Five separate times that AngelMating, Inc. had contacted Beca.

The first, on her fifteenth birthday, was to inform her that she had already been matched with her soulmate, a rarity she was told at the time, due to the fact that Beca had not yet been fitted with her AngelMate Halo. It seemed, apparently, that her perfect match, had already been fitted and the Halo-to-Halo wing match had gone off almost immediately. All Beca had to do was agree to being fitted with her Halo when she turned eighteen and the match would be complete. It had taken her a few weeks to think about it, but Beca agreed. She had, of course, immediately asked about her soulmate, but was told that due to current legislation to protect minors, neither would be allowed to know the identity of their match.

Beca's next interaction with AngelMating was after her nineteenth birthday. Due to the circumstances of her parents divorcing and her mother's subsequent failure to remain sober and hold down a job, as well as Beca refusing to have anything to do with her father whom she blamed for the family's destruction, Beca had been unable to afford getting fitted with her Halo. So it would be that Beca would finally earn enough money by working several independent DJ gigs and working the occasional odd job before she could make it to the local AngelMating office to have her Halo installed. Everything was great until after the expensive procedure was finally complete, but Beca's Halo remained dark.

Which led to the third meeting where it was finally discovered that her soulmate had disconnected her Halo three months previous in order to marry someone else. It had been yet another punch to the proverbial gut for Beca Mitchell. AngelMating, Inc. initially refused to refund the installation fees until Beca hired a fairly good lawyer who sued them for well over the fees' cost. Beca walked away alone, but now she was rich… and while money couldn't but love, it could help alleviate the pain for a little while.

Five years later, Beca (now a fairly well-known name in the music industry as a rising star) was contacted once again AngelMating, Inc. to discuss the possibility of meeting her once soulmate – maybe again. Beca had laughed at the absurdity of the request and promptly hung up the phone. Her soulmate had abandoned her. There was no way she was opening herself up to that type of pain ever again, but the calls continued. Finally, utilizing her lawyer once again, Beca forced AngelMating, Inc. to explain what was going on…

At the fifth meeting.

/

/

The elevator opened inside the Atlanta Marriott. This was the first time Beca had been here outside of performing during DragonCon. Her mixes that had been used for three of the Marvel movies had made her an instant celebrity for the nerd crowd; a fact that she secretly loved. There had even been some rumors of her playing a minor character in one of the upcoming superhero films, but Beca couldn't act to save her life, so the rumors were going to have remain just that. Rumors.

She and her lawyer made their way to the private meeting room AngelMating had secured for them. Beca had sworn to never enter into another AngelMating building ever again if she could help it. Beca was pleasantly surprised to see a single person inside the room, having expected multiple lawyers to have to face down, much like it had been during the trial.

"Thank you again for agreeing to meet with us, Ms. Mitchell." Aubrey Posen, acting as AngelMating. Inc.'s legal counsel, smiled – although it didn't really ever touch her eyes. "We, here at A.M. are hopeful that we can settle this matter quickly and efficiently to the satisfaction of all parties involved."

Stacie Conrad, Beca's friend and personal lawyer, chuckled softly as she and Beca sat at the table. "It's not like you have given Ms. Mitchell much of a choice. She has received no less that fifteen certified letter correspondences and twice as many telephone calls. That doesn't even take into account the emails that have flooded all three of her accounts."

"Yes. Well."

Stacie continued on the attack. "On May seventeenth two thousand twelve, Judge Gail Abernathy- McKadden-Feinberger found in favor of my client. AngelMating, Inc. had to pay her in the amount of one million thirty two thousand eight hundred nineteen dollars, as well as to cease and desist all contact in regards to the matter. In exchange, Ms. Mitchell would sign a non-disclosure to the nature of the suit won and would drop any further litigation. All records were sealed and the matter was to be considered closed."

The blonde lawyer across the table sighed and nodded. "That is correct."

"Then why are you going against the ruling? You and your client have to be aware that you are opening yourselves up to further litigation." Stacie took a breath. "You are forcing my client's hand in this matter. What will it take for you to stop?"

Ms. Posen had the decency to blush. "I understand. And truthfully, I agree and side completely with your client, but we have a new situation that has come up. A.M. faces new litigation that could potentially bankrupt the company and destroy the happiness of millions of future soulmates."

Beca leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. Of course.

"Explain." Stacie demanded.

When Beca opened her eyes, she found Aubrey Posen looking directly at her. "In the hopes that being frank will foster some goodwill, I have been instructed to offer some of the proprietary information that was blocked during the trial five years ago."

When she paused, Beca realized that she was looking for some type of sign from her. After glancing at Stacie and getting a slight nod, Beca nodded towards Aubrey.

"Great. AngelMating, Inc. contacted you in December of two thousand seven. At that time, they made you aware that a soulmate was waiting for you upon turning eighteen. At that time, you were not given the identity of your soulmate due to Onakuramara's Law of 2002, which protected and prevented adults from learning the identity of their future Halo match. All that was told to your future soulmate was that they had three years to wait for your Halo to go active."

"I already know this." Beca sighed in exasperation, while Stacie put her hand discreetly on her knee to keep quiet.

Aubrey continued. "You did not get your Halo installed when you turned eighteen."

"I was broke and practically living on the streets. How was I sup-"

"Beca." Stacie interrupted.

"Fine."

"I do understand, Ms. Mitchell. I'm not accusing or judging." Aubrey glanced at the folder in her hands. "Your soulmate, between the time of your coming of age and you actually having your Halo installed, fell in love with another and chose to uninstall their Halo. It was unprecedented, but not completely unheard of. However, this was the first time that so high of a match had been disregarded."

"My client knows all this. Ms. Posen." Stacie spoke before Beca could again. "Nothing you're saying is making me want to recommend to my client to listen further."

"Your soulmate, Ms. Mitchell, fell in love with an employee of AngelMating."

"What?" "Is that legal?" Stacie and Beca spoke simultaneously.

Aubrey was shaking her head. "No. It's not legal. And, in fact, it actually gets worse. Our employee… former employee, now, of course… became infatuated with your soulmate early on in the Halo installation process. While they were not their Wing Agent, the employee was able to access your soulmate's information. They used that information to arrange meeting outside of the AngelMating office setting, which allowed a friendship to foster and eventual led to romance."

The room was silent as Aubrey sipped at her water. "When you didn't immediately go in to have your Halo installed, our employee used that as a sign that you didn't want to be matched. They were even able to provide some actual facts that supported their statements. That, along with your soulmate having already entered into a physical and emotional relationship with the A.M. employee and was possibly questioning how good of a match you could be for them when they had seemingly found love with someone else… well, your soulmate uninstalled their Halo."

Beca wiped at her eyes. She wasn't going to cry, but it was going to be a close thing. "So… what? Why am I here?"

"Just under two years ago, your soulmate marrie-"

"Okay. Just stop." Beca interrupted. When Stacie squeezed her knee, Beca put her hand on top of her friend's hand. "Whoever you are talking about, they are not my soulmate. So let's either refer to them by their name or I'm gonna say to hell with all of this and leave. Got it?"

Aubrey Posen blinked several times before taking a deep breath. "I did say we were going to offer you the answers we previously denied you. As I was saying, about two years ago, Chloe Beale, the woman who had been matched with you through the wing match system, married Tom Mason, who at the time was an employee of AngelMating, Inc. Mr. Mason kept the marriage a secret from us, as Ms. Beale's maiden name would have immediately thrown up red flags."

"So Beca's once soulmate, Chloe Beale, is married?" Stacie asked. "Great. What does she want? A late wedding gift?"

"Five months ago, Mr. Mason's marriage became known when their son, Tommy, became sick. Mr. Mason required several days off, which we were happy to provide, but during a chance meeting at the hospital, Chloe Mason was recognized by her Wing Agent, Patricia "Fat Amy" Hobart, who subsequently alerted her superiors."

'Fat Amy?' Stacie and Beca mouthed to one another.

"Mr. Mason was immediately pulled in for potential disciplinary action. The management team in charge of the investigation also question his wife, Chloe Mason. Over the course of the month long interviews, the truth came out. Mrs. Mason immediately filed for divorce, which looks to be an almost certainty at the moment, especially with Tom Mason unemployed and currently in jail, due to matters both related and unrelated to hi spending divorce."

"I'm happy for her." Beca offered. "Why am I here?"

"Chloe wanted her Halo reactivated."

"Okay." Beca agreed. "Go for it. I hope her next soulmate match goes better for her this time."

The blonde sighed. "We reactivated her Halo three weeks ago."

Well, it was easy to see where this was headed now. AngelMating, Inc. had started harassing Beca almost exactly three weeks ago.

"So, Chloe matched with me again?"

"She did." Aubrey answered. "And you have refused to talk with us, which is perfectly understandable and within your rights. But, and this is the 'why' for this meeting… Chloe Mason is suing AngelMating for ruining her life and preventing her from being with her destined soulmate."

"Wow" Stacie offered so helpfully.

"Indeed. And she is completely right to think that. Our employee at the time used her personal and private information to interfere with her Wing Match. Worse, he did so in order to foster a romantic relationship for himself and the former Ms. Beale that led to her marrying him and completely disregarding one of the highest Halo matches within the last three decades. He was the cause of our having to pay Ms. Mitchell an obscene amount of money and has now left us wide open for further litigation that could potentially destroy AngelMating, Inc.

"To make matters worse for us, the sealing of court documents, at our own behest and insistence, in regards to Ms. Mitchell prevents us from giving Chloe Mason Ms. Mitchell's name. In fact, the only opportunity that AngelMating has is if Ms. Mitchell either agrees, in writing, for us to give Mrs. Mason her name… or for Ms. Mitchell to allow for AngelMating to reactivate her Halo."

"Uh, no." Beca laughed. "No to any of it. No way."

Aubrey looked like I had allowed wolves to rip out her vocal cords or something. "Is there anything we can offer? Any chance that there might be a way to provide Chloe Mason with the opportunity to meet with you? TO get to know you?"

Beca glanced over at Stacie. The tall, leggy brunette lawyer signed aloud. "Ms. Posen. Both I and my client do feel for you. This has to be a cluster-fuck of epic proportions that you are having to deal with. And I do sympathize, but there isn't going to be a happy ending for all parties that are involved."

"Just by maybe allowing us to give her Beca's name…"

"No." Stacie said. "It's not going to happen. To start with, my client is somewhat famous. She's not DJ Khaled famous, but she is on her way. The news that there is a soulmate out there could possibly bring negative publicity to my Beca. That is not something we are willing to take a chance on."

"But-"

"And before you begin thinking that my client is simply being a bitch to cause you trouble, understand that my client is engaged to be married."

"Married? But nothing in my research…"

"It hasn't been announced yet, as they are waiting for next week's Ellen interview to let the cat out of the bag, but Beca proposed to her longtime girlfriend, Emily Junk, last week while they were visiting Emily's mother and family for the July Fourth fireworks show over the Tennessee River in Muscle Shoals, Alabama."

Beca nodded when Aubrey glanced her way.

"But even if there was no relationship, my client has no trust in AngelMating before today's meeting, and nothing that I've heard today endears me to recommend to my client to change that stance." When Stacie looked at her, Beca nodded in complete agreement. "Frankly, the idea that an employee, former or not, could have maybe destroyed at least two lives of people that trusted your company with providing them with a love match; it scares me and makes we wonder if this might have happened before."

"I assure you-"

"Oh, I'm sure that this could be an isolated incident. Beca's luck could almost guarantee it."

"Hey!" Beca slapped Stacie's shoulder with the back of her hand.

"There's also several key points that, while may not immediately paint Beca in the best of light, are causes for concern for my client. You said that Chloe and Tom have a child together?" When Aubrey nodded, Stacie continued. "So, if Beca and Chloe were to get together, the man that essentially stole her soulmate away from her would have to be in Beca's life?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"So, a child from a previous marriage? A child my client would have to help raise? With her soulmate and her ex? An ex that my client will have to interact with for the rest of her life? Not to mention that Chloe gave up the Wing Match to be with that someone else, her ex, no matter that she was lied to. Mrs. Mason knew that she had a high match soulmate coming, yet chose to let that go?"

"But Mr. Mason-"

"Does AngelMating plan on offering restitution to my client for its employee causing her unnecessary pain and suffering?"

"Your client was paid alre-"

"My client received her due because of your company's abhorrent attitude and poor customer service in removing and uninstalling its Halo, something she only had installed on your word that she had a soulmate waiting. No, I'm talking about the money Beca is due considering that the whole fiasco was orchestrated by a horny frat boy wannabe that decided to use Celestial Technology for his own, twisted benefit."

Aubrey stood and began pacing. "No. We weren't wanting to pay out any more money. AngelMating was hoping to make everything right by putting two soulmates together, finally."

"Beca. Let's go."

At Stacie's words, Beca rose from the chair. She tried to ignore the absolute defeated look on Ms. Posen's face.

"For what it's worth," Beca offered before she walked out the door, "I'm sure that in another life, Chloe and I would have made it. I know that AngelMating has made some great matches. Several of the couples that Em and I hang out with were Wing Matched through their Halos. I am sorry that I can't offer you what you want. What she wants."

"Thank you, Ms. Mitchell."

"Goodbye, Ms. Posen. And tell Chloe that I hope she finds love one day. She deserves it."

/ / / / / / / / / /

NOTE:

This one came from "11 Hrs: 51 Mins: 45s" by dumbacapellapotatoes. As well as so many other stories about soulmates. The idea of a TIMER or tattoo or whatever sounds great, but I like the darker aspects of it.

Thanks for reading.