Beca

When's the last time you took a moment to take in what you are waking up to? Do you notice how tranquil your space is, and how everything is still, except for the curtains, the dust has settled from the day before, you were just unconscious while the world continued to turn without you. This particular time it's a windy morning which is why the curtains were dancing in the room. I could hear the breeze whistle through the trees as it entered the room.

As much as I loved my new place, I was really starting to love waking up at Chloe's. My body released the grumpiest moan as I involuntarily stretched my grogginess away. I rolled over to embrace Chloe, she was sound asleep. I burrowed my face into her neck. Her skin was warm. I slid my arm underneath of hers and around her torso. I thought she was still asleep, but she took a hold of my hand and scooted back closer to me. I felt the tension leave my body in the form of an exhale, my eyes were closed, a small smile crept onto my face.I brushed her hair away with my other hand. I took another breath before I propped myself up and leaned to kiss her neck. I took my time pulling my lips away.

These are the moments I like to write about. I could've stayed like that all morning, I wish it was an option but Chloe had a cafe to run and I had half a record store that was expecting a package today. If that's not busy enough for you, Jesse and I also had interviews for a part time employee.

It turned into a hot morning real quick. Chloe turned around, took my face in her hands and kissed me. Her hands explored my body underneath the tee I borrowed. Her fingers kneaded into my side, my skin molded around her fingertips. She rolled her body into mine, our legs intertwined. Nothing else around me mattered. For a moment I forgot about the night before and the day ahead. My only focus was Chloe, I was the one that woke her up, but she was doing all the giving. She gave me everything I needed that morning, a cup of coffee and a lot to think about during the day.

Chloe

The chirp of the birds mixed with the rattling of the leaves and the sound of my sheer linen curtains going back and forth on the wall was like music to my ears. My alarm hadn't gone off. I checked my phone to see that I had 10 minutes before that usually startling sound went off. Somewhere around minute three I felt Beca moving around next to me. She turned over to cuddle me, she buried her face into my neck, her breath glided across my neck, causing my hairs to stand up. I thought she was making a move so I used her hand as leverage and backed into her. She started moving around again, she moved my hair out of the way and started to kiss my neck. Beca was definitely making a move, so I turned around to face her. I grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to me.

"Someone woke up feeling frisky, didn't they?" I couldn't hold back my smile.

"Maybe just a little," Beca retreated between her shoulders, she smiled at me, her laugh lines forming as her cheeks puffed, the edge of her tongue poked out at me between her teeth. She held that face and just looked at me. I watched her eyes scan my face before making eye contact with me again. I could swear her pupils were dilated. She breaks into a fit of laughter.

"You're so sexy when you laugh,"

Her cheeks didn't hesitate to turn red. "Stop it."

"Come here," I went in for the kiss. I could feel her body relax against mine. All I wanted was for her to forget her troubles. Best thing I could think of in the moment? Give her something else to think about today.

Beca

It was during the last interview I caught myself grazing my own thigh thinking of the way Chloe touched me this morning. The voice currently responding to Jesse's question faded away as I started to recall the way it was Chloe's hand doing the grazing. No leggings in her way, just skin on skin. They must've noticed me daydreaming because Jesse was now trying to get my attention.

"You got any more questions, Beca?" Jesse asked.

"Huh?" Well if they didn't know before, they definitely knew now, "Oh, um no. I think we're good here."

"Alright. Well…we will let you know"

Personally I've always hated waiting so long for a decision about a job, especially for a part time job. I could sense the eagerness in her eyes. She was an art major, she didn't know much about comics but she knew about art. The icing on the cake? She was also very into music. "Actually Jesse, can I talk to you for a second?" I started to get up, "We'll be right back." Jesse followed me over to a corner, we stood next to open boxes holding wrapped comics, it was Jesse's latest shipment.

'What's up, Bec?"

"Let's hire her."

"Okay." He was quick to respond.

"You're not even going to question it?"

"I watched you daydream, about who knows what, through all the interviews. I pulled questions out of my ass cause you weren't paying attention. Jessica over there is the only one you at least waited until the end of the interview to start for your mind to wander off"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"No, stop it," He wasn't serious, I could hear the hint of laughter in his voice, "Is the other night still bothering you?"

Normally I would get caught up in a moment like that, but I remembered the moment Chloe and I had. Her words echoed in my head, it's okay, I don't expect you to not be sad. "No, I'm good, but we should hire her. I think she'll be alright."

"Okay then, she's hired."

He seemed excited. I know I was. It meant I didn't have to feel bad about leaving Jesse to work alone. It also meant he didn't have to spend all his time, but who am I kidding, he'll probably do that anyway. "Wait, Jessica?" I unrolled the resume I was holding, "I thought it was Ashley."

Jesse looked down at the papers in his hand. "Pretty sure I'm looking at Jessica's resume."

"Just cause you're looking at it doesn't mean it's the right one."

"We'll just ask her."

"We can't do that."

"You're right."

"We'll just figure it out later,"

Jesse scrunched his face at me, and hummed.

"You're hired." I turned around and walked back over to the window sill.

"Really?" Our new employee shrieked.

"Yeah, We figured you can just catch up on your comic knowledge here, on the job." I responded.

"Oh, thank you so much."

"Well now that this is all done, I'm going to Chloe's."

"Not even 60 seconds. I think that's a new record," Jesse checked his phone.

Childish as it may be, I turned around and gave the goofiest face I could think of towards Jesse. Dropped my papers behind the counters and ushered myself to the door. I rushed out of there and I took the half- block across the light to see my favorite person at my favorite coffee shop.

Chloe was busy when I arrived. Emily greeted me with a bounce, her usual giddiness. Chloe did manage to smile at me. I smiled back, but then looked down at the counter and tucked hair behind my ear.

"You guys are so cute," Emily poured coffee from the pot to a mug.

"Yeah yeah," I could feel the heat from my cheeks. Between feeling oddly nervous and Emliy complimenting our relationship, I felt some younger version of myself.

"Did you guys find someone to hire?" She asked me.

"We did."

"Oh great, who is it?"

I looked around before I went on,"We haven't figured out her name yet."

"Beca, what do you mean you haven't figured it out yet?"

"We mixed up the resumes."

"Mixed up the resumes?"

"I wouldn't know how to break that down anymore."

"I feel like life has gotten wackier since you got here. Or would it be more wacky?"

The focus was no longer on me, Emily was greeting someone else. It was who I just interviewed. Emily greeted her like she was a friend. "Ashley!"

We waved at each other. I grabbed my phone, my movements were swift, swiped up for it to unlock, the icon on the screen expanded and transitioned into my messages, I exited the group thread between Chloe, Emily, and Jesse. I opened my messages with Jesse.

Ashley, I typed, Told you so. At least we knew her name now.

Ashley came over and took a seat next to me. Emily seemed confused by that action.

"I didn't know you were on your way over here, I would've offered to walk with you."

"You seemed in a hurry," Ashley leaned in my direction.

"She just likes to watch Chloe make coffee. So what are you doing over here today?" Emily asked her friend.

"Didn't I tell you about my job interview?" Ashley asked back, she looked over and smiled at me for a second.

"Maybe. My memory sucks lately."

"That might be my fault," I said.

Emily laughed. "Tell me about the interview."

"It was," Ashley paused to look at me, "good. The owners seem cool, they're funny. I got the job though," her and Emily squealed in unison.

"That's good, " Emily propped her elbows up on the counter between us, "So where do you work?" Her head rested on her hands.

"Vinyl Pages."

"Ha!" was Emily's initial response, "So you...you two," Emily points between the two of us, "You work at Beca's store." It was more of a statement than a question. Emily squinted at me. I knew why too. It's Jesse's fault really, I had the right resume the whole time.

"Yeah. So you two like, actually know each other?" Ashley asked, Emily nodded in response, "You just hang out with everyone's bosses, huh?"

"I guess so," Emily said. They both stared at each other. I don't fully understand what happened between them but Emily spoke up again, "What? They're cool."

"You hear that Chlo?" I interrupted and leaned over to make eye contact with Chloe, "They think we're cool."

"Speaking of hanging out with people bosses, are you two doing anything tonight?" Emily was now organizing different utensils behind the counter.

"I actually have to finish up on a song."

"You make music, too?" Ashley questioned me.

I pressed my hand to my big fat mouth. "Everyone is going to end up knowing aren't they?"

"Can I ask what you're working on?"

"If I tell you, I'd have to kill you," Even though I'm going to be working with Ashley, I realized she may not care for all my dramatics, we did just meet and all. "I'm kidding. It's something my friend Cynthia-Rose sent me. She's a producer back in L.A."

It was time I worked on that song anyway. My day in town came to an end. I went back home to eat and take a nap. I didn't realize how tired I was regardless of the caffeine I had, until I sat on my couch. I thought I was just going to rest my eyes and settle in but I woke up a couple hours later to Jesse barging through my front door and into my living room.

"It's time for you to do some work today."

I sat up for Jesse to join me on the couch. He sat down next to me clutching his bag. He told me about the rest of his day, uneventful I might add. We eventually moved down to my den, where for the night I basked in the familiarity of sharing a space with Jesse as we worked on our projects.

Chloe

The trade off wasn't so bad either, while I'm sure she was thinking about our morning, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I hoped she was doing okay. I got lost in my day, running through the motions. Emily and I worked through the morning rush. I eventually retreated up to work in my office, which was just the second bedroom in my apartment. I put in all my routine orders, made sure all the bills are going to be paid. A playlist with some of Beca's different songs was on in the background. It wasn't long before I needed to switch distractions. I was back downstairs, taking orders and pouring coffee. I made a cup for myself and relieved Emily of register duty.

Later into the afternoon, Beca came in. It was cute the way she smiled at me then down at the counter like she was shy. Pretty much confirms she was still thinking about this morning. I was busy with orders, but her and Emily were huddled up off to the side, joined by one of Emily's friends.

I heard Beca say my name. "They think we're cool," I had no idea what they were talking about. I laughed out of instinct and nodded.

Beca didn't stay told me earlier there was a song she needed to work on. Knowing her she probably won't work on it right away. I however still had to finish here.

"I can't get you as stoned as Beca can, but you can hang here later if you want.

"I'm in."

Emily stayed behind to help close up. She doesn't mind cause she gets to turn up the music. Her exact words. We spent the night spaced out on the couch, watching my recording of the last couple of Bachelor episodes.

Beca

The next morning was completely different. I woke up to multiple text messages from people I knew back in L.A. Have you heard Michaels new song? Michael dropped a song about you. You know about this? Did you have anything to do with this? See? The world kept turning while I was asleep, it might've turned a little too fast and got out of control. That morning, my ex-boyfriend Michael, released a song that was apparently about me. Not something I wanted to listen to first thing in the morning. I should've slept at Chloe's. My phone started ringing, it was Amy, my manager/rep at the label.

'How's your little vacation going?" She asked. Her drowning in noise from around her, cars honking their horns, people screaming at each other, music from radio barely turned down to accommodate the fact that she was on the phone now? I forget she actually listens to the radio still.

"Ames, I told you it's not a vacation. I started a business, I live here." I sat up and let my feet hang from the bed, "That's two down payments. It's going to be a while before I get my money's worth."

"Anyway, guess what I just heard on the radio?"

"Oh, I know this one. It wouldn't happen to be a new single from Michael?"

"He's already telling his side of the story. When are we going to tell yours.?"

"Amy I haven't written anything since I moved. Except that chorus for Cynthia-Rose. Buy her lunch for me?"

"We really should put something out, make this fair."

"I don't know. I'm not really up for it," My body fell back into the bed.

"Think about it. I know you're taking a break, but if you happen to write and record something just let me know."

"Okay, Ames. How's L.A.?"

"Good. You should come visit."

My shoulders shook lightly and I chuckled before any words even came out, "Definitely not ready for that."

'Alright Beca, I got another call. I'll talk to you soon."

"Bye Amy." I looked at my phone and watched as the call ended and my screen returned to my inbox of unread messages.

I guess you can say I know what the rest of the messages are going to be so I scroll to my thread with Jesse, who also texted me, Guess you're not coming today. I'll come by later. I sent him the sad face with a teardrop emoji. I laid my phone down on the bed. Frozen, I looked up at the ceiling and followed the blades of the fan as they went round and round.

Chloe

I thought I found Beca the way I always did, in a baggy tee, shrouded by a cloud of smoke on her couch, this time she had on headphones and was slouched over a notebook, her pen scratched against the paper when I walked in. When she noticed me she pulled the headphones from her ears.

I waved and smiled, "I heard the song." I didn't want to push any harder so I let that statement hang in the air.

Beca set the remote down and pulled her legs to sit pretzel style. "We dated for 4 years. I met him at a writing retreat. It was for his debut album, a group of us stayed up there for the weekend and helped flesh everything out. We worked pretty well together that weekend and we just kind of kept doing it until it turned into dating. He was always encouraging me to be an artist, but I was happy just penning the songs. There's just something about being able to express yourself and relate with others and inspire without having to put on a show." She turned to face and grabbed a pillow from behind her. "I decided to give being an artist a try. Went a lot better than I thought it would, especially since all the friends I made promoted my stuff. I was writing songs for me, writing songs for other people, going to a bunch of retreats, and events to show my face."

I could tell this was hard for her to talk about. Her eyes began to look glassy. Her cheeks were turning red. Her voice, soft, cracking. She could barely look at me. "Michael wasn't very private, not as much as I was. He was always talking about us in interviews, getting his picture taken, talking about me. We were like a gold mine for all the social media stuff. I was never really into all that though. I mean I have a twitter, I made an instagram once I started going on tour."

"I think I follow you." The mood shifted for just a second and I could see a smile on her face.

"So I didn't really pay attention to a lot of it. I just kind of wanted to mind my business. I did cave and made a duet EP with him, the label loved it. We co-wrote and performed all the songs ourselves, no features. Of course it mostly was love songs, vague glimpses into our love life." She paused and took a deep breath. "He became someone else on tour. I wondered if he was always like that when he traveled."

"Like what?" I was the one wondering then.

"Flirty. He had to flirt with everyone he met. Even our opener. They spent so much time together, making googly eyes at each whenever the other was on stage. One night, he started going on about his night before and how great it was and how it reminded of this song, a song about remembering what it's like to fall in love.

"No."

"Yes. I panicked of course, and my response was, did we even spend last night together?

"Beca,"

"I know. The show went on, but after that I had Amy, my manager pull some strings and get me off the rest of the tour."

"What did you tell them?"

"Told them it was a mental health thing. She also scored me a little sabattical." Her shoulders slouched. "I stayed home for months. Everybody wanted to hear what happened from me. I couldn't go anywhere without someone wanting to talk about it, even the people I worked with." I watched the tears form in her eyes. Ready to fall down her cheek at any moment. "I didn't know what to do, I was surrounded by people who didn't care about my feelings or feelings at all really, and all I did was spend time with my feelings. The only thing I could think of was to move. I was ready to but I chickened out. Turns out, I didn't want to be alone so Jesse agreed to move with me. Told me it was time to do the things we wanted the way we wanted to."

"So you haven't worked on anything since then?"

"Every time I try it ends being about the breakup, but now since he's got this song out, it'll be a whole thing, two sides of a story, and I just don't have the energy."

"If it matters, we're all here for you. This isn't L.A. the whole day doesn't have to be about this song. We don't even listen to Michael What's-his-face at the cafe." That got a smile out of her.

"Well I got nothing planned today. Do you want to stay in with me?"

"Sure."