Frenemies-(Choni)

Chapter 4

Toni

That day Toni got the same e-mail. She didn't know what to make of it. Things weren't the same. Toni herself was so different. Going back there sounded like going back so many years. She wasn't worried about seeing everyone, seeing her again but feeling things all over again. And she didn't think she had the right to.

Sweet Pea had called Toni a couple of days ago. He was coming to L.A for Josie and Toni, too. They would usually see each-other quite often but lately things had been crazy. 

He arrived during the day and went to Toni's place first thing. 

"Hey Topaz."-he said, hugging her while lifting her up, like he always did. 

"Hi stranger. You haven't been around this month at all."-Toni said. 

"Work got the best of me but I'm ready to kick summer the right way."-Sweet Pea said. "Yoshi!"

Yoshi had been barking since he heard the knock of the door and ran straight to Toni to let her know they had guests. Sweet Pea took him in his arms, petting him and he sat on the couch. 

"How are you?"-he asked Toni.

"I'm good. Did you see the e-mail?"-Toni said, closing her laptop then sitting down, too. 

"Yeah, on my way here. I'm excited. We're all flying together, right? I wanted to book tickets but I wasn't sure."-Sweet Pea. 

"I don't think I'm gonna go."-Toni said. "I don't wanna deal with everything yet."

"Hey, I didn't wanna bring it up when everything with Cheryl went down but what happened? I thought there was nothing in the world that would separate you two."-Sweet Pea.

"So did we, but we underestimated so many things that could lead to that."-Toni.

"It was all so sudden. I don't know what took place but maybe you should've tried more..."-Sweet Pea said before Toni interrupted him. 

"It wasn't sudden. I know that to all of you it looked like this perfect marriage but we couldn't fool ourselves. It had been months since we started feeling like outsiders in each-others lives. We would meet very rarely because our schedules were crazy and eventually, our trips to each-other started becoming more stressful than joyful. We'd meet each-other and only talk about our work. It took over us so we decided that the subject was off the table. Then we stopped having topics to talk about 'cause that's all we did, everyday. We missed important events, ones where your significant other should definitely be a part of. I signed contracts with A list people and she wasn't there. In private Hollywood parties, in launches of magazines, she was in New York and not here. You know...I missed her publishing day for the last book. I still haven't forgiven myself for that. She had been waiting for me and I had completely forgotten, dealing with all the chaos here. The worst part is that she had mentioned it to me several times and it still left my mind. She said it wasn't a big deal but I could see that it broke her."-Toni said, tearing up while remembering that day. "We stopped seeing the point in all of this distance. We weren't happy. And we loved each-other enough to let go."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. And I'm sorry it didn't work out. I can't imagine what you both went through."-Sweet Pea said, feeling bad for his best friend. 

"It's okay."-Toni. 

"I love both of you and maybe it's for the best. You both deserve more than what you got, that's for sure."-Sweet Pea. "I still think you should come. You can't fully move on until you see each-other and decide that that's not what you want anymore."