting, and almost choking on the water, Beca shot the other woman a dark look as she coughed a few times to clear her throat.
"I always knew you were the witch out of Hansel and Gretel, Carla. Well, I foiled your plan today." Beca said, shaking a finger at the older woman, who threw her head back and almost cackled with laughter. Beca had to fight hard not to let her own face break into a grin as she took another sip. After swallowing she paused, as though something had just occurred to her and then, with a significant glance at the short Filipina, she raised an admonitory finger and said, "Though I guess with the steam room and hot tub there's still a chance to broil me or stew me. But I've got my eye on you now."
"You caught onto my wicked plans after all, darn." Carla said, snapping her fingers as though she'd had all her hopes dashed. Beca couldn't help herself after that and started to laugh, the older woman joining in after a moment. When they'd both calmed down Beca finished off her water and Carla asked, "One more to take in with you, dear?"
"Ummm, sure." Beca said, arching her back in a stretch briefly as Carla went and got her another cup of water. Once properly equipped with water, Beca let the other woman open the door again, she was well aware of how touchy the older lady could get when Beca tried to do her job for her, and stepped into the steam room.
A roiling wave of steam, humidity and heat enveloped Beca as she stepped into the swirling clouds of water vapor. Where the sauna dry heat reminded her a bit of LA summers, the damp humidity of the steam room reminded her of her brief time spent in Georgia before she'd arrived in LA, during a brief and ill-conceived idea to get a college degree before making a name for herself in the music industry. Not wanting to dwell on the unhappy memories of her time at Barden University, though to be fair it hadn't all been misery just the end, Beca moved in and took a seat on one of the slick tiled benches.
Even the effort of walking five feet into the room and taking a seat had been enough, with the hundred-plus degree heat and about ninety-eight percent humidity, to cause sweat to erupt from every pore that the parched, dry air of the sauna had opened up. She supposed, as she was nearly instantly soaked in sweat, that the sauna/steam room combination did indeed seem to work. But she had never been a fan of being super sweaty. At least in the steam room she could blame a portion of the moisture covering her as steam and whatnot condensing on her skin which was many degrees cooler than the surrounding air.
After another fifteen or twenty minutes in the steam room, which was usually about as long as Beca could take, the short DJ stood up and, dripping sweat off nearly every inch of herself, stepped back out into the treatment room where the much cooler air felt wonderfully cooling. Carla spotted her immediately and moved over, eyeing the DJ as she walked across the room. Beca eyed the woman nervously as she stepped up and took Beca's glass, mainly because she didn't have another one to replace it with.
Falling into step alongside Carla after having retrieved her robe from the hook between the sauna and steam rooms, it didn't take Beca long to realize what she was planning. Stopping in her tracks Beca turned to glare at the older woman, "Oh no you don't. I told you no!"
"But Ms. Mitchell, Beca, it's really good for you. I promise this time, nothing will happen. There's no one here, you're the only customer in the whole spa right now…" Carla said, gesturing towards the pressure shower. Beca was beyond skeptical of the whole idea. She eyed the entire contraption warily as Carla stepped up to it.
It was basically a free standing shower encased on all sides in glass. There was a tiled, stone bench in the middle of the shower, which was about a foot deep from the surface of the floor. Almost directly above the bench was a showerhead unlike anything Beca has ever seen before or since. It was almost like a fire hose nozzle. And that's what it had felt like the one and only time Beca had tried it. There was a button nearby that, once Beca was seated inside and the door was securely closed, would cause water to come pouring from the nozzle above her at a ridiculous rate. The unfortunate accident had happened last time when Beca, after getting hit in the back by the cascading wave of water, had straightened abruptly, exposing her front to the downpour. Carla, it seemed, was remembering the incident as well judging by the woman's next comments.
"If you had only listened to me last time. I told you to be careful when you lean back. This time, just, you know, secure the girls before you lean back. Everything will be fine. And besides, if you just let the water fall onto your neck and shoulders, it's almost like a massage by itself…" The older woman was giving the hard sell, Beca knew. Probably because she felt bad about the last time, which granted had been weeks ago, but Beca had always seemed to be here when the place was, if not full, at least occupied by other guests as well as herself.
It was really hard to say no to Carla, though, when she was looking at you like your favorite grandmother just hoping to spend a little time with you. Beca felt her resolve cracking, breaking down against the implacable wall of will that was Carla Ocampo. Sighing, Beca took off her robe and handed it to the now smiling Filipina who knew she had won this particular fight. Pausing beside her as she held the door open, Beca pointed a finger at her and said, "If anything happens…"
She left the threat vague, mainly because she knew she couldn't really say anything that Carla would believe her capable of doing. So with one more stern look, Beca stepped down into the shower and gingerly took a seat on the bench. With more than a little bit of trepidation, Beca grabbed both of her breasts and, at a muffled question from outside which she assumed was asking if she was ready, she nodded.
Somewhat braced this time, and a little more prepared for the experience, the onslaught of water that started to fall on her wasn't quite as much of a shock. After a few moments adjustment to the temperature, it felt quite cold to her after having just stepped out of the steam room, Beca finally started to relax a little. She realized that she probably didn't need to keep squeezing her tits so hard, and relaxed her grip a little and started to ease around, letting the water splash onto her neck and shoulders a little more.
By the time the flow stopped, it only lasted for a couple of minutes, the deep basin in which the bench sat was nearly completely full of water, and Beca had come to a startling conclusion. This thing wasn't quite the devil contraption she'd originally thought it to be. After she'd adjusted to the temperature and the feeling of that much water pouring down on her, she had realized that it felt quite refreshing, cooling her down nicely from the dry heat of the sauna and the wet heat of the steam room. And while it would never compare to an actual massage, the pressure of the stream cascading down onto her neck and shoulders had been a bit like a crude massage and she was willing to admit that they felt a bit better now.
Wiping the water from her eyes, and wringing out her hair, Beca stood up and made sure that her top hadn't slipped before stepping out of the glass enclosed shower. Carla, she noted, had a smug smile on her face. Trying to look a bit grumpy, though she knew that she was probably failing at it, Beca just said, "Ok, it wasn't terrible… Hot tub now, then Donna can have her way with me."
Beca, having taken the small towel offered by Carla and drying her face off on it, missed the look that crossed the other woman's face. By the time the DJ had finished drying her face off Carla had recovered, and walked Beca over to the hot tub. Slipping carefully into the hot water, Beca couldn't help the sigh that escaped her lips as she felt the warmth engulf her. As she settled on to one of the benches Carla said quietly, "I'll go get you another glass of water…"
Beca just murmured her ascent to that plan, too busy letting the warm water start the process of relaxation that was just what the doctor had ordered. Well, technically she had ordered it, but that had been a while. Now it was just what Beca had ordered to keep herself from killing her bosses or the snot-nosed little brats she sometimes had to deal with in her studio. She definitely need to get one of these for her place. There was a spot on the deck, Beca realized as she relaxed even deeper into the water, that would be perfect for it. It was shaded on three sides from her neighbors, not that they could really see onto her deck without binoculars anyway, and had a great view down across the beach to the ocean.
When Carla came back with the water, Beca barely noticed, so immersed in the relaxing feeling of the hot water she was. The short DJ wasn't sure how long she'd even been sitting before something finally did happen that drew her attention from the jet in the hot tub that was hitting just the right spot on her back. Someone was knocking at the door to the treatment room and she heard a voice calling out. But not the voice of Donna…
"Hello, Ms. Mitchell? It's Ricardo, can I come in?" The voice called, and Beca easily could have recognized the silky, smooth tones of Ricardo Vallencia without his having to identify himself. Opening her eyes, which had drifted closed at some point, Beca took a sip of water quickly, then checked to make sure her suit was still decently covering herself. Determining that everything was fine, she put her drink back down by the edge of the tub before returning the call.
"Please, Mr. Vallencia, this is your spa, you don't need my permission to do anything, really…" Beca called out. Moving from the seat she'd chosen, one that had a nice view off the second floor balcony and down onto Venice Beach, Beca swapped sides. With her back to the outside she saw the door open up and the sturdy frame of Ricardo enter the room. A well-built man in his late forties, Ricardo's Italian heritage was blatantly obvious in his olive-skinned complexion, dark hard and dark brown eyes. As was also traditional with Italians, Ricardo's face could be a wonder to view, depending on his mood. There was a time, about three months after she'd started coming to Serenity Spa that Beca had seen Ricardo yelling at one of his staff, she wasn't sure what the young man had done, but if Beca hadn't seen the other side of his personality, she'd have turned on her heel and fled the establishment right then and there. He could make Gordon Ramsey seem pleasant and mild-mannered without even trying hard.
"Of course not, Ms. Mitchell. I wouldn't dare to intrude if you didn't want me here." He said, his voice soothing as he stepped into the room. Dressed fairly casually considering the clientele his spa normally saw, Ricardo's shirt was a light-weight off-white cotton blend, opened at the top to blow gently in the air as he moved. His beige silk slacks covered his lower half, descending down to the moccasin style loafers he tended to wear around the spa. As he moved towards the hot tub in which Beca sat he gestured towards himself, tapping his chest, as he asked, "How many times? How many times, eh, have I told you to call me Ricardo, Ms. Mitchell?"
"About as many times as I've told you to call me Beca, I think… Ms. Mitchell had always been my mother, before she changed her name at any rate, but either way it definitely isn't me, thank you very much." Beca said with a laugh. Nearly every time they ran into each other they had this same conversation. And it always ended up the same way. Beca reclined back into the hot water as Ricardo took a seat on one of the lounge chairs near the hot tub.
"Ah, bellissima, how you torment me so. If only my wife knew…" He bemoaned, raising his hands in the air as though seeking guidance from a higher being. Beca just started laughing even harder. His gaze came down to frown at her mirth-filled face.
"You're wife does know, you dirty old man. And she loves me, remember? Told me I was the daughter she always wanted. In fact, I think she tried to slip some adoption paperwork into the last contract I filled out with you guys…" Beca finally said after her laughter had subsided. From the guilty look on Ricardo's face, it might not have been his wife, Tess, who had slipped in the papers.
Taking a deep, soothing breath Beca stretched in the hot water for a moment, before something caught her attention. Ricardo's face had moved from jokingly abashed to concerned. Immediately she turned towards the deck, expecting to see no less than a dozen paparazzi storming the second floor balcony. When all she saw was the sun setting into the Pacific Ocean she turned back around to face Ricardo, confusion evident on her face.
"Ah, bellissima, I have some news for you. It is both good, and bad…" Ricardo started out, leaning forward on the lounger, his hands held out like scales dipping up and down as though weighing the situation. Before he could go on, Beca interrupted.
"Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're being serious? Like for real bad news? Damnit Ricardo, you know I come here because there's never bad news. This is Serenity, nothing bad is supposed to happen here…" Beca said, her voice more of a whine than anything else. Sitting up straight in the water, even though it almost exposed parts of her she wasn't normally into flashing about in public, Beca gestured for him to continue.
"I said good news too, Beca. Where shall we start? Well, might as well start with the bad. Donna is not here." Ricardo asked, holding up his hands to stop Beca from answering. Shrugging his shoulders he went on, "Before you get worried, I tell you do not. She still works here, I could never let her go, but she had to leave just before you showed up for a family emergency. I wish we had had time to call you, but you were walking in the door right at the time she was no doubt driving out of the parking lot."
"Ugghhh! Are you kidding me? No, Ricardo, no… I need this massage. This week has been hell. Why did you guys… Why didn't Cindy or Carla say something earlier?" Beca said, her head falling back to rest on the edge of the hot tub. All the relaxing she'd done, even the bit from that infernal pressure shower, had been undone in an instant. She felt like crying, though she'd never do that in public, that was for sure…
"I am not kidding, bellissima, though I wish that I were." Ricardo said, shaking his head sadly. Taking a deep breath he went on, his voice as calm and soothing as he could make it, "And they didn't say anything because I wanted to be the one to tell you. It is my job, as owner, to break the news to you. But do not worry. I have no intention of canceling your appointment."
Beca's head rose so quickly that she felt her neck crick slightly and winced in pain. Moving one hand to her neck to massage the sudden sharp pain she eyed Ricardo warily. He knew, he damned well knew how she had already gone through everyone on his staff before finding Donna. She trusted Donna, she knew Donna. She wasn't going to let someone else put their hands on her… Opening her mouth, she said so, though in politer terms, "Ricardo, no. I appreciate it, I do. But… Well, I like Donna. She knows where all the kinks are, my usual trouble spots. I wouldn't want anyone else to, I mean, I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone else."
Ricardo chuckled, a twinkle in his eye as he looked down at Beca. He apparently knew her too well because his next words were, "Don't worry, Beca. I know how you feel about, well… This girl, she is new. You haven't yet had a chance to tell me no about her. And believe me, after tonight, after tonight Donna may have more time in her schedule. This girl, she has magic hands, bellissima. I promise she is the best I have ever known."
"I don't know, Ricardo…" Beca said, her skepticism evident in her tone and on her face. She wasn't a fan of people. It tended to complicate things, but it's how she was. She usually preferred people separated from her by a sheet of soundproof glass, if she had the option. However, in all the time that she'd been coming here, Ricardo had never lead her astray. And she had given the others at least one chance, well with a few exceptions. Some people deserved an immediate no. Taking in a deep breath and letting it out in a long, loud sigh, Beca nodded once before saying, "Ok… I'm not happy about this, but ok. If you say she's the best, I can at least give her a shot… Tell me about her."
Ricardo clapped his hands in delight, clasping them together and raising them up in a triumphant cheer. When he brought them back down he was smiling at her again, delight on his face, as he said, "You will see. I promise, she's the best. She just started a month ago, usually works mornings, but she agreed to stay when Donna had to leave. Her name is Chloe…"
Beca didn't just jerk upright in her seat this time. This time she stood straight up in the hot tub in shock and horror. Water cascaded down her body, flowing over her smooth, pale skin to splash back into the tub. Beca didn't even notice. The look on her face, as well as her abrupt movements stopped Ricardo's flow of words, and Beca gaped, her mouth opening and closing without sound three times before she finally remembered how to speak, well sort of.
"I… I don't…" Confusion stole over Ricardo's face as Beca stopped again, closing her mouth to take a deep breath. Opening her eyes she looked pleadingly at the man, "I'm not a fan of… Of the name Chloe. I, well, I knew someone, before. Before I came to LA. Her name was Chloe and she, well, she almost destroyed me. Her and the… Her friends. I… I'll just go, I'll reschedule for tomorrow with Donna."
"Awww, bellissima, no, no. Please. This girl, she is not the Chloe you knew. I promise, there is no way she is this girl who broke your heart. I swear, she is the best, Beca." Ricardo said, his eyes never wavering from Beca's as he pleaded his case. Wringing his hands in front of him he held them out, beseeching her trust, as he said, "I swear, she will not disappoint. In fact, I guarantee. Tonight is free, no charge. If you are not happy, tomorrow you can see Donna, again no charge."
Beca was shocked. Shocked by two things. First off, she never expected such generosity from Ricardo. Granted he was the biggest sweetheart she had ever met, but he still had a business to run, and her appointments were not cheap. But she made good money, so it never bothered her. The second thing that shocked her, not that the initial shock of the name had worn off, was the cold air that now hit her as she realized that she was standing up. Sitting back down hastily she said, "No, Ricardo. I couldn't take your… Please, I will, I will try. I will go ahead with the appointment with Ch… With the girl with the magic hands. But don't bother Donna tomorrow. And I insist on paying for my own time."
But Ricardo wouldn't hear a word of it. He insisted that she not pay for her services that night. She managed to talk him into giving whatever fee he would have given to her for the next day's service to Donna, to make up for any lost wages and tips for this evening, but he wouldn't hear a word about her current visit. In the end she acquiesced when she realized how late it was getting. She still had a gig to play later that night. Her label had booked her to play the grand opening at some new club downtown, so in the end she let him win.
"Good!" He said once Beca stopped arguing. Standing up he smiled down at her and clasped his hands together again before saying, "I will go get Carla, she will take you down to the room. You will be happy, I promise."
Beca sincerely doubted it, but she was reluctantly willing to try. The big man had barely stepped out of the room before Carla came back in. Figuring she must have been waiting right outside the door, Beca stood up and climbed from the hot tub. Taking one of the towels Carla offered, she quickly patted herself dry before slipping her robe back on. Turning, she walked towards the door that lead down to the private rooms, Carla already waiting with the door open.
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything, Ms. Mitchell. He made me swear I wouldn't. He wanted to tell you himself." She apologized as soon as they had stepped into the hall. Beca smiled as she realized how much it must have been eating at the older woman to have kept that from her the whole time. Well, she wasn't mad at Carla. Honestly she wasn't really made at anyone. Accidents happen, she knew that as well as anyone.
"Don't worry about it, Carla. He's your boss, I understand." Beca said, waving it off. Walking down the cool, marble hallway, Beca's mind was already starting to flit out of the spa and on to the night she still had left. She went on just after 10 PM and would play until 2. Her set list was already nailed down and her gear would be setup. She was actually looking forward to the event, it had been a few months since DJ Ti.B had played a club, and Beca was missing the feeling of being behind a set of turntables.
The walk to the room was short, they almost always put Beca in one of the larger, more opulent rooms. It didn't bother her, one way or the other, but she appreciated the thought on their part. Looking around she noticed the lighting was low, but that this girl with "magic hands" wasn't in the room yet. Ricardo might be giving her a warning or talking to or something. Beca shrugged and turned as Carla started talking, "You know the drill, I expect. If you want to take off the bikini you can, it's recommended, robes hang up over there."
Beca did indeed know the drill, and knew that no suit did in fact make for a much more comfortable time. Laying around with a wet suit drying on you wasn't all that fun. She looked to where Carla had pointed, knowing that there were hooks for her robe there, then turned back to the older woman and smiled before saying, "I do know the drill, thank you, Carla. It's always a pleasure to see you. Will you still be here when I leave?"
"Maybe briefly, but you know you're welcome to sit in the hot tub as long as you want afterwards. Ricardo won't kick you out even if it meant he was here all night." Carla said, moving back to the door. Beca laughed lightly because she knew it was true. About a month or so earlier the pair had actually done just that, stayed up until the dawn lit the sky outside talking about seemingly everything there was to talk about. It had been one of the best nights Beca could remember in a long time.
"I know, thanks Carla. You've been wonderful tonight, as always. Even though you made try that infernal contraption." Beca said, smiling at the older woman so that she would know Beca was joking. Carla just laughed. And that sight alone made the whole ordeal worth it.
"Enjoy your massage, sweetie. I'll see you when you're done." Carla said before shutting the door. Beca sighed, knowing she didn't have long before Ch… the woman with magic hands came in. Chloe wasn't that uncommon of a name. Rationally Beca knew that. Hell, you could throw a rock in LA and hit half a dozen, she was sure. But the name still… hurt. Shaking off bad memories, Beca walked over to the stand and took off her robe before hesitating.
Deciding that she might as well give … this girl a chance, she reached behind herself and untied the strap for the top of her bikini and slid it over her head. Sliding the bottoms down, she took both and hung them on the rack beside the robe. Moving towards the table she climbed up, pulling the sheet aside and lay face down, pulling the sheet up to cover her back and start to breathe deeply, trying to draw the calming vibes of the room inside her.
A couple of minutes passed before a soft rap could be heard on the door. Before she could answer, she heard it open and soft footsteps entered the room. She felt herself tense up under the sheet, just waiting for the most unlikely of all possible scenarios.
A familiar voice to call out her name.
Instead she heard only soft, instrumental music start to play and soft footsteps making their way around the room. With her face pressed into the round, donut like cushion at the head of the massage table, to say that Beca's vision was limited was the granddaddy of all understatements. Even so, she occasionally saw fleeting glimpses of movement as the girl went about setting things up. The dim lights brightened just barely as she turned a couple of the lights up, and the occasional flash of a foot entered into her field of view. All in all, it was exactly like a massage with Donna, minus the brief bit of chatting the two would usually engage in before things got started.
But seeing as Beca didn't know this woman, and wasn't sure if she really wanted to get to know someone who would only be a constant remind of someone she'd flown something like two thousand miles to get away from, Beca was ok with the not talking. And if she was truthful with herself it wasn't just her that had been the reason for the trip, but her most of all.
The sharp, almost overpowering smell of eucalyptus burst through the haze of bad memories that Beca had been surrounded by and she opened her eyes suddenly. Below her, as expected, were two slim, slender hands rubbing back and forth. The strong eucalyptus smell was coming from them. That meant they were about to begin. After a few seconds, the hands withdrew and Beca took in a breath in preparation, which all rushed out as she felt a soft touch on her covered shoulder followed by a soft, female voice.
"Ms. Mitchell, are you ready to begin?" The voice asked politely. Beca barely registered the question, however, as she realized that the voice she'd been waiting to hear was not the one she had feared. Final confirmation. Beca finally felt herself start to relax as she nodded her head.