When Gemma called Peter with the news of finding a photographer she had expected at least a few questions. Instead, what she got was just an, albeit enthusiastic, "okay" and the go ahead to pay him whenever she wanted.

The call to Peter was a little disappointing, she had expected it to allow her to put off the chore of calling Justin at least a little bit. But, as she dialed the number on his website, Gemma realized that for the past few days nothing seemed to be going her way. With her phone held tightly between her ear and shoulder Gemma waited anxiously for someone to pick up. When the phone was finally answered it wasn't Justin, but surprisingly, Gemma found she recognized the voice.

"What up?"

Although no one could see her, Gemma sat up straighter in her chair. "Yes, hello. May I speak to Justin?" She asked, rubbing her sweaty palm down the side of one of her jean clad thighs.

"He is currently indisposed right now." Trace answered, watching Justin turning the ribs over the barbeque.

"Oh," Gemma started, half disappointed half relieved, "Um, Trace? Is that you?"

Trace froze, thankful she couldn't see him through the phone, "Yes..." he trailed off, confused at who could be calling Justin's phone who recognized his voice.

"Hi, it's Gemma. Gemma Porter? Remember me?" She asked with a nervous laugh. "Do you think you could tell Justin I called? About wedding photos?"

"Actually," Trace jumped. "I can get him for you. Hold on for a sec."

Leaving Justin's cell phone on the kitchen counter, Trace briskly walked into the backyard. "Hey, J," Trace called. "Phone for you."

Justin looked up from where he was manning the grill and shook his head no. "Tell them I'll call them back, I'm busy, Trace."

"Justin...it's Gemma." Trace called back, almost at a whisper, his arms splayed at his side.

With a sigh Justin laid down the tongs and walked towards the phone as if it was his death sentence.

"Hello? Are you still there?" He asked ignoring Trace's skeptic glance as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I'm still here...Justin?" She asked.

"Hi, yeah, it's me. Sorry about the confusion." Justin said as he straightened, suddenly feeling much more professional. It was silent on the line for a bit and then he heard a subtle clearing of her throat before Gemma spoke.

"I was just calling to finalize that Peter and I want to book you as our wedding photographer." Her inflection lifted, making her sentence a mix between excitement and a question.

Justin groaned inwardly.

"That's...that's great!" He forced with a furrowed brow and reached for a sticky note pad and pen by Trace's home phone. "I don't remember you mentioning a date for the wedding, has anything been scheduled?"

"Um," Gemma hesitated. "Well we haven't actually found a place to have it yet, so an official date hasn't been set, but we're thinking sometime in late August or early September."

Justin was shocked, she hadn't found a place yet? What kind of engagement was this? "You haven't found your venue yet?" He asked in disbelief.

"No..." Gemma started. "That's another reason why I was calling you. Peter, um," she cleared her throat, "Peter suggested that maybe I ask you for any ideas about good locations to have weddings."

Justin dragged his hand across his face. Of course she wouldn't want to suggest any venues that she found interesting! She'd be content to stand and nod and smile when prompted, never to express her own opinion. Justin thought. For the Gemma he knew it was so unlike her to allow anything to happen without meticulous planning, and this was her wedding! This was her wedding and to Justin, she seemed indifferent, and that was not the way he imagined an engaged, wedding planning Gemma to act. Professional, he reminded himself, act professional.

"Are you guys looking to have an outdoor or indoor wedding?" He questioned.

Gemma sighed. "At this point, we're looking at anything interesting. We just need it big enough to house at least 150 people, but probably more."

"Hmm." Justin said as he walked to Trace's office, ignoring the look of what the fuck from his best friend as he shut the door. "Well, I haven't been back for awhile but I remember this place called Bear Flag Farm, it's outdoor and really, really great. The Whitecomb Hotel in the older part of San Francisco is beautiful, too, and that place can hold up to about 400 people. I'm not really sure of any places besides those that are anything remarkable, the rest are all pretty generic from what I remember."

Gemma reached for the yellow legal pad in the corner of the desk and was scribbling down the names that Justin had listed. "No, it's fine." She said. "Do you think you could give me the addresses to these places?" She asked casually.

"I'm not actually sure of them off the top of my head," Justin answered. "They're probably online though."

Gemma rolled her eyes at her own foolishness. "Right, I'm sorry."

"Not a problem," Justin brushed off her apology. "Definitely check them out, I'm sure you'll like at least one of them."

"Great! Well...thank you, Justin." Gemma said as the awkwardness of their situation rolled over them like a cloud.

"Gemma?" Justin called, barely making it before she hung up. "The places I mentioned are pretty popular, so you should probably check them out as soon as you can."

"Oh, yes, well, I was planning on going tomorrow, so I don't think it will be an issue...but thanks," she added as an afterthought.

The line clicked and Justin was left with the silence of an empty room and the cold weight of his phone against his cheek. Justin closed his eyes with a sigh and rested his forehead on the cool wood of Trace's desk, the telephone still pressed against his ear.

There was a knock on the office door and Trace walked in, his face grim.

"Ribs are done," he said.

Justin sat up. He put the phone down on the desk, put the pen back in its holder and placed the sticky notes where they belonged. "Cool, I'll be out in a minute."

Trace stood in front of the office doors with his arms crossed. "You're really doing this?" He questioned.

Justin's patience was wearing thin, "Um, yeah, I am. How many times do I have to say this is just another job, Trace?"

"You just suggested the place YOU wanted to marry her! How is that normal!?"

Justin shrugged. "You're right, I wanted to have our wedding there. But did you hear that, Trace? Wanted. Not want, not must, not need, wanted. Past tense. Five years is a hell of a long time.  More than enough for me to get over some relationship that wasn't really going to go anywhere from the start."

Trace looked skeptical at best. "If you saw nothing in its future, what was the point of proposing?"

Justin stood from the desk forcefully and ran a hand over his head. "I saw something then, yeah...but seeing her again, now, I'm sure it never would have lasted."

Trace stayed rooted in front of the office door. "Why wouldn't it have worked?"

Justin pushed in the chair with a thud and ran his hands up and down the wooden arms. Still looking down he answered Trace. "We're just way too different."

----

"Holly, pleeeease come with me." Gemma begged. She was sitting in front of Holly's apartment in her car, waiting to pick her up so they could go look at the venues Justin had suggested the. After ending the call to Justin yesterday, Gemma had immediately phoned Holly and invited her to come check out the wedding sites. However, around ten o'clock this morning Holly called Gemma asking her if they could reschedule, because Holly had, ‘the worst hang over of her life.'

"Gem, there's just no way." Holly murmured.  "Even through the phone the sound of your voice is just grating."

"Holly please? I'm already here and you're my maid of honor, you can't just bail on me!"

Holly sighed. "Fiiine, give me fifteen minutes."

Gemma agreed and twenty minutes later Holly marched from the building in a blue jersey dress and Gemma's silver Louboutins strapped to her feet looking fabulous and not a sliver hung over. This was just the sort of thing that Holly would do, complain and complain of a hangover and then come out looking more fabulous and more put together than anyone she was with. It was just one of her things. Gemma glanced at her black skinny jeans, flowing baby blue tank, and ballet flats and suddenly felt under dressed. As she plopped down into the passenger seat of Gemma's car Holly adjusted the oversized aviators perched on her nose without so much as a hello. Gemma sighed and started the car. At least she wasn't lying about the hang over.

"You okay, Holly?" Gemma asked quietly.

Holly held her hand to her forehead. "Shh," she answered without even bothering to face her sister and Gemma fought the urge to scream.

Pretending nothing was wrong Gemma made their way to the first venue, the farm, but not before stopping at the nearest Starbucks and picking up a vente Americano and a bottle of water for Holly. Three hours later Gemma and Holly were still in the car, looking for an exit that seemed to never come.

"Gem, you're totally lost, why don't you just call the place and ask for directions. Right directions." Holly complained.

"I told you we're fine, and I know where we're going! We just haven't passed our exit yet." Gemma justified.

"Come on! We've been in the car for like, three hours!" It should not have taken us this long to get to the farm! It's in Winters!" Holly groaned, her hang over seemingly immune to her own yelling. "Please just call the venue," she said and slammed her head against the back of her seat.

Gemma squeezed the steering wheel tightly with one hand and fished out her phone. Quickly scrolling through her contacts she responded. "I didn't save the number." She said with a sigh, bracing herself for Holly's outburst.

"Oh my God." Holly started, pressing her hand to her forehead again.

"Look," Gemma said, as she flicked her blinker on, taking the nearest exit. "We'll just go to the hotel in San Francisco okay? We both know where that is for sure."

Holly sighed. "Yeah, that sounds fine, I guess."

"Good." Gemma said, her voice void of the anger that was previously building.

A moment passed before Gemma ventured in a discussion with Holly.

"So...how did your date go?" Gemma asked.

Gemma could see Holly's brows furrow behind her sunglasses. "Date?" Holly asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, the one you borrowed the shoes for," Gemma said as she pointed to the shoes still adorning Holly's feet. "And by the way, when am I going to get those back? I thought you just needed them for the date."

"Oh," Holly said, still sounding a bit confused. "Ohhh!" she said again, as if just remembering. "He was nice, I suppose, but I think he wanted something long term. And you know how much I love being single. And, Gemma, you know I'll give you your shoes back soon. I just wore them today so I wouldn't forget I had them."

 "That's too bad." Gemma spoke. "About the date and the shoes."

Holly gave her first smile of the day, "No, not really, on to the next one, you know what I mean?" Holly laughed and glanced at Gemma's left hand on the steering wheel. "No, I guess you don't know, do you?"

Gemma gave a weak smile.

"I can't believe it, Gemmy! Your first serious relationship and you're engaged! I hope you don't expect your kids to have any cousins from me any time soon!"

Gemma let out an uncomfortable laugh, the idea of mothering little Peter's making her surprisingly nauseous. Quickly attributing her unsettling feelings to just nervousness about the fact she was finally picking out a location for her wedding, Gemma answered her sister.

"No, Holly, I don't. Could you imagine Dad's face if he found out you were pregnant without a husband!?" Gemma laughed.

Holly giggled with her. "He'd probably track down the poor guy and force him to marry me! Even if we both didn't want to!"

Gemma and Holly laughed for the entire ride to San Francisco. Bouncing ridiculous scenario after ridiculous scenario off of each other, each one involving a pregnant Holly, a reluctant baby daddy, and their own father's hired assassin. It was in times like these that Gemma loved her sister the most. She was charming and hilarious and Gemma knew completely that Holly would do anything for her sister's happiness. And by the time they had parked and were getting out of their car both Holly and Gemma were clutching their sore stomachs from laughing so much.

Though a good hour early for their appointment, Gemma and Holly managed to start the tour of the hotel's amenities almost as soon as they arrived. The hotel was large, as Justin said it would be, and much too grand for Gemma's taste, as she expected Justin knew as well. Holly, however, loved everything about the hotel, from the turn of the century architecture, to the ballroom, which boasted enough space for 500 guests, where the reception would be held.

"Gemma!" Holly held onto Gemma's arm with a squeal of excitement. "This place is perfect! Don't you think?"

Gemma gave a placating smile, "It is nice, but you know, we haven't even seen the other place."

Holly scoffed. "Why even see the farm when this is so great? Not to mention available! And you know Daddy would love it!"

Gemma nodded her head in agreement, it was true, her dad would love this hotel, its grandeur and reputation were things that he always looked for, but something in her was begging her to visit the farm. "I just think we should explore all the options, you know?"

Holly was standing facing Gemma's left, and for a moment, when Holly never responded Gemma thought there was something wrong with her. But as soon as Holly opened her mouth Gemma decided it would have been better if something was wrong with her.

----

Justin had, much to his dismay, accompanied a prospective client to the hotel the very next day after he suggested Gemma to visit as soon as possible. And as fate would have it, just as he was about to exit the lobby he heard someone shout his name excitedly from across the atrium.

"Justin!" Holly exclaimed, waving happily with one hand and dragging her sister along with the other. "How great to see you again!"

Gemma folded her arms across her chest. "Why are you here?"

"Gemma!" Holly admonished through her teeth, only moving her head a fraction of an inch in Gemma's direction. "Why are you so rude all of a sudden?"

"What?" Gemma challenged. "I was just asking." Justin noticed, however, with each word of her defense Gemma's voice lost more and more conviction.

Justin interrupted before Holly could speak, wanting to clear up any sort of thoughts Gemma may have in her head about him planning their run-in. "A new client wanted me to check out this venue with them, help them weigh the aesthetic pros and cons."

Holly smiled wider, if that was possible. "Yes, of course! That makes perfect sense! What a good idea, to ask an artist's point of view on something so incredibly important."

Justin smiled and nodded his head awkwardly.

"Oh!" Holly clasped her hands together. "I have the most wonderful idea! You should come with us and show us the farm!"

Justin finally made direct eye contact with Gemma, confusion written on his face. "You haven't already gone?"

Gemma shook her head, a light pink dusting her cheeks. "We got a little lost..."

Justin chuckled knowingly and took comfort in the fact that at least a few things hadn't changed about her. That was the reason he had always driven when they were together. He could count on one hand the number of times they got lost, and each time Gemma had been driving. It didn't matter if he was navigating, as long as she was behind the wheel, it was guaranteed that they would get at least a little lost.

"So you'll come? Right now?!" Holly asked, oblivious to the tension between the ex lovers.

Justin frowned, "I actually can't go today. I'm supposed to meet Trace to look at my new west coast office," Justin jiggled his watch forward on his wrist to check the time and frowned, "fifteen minutes ago."

As Justin's denied her request Holly pouted, but within seconds the implications of what he said clicked. "Oh! Does that mean you're staying in California long term?" She questioned enthusiastically.

Justin rubbed the back of his neck and checked his watch again. "I'm not really sure, I've still got to gage the amount of interest in my business. But it looks like I'll be here for at least another couple months."

Holly beamed. "Isn't it so great he's staying?" She asked Gemma, looking for more praise for her own good will than an actual conformation of the fact.

Gemma gave a cold smile. "I'm surprised he can stay anywhere for very long."

Holly tilted her head in confusion but like she always seemed to do around Justin, chose to ignore her sister's unusual behavior.

"Well how about tomorrow? Can you come then?" Holly asked Justin.

Justin looked from Holly to Gemma and back again, weighing his own pros and cons. Should the duty to a client, namely Gemma, carry more precedence than the sting he was sure to feel at the physical presence of the girl he once wanted to marry at the place he planned their wedding? For what seemed like the billionth time, "it's just a job" sounded in Justin's head and he made a decision.

"Sure, why not. I'll come with you." Justin said with a grin, avoiding the death glare Gemma was giving him and praying that he made the right decision.

Leaving the lobby and the presence of Gemma was like a breath of fresh air for Justin. He could only imagine how incriminating it looked to her, that he showed up to the very place he suggested, at the exact time she had scheduled an appointment. As if he was trying to see her again! Justin shook his head as he slid into the driver's seat of his rental. She seemed really angry with him today, though it wasn't completely uncalled for, he couldn't remember a time he had seen her act that way. And Holly, dear lord, Holly. Justin made a silent prayer to God that she wasn't interested in him, because that could only go one way - horribly. Already, with just her mild pursuit of him Justin felt uncomfortable. And...maybe that's why Gemma was so rude. Was she...jealous?

No, she couldn't be! His mind reasoned.

Think about it, his heart argued. She did seem pretty unenthusiastic about being there.

She was probably just tired. His mind suggested.

"Tired and rude!" Justin said aloud with a chuckle.

The more he thought about it, the funnier Gemma seemed. Justin wasn't used to her being so short with anyone, and definitely not him. When they were dating he encouraged her to be more outspoken, it's true, but he never thought he would be on the receiving end of her unhindered mouth. Especially after her own demonstration of the fact that she still bent to Holly's almost every wish. But instead of her biting attitude getting on his nerves, he found it sort of...cute. What she said earlier, about him never being able to stay anywhere kind of hurt, but when would it not? And couple that with the fact that he could laugh about it after, he really must be over her. Completely. Suck on that, Trace. Justin thought smugly.

Although Justin was now absolutely, one hundred percent sure that he was over her, these past few days that he had spent around Gemma left him a little lonely. She was magnetic to him, she always had been, and seeing her again had only reminded him of that. He was over her - completely over her. But just because he was completely one hundred percent over her didn't mean they couldn't be friends. They were friends before they dated, so they could be friends after, too.

Despite what Trace may believe, shooting Gemma's wedding really was just another job. But...it did seem like everyone else was hell-bent on turning it into something more, whether on purpose or not. But Justin could handle it, he could. Sure these first few run-ins with Gemma had been a little awkward, but that should go away with time. Would go away with time. And Gemma should be fine with it too, if it were that uncomfortable for her she wouldn't have hired him. And with that frame of mind Justin pulled up to his new west coast office to find Trace standing at the door his cell phone in hand.

"Took you long enough!" Trace called as soon as Justin's door opened. "You're never late."

Mild beeps sounded from Justin's car alarm as he walked over and unlocked the front door. "I know, sorry." Justin held the door open for Trace, though he made no move to enter just yet.

"Why were you late?" Trace questioned skeptically, his feet rooted in front of the door.

"I ran into some people." Justin said vaguely as he stepped through the front door, no longer waiting for Trace to enter.

"Some people, huh?" Trace asked as he followed Justin in.

"Yeah, people."

"Girl people? Gemma people?"

Justin sighed. "Yes. Gemma people. When are you going to stop making this such a big deal, Trace?"

Trace scoffed. "When you start acting like it's a not a big deal! If it wasn't a big deal do you think you would have answered so vaguely about who you ran into?"

Justin grumbled, his back to Trace, as he took in the new space.

"Exactly." Trace answered. "When you stop treating her like she's something special, I'll stop giving you shit about it!"

Justin sighed again and turned back to Trace. "Fine."

"Good." Trace replied happily. "So what do you think of the building?"

The new office Justin had originally envisioned was small, mostly to be used for business calls and developing his photos, since couples always seemed to want to meet at their own homes or over lunch, anyway. This building, however, was much larger that what he had had in mind. There were three separate offices in the back of the space, two of which had one wall of complete glass facing the front door, and the other Justin assumed was what he would use to develop his photos.  The rest of the space was devoted to a large, open reception room with clean white walls that took up about half of the square footage.

"It's too big." Justin stated.

Trace smiled and held his arms out from his sides. "I got you a great deal on this space, man. The price is the same as it would be for something much smaller. I figure you're going to have to expand eventually once you get well known, so you might as well already have the space."

"You don't know I'll have to expand." Justin answered off-handedly. Walking deeper into the building, running his hand across the wall.

Trace opened an office door and peered in before shutting it again. "Don't be a dick, Justin. We both know you're going to have to expand."

Justin just smiled and walked deeper into his new office. It was nice empty, when it was furnished he was sure it could be amazing. Maybe this isn't too big, Justin thought. Maybe this is just right.

"Are you sure you have to do Gemma's wedding photos?" Trace asked abruptly coming to stand next to Justin in the office.

"God, Trace!" Justin yelled, he had thought this discussion was over. "You know it's completely necessary. Their business will give me so much publicity, and you know it. It's just a job, so just fucking drop it already!"

Trace folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the glass of the office wall. "Look, Justin. You don't have to pretend that way. I was there when you proposed, I was there when you left. It was ME who avoided Gemma until she stopped coming all together. So don't pretend like that girl didn't fuck you up more than you want to admit, all I'm saying is be careful. Five years IS a long time, J, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking that has been enough for you."

"It has been enough, Trace." Justin argued. "I'm completely over it. At the most, Gemma and I can be friends. It's what we were before everything, and I don't see why we can't be it afterwards, too."

Trace nodded his head and thankfully said nothing, there was only so much Justin could take. Why could no one believe that it was possible for him to handle Gemma's photos without any emotional attachment? It was possible for him to work around her and not get distracted by the light, clean scent of some unnamed perfume she wore. Or the way she tilted her head back to laugh when something was truly funny, like it was the first laugh of her life. And certainly not the way she looked better than she did five years ago. How the jeans she wore earlier in the day showcased the most gorgeous pair of legs Justin had ever seen.

No, working for Gemma would just like any other job.