A/N: You don't need to read The Last Four Years for you to understand this story. But if you want to, it's okay. Let me know what you think.
After three years…
Beca woke up with the sound of her phone ringing. She sighed in frustration and reached for her phone on the nightstand. Without checking who it was, she answered.
"Hello?" She answered groggily.
"Where are you? You should've been here an hour ago. Meeting starts in 40 minutes," Beca's boss said in a stern voice.
Beca slapped her face to wake herself up. She obviously forgot about the meeting, "Yeah ye- Just give me 20 minutes." With that, she quickly went straight to the shower. After that she had pulled out her work clothes; dark jeans, decent plaid shirt and boots.
As she locked her apartment, she called her secretary to buy her some breakfast. She still worked for the same company and got promoted to be the Vice President of Atlantic Records. The release of her album was a success and had received a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Her apartment was close to her office so it wasn't a total rush. Beca arrived on time, just when everyone in the conference room was about to sit down. She gave her boss a small smile and took a seat.
"Okay, first of all, Good morning. I called for a meeting because I have some big announcement to make," The man breathed out happily and continued, "Stark Records is now open in New York."
Everyone clapped and was happy about the announcement. The man raised his hands to calm everyone down for his next announcement, "It's still part of the same company. Since I'll be running Atlantic Records here in LA, I'm going to appoint someone in New York."
All the people looked at each other in excitement, hoping that one of them will be the chosen one. Beca just remained silent at the back. She felt a tap on her shoulder as her secretary gave her a sandwich and coffee. She took a huge bite of the sandwich and before she even knew it, everyone was looking at her. She gave them a confused look as she chewed, "What?" she said after swallowing.
"Everyone, meet the new CEO of Stark Records," Her boss said happily.
It took a few seconds for Beca to register everything. She widened her eyes and said, "Ohmygod."
"I know I should've told you yesterday but I wanted to surprise you. Congratulations on your promotion." Her boss clapped again and everyone followed his gesture. "Okay, That's all for today."
Everyone left the room except for Beca and her boss. The people who had passed by congratulated her and Beca thanked them with a wide smile.
"So how are you feeling?" The boss asked and felt happy for Beca.
"I don't know. Everything is basically moving too fast. I never thought I'd be running a company after 3 years," Beca replied with a smile and she was still overwhelmed with her big promotion.
"Well, you deserve it. You've been working too hard but avoid being late next time," He gave her a pat on the back.
Beca smiled in response, "So when will I start?"
"Well, you need to be there soon. We'll have the grand opening next week," He stated.
Beca simply nodded and suddenly remembered the things she needed to do for the day, "Okay. Um, I need to go and listen to those demos you sent me."
Her boss gave her the permission and Beca left the conference room. She couldn't stop smiling and couldn't wait to tell all her friends about it.
Chloe was cooking in the kitchen and smiled when she felt someone hug her from behind. She placed her hand on top of her boyfriend's hand.
"Smells good," the man kissed Chloe's temple.
"And you, Jeremy Wellerstein, should be preparing the table. Aubrey and Bryan will be here any minute," Chloe said. Jeremy planted a kiss on her cheek and went to set the table.
Since her broadway career didn't take off, Chloe went back to New York and decided to become a teacher. She teaches music and theater arts in a community college and was happy with her job. She had met Jeremy in LA and they both decided to move to New York together. Sure there was a point in her life when she felt like giving up already but Jeremy saved her and now she's happier than ever.
Chloe was done cooking and reached for the bowl. She was about to place the pasta but then the doorbell rang. She set it aside and went to get the door. She smiled when she saw Aubrey and Bryan through the peephole.
"Hey!" Chloe greeted them as she opened the door. She gave them both a hug.
"We brought some wine." Aubrey said as she raised the bottle.
"Great. Jeremy was about to buy one," Chloe said as she studied the bottle, "Hey babe. You don't have to run by the store. Aubrey and Bryan brought some wine."
"Too bad. I was about to buy a bottle of Scotch," Jeremy joked. "Hey, Aubrey," He reached out his arms to hug Aubrey. "What's up, Bryan?" He also gave him a hug.
"How's it going, man? Did you get any calls from those record companies?" Bryan asked.
Jeremy just shook his head and gave them a sad smile, "Anyway, it's only been a few days. I can wait."
"I'm sure they'll respond soon." Aubrey gave him a reassuring smile.
"Lunch is ready," Chloe said, trying to lighten the mood.
"Good. I'm starving," Jeremy said as he placed an arm around his girlfriend and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll help you in the kitchen," Aubrey offered. The two women prepared the food as the guys talked.
Beca listened carefully to the demos. She wasn't happy with the first few demos she heard. She shook her head in disappointment and popped in another CD. She rubbed her forehead and had lost hope that this would be good. The song started with a catchy intro and it sounded familiar that caught Beca's attention. It was David Guetta's Titanium. She liked how it was played in acoustic version. She looked at the cover of the CD and found the singer's name.
"Jeremy Wellerstein," Beca muttered. She knew acoustic covers are too common but she believed that this guy has the potential and she was interested to hear the rest of his songs. She saw a card on the cover that had his phone number written on it.
"No e-mail address huh. Fine then," Beca shrugged and reached for her phone to call him. She would like to e-mail her clients first before calling them because she figured it's more formal.
Lunch was going well. Aubrey, Chloe and Bryan laughed at what Jeremy said. After a few minutes, the phone rang and it was Jeremy's parents. At the same time, his mobile phone rang.
"Hey babe, can you answer that please?" Jeremy said as he continued talking to his parents. Chloe stood up and answered. She went to the kitchen where there was minimal noise.
Chloe checked the caller ID and frowned when she saw it was an unknown number. She answered it anyway, "Hello? Jeremy's phone."
"Um, Hi. May I speak with Mr. Jeremy Wellerstein?" the woman on the phone said with a friendly tone.
"He's not available right now. Can I take a message?" Chloe quirked a brow as she thought about the familiar voice on the phone.
"Oh I see. Just tell him this is Beca Mitchell from Atlantic Records. I just heard his demos and he surely got my attention. I hope I could talk to him soon."
Chloe froze for a moment and remained speechless. It took her a few minutes to sink in who she was speaking to on the phone.
Not getting a reply, Beca asked again, "Hello?"
Chloe shook her head to make sure she wasn't dreaming and replied, "This is great. Um, I'll tell him the good news and to call you as soon as he can." She laughed nervously. She realized that she was holding her breath this whole time.
"Ok. Thank you," Then Beca hung up. Chloe ran her hands through her face and couldn't believe what she just heard. She felt happy for Jeremy at the same time she was still trying to process everything.
"So who was it?" Jeremy asked as he took out a bottle of water from the fridge.
Chloe didn't answer right away. She just wasn't sure about Jeremy working with her ex especially he didn't know Beca Mitchell was her ex. But this could be his big break so she decided to tell him anyway. She had put on a wide smile and set her thoughts about Beca aside, "It was from Atlantic Records. They said they liked your demos!"
Jeremy's eyes widened and jumped in excitement, "Oh my god! What did they say?"
"They said they wanted to talk to you soon. I'm so happy for you, baby!" Chloe said and wrapped her arms around him. When Jeremy hugged her back, Chloe's smile slightly faded.
Aubrey noticed the noise and went to the kitchen, "What's going on?"
"I think I'm gonna work with Atlantic Records soon!" Jeremy said excitedly.
"Ohmygosh. Congratulations! Who heard your demos?" Aubrey asked as she hugged Jeremy.
"I don't know. Chloe was the one who answered. Who was it, babe?" All of them turned to Chloe. The redhead felt nervous and could already tell Aubrey and Bryan's reactions.
"It was...um…Beca Mitchell," Chloe forced a smile and looked at Jeremy, "You should call her, right now. I told her you'd call her back."
"Right. Excuse me," Jeremy took his phone from the counter and called Beca as he left the kitchen. He felt nervous and excited.
When Jeremy left, Aubrey's jaw dropped and decided to speak up, "It had to be her." She gave her a look of disbelief.
Chloe bit her bottom lip nervously, "I know."
"Well, does Jeremy know about you and Beca?" Bryan asked.
"No," Chloe said worriedly.
"I think you should tell him," Bryan suggested.
Chloe shook her head frantically "He can't turn this down because of what happened between me and Beca. This could be his big break. He's been waiting for this moment for a year."
"Chloe's right," Aubrey began, "I mean, it's been three years anyway. I'm pretty sure Beca had already moved on."
Chloe nodded in agreement and let out a breath. Jeremy went back to the kitchen and he was still ecstatic about the call, "We're going to have lunch with Beca Mitchell next week! The best part is that we don't have to move back to LA because it turns out Atlantic Records is opening a new record label called Stark Records and Beca Mitchell is running it."
Everyone forced a smile. Luckily, Jeremy was too happy to not notice the different atmosphere in the room. Bryan decided to break the tension, "Alright! I think we should go get a drink and celebrate!"
Jeremy chuckled and looked at Chloe, "Is it okay? I promise I'll be back before dinner."
"It's okay. Just enjoy the rest of your day," Chloe smiled. Jeremy walked towards her and kissed her passionately on the lips. "I love you."
Chloe simply smiled and kissed him again on the lips. The guys left to celebrate while Aubrey and Chloe decided to clean up.
"Really? Just a kiss? Chlo, you've been dating him for over 2 years." Aubrey frowned in confusion as she took the plates from the table.
"I don't know. I mean, I do like him," Chloe shrugged as she took the glasses and wanted to drop the topic. "I just feel like…there's something holding me back. And now that he's going to work with her one of these days, I don't think I can face her after what she did to me."
"It's been three years, Chloe. Look, I think you just need some closure with Beca."
Chloe just sighed and continued cleaning the dishes. Ever since she moved back to New York, she already got over Beca and was ready to start a new life. She had never crossed her mind about seeing her ex again. But Beca is the key to Jeremy's career and as much as she would like to avoid her, she has no choice but to live with it.