You Are My Sunshine

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Charity Night

Lacing her fingers with Joe's, Gabriella took a deep breath as she followed him into the hotel where the charity evening was being held; she wasn't sure why she had agreed to come especially knowing that a lot of his team-mates were going to be there. 

Joe had told her that if she didn't want to come then he would happily attend the event alone but Gabriella refused not wanting to give the others more reason to hate her. 

Elena was spending the evening with Gabriella's parents since she was far too young to come to the event and it meant Joe and Gabriella had the night to themselves for once. 

Keeping up with Joe as they entered the hotel, Gabriella couldn't help but hope that things weren't going to be like the last team event that she had attended; she had been left practically on her own since none of his team-mates or their spouses would speak with her. 

"It'll be better this time," Joe murmured drawing Gabriella close, he had noticed how much easier it had been recently to talk about his relationship with Gabriella since Elena had been born. 

His team-mates had seemingly started to warm to the idea that Gabriella was here to stay, they were still a little stiff but now that it was clear that Joe had really moved on from Georgina; they had no reason to doubt the stories that they had heard about his ex-girlfriend especially with some still being leaked. 

"Joe... glad you could make it," Vincent greeted moving forward with his wife, he smiled knowing that they weren't going to push him anymore and they would all just have to deal with the fact that he had brought Gabriella with him. 

Carla chewed on her lip, she peeked at the other woman knowing that this was all going to be so strange; there were a lot of people that were just going to continue to ignore Gabriella especially since all they could see was the woman that Joe had cheated on Georgina with.

Joe drew Gabriella close, he wasn't going to leave her to fend for herself and he didn't care what anyone else thought about this; he loved her and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. 

It was strange to think that they had welcomed their daughter into the world only a month earlier, the couple were still adjusting and things were finally starting to quieten down for them. 

"You look nice," Carla said awkwardly, she wasn't entirely sure what to say to Gabriella but she guessed it was a start; the A-line sequins beading backless half-sleeves long evening dress that she was wearing did look beautiful on her. 

Gabriella nodded her head, she felt so out of place and she knew that it would look stupid if she asked Joe to leave now; she would have to just deal for a couple of hours especially since she wanted people to like her. 

"So do you," Gabriella replied carefully, she knew people would be watching the encounter and she could already feel people judging her without even knowing her. 

Joe wrapped an arm around Gabriella's waist, he didn't plan on leaving her side unless it was necessary; he didn't want anyone putting ideas in her head or making her feel like she wasn't worthy. 

The last two months that they had been together meant more to Joe than the five years that he had spent with Georgina; they were parents to Elena and he couldn't think of anything better for them. 

Joe nodded to Vincent and Carla before leading Gabriella away so that they could find their seats, he didn't care what anyone else thought; he was with Gabriella and nothing was going to change that. 

They were all just going to have to get used to the fact that they were together now.

***

Sipping on her glass of champagne, Georgina smiled to herself as she looked around the room trying to see if there was anyone that she knew; she hadn't been able to resist coming once she heard that Joe was going to be there. 

It had been a rough couple of months since her father had cut her off, Georgina was desperate to get Joe back and she knew that she would give anything to be at his side again. 

Sniffling Georgina wiped under her nose and made sure that there was nothing there; the last thing that she wanted was for anyone to realise that she was drugged up to her eyeballs. 

It didn't take long for Georgina to spot Joe and Gabriella, she watched the couple and frowned wondering why Joe had never been like that with her; she hated that someone else was living the life that was meant for her. 

Knocking back the rest of her drink, Georgina grabbed another one from the waiter that was walking past; she'd lost count of how many that she'd had but she was now ready to go and get Joe back. 

Georgina made her way towards Joe's table, she bumped into people and things as she went but she didn't care; she ignored the looks that she got knowing that Gabriella wasn't going to be an issue anymore. 

Reaching into her bag, Georgina pulled out a knife and held it tightly in her hand while she staggered over to where Joe and Gabriella were sat; she grinned to herself as she prepared to get rid of her love rival for good. 

Raising the knife so that she could stab Gabriella, Georgina suddenly found herself being knocked to the ground as someone jumped into the way and blocked her attack. 

Gabriella was quickly on her feet, she stared at the scene behind her and felt sick at the sight of blood that covered David Silva; she honestly couldn't believe what was happening right now. 

"What the hell?" Joe exclaimed as people gathered around them, he couldn't believe what had nearly happened and he was just glad that David hadn't been hurt too badly.

Georgina frowned pushing herself up, she wobbled unsteadily on her feet and her stomach turned a little; she felt sick but shook her head so that she could look at Joe, she had been so close to getting rid of Gabriella. 

"I came to get you back," Georgina slurred, her hands started to shake badly and she suddenly felt like she was having a hot flush; she tried to focus on Joe but her vision seemed to be failing. 

Joe stared at his ex-girlfriend, he had no idea what was going on with her but he couldn't believe that she had just attempted to kill Gabriella; his stomach turned as he looked at David who was pressing a napkin to his wound. 

No one was prepared for what happened next, they all watched in horror as Georgina hunched forward and threw up; the sound was horrible and Joe couldn't help but wrinkle his nose before realising that there was blood in the sick on the floor. 

"What did you take?" Joe asked when Georgina stood back up, her pupils were completely blown and he couldn't help but worry that she'd completely gone off the deep end. 

Joe had heard a lot about her drug taking from the interviews from people that knew her but this was the first time he was really seeing how bad it was; he had no idea what to do. 

Georgina opened her mouth to say something before her eyes rolled back into her head, she dropped to the floor and started to have convulse on the floor; her entire body shook and no one knew what to do. 

"Someone call an ambulance," Gabriella shouted before darting forward, she remembered seeing something about this on the television the other week and she knew that they needed to act quickly if they wanted to save Georgina's life.