It's Comin' on Christmas

A/N - Title from Joni Mitchell's River, because it was the most depressing Christmas song I could think of.

Aubrey stared out over the gray New York City landscape from her 27th floor office. Dense, cold, gray surrounded everything. November had rolled over into December but instead of crisp white of show blanketing the ground, there was only a bone chilling rain falling. It was unseasonably warm, simply because it was in fact rain instead of snow but the biting wind added with the rain left most of New York's inhabitants miserably cold. Aubrey couldn't bring herself to care about the weather outside, the bleak scene matched her mood.

It was already the second week of December and holiday decorations were in full bloom all over the city. People were cheerfully celebrating and wishing each other well as the festive season called for, despite the miserable weather. If anything, the cheerfulness made Aubrey feel worse.

"Aubrey," her legal assistant chimed through the office intercom, "James is on line two for you."

"Thank you Megan." The blonde woman replied flatly. She sighed as she reached to pick up the receiver to speak with her husband. Her soon to be ex-husband.

"This is Aubrey Posen Phillips." The answered formally, out of habit.

"Aubrey." Came the smooth voice on the other end of the line.

Aubrey swallowed another sigh. "James."

"I trust you've read through the documents and found them acceptable. It's a fair split and you'll be more than comfortable. A quick settlement really is for the best in this situation."

The blonde clenched her jaw. "Yes, it's fine."

"Excellent." James replied, sounding almost relieved. "Then I'll expect the signed divorce papers returned to my office within three business days."

"Fine."

They disconnected without another word. Part of Aubrey thought perhaps she had made it too easy on her cheating husband. In fact, when she had finally confronted the man with his adultery, he was instantly unsettled by how calmly she was handling the situation. He assumed her calm meant that he was in for a nasty divorce so his initial offer for splitting their assets had been much higher than she had expected. By the end of the week he would be free to remarry if he so chose. But it didn't matter, really. Not for what Aubrey had planned.

The money from the split would be in her bank account in plenty of time. Plenty of time to complete the paperwork and draft a new will. While she didn't care about the money herself, she sure as hell wasn't going to let him keep it to pay for his new girlfriend's expensive tastes. A charity would be a better choice.

Aubrey pulled out her calendar and stared at it for a few moments. Her days were filled with meetings and court appearances. Her evenings held the occasional committee meeting but for the most part were unaccounted for. No drinks with friends, no anniversary dinners, a testament to just how alone she truly was. She picked up a red pen and drew a large 'X' through that day's page. Only a handful of days left.

Aubrey closed the calendar and shoved it into the expensive leather briefcase at her feet. She shrugged on her overcoat and strode out of the office. "I'm leaving for the day. Make sure the Anderson contract is ready for me first thing Monday morning and then feel free to head out yourself."

"Thanks Aubrey!" Megan exclaimed with a smile. "You have a good weekend!"

The blonde nodded curtly, barely slowing on her way to the elevator. She sat in the back of her hired car in silence as the driver navigated the busy city streets to deliver the woman to the luxury apartment she had once shared with her husband. As soon as she had walked out of the building that housed the prestigious law firm, Aubrey couldn't help but be relieved that she didn't have to stand in the cold to flag down a taxi. There were perks to being a partner in the law firm of Posen, Banks, & McGee.

Aubrey slowly walked into her spacious apartment. The silence that met her was deafening. James had long since moved out.

She kicked her heels off and quickly stripped down and slipped into a t-shirt and comfortable sweats. Aubrey grinned sadly at the faded Barden emblem on the thigh of the sweatpants she had chosen. She traced her fingers over the aged lettering, her mind drifting back to the happiest days of her life, arguably the only happy days of her life.

Her thoughts immediately drifted to a redhead with mesmerizing blue eyes. Chloe. Thinking of her former friend and lover always sent a stab of pain from her heart to her very core. She couldn't remember the last time they had spoken. It was before the wedding. Aubrey hadn't even invited her, and that was five years ago. She couldn't help but wonder what her former best friend was up to now.

They had sworn they would always remain friends. Even after they were more than friends. They swore nothing could tear them apart. But they were naïve and time and distance had a way of severing bonds that were thought unbreakable. When Aubrey followed her father's desire and had gone to law school, Chloe had clearly been disappointed. The redhead had hoped Aubrey would buck her family pressure and pursue her own dreams. So when Aubrey had moved to Virginia to attend law school, Chloe felt abandoned and disappointed.

They tried to maintain a long distance relationship but the strain of law school classes and the jealousy that flared in Aubrey when Chloe and Beca grew even closer had proven to be too much. An argument had erupted one evening over skype and both had proven too stubborn to apologize.

A few years after law school, Aubrey had moved to New York City when her father wanted to branch his law firm and open another office there. She liked to think she had finally made her father proud after so many years. He didn't have to ask her to help start the new firm. She liked to think it meant he finally had some faith in her abilities and knew he could trust her to do a good job. He never said so but she could hope.

Aubrey met James shortly after moving to the city. He was the son of her father's financial planner and seemed poised to take over his father's business. Before she realized it, the two were engaged. Then married.

Aubrey sighed and padded into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of wine. She glanced toward her refrigerator where there was yet another calendar with days marked off. She stepped closer to eye the tasks she had given herself for the following day. Tomorrow was Saturday. Most of her to-do list would have to be completed during business hours so the day was actually empty of tasks.

The blonde narrowed her eyes at the day that was circled in red. December 24, Christmas Eve. Aubrey swallowed thickly. This was her least favorite time of year. Most people were filled with the holiday spirit and the joy of the season. But Aubrey couldn't stand the thought of spending yet another Christmas alone. She hadn't gone home to see her family in years and that was before the added strain of what her father thought was an embarrassing divorce. Aubrey knew without a doubt that she wasn't welcome there now. She and James hadn't even spent Christmas together for the last three years. And so, that was why she had decided that December the 24th, Christmas Eve, would be her last day on earth.

xxxx

"Great job!" The redheaded woman exclaimed to the group of excited kids. "I'm so proud of you guys! You're going to sound awesome at the Christmas concert! Great job guys."

The kids began to scatter at the sound of the bell. Many rushed the redhead and engulfed her in hugs as they ran for their backpacks and to greet their waiting parents or nannies.

Chloe Beale hugged each one and waved to the others and their parents as they departed for the weekend. She was still smiling as the room cleared and she began to clean up the mess inadvertently left behind by a group of grade school aged kids.

"Hey Chloe, you still ok to take Emma and Charlie tomorrow?"

Chloe glanced up and smiled at Ashley where she was peeking her head in through the doorway. "Yeah sure!" she replied. "It'll be great, I'm happy to take them to the festival tomorrow night. If any more kids' parents bailed they can tag along too but I may need reinforcements."

Ashley chuckled and shook her head. "I'm taking Celia and Brody; that should be it. I really appreciate it Chloe!"

"Of course!"

The brunette waved and wished her friend a good evening. Chloe glanced around at her classroom. If you had told her a year ago that she would be living in New York City and working at a boarding school with one of her former Bellas, she would have laughed. She was a southern sunshine girl. She loved the beach and warm weather. But she also loved kids and music.

Chloe Beale had taken her grand time deciding what she wanted to do with her life. She had tried a number of different avenues. She had even delayed graduating from college because she had no idea what to do with herself. When she had finally gotten the nerve to leave Barden, the redhead had tried a number of different career paths.

She had even tried selling insurance until she realized her true calling. She had plenty of male customers willing to pay just about anything to get the chance to see her smile at them. But when she honestly undersold the plans not wanting to cheat them out of their hard earned money, she had promptly been let go from the company.

Chloe had even let Fat Amy serve as a manager of sorts in order to give a music career a try. For publicity, the blonde had arranged for her to make an appearance at a jello wrestling competition but when the crowd began to shout for her to 'take it off', Chloe quickly reconsidered her management options.

She had then wandered to California to crash with Beca who was enjoying a budding career in producing music. The brunette had remained one of her closest friends and had been a solid shoulder to cry on when she and Aubrey had split up.

Beca may have had her reservations about Aubrey but she knew how much Chloe loved her. And she had been under the impression that the blonde felt the same about Chloe. But they had drifted apart and Beca had been there to keep Chloe from falling apart.

And then, Chloe had heard from Ashley who had taken a teaching job in New York City. They were looking for someone to help revamp a choir and music education program at a private boarding school in the city. Chloe had never really thought she would be able to put her music education degree to use so she jumped at the opportunity. Especially when she heard that the school wanted to expand to allow more underprivileged kids a chance to attend with scholarships as well.

The redhead had thrown herself into the position and the kids had responded well. No one could resist Chloe Beale. The kids loved her and the parents and guardians couldn't help but be drawn to her as well. The semester was drawing to an end and most of the kids had been picked up for the holidays but there were a few that were still stranded at the school, their parents too busy to collect them.

Those kids tugged at Chloe's heart the most. The most affluent kids but the most lacking in love and support. They always made her think of Aubrey. And the thought of the blonde always made Chloe's heart clench. She regretted how the relationship had ended. If she had it to do over, she would have been much more supportive but at the time, Aubrey attending law school hours away without so much as discussing it with her had been a stinging blow.

Years had passed and she now had no idea of how Aubrey was faring. She hoped she was happy. Chloe quickly shook the melancholy that threatened to settle and finished packing up her things. The thought of retreating to her small apartment on the cold dreary Friday night and settling on her couch with a glass of wine and a cheesy Christmas movie pushed her on. Tomorrow she would take two of the kids whose parents had yet to show to the winter festival. They were even calling for snow instead of just the cold rain that had been plaguing the city for the last few weeks.

Chloe smiled again as she shouldered her bag and set off on foot toward her apartment. It was Christmas in the city. Lights were strung and trees were decorated. Even the gut wrenching feeling of loss at the thought of the blonde couldn't keep the smile from Chloe's face.