The doorbell rang and Elissa went to open the door. She smiled politely when she saw Josie standing. "Good morning, please come in. Ms. Toni and Ms. Veronica are in the living room.
The belly dancer smiled and made her way to the living room. "Good morning." She said greeting the two brunettes. "I-uh really want to apologize for what happened yesterday."
Toni shook her head, "Don't apologize J."
The belly dancer cleared her throat. "I came with him last night because I wanted to talk to you Toni. But I didn't get the chance."
"You want to talk to me?" Toni asked confused. "What did you want to talk about?" Josie looked at Veronica and then at Toni.
"Excuse me, I'll go check on Cheryl," the nurse said with a smile.
Toni then ushered her friend to one of the couches, "Tell me, what's going on?" She asked softly.
"Toni..." Josie trailed off hoping that the short brunette would understand what she means.
"J, please don't open old books."
"But I need to clear the misunderstanding that is between us Toni, it's my right. I expected everything, but the only thing that caught me off guard was that you knew that I knew about Marry."
"J, sweety what happened was a long time ago, and I really don't want to talk about it."
Choosing to ignore what Toni said, "About a month before you knew what Marry did, I was having breakfast with some friends, and as I was waiting for the valet parking man to get my car, a good looking guy making his way out of his car and Marry was with him, they were holding hands. I kept looking at them in shock as they walked to the reception and took a key to the hotel room and they went to the room."
"And you kept quiet. You didn't tell me." Toni said in shock.
"I couldn't tell you Toni, I didn't have it in me. I felt that it was too personal and I couldn't interfere. I was afraid to ruin your life." The belly dancer responded.
Toni scoffed. "You think if you told me that my wife was going out with someone else you'd be ruining my life?"
"No matter how close friends we are, there are some things I can't say. Maybe Marry had her reasons, maybe you knew and you ignored it and this maybe goes for a lot of other things Toni. Maybe if I saw you with some other woman I wouldn't have told her. This was your life, no one has the right to ruin it. Some people might say that I am wrong, but that;s how I feel."
"I really don't know what to say, ten years ago I would have told you that it was wrong of you not to tell me, but now?" Toni said shrugging. "You may have a point. Anyways it has been ten years and I really don't like talking about this."
"I understand, I just wanted to let you know my side of the story. We were very close friends before everything happened. Can I ask you something?" When she saw Toni nod she continued, "How did you figure it out that I knew?"
The brunette took a deep breath. "When I was at your place and told you about what Marry did, Sweetpea was shocked and he asked me a lot of questions but you just kept quiet, you weren't shocked and you didn't say a word. So since that time I knew that you knew."
"I'm sorry Toni."
"Don't apologize. And J? If you ever needed someone to talk to, please don't hesitate. Even if he is my best friend, I'll always be there for you." Toni said with a smile. Just then, Cheryl entered the living room to find the two friends finished talking. "Hey, Cheryl," Toni said with a smile.
"Hey," Cheryl replied giving the brunette a small smile. She then looked at Josie. "Hello."
"Hey,I wanted to talk to you about something," Josie said with hesitance.
"I'll leave you to it then." Toni said as she stood up and started to walk, but then Toni grabbed Cheryl's arm and got her close. "Be nice, please." She whispered into the redhead's ear.
The redhead bit her lip as shivers went down her spine. She nodded and sat on the chair across from the belly dancer.
"I really want to apologize for what my husband did last night."
"I accept your apology."
"Believe me when I say that he is a good guy, he never hurts someone on purpose, but I guess he drank a little bit more than he should."
"You don't have to explain to me," Cheryl said softly. How could she apologize for her husband's mistakes when he was the one who was wrong?
"Are you always like this?" Josie asked suddenly.
"W-What do you mean like this?" The widow asked confused.
"Every time someone wants to get close to you, you shut him out?"
"Maybe I don't want anyone to get close to me," the redhead said shrugging.
Josie sighed. "But nothing makes the pain easier to deal with unless you talk about it."
"That is if in case a person is in pain." The redhead replied.
"Of course, and I am sure that every person has his/her own problems and pain."
Cheryl exhaled a breath. "What would you like to drink?" She said changing the subject.
"I am not here to force you to be my friend Cheryl, I don't know why but since the moment I saw you I felt like I need to get closer to you. Every time I look into your eyes I see the same pain I spot when I look at myself in the mirror. What I saw in your eyes is that you are someone who is suffering from the pain you hold within you. I wanted to get to know you, but you aren't ready to talk about your pain. Maybe the wound is still hurting, but there will come a day where it goes away. And if by any chance you wanted to talk I am always going to be here for you. Because I know how it feels to need someone to talk to." Josie finished as she noticed that Cheryl was looking everywhere but her. She sighed and stood up. "I really need to get going."
Cheryl said nothing as she began to breathe heavily as she nodded for the belly dancer in understanding.
After calming down, she informed Alex the driver to find her a contractor to fix the rooms and went back to her room to take a breather and thought about what Josie said. She knew that the dark woman was right, Cheryl was tired of the pain, she was tired of holding a grudge towards everyone. She wants her old self back, the happy, caring and sweet Cheryl.
About an hour later, the redhead was informed that the contractor has arrived and he is waiting for her in Elissa's room. She made her way to the room and greeted the man, they discussed all the rooms that need fixing and the man promised to finish the room within two weeks. After finishing, she was walking the man out when she saw Toni, Sweetpea and a man who looked about fifty years old.
"Hey, Cheryl." Sweetpea started nervously.
"Hey." The redhead replied softly.
"I want to Apolo-" He started but then cut off by Cheryl.
"I accept your apology." She waved at him. "Who's this?" She asked about the other man.
Toni smiled inwardly, she thought that Cheryl was going to give her best friend a hard time. "That's the contractor I hired to fix the rooms."
"What?" Cheryl asked raising her eyebrow. "What gives you the right to get someone and decide that you are going to fix the rooms?"
"Can we talk aside for a minute?" She asked Cheryl.
The redhead shook her head and pouted. "I don't want too."
Is she pouting? Since when? She's so cute though. Toni thought as smirked. "Excuse us, Alex will you please take this nice man and Sweetpea to continue their tour of the rooms?"
"Alex don't move." Cheryl challenged.
"Alex, move." Toni challenged back.
"I am warning you, Alex."
Alex sighed and looked at Toni helplessly. "What shall I do now?"
"Take the gentlemen and I'll meet you in a couple of minutes," Toni ordered with a smile.
The driver nodded and escorted the men to the rooms. Cheryl stood in front of Toni and sighed. "What are you trying to do? Ruin my image in front of everyone?"
"When I tell you that we should talk alone for a minute, it means we should step away and talk. There was no need for the show you just put, you kind of embarrassing yourself. So my advice to you is that don't challenge me, you'll always lose." She said with a smirk. "And it's not nice to lose in front of everyone."
"Look Toni, I am giving you five minutes to take Sweetpea and the contractor out of the rooms and for you to disappear from my face."
Toni sighed, "You are challenging me again." She said as she walked closer to the redhead. "Look, I got the contractor because dumpster is better than those rooms, I don't know how could you allow them to sleep in a situation like this. And don't worry, you won't pay for anything. I will."
Cheryl rolled her eyes playfully. "Do you even have money to cover the expenses?"
The brunette laughed. "I'll manage."
"Take them and leave, I got someone to fix the rooms."
The short brunette's eyes went wide at what she heard. "You got someone?"
Cheryl nodded, "Yeah, I showed him Alex and Elissa's room and I was on my way to show him your room." She said with a smirk
"Really? You'll fix my room?" Toni asked with fake hope, the short brunette was going to fix it anyway.
"Isn't it better than you getting sick and then I have to take you to the hospital?"
"Are you worried about me?" Toni questioned with a smile. What does she mean? She thought as she waited for Cheryl's reply.
But the redhead did not reply, she kept quiet and walked back to the living room.
Veronica, Sweetpea along with Toni and Cheryl were sitting in the living room as Sweetpea was telling them about the contractor he got. "I worked with that guy more than once and he's really good at what he does." He suggested.
Veronica nodded, "I think you should go with Sweetpea's guy. What do you think Cher?" She suggested.
"Guys, let Cheryl decide, it's her house after all," Toni said with a smile.
Sweetpea cleared his throat. "I-uh want to apologize again for last night by inviting you all three for dinner at my place." He then looked at Cheryl and gave her a smile. "I promise that I won't drink."
The redhead laughed. "Thank you for the invitation, but I don't know if I can make it."
"She'll make it, we will be there at nine PM," Toni said not looking at the redhead.
Before the widow could speak, they heard a voice that wasn't familiar to them, Cheryl turned her gaze and found what she thought of the cutest boy she'd ever seen. "Hi." The boy said shyly. "Ms. Cheryl, I just wanted to thank you for allowing me to live here with mommy," Jacob said shyly.
"It's okay," Cheryl replied sweetly. "Did you sleep well last night?"
The little boy nodded, "Thank you, I slept well because I was beside mommy. She kept me warm."
The redhead's heart melted at the little boy's words as her eyes started to water as she thought about her mother. Without any warning, he came and gave her a hug. She closed her eyes and returned the hug. "You are welcome little man. And stop it with the Ms thing. You can call me Cheryl, do we have a deal?"
The boy nodded and ran back to the kitchen. Toni along with everyone else watched the interaction with wide eyes. Who could believe that the rude and impolite redhead would be so sweet?
Cheryl then took a deep breath and looked at them. "What?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"N-Nothing." They all said in unison.
Toni kept her gaze on the redhead who was talking to Veronica about the rooms, she couldn't help but admire her, she began to think that maybe, just maybe Cheryl isn't as bad as she puts out. She then excused herself and told Sweetpea to follow her to the backyard.
The two walked back to the brunette's room and Toni told her best friend about what Liam told her. She informed him about how Larry didn't leave any money for Cheryl and how the credit card was only for payment, not withdrawal.
"I can't believe your uncle didn't leave any money for Cheryl," he said in disbelief.
"Believe it, dude, I don't know why he was so hard on her. And what's driving me crazy is the whole limited credit card. But I am also thinking of one explanation."
"What is it?"
"He didn't leave money or jewelry with her so that she can't sell them and decide to leave him. Do you remember what Veronica said? She said that Cheryl doesn't have money to help her family."
"I remember," he said nodding. "How could your uncle leave Cheryl's parents with no help?"
"I told you, I don't know my uncle. I barely saw him a couple of times. And what are those papers which are with another lawyer?"
"Maybe it's the papers that Cheryl was searching for?" Sweetpea suggested.
"I am sure they are, he wanted to keep them away from her that's why he placed them with a different lawyer."
"There is a secret hidden somewhere. Did you try getting to Veronica?"
Toni shrugged. "I tried, but she had something else in mind. She wants a relationship, and I don't want anything of that. I don't want to play her." She said sincerely.
"Can I ask you something?" He questioned when he saw his best friend nod he continue. "How do you keep up with her?"
"Sometimes all I want is to slap her, but I don't have it in me. I can't bring myself to do it even if I could. You know Pea, a person who isn't good shows people how perfect he is so that people would get close to him. So tell me why is Cheryl doing the opposite? Why is she using all of that hate and rudeness in front of people? Did you ever ask yourself this question?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I am saying is I saw Cheryl in more than one situation where no matter how hard she is, she was vulnerable. I'll never forget the nights she woke up when she was screaming about the dream of how my uncle was trying to kill her. Or when she didn't find what she was searching for in the bank. I'll never forget her face, how sad and hurt she looked, she was trying to hide it but I caught her, I could see it in her eyes." Toni said softly.
Before everybody knew it, it was dinner time and the three women were sitting in Sweetpea's living room chatting away. "Thank you guys for coming," he said happily. "Cheers." He said as he drank his cranberry juice. When he saw Cheryl look at him confused he laughed. "Don't worry it's juice."
"I am so happy that you guys came, Especially you Cheryl," Josie said with a grin.
"Thank you for inviting us, you have a lovely home," Veronica said politely as she looked around the living room.
"Well dinner is only ten minutes away, would you like a tour of the house?" The belly dancer suggested, she noticed how yoni was on her phone and how Cheryl was silent.
"I'd love to, what do you think Cher?" The nurse suggested.
"You guys should see the view from the terrace. It's breathtaking." Sweetpea said proudly.
"I'd like to see the view from the terrace if you don't mind," Cheryl said shyly.
Toni was sitting beside Cheryl on the couch, she smiled and looked at the redhead. "The view outside is amazing. Come on, let me show you." She said as she stood up and held her hand out for the redhead.
Cheryl hesitated but took the brunette's hand and stood up. The nurse frowned at the sight but plastered a fake smile as Josie and herself also stood up and made their way upstairs while Toni ushered the redhead to the terrace. The redhead was in awe at the view, she could see the houses and lights across the city. She leaned over the railing as Toni stood very close beside her and mirrored Cheryl's actions.
"I traveled a lot, but I've never seen something so beautiful as this view," Toni said softly.
The redhead smiled. "Do you think all these lights are houses?"
Toni nodded, "Of course." She replied.
"And there are people in it?" She asked softly not taking her eyes off of the view.
The brunette chuckled. "Of course."
"And they are happy?" She asked as she thought of her family and how badly she misses them.
The short brunette shrugged. "Every person has their problems, burdens, and secrets, but I am sure that they have their happy moments."
"Moments?" Cheryl asked as she was on the verge of tears. "We live this whole life for happy moments?"
"Yeah but these moments might be enough sometimes."
Cheryl nodded in agreement with a smile. "You do have a point. But what if a person can't have these moments?"
"Then they are wasting their lives."
The widow sighed. "What if it's not a person's choice?"
"It is," Toni stated firmly as she turned her face to look at Cheryl. "No matter what problems a person has. When a moment of happiness comes. They forget all about their problems." She said as they were both oblivious to the nurse who was watching the interaction silently and feeling the jealousy in her body, she then shook her head and left.
Toni then noticed Cheryl shivering. "Are you cold?" She asked concerned.
Cheryl nodded. "Yeah, it's a bit chilly out here." She said with a smile.
"Do you want to go inside?" Toni suggested, she saw Cheryl nod but didn't move. "What?" She asked with a chuckle.
"Oh right." The redhead said as she noticed that she hasn't moved. They walked back inside with a smile on their face.
After dinner, the trio made their way back home and bid their goodnight, after changing into her nightwear, Cheryl couldn't sleep she made her way to the cellar and choose a bottle of wine and went to the kitchen and grabbed a glass. She sighed as she sat on the couch and placed her legs on the table with a glass of wine in hand.
She started to think about how she really needed to get out more and do something productive. The redhead was in deep thought and didn't notice the short brunette enter the living room.
"Hey," Toni said softly. "Is everything okay?"
Cheryl smiled and nodded. "Y-Yeah."
"C-Can I join you?" Toni asked hesitantly.
"Of course, grab a glass if you want."
"Can't you give me your glass?" The short brunette asked with a smirk.
Cheryl giggled. "Are you always trying to annoy me?"
Toni shrugged. "Is it working?"
"Maybe," Cheryl replied with a shrug as she passed her glass to Toni who sat beside her.
"Would you like to tell me what's going on?"
"I want to work in the wine factory."
"W-What?" Toni asked in shock. "Why?"
"Are you shocked?" Cheryl asked raising her eyebrow.
"N-No but uh..." She trailed off, it was her chance to work with Cheryl and get close to her and at the same time, it will give her a chance to keep an eye on the company. C-"Can I work with you too?"