A/N: Hey, guys! Thanks for the last chapter's love. I love that, despite the fact that Josh isn't with Maya, you all still liked his relationship with Sophie. I might've broken your hearts, but PLEASE PLEASE JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE (I'm begging you). And also, I liked that you guys noticed that Josh/Maya is sort of following Josh/Sophie and that history's repeating itself. But, there is one BIG, MAJOR difference between the two. It's actually one of the main plots of this story. It's coming soon, I promise.
Anyway, let's give our Joshaya a little break from working and let them have some fun, eh? This chapter's probably my second most favorite out of all the 22 I've written so far. And I'm REALLY REALLY excited for all you to read this, especially those Jandrew shippers. I hope you guys love this as much as I do. Enjoy!
Chapter 12: Under the Lights
Josh and Andrew were ready to leave work when Filomeno beckoned the former to his office. Shortly, the editor-in-chief fled out of sight and the two best friends turned to look at one another, both had perturbed expressions on their faces.
"Do you have a story to present to him?" Andrew queried.
"I'll make something up," Josh answered with a sigh. "As long as I don't have a story inspiring enough for him, he's just gonna turn down anything I propose."
Andrew nodded. "Yeah, well, you should probably go in their now. You know Filomeno doesn't like to wait," he uttered, the same time Filomeno reappeared in the hallway.
"Matthews," Filomeno called.
When the editor-in-chief retreated back in his office, Andrew jutted his chin in the direction where Filomeno disappeared. "I'll meet you down in the lobby," he informed as he clamped a hand on Josh's shoulder.
Josh nodded before he made his way to his editor-in-chief's office. He knocked three times, and at the sound of Filomeno acknowledging his arrival, Josh stepped in. The first thing he caught was the sight of Filomeno pouring himself a glass of whiskey.
"I'm assuming you called me in to check on my progress?" Josh stated as he stayed stood by the door, unsure whether he should advance further in Filomeno's office.
Filomeno swallowed his drink and regarded Josh. "Of course, I did," he confirmed. "After that tragic love story you wheeled in my office a couple of weeks ago, I figured it'd be best if I keep tabs on you. I hope you don't mind."
"No, it's . . . understandable," Josh agreed.
Filomeno ambled toward his desk and leaned on its edge. "Well?" he prodded, raising a brow.
Josh cleared his throat and said, "I had a story—"
"Had?"
"Yes—and it was a good one, too," Josh answered. "Unfortunately, when I asked the man for permission to write about him for People's Verse, he declined. The story was too valuable for him. He might have been kind enough to share the story with me, but he didn't want to share it with the entire world."
Filomeno was tight-lipped for a moment. He drank his whiskey while he pondered over what Josh said. As much as it vexed him that he still hadn't secured a feature story for the magazine's tenth anniversary special issue, Filomeno let it slide for the first time. Josh did have something—albeit he wasn't given the permission to pursue the subject—therefore he resolved not to put his Plan B into action yet, which was to assign a backup journalist for the feature story.
"In that case, you should keep looking," Filomeno declared, leaning away from his desk. "Remember: five months may seem like a lot of time, Matthews, but it dwindles fast."
Josh jounced his head. "Of course, Mr. Filomeno. I can guarantee you that I'm constantly on the look-out for only the best stories. You gave me a second chance to prove myself, and I will make sure that you'll never regret ever making that decision."
With one final glance at his journalist, Filomeno dismissed Josh.
Josh exited Filomeno's office and headed toward the elevators. He rode down to the lobby, where he found Andrew seated on a lobby sofa, furiously tapping on his phone. As Josh approached his best friend, he heard Andrew curse his phone before he turned off the device and pocketed it.
"What? Did you lose again?" Josh taunted, referring to the game that Andrew was playing.
"Hey, you're alive!" Andrew exclaimed, jumping up to his feet. "And yes, I did. I waited two hours to gain a new life only for my character to lose to that badass, laser-shooting spaceship. If I had known that my character would suck that bad, I would have switched to the dark side the first chance I get."
Josh snickered. "But you can't do that, can you?" he asked.
"No. I'm stuck defending my planet when I'd rather be destroying it."
Just as Andrew uttered his reply, one of People's Verse's employees trotted past them, wearing a concerned expression on her face.
"Don't worry, we're not actually plotting a secret plan to dominate the entire planet," Andrew reassured with a nervous chuckle. "We were just talking about a game . . . which you obviously don't care about—okay, nice talking to you!"
Josh hit Andrew's shoulder. "Come on, let's get our Grab-A-Burger on," he stated as he began walking toward the office building's revolving doors.
"About that," Andrew replied, jogging a little to catch up to Josh.
The two best friends exited the People's Verse building and joined the crowd of New Yorkers.
"What?" Josh asked.
"I was thinking maybe we should reconsider our plan."
Josh's eyebrows rose. "Are you telling me that Grab-A-Burger had lost its magical touch?" he taunted, chuckling afterward.
"Trust me, Grab-A-Burger will never lose its special place in my heart," Andrew reassured, placing a hand over his chest. "However, that's not my point. Grab-A-Burger might have the immense power to cheer me up every time I'm feeling down, but can I say the same about you? No. What you need, my friend, is something else. Something that would release all the pressure that's been keeping your head underwater."
"Are you taking me to go skydiving—because, you know, that's opposite of being underwater," Josh queried, eyebrows creasing together.
Andrew guffawed. "No, but being on land is also the opposite of being underwater. And you know what some people do when they're on land? They go clubbing!"
Josh stopped in his tracks. "Hold on—we're going clubbing? Andrew, it's Wednesday!"
"That makes it even better!" Andrew exclaimed, flagging a taxi and ushering Josh inside. He climbed in after his friend and the second the passenger door closed behind him, Andrew turned to the driver and said, "Club Sinners, please. Thank you."
Maya took a big gulp of her tea as her client, Leigh, continued commenting on her first design for the benefit concert's poster. The latter was highly meticulous with details because she wanted the poster to set the tone for the event. She wanted it to look striking yet inviting enough to appeal to all ages.
"The background is too grungy for me," Leigh commented while her eyes continued to scrutinize Maya's design. "I get that you're trying to portray the usual scene, like the dark indoor venue, but this concert will be for children that are victims of violence. To me, the darkness sort of correlates with violence and that's not what I'm really trying to convey."
Maya nodded along. "Yeah, I can see your point," she agreed.
"But I do like the rest of it," Leigh ensured with a quick pat on Maya's arm. "I like that you made the children the main subject of the poster."
"Okay, so the background is the only thing that needs to be changed?" Maya questioned for clarification. She flipped open her notepad and uncapped her pen, making a note on the changes she needed to make regarding the poster's design.
Leigh jounced her head. "Yes, just remember that the concert is meant to be a happy place—a safe place. If you can find a way to translate that message into this poster, that would be remarkable," she stated with a smile. "I know you can do it."
Maya returned Leigh's grin. "Trust me, I won't let you down," she reassured as she retrieved her sketchpad from Leigh's hands. "You mentioned earlier that you won't be available to meet personally for the rest of the week, so do you want me to just email you the altered design?"
"Yes," Leigh answered. "Yes, that would be great."
"All right, expect to see it in your inbox sometime tomorrow," Maya informed.
Leigh and Maya concluded their meeting. Maya stuck out a hand for Leigh to shake, but the latter went for a hug instead. She was grateful for Maya's help. Without her artistic talents, Leigh would've settled for the demanding artist she was in contact with before she saw Maya's profile on Canvas.
After saying their goodbyes to one another, Maya fled Leigh's office. She'd only managed to walk midway down the hall when Leigh called her back. The latter strode toward Maya, meeting her halfway.
"Sorry about that," Leigh apologized.
"Oh, no, you're fine," Maya replied.
"I meant to tell you this earlier, but I guess it slipped my mind," Leigh began. "I was looking for some possible bands last night—locals and well-known alike—that I could include in the lineup for the concert when an idea hit me. I'm saving one spot in the lineup for whichever band you'd like to see play at the concert."
Maya's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Are you serious?" she queried.
Leigh nodded, a broad smile on her face.
"Do I have to choose now?" Maya asked. "Because I have so many I want to see, I can't possibly just choose one on the spot."
"No," Leigh answered, laughing. "You can take your time choosing your band, but don't take up too much time. I still do have to contact the band and make sure they're available for the concert, and the managers can take days—even weeks—to respond, especially if the band is popular."
"I'll try to keep that in mind," Maya replied. "Thanks again for letting me do that."
"Of course, I want you to be a part of this event as much as possible," Leigh uttered.
After saying their goodbyes for the second time that night, Maya left Leigh's office building.
Zay was leaning against the passenger door of his SUV when Maya emerged from the building. He looked up from his phone upon hearing the sound of her heels clicking against the concrete ground and flashed her a smile.
"How was the meeting?" Zay questioned, opening the passenger door for Maya, who muttered a 'thank you' as she hopped in.
"It was great," Maya responded. She waited until Zay was seated in the driver's seat before she continued. "Leigh noted some alterations I needed to make regarding my design, but she liked it nevertheless. Oh, and she also said that she's letting me choose a band that I want to be included in the lineup. How cool is that?"
"Please tell me you said you wanted the Backstreet Boys," Zay said as he pulled out of the curb. "They've been our favorite boy band since we were, like, seven!"
"You see, I thought about suggesting the Backstreet Boys, but then Leigh might have a hard time booking them because they've got all those holiday shows coming up," Maya answered. Then, in a whisper, she added, "I still can't believe they're all sold out."
Zay reached a red light. He slowed to a stop before he turned to Maya. "So, what happened? You didn't suggest a band?" he queried.
Maya shook her head. "But she gave me time to think about which band I'd choose," she stated.
The light turned green and Zay stepped on the gas, the same time Maya's phone buzzed inside her bag. She brought it out to see a message from Riley.
Riley — Hey, are you doing tonight?
Maya — Zay just picked me up from my meeting with Leigh, but we don't have any plans that I know of. Why?
Riley — Lucas's company is thinking of buying this old nightclub and he's gonna check it out tonight. Of course, I asked if I could tag along. Do you wanna come?
Maya turned to Zay. "Hey, Riley's asking if we want to go to a nightclub with her and Lucas. Apparently, Lucas's company is thinking about buying the place, so they decided to do a little fieldwork," she informed, her fingers hovering above her keyboard, ready to type out a reply.
"Clubbing on a Wednesday?" Zay asked incredulously.
Maya shrugged. "I mean, it's for business purposes," she defended.
"Sure. Why not?"
Maya — Of course! Zay and I will be there.
Riley replied with the nightclub's name, followed by a sentence saying how excited she was to have a little bit of fun that night. Ever since she became a teacher, Riley couldn't remember the last time she went out for some drinks with her friends.
"Let's take a detour at my apartment first," Maya suggested. "If we're gonna go clubbing tonight, I want to look like I'm about to have the most amazing night of my life."
Holding two glasses of Old Fashioned, Andrew maneuvered his way through the packed crowd of clubbers. His face contorted into one of panic when a delirious dancing redhead nearly toppled the drinks he held in his hands.
"I have survived!" Andrew announced the moment he arrived at his and Josh's booth.
"For a moment there, I thought you've reached your end," Josh replied, jerking his chin in the direction of the dance floor.
Andrew shook his head in disbelief. "I thought so, too. Man, did you see that redhead? She must've pre-gamed with a whole pack of Red Bull or something," he commented before he took a sip of his drink.
Josh laughed as he raised his glass to his lips. After he'd set his glass down on the table, he turned to face his best friend. "Hey, thanks for bringing me here. You were right, I do feel a little de-stressed," he stated with a blithe grin.
"Just a little?" Andrew asked incredulously. He was about to say more when his eyes landed on a certain blonde making an entrance. Jutting his head toward the doors of the nightclub, he said, "Well, well, well. It looks like this night's gonna get much better. Frosty's here—oh, and with an entourage!"
Josh whirled, immediately spotting Maya amongst the crowd. She had on a tight-fitting cobalt blue dress with a plunging neckline, which had Josh looking her up and down. The wardrobe change was a new sight for him after he'd gotten used to what she dubbed as her 'high school principal' look.
"I'm gonna call them over," Andrew informed. "That should liven up this table."
Josh paused, seemingly processing Andrew's words. "You do realize you called me boring," he noted.
"I didn't say that," Andrew defended as he held up a finger.
"You implied it—"
"Shush your mouth, my friend."
Josh laughed before he took another sip of his Old Fashioned. He gave another glance at Maya over his shoulder, and this time, he observed that Zay, Lucas, and Riley were with her.
"Frosty! Over here!" Andrew exclaimed, cupping his hands around his mouth.
Maya's head whipped in the direction of Andrew's voice. Her face lit up when she eyed Andrew waving them over to his booth.
"Oh, look, friends!" Riley squealed with excitement. "This night's gonna be so much fun!"
Lucas and Zay smiled as well upon recognizing two familiar faces in the crowd. They trailed after Maya and Riley, who steered themselves toward Josh and Andrew's booth.
"Hey! What are you two doing here on a Wednesday?" Maya asked. She saw Andrew with his arms wide open and she leaned into him for a hug. "I mean, I could ask myself the same thing, but Lucas's here because of business and Riley and I just tagged along."
"Josh and I needed to relieve some stress," Andrew explained. "We could get in trouble for going to work hungover tomorrow, but some of our colleagues had done it before and they almost always got away with it."
Zay nodded. "That's true," he confirmed with a laugh. "Do you remember that one time when Charlotte went to work with sunglasses on? She wore them the entire day, and Filomeno never noticed!"
As Andrew and Zay delved into a conversation regarding their colleagues' drunken shenanigans in the workplace, Lucas and Riley slid into the booth while Maya volunteered to get everybody's drinks.
"I'll have a margarita," Riley informed.
Lucas said he'd like a Negroni, while Andrew asked for another round of Old Fashioned.
"How about you, Zay? Whiskey, neat?" Maya questioned.
Zay shook his head. "I'll have a club soda. Unlike some of my colleagues here, I don't want to risk getting caught hungover by our boss tomorrow," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Josh and Andrew.
Maya nodded. "All right, and you Josh?"
"I'll just come with you," Josh announced as he stood up from his seat. "That's a lot of drinks to bring back in one trip."
"Okay. So a margarita, a Negroni, an Old Fashioned, a club soda, and a dry martini for me," Maya summarized, pointing to whoever ordered the drink she uttered. "Great! We'll be right back, guys."
Josh and Maya braved the throng of drunk, dancing clubbers. With a nightclub as packed as Club Sinners, Josh kept an eye trained on Maya so he wouldn't lose her in the crowd. The two of them eventually reached the bar, and Maya recited the group's order to the bartender.
"You look great, by the way," Josh commented while he and Maya waited for the bartender to mix all the drinks they ordered.
"What?" Maya shouted over the booming music of the nightclub.
Josh leaned in, placing his lips next to Maya's ear. "I said you look great," he repeated.
"You don't look so bad yourself," Maya responded, grinning.
Josh laughed. "I mean, I'm only wearing my work clothes. If I had bothered to dress up, I bet you'd say I look dashing," he taunted.
Maya responded with a playful shove.
"Nah, I'm just kidding," Josh uttered.
The bartender notified Josh and Maya that the club soda, the dry martini, and the two Old Fashioned were mixed. The margarita and the Negroni were in the works.
"So, where's Sophie?" Maya queried after acknowledging the bartender.
Josh brought out his phone to check the time. "She just got off work actually," he answered.
"You should tell her to join us, and I'll invite another plus one of mine. Andrew will thank me later," Maya declared with a wink.
"Maya, didn't we talk about how I don't want Sophie to know about you yet?" Josh reminded. "I might've allowed that stunt you pulled off last week, but—"
"Josh, relax," Maya interrupted, chuckling. "Sophie will definitely recognize me—I'll give you that—but you can always say that you met me through Zay. Besides, she doesn't know that I'm an event coordinator. How can she put two and two together when she doesn't even have the pieces to work with in the first place?"
Josh mulled over what Maya told him. She did have a point. Sophie and Maya already crossed paths, and Josh couldn't do anything about it. He'd only look suspicious if he allowed himself to feel unnerved every time Sophie and Maya were in the same room together. With a sigh, Josh unlocked his phone and sent a quick message to his girlfriend.
Smiling triumphantly, Maya pulled out her own phone from her clutch bag and started typing a new message. Josh's smirk widened when he saw the name of the person Maya texted.
Soon enough, the bartender finished concocting their orders, and Josh and Maya strode back to their table with everyone's drinks in their hands.
Sophie arrived at Club Sinners several minutes after Josh sent her a message inviting her to join them for the night. Upon reaching the group's booth, Sophie's eyes went straight to Maya and a look of recognition passed over her features.
"I remember you," Sophie declared as she claimed the spot next to Josh. "You walked into my boutique the other day."
Maya raised her glass of dry martini as though she was giving a toast. "Guilty as charged," she said.
Sophie's gaze then went from Maya to Josh, a questioning look on her face. "How did the two of you know each other?" she asked.
Josh and Maya exchanged a brisk look before Josh opened his mouth to answer. "We met through Zay—you remember Zay, right?" he started, gesturing at his colleague seated next to Maya.
"Yes, of course," Sophie replied, nodding.
"Yeah, well, Zay and Maya are childhood friends. I had some photographs I needed to get from Zay, Maya happened to drop by for a visit, and we were introduced. It's very recent, so . . ." Josh trailed off, occasionally glancing at Maya to check if she agreed with his phony story.
Maya disguised her subtle nod of approval by taking a sip of her dry martini.
From alongside Riley, Andrew's eyebrows furrowed together. If he remembered correctly, that wasn't how Josh and Maya met. He was a witness to their first meeting after all. But if Josh and Maya went as far as lying about how they really knew each other, Andrew thought he might be better off going along with whatever the two were scheming.
"Oh, that's great," Sophie commented with a grin. Her eyes then inspected the rest of the table and noted two more people. She recognized one of them, but she wasn't familiar with the other. With her smile still intact, she said, "Riley! It's nice to see you again. You haven't dropped by my boutique for a while."
"It's because my husband thinks I own too many pencil skirts. My obsession is currently on hiatus until further notice," Riley joked, laughing.
"Ah, I see," Sophie played along. She turned to the man seated next to Riley.
"Lucas Friar, Riley's husband," Lucas introduced even before Sophie could ask him who he was. He grasped Sophie's hand and shook it.
"Word on the street there's a big get-together going on in this nightclub," came a sultry voice from behind Josh and Sophie. Likewise, the newcomer extended a hand to Sophie. "Hi, my name's Jasmine Wilcox. It's so nice to finally meet you."
While everyone welcomed Jasmine to the booth, Josh and Maya's attention focused on Andrew eagerly downing his glass of Old Fashioned.
While Sophie and Lucas immersed themselves in a conversation regarding their businesses, Josh left the booth to fetch a margarita for his girlfriend. Andrew then announced he'd grab another round of drinks for himself and trailed after Josh. He spotted Maya on the dance floor, bopping along to the booming music with Jasmine and Riley.
"Ladies!" Andrew yelled over the music. "Can I borrow Frosty over here for a moment?"
"Of course!" Riley answered, giggling. "Just make sure you bring her back!"
Andrew grabbed Maya's wrist and led her toward the bar, where Josh stood waiting for Sophie's margarita. Andrew and Maya parked themselves alongside Josh, who regarded them with an amused smile.
"Wow. I didn't know you could tear up a dance floor like that, Maya," Josh taunted.
Maya chuckled. "There's a lot you don't know about me, Matthews," she responded breathlessly.
From alongside the two, Andrew asked the bartender for a round of tequila shots. The bartender served Andrew the shots and the latter down every single glass, one after another.
"Whoa. Slow down there, tiger," Josh said, chuckling.
Andrew drank another shot of tequila, ignoring Josh's statement. "I didn't expect Jasmine to be here," he responded.
"You're welcome," Maya stated with a triumphant smile.
"Ever since I brought Jasmine some egg rolls, she'd been approaching me differently. You know how she would always turn me down whenever I'd ask her out on a date? Well, yesterday, I brought up that drive-in movie again and, although she didn't necessarily say yes, she didn't turn me down," Andrew narrated.
"That's great!" Maya commented. "I told you she'd come around. For all we know, she might already have feelings for you when you started pursuing her, but was just playing hard to get."
Josh noted the troubled look on Andrew's face. "But . . . ?" he prodded.
Andrew sighed. "You know I'm very confident and optimistic when it comes to Jasmine, but ever since she began showing interest in me, I'm . . . well, I don't want to screw it up."
Josh and Maya exchanged a look.
"Oh, don't worry about that, Andrew," Maya reassured, planting a hand on Andrew's shoulder. "Josh and I are gonna put on our matchmaking caps and make sure you and Jasmine end up together tonight."
"Yeah, we—wait, what? We are?" Josh questioned.
Maya smirked impishly. "Of course. You guys are my friends now, and if there's one thing you should know about me, I care very much about my friends' happiness. And if Jasmine's it for you, Andrew, then I'll help you get her."
"Jasmine!" Maya exclaimed as she returned to the dance floor. Josh and Andrew trailed after her.
Jasmine spun on her heel, instantly catching Maya's wrists and leading her to a dance that she and Riley had been performing. Maya swayed her hips, shimmied her shoulders, and bounced up and down on her feet to the beat of the music.
"Yeah, my bestie's back!" Riley exclaimed while she bopped along with her friends, a mojito in hand.
Maya snuck a glance over her shoulder and saw that Josh and Andrew had joined the crowd not far away from the women. Much to her surprise, the two looked nowhere near hopeless on the dance floor. Andrew knew how to bust a move, while Josh went along with whatever preposterous dance craze his best friend was doing.
Josh caught Maya's eyes and raised a brow, signaling her to start moving Jasmine closer to Andrew, exactly like how they planned.
Maya grabbed Jasmine's hands and danced with her, all the while subtly inching her closer to Andrew. The latter seemed oblivious to Maya's ulterior motive, basking in her friends' company and losing herself in the reverberating music.
A hand clamped on Maya's shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise.
"Maya!" Riley called, breathless. "I'm tapping out!"
"Already? But I just got back!"
Riley nodded. "I know, but my shoes are killing me!" she complained as she passed a glance at their booth. "I'm gonna go see if Sophie wants to tag-team with me."
As Riley steered her way back to their booth, Maya resumed her preempted mission. Finding her groove, she shimmied her shoulders toward Jasmine, who eagerly shimmied back. She continued to dance around Jasmine until eventually, the latter bumped into Andrew's back.
Andrew and Jasmine swiveled in perfect sync, eyes widening at the sight of one another.
"Well, hello to you," Jasmine greeted, her voice seductive.
"Jasmine," Andrew stated, "would you care to dance with me?"
"Those damn egg rolls really did you wonders, didn't they?"
Andrew gripped Jasmine's waist and pulled her toward his body. Despite the packed crowd of the dance floor, Andrew found a space wide enough to dip Jasmine. She yelped in surprise, but the look in her eyes implied that she enjoyed the rush.
With broad smiles on their faces, Josh and Maya stepped back from the dancing duo. They maneuvered their way out of the dance floor while congratulating one another for doing a fantastic job.
Sophie, Lucas, Riley, and Zay looked up when the two returned to the booth.
"Uh-oh, I know that look. What did you do?" Riley asked upon noting the roguish expression on Maya's face. She stood to switch places with Zay, but her head spun, causing her to stagger back into her seat.
"Okay, I think you've had enough margaritas for tonight," Lucas announced, gripping Riley's hips to steady her. "I've got a good feeling Mrs. Friar would be calling up her favorite substitute teacher tomorrow morning."
Riley giggled as she collapsed in her husband's arms. "You're too handsome, honey," she sweet-talked while she angled her head to plant a fervent kiss on Lucas's lips.
Maya slumped on the empty seat next to Zay, snatching his club soda and downing the rest of it. With a sigh, she allowed her head to fall on Zay's shoulder. "I think I'm officially done for tonight," she announced.
"I think so, too," Zay agreed, reaching up to give Maya's cheek a pat.
Riley giggled again. "Seriously, what did you do? Hold on, I'll do you one better: What did you and Josh do?" she queried.
Sophie's gaze flicked to her boyfriend.
"Why don't you go see for yourself?" Josh responded as he gestured to the dance floor, where Andrew and Jasmine were caught in a heated lip-lock.
"About damn time, Williams!" Zay yelled.
Riley whistled, raising yet another glass of margarita. Lucas soon joined in the hurrah.
"Yeah! Way to go, Andrew!" Sophie hollered, cupping a hand over her mouth.
Josh and Maya guffawed as they simultaneously reached across the table, their palms hitting one another's in a jubilant high-five.
Song of the Chapter: Lucky Dog by DREAMERS
I'd like to imagine that's the song playing in the background when Jandrew kissed ;)
Anyway, I hope you guys liked that as much as I had fun writing it. Thanks for reading and let me what you think!