Bailey's Comet

Ch. 8 - A Chance at Love

This chapter is all from Toni's POV with quite a bit of Choni crumbs

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Toni stretches in her chair, taking a break from the paperwork she's been doing, alongside answering emails. It's not a busy day in the office, per say, but she had a lot to catch up on. She was able to decorate a little more, make some calls, and answer a few emails.

She wondered if Riverdale was always this slow. She would definitely have to get used to this slower pace and not the go, go, go of Los Angeles. People were always in a hurry in the city and most social workers had a jam packed schedule.

But here in Riverdale, everything just moved slower.

Toni hadn't heard from Fangs in a few days. Not since she texted him to let him know that they had made it back to Sweet Pea's place. He hadn't called to talk to his son or to arrange a video call or anything. Toni wasn't even sure where he was. She used to track his phone while he was on the road, being the worry-er that she is, but Fangs wasn't her problem anymore.

It was around lunch time when Toni was walking into the break room to heat up her leftovers, when she ran into Betty.

"So," Betty draws out the word in a slightly high pitched voice. "I hear you're going to the Cattlemen's Ball with my cousin."

"Possibly," Toni says as she pushes the buttons on the microwave. "Have you ever been?" She's turned around to look at the blonde now, who has a huge grin on her face. And Toni is instantly dreading what Betty has to say.

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After work, Toni joins Betty and her best friend Veronica at the mall to do some dress shopping. Toni is pretty sure she's never met the infamous brunette that her cousin has had the hots for for over a decade. But she's soaking it all in.

She's definitely going to give Sweet Pea crap later.

It's been a while since Toni has had any female friends; or friends in general, really. Ever since she had Anthony, her focus has been on her son and spending time with him. Occasionally, she would get drinks or go bowling with some of the teachers where she used to work, but it wasn't often.

She would definitely try to get out more and make friends in this small town.

They walked around the mall for a while, going to multiple stores. She watched and commented as the other two women tried on dress after dress after dress. Nothing stuck out to Toni, so she kept looking.

Eventually, at the sixth store, she finally found a dark green dress. She hadn't known what she was looking for until she found it. Toni tried it on and it fit perfectly. It wasn't too formal, but just right, according to her counterparts. The dress stopped just above her knees, and would be perfect to wear heels with.

"This will go great with what Cheryl's wearing," Betty beamed.

"You know what she's wearing?" Toni asked, suddenly very curious. She hadn't talked about outfits with the redhead, but knew that Cheryl had a more relaxed attire.

Betty blushed and didn't say anything more. After buying the dress, and all three of them having something to wear, Toni suddenly asked "Veronica, who are you going with?"

The other woman's face turned red as they walked, and after a moment, she finally said, "Do you think Sweet Pea would want to go?"

Toni's eyebrows went up to her hairline at that question. Of course he would want to go! She decided to not seem too excited and shrugged. "Yeah, he'd probably be up for it. I doubt he has plans."