CHAPTER 6

Over the course of the few months, Dr. Lightman called on Dr. Foster's expertise several times.

They worked well together and were able to complete each case they worked on successfully. Cal was mindful of keeping their cases separate from his own and Gillian slowly started to handle the contracts and money collections of the cases they worked on together.

Gillian worked with Cal in her free time from the Pentagon but the extra money coming in was so helpful towards paying off their student loans, Alec never expressed any concerns.

Zoe, however, had the opposite opinion of Alec and expressed it loudly the day she found out Cal had been paying Gillian half of his fees.

"Cal, what are all these checks made out to Gillian Foster?" Zoe asked angrily as she waved the checkbook in front of him.

Cal paused the video he was watching and frowned as he looked over at his wife. "What?"

"You wrote about twelve checks to Gillian Foster over the last four months…"

"At's right…"

"For what?" Zoe's eyes flashed annoyance.

Cal realized she was spoiling for a fight and sighed as he reached up to turn off the video he was watching. "I'm working here, Zoe, do we have to do this now?!"

"The goddamned mortgage payment just bounced so yeah, we have to do this now!"

Emily walked into the kitchen. "Are you guys fighting again?"

Zoe rolled her eyes and looked out the window while Cal looked at Emily. "No, Darling, we were just 'aving a loud discussion about some bills…"

"Oh…well, sorry to interrupt but I just wanted to get something to eat." Emily said as she reached into the cookie jar and grabbed a handful of cookies, then went to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water.

Zoe turned around to see if Emily had gotten whatever it was that she wanted. "Can you run upstairs Em, so Dad and I can finish?"

Emily looked at Cal for confirmation and he shrugged indifferently. "Go ahead, Luv….I'll start dinner in about an hour…"

Emily shot her mother a look before she ran upstairs.

"What was that look for?" Zoe spat angrily.

"She's probably feeling sorry for me 'cause you're so bleeding angry."

"Yeah, maybe because you gave Foster about twenty five thousand dollars in the last four months!"

Cal stood up to face his wife. "Zoe, we talked about this…I told you I was paying her every time she helped me solve a case."

"How much?"

"Half. If I ask her to help me out, I pay her half of whatever the case brought in…"

"Half? When did her name get put on the letterhead?"

Cal sighed. "It didn't and you know that…"

"So why does she get half for a consulting fee? It's your science and your name recognition that brings these cases to you…not hers!"

Cal stepped forward and pushed his face close to Zoe's. "Yeah and it's her science that solves the cases that I'm stuck on. Her insight into the human mind that gives me what I need to come to the right conclusion!"

"Why didn't you ever ask for my help?"

"I'm sorry…I didn't realize that in addition to your law degree that you had gotten a PHD in psychology as well…" Cal spat sarcastically.

"Cut the sarcasm, Cal, you know what I mean."

"No, I don't! Look, I can tell what people are thinking or feeling but I can't tell you why, sometimes I need that insight so I can put all of those puzzle pieces together…"

Zoe frowned when he admitted he needed help and she sighed. "I guess I was just pissed when I found out the mortgage bounced."

"I'll work on collecting some of the money I have coming from past cases, Luv. Give me a few days and I'll have the money in the account."

Zoe frowned as she looked down and Cal cocked his head and looked at her quizzically. "Is there more?"

"I guess I was a little…" She stopped and rolled her eyes as she walked away.

"What?" Cal grinned when he read her face. "What were you a little of…" Zoe shot him a look and Cal waggled his eyebrows. "You were jealous?!"

"Maybe…"

"Of Foster?"

"She's a beautiful woman…"

Cal shrugged indifferently. "I guess…I can't say as I noticed…"

"Awww come on, Cal! You'd have to be dead not to notice!"

"Well, first off, I'm married to you and you know…kind of already happy in that department…" Zoe smiled knowingly. She and Cal had a great sex life and she knew his needs were satisfied. "And Foster is practically a newlywed."

"She is?"

"Yeah, like three years or something like that…still all lovey dovey…"

Zoe shook her head in disbelief. "So she'll be looking to start a family soon, what will you do then? Kind of hard to work nights and weekends with a baby…"

"Cross that bridge when it happens, darling…" Cal shrugged as he walked closer to her and grabbed her by the hips. "Now…let's go back to this whole jealousy thing…"

Zoe gasped as he pulled her against his hardened body. She kissed him as he pulled her into the pantry and stripped her shirt over her head. Zoe leaned back against the door while Cal kissed his way down the length of her. Within minutes, he was inside of her and pushing them towards the finish. They went over the edge together and as they came down from their high, Emily walked into the room.

"Mom, Dad…"

Zoe was embarrassed and knew Cal would call out so she shoved a hand over his mouth to prevent him. She flashed him a warning signal as he pulled his pants up and straightened his clothes. Zoe pulled her shirt over her head and pulled her skirt from around her waist back down to where it belonged.

Cal smiled wickedly as he twirled her underwear on his finger. Zoe snatched them from his hand then slipped them into her pocket.

She peeked out of the pantry door and Emily was in the living room, she walked back in as Cal walked out of the pantry.

"Where were you guys?"

"Pantry!" Zoe panicked. "Dad was helping me get something down from one of the upper shelves…"

Emily's brows rose in surprise as she looked at her father who was a good four inches shorter than her mother when she was in her heels.

Cal rolled his eyes at her blatant lie. "Well, that's believable!" he looked back at Emily. "I was helping Mum open the jars of spaghetti sauce for dinner."

Emily suspected something else and she made a face of disgust as she walked away. "Nice try…I know you guys were like making out or something…ewww…"

Four months went by and Cal started calling on Gillian more and more for help.

Another case came up that he needed help on but Zoe had planned a family weekend at her parent's house and Cal refused to go and another fight was brewing.

"I can't, Zoe…Foster and I need to work this weekend on that Stevenson case."

"For Christ's sake Cal, it's the weekend!"

"I know, it's not my fault Foster's only available at certain times!"

"Why don't you just make her an offer to work in your firm then we can go back to having our nights and weekends free!"

Cal's face showed his shock at the suggestion. "You can't be serious?!"

"Why not, Emily isn't getting any younger and we won't have too much longer to do things as a family!"

"Yeah, but Zoe, you know I'll be spending a lot more time with Foster…Luv, if you're even remotely worried about…"

Zoe rolled her eyes as she walked away. "I've seen the way Foster looks at her husband…you don't stand a chance…besides, if you're home at night, I'll be able to tire you out so you won't be able to think about that with someone else…"

"Oh, yeah?!" Cal grinned wickedly. "I like the sound of that!"

Zoe sighed as she kissed him. "I'm taking Em to my parent's house. Ask Foster this weekend and maybe when we go to see them next month you'll be able to go with us this time."

Cal nodded as Emily came into the room. "Have fun at your grandparent's house."

"I will, Dad, I wish you were going!"

"Me too, Luv, maybe next time."

Later that day, after they worked on the case, Cal dropped Gillian off at her house.

"Bye, Cal."

"Foster, wait!" Cal reached out and grabbed her arm.

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you to consider something…"

They sat quietly for what seemed like forever and Gillian finally looked over at him. She could see he was struggling so she prompted him. "Was that something you wanted to ask me tonight or…."

Cal took a deep breath and plowed ahead. "I want to know if you'd be my partner in my firm…"

"What?!"

"My partner."

"Partner?"

"Yeah, you know…it's an arrangement between two people for the purpose of conducting business…"

Gillian rolled her eyes at his condescending tone. "I know what a partnership is, Cal."

"So would you consider it?"

Gillian frowned as she shook her head. "I don't know…I mean…I already have a job…"

Cal held up his hand to stop her refusal. "A job…you work for someone else…I'm offering you a chance to work for yourself."

"No…you're offering me a chance to work for you…"

"Not at all…we'll be equal partners…I'll sign anything you want."

"Cal, look…I know I bring something to the table when I work on the cases you bring me and I'm comfortable doing that. But our partnership would be kind lopsided…I'm not sure I could contribute as much as you do, I don't have your knowledge. "

"I'll teach you!"

Gillian frowned as she debated with herself. "I don't know…"

Cal reached out a hand to still her thoughts. "Just think about it, maybe get Alec's opinion."

Gillian smiled weakly as she nodded, "Okay, I'll promise to think about it…"

The next week, Gillian felt herself stretched thin. She was on the go early in the morning, cleaning the apartment, catching up on laundry and grocery shopping. Later that night, she fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie with Alec.

Alec caressed her cheek. "Gill, honey, let's go to bed."

"Hmmm…" Gillian said as she stretched and sat up. "Oh, Alec, I'm so sorry I wanted to spend time with you watching…" She flipped over the dvd cover and scowled. "…Ninja Death Squad 2."

Alec laughed aloud. "You fell asleep during the first one too…" Gillian grinned ruefully as he smiled. "Honey, you're wearing yourself out working these two jobs. I mean, don't get me wrong I love the fact that our student loans are almost paid off and we're caught up on our bills but not the fact that you're exhausted. Maybe you need to cut back on one of the jobs…"

Gillian nodded as she turned to face him. "It's funny you're saying this now…Dr. Lightman offered me a job as his business partner…"

"Partner?"

"Yeah, he said we'd be equal partners in every aspect of the business…"

"It's his science, honey, why would he do that?"

"He's going to teach me his science as the cases come up…"

"Do you think you can trust him?"

"Cal? Sure…why?"

"I just don't want to see him take advantage of you."

"I won't let him…"

Alec shrugged as he looked at her. "Okay look, you have some vacation time on the books and you know it's impossible for me to get away right now and I probably won't be able to get away anytime soon. Why don't you combine your vacation and sick time and work with Lightman for a few weeks. Kind of get a feel for it…if it doesn't work out, we're in no worse shape than before…"

Gillian leaned back in her seat and thought about what he had said. "Alec, that's actually a really good idea. I think maybe I'll give it a try. I don't want to lose my job at the Pentagon before I get a chance to see what it would be really like to work with Cal."

Alec kissed her cheek as he walked by. "I know you'll make the right decision for us and no matter which one you pick I'll support you."

Gillian leaned in and gave him a very passionate kiss. "Do you have any idea how sexy a secure man is?"

Alec grinned and grabbed her hand and led her to the bedroom where they made love until the early morning hours.