Thanks so much for the reviews and I'm glad that you'll still enjoying the story. I have a ton of drama planned that I'm so excited for!
And on with the story...
It's the night before the day of Tawni's store opening, and I have never seen her more high-strung than I have all day today, which is saying a lot because from the first day I met her, she's been very controlling. But nothing compares to this.
"I need this mannequin moved two feet to the left right now!" she exclaims, frantically searching around the store for something to nitpick.
She's having a "store-warming" party so this will be the first time everyone sees the store as it will be when it opens. Tawni's wearing a beautiful, deep purple cocktail dress from her collection, and her hair is in an elegant up-do. The bruise has gone down on her face somewhat, but she has completely covered it up for tonight with the power of makeup. I'm also wearing a blue cocktail dress from Threads as well, as a favor to her. It really isn't much of a favor to her though, as the dress is gorgeous, and I get to keep it.
"Tawni, you need to calm down and breathe," I tell her, making her whip around to face me. "The store looks wonderful. The clothes are beautiful. Everything will go great."
She looks at me and smiles thankfully before whipping around when she hears the bell ring. The first guest of the night has arrived, but she lets out a sigh of relief when she sees that it's Mel, Grady, and Nico.
"Hey, Tawni. This place looks great," Grady tells her with a smile, his arm wrapped around Mel, who is also wearing a Threads original.
"Yeah, it really does," Mel nods in agreement.
"Well, don't you all look nice?" I tell them with a giddy grin, excited to see Nico and Grady in suits, which is such a rare occasion.
A waitress approaches the three of them with a tray of appetizers in her hand. Grady takes one of the cups of crackers and caviar, scarfing it down as Mel looks at him in awestruck wonder. Such a strange relationship. Nico, on the other hand, decides to skip the food and talk to the girl, suavely putting his hands in his pockets and striking up a conversation with a pickup line that I've heard him use time and time again.
We all talk and mingle, laughing as we chat, but I hear the bell ring once again and I can feel Tawni tense up beside me. I turn around to see Tammy Hart walking through the door.
"So this is your store, huh?" she asks, looking around the store. Some could make the excuse that she's admiring it, but I believe she's looking for things to criticize.
"Yes, it is," Tawni says as she walks towards her. She hesitates before asking, "What do you think?"
Tammy continues to walk around as she observes the room. She finally comes to a halt, putting her hands on her hips, and decides on, "I like it."
Tawni grins widely at her words, which makes me grin as well. Tawni hasn't been able to stop talking about what her mom will think of the store so this is surely a weight off of her shoulders.
"But," she begins and Tawni's face falls, "I think that mannequin could be moved two feet to the right."
Within thirty minutes, the store is full of guests, all congratulating Tawni on the future success of the store that will certainly come. All the guests are getting along and mingling happily, and I watch as I stand in the corner, alone, sipping on a cocktail.
"When's Chad getting here?" I hear Tawni's voice say as she approaches me from the right. I turn to look at her before looking up at the ornate clock on the wall.
"His audition must've run late, which is probably a good thing," I tell her, nervously gnawing at my lip.
"I'm sure he'll get it," Tawni says with a confident nod. "No director would miss out on the chance to be the first to have him in a movie in three years."
"That's what I keep telling myself, but he just seems so confident about this role. I just don't want this to discourage him from pursing other roles if this one doesn't work out."
This time, she doesn't reassure me. Instead, she just shrugs her shoulders sympathetically, which signals that she agrees with me, but doesn't want to admit it. It falls silent between the two of us, but it doesn't stay that way as Mel approaches us.
"Hey, Sonny, can we talk about your album for a quick second?" she asks, finishing up her fifth cup of crackers and caviar.
"That stuff is expensive!" were Tawni's words upon seeing her eat three. I can only imagine her thoughts now.
"Yeah, sure," I tell her with a nod as we walk into the back room, shutting the door behind us to block out the talking and the soft music. "What's up?" I ask her.
"Sonny," she begins with a sigh, hesitating to speak. "We can't put that last song on the album."
My face falls. "What, why?" I ask her. She's talking about the song that we worked on earlier today, the one that I was so excited about.
"Sonny," she says, letting out a chuckle and acting like the problem with the song is obvious, "it starts off talking about how love is dead and then suddenly, it switches to life is beautiful and the flowers are singing. It just doesn't work."
I will admit that the song is a bit strange, but I had written the first half before Chad called me from the airport and the second half after I arrived home from my whirlwind trip across the country.
"Well, I can't write terrible things now," I tell her with a smile. "I mean, what do you want me to do?"
"I want you to bash Chad," she says simply with a shrug.
My eyes go wide, and my mouth drops open. "Mel, I can't do that! Why don't I just write a new beginning to that song?"
"Sonny, the beginning of that song was so poetic and dark and beautiful. You can't not use it in your album."
She is right. That song was written after Chad had told me that he hated me, and every bit of my heart was put into those lyrics, but I don't know if I'll be able to get in tune with that side of me, and to be honest, I don't want to.
"I'm sorry, Mel," I tell her earnestly. "I just don't know if I can write about that anymore. I don't want to send out the message that love is dead. Love is alive."
She lets out a sigh and shakes her head. "Nobody who is going through a breakup wants to hear how beautiful love is. They want to hear how pathetic it is!"
"But it's not!" I stress forcefully. "Love is everything, Mel. You know that. I'm sorry, Mel, but I can't finish that song."
And with that, I turn around and walk off, leaving Mel alone in the back room. I don't want to think about work right now, but more importantly, caviar is calling my name. I haven't had a bite all night, or food all day, and I can hear my stomach begging for something. I head over to a woman holding up the tray and start to grab the last cup when a male hand reaches over me and grabs it before I can.
"I'll take that," says the familiar voice. I turn around to see a grinning Chad, his eyes playful and light. His audition must have gone well.
"Chad!" I exclaim happily, giving him a hug. He chuckles as he hugs me back before pulling apart and handing me the caviar. I happily take it. "How was your audition?"
"Fantastic," he grins. "I know I've got this part, Sonny. I could just see it in the director's eyes. He told me that I was made for a role like this."
I smile at him, feeling so thrilled to see him excited and passionate about acting once again. "Speaking of that," I say, taking a bite of the caviar, "you haven't really told me much about the role."
"Oh, see, it's about this guy in college who is really rich because of his dad's company and he falls in love with this poor girl who attends his college on a scholarship, but his step brother is trying to steal everything that he loves away from him," he informs me and my smile falls as my eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.
"Chad," I say, a confused smile tugging at the corners of my mouth, "that's Mackenzie Falls."
"What?" he asks, sounding like my words were so insane and just dead wrong. "No, it's not. Sonny, it's a completely different role." His tone has suddenly turned defensive.
"I guess I just need to read the script," I say coaxingly, attempting to signal with my voice that I'm on his side.
"Yeah, you'll love it," he assures me. I take my now empty cup and throw it into a nearby trashcan when I suddenly feel a rumble in my stomach. I clutch my stomach with both hands and bend over a little, my knees going a bit wobbly.
"Sonny?" Chad asks, but I know that if I reply to him, I'll puke all over the spotless floor and Tawni will kill me. Instead, I rush into the backroom past Mel and Grady, who are making out which, frankly, makes me want to throw up even more, and into the back bathroom. I lean over the toilet and hurl into it, coughing up whatever was in my stomach from yesterday. It goes by quickly, but I still don't know what could've made me throw up like that and so suddenly. I wonder if I have a fever. I wash off my mouth and head back out into the main room of the store, finding Chad talking with a few people from Condor Studios.
"Hey, Chad," I say, nudging him on the shoulder. He excuses himself from the group and turns towards me. "I think I'm going to head on back to Tawni's. I just threw up and I don't know if I'm sick or not. So I'm gonna go take my temperature and rest."
He looks at me, concerned, and asks, "You want me to take you?"
"No, it's fine," I tell him with a shake of the head. "You stay. I'll call you tomorrow or something."
"Alright," he says, leaning down to kiss me a kiss on the cheek. "Text me when you get home safely."
"I will," I say with a nod before heading off to find Tawni to tell her that I'm leaving, only to find her scolding Nico and Grady for trying to dress up a mannequin like Clark Kent.
The next week, I wake up from a peaceful sleep, the incident from Tawni's store opening long behind me. That night, I checked my temperature as soon as I got home, and it was completely normal. The thought had occurred to me that there was a reason for throwing up, but I pushed it out of my head as quickly as it got there. I decided that it must have just been one of those weird, in-explainable things that happen from time to time. I get out of bed and walk into the kitchen to find Tawni eating some fancy breakfast that she must heated up in the microwave but then put on a plate so it would look fancier.
"Good morning," she says, turning around in her chair to look at me. Her bruise is still apparent, but I also spy another bruise on her upper back, thanks to her tank top, that I hadn't noticed before.
"Gosh, you took a hard fall," I tell her, walking over to the fridge.
"Huh?" she asks.
"You have a bruise on your back too," I tell her, stopping once I reach the fridge, my hand resting on the handle. This bruise looks very apparent and dark, almost fresh.
"Oh," she says, shrugging it off. "It doesn't hurt that bad."
"Well, that's good," I say, opening up the fridge. I suddenly get a whiff of something strange, and I can feel a repeat of last week about to take place. My hands fly up to my mouth as I rush into the guest bathroom, shutting the door behind me before I heave up last night's dinner into the toilet in the nick of time.
"Sonny!" Tawni calls after me. I can hear her walk over to the bathroom door and knock on it.
"I'm okay," I assure her, my voice a little hoarse. When I'm know that I'm finally finished, I wash out my mouth and open the door, trying not to look guilty.
"Gosh, Sonny, what is the matter with you? Do you have a fever?" she asks, bringing the back of her hand to my forehead. Her hand feels warm against my cold skin.
"Nope," I tell her with a shrug, walking past her and brushing it off. "Must've just been a freak thing."
She eyes me suspiciously. "Sonny," she says, dragging my name out.
I suddenly stop in my steps and turn to her. "Tawni, do not be ridiculous," I say sternly, shutting the topic of conversation down before she can mention it as I turn back around. But she continues.
"Sonny," she repeats, this time for forcefully.
I continue to walk away from her, heading towards the cabinets to grab a glass. "I can't believe you would even suspect that."
"Oh, and you haven't?" she asks in an unbelieving tone. Before I can open the cabinet, I turn around to see that she's followed me, as she is standing only a few feet away from me with her eyebrow kinked up. I lock eyes with her and suddenly, I'm at a loss for words.
"I'm late," I admit and her mouth drops open.
"How long?" she asks, her eyes wide.
"A week," I say nervously.
She puts a hand over her mouth, and her cheeks rise. She's smiling.
"Tawni, please don't say it," I beg her guiltily.
"You're pregnant," she grins from ear to ear. "You and Chad are going to have a baby."
I cannot help but get excited and grin with her, and we are both giddy with excitement for a few seconds until I suddenly stop. "No," I say, turning around and taking a seat at the bar. "I'm not ready for this!" I exclaim.
"What are you talking about, Sonny? You'll make a great mother!" Tawni exclaims.
I let out a sigh and look at my intertwined hands before look up at her. "Tawni, I don't know how Chad'll take it," I tell her, my voice shaking.
"What are you talking about? Chad loves kids," Tawni assures me, leaning against the island in front of the bar.
"That doesn't mean he wants one now!" I exclaim. "I mean, he's just now getting back into acting. I don't want to take that away from him."
"You wouldn't be taking anything away from him," she tells me, sounding shocked that I would even say that. "He loves you. He loves kids. Things happen all the time, unexpected things that turn out to be really great things."
"Yeah, but with us just now getting back together, I wouldn't want him to think I planned it," I say nervously.
"Oh, Sonny, Chad's not going to think you got pregnant on purpose," she says, shrugging off the idea as if it were ludicrous.
"Oh, come on, Tawni. You have to admit the timing is a little...strange. Ever since I got back here, I've been practically begging him to be with me, and a week after he is, I'm pregnant."
"No, you know what, Chad is not going to think that. He is in love with you!" she tells me. "Stop worrying and go to the doctor." She smiles at me and I cannot help but smile back.
Alright, so what do you think about all that's happening? Tawni's bruises? The album? Chad's audition? And of course, Sonny's pregnancy! Let me know in the comments and I'll try to update soon!
