Stars Landing [Book 3]

Chapter 31 - Six Months Later

'I will have to see if he's free,' Rhea messaged her brother back.

Francesca walked into the break room, all giddy. Rhea assumed it had something to do with her boyfriend, Ronnie, the guy she had ditched Rhea for at the bar that one time. Francesca asked Rhea to hang out again, but after being abandoned for men, she decided against further out-of-work interactions with the glorified receptionist.

"Hey girl!" Francesca beamed. "How is it going?"

Rhea forced a smile. "Not too bad. What's up?"

Francesca played with her hair. "Oh you know, just planning ways to celebrate our six month anniversary with my boo," she replied.

"Oh, how nice."

Rhea could not believe Francesca was wasting her time celebrating six months of a relationship. Rhea personally referred to it as the end of the honeymoon phase, where all the romance was tested and the couple's true colours started to show. Hell, she made sure to tell Warren that she did not want to start celebrating anything until they hit one year. Things between her and Warren could still hit the fan, they could have a huge fight about his time in LA, and end up falling apart! Why risk that six months into a relationship? No, no. Rhea was happy with things just the way they were.

Her cheeks flushed as she remembered their first intimate night with the suit-wearer. It was at the Devonshire Resort with the most spectacular view of Lake Ontario. Her friends practically threw her a party when Rhea told them about it. Sera said she was a prude for waiting so long.

-

Rhea submitted her application by the end of the work day and then she headed home by subway. Her mind drifted to think about Sera. She moved into Tegan's place about two months ago. Harry decided to get a one bedroom apartment by himself because he felt like he was already living alone with Sera traveling in and out of the city so much. Sera didn't think renting a whole place was a good idea, so she asked Tegan and Rhea if she could crash at their place from time to time. There was more than enough room for a third person at their house, so the girls were happy to be her home away from home.

Sera spoiled her friends with her amazing cooking skills in return. Every time she came into the city, she made a huge feast. Rhea was trying to think about the leftovers in the fridge from two days ago. Since Tegan was on her trip, Rhea begged Sera to have a girls night with her. They made pizza from scratch and drank wine until three in the morning.

Feeling a little lonelier now, Rhea decided to complain about her solidarity to Tegan, who had already messaged her a few minutes ago. 'So, who is going to pick me up from the airport this weekend? I could call an Uber, but I don't want to.'

'I want to pick you up,' Rhea replied. "But a, I don't drive and b, Warren's coming back and whisking me away to a cottage in Montreal that morning. I know for a fact that Sera can't because she's been chained to the Pen Pals!'

'I guess I can ask Christian,' Tegan messaged.

'I'm sure he would love to get you.'

'Okay cool. Thanks girl.'

Christegan had come such a long way from since they first met. From arguing with each other at the yogurt stand, to Tegan watching over Wicked, to them secretly hooking up behind everyone's back, they were finally able to call themselves friends. It was quite difficult for Christian to grasp the concept at first, as he constantly stayed in touch with Tegan through texting and phone calls. Her friend said it was a little strange sometimes because she was trying to get over him.

Sera and Rhea felt bad for Christian. They tried to reason with Tegan and asked her to reconsider friend-zoning him, but she wouldn't allow it.

"Enough is enough guys!" she said, during Sera's first night at the house. "I'm tired of having this talk with him. I need you guys to support my decision. I want to be cool with Christian and just move on with my life and let him live his."

"But!" Rhea and Sera argued.

"No buts!" Tegan glared. "If you're my friends then you need to be behind me one hundred percent. Okay?"

No one could force Tegan to change her mind once it was made. Not even her best friends. So Christian had been temporarily shoved into the friend-zone, but it was okay. Rhea was sure he would make things right sooner or later. That was until Tegan met Connor on her stupid trip to Fiji. Apparently they had been diving, flirting and going on little epic adventures together. The thought of Connor made Rhea's blood boil. Who the hell did this guy think he was coming out of nowhere to woo her best friend when her stars were meant to align with Christian?

Rhea didn't blame Tegan for dipping her toes in another part of the ocean, but she also couldn't let Christegan fall apart. Sera advised Tegan to keep Connor a secret from Christian, because it might put him on a warpath.

'It's not that big of a deal, guys!' Tegan had sent a message on their group chat. 'I'm not taking Connor seriously. I'm just having fun. Is that okay?"

Rhea furiously typed back. 'Of course it's okay for you to have fun! We just don't want you getting attached to someone who might want a long-distant relationship.'

'True, true!" Sera supported. 'Are you sleeping with him?'

'Not at all!' Tegan assured. 'We just hang out. It feels good and fun.'

Good and fun was nice, but the girls hoped Tegan would keep Connor far away from Toronto. Perhaps they were being protective of her, Rhea could admit to that, but there was a part of her that couldn't fathom Tegan being with anyone but Christian. Was it sad that she was still wishing they would be together? It was hard to be supportive when all she could think about was their goodbye in Ottawa. The way Tegan explained it, it seemed like Christian was truly in love with her.

Rhea took a deep breath and forced herself to mind her damn business. Whether Tegan and Christian decided to be together or not, all Rhea could do as a friend (to both of them) was offer her support.

Speak of the devil, she got a message from Christian. 'Hey,' it read. 'When you go into work tomorrow can you pick up some papers for me? I forgot to sign a few things when I was there last week. I will grab them from you when I drop Tegan off.'

'Sure. What papers?'

'Just some consent forms for Lance and the boys to sign,' came the reply.

'Oh, I see.' Rhea typed back. 'Thanks for picking Tegan up. I honestly didn't think you would have time with Red's album coming out and the Pen Pal's new single.'

'Warren's taking care of Red,' Christian answered. 'And I have my trustee assistant dealing with the Pen Pals.'

'So, things with Sera are going well?' Rhea inquired. 'Can she finally take off her training wheels now? Lol.'

Christian was quick to text back. 'She took them off a while ago, and I must say it's been quite refreshing to have someone I can depend on.'

'That's so great Christian,' Rhea wrote. 'I'm really happy for you!'