"Gabi, I uh, I kissed my therapist" Josh said hesitantly, knowing his words were going to crush the woman he loved so desperately.
The words struck Gabi like a bullet. She forgot to breathe as she stared at him in complete disbelief. Then the anger took over. Without a word she turned to leave and slammed his office door to separate them.
He moved swiftly to the door, not wanting her to leave without hearing the whole story but she was storming down the hall to the kitchen to get her stuff.
"Gabi, She kissed me. it meant nothing" he said, trying to keep up with her.
"Well it means something to me. You couldn't kiss me, your girlfriend, who you supposedly love and want to spend forever with, preventing us from being together like you say you've wanted for over a year, but you've clearly got no problem shoving your tongue down other women's throats" she said harshly, walking around the kitchen counter to get her purse, never stopping, moving.
"I didn't shove my tongue down anyone's throat and I do want to be with you, that's why I'm in therapy in the first place" he said, exasperated.
"Well I guess it was partially successful on the kissing part, just with the wrong girl. Oh my God, do you like her?" she asked, as that devastating thought entered her mind.
"No. i…" he started to explain but she cut him off "Actually I don't want to hear another word, I cant even look at you right now" she said angrily and walked out the door.
He followed her to the elevator.
"Gabi please don't walk away" he pleaded.
"Why not Josh, you did" she said getting on the elevator to leave.
"I didn't" he said softly, almost imperceptibly.
Josh watched her leave, feeling the sadness envelop his whole body at the thought of actually losing her.
He went back in and poured himself a big drink, desperate to numb the crushing pain he was feeling.
He sent her a series of texts "Gabi please talk to me", "Please give me a chance to explain, I swear it isn't what you think" "You're the only one I want" "I'm sorry" "Please"
Gabi, enraged, refused to look at her phone as she stalked around her apartment throwing anything Josh had given her or reminded her of him into a box.
"Uh oh. I guess I don't have to ask how it went with Josh" Sofia said watching her.
"Couldn't have gone worse. I thought he was going to tell me he was done with therapy because he is ready to be with me but instead he told me he kissed his therapist" she said angrily.
"Was not expecting that" Sofia said dumbfounded.
"Yeah, neither was I" she said grabbing a bottle of wine from the fridge and drinking a healthy gulp directly from it.
"Well did he say anything else? She asked.
"What else is there to say? He kissed his therapist Sofia, cant kiss me, but clearly doesn't have any problem kissing other people"
"So you got mad and refused to let him talk" Sofia said knowingly.
"There is nothing he could have said to make this any better and I don't want to talk about it anymore tonight, I'm going to get very drunk and try to forget about him tonight. You go on your date and have fun" she told her. Sofia reluctantly agreed, knowing Gabi needed time to process.
She pulled out her phone and texted Josh "I know Gabi didn't let you talk but there better be a damn good explanation or I'm going to go Lil So So on your ass!" she threatened
Josh responded immediately as his hand hadnt been separated from his phone even for a second since Gabi stormed out.
"I didn't tell her immediately, I'm wrong for that. I just knew how she would react and I didn't want to hurt her. I swear the kiss wasn't my fault, I can explain but she wont talk to me"
"She's too angry right now. I'll work on it" she texted back
"Thanks Sofia"
The next day Sofia woke Gabi up by jumping onto the bed.
Gabi groaned and covered her face with the blanket "Ugh Sofia not now, I drank so much wine"
Sofia went and got a water and pain reliever and had her take it.
"Why don't you go take a nice hot shower then we will see about fixing your life" she told her.
Gabi shook her head "Josh broke us. Cant be fixed" she groaned.
"Gabi, I know you're upset and you have every right to be but I think deep down you know this isnt a Josh thing to do and you should hear him out, and he's leaving tonight" she added.
"I cant. I cant see his face, I keep picturing him kissing her. Maybe this time apart will do us both good" she said.
Sofia frowned and texted Josh while she was showering.
"Sorry she wont budge, want to meet and you can fill me in?" she texted Josh.
They agreed to meet at a coffee shop.
"Sorry in advance but you look terrible" Sofia told him.
"Thanks, its because I'm in hell" he said somberly. "I Cant sleep, I cant eat, I cant stop thinking about Gabi and the hurt on her face. It killed me to tell her that and she wont let me explain, I'm terrified this is going to be the end of us" he said, getting teary eyed.
"I don't think there will ever be an end to you two" Sofia said, giving his hand a supportive squeeze.
Josh gave a little appreciative smile.
"Now tell me everything"
"I was at therapy and Dr Rounds got a call that her dog had been hit by a car. She was in no condition to drive so I offered to take her. Once she found out he was going to be okay we hugged then she kissed me" he said making a face and shaking his head at the memory as if trying to erase it.
"Josh, tell me the truth. Did you kiss her back? Did you like it? Do you like her?" Sofia asked in rapid succession.
"No!" he vehemently denied. "Gabi is the one I want. But now I cant go back to her for therapy, which means I would be starting all over, not that Gabi is going to wait around any longer for me to get my shit together, especially after this" he blew out a frustrated breath.
"Josh I know Gabi hasn't handled this whole commitment issue well but what you probably don't realize is its been killing her. She said the night we went to find her at Coachella and you told her your feelings was the happiest moment of her life" Sofia smiled briefly.
Josh swallowed hard and looked away, at nothing, above her, not meeting her eyes.
"I'm not dumping on you. I'm just trying to get you to see how she's been feeling. It's hard to feel rejected by someone you care so much about"
He started to speak but she held up a hand to stop him. "I know it's not your fault and it isn't on purpose but that unfortunately doesn't change her reaction to you not being able to be with her"
Josh nodded as he processed this.
"So what do I do Sofia?" he asked helplessly. "I can't lose her. It was hard enough when she ran off to Switzerland and I thought we were going to be together but I'm so much deeper in now" he told her, his voice thick with emotion.
"I'll try to reason with her once she's come down from her anger"
"I wanted her to come with me to Australia. I've been wrestling with it this whole time, not wanting to offer more than I could give her right now but also desperately wanting to take her away from our life and see if that's what fixes me, and selfishly I just want to spend time with her."
He picked up his phone and did some swiping, sending Sofia the plane ticket he had already put Gabi's name on.
"If she is willing to come with me, I wont have any expectations, I'll get her another room if she wants. I just want her with me. All the awards in the world don't mean anything if she's not there" he said honestly.
"Awww, Josh you're an idiot" she said
"What's that?" he asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.
"If you just talked to her like this all along you two would probably be happily together and making the rest of us sick right now" she said, patting him on the shoulder as she left.
She went home to try and talk some sense into Gabi.
She found her on the couch, eating ice cream out of the tub and drinking wine.
"What? I showered and got dressed" Gabi said at Sofias judgmental look.
"Okay, don't be mad but I just came from seeing Josh"
"You what?" she said, jumping up. "I knew you were on his side!"
"Gabi I'm on both your sides. You love him, you two are end game. And you see I'm not angry or covered in Josh's blood so it obviously went well. Now do you want to hear what he had to say or what?" she asked.
Gabi sighed "Fine, what did he say?" Gabi asked, trying to act disinterested but in reality her heart was beating furiously inside her chest, desperate for a reprieve from the pain.
"She kissed him, he didn't kiss her back, has no feelings for her whatsoever and only wants to be with you" she told her, causing Gabi to smile the tiniest of smiles.
She sent the plane ticket to her phone.
"He also wants you to go with him to Australia. There's your ticket. He said he doesn't expect anything, that he will get your own room if you want. He just wants you there or his award doesn't mean anything"
"Awwwwww" Gabi gushed at his sweet sentiment. "But also he's crazy if he doesn't think I would be all over him given the chance" she grinned playfully.
"How did he look?" Gabi asked.
"Like he had the worst night of his life" Sofia told her honestly.
"What should I do Sofia?"
"Get yourself all dolled up, pack and go to him, get on that plane. He came to our fire escape with roses in the rain, he went to the airport to try and stop you from going with Cooper, he followed you to Coachella to steal you away from his beautiful brother with his dark chocolate eyes and hard body…" Sofia veered off track, Gabi smiled in amusement. "Anyway Its your turn to shine, you do the big romantic gesture, show up on that plane and hopefully you will finally get in his pants and come back an annoyingly happy couple" she told her.
"Okay. I'm gonna do it!" Gabi said.
"Yay! Go get your man girl!" Sofia cheered her as they hugged.
Gabi went to get ready.
"Just don't leave out the sex this time, you two desperately need to bang" Sofia called out, drinking the rest of Gabi's wine.
Gabi's head reappeared in the doorway "Aww so romantic Sofia. Remember that quote for your maid of honor toast" she teased.