Bookshop Encounters (Chris Kendall/Crabstickz) Bk 1: FF Series

Chapter Four: Fantastic Foursome?

Chapter Four: Fantastic Foursome?

RACHEL

Gale allowed me to leave early, she'd popped up not long after I accepted Chris's offer and insisted that I began moving my stuff out of the back room. As I packed and Chris paced the bookshop, Gale leaned over and smiled at me.

"He seems like a good guy Rachel. He looks like he could be a keeper."

I shook my head.

"He's just being nice Gale, he pities me. Besides someone like him would never like someone like me."

Gale rolled her eyes.

"Silly girl, you're beautiful. Why wouldn't he like you?"

"Because he's a big youtuber and I'm only a small youtuber, if anything happened I know the fans will accuse me of using him to make myself more popular."

Gale picked up a book and hit me in the shoulder, I gasped slightly at her aggressiveness. Chris turned his head towards us and I felt myself blushing before I quickly looked away.

"You need to get your head out of those romance novels dear, real life isn't like the movies or fiction. Listen to someone who believed the same silly notions, I found my true love by stepping out of my own world and you will be."

I looked down at Gale's hand as she twisted her wedding band, maybe she was right that I needed to step into reality but right here and now I was happy just being friends with Chris.

"Are you nearly done?"

Chris popped his head around the open door; he was wearing his glasses which kept sipping down his nose. I hated to admit it but he looked really attractive, what glasses did something for me.

I stood up and brushed dust off the knees of my leggings before picking up a box and dropping it in Chris's open arms. He looked down at the box with a confused look on his face, I couldn't help but smirk.

"Make yourself useful Chris, You're a man and men carry the boxes."

I slung my bag over my shoulder and pulled the handles of my two suitcases. I was ready to leave the backroom and begin afresh.

"Alright princess, but we're getting a taxi because I'm not that man enough okay?"

I nodded.

"I'm game for a taxi and Chris thank you again for the offer."

He smiled down at me before taking his free hand and ruffling up my hair, I hated people touching my hair.

"Friends help each other out Rachel, we're friends now and I'll always have your back."

"Haha, yeah friends."

I managed to keep some of the disappointment out of my voice, I wasn't looking for a relationship was I? Chris was a lovable joker who knew how to make me smile, I looked forward to his videos. Gale didn't know what she was talking about, Chris might be a keeper for someone eventually, but here and now I wasn't that girl. Besides he basically just friend zoned me.

CHRIS

"Haha, yeah friends."

Did I detect something else in Rachel's reply? I'd drawn the line of our relationship by pretty much saying we'd never be anything other than close friends. Maybe a part of me saw her as more than just a friend, but I have to consider the feelings of my two best friends.

If she wanted to be more than just friends, then so be it. I couldn't make the decision for her. I still needed to tell the guys about the fact that I'd let Rachel move in with me out of the blue. How would the fantastic foursome react to this new development? Was our four going to become a five? Why was I even thinking these thoughts?

"Hello, earth to Chris is anyone home?"

Rachel was snapping her fingers in front of me, I quickly snapped out of my thoughts. She stopped and tilted her head to the side as if she was examining me.

"What were you thinking about Chris?"

I bit my lip, I wanted to tell her the truth and tell her that I was thinking about her but I couldn't scare her away, so I decided to play the oldest trick in the book and lie.

"Thinking about YouTube and future video ideas."

She seemed to accept my explanation and began making her way towards the front door, she was dragging two suitcases behind her. She'd given me a small box which wasn't even that heavy and she was doing the majority of the work. This girl needed to learn to rely on other people to help her out, I'd just made it my mission to make her realise that.

DAN

Chris had stopped texting me a while ago which wasn't like him. His last text said that he was going shopping around Covent Garden. What got me was that Chris didn't need to go all the way to Covent Garden to shop. The only reason he'd be going to Covent Garden was if he was going to meet Rachel.

I hadn't thought of anything other than Rachel for the last week but with YouTube and the radio show, work had been piling up and I didn't have a lot of free time. None of the four of us had much free time recently, had Rachel forgotten about us? Did she think that we'd forgotten about her?

I decided to open Twitter and scroll through my timeline, I saw that Rachel had tweeted ten minutes ago.

@RachelGirl: Sorry if it feels like I've been ignoring you all but I've had a few problems this last week but now they're all fixed

I wondered what she meant by problems. I hadn't really checked out her channel or any of her social media but now looking through her sites I noticed that she hadn't been uploading or posting this last week. According to her loyal fans this was unusual for her.

Could I or any of the guys have helped her with her problems? She struck me as the type of girl who never asked for any help. Hopefully I could change that someday.

As I was about to exit Twitter I noticed Chris had also tweeted around the same time as Rachel.

@Chris_Kendall_: Some big changes coming up, be prepared for a surprise reveal...

Okay that tweet couldn't be any vaguer. What was Chris planning?

RACHEL

The taxi pulled up outside a block of flats. Chris paid the driver after swatting my hand away when I reached for my purse. I liked paying my own way, I hated people paying for me. I scowled at Chris who just chuckled and climbed out of the taxi.

Before I could reach for my suitcases Chris's hands darted out and grabbed both handles. Again I scowled and Chris ignored me.

"Chris I can get my own bags."

All that was left for me to carry was the light box and my shoulder bag.

"Why don't you let other people help you Rachel?"

I shrugged my shoulders and tried to avoid his gaze, my shoes suddenly became very interesting to me. I didn't want Chris to ask me that question, I hated my past.

"I'll tell you someday Chris, I need to be able to trust you before I share anything."

I scooped up the box and walked around Chris heading towards the lobby.

CHRIS

"...I need to be able to trust you before I share anything."

I understood where she was coming from, we didn't really know each other enough to share our secrets. I wouldn't keep pushing until she was comfortable. Then an idea came to my mind.

"Wait up Rachel, why don't we play twenty questions and make a video?"

I quickly made my way after her, damn that girl could walk fast.