"I told her I was thinking about quitting." Joshua sighed, staring at the ceiling as if his revelation didn't just make the room deadly silent.

My mind started racing when Joshua's words sunk in. Joshua was thinking about quitting modeling? It didn't make sense. It was obviously his calling, and there was no denying that he was amazing at it. Why the hell would he want to quit?

"W-W-Why?" I couldn't stop my voice from stuttering. I was just in plain shock. If Joshua decided to quit, did that mean that I would lose my job? If I managed to keep it, who would I be working for then?

I shuddered, making the floor vibrate, at the thought of taking care of Robert. For some reason, I knew that he would be ten times worse than Joshua was in the beginning.

"I don't want to. It's just that-" Joshua stopped himself, trying to get his thoughts together.

No wonder Lanning wanted me to watch Joshua like a hawk! Her number one model was threatening to leave. Things were beginning to make more sense.

"I saw Lara in Brazil and it broke my heart. The first few days were great. She was happy and loved to talk. I could tell that she was hesitant, waiting for something. I didn't want to disappoint, but Lilly, I didn't have the money. When Christmas finally came-You should have seen her face, Lilly." Joshua's voice became frustrated towards the end.

I stifled the urge to chuckle when I noticed him try to run his hands through his hair. The pancake batter had made it nearly impossible and his fingers ended up getting stuck on his head. This wasn't the time to be funny, but laughter finally broke out from both of us, relieving the tension that had settled in the air.

"Well, it's only a matter of time before you are able to have the money for her surgery. It might not have been during Christmas, but she probably knows that you're working on it." I tried to reason with Joshua.

"That's the problem, Lara isn't very patient. I can see the way the bullying is breaking her down. I don't want my little sister to deal with that anymore. I asked Jenna to book me more jobs and appearances, but she denied it." I heard the anger in Joshua's voice and found myself sharing it.

"Why the hell not?" It didn't make sense to me why Lanning wouldn't want what Joshua asked. The bitch would also be making more money that way.

"She says that it takes away from my 'exclusiveness'. Something about not being able to book higher paying jobs if I work for smaller brands." Joshua tried to explain.

"Let me guess, that's when you threatened to quit?" I could finally understand the hostility between them the night before. Now the question was, would I tell Lanning everything she wanted to know? I had no clue if I should tell Lanning in hopes of keeping Joshua working for her, with me. Was I that selfish? Or would it be for the best, anyway?

"Yeah, I thought that would make her break. She finally promised to come up with something in hopes of keeping me working for her. I don't know what it is yet, but Lara is really important." I can see the way the situation was stressing Joshua out.

 He had so much to lose, like his job and his sister. He could lose his career if he ended up working for smaller brands and getting the money he needed. The other way, his sister would probably end up hurt. Things were not looking good and I had absolutely no response.

My hand ended up having a mind of its own when I found it taking hold of Joshua's. We probably looked crazy to anyone else with dried up pancake batter on our bodies, lying on my kitchen floor, kitchen appliances surrounding us, and holding hands while we stared at the ceiling and let our minds race. Definitely crazy.

Never would I have thought that Joshua would end up in my kitchen this way. Hell, I had no clue that I would care about him and he would let out his problems to me. Life had a funny way of doing the exact opposite of what you expected.

Our perfect moment was awkwardly ruined by my embarrassing ringtone. I cringed when Justin Bieber's voice broke through the silence as he offered to be my boyfriend. I hated the kid, but no one could judge me for being weak when it came to that song.

Now I was ready to crawl under a rock for setting it as my ringtone in a moment of weakness and giving Joshua such a huge advantage. I could already see the smirk creeping into his face when he realized that he had something to make fun of me for.

Rolling me eyes, I slid my index finger across the screen and answered into the receiver.

"Where the hell are you? He ran away didn't he? Typical. Lilly Fenster, I trusted you to keep him in check. What the hell happened?" Lanning fired a million statements in the span of a minute, leaving me stunned.

"I'm at my apartment. Who ran away?" My mind was boggled. I had no clue as to what Lanning was referring to.

"Why the hell aren't you at the airport? The jet leaves for Spain in an hour, you and Joshua haven't checked in yet! I just got a call from Johnny, telling me that you two aren't there!" I could tell that Lanning was pissed.

My mouth popped open when I remembered everything. How the heck had I forgotten the trip to Spain? Joshua had a runway show and I had become distracted by him! I had completely forgotten everything the minute I woke up next to him. I slapped at my forehead in anger.

Nice one, Lilly.

"Lanning, don't worry. We're just running a little late, but we'll definitely make it." I tried to sound calm and reassuring, as my breathing started to become labored. Things were not looking good.

"What happened?" Joshua was trying to rise with an inquiring look on his face.

"I might have, possibly, maybe, forgotten that you need to be on a plane in about forty minutes..." I tried to make my voice sweet and innocent, but Joshua understood the mess we were in. His mouth opened into a big smile, like he thought the entire situation was amazing in a good way.

"This is not an 'I'm going to smile' situation! This is an 'I'm going to lose my shit because this is bad' situation!" By then I was walking around in circles, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I had screwed up and that I had to leave at that very second, meaning that my kitchen was going to stay in its current sticky state.

I almost fainted, thinking about the way it would smell when I would come back, but I didn't have time to clean things. I was most definitely not leaving my apartment without a shower, though.

"Damn, Lilly. Someone's a potty mouth." Joshua continued to smile at me. If he only knew the profanities in my head, I thought sardonically.

"This is not the time to realize that I talk like a sailor! We need to get ready fast!" I started trying to wipe the counters with a roll of paper towels. Stupid marketing strategies, making the damn consumer think the fucking things were durable. The paper towels ended up sticking to the counter and ripping off in the process, making everything look worse than before.  

"I know!" Joshua exclaimed, raising an index finger in the air. My hopes were raised by the knowing look he had on his face.

"What?" I asked, thinking that he had a solution to our problems.

"Maybe, we can save time by showering really fast!" Joshua claimed, overly excited.

"No, shit." I replied dryly, rolling my eyes at being played. I had given up on the paper towels and had picked up an actual dish towel.

"Together." Joshua finished, wiggling his eye brows and looking it me seductively.

Pausing, I gave Joshua an equally seductive look in return, as if I was actually giving his proposition a thought. At least, I hoped I looked seductively and not like a twitching moron.

I noticed the exact moment that Joshua stopped playing around and actually began to believe that we were going to shower together. I used the opportunity to smack his arm with the dish towel in my hand, hitting him out of his thought process. The cloth snapped on his forearm, momentarily stunning him. Joshua gripped his arm like a little boy and started to yell in pain.

What a baby.

"Yeah, maybe after, we can have a quickie in the elevator!" I yelled with a huge fake grin slapped on my face. Joshua looked at me betrayed and continued to rub his arm soothingly.

"Could have just said no," He mumbled.

"Could have just kept his dirty propositions to himself, unless he wanted me to make him use the sink to shower." I mumbled, just as loudly.

Joshua raised his hands up in the air in surrender. I chuckled at the terrified look he had on his face. I didn't stare at him too long, working hard to rip my eyes off him so that we could get ready.

"Hey, who's Greta?" Joshua asked, perplexed. I turned towards him in question. How did he know about Greta?

"She's a friend. How do you know about her?" I questioned.

"Last night, you woke up for a little bit, before we went to sleep. You didn't want to ruin your dress, but couldn't get it off. You asked me to help you take Greta's dress off." Joshua explained, waiting for me to elaborate.

"I'll tell you about her later. Right now, we need to get on that damn jet!" I yelled, already leaving and pulling my tank off. I heard Joshua call my name to ask me if I was really going to make him use the sink. Shit, we really didn't have time to take two showers.

I called his name, yelling it loudly though the apartment.

"Fine, but you'll be looking in the opposite direction your boxer briefs are staying on!" I let him know, not bothering to explain the fact that I had officially agreed to showering together.

Joshua looked at me in shock, with a giant smirk on his face.

Thus, preceded the most nerve wrecking experience im my entire life. The whole thing was way too intimate for me to feel comfortable, even if Joshua looked like Buddha had just enlightened him and he was at peace. I kept accidently bumping into him, because the tub was way too small.  That, and I was pissed at the fact that I had ruined one of my favorite bras in the water.

"Excuse me, I'll just be-getting this thing..." I said awkwardly, as I shuffled though the small space, trying to grab hold of the shampoo. I reached blindly behind me, trying to locate the plastic bottle.

"Uh, Lilly, that's not the shampoo." Joshua said in a clenched tone. My eyes widened, thinking of where the hell my hand was placed. Was it weird that I thought it was squishy? Was I holding what I thought I was holding? Was that what it was supposed to feel like? Oh my gosh, was I really still holding on to it?

"Then, what is it?" My tone sounded just as panicked as I felt.

"You're holding a loofah." Joshua informed me. I could hear the smirk in his tone.

Asshole!

"Oh, good!" The relief escaped my lips and I heard Joshua laugh loudly. The sound vibrated though the tile walls, as my cheeks reddened.

"Jilly, you're taking up all of the hot water!" Joshua complained, but I could tell that he was still smiling.

I turned around to tell him off, and realized that I had broken one of my rules. Joshua had broken it a long time ago, because he was staring right at me when I turned. I looked up at the water that was dripping from his hair and became mesmerized.

I could feel him getting closer and closer. A huge panic surged through me and I quickly turned back around, muttering at him to do the same. I felt the moment when he finally complied and his eyes were no longer on my back.  That had been a close one.

The rest of the shower wasn't as bad, seeing as I couldn't embarrass myself anymore.

We quickly stepped out and dried off. I tripped into a pair of sweats and a hoodie, while Joshua put his dress shirt and pants back on in the other room.

Thankfully, the cab ride was short. Joshua and I sprinted though the automatic doors, looking around for a direction to go for. Neither of us had any luggage to lug around, seeing as we didn't have time to pack. I would focus on that problem later, at that moment I needed to make it onto that jet.

We frantically reached one of the people who worked at the airport. The woman was blonde and was clearly checking Joshua out when we reached her. She didn't even notice me, until I had to wave my arms in her face. She slowly composed herself long enough for me to question her.

"We were supposed to get on a jet to Spain. Has it left yet?" I couldn't help my tone from being snappy and my foot from tapping on the marble floors.

"I'm sorry, but that jet has just left." The woman claimed, not looking sorry at all.

Lanning was going to kill me! I ran my hands through my soaked hair, watching almost a gallon of water fall to the floor from it. Leaving my house with dripping hair in January had not been a hot idea. I could feel the beginning of cold creeping through me. Things were not looking good.

"We never did have that quickie in the elevator..." Joshua stared off into the distance, probably imagining the act. I slapped his arm distractedly.

"What now?" Joshua asked, staring at me wide eyed.

Good question, Lachowski.

 You guys were waiting for a "don't drop the soap" joke in there somewhere, huh? Just kidding! That willy joke from the last chapter was awkward enough XD Thank you guys so much for reading, commenting, and voting! Let me know what you thought of this chapter!?

Also, I've cast Martin Vance and Robert on the side. There's a picture of both of them to the right, as well. So that you guys can get an idea :3

Finally, I've started a new book that I'm pretty excited about. It's called Armistice and if you're looking for something to read, it would be amazing if you guys could check it out! :) Thanks so much!