𝘽-𝙎𝙞𝙙𝙚

Ｔｈｅ Ｆａｓｔ ａｎｄ ｔｈｅ Ｆｕｒｉｏｕｓ

Ｔｗｅｎｔｙ-Ｔｈｅ Ｆａｓｔ ａｎｄ ｔｈｅ Ｆｕｒｉｏｕｓ

"Bye Axel, I'll see you tomorrow." I waved goodbye as it was 6:30 pm, meaning I had to get home. I grabbed my tote, which was much lighter than it was in the morning, and walked outside the firm.

Rhys was there in his car, waiting for me. I got in the passenger seat, raising an eyebrow,

"Where ya taking me today star-teller?" I ask, seeing him hum. I frown from the loss of an answer but buckle my seatbelt anyways. He speeds toward the center of town as I squeal, my adrenaline going up from the sharp turns that he was taking,

"Sheesh, stop trying to be in the Fast and the Furious. I know that you broke the record for most failure on a driving test but I'm not the one that failed you." I say as he parks in front of a small tavern. He looks at me, pouting,

"I did not."

"Yes you did. Half the time you failed before you backed up!" I scream, lightly teasing him.

"How was work?" I asked, seeing him sit down at our table in the tavern. He looks at me with a sigh,

"I got tasked to deal with the new Korean branch." He whines as I ask,

"Isn't that good for you?" Rhys's family was originally from South Korea, but immigrated to DC a year before he was born. After he graduated college, they went back to deal with family matters.

"The branch was having funding problems." He groans out and I understand. His job was to research the stars, the moon and everything in between, not funding.

"I'm sorry." I say softly, not knowing how to reply. His face brightens as he asks me,

"How was your work?"

"It was normal. But we had these two hot men come in as sponsors and oh my god. They looked like they stepped out of a photoshoot." Rhys put his head in his palm as he listened to me fangirling about the two men that came in.

Our food came as Rhys looks at me, armed with a fork and a knife,

"Are we gonna call the band?" He asked, referencing to when we usually facetime Charlotte, Tommy and Louie. I nod,

"I think that we should. We also have to ask about the Archie situation." I say, finishing my meal and calling the waiter over. My phone dings and I look at it to see that Axel had texted me,

From:Axel

How do you feel about meeting

the sponsors tomorrow?

To:Axel

The sponsors? Me? Are you sure?

From:Axel

Yes, the ones that you were

giving googly eyes to. Don't think

That I didn't notice.

To:Axel

Fine. OKay. Do I have to dress fancy?

From:Axel

Yes, you won't have to run around

Like usual.

To:Axel

Try not to drool.

I put the phone away, tucking my credit card into the folder and putting it on the table.

"What happened Tal?" He asks, as the waitress takes the folder.

"I have to see the models tomorrow. I also have to wear a dress.Ew." I say, seeing Rhys's face light up.

"Makeover time." We step out of the tavern and into his car.I look at him, what he said finally registering,

"Why do I need a makeover?" I asked as Rhys dodged through the streets of DC, making sure to get up home as soon as possible.

"Tal, I've never seen you in a dress unless I've forced you to wear one." I nod, he had a point.

"Let's get changed, then we can call the Londoners." I say while marching upstairs. I slip off my clothes and jump in the warm shower, being sure not to get my hair wet. After I shower and do my routine I change into an oversized sweater and a pair of satin shorts.

I throw my hair into a messy bun and walk down the stairs, finding Rhys setting up the computer's facetime app. I sit on the couch, leaning on Rhys's shoulder as it rings.

"Hi Rhys. Hey Stargirl." Tommy calls first. It's the afternoon in London so he's clad in a button up and some skinnies. He looks to be in the studio, probably learning a new guitar solo.

"Hey Ry, Hey love." Louie answers next from Paris. He went back to celebrate his parent's fiftieth anniversary. He was wearing a snapback with a Supreme sweatshirt.

"Hello Rhys, Hey Tal." Charlotte answers last, her hair frizzy. She was at her house, I guessed, since I had never seen that background.

"Hey y'all." I said, waving tiredly. All of them waved back to me as I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear.

"How's work?" Louie asked me, his voice husky from it being sorta late there.

"It's normal." I respond as Rhys looks at me, eyes wide,

"Normal? Normal my ass! Tal has had two absolutely dreamy guys come to her workplace and tomorrow she will be seeing them one on one." He says, raising an eyebrow as I cover my face shyly. Louie looks at me with his eyebrows raised suggestively,

"Are they single?"

"I don't know? What do you want me to do, go up to them and say 'Hi, I'm the secretary and I want to know if you're single?'" I say, seeing all of them nod along.

"Pretty much." Louie says as Charlotte starts talking,

"Rhys, are you going to give her a makeover?" Rhys nods while taking a piece of my hair,

"Do you see this? Of course there will be a makeover very early in the morning."

"Good." Charlotte says. Suddenly there's some background noise in both Louie and Tommy's frame. I could hear Archie's voice in the background and he looked at us sympathetically,

"I gotta go guys. I'll talk to you later Stargirl." He says, cutting the phone. Louie cuts the phone without any explanation, leaving Charlotte on the phone. Charlotte leans forward to cut the phone but I interject,

"Charlotte, do you know what's going on with Archie?" I ask and she looks around before starting to speak,

"I can't say exactly what's going on but Archie is in big trouble and he doesn't know how to fix it." That's all that she says before cutting the call. Rhys and I look towards each other before I say,

"Huh."

What was going on?