A/N: Here's the second chapter that I promised earlier. I hope you guys are liking the new version so far even though we're only two chapters in. Also, I was told that the gang is too old, but I hope you guys don't mind that. I wrote them around that age for the timeline to make sense. Even so, their ages aren't going to be mentioned a lot, so it's very easy to forget how old they are.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. This is the part where everything starts being different from the old version.

Chapter 2: At Zero Cost

"Aren't you supposed to be at Abigail Adams educating the minds of our youth?" Maya questioned her just arrived best friend without looking up from her laptop. She was busy uploading the pictures of the five pieces of artwork she meant to showcase last night at the Atford Gallery's winter art exhibition on her Canvas profile. Maya figured that if she couldn't show it to the exhibit attendees, she might as well upload it on the Internet (or to those that visit the website).

"It's my lunch break," Riley responded as she dropped a Topanga's take-out bag on Maya's desk. "And I thought I'd bring you a little something from my dear mother's palace."

"That's sweet of you, Riley," Maya commented. After her files had finished uploading, Maya closed her laptop and stood up to give her best friend a quick hug. "You better have some cronuts in there or I'll start to think that you don't know me at all."

Riley chuckled. "Oh, I do have some cronuts in there, but I also got you a cup of 'get out of here,' and a box of 'go eat lunch with Zay,' with a side of 'because you promised him you would once he gets back from his business trip.'"

Maya rolled her eyes at best friend.

"What on God's green Earth are you still doing here?" Riley questioned as she placed down the stack of binders she had in her arms on Maya's desk. Her arm was beginning to hurt from the weight.

"Working," Maya deadpanned.

"Last time I checked, you don't have any Tan House Events clients because you declined them all so you could focus on your five pieces—which didn't even make the exhibition."

"Thank you, Riley, for reminding me," Maya enunciated with sarcasm. "And I was working on my Canvas profile. I thought the people of the Internet might appreciate my pieces more than the art curator did—I mean, she called them 'wonderfully magnificent,' but not once did I ever saw her actually look at them!"

"Well, I'll have you know that your art is the most sensational pieces I have ever laid my eyes on," Riley solaced with a genuine smile on her face. "The Atford Gallery didn't know what it lost."

"Are you just saying that because you're my best friend and you're entitled to make me feel better?" Maya pouted, though she knew that Riley was never one to sugarcoat her critique when it comes to Maya's art. As brutally honest as she was, it was rare for Riley to not like a piece done by Maya.

"No, I said that because I know how amazing an artist you really are. Remember that gigantic piece you did for your Bachelor's degree? The one your professor wanted to buy from you?" Riley reminded. "Lucas wants it. I told him he couldn't have it because that piece is like your baby—your firstborn child—and there was no way in hell that he was gonna get it from you."

Maya nodded. "Tell him you're absolutely right."

"Now." Riley grabbed Maya's laptop and stowed it inside the latter's cross-body bag. Then, along with the Topanga's take-out bag, she passed it over to Maya and said, "Take these and go have lunch with Zay."

Maya retrieved the bags from Riley with a grateful smile. "Thank you," she said, "for always keeping me in check."

Riley shrugged like it was nothing. "Lucas might be my husband, but you came into my life first." Her eyes widened after hearing her own statement, clamping a hand over her gaped mouth. "Don't tell Lucas I said that."

Maya giggled as she pretended to zip her mouth closed. "Just between you and me."

Shortly enough, Maya exited the Tan House Events' office building. She pulled out her phone and sent Zay a message, letting him know she was on her way to visit him at work.

Zay Babineaux sat on his office chair, grimacing when he caught sight of Maya unattractively slurping the noodle that dangled along the edge of her lips.

"Slow down there, Maya," Zay admonished. "You don't want to get a bloated stomach after."

Maya shrugged as the entire noodle made its way inside her mouth. "It doesn't matter; I'll get bloated otherwise," she reasoned nonchalantly. "How was Fiji?"

Zay grabbed a sandwich from the Topanga's paper bag and unwrapped it. "It was beautiful—a breathtaking place, I'm telling you. It made me wish I wasn't there for business purposes." He examined the contents of the sandwich before taking his first big bite.

"I mean, come on, it's Fiji," Maya agreed.

Zay Babineaux was a 26-year-old man with dark, curly hair and a strong built. He had plump lips and a sharp nose, and eyes that held a dark shade of brown. He worked as a photographer for People's Verse, which afforded him the astounding opportunity to travel the world and capture the lives of inspiring individuals the magazine decides to feature. Aside from that, Zay was a long-time family friend of the Chamberlain-Hart clan and was also the man that stood as Maya's confidante when her mother, Katy's, physical and emotional state spiraled down after her husband left her. Maya knew that Riley was willing to help her deal with her "mommy issues," but Zay had been around longer than Riley had. Zay knew Katy as well as Maya did.

"So," Zay began, and from the manner he spoke that single word signaled Maya that their conversation had steered clear of Fiji. Maya hadn't even learned anything yet about the place.

"Zay," Maya vocalized as she placed down her fork and leaned back in her chair. She closed her eyes for a moment, inefficaciously wishing that, just for this one day, Zay would not raise the topic of her mother. "Can we please not talk about this today?"

"Her, Maya," Zay corrected, casting on his assertive tone of voice. "Your mother is not an object."

"Zay—"

"I'm very much aware that she's not your most favorite person in the world right now, but she's still your mother. You still have to respect that."

"I know," Maya responded half-heartedly. Her stomach was begging for another bite of her lunch, but she couldn't seem to find the physical strength needed to grab her fork. This talk usually drained her appetite. "I'm not in the mood to deal with her right now."

"When were you ever in the mood, Maya?"

"I just don't want to talk about her. Which part of that do you not understand?" Maya argued although she knew to herself that she was attempting to ward off the imminent dreadful conversation. "You just got home from Fiji and I want to know everything about the place. I might go on an impromptu vacation someday and I wanna have a place to go to."

"You do know at some point you're going to have to—"

"Oh, would you look at that," Maya interjected. "We're out of coffee! Do you want some more? I'm gonna go run to the break room and get us some more." She didn't wait for Zay to say anything. Maya grabbed the two empty paper cups and dropped them in the garbage can on her way out of Zay's cubicle.

The moment she was certain she was no longer within Zay's earshot, Maya sucked in a deep breath and let it out in a series of controlled exhalation. When she felt that she was fine again, she continued her walk towards the break room. She became familiar with Zay's building because of how often she visited when he wasn't traveling. That meant that she frequented the break room, always thirsting for that cup of coffee that oddly tasted better by the second helping.

Maya arrived at the break room to discover that she wasn't the only one there. Sitting at a table in the corner of the room were two men wearing white dress shirts. They both looked like they could be in trouble based on how disconcerting their facial expressions were. One of the men had a buzzcut and dark skin, while the other had shorter brown hair and was sitting with his back to Maya, hence why she couldn't view his features.

Maya turned to the coffee maker and was thankful to find the pot full. She opened the overhead cupboard and grabbed the two mugs she knew belonged to Zay. He had an extra mug kept in the cupboards specifically for her use. As Maya filled up the two mugs with piping hot coffee, the two men's conversation captured her attention.

"Filomeno is what?" exclaimed the man with the buzzcut.

"He said that People's Verse was becoming too generous, so he's cutting down on employees—the Cut, as I like to refer to it," the other replied. "I don't know what prompted him to do it all of a sudden, but all I know is that I'm on that list. Lucky enough, he gave me another chance to prove myself."

Maya's eyebrows rose upon hearing the news. She knew it wasn't her business to mind, but it was Zay's. He could be on Filomeno's list for all she—or he—knew. To provide Zay an accurate and detailed information, Maya pretended she didn't know her way around the break room, buying time to listen to the conversation.

"It looks like no one has bothered to refill our sugar jar, but we should have some Sweet 'n Low packets in the third drawer to your left," a voice said from the corner table where the two men sat. "If sugar's what you're looking for. If not, then please ignore everything I just said."

Maya passed a quick look at the table and discovered that it was Buzzcut who spoke to her. She noted the warm smile on his clean-shaven baby face.

"I was actually looking for the sugar, so you were very useful, thank you," Maya told Buzzcut, who smiled at her in response before he returned his attention to his friend.

Maya then slipped a glance at the other man, who's still looking at her while Buzzcut resumed conversing with him. His lips were thin and set in a straight line, but it was his blue eyes that interested her the most. It was deep, kind, gentle, and yet it held worry in them. Maya wouldn't find it surprising if his troubled expression was due to the news of the Cut.

The blue-eyed man broke his gaze after Buzzcut mentioned the name of their boss again.

As Maya returned to her task at hand, the two men carried on with their conversation. Only this time around, the topic was no longer about the Cut.

"Did you try calling the number I posted on your computer screen yesterday?" Buzzcut questioned. The sound of a plastic bag opening resonated throughout the break room as he started throwing away the styrofoam take-out boxes.

"I did, but I got turned down," the blue-eyed man responded with no trace of disappointment in his tone of voice. "She said to call again tomorrow, which should mean today."

"So, you're actually considering hiring this person to help you with your proposal?"

Adding the correct amount of creamer in Zay's black coffee, Maya opened her ears again to the two men's conversation. She didn't mean to eavesdrop—a while ago, she purposely did it because it concerned Zay—but it was only the three of them in the break room; hearing them talk proved inevitable. Maya grabbed another teaspoon from the silverware drawer and stirred the other cup of coffee as slow as possible, buying herself time.

"Try calling her again," Buzzcut suggested after his blue-eyed friend responded to him with something Maya wasn't able to catch. "It's lunchtime. Maybe she's not busy right now."

The blue-eyed man didn't utter a word, which caused Maya to turn slightly and check what was going on. She caught him with his phone in hand, his fingers working on re-dialing someone's digits.

Having estimated that she spent more than the time required to make two cups of coffee, Maya picked up the two mugs, the same time her phone started ringing. Exhaling, she replaced the mugs on the counter to retrieve her phone—Katy's phone—from her denim jacket's pocket.

"Sorry, buddy. It's lunchtime," Maya muttered as she declined the call.

"She didn't answer again," the blue-eyed man spoke from his place at the table. He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it as though it was the device's fault that the event coordinator didn't acknowledge his call for the second time.

From across the table, Buzzcut furrowed his brows as he observed the entire scene unfold in front of him. His eyes darted from his blue-eyed friend to the woman by the counter. It might simply be a matter of coincidence that the second his friend dialed the number, the woman's phone began ringing. And when she declined it, his friend's call ended. Buzzcut felt that it was too much of a coincidence . . . But it was likewise possible that she might not actually be . . . Well, she could be her if he was assuming correctly . . .

"Call the number again," Buzzcut instructed his blue-eyed friend, and the latter obeyed.

Like Buzzcut had anticipated, the woman's phone started ringing. His face lit up as he abruptly shot up from his seat, surprising both his best friend and the woman who's now halfway out the door. "You're Katy!" he exclaimed happily, pointing a finger at Maya.

Maya stopped in her tracks and turned on her heels, the two mugs still in her grasp. She looked from Buzzcut to the blue-eyed man. "Not precisely," she drawled with a diffident bite of her lower lip.

Buzzcut rushed to her side and pulled her back inside the break room. He closed the door behind them for privacy.

"I'm sorry, but who are you, people?" Maya interrogated.

"I'm Andrew William," Buzzcut—Andrew—introduced. Then, he gestured at the blue-eyed man. "And this is my best friend, Josh. Matthews. Josh Matthews. We both work here."

"And I'm assuming you're Katy Chamberlain, the event coordinator?" Josh spoke from his spot at the table.

Maya shook her head. "No, my name's Maya. Katy Chamberlain's my mother. I'm currently taking over her business while she's, um . . . while she's away."

Andrew snapped his fingers, causing Maya to divert her attention from Josh to him. "Zay mentioned a Chamberlain before! Something about visiting her at a center of some sort, I'm not sure. Do you happen to be—"

"Zay's a childhood friend of mine, but I can assure you that I'm most likely not the Chamberlain he's mentioned before. I go by a different last name."

"So, you're married?" Josh inquired.

Maya raised her left hand, which still held one of the coffee mugs, to show the absence of commitment bands on her ring finger. "It's something I don't normally talk about to people I just met . . ."

Andrew's grin widened. "Of course," he commented. Then, he motioned animatedly at the mugs in Maya's hand. "One of those is supposed to be for Zay, right?"

Maya glanced down at the mugs and only then did she remember the original purpose of her trip to the break room. "Actually, yes! This one's for him," she answered as she raised the fiery red mug.

"Oh, perfect," Andrew said as he took the mug from Maya without any forewarning. "Here, I'll take this and deliver it to Zay myself. Your childhood friend has a certain cubicle neighbor that I have a strong romantic connection with, so I believe she'd like it if I pay her a surprise visit—after giving Zay his no longer warm coffee, of course."

Maya couldn't help the soft chuckle that slipped from her tainted lips. "Jasmine? Oh yeah, Zay and I talk with her about a lot of things all the time, but she never once mentioned you to us," she informed.

"As cold as that was, Andrew, I would have to agree with Maya on this one," Josh taunted, scrunching his face at his friend.

Andrew's grin remained on his face, although it was easy to tell that it was no longer the friendly type but a sarcastic one. "Someday, Matthews—you, too, Frosty. I'll be saying 'I told you so' to the both of you."

It was the last thing Andrew said before he disappeared from the break room, taking Zay's room temperature cup of coffee with him.

The second the door shut closed, Maya returned her attention to the man still in the break room with her. Instantly, she recalled how she treated him during the phone call the other day. She made her way over to where Andrew once sat and said, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"Yeah, I was just about to ask you regarding that," Josh said with a smile.

"You caught me at the most inconvenient time. I was pissed about something and the last thing I ever wanted to do was to deal with a client." Maya straightened up in her seat. "But now that I'm in a better mood, what was it that you need my services for?"

Josh adjusted his posture so that he sat more comfortably in his seat. He rested his elbows on the table and looked Maya in the eyes. "So I have a girlfriend," he began. "Her name is Sophie and we've been together for five years—"

"Five years?" Maya asked incredulously, her eyes widening. "Why in the world aren't you two married yet?"

Josh laughed at her reaction, then he looked down in an effort to hide the blush that crept along his cheeks. "Trust me, I'm working on that. I'm just coming across one tinny-tiny problem at the moment."

"And that is?"

"I haven't proposed yet—because I don't know how I'm going to do it," Josh revealed. "And that's the part where you're supposed to come in."

It all clicked into place in Maya's head, and her shoulders instantly sagged in defeat. As much as she hated to do it, she had to turn him down. It wasn't because she didn't want to help Josh with his marriage proposal, but it was because she wasn't supposed to.

"I would love to, but . . ." Maya trailed off, immediately catching the dismay that flashed across Josh's delicate blue eyes. Her teeth captured her bottom lip, as though in an attempt to hold back more words of disappointment. "Tan House Events doesn't really take up marriage proposal and wedding events anymore ever since—"

Maya stopped herself. Too personal for a stranger, she thought.

Josh didn't seem to dwell on her abrupt stop, much to Maya's utmost relief. But he was still beyond frantic. He'd waited long enough to pop the question to Sophie, and there was nothing that could stop him from making it happen.

"Please," Josh implored. "You said so yourself, Sophie and I should've been married already, but we're not because I don't know how the hell I'm going to propose! I desperately need your help, Maya. Help me plan the perfect marriage proposal . . . please."

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I really can't," Maya informed him. "I may be running Tan House Events at the moment, but it still functions the way Katy wants it to. And if she said that we can't take up any marriage proposal events, then I'm not going to. Besides, weddings aren't really my expertise. I plan conventions and seminars and fundraising events."

"I'll pay you double—if that's what it takes for you to make an exemption for me," Josh offered with urgency. "Just name your price and twice of that is all yours."

Something about Josh's sentence hit a specific part within Maya that made her consider caving in. Just yesterday, the same words flowed out of her mouth when she grew desperate to acquire a place in the Atford Gallery's winter art exhibition. She remembered how it felt, looking at the art curator and seeing nothing but pity because, despite her persistence, she knew what she was doing was futile. The art curator was strict about what she wanted, and there's no way that Maya could make the authority bend the rules solely for her.

Looking at Josh, Maya couldn't bear seeing a different person—doesn't matter that he was a stranger to her—suffer through the same rejection she went through yesterday. If the art curator couldn't yield a spot to her at the winter art exhibition, the least that Maya could do was to give Josh his happy ending.

"All right, here's a deal for you," Maya said, placing her elbows on the table and leaning closer to Josh. "I'll help you plan a proposal without asking for anything back—yet."

When Josh's face brightened with excitement, Maya held up a finger. "But," she proceeded, "if, for some strange and unfortunate reason, your lady says no" —Josh's smile dropped— "I'll have to ask for payment because, well, you wasted my precious time. On the other hand, if everything works in your favor and your lady says yes, then you're free to go. I won't be charging you and your bank account will stay happy."

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Josh queried, using both his index fingers to trace a circle turning counterclockwise rather than clockwise in the air. "If Sophie says yes, then I should pay you because you did a good job—"

"If you and Sophie had been together for five years, then isn't it already guaranteed that she's going to say yes? And as I mentioned earlier, Sophie saying yes means you get to pay me nothing. Why are you complaining?"

"But it doesn't seem fair," Josh commented.

Maya pursed her lips. "I wanted to showcase my art pieces last night at the Atford Gallery's winter art exhibition, but I got rejected because I didn't get there on time. I didn't get to have what I wanted, so I figured if I prevented you from not getting your happy ending, the universe will balance out again and bring me my luck back."

Josh still looked like he wasn't convinced.

"I'm doing all of this for you at zero cost—at least for now. You should count your lucky stars," Maya said as she leaned back in her chair.

Josh's features relaxed, which signaled Maya that she finally got to him.

"So, do we have a deal?" Maya prompted when Josh still wasn't producing any words. His blue eyes were so transfixed on her that Maya began to think that perhaps the man seated across from her was under a spell.

After another minute passed, Josh broke away from his stupor but maintained his eye contact with Maya. They clasped their hands together and sealed the deal with a firm handshake.

"When's the first meeting?" Maya interrogated, standing up from her seat in preparation to leave the break room. She needed to run back to Zay to tell him what held her up, but something told her that Andrew might've filled him in on it. Nevertheless, she'd still drop by to say a proper goodbye.

"Our anniversary isn't until February," Josh informed.

Maya nodded. "Yeah, but nothing is ever early for an event coordinator. It's always wise to plan something way ahead of time. You know, in case we need to cancel a venue or we might get put on a queue for something. You can never really tell what hurdles we might encounter, so . . ."

"Sure, of course. I get what you're saying," Josh replied as he stood up from his seat. "As for when we can meet—are you free tomorrow night?"

"Yes, I should be," Maya answered.

"Cool! I get early outs on Wednesdays, so does six o'clock work for you?" Josh asked.

"That should work fine. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Maya was halfway out the door when Josh called her in again.

"I didn't get your last name," Josh stated.

"It's Hart," Maya replied with a smile.

"I'll see you then, Ms. Hart—oh, and the place is at Groucho's! Sorry, I told you the time but I didn't tell you where we're going to meet."

Maya chuckled. "Don't be late, Mr. Matthews."

And that's the second chapter! Chapter 3 will be up on Friday, as scheduled.

I hope you guys liked it and let me know what you think :)