Old Friends (Janet and Toni Fanfic)

Chapter 74

Janet

The following weeks with Toni were strange, to say the least. She would become incredibly distant and moody, blame it on grieving the loss of her mother, and other days, she'd act like none of it had ever happened. The issue was that I could never see it coming. We'd have near repeats of the night we came back from Maryland, of carnal passion, or she'd rather sleep alone in the guest room. There were even a couple times she'd offered again to stay at her own house after I'd lose my patience.  It was very touch and go.

But above all things, I knew in my heart that she was trying her hardest to be okay. She was trying to open up about it, trying to let me in, and trying to make sense of her emotions. At the same time, she wanted to be strong and she really, really just wanted to move on. I didn't know how to tell her that losing a close family member wasn't something she'd ever truly get over. She would just learn to deal with it.

  Today in particular was a good day, though. We'd just celebrated 6 months together, and it was actually the first time we'd ever even acknowledged an anniversary. I went all out for her, and she did the same for me, and it became sort of a contest to see who could make it the best. I truly thought that I'd won when I bought her a Cartier watch, along with her own pair cheetah print Louboutins she'd been stealing from me since day one.  But she knew I was more of a sentimental person, and treated me to a night of private wine tasting and dancing in the city. When we came home, there were rose petals and candles scattered all over the first floor, leading up to our bedroom where there was a bath waiting for me. Needless to say, she spoiled me all night, and we both agreed she won. Next month, I'd get her good, though.

  Three days after that, she was still in high spirits, but I felt it starting to fade away with every passing hour. I didn't want to keep asking her what was wrong, because I knew. I always know, now. I would just have to let her be until she said otherwise, and I think that was working best. We only ever got into it when I'd prodded just a little too much. It was just because I cared, and she knew that. We both had things to work on.
 
"Hey, I'm going out for a run with Tony. Do you wanna come?" I asked her as I put my shoes on. She was consumed in her cell phone as she sipped a cup of coffee in bed.

  "Yeah, no. You can go without me... I gotta—yeah. Go ahead." She set the cup down and began typing furiously.

  "What happened?"

  "Vince is telling me Face wants to renegotiate all of these contracts about who gets paid what. We signed these over a year ago. Let me just call him."

  "Call who?"

  "Face. He's acting out of emotion. This is strictly business. We had an agreement. That tour must be kicking his ass, and he can't stand the fact that I'm here making money while doing absolutely nothing."

  I didn't respond right away, but in my mind I was thinking that there wasn't a chance in hell that another conversation with Kenneth and Toni would go well. There was too much animosity.

  "Well, can I give you my opinion on it?" I asked, coming over to her and sitting on the edge of the bed.

  "Yeah," she said distractedly as she continued to read text messages.

  "I think you should let your lawyers handle it. This is business, like you said. And the bad blood between you two is extremely, extremely personal. Emotions are in the way before this has even started."

  "You're right," she muttered, locking her phone and giving me her attention. "It's not worth it to fight with him anymore. I can pay someone else to do that."

  "Exactly." I reached over and took her glasses off of her face. She scrunched her nose up. "You know, I'm still finding rose petals all over this house."