Metal Band One-Shots

Friends Again? (Tuonette)

 Tuomas Holopainen thought about calling Anette Olzon for a long time before he finally did. He knew he should have done it sooner, but he hadn't let himself make the time, and when he did happen to have the time, he always seemed to find something else to do. 

 It wasn't that Tuomas didn't want to talk to Anette; he really, truly did. It was five years now since the last time he had seen her, and he was surprised by how much he missed her. He missed greeting her, he missed talking to her, seeing her smile. He knew there was a good chance he would never get any of that back, but he knew he still had to apologize to her. 

 Tuomas still remembered Anette's phone number, so he called it in the hopes that she still had the same number. He realized that she might still remember his phone number; what if she saw it was him calling and decided she didn't want to talk to him? 

 Anette actually picked the phone faster than he thought she would. He was still wondering if she would know it was him when he heard, "Hello?" on the other end. 

 "Anette? It's...it's Tuomas. Um, Tuomas-" 

 "I know who it is," Anette cut in. Was she happy to hear from him, upset, angry? He really couldn't tell. 

 "Oh. How are you, Anette? I mean, how have you been?" 

 "Since the last time we talked? There's been some ups and downs, but I'm all right." 

 Her tone sounded ordinary, careless. Tuomas thought that might drive him crazy if she kept it up. He wanted to how she really felt, and he didn't have a clue. 

 "How's everything with the band?" she asked. "How are...I don't know. What have you been up to?" 

 Tuomas knew she was going ask how were things going with Floor. "Um, things are all right. Yeah, they're good." 

 "So...why call me, then? If this is an offer to come back to Nightwish, the answer's no. I'm working with another band now, and I doubt it would be a good idea, anyway." 

 "It's not about that," Tuomas said. "Well, it does have to do with the band, and what happened." 

 He heard her sigh on the other end. "That was five years ago, Tuomas. Why do you want to bring all that up again now? And in a random phone call, too? Are you sure you're okay?" 

 "No, and I won't be fine until I apologize to you. I'm sorry for the way I fired you. What I did wasn't right, and I could have done better than that. I should have done better. Look, I've missed you, and I doubt it's going to happen anytime soon, but I'd like to be friends again someday." 

 There was silence on the other end of the line. Tuomas thought Anette had hung up on him, but then he heard, "Maybe we can meet in person sometime. You know, just talk about things." 

 "Yeah. Yes, that would be good." 

 "Okay. See you sometime." 

 Tuomas nodded. "See you sometime." 

~~~~~~ 

 Anette hung up the phone and stared down at it. She didn't know why Tuomas had randomly called her five years later, but she wasn't going to decide it was a bad thing just yet. Maybe this could turn out to be good after all. 

 Maybe she would arrange to meet Tuomas in person. If there was a chance they could be friends again, real friends, why not at least give it a try?