*Will and Sonny's apartment*
Sonny is at the kitchen sink finishing up the lunch dishes as Will folds Ari's laundry, when there is a knock at the door. They turn and look at each other, then Will takes the clothes basket into Ari's room as Sonny goes to the door.
Again another knock and Will comes into the livingroom and Sonny then opens the door.
"Hey Zoey, thanks for coming over, come on in ." Says Will as Sonny steps back and Zoey walks into the apartment.
As Zoey walks to the middle of the room , with her back to Will and Sonny, Will looks at Sonny smiles and gives him a wink, Sonny smiles in return, rubs his hands together and they turn toward Zoey.
"So Will why am I here? Even though it's Sunday, I have a lot I need to do so I don't have a lot of time. So can we get to why I am here."
"Sure Zoey, we wouldn't want to hold you up too long, would we Sonny? I mean we have plans as well and don't want to waste a lot of time on unimportant things." He grins at Sonny as the sarcasm flows right over Zoey's head.
"Ok so what's up?"
"First though, would you like something to drink Zoey? Coffee, tea , water?" Asks Sonny with his beautiful smile.
Looking slightly confused by how nice Sonny is being considering the animosity she felt from him a few weeks ago. "Sure Sonny, coffee would be great thanks."
Sonny turned toward the kitchen with a grin, while Will seated Zoey on the couch.
"So Zoey the reason I asked you here is to talk about Paul Norita's aritcle and why you chose me to write it. Not that I wasn't flattered to do it and excited to write again for Sonix , but I am just curious you know?"
"Will I told you, " Sonny appears with her coffee and a water for Will. "Thank you Sonny," Will smiles and tells Sonny thank you with a smile.
"I told you that it wasn't MY idea that you write that article, Paul had read your two previous articles and asked for you himself. When I approached him and asked if we could do this article he said yes right away and then asked if you could do it. Of course I said yes! I mean if that is all it took to get him for our magazine how could I say no, right?" Zoey grinned as she took a sip of coffee.
"Is that what you are telling people Zoey? That You ASKED me if you could do the article?"
Zoey almost spills her coffee as Paul's voice sounds from behind her. Will quickly reaches out and grabs the cup before it spills with a grin while Zoey stands up and faces Paul.
"Paul where...what are you doing here?"
"What? I can't come over and visit with my good friends? Why do you look so confused and...what? Shocked? Wouldn't you say guys?"
"Yup" chimes in Sonny. "Yeah Zoey why are you surprised Paul is here?" asks Will.
"Well I thought you guys didn't like each other? Wasn't there a lot of problems when the article came out concerning you all?"
Paul, walking over to grab the desk chair and pull it towards the couch , sits down. Will , still sitting on the couch motions for Zoey to retake her seat as Sonny sits on the back of the couch above Will, his hand resting on Will's shoulder. Zoey slowly sits down and faces the men.
"So you were saying that you asked me if I would be willing to let you do the article. Did I hear that right? Now what I remember is you coming to my hotel room and pretty much blackmailing me into it."
"Paul I didn't.."
"Zoey come on now, let's not change how things really happened please. You know and I know how that all went down so don't try and talk your way out of it. You came to me, said you knew who I was, knew why I was in Salem. Wouldn't I want to be in charge of who wrote the article and what it would say rather than risk someone writing an article that would not be very falttering to me?"
"Paul I came to you because I had heard you were in town and why and I thought you'd want to have control of how the article was written. I had just heard about you being in town just hours before and thought I would be the one to offer this opportunity to tell things your way and hey, if my magazine benefits from it why not?" Zoey smiled at Paul.
A loud snort from behind her had her spinning once again in her seat to see a man standing there with a look of disgust on his face.
"Derrick? Where did you come from?' she turns to Will and Sonny and asks "Do you guys have a magic door or something? Where did they, " as she points behind her and then to Paul, "come from? The bedroom? A smirk appearing on her face. Apparently she thought she was being cute.
"Well actually Zoey, we were, ironically, in the closet. That closet apparently has had a lot of use in the last few years." Will, Sonny, Paul and Derrick all get a chuckle out of what Paul has just said.
"Ok so why are you all here? Why was I called and asked to come?Because I have to tell you this is feeling like an ambush."
"Hmmm so how does an ambush feel Zoey, considering you ambushed Paul, pretty much did the same to Will when you and Mr. Price told Will he couldn't tell Paul he was married. If it wasn't for you doing that, this whole mess might not have happened."
"Wait one minute Derrick!"
"No! Zoey! and are you trying to get away with saying you only found out hours before visiting Paul, about him being in town? You called me into your office months before that and told me you wanted me to spy on Paul and whoever came to see him. I do have one question that has been bugging me for quite a while too. Aside from making me feel all creepy for spying, how exactly did you find out Paul was coming to Salem? How did you know about Sonny's coonection to Paul?"
"I don't believe this! You are trying to make me the bad guy in all this? It wasn't me who slept with Paul that was Will!"
"Zoey stop it right now!" yelled Will. "Do not try and make yourself innocent in all of this, you started the ball rolling. yes...yes I screwed up big time I KNOW that." Sonny drapes his arm around Will and tells him "Don't let her mess with you Will. We have worked through all this. Don't give her the satisfaction." He gives Will a kiss on the temple then returns to his original position with his hand on Will's shoulder. Will reaches up and entwines his hand with Sonny and squeezes their hands together for a moment. He turns back to Zoey.
"You have given me problems since I met you. I was nieve and thought that you were an upstanding, professional who had my best interests at heart. Yes I know, how stupid of me. I wish I had listened to Sonny and Uncle Victor , but I didn't and my life was almost destroyed. So you want to know why we asked you here? Paul, would you like to do the honors?"
"Thank you Will I would LOVE to. First let me say though that I am completely aware of how you found out about all my secrets and that little problem has been taken care of as of this morning." Paul looks around the room at the other guys and says "She had my agent in her pocket. Had some kind of blackmail on him. I have fired him, but first, although I am not sure why I did it, got rid of what she held over him. Why do you look so shocked Zoey? Haven't spoken to your man in a few days have you? You might just want to. So...we have asked you to come here, well Will has, so we can straighten a few things out regarding your actions the last few months and how things are going to be from now on."
Zoey jumps to here feet, "You have no right to accuse me of all this! You have no proof..."
"Oh now that is where you are so very wrong Zoey. We have all the info we need to take you down...and we will if you try this with anyone ever again. In fact I do believe if you check your voice mail you'll find out that you no longer have a job at Sonix. "
Zoey nervously laughs. " There is NO way I have been fired. I have brought huge stories to Sonxi!"
Meanwhile Will, Sonny and Derrick look like they are watching a tennis match behind them. Back and forth, back and forth. Suddenly it hits all three of them and they look at each other and laugh.
"What are you three laughing at this is NOT funny!."
"Oh but it is Zoey." Will looks at Paul and simply says "Federer vs Nadal."
Paul's eyes get wide, then he smiles and looks at the three men then chuckles. He shakes his head at them then faces Zoey once again.
"Ok so as I was saying Zoey, you have been fired. The owner of Sonix no longer wants you there."
"No way! Mr Price loved what I did..."
"Oops what did you just admit Zoey? I thought you said you did nothing wrong?"
"I...I meant he loved the work I did for him."
"Too late Zoey , the cat is out of the bag so to speak. Anyway, I wasn't talking about Mr. Price. I was talking about the NEW owner of Sonix."
Paul turns to a stunned Will, Sonny and Derrick. "Wait, it gets better." They nod, he winks and once more looks at Zoey.
Paul lifts an eyebrow waiting for Zoey to ask the question he sees burning in her eyes. "Go ahead Zoey, ask."
"Ok fine! Who is the new owner of Sonix? How do you know he has fired me?"
"Wow, you aren't too bright are you? I mean just think about it." Then he folds his arms and sits back in his chair.
Will , Sonny and Derrick look from Paul to each other and it dawns on them just WHO is the new owner. They all grin at each other and sit and wait for Zoey to catch up.
"No! There is no way you...no you didn't...did you? Wonderful! Now I have to try and find ANOTHER job."
"Well first off congrats on FINALLY figuring it out that I now own Sonix, for realizing that you no longer have a job. However you don't understand the influenece that I have in the sports arena , the people I know, friends I have. You would be lucky if you can get a job in Venezuela! But hey good luck to you on that. Certainly no one in the United States will be willing to risk it, now that I have sent emails to all the newspaper and magazine owners about your little tricks."
Zoey stomps to the door, looks back at the men in the apartment with a look that could kill. She knew it was better to go out as you came in. No need to let them see they have beat you. She opens the door and slams out .
Inside the apartment the men are high- fiving each other and giving hugs of congratulations all around. Will and Sonny are in a tight embrace .Just so happy that this part of their recovery has been taken care of so they can move on. Paul and Derrick are hugging but it soon turns to something more...for both of them. They quickly pull apart and awkwardly clear their throats and look anywhere but AT each other.
"Ok then, now that that is all done, do you two want to stay and watch the game with us? It's on in a little bit. But I gotta tell ya"...Sonny walks to the closet and reaches in, he comes back out with the two Cheesehead hats Will's Uncle Eric gave them as a wedding gift. He puts Will's on his head, pats to make sure it's on good, then Will does the same to Sonny. They grin at each other. then turn to Paul and Derrick, "you cannot have our hats." he winks at them and puts his arm around Will as Will does the same to him. They both look at the other two who break out laughing.
"Ummm...no that's ok guys I think I have to go..no I KNOW I have to go. You enjoy your game. I hope your team wins." Paul looks at Derrick who is looking down. "Derrick? I could use a cup of coffee. Do you...would you be interested in coming with me to Club TBD for a cup?"
Derrick looks up .He is pleasantly shocked by the invitation but he is NOT a stupid man. "Yeah that would be cool. I am not really into football so...I am more of a baseball fan." he blushes and Paul grins.
"Ok so let's get out of here so these two *cheeseheads* can watch their game." He heads toward the door with Derrick right behind him.
Derrick turns around, "Guys? Thanks so much for letting me be a part of this. I know you didn't have to and... I was part of the problem."
"Derrick, you had no choice. You're livelyhood was at stake and Zoey knew you would have no choice. We know that NOW. At the time...we weren't so happy but we didn't know the whole story. It'll be ok." Will walks over, Sonny follows and they both shake Derrick then Paul's hands and say their good byes. Before the two men walk out the door Will and Sonny wrap thjeir arms around each other, raise their fists and shout "GO PACKERS!". Derrick and Paul turn to each other, laugh and walk out.
Will and Sonny gather what they need to watch the Packer game and sit down on the couch. "I am so glad your mom agreed to watch Ari for us today." Will turns to Sonny. Sonny smiles and says "Come on Will, like she would ever turn down watching her grandaughter...the fact that this was a very important thing we had to do with Zoey only played a tiny reason that she agreed...I barely got past "could you take Ari" before she jumped in with wanting to know how soon she could come get her and could she keep her over night." Sonny grabs the remote, but before he can turn the t.v. on, Will grabs Sonny and lays a big kiss on him. Sonny smiles and they both turn towards the t.v. to watch their "newly adopted" football team try to get to the Super Bowl. *Yes Will's counter part Guy IS a Giants fan but that doesn't matter to Will. ;) *