Sorry for the delay, here's chapter 7
"Josh?" Gabi drowsily asked.
"Hey," he replied as he sat down on the bed, "Morning."
"What time is it?" she wondered as she sat up.
"Early enough for you to get ready for work and late enough for Heather to realize that I never came home last night." Gabi's eyes widened and he quickly added, "Nothing happened. Remember?"
Gabi nodded, "Yeah I do. Old habits die hard I guess."
Just as Josh was about to ask what she meant, he heard Wyatt wake up. "May I?" Gabi nodded before slipping out of bed and going to take a shower. Josh walked over to Wyatt's crib and picked him up, "Hey buddy. It's good to see you. Did you have a good night's sleep?" Josh smiled as he added, "Daddy sure did." He looked around the room trying to figure out where Gabi would keep his clothes, when nothing popped out at him, he decided to wait. He took Wyatt into the living room and sat down with him on the floor. He found the toys that the two of them had played with the night before and set them down in front of Wyatt.
"Oh…my…God," he heard Sofia say behind him a little while later.
"Morning Sofia."
"What are you doing here this early?" she wondered, "Did you….spend the night?"
He turned towards her with his hands in the air as he replied, "It's not what you think. After Gabi and I put Wyatt to bed, we started talking and before we knew it, it was getting late. So yes, I spent the night, but all we did was sleep, nothing else."
"Oh," Sofia started, "Okay. So Gabi has been pretty quiet when it comes to talking about work recently. Would you like to explain why?"
"Sofia leave him alone," Gabi said as she exited the bathroom wearing nothing but her robe, "You of all people know how busy, I've been."
"Fine, Fine," Sofia started, "I guess I'll have to call Heather if I want to know anything. She's the only one who actually answers me when I ask a question."
Josh laughed and then redirected his attention onto his son. He sat there and watched him play with his toy for what felt like hours but was actually only minutes. Soon Gabi reentered the living room, dressed and ready for the day, and said, "Trisha called and is running a little late, so if you leave now you'll make it back to your place before Yolanda and Elliot arrive."
"Why is Trisha watching Wyatt?"
Gabi got a confused look on her face as she replied, "Because she always does. Anyway, if you leave now you'll get back before anyone knows you were gone and I'll arrive late like usual."
"Gabi, why don't you bring Wyatt with you today." He started, "You always bring him with you for one or two days a week."
Gabi nodded, "That's usually when your sister and mom aren't in town."
"I know. But what I said last night is true. I miss spending time with him. Bring him with you today, if my mom can't handle it then maybe she'll decide to go back early."
"Josh," Gabi gasped, "that is a horrible thing to say about your mother!"
He nodded as he made his way to the door, "I know and I'm sorry. I had to get my point across. Now, call Trisha and tell her to take the day off. Then when you leave to go work, take Wyatt with you. That is an order and if you expect to get paid, you will follow it."
Gabi gasped and Josh took that as his cue to leave. He figured leaving before she could get a word in edgewise would help prove his point.
"Stop right there," He heard as he entered the Penthouse, "Now put your hands up!" He immediately did what he was told and was shocked to find Heather laughing at him as she added, "Now tell me…is this a walk of shame?"
"What? No."
Heather ignored him as she sang, "Walk of shame! Walk of shame! My brother is doing a walk of shame?"
"Heather," Josh started as he made his way to the stairs, "Go get a job."
Heather stopped singing and asked, "What?"
"Go get a paying job, because you're starting to get on my nerves."
Heather folded her arms across her chest and then wondered, "Are you even going to tell me what happened? Or do I have to guess?"
Josh rolled his eyes, "I need to change before Elliot, Yolanda, and mother get here. I don't have time to play games."
"Fine, then tell me how last night went."
"Fine," Josh started, "I played with Wyatt and then talked with Gabi. We made plans for Wyatt's birthday party and then talked about growing up and what it was like. Before we knew it, it was late and I stayed the night. And we just slept. There that's what happened, now I'm going to change, please stall mother until I come back down."
"Fine," Heather replied as he ran up the stairs. Once she was sure that he was out of hearing range, she added, "Looks like getting those two together is going to take more work than I thought."
"Gabi. I have news!" Heather said.
Gabi grabbed some plates from the cupboard and then wondered, "What is it?"
Heather sat down on a stool by the kitchen and then said, "I got you your first food column! It's for a small magazine and it isn't a regular thing yet but the editor owed me a favor."
"Wow," Gabi started, "That was fast. Wow."
Heather laughed, "Relax Gabi. It's a small piece about comfort food and you will include a recipe at the end of it. 250 words. So like I said, it's small."
"Okay."
"The publication that you'll be writing for has a small amount of subscribers, it's not the New York Times. I just wanted to let you know the good news," Heather added, "And they want the piece by next Friday, so if you can get it to me by Wednesday, I'll look it over and edit it for you before we send it to them."
"Wow, you'd really do that?"
Heather smiled, "Of course, I believe in you and want to see you succeed. If that means I have to edit everything you write before it gets published then I'll do it."
"Thanks," Gabi replied.
Josh, who was returning from a bike ride, entered the penthouse and asked, "What's going on with you two?"
Heather smiled, "I got Gabi her first writing gig."
Josh's eyebrows perked up as he replied, "Wow. That's great…that's really really great."
"Relax big brother," Heather added as she walked over to the pack and play and picked up Wyatt, "It's a small article, only 250 words, and it'll only take up a quarter of a page. Maybe a half page if they add a photo of the dish."
"Oh," Gabi said, "Do they need one? That'll make choosing the recipe much harder."
Heather laughed as she bounced Wyatt on her hip, "Just choose whatever recipe that brings you the most comfort, that's the whole point of being a food writer. You connect with your audience through your favorite foods." She directed her attention to Wyatt and started to talk like a baby, "Mama is going to go places. Yes she is, oh yes she is!"
"Heather he's almost one," Josh said, "You don't have to talk to him like he's a baby."
"Yeah, well he may almost be a year old but I just learned that I'm aunt, so I'll talk to him like a baby if I want because I didn't get to when it was appropriate to do so."
Josh rolled his eyes and then sat down at the table, "Fine. I guess you can talk to him like that. Just don't do it around mom."
"Speaking of Donna," Gabi said as she started putting plates on the table, "Why didn't she come over today."
"She's spending the day with a lot of her old friends that still live in the city," Josh replied.
"Which is just an excuse for her to tell them all about her perfect son in New York and her perfect new life in Arizona," Heather added as she sat down, "Which is fine by me. After spending two days with her constantly breathing down my neck, I'm starting to realize why I moved to Europe two years ago."
"I know that she has her moments," Gabi started as she sat down at the table, "But I'm sure she can't be that bad. Besides she's your mom."
"Gabi," Josh started while reaching for her hand under the table, "I know that you miss your mom and that she was taken from you way too soon, but not all moms are nice and loving as yours was. Unfortunately my mother falls into that category."
"And what category would that be?" they heard someone ask.
"Donna," Gabi said, "It's not what you think."
Donna, who was standing in the entrance way, laughed, "Of course it isn't dear. I know that my children don't like me. I didn't like my mother, it's just a way of life. What I want to know is why my son is mixing business with pleasure."
"What?" Josh asked.
"Please dear. I can see you two holding hands all the way from over here," Donna started, "And it's bring your son to work day, I see. Playing house are we?"
Heather glanced between Josh and Gabi and saw the looks of shock and confusion cross their faces. They don't see it do they? She wondered. She had absolutely no idea how her and her mother could see the fireworks between the two of them but they couldn't. She glanced down at Wyatt, who was still sitting in her lap, and couldn't help but stifle a laugh. A beautiful little boy came out of just one night between the two of them. She had a feeling that more beautiful things could happen if they stopped being stubborn and finally realized they had feelings for each other. She also knew that her mother would never approve of them. No way would Donna Kaminski ever stand by and let her son get involved with someone on his payroll, what would her high class friends think? Her mother would see it as the end of the world.
"Mom," she said, "I told Gabi to bring Wyatt today and Josh didn't agree with me. I need to get to know Gabi and see how she handles working and being a single mom. Once I know, then I'll be able to figure out the best way to market her. Because we all know that once you make someone famous and get their face splashed all over the world that you'll be the one walking away with the biggest paycheck. As for the handholding, I don't know what that's about. But trust me, I've been staying with Josh ever since I got back from England, if he was screwing his chef. I would know."
"Heather,"
She glared at Josh and then slightly shook her head, telling him not to do anything. "Well, well, maybe there's hope for you after all, Heather. You have no idea how scared I've been that you would not do well in your chosen career. I mean out of all the fields you could go into, publicity is one of the tackier ones."
Heather smiled as she handed Wyatt to Gabi, "Thank you mother for always believing in me. Now if you excuse me, I should go do some homework so that I can get a client that you'll approve off. Josh, enjoy your lunch. Gabi, get started on that article as soon as you can."
Gabi, shocked by what was going on, simply replied, "Okay" before Heather headed for the door, taking her mother with her. Once the two of them had left, Gabi asked, "What just happened?"
"Heather just sold a piece of her soul to the devil that is also known as my mother," Josh replied, "She realized that mom was on to us and was getting close to the truth so she did what she always does. She took the fall."
"Why?"
"Because Ethan can do no wrong," Josh started, "At least that's what mom thinks. I always took the fall for his shortcomings and Heather does the same for me. It's in the Kaminski blood."
"I still don't understand."
He took hold of her hand and squeezed it, "My mother has a lot of ideals when it comes to her children and their careers. Dating an employee is not one of them. Heather took the fall so that I could still look good in mother's eyes."
"Okay, but we're not dating," Gabi added, "So why did Heather take the fall for something that isn't true."
"Because she thinks it is true. That and Heather really likes you, so I'm pretty sure she did it to save you from mother's wrath."
"Wow."
Josh nodded, "Yeah exactly." The two of them started eating and were silent for most of the meal until Josh finally asked, "Gabi."
"Yeah?"
"The whole we we're not dating thing," he said looking down at his food and taking a deep breath, "Would….would you be open to changing that?"
"What?"
He took a deep breath and then asked, "Gabi Diamond, will you go to dinner with me tonight?"
So what did you think? Please let me know! And sorry it got full of dialogue at the end, I was writing it while watching Scandal last night...
Anyway, please review!
