Chapter 43: Are You In Love?
"Hi, long time no talk to you. How’s your day?" From: Zach
Sienna stared at the message, her fingers hovering above the screen, her thoughts suddenly far away from the laughter around her.
And for a moment, she didn’t know whether to smile or panic.
But, in the end...the smile won.
Sienna’s lips curved slightly as her fingers moved quickly across the screen, typing with a kind of confidence she didn’t entirely feel.
"My day starts in hell, but, luckily, ends in heaven. How about you? Busy with your family business?"
She looked at the message again, her thumb lingering over the send button. For a moment, doubt crept in, quiet but persistent. Was it too much? Too playful? Too personal?
Her brows knitted together as she read it again, her mind suddenly refusing to cooperate, as if it had decided to take a break right when she needed it the most.
She let out a soft sigh and shook her head lightly, as though the simple motion could reset her thoughts.
’Nah... It’s fine,’ she reassured herself silently. ’It sounds normal. A little humor, nothing serious. I didn’t overshare anything about my problems... Yes. It’s totally fine. And stop overthinking.’
With that final push of courage, she tapped the send button.
The message was gone.
And just like that, her heart began to beat a little faster.
She waited.
But nothing happened.
Sienna leaned back slightly, forcing herself to relax.
’Relax, girl... he’s not sitting there waiting for your message like you are,’ she scolded herself inwardly. ’Don’t overthink it. But don’t you dare call him.’
Luckily, before her thoughts could spiral any further, Mia’s voice cut through her internal chaos.
"So, tell me, Riley," Mia said, narrowing her eyes toward him, "why were you late today? Sienna and I were almost dying waiting for you, but you weren’t there."
Sienna blinked, immediately grateful for the distraction. She slipped her phone back into her bag and shifted her attention to Riley, curiosity replacing her earlier tension.
Riley let out a long sigh, placing his cutlery down on the now-empty plate as if he had just finished a great battle.
"My grandma," he said simply, his gaze resting on Mia. "She wasn’t feeling well this morning. So I went to visit her." His answer came too easily.
Sienna exchanged a quick glance with Mia before narrowing her eyes slightly.
"Then why didn’t you reply to our texts?" Sienna asked, her tone calm but firm. "We called you many times. Your phone wasn’t even active."
Riley looked at her, and for a brief moment, something flickered in his eyes. Then he smiled, though this time, it carried a faint hint of bitterness.
"Believe it or not," he said, shrugging casually, "my phone died. Completely. And, somehow, my grandma, who always has every kind of phone charger in the world in her house... lost the charger for my type of phone. Talking about an unfortunate event."
Mia chuckled in disbelief, "What kind of bad luck is that?"
"The legendary kind," Riley replied without missing a beat.
Sienna studied him for a moment longer, as if trying to decide whether to believe him. But in the end, she simply let out a soft sigh and leaned back.
"Alright, we won’t ask anything else..." she muttered. "But once again, thank you for your help."
Mia nodded in agreement, clearly satisfied with the explanation. "Thank you, Riley. I will repay you for anything. Just name it. What do you want..."
And just like that, the tension faded again.
The group returned to their dinner, laughter slowly filling the room once more.
Plates were emptied, drinks were refilled, and conversations drifted from one topic to another with ease.
Riley, true to his earlier claim, didn’t touch alcohol. He stuck to his soda, occasionally raising it with exaggerated pride as if it were something stronger.
"Designated driver," he reminded them every time someone teased him.
Sienna, on the other hand, was only allowed half a glass of wine.
"No more," Mia said, snatching the bottle away earlier. "We are not repeating past disasters."
"I wasn’t that bad," Sienna had protested weakly.
"You faint, and we need to carry you to the car," Ava replied calmly.
"That sounds completely reasonable," Riley added.
Sienna had no defense after that.
So now, she simply swirled the remaining wine in her glass, behaving herself, for once.
As the night slowly came to an end, Ava checked her phone and let out a soft sigh.
"I have to go," she said, standing up. "My boyfriend is already waiting outside."
That one sentence was enough to change the atmosphere immediately.
Riley placed a hand over his chest, "Can you show some mercy for our lonely hearts? We are all single here, ma’am."
Mia took a long, deep sigh. "Seriously... I wish I could meet my Prince Charming before I get too old and withered. It’s been almost two years. Even my plants have better love lives than I do."
"That’s because you talk to your plants nicely," Riley said. "Try that with humans."
Mia shoots him a glare.
Meanwhile, Sienna remained quiet. But inside, her thoughts wandered somewhere else entirely.
Benjamin’s face appeared briefly in her mind... followed by the memory of her own ridiculous lie about having a boyfriend waiting in the parking lot.
And then, Zachary. His face appeared so clearly, as if he were standing right in front of her.
Without realizing it, her fingers stilled around the glass.
A faint warmth crept up her neck, slowly reaching her cheeks.
She didn’t notice.
But the others did.
Riley, Mia, and Ava all fell silent at the same time, their eyes locking onto her like detectives who had just found their biggest clue.
Sienna sat there, completely unaware, gently swirling the wine in her glass, her gaze fixed on it as though Zachary were standing there, smiling at her.
And then—
"Sienna," Riley’s voice broke the silence, careful and curious, "are you in love?"
The question hit her like a sudden splash of cold water.
She blinked and lifted her head, only to freeze when she realized all three of them were staring at her with identical expressions.
They look curious, suspicious, and slightly too excited.