Erin looked up at Patty when she reached the last two steps on the staircase and she set down the paper plate of cake she was holding in disappointment. She sighed. "Oh, come on! Why won't Holtzmann come down here with us? I already cut her a piece." Patty shrugged upon hearing the brunette's whining and she walked right passed her to grab her own piece. "I'm just gonna bring it up to her."
"No!" Patty didn't mean to sound so aggressive. She lowered her tone. "She really doesn't feel up to cake right now, okay?"
"But it's her birthday. She shouldn't spend it alone." Gilbert exclaimed.
"Huh?" Abby stood up from the chair at her desk and softly started laughing. The others all looked to her.
"What?" Erin put a hand on her hip.
"Says the girl who wouldn't talk to me for two days because I threw you a surprise party." Yates walked over and grabbed her own piece, then headed back to her chair.
"Well, uh..." Erin's eyes flicked around the room. "That's different."
"Really? How?" Kevin asked.
"Because...because-" She frustratedly slapped her hand down from her hip. "Because this is Holtzmann and she deserves to be around us, her friends, on a big day like this." Patty tried her best not to play Cupid in this very moment.
"Well, it's only Wednesday." Kevin said, taking a bite of his own cake. "I wouldn't really say it's a BIG day."
"Kevin." Patty glared at him. "Really?" They all stared at the hunk for a few seconds and he looked down at the birthday cake on his desk.
"Oh, right. Forgot about that." He smiled and took another bite, causing Patty and Abby to shake their heads.
To Patty's surprise, Abby actually laughed. "You know...I really wonder about you, Kevin."
Erin chuckled and Patty cracked a small grin, until Kevin finished swallowing. "Wonder what?" He asked with a look of confusion.
"Oh, nevermind." Abby said. "Just eat your cake." Patty blew air out of her mouth and sat down in her chair, taking a bite. After a few moments of silence, the thicker woman looked to her best friend who had not moved an inch for a while. "Well, Erin, are you gonna have the cake or not? Or can you just sit down because you're making me uncomfortable, standing in the middle of the room like that."
"No." Erin's voice was at a higher pitch than usual and Patty seemed to be the only one who noticed. "I can't have this cake now. I'm just...I'm gonna save it for Jillian." Immediately, everyone in the room perked up.
"Who's Jillian?" Kevin asked, dumbfounded.
At first, ignoring his question, Erin looked to the other two women and acted as though she didn't know what the problem was. "What?"
"Nothing." Abby returned to her cake. "I'm just not used to people calling her by her first name, I guess."
"Oh." Gilbert nervously giggled. "Well, it's a nice name. And I think it suits her and it-it's not really a big deal."
"No. It's not a big deal." Yates admitted.
"I'm still confused. Who's Jillian?"
"It's Holtzmann, Kev." Patty answered. "Jillian is her first name. Holtzmann is her last name."
The receptionist smiled. "Oh. I thought her name was JUST Holtzmann. Like, uhhhh, I don't know..." He snapped his fingers as if he were trying to think of a famous name. "Ummm....Oh, what is it?"
"Madonna?" Patty suggested and he shook his head no.
"Cher." Abby added.
"No, no." Kevin bit his finger nails, thinking so hard about it.
"Prince?" Erin said.
"Drake." Patty tossed in.
Abby jumped in again. "Ooo, Beyonce."
"No! I've got it!" Kevin snapped once again, but one single snap as if he finally knew whom he was thinking of. "Miley Cyrus!"
"What?" Erin looked to Patty who shook her head and shrugged her shoulders with a look of pity on her face.
Abby pretended to think about it, even though she knew that didn't add up at all, she slowly nodded and said "Oh yeah. Yeah." She caught the side eye she received from Patty and she gave her a look back, suggesting that he was a lost cause and there was no hope for trying to help him anymore.
Beckman smiled, proud of himself for finally thinking of the name, and he finished up his first piece of cake before standing to grab a second piece.
"Wow. You, uh...really know how to eat, don't ya?" Erin flirtatiously smiled at him and she purposefully blocked his path to the cake. "Maybe you and I could, um...eat together sometime." She suggested and he just stared down at her.
"But we, uh...we already have. We do all the time."
"We do?" Erin laughed and he stepped around her.
"Yeah. Remember last week when we all went dancing?" He cut a new piece of the marble dessert and turned around, almost bumping into Gilbert right behind him.
"Yeah. But I mean...just the two of us?" She tried again.
"I don't know. I don't wanna be rude and not invite our other friends."
Erin sadly nodded, but faked a smile. "Oh, okay."
"Okay?" He smiled down at her and when she nodded again, holding back tears of frustration, he walked back to his desk and ate his second piece.
Patty couldn't help but feel a wave of emotions inside. A part of felt the urge to shout to Erin that she's chasing after the impossible and another part just wanted to hug her. While one piece of Patty's brain was also telling her to knock some sense into both Abby and Kevin as well as yelling out Holtzmann's secret. But instead, she decided to keep her mouth shut and finished off her cake as well. "I'm, uh...I'm gonna go for a walk." Erin walked over to her desk, grabbed her purse and headed for the door.
Later on, after Erin had returned from her very emotional alone time, Yates and Gilbert did some more research and Patty sat, reading one of her favorite novels. They all waited for the phone to ring for more ghosts, but it seemed like it was going to be a slow day. Closing time finally came and they all decided to turn in for the night.
"Hey, Erin! Wanna share a cab?" Abby asked while Patty walked and Kevin got on his motorcycle.
"Um...no. I'm good. I think I'm gonna stay for a little bit and maybe, uh...get a head start for tomorrow." The taller of the two grinned.
"You sure? I'll pay."
"No. It's-it's fine. I could use the extra company." She pointed upstairs, hoping Abby would get what she meant. She knew she did when she snorted.
"Ha! Don't you let those ghosts out, Gilbert."
"Haha! I won't." Erin mocked her and Abby headed for the door with her bag.
"Happy birthday, Holtzy!" Yates yelled as loud as possible up the stairs.
To Erin's surprise, Jillian yelled back. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome!" She was about to leave, but she remembered, "And don't forget to lock the door when you leave!"
"I won't!"
"And make sure you check the Ecto Containment Unit before ten!"
"I will!"
Erin awkwardly stood at her desk, watching Abby yell up the stairs and listening to Holtz scream back down. "Why don't you just, uh...go up there and talk to her?" Gilbert tried to politely suggest, when she heard a slight echo cause a small ringing in her ears.
"No, no. That's alright. I'm done now." Abby said to her.
"Oh. Okay. Bye." She waved.
"Alright, bye." She said calmly just before, "BYE HOLTZY!" Erin jumped, closing her eyes at the startle.
"BYE BYE!"
"Oh, gosh! Okay." Erin mumbled to herself and finally, Abby was gone. Peace and quiet at last. She sighed, sitting down at her desk for about two minutes and suddenly feeling bored. She actually wasn't in the mood to work anymore tonight. So she walked on over to Kevin's desk, sitting in his chair and setting her hands on the desk as if she were touching him. She closed her eyes, smiled, and took in a deep breath slightly smelling the after scent of his expensive cologne.
When she opened her eyes, she picked up the picture he had of himself on his table. She sadly looked at it, thinking about kissing it or holding it to her chest, but all she did was play with the corners of the frame and set it back down.She sighed again, but this time it was a sad sigh and she tapped her finger nails on the wood in front of her. She cleared her throat wondering what Holtzmann was up to and she turned in her chair, looking at the stairs and deciding on whether or not she should go up.
Little did she know that Holtzmann was standing right by her door, looking out and down the stairs at her. When she saw Erin stand from Kevin's seat, she slowly moved away from behind the door and back to her stool, hoping Gilbert didn't see her.