Chapter 2: Basketball

Beca sat down in the seat next to Chloe in the conference room, dropping her gym bag to the floor and chewing on her bottom lip. "Last week, Aubrey threatened the Warehouse by telling them they'd have to work this weekend because they were playing basketball." She shook her head in frustration, "Now, instead of spending lunch talking to Chloe about the awful movies Jesse made me watch this weekend, I have to run around a court throwing a ball to decide whether or not we have to work on Saturday."

"What movie did he make you watch?" Chloe asked, turning to face her friend and ignoring the actual reason they were invited into the room.

"From Justin to Kelly," she sighed.

"Oh my god," the redhead's hand shot out to grasp at Beca's wrist. "I love that movie."

"Chloe," the brunette sounded as if she had just discovered she was betrayed. In a few short and jerky motions, she scooted her chair farther away from her friend, staring her down as she muttered, "That movie made me want to jump in front of a train."

The bright-eyed woman chuckled, a sly smile on her face as she explained, "It's so bad that it's good."

"It's so bad that it's bad," Beca quipped.

"Kelly Clarkson, Becs," she reminded. "You know I love her. Maybe you'd like it if you had watched it with me."

"I probably would've hated it less," she responded while looking into the camera.

Aubrey stepped out of her office, hands on her hips and a look of concentration on her face, "Listen up, everyone. I hope you're all ready for the big game today-"

"Some of us have actual work to do, so I won't be going," Alice stated, picking a piece of lint off of her grey turtleneck.

"This office is a family and a family is a team; therefore, this office is a team," Aubrey pointed out. "No one is exempt. You all have to show up."

Beca's hand shot up in the air, Aubrey begrudgingly tilting her head in the brunette's direction and allowing her to put her hand down. "I can't go."

"Why?" the blonde asked immediately, her stone gaze never leaving her face.

"I was in a horrible accident this morning and died," she deadpanned.

The Regional Manager released a long sigh out of her nostrils, "You died?"

"Yes," Beca nodded.

"Then how are you here?" Aubrey bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from physically attacking the short annoyance.

"Did you ever watch the movie Ghost?" she asked her.

"With Patrick Swayze?" Ashley confirmed.

Beca gave a curt nod, Aubrey now deciding she could best the sarcastic fool, "Then how can we all see you?"

"Whoopi Goldberg granted me three wishes when I met her on the street and one of them was to be visible," the brunette mentioned.

The blonde took the few short steps towards Beca's desk, pulling her leg back and giving the other woman's foot a light kick. "How can I touch you?"

Shrugging, she said, "My second wish was to be tangible."

"Was your third wish to be an ass?"

"No, I'm actually saving it for later." From the corner of her eye, Beca watched Chloe let her head fall down behind the desk, her shoulders heaving up and down as she struggled not to burst out laughing. The smirk on Beca's face quickly became a true grin, making Chloe happy being even better than pissing off Aubrey.

"Just for being as ass, you're going to be starting in the game today," Aubrey shot back. "Which brings me to my next point. We need three more starters."

"Who's the other person?" Jesse inquired.

"Me. I'm the first player on our roster," Aubrey stated.

Brows coming together and nose wrinkling in utter confusion, Chloe looked up from her monitor and recalled, "You're not good at basketball."

"What?" the blonde turned to her friend and employee. "I am so good on the court that people sometimes think I'm Kobe."

"People mistake you for a 6'6" black man?" Cynthia Rose asked, leaning forward in her seat and grimacing at her boss.

"I'm ignoring all of you and picking the team for myself," their boss announced. Tapping her chin with her forefinger, she slowly selected, "Me, Beca… Stacie… Jesse… and Cynthia Rose."

"No," CR said without missing a beat.

"Fine, you pick who it is!" Aubrey said, storming back into her office and making sure to close the blinds so no one could see her.

"Okay," Beca clapped her hands together once. "Who here has any prior experience?"

A total of five hands went up in the office, including that of Emily who had just walked into the heart of the room. The other four included and sultry Stacie, an excited Amy, and a confused looking Flo and Jesse.

"I used to wrestle crocodiles and throw them through a hoop," Amy said, putting her hand down. "That's basically what this is right?"

"Sure," the short brunette assured. "Flo?"

"Once, I was on a boat and we had to toss each other under a tarp whenever we saw another boat passing," the accountant smiled.

Alice looked up from her work, saying, "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Jesse, I know for a fact that you played basketball one season when you were twelve," Beca commented, turning further to look at the others. "Stacie? Em?"

"I went to every basketball game in high school and college," Stacie said. "I used to play, but the coach told me that either I had to leave the team or he was going to get fired for misconduct."

"Um- I was on my high school's team for four years," Emily stuttered.

"Me, Aubrey, Amy, Stacie, and Emily," Beca smirked. "We have a team now, but in the likely case that Aubrey can't continue then Jesse and Flo can be our backups."

Glancing over at the receptionist desk, the brunette watched as Chloe gave her a thumbs up. In response, Beca smirked, but that quickly turning into a grin whenever she saw the earth-shattering smile coming from the redhead.

"I have no idea why we're doing this," Bumper admitted to the camera. "There are rumors of downsizing and branches closing down. My friend who works at Stamford said they've been eating at their desks and working through lunch to keep from closing. We're playing basketball."

Jesse shuffled into the back office, knocking on the doorway to get their HR representative's attention. "Hey, Bumper."

The man in question turned in his seat, his eyes portraying just how little he wanted to be there, "What?"

"Uh- We were just finishing up picking out our team for today," he spoke in a low voice, trying to be as nice as he could possibly be. "And we thought-"

"I know what this is about," he pointed at the other man.

"You do?"

"Of course," Bumper leaned back. "You all need a three-point man and I am your guy. I was actually on my school's-"

"No," Jesse shook his head vigorously. "We- uh- We actually need a few people to stay behind and work through the game… So…"

"Get out," the HR rep said, tossing his head towards the door.

"Okay," he ducked his head, turning back towards the door. Before he left, he asked over his shoulder, "Can you though?"

"Yeah," a defeated Bumper replied.

"We work so well together here that Corporate often calls me to tell me that we're an amazing team," Aubrey said pursing her lips at the end of the sentence. "We are like a well-oiled machine. A machine that loves and respects all the other parts-"

Outside her office, a loud crash rang out across the room.

"Oh no," she mumbled, standing and hurrying outside. "What's going on?"

Picking up a piece of his dismantled seat, Jesse stated, "My chair fell apart when I sat on it."

"That's unfortunate," Chloe commented, smirking at the brunette she worked across from. This action did not go unnoticed by Aubrey, whose undivided attention went to the woman working beside Jesse.

"Beca, what did I tell you about sabotaging office equipment?" she hissed.

"One," she said, raising a single finger in the air, "Nothing. We've never had that conversation. Two, I didn't do that."

"Please, who else in this office is known for pranks?"

Sighing, Beca looked directly at the receptionist, her friend shrugging as if she had no idea who could have done it.

Jesse sat on the floor, repairing his chair after everyone's nerves had calmed down. Beca picked up her phone, dialing the familiar number as she swiveled to look at her favorite redhead.

The phone only rang twice before it was picked up, a melodic voice droning, "Barden Paper, this is Chloe."

"How'd you do it?"

Chloe grinned, looking up at Beca through her lashes, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"C'mon, Beale," she squinted at her. "You know what you did."

"I'm clueless," the receptionist replied.

"The chair."

"Are you talking about Jesse's broken chair? Because I personally believe that was an act of god, showing the office that he shouldn't play in the game today," Chloe explained, struggling to not giggle the longer she spoke.

Beca bit her lower lip, "Oh, of course. How did god manage to do that?"

"See, I'm just a simple woman waiting to get married so I can fulfill my wifely duties and quit my job here. My female brain can't handle the complexities of building something like a seat, but I would assume that it would require a true genius and supplies," Chloe said sarcastically, raising her right hand to reveal a screwdriver.

The brunette chuckled, "I've never been more proud of a monster."

"I learned from the best."

"Really? The best?" Beca asked with a cocky tone.

The redhead beamed, "Yeah, I've been watching The Goonies a lot lately and I've picked up on a few things."

Placing her hand over her heart, Beca hung up the phone without even responding. Chloe winked at her. She returned to work, not even bothering to return the flirtatious gesture, though the brunette couldn't help but grin with joy.

"Would I say that Chloe is a good prankster?" the brunette asked the camera, now dressed in shorts and a grey shirt that read New England Patriots. She rested her head against the palm of her hand in thought, "No. She's decent, but she's yet to surpass me."

"Beca's lying," Chloe stated. "I'm better and I proved that today."

She turned her head, her bright blue eyes finding Beca immediately. The basketball ready woman saluted, returning to work just as quickly.

A content smile formed on Chloe's face as she finished, "Besides, Beca likes the Patriots. I may have bought her that shirt, but my family is from Florida and we like the Dolphins. We can never truly be friends. It's like Romeo and Juliet, but more serious."

Amy threw the ball against the warehouse floor with all her might, paying close attention as it went soaring into the air and came down right beside Flo. "Yep, that's a basketball."

Standing across from the pair and separated from the rest of the office crew by a few feet were Beca and Chloe, staring at Amy. Beca glanced at her friend, a look of fear in her dark blue eyes, "I think I've made a mistake."

"She can easily take out Donald," Chloe pointed at the man in question who was sitting on one of the delivery trucks and drinking a can of soda.

"Good thing I have her covering him," she mentioned. "If Aubrey had planned this then we'd be absolutely screwed."

"Who do you have on Tom?" the redhead asked, her thumbnail between her teeth.

"Actually," Beca dragged out, digging the tip of her sneaker into the floor, "that would be me."

Chloe's eyes widened in shock, her mouth open as she struggled to find words. "You?"

"Yeah, me. Why? Don't think he can handle me?" the brunette asked, pretending she was dribbling a ball and then shooting it at an imaginary goal.

Her best friend rolled her eyes at her antics, "Totally."

The smile on Chloe's face seemed to change, going from carefree to something that resembled the smile you give your extended family during the holidays. Beca looked around and finally noticed that Tom was making his way towards them, a ridiculous smirk plastered on his face.

"Hey, babe!" Tom called out to his fiancée, running up and wrapping his arms around her. Beca pretended to be interested in a stain on her shirt that didn't exist, ignoring the way that he spun her around and the giggling that erupted from the redhead. He placed her back down, his arms not moving from her waist as he noticed the other woman, "Oh, hey. Didn't see ya there, Becanator."

"Not many people do," she quipped.

"Ready to get beat?" he asked, his boyish charm bubbling to the surface.

Beca's tongue prodded against her cheek, "Not as ready as you should be."

"Wow," Tom took a step back, pulling Chloe closer to him, "Big talk from such a little person."

"Honestly," Chloe said, poking Tom's chest with her finger, "you should be scared. You've not seen how competitive Beca can get."

"I guess we'll see," he addressed the shorter woman. His next words were directed at Chloe in a whisper, though it seemed he made sure to speak loud enough for Beca to hear, "Win or lose, we get to spend the entire weekend in bed."

Tom planted his lips on Chloe's, an act that Beca ignored by paying attention to Amy again. This time she was throwing the ball to Aubrey, both of them failing to catch or toss it properly in any capacity. The man left, sauntering off towards the rest of the warehouse crew.

In a moment of what can only be described as pure courage, Beca turned to the redhead, "Do you want to go to New York this weekend?"

"What?" she asked, confused by what had just happened.

"New York City," she confirmed. "There's that doughnut place you love and then we can go to a museum or something. It'll be fun."

The corner's of Chloe's mouth slowly pulled up in a smile that made Beca's stomach do a flip,"I'd love to."

"We're going to win," Beca promised the camera, crossing her arms and glancing behind her to see the rest of the team warming up. "I have a really good feeling about this."

Amy swung around like she was throwing a discus, releasing the ball in her hand just in time for it to smack Flo in the face. Jesse spun around, looking for Beca, "Man down!"

"I had a really good feeling about this," the brunette corrected.

The entire office team, including the dazed Flo, was huddled together in front of the makeshift stands. Stacie addressed Beca, the unofficial captain, "What's the plan?"

"Stacie, you're on Greg. He thinks you're hot and I trust that you have the ability to distract him. Amy, I have you on Donald. Just don't hurt him too much. Aubrey, you'll be with Uni-" Beca started.

Aubrey cut her off, "Why?"

"You two used to date. He'll be easy for you to distract," Beca explained. "Moving on. Em, I want to take on the little one whose name I don't remember. You'll dominate him. I'll take Tom-"

"Why are you on Tom?" Amy asked, staring between the man and the woman before her.

"I just am," she stated. "He'll be their most aggressive player and I'm the only one who can handle that."

"He's way taller than you, you'll get destroyed," Aubrey said. "Why don't I-"

"No," she responded firmly. "He's mine. Let's break on three."

"On three or after three?" Emily asked.

"Forget it, let's just get out there," Beca moved out of the circle, jogging out to the edge of the court. She signaled for Emily to move to center court, wanting the tallest of the players to take the tip-off.

Beca kept her eye on Tom as he made his way over to her, standing on the other side of the court. He didn't say anything to her, but he usually never did besides 'hi' or 'bye.' Tom just gave her a nod, his eyes trained on Chloe as she made her way to the middle of the court to put the ball in play.

"Better tip that our way, babe," Tom called out, the rest of the warehouse agreeing with him.

Chloe glanced between the camera and the ball, making the split-decision to toss it up immediately and slightly towards Emily. The young girl grabbed it with ease, quickly dribbling past the shorter warehouse employee and getting a layup within the first few seconds of the game.

The redhead hid her smile behind her hand, not wanting Tom to see her excitement.

"I'd love it if our team won," the receptionist admitted. "I probably should cheer for Tom," she looked at her feet, chewing on the inside of her cheek, "but I really don't want to work Saturday."

The stands on the office side erupted into cheers, Chloe spinning around just in time to watch Amy shove her ass against Donald while she dribbled closer to the basket.

"Amy!" Beca shouted, the blonde looking up and throwing the ball full force her way.

Tom tried to step in front of her, wanting to turn it over and get his team the advantage, but Beca was too quick. Chloe's fiancé may have had the height advantage, but the shorter one was definitely the more skilled athlete.

Beca just barely grasped the flying object in time. She dribbled back. Pretending to shoot, Tom jumped to block. Before he made it down, she was back in the air and releasing the ball. The sound of the swishing net sent everyone into a frenzy. Especially Chloe.

Chloe was clapping and yelling louder than any of the other office members at Beca's three-point shot. The brunette smiled at her, hustling back down the court. The redhead turned back to face the camera, calming herself and pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. She tried to suppress her grin, her words extremely hopeful as she stated, "Plus, I'm kind of hoping I have plans this weekend."

Aubrey passed the ball off to Stacie, her low-cut shirt serving its purpose and ensuring that Greg wasn't really paying attention to the game. She jerked past him, taking the shot from just past the three-point line. It bounced off the rim, Tom grabbing it before anyone else had the chance to.

Beca hustled down the court, standing directly in front of where Tom was heading. He showed no signs of slowing down. Rushing forward, Tom put on one last burst of speed and pushed through Beca. The ball went through the hoop in a beautiful arc right as the shorter brunette hit the ground.

The warehouse guys burst out cheering, Tom doing a little dance in celebration of his point.

Stacie made her way to the shorter woman, holding her hand out and helping her off the floor. "You good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she promised, glaring at the celebrating man.

"I don't think Beca and Tom have a rivalry," Benji said. "I wouldn't really know, I mostly stay in the annex with Emily. We tend to focus on bothering Bumper."

"Aubrey!" Beca called out. The blonde passed the ball to her.

She pressed forward, weaving through the other players. Tom stood in front of her at the free-throw line. She had no intentions of pausing, especially not for him. Using her elbow, Beca shoved Tom back and took the shot.

"Good shot, Becs!" Chloe called out from the stands, clapping wildly for her friend.

Tom stared at the woman, his grimace widening.

"Tom hates Beca," Luke stated, a smirk resembling Beca's plastered on his face. "I used to work with the guy. He didn't originally. It's a recent thing, mostly because of the fact that Chloe prefers to hang out with her. I don't blame her. Tom's an ass."

Beca huddled the team back together, taking a few deep breaths before she said anything else. "Okay, we have time for like one more play."

"Flo," Aubrey asked the girl with the timer, "how much time is left?"

"Seven seconds," she responded.

"We have time to stop their last play," the brunette leader corrected herself. "We're ahead by two, so just keep up the defense and we're set."

The team nodded, moving back into position to defend their side of the court as Flo blew the whistle to start. No one was sure where she got it, but no one was going to question her.

Of course, they gave the ball to Tom. He hustled down, flying past all the other members of his team. He put his back to Beca. Scooting back to get leverage. She didn't give him any leeway, pushing right back. In one quick movement, Tom's elbow flew into Beca's nose and he had taken the shot from behind the three-point line.

The shorter brunette heard the ball go through the net the second the whistle blew.

Chloe jumped out of her seat, running to where Tom had just been. He threw his arms out, expecting to be embraced by the beautiful girl. Instead, she brushed by him, getting on the ground next to Beca.

Her delicate hands flew out to the brunette's face, "Are you okay?"

"Your hands are so soft," she muttered, closing her eyes tightly.

"You're ridiculous," the redhead chuckled.

Tom looked at the two, storming off the court and past his teammates. Neither of them noticed him, nor did the rest of the office who had come over to check on her. Chloe gently ran her finger across Beca's nose, flinching when the other woman winced.

"Chloe said my nose isn't broken, so that's the good news," Beca announced to the camera. She looked over her shoulder, Tom picking up Chloe again and kissing her. The brunette jerked her attention away, "But there's still a lot more bad news than good. Honestly, this game was pretty pointless."

"Becs!" Chloe yelled, jogging over to her best friend. She glanced at the camera, grasping Beca's wrist and pulling her away from the crew to whisper, "You did great out there."

"Oh, thanks," she chuckled, her hands on her hips. "You did amazing. I've never seen someone do that well at a tip-off."

"Shut up," the redhead nudged her friend with her fingertips. She attempted to hide her actions from the crew as she grabbed on to Beca's shirt by the neck, bringing her down and kissing her on the cheek. She backed away, beaming, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Beca breathed, dumbfounded. The receptionist made her way back to Tom, Beca spinning back around to the camera with a grin that radiated joy. "Maybe it wasn't all bad."

Thank you all the amazing reviews! This has just been really fun to write since I don't feel as obligated to write it as the others, but it's still close to my heart. I hope you all are enjoying it!

Hit up those reviews!