Chapter Text
The Friday that Stacie and Aubrey went to Palm Springs was the catalyst for a connection between the pair. Aubrey felt much closer to Stacie after four hours of driving to and from Palm Springs. Despite Chloe’s knowledge about Stacie’s reputation, Aubrey felt that how Stacie presented herself at work might be a way for her to vent her frustrations about her home life.
The two continued to text all throughout the week, exchanging tidbits of information about themselves. One morning, Stacie messaged What’s three things I don’t already know about you?
After considering her answers, Aubrey texted her answers one at a time.
[To Stacie: Favorite color sage green]
[To Stacie: I’m fluent in French]
[To Stacie: I love romantic comedies]
[To Stacie: Your turn]
[To Aubrey: Favorite color is bright blue]
[To Stacie: Stop, stop, stop]
[To Stacie: No fair using the same categories]
[To Aubrey: ok ok, but I’m counting that one]
[To Aubrey: I began piano lessons at age three]
[To Aubrey: I grew up a tomboy]
[To Stacie: All brothers, I presume?]
[To Aubrey: Yep]
This evolved into a little game between the two, which they shortened to three things. Whenever one proclaimed three things, the other had to come up with three things to share, no matter how minut. The categories could not be repeated by the other in that round.
The week after Mila and Kommissar left Palm Springs for their trek up the Pacific Coast Highway, Dr. Richards decided the time had come to spay Diogee. Chloe did her best to assure Beca that she agreed with the decision. “Diogee has fattened up well, and her bloodwork came back pristine.” She explained that spaying the dog would be best for the dog’s long-term health.
After a short pep talk and reminders that after Beca’s dog recovered from surgery, she would have more freedom, like playing at the dog park and being introduced to a pack with a daily dog walker. “She won’t be stuck in a kennel here while you work all day.” Reluctantly, Beca agreed to bring Diogee in on Chloe’s surgery day so her girlfriend could perform the surgery.
Beca showed up as Amy was unlocking the clinic’s doors and the staff was arriving. After signing the paperwork, she followed Jessica back to help her get Diogee into a kennel. “Chloe’s going to bring you home this afternoon,” Beca crooned as she scratched the pit’s head through the bars. “You be a good girl.”
“She always is,” replied Jessica. “It’s okay to be nervous, though. But the surgery really is routine. Besides, she’ll come home with her first real tattoo. Badass dog.”
Beca’s eyebrows furrowed together. “Tattoo? Huh?”
“Yeah,” Jessica said. “Cats and dogs that are spayed or neutered get a tattoo near the typical incision point. If they find their way back to a shelter, there won’t be any question if the animal was fixed.”
“Learn something new every day. Anyway, y’all will call me when she’s done, right?”
“Of course. Dr. Beale calls all her surgical pawrents personally.” Jessica winked at Beca as she made her joke.
Chloe had several surgical procedures lined up in the morning. As usual, Flo was on anesthesia, and Stacie was helping with instruments. First up was Beca’s dog. Chloe wanted to get Diogee done first so she could call her girlfriend to ease her worries. As Flo and Chloe were getting Diogee settled on the table, Stacie was unwrapping the surgical pack on the tray next to the table.
“Stacie? Are you… humming?” Flo eyed her friend and co-worker cautiously.
Stacie gave a broad smile before responding. “And so what if I am?” She then whistled a few bars of a random song. “Would you rather I whistle?”
Flo dropped her hands from the tubing she was positioning in the dog’s mouth. “What’s going on? Why are you so happy?”
“Oh,” Stacie chuckled. “Is it a crime to be happy now?”
“Oh lord,” Flo groaned as she again began to ready the dog for surgery. “You must have gone on some escapades this weekend. I suppose we are going to hear about the hunter at lunch?” She rolled her eyes.
Stacie shrugged, knowing things would be much more interesting around the clinic if she didn’t say anything at all.
Diogee’s surgery went as expected, and Chloe helped Flo carry the sleeping dog to her kennel while Stacie sanitized and reset the operating theatre. Normally, Chloe waited until all her surgeries were complete and all patients woke up. She then called all the owners in succession. But she knew Beca would be on pins and needles until she heard from her.
Sure enough, Beca answered her cell on the first ring. “What went wrong? Why are you calling me so soon?” Chloe could tell her girlfriend was quite panicked.
“Relax, babe,” Chloe laughed. “I told you that the spaying is a minor surgery that doesn’t take long. Diogee is already finished and sleeping off the anesthesia in her kennel. She did fine.”
Beca let out an audible sigh of relief. “Are you sure?”
Stacie had come out of the surgical suite to grab some water and saw Chloe on the phone. Beca? Stacie silently asked. Chloe nodded her head. Stacie held out her hand for the phone.
“Hey, shortstack. Your pooch is doing great! We’ll call you again when she wakes up. But I need my doctor back.”
“Stacie? Wha…?”
“Goodbye, Beca. Haaaaaaaaanging up.” Stacie drawled out before disconnecting the line. When Chloe gave her a strange look, she shrugged. “What? You know how much she worries about that dog. You’d spend half the morning assuring her things are fine. We have four more surgeries. Chop, chop.”
Chloe laughed and followed the vet tech back into the operating area.
The clinic typically closed for lunch midday. When she started the clinic, Dr. Richards decided that with a small staff, having time to visit would help build camaraderie rather than stretching people thin as staff ate in shifts.
Everyone was sitting at the picnic table under the shaded area outside eating and jabbering with each other—everyone but Stacie, that is. She sat in a metal folding chair, leaned up against the corner of the enclosure with her feet propped on the bench, sandwich on her lap, and cell phone in hand. She was completely engrossed with her phone.
“What’s up with Stace?” Amy asked.
Flo told them about her humming and whistling all morning in surgery. “I was braced for all sorts of tales of the hunter during lunch.” Nobody knew what had Stacie’s attention. Nobody but Chloe, of course, and she wasn’t talking.
Finally, Amy got up, snuck over and nipped Stacie’s phone from her hands. “What do we have here, Ms. Conrad? Let’s see what quest the hunter has been on.” Amy was able to see the name of the person Stacie had been messaging before Stacie wrestled her phone back.
“None of your business,” Stacie said haughtily as she plopped back down. “Besides, I don’t always give you details about the hunter’s escapades.”
The other vet techs began to cackle and catcall. “Like hell you don’t, Stacie.” Jessica spoke up first. “I’ve worked here for two years and have heard the most detailed stories of probably every escapade the hunter has ever taken you on.” Others around the table agreed and began talking all at once, giving examples.
“So,” Amy said. “Hottie Blonde Lawyer. That’s who you were texting. Spill.”
Stacie grinned. “Oh, so now that I’m not sharing, you want to hear about it?”
The techs began to clamor again. “Wait,” said Ashley as she turned to the newest vet at the clinic. “Dr. Beale, isn’t your best friend blonde?”
“And a lawyer?” Jessica added.
Stacie’s eyes grew wide as she pleaded with Chloe for something undeterminable.
Dr. Richards looked at her watch. “Lunchtime is over, girls. Back to work.” She hurried them all inside, leaving Stacie and Chloe outside.
“Thanks for not blowing my cover, Dr. Beale.” Relief was etched across Stacie’s face. “I really like Aubrey. I want to do this right.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Ashley was right, Stacie. Aubrey’s my best friend. Just don’t hurt her.”
Chloe opened the door to Beca’s apartment to the rich aroma of lasagna baking in the oven. “Hey, Becs. I brought your girl home.” She led Diogee over to one of her larger cushions and unsnapped the leash from her neck before stepping into the kitchen.
“Which one?” Beca turned and pressed her lips against Chloe’s. “Hi,” she said softly, leaning her forehead against her girlfriends. “I was about to open some wine.” She motioned to the bottle and opener, then went to see her dog.
“Hey, baby. What’s this silly cone doing around your neck?” Diogee slowly thumped her tail on the floor.
“She was licking at her incision site, so the cone is precautionary.”
The two visited about their day as Beca finished making the salad and Chloe set the table for dinner. When the timer went off, Beca pulled the bubbling lasagna out of the oven and placed the pan on trivets waiting on the table.
“Bon Appetit,” she said as she placed the food on the table.
“Smells delicious.” Chloe closed her eyes and she breathed in the aroma of the cheesy warm goodness of the layered pasta sitting between them. She reached over and cut a piece and sighed as steam came straight out of the center, releasing all the beautiful aromas of the meat, tomato sauce, and cheese escaping.
Beca cut into the slice Chloe had put on her plate and began to giggle. Chloe eyed her oddly. “Giggling? The great Beca Mitchell is giggling?”
“Oh, hush,” she replied. “I know I have finally achieved my grandmother’s recipe when the past and cheese melts so much, and the slippery pasta makes it where you can’t pick it up with a fork.”
“You’re weird. But I like you.”
Aubrey had her phone propped up in her office as she FaceTimed with Stacie. “It’s good to see you, too, Stacie. Text messages aren’t as good as the real thing.”
“Then you know that seeing me will be even better,” Stacie flashed a smile that stretched across her face, her green eyes twinkling. Come on, meet me for dinner tonight?”
“As much as I want to, I can’t. I’m working on a deadline here. You understand, right?”
Stacie’s lower lip protruded as she nodded her head. “Three things?”
Aubrey laughed, “I don’t have…” She paused and squinted at the brunette she saw on the phone screen. She held up one finger. “I’ve always wanted to be on Broadway.” She held up a second finger. “I love fashion. Had I my choice, I might be in Paris right now.”
“With my knowledge of French, we make quite a pair, hmm?” Stacie’s smile was now soft.
“My final fact for now is that I battle daily against the perfectionism I feel I need to achieve brought on by a need to please my father.”
Stacie’s smile faltered a bit as she saw the blonde’s eyes drop to her desk, away from Stacie’s gaze. She decided to go on with their little game. “My first fact is…”
Aubrey held up her hand, in effect stopping her. When she looked up, her eyes were glistening, tears threatening to fall. “I do need to go, for now, Stacie. I’ll text you when I’m home tonight.” She then disconnected without waiting for Stacie to respond.
Stacie’s heart dropped as she sat there, looking at the blank phone screen. She was startled when she felt a hand on her arm. Chloe had walked up beside her. “Are you okay, Stacie?”
“Yeah, Dr. Beale. Peachy.” The snark in Stacie’s voice gave the veterinarian a clue that something might have happened. She gently put her hand on the tech’s arm as she went to walk away.
“Hey, talk to me.”
Stacie told her about her conversation with Aubrey and how she felt that the lawyer was blowing her off. “It’s hard for me to open up,” she admitted. “I haven’t dated anyone since I began caring for my parents. Didn’t want to.”
“My second instrument was the violin, which I started learning at age 6. I’m extensively trained in ballet dancing. And I love psychological thrillers.” Stacie stood at the door to Aubrey’s office, holding a bag of take-out and a carton containing drinks.
The lawyer looked up, smiling as she raised her eyes to meet Stacie’s. “What a surprise.” She stood, shaking her purple linen trousers to fall to the top of her feet and straightening her top. She walked up to Stacie and reached up the slight two inches to press their lips together. “Hi,” she said softly.
“I come bearing food. I’ve been told another of your secrets is that you forget to eat when you get buried in work. Yet you do your best work on a full stomach.”
Aubrey quickly cleared the papers from the coffee table in her office, and Stacie unloaded the various containers she’d picked up from the deli down the street from Aubrey’s office. She called out each sandwich as she took them out of the bag. “Turkey with avocado, the classic club, and a chicken salad sandwich. I figure what we don’t finish tonight will keep so that you don’t go hungry tomorrow.” She pulled two steaming coffees from the drink container. “Fully loaded for you, decaf for me.”
The lawyer selected half of the chicken club sandwich and took a ginormous bite. She fell back in her chair once she was done with that bite. “That has to be the best thing I’ve had in my mouth in a while.” She took a sip of her coffee as Stacie tried to act offended. Aubrey brushed her off. “You know what I mean. And Chloe knows that I forget to eat when I get busy. Thank you for feeding me.”
“What makes you think this wasn’t all me?” Stacie teased.
“I apologize for being short with you earlier,” Aubrey said as she feasted on the sandwiches before her. “I do get tunnel vision when it comes to work.”
“Consider me forewarned and forearmed,” Stacie replied. “Regardless, I wanted to see you. I won’t stay long, but you did need to eat.”
The two visited a bit more. When two halves of sandwiches were left, Stacie neatly wrapped them together and stored them in Aubrey’s mini-fridge. “I’ll let you get back to work. Thanks for taking a short break. I appreciate it.”
“Saturday lunch?” Aubrey asked.
“Definitely.”
As the days marched on, time grew closer for Mila’s final gig in San Francisco. Larry was still pushing for Mila to return to the studio immediately. While Beca had sent Mila several agents to consider signing with, Beca knew she had to continue to move forward with promoting her protegee’s career.
After estimating how long Mila would need in the studio, Beca began to plan another short tour for her. She scouted some venues online and outlined a possible plan to present to the agent when Mila signed with someone. Indeed the agent would have their promotion team, leaving Beca to the music portion.
Chloe approached Dr. Richards about possibly being away from the clinic for two days. Maggie said she’d ask her husband to find a two-day temporary replacement so Chloe could fly to San Francisco with her girlfriend.