Currently watching a horrible movie that I'm too lazy to turn off, so I figured why not update...not sure of the connection between those two things, but oh well, I'll roll with it...

Thanks so much for the continued adds, favorites and reviews...all are much appreciated and keep me taping on the keys to pound out additional chapters :) This chapter has a surprise in store for Gabby, well technically two...debating back and forth where to go with this idea, hoping to decide within the next few days...

Enjoy :)

Punk and Gabby stayed in North Carolina for three days before she headed back to Chicago and he departed for Raw in Dallas. Gabby was bummed that they were headed for different cities, but the three days they'd spent together with her mom were more then enough to hold her over until he came home again. Plus they had also planned for her mom to come to Chicago for Christmas; Gabby secretly hoped that things with Adam would be patched up by then, but only time would tell.

Gabby took all of Sunday and Monday to relax before getting back into the swing of things at work on Tuesday. While working on a new story about local politics, she was interrupted by the phone ringing.

"Hello…"

"Gabby, Jack would like to see you in his office in fifteen minutes." Gabby paused not sure what to think. Jack was her big boss and she had no idea why he would be calling her into his office.

"Umm okay…did he say what for? Should I bring anything with me?"

"Nope, just said he wanted to see you…"

"Okay thanks Leslie…" Gabby hung up the phone and tapped her nails on the desk wondering what Jack could possibly want. The idea of her getting laid off, or worse future endeavored, crossed her mind. After all there had been some cut backs in other departments; perhaps it was finally affecting them. She contemplated for a few minutes before pulling herself together smoothing her hands over her navy pencil skirt and adjusting the cream colored cardigan she'd chosen to wear over a navy and cream striped lace cami. She fluffed her hair while slipping her heels back on. She took a deep breath as she walked out of her office towards the elevator. After going up two floors, she got off walking the familiar path to Jack's office finding herself fidgeting the entire time.

Jack was on the phone when she arrived, but noticed her standing outside his office and motioned for her to enter. He held up his finger letting her know he'd only be another minute and smiled as she took a seat in front of his desk. Gabby got lost staring at her nails while trying to stay calm; when she heard the click of the phone, she met Jack with a smile.

"Hey, Leslie called and said you wanted to see me; is everything okay?"

"It's more then okay…" Gabby felt herself exhale, a big amount of stress slipping off her as the what ifs went out the window. "I got a call from a friend of mine, Joe Caruso, he's the chief in Atlanta for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and he's looking for a young, fresh face to do a weekly editorial piece. You were the first person that came to mind for me." Gabby was taken back by the compliment, but smiled in return.

"Thank you so much Jack, that means a lot; but why me? I've only been here a few months and just started writing news pieces; surely there are people more qualified then I am."

"Granted Gabby I won't lie, there are more qualified people, but you have something special. I know you like writing the news, it's obvious to me, but I think you could really excel given your own editorial." As happy as she was to hear everything Jack was saying, it dawned on her that the job was in Atlanta; Atlanta was over 700 miles away from Chicago, she'd be over 700 miles away from Punk.

"Wow, this is quite an offer, but I'm going to need some time to think it over."

"Take all the time you need Gabby. Joe has a few prospects in line and interviews won't start until after the holiday season, so you have until January 7 to let me know your decision and we'll get you going from there."

"Okay, that gives me plenty of time to think. Thank you so much for considering me Jack, it means a lot that you have so much faith in me."

"Well I know you haven't had the easiest time here, but you've busted your ass for every promotion you've gotten. Even before Max resigned and sent in that recommendation, you were next in line to report for us. I hope you think long and hard about this, it could be a great opportunity for you and could really springboard your career." Gabby nodded getting up from the chair and extending her hand to Jack before heading back to her office.

Her head was swarming with thoughts and her emotions were running high, but overall she was excited to be offered the new opportunity. Picking up her phone, she quickly dialed Adam's number, but paused remembering he wasn't talking to her. Usually this left her with Punk to call, but she wasn't ready to share the news with him; she wanted to take time and think about it first. Still wanting and needing to call someone, she dialed her mom's number and smiled brightly when she answered.

"Mommy, you'll never believe what just happened to me…"

Gabby's birthday was only a week away and Punk was busy trying to plan a surprise party for her, which was becoming more difficult by the day seeing he was constantly traveling and wouldn't be home until Gabby's birthday. He had just gotten off the phone with a friend of his after spending the last hour talking about cupcakes. Punk's original simple request of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with pink frosting had turned into a ridiculous train wreck with a price tag twice as much as he had intended, but Shelly swore she would love them and that's all that mattered. Looking at his still very long to do list, he didn't know how he was going to get everything done.

"Kofi next time I come up with a genius idea to throw my girlfriend a surprise party just tell me no! This is way harder then I anticipated it would be and taking up time that I don't have to spare."

"Hang in there buddy, she's going to love everything you're doing. The hassle will be worth it in the end, trust me."

"If you say so…there's still one big problem I have that I'm not sure how to solve…"

"What would that problem be?"

"I need to get Adam there…she's been putting up a good front ever since their big blow up at Thanksgiving, but I know if there's a party and her brother isn't there, she'll be devastated."

"That could be bad…why don't you just call him?"

"I've tried man…called, texted, e-mailed…you name it and I've tried it. I have her mom and Beth working on him, but as of right now things aren't looking too good. I still can't help but think this whole thing is my fault…she should've never had to choose between us…"

"Hey don't blame yourself…Gabby made the decision to enter into a relationship too, you both knew the consequences, but let's be honest Adam is being ridiculous."

"I think he's more upset then anything that Gabby and I weren't the ones to tell him…someone put it out there before we got the chance and I can't blame him, I'd be hurt by that too."

"While that is understandable, he's being unreasonable and childish by not speaking to her. At the end of the day life is too short and family is valuable, no matter what people say or do, if you love them then you need to find a way to move on."

"I agree Kofi…I'm just hoping Adam sees that sooner rather then later because if Gabby spends her birthday and Christmas without her brother, I know it's not going to go well…"