Couple for Hire [Shourtney]

18. The One Where They Stay Home

Hi there! You doing good? You doing okay? You doing great? That's good!

Firstly, thank you guys so much for 3k+ reads! This is the final week of CFH, and I am super grateful for this and for all of you. Thank you so much, guys. This wouldn't be possible without you.

Next, thanks for RSVP-ing to be included in the epilogue! If you haven't RSVP'd in the previous chapter's author's note, well hey! You have all the time to do that before Saturday midnight (Philippine Standard Time). It's nothing crazy, but it'll be something nice hopefully. <3

Anyway, let's get started with Courtney's POV and see ya!

-/-/-

Earlier that day

-/-/-

"Hey!" I say into the phone. "Merry Christmas, dude! How are you doing?"

"Pretty great, but I should be the one asking you that," Ian tells me, chuckling. "I tried making one of those hot chocolate bombs you can see on Tiktok? Pretty good, not gonna lie. Took me a bit of time though."

"I'll try that out, send me a link on how to do it," I reply, laughing. "Well, uh, I'm doing great. The whole leave has gotten me feel better."

"I was gonna argue that you didn't have to do it, but since your therapist prescribed it, I can't argue with that," he remarks. "I'm glad you're feeling much better, Courtney. Everyone else is so curious with how you're doing. Especially Shayne. God, he would just come into the office at random hours to see if I'm calling you. He has no idea I do the calls at home. Hey, maybe you could, you know, give him a call?"

I stare out the window, sighing. "I don't know, Ian," I mumble. "Maybe it isn't the time yet. I could call him after Christmas, you know."

"He's worried about you," he tells me. "Imagine, you two finish a business together, and then suddenly you disappear without a long enough explanation. Sure, he understands because he's pretty freaking close to becoming a psychologist, but before everything you two have ever been, you were friends."

"I know, I know, but I don't wanna interrupt him right now," I reply. "It's Christmas, dude. Everyone's supposed to be happy and jolly and cool. I don't wanna ruin that for him."

"You two not talking is already doing that," Ian says. "One way or another, you'll have to talk to him, because if you don't, well... that's just ending a chapter on a bad note. And I know you, Courtney. You and Shayne have something special that can't be easily replicated. At the end of the day, you're still the two of you. Just two inseparable magnets... with incredible romantic tension."

"Thanks for not using the word sexual."

"I still honestly can't believe you two weren't actually in a relationship," he replies, chuckling. "After seeing the whole documentation Tommy made, I didn't know how else to prove you guys wrong."

I look at a picture of CFH in my room. Damien took this picture after that Tuesday when we attended seven events in a day. The four of us were seated on the sidewalk, with Tommy holding a binder of events, Spencer eating a box of chicken nuggets, me laughing at the camera, and Shayne looking right at me, smirking with a brow raised. Not smirking. Just... smiling. Like he always does that made me fall in love with him. "Me too, Ian," I tell him. "Me too."

When Ian hangs up after a while of talking, I take a deep breath and look at my bags packed for Christmas. I was gonna stay over at my dad's place, as I always do every Christmas, but New Year's was a flight to Utah. Even though I felt more relieved thanks to a month-long leave, I knew that Ian was right. I had already talked to Tommy, Spencer, and Damien, telling them not to say a word of our conversation to Shayne. But I needed to talk to him, and I was the one making excuses.