"So, Becca, how's that academic life treating you? Chris asked the woman sat opposite him.

He, Rebecca and Jill grabbed lunch at the local diner. They could calmly enjoy their meal, which was surprising, considering today was Friday and usually at this time, the rush was crazy.

They decided to go out for lunch and treat Rebecca to their favorite spot in town, where they could eat really good food that wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg. They left all the Michelin star restaurants for other times. Now was the time for the good ol' mom & pop diner, to remind them of their S.T.A.R.S. days. To send them in time to the long evenings spent over cheap beer and greasy fries.

"Thanks for asking, Chris, my academic life is good. Always doing something interesting. You know." she reached for one of her crispy onion-rings. "However, my private life is suffering." She sighed, before she took a long sip of her strawberry milkshake.

"How so?"Jill inquired, at the same time slapping Chris's hand away from her golden fries.

"Let's see... All my dear friends are living on the other side of the country, so seeing them as frequently as I would like to is impossible." Rebecca looked straight at them and stuck her fork into boneless chicken wing. Her eyes never left them, to build up the guilt-tripping. Both Chris and Jill glanced at each other, ashamed. Rebecca's tactics worked really well, she knew perfectly what she was doing, as the other two squirmed in their seats.

"But, whatever." she waved her fork like a fairy would her wand. "My biggest gripe right now, is my dating life. It's already hard with the hours I work, but dating scene is no cake either."

"Oh, yeah? You would think that it would be easier with all the dating apps and such, right?" Chris mussed, taking a bite of his juicy burger. He was out of the dating world for so long, even before he got with Leon. Chris only knew about the apps, because Leon kept him in the loop. His husband loved to watch or read all the dating stories. From the cute ones to the controversial ones, that sparked debates in the comments of the internet. He loved his gossipy husband very much.

"You would think so, right?" Rebecca agreed enthusiastically. "But getting through the ocean of bad photos and even worse descriptions is tedious enough. When I finally find someone worth going out with, they either show their true colors or are too intimidated by me." she sighed again, clearly exhausted by her dating life.

"I miss sex." she remarked before she dove into her meal, while Chris was fighting for his life, trying no to choke on the bite of his burger. Chris wasn't a prude, he could definitely have a normal conversation about sex, but considering that he treated his friends like his family, he didn't really want to hear about his families sex lives.

Jill snickered at him, taking pleasure in his discomfort.

"You two got so lucky, I'm jealous." Rebecca's voice sliced the silence, that fell upon them.

"Obviously." Jill smirked, while Chris asked. "How, so?"

Both women looked at him, their enormous friend sitting there with baffled expression, reminding them both of lost sheep more so than ever before. So clueless.

"I wouldn't mind getting my own beefcake to hang my eye on." Rebecca's face got that dreamy look, before it switched to more accusatory one. "You both could've shared a wish with me when you found a jinn lamp."

"I'm intrigued. Tell us more." Jill sat more comfortable in the booth, her arms crossing under her chest. She was really curious what her dear friend thought of her partner. "Maybe, then, I will share a secret how to get one for yourself." she winked at Rebecca, trying to encourage her to spilling her guts.

"I mean, look at Leon and Carlos: younger, hot, so well-toned that they could model for the medical text-books." Rebecca started listing qualities of both men on her fingers. "Flirty, so loyal and devoted, with kind souls and hearts of gold. Not afraid of throwing themselves in danger in the name of innocent. Sometimes a little arrogant, but with good heads on their shoulders. Who wouldn't like that?"

"Huh." Both, Jill and Chris, murmured, only now realizing how similar their taste in men were.

"Looking at the data, I wondered if you both wished for the same thing under the star." Rebecca shrugged her shoulders, as if she just didn't drop a bombshell on her friends.

Silence fell upon their table, only broken with the scrapping of Rebecca's utensils. A tiny smirk slipped upon her face, as she revealed in the chaos she caused. There weren't that many opportunities to mess with her friends. She thought that because of her delicate face and sweet disposition, they frequently forgot that she could be a firecracker. She was forged from the same fire as they were, and she would remind them of it from time to time.

In that short pause in their conversation, Jill couldn't help herself, and 'what-if' scenario flew through her head. If something went differently in her life, could she have ended up with Leon instead of Carlos? She couldn't get Rebecca's words out of her head, pointing out their similarities, but she couldn't see it. Leon was like her annoying younger brother.

On the other hand, she was also annoyed with Carlos at the beginning of their obligatory partnership. However, he had that unrelenting charm that win her over. And she wouldn't change that for the world.

Jill took a look, with the corner of her eye, at Chris. Poor man, it looked like all the blood left his face, leaving him as white as the wall behind him. He probably had the same thoughts going through his head, as she had and probably came to the same conclusion. That state of things was the best as it was currently. No need to play with 'what-if's because they weren't as appealing as the reality.

Jill redirected her gaze to Rebecca, who sat there, too smug in Jill's opinion.

This is how you wanna play? Okay, game on.

"I could tell you the secret of getting such a sweet prize..." Jill smirked at Rebecca, hoping that she got the interest of the younger woman, "... but I think you would like something with more tattoos and bad boy vibe going on..." she wiggled her brows, before she took a bite of her sandwich.