It's been a good weekend, a tiring one, but a good one...Cubs beat the Bucs yesterday...my friend and I got a good laugh b/c the Pirates took the field to "Cult of Personality" which was quite ironic...it made us giggle (small things amuse us)...

Anyway, this chapter flips forward to Saturday, the BIG day, where Gabby comes face to face with Punk...this is a pre-cursor to their sit down interview...thanks for the additional adds and reviews! Enjoy!

Gabby's alarm went off at 7AM Saturday morning and she groaned before switching it off. Sitting up in bed, she noticed her work was still spread across it. She'd managed to get most of it done before finally crashing at 5AM. Pulling herself out of bed, she stumbled into her bathroom grabbing a shower to try to wake herself up. She was in for another long day, but on the upside today was her last day, and she knew she'd need an IV of coffee to get through it because she didn't do well on less then six hours of sleep. Wrapping a towel around her body, she wiped the steam from the mirror and started to towel dry her hair to prepare strightening it, but stopped herself deciding to bring back some old Gabby flair and let it go. With the Georgia heat and humidity she might regret it later, but it would give her time to start her day with a venti Starbucks.

Walking back into her bedroom, she pulled out a simple purple dress and her black pumps before grabbing matching undergarments. Once she was dressed, her hair was practically dry, so she sprayed with some anti-frizz product, but thought she was missing something. Opening her bathroom drawers she smiled when she came across the purple flower headband Abby had given to her so many months ago. Granted Gabby felt ridiculous holding onto it, but she missed Abby and Joey, perhaps only a tinge less then she missed their uncle. Shrugging her shoulders, she decided to go with it; grabbing her bag, she headed for the door yelling a casual goodbye to Beth and Adam.

Wrestlemania week had been long, and at times agonizing, but she felt pride in herself. It also helped that after seeing Punk a handful of times on the first day, she hadn't seen him since, but of course that would change this afternoon when she sat down for their one-on-one. Gabby took another deep breath as she parked the car in front of Starbucks and ran in getting her venti white mocha with a shot of anything and everything before heading to the arena.

Before her sit down with Punk, she and Josh were getting in a few shots of the set-up and talking to the crew about some of the behind the scenes things that went into the makings of Wrestlemania. After that she was getting a little bit of down time…sort of. She and the rest of the divas were heading out to shop for Hall of Fame dresses; while shopping with five women is fun for some people, Gabby wasn't feeling the group shopping. It could be because Amy was in town and there was a possibility of her showing up, but at this point Gabby would rather sleep then shop; that's when she knew the week had been rough!

After her scheduled shopping excursion and a quick lunch, she was due back at the arena to speak to Vince McMahon about the work she'd done so far and then the moment of truth came; when she would come face to face with her ex-boyfriend. There was no escape plan, though Gabby debated wearing flats in case she felt the need to run, but she had to do this interview. It was the biggest thing needed to wrap up her feature, next to a rundown of the actual show itself, but she was worried. She hadn't been alone with Punk for three months, since he left her alone sending her to Atlanta practically against her will, so it was expected to be apprehensive, but she was determined to put on a front and play the professional card. You've got this Gabby…he respects you, he won't cross boundaries that you set…

Punk clicked off his 8AM alarm, but continued to lay in bed and stare at the ceiling, which is what he'd been doing for the past four hours. It was finally Saturday, the day he had his one-on-one with Gabby and despite his confident feelings earlier in the week, proclaiming to himself he'd do and say anything to get another chance with her, he was beginning to think maybe that was a bad idea. Both Kofi and John had come to him and told him what she'd said about their break-up, claiming it was mutual, that they grew apart…basically she fed them both a line of bullshit and he couldn't help but wonder why. He was the main reason why they broke up, he pushed her away, made her follow her dreams. His insecurities that she was too young to end up with him in Chicago, that she could find better, had been his main reasoning, but she chose to proclaim the whole thing mutual. Does a mutual break-up even exist? If it does usually the relationship is flawed from both sides, which made him think maybe her not reaching out to him was her way of making it mutual.

Shaking his head he sat up in bed needing to shower and get the day started. He'd planned on heading to the arena early and checking out the progress of the set, basically just because it was a chance to be alone with his thoughts; which could be a bad thing at this point, but he would't really know until he tried. After grabbing a shower, he threw on his Ramones T-shirt, some camo shorts, sneakers and his beloved worn out Cubs hat before heading out the door.

Gabby arrived at the arena and met up with Josh, who greeted her with another coffee, outside. While most days she'd decline the coffee, she needed the extra boost with the afternoon ahead of her.

"Did you just get here?" Gabby took a sip of the still hot coffee and was surprised to find he'd actually picked something she'd liked. Apparently hanging out with her for the week had taught him a thing or two.

"Yeah…I forgot the tripod in my car though, but go ahead in and I'll be in as soon as I grab it."

"Okay…I'll work on finding Mike, he's the head crew guy person, whatever his title is…" Gabby took a sip of her coffee feeling sad it was half gone.

"His proper title is Head of Production…you should probably know that if you're interviewing him." Gabby heard the familiar voice and spit out the coffee. Feeling embarassed, she covered her mouth with her hand.

"Gabby are you alright?" Josh asked noticing how odd she was acting.

Gabby nodded, "Yeah, this coffee is ahh…hot…" Josh furrowed his eyebrows at her. He'd watched her drink the coffee for almost five minutes and now it's suddenly too hot causing her to spit it all over the place.

"Whatever you say Gab…" Josh shook his head as he walked back to his car and Gabby debated turning around or just staying put, but decided the latter could make her seem childish. Turning slowly, she came face to face with Punk immediately regretting her choice to turn around.

"Thanks for the input Mr. Brooks, but I knew Mike Cromwell's proper title…well it's written down somewhere."

"Mr. Brooks? Why so formal?"

"It's called professionalism…now if you'll excuse me I need to meet with Mr. Cromwell and I don't feel it would be professional for me to be late. Are you still alright with our 3PM interview?"

"Yep…I'll have my assistant Celeste meet you outside Vince's office. Are you okay with just doing it in a locker room?"

"You have an assistant, my aren't we going places! The locker room is fine even though it's a little creepy that you know my schedule and where I'll be when it doesn't really concern you…"

"That may be the case, but I figured it would be professional of me to meet you in person, however I have a Make-A-Wish right before our interview, so I hope you understand my sending Celeste. Are you sure you'll be okay being alone with me…can you handle that Miss Copeland?" Punk smirked and Gabby thought for sure she was going to die right on the spot. The way he'd said her name, on top of that smirk, made her want to forget about interviews and just go back to Punk's hotel and have repeated make-up sex. Thinking that way made Gabby mentally slap herself as a reminder that for the thousandth time she was here for her, not him, but her…this was her way of furthering her career. Gabby quickly recovered giving him the big bright smile that she knew he couldn't resist before giving a response.

"Being alone with you won't be a problem at all…this is strictly business Mr. Brooks. I'm here to further my career and show Mr. McMahon and the rest of the haters that I deserved this opportunity, not because a certain WWE Champion who happens to be my ex called in a favor or two in hopes that we'd hook up." Punk's smirk dropped and Gabby's smile grew wider knowing she had him where she wanted him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do…" Gabby walked away at a quick speed, but rather then heading to find Mike Cromwell, she went in search for an empty room. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest; while she should have been proud of herself for standing her ground she felt like kicking herself for letting him see her react at all. It didn't help that he'd brought up the idea of the two of them being alone in a room, that was her big fear; being alone with him brought out all of her vulnerability because she wasn't sure if she could hide the fact that she was still very much in love with him.

Gabby went through the motions with her interview with Mike whatever his name is; she knew it wasn't her best work, but she was distracted. Not only by her earlier run in with Punk, but he had made it a point to stand by the ring only a few feet away from her throughout the entire interview. She could feel him staring at her and suddenly the thought of going shopping with five bitchy divas wasn't such a bad idea. After thanking Mike, she had a few words with Josh about the photos he'd taken, but before she could leave Punk intervened again.

"Gabby…I mean Miss Copeland…" Gabby let out a deep sigh before turning to face him. As much as she wanted to keep walking, she didn't want to come off as being rude. After all there were other people around and her stomping off and ignoring him could potentially ruin her reputation.

"Yes Mr. Brooks, what can I help you with?" Gabby adjusted her bag before crossing her arms over her chest. He could see she was clearly agitated, but he had a reason for bothering her again.

"I wanted to apologize to you for my comments earlier. They were extremely unprofessional and I didn't mean to upset you…" Gabby quickly replied.

"You didn't upset me…" She came off as frazzled, but felt she had to put that out there and correct his assumption. "I accept your apology and offer one in return…I was out of line with what I said to you."

"Then I suppose we're even…" Gabby nodded and turned to leave again. "One more thing…"

"What?" Gabby was exasperated at this point just wanting to walk away, thus her frustration came out. While she immediately regretted it, Punk just laughed.

"The headband is a nice touch…Abby will be happy to know you kept it." Gabby managed to smile a little even though the pain in her chest was becoming worse, clearly Punk noticed and decided to drive the stake all the way through. "They ask about you a lot you know…they miss you." Gabby swallowed thankful at that moment that she had her sunglasses on, which hid the tears dwelling in her eyes. Why was he doing this? Did it make him feel good to make her feel awkward, to make her cry? What the hell had she done to him to deserve this? With the tears threatening to fall, she gave him another small smile before turning to leave again.

Chapt 47 Preview: Gabby and Punk come face to face for the sit down interview that he's been waiting for and she's been dreading...will Punk say and do all the right things to get her back, or will Gabby stay strong and avoid his advances?

Depending on what Raw is like tomorrow, I might update after the show, but if not I'll update ASAP...