Author's Note:
I always thought that we, the viewers of WTB, never really got to hear what Tony and Angela particularly loved about each other. Okay, Angela told Dr. Bellows a bit and Tony gave us some hints during his talk to his father confessor in Brooklyn, but the rest we had to figure out on our own. So well, that's what I figured...
Again - all characters belong to ABC, I only borrowed them.
Special thanks to 'stayathomemum' for proofreading and encouraging me!
Part One: TONY - ANGELA
After dating secretly for a few weeks, Tony and Angela had told their family and friends about their relationship. Whereas Mona, Sam and Jonathan were more than happy for them, their respective friends were not so sure about whether each of them had chosen the right person. Tony had cancelled a baseball game with his buddies because he had planned to take Angela out for date. And as he wasn't a person who wore his heart on his sleeve he had only casually called it "a date" but it hadn't passed unnoticed nonetheless. Angela had spread the news instantly to her two best friends on the phone and was so overjoyed that she hadn't realized the short silence her statement had caused on the other side of the telephone line. A few days later, both Tony and Angela had been invited separately to different locations. They were up to the first evening apart since they had become a couple, not knowing what the main topic of the evening would be ...
TONY
Tony was strolling through his old neighbourhood on his way to his once favorite bar. Well, "Marty's Melody Room" still was his favorite bar although he spent fewer and fewer evenings there, especially compared to the time he had lived in Brooklyn when it had been like a second home to him. He had worked as a fish truck driver, not really a dream job but enough to give his little family everything it needed. Once or twice a week he would meet his buddies at Marty's for a couple of beers, to play pool or to watch a baseball game. He had liked his life and everything was perfect until Marie had become sick and finally lost her battle against the merciless disease. He had managed to provide somehow for his little daughter after his wife's death but wanted her to grow up in a less rough environment. That was why he had decided to take this somewhat unusual job opportunity to work as a housekeeper in Connecticut, mainly because it had included room and board and would allow the two of them to live in a spacious house, away from the loud, dirty and sometimes even perilous city.
As Tony approached Marty's, he realized that he had consistently changed since he had moved to Connecticut. He wasn't the same man who had left Brooklyn seven years ago. He noticed it a bit more every time he returned to his old neighbourhood, because it always took him a few moments longer to feel at home. It had been like this at first in Fairfield; it had taken him some time then to feel at home after returning from Brooklyn. Only after several months he had stopped feeling like a guest in the house he was living in. But the neighbourhood in Fairfield which was so different from the one in Brooklyn, has had it's impact on Tony. First, he had mocked the people who seemed so snobbish and up-tight, so concerned about their well-painted picked fences and proper social graces that he sometimes had the feeling they refused to have fun because fun just wasn't classy enough. That had included his boss - a very attractive woman he noticed right away when he had first met her for the job interview - who had seemed to care only about her professional career without having any knowledge on how to enjoy life. But the longer he had lived in her house, the more he had begun to discover her sense of humor and inherent desire to take life less seriously. And so he had turned his world upside down and it was just the other way around now - Fairfield had become his home and he felt a bit like a misfit in his former quarter. He had undergone a slow but steady transformation and at its end he had finally dared to declare his love to the woman he secretly adored from the very first day he had laid his eyes on her.
Despite all the change, Tony was looking forward to seeing his Brooklyn buddies again. Vinnie had called him the other day and had invited him to meet with Philly, Tiny and himself at Marty's. Since dating Angela, he hadn't had much time for them because his thoughts were completely occupied by her and their new exciting relationship. Keeping it a secret had been fun and had given him the time he needed to adapt to the new situation, but he had also missed seeing his old pals. After weeks of romantic dinners, tightly embraced dancing, sweet whisperings and passionate nights he was finally ready for a boys' night out with a few beers, a good steak sandwich or pepperoni pizza and a nice chat about baseball.
He would have been surprised had he known his friends' number one topic of the evening ...
ANGELA
Angela stood in front of her closet still figuring out what to wear. Picking a dress would be a lot easier than lately, since this was going to be a night among women and she didn't have to bother about an outfit which would accentuate her feminine charms. Preparing for a date with Tony had left her running around in her bedroom like a headless chicken for hours until she was satisfied with her decision. She went for a light summer dress, comfortable flats and a matching purse.
She was very pleased when Wendy had invited her to join Isabelle and her for the ladies' night at the "Taco Loco". The last time they had been there was for Angela's birthday the year she had hired Tony. The evening had ended, after several margaritas at the Mexican restaurant and a flour fight in the kitchen, with Tony's and Angela's first kiss. She had to smile recollecting that particular night. It had been the first time she realized there was a certain chemistry between them that surpassed the usual employer-employee relationship. Since then, they had gone through almost seven years of ups and downs, finally taking the big step into romance and love. The last few years had been especially hard for Angela. She had to watch several women come and go in Tony's life and had feared more than once that eventually one of them would take him away from her - culminating in Tony's relationship to Kathleen. Although they hadn't made an outspoken commitment by that time she had felt like a wife betrayed by her husband. Up to this day, she couldn't understand why she had let him off the hook during their conversation in her study when she had told him she wanted them to "broaden our horizons". Following that exchange she had been angry with herself for practically pushing Tony into Kathleen's arms that day. It had been torture to watch them getting closer and closer, kissing on her couch in her house and finally having to stand by when Kathleen had introduced Tony to her father. That had scared her to death. What if he decided to marry her? How was she supposed to carry on with her life without him? How could she ever forgive herself for not confiding in him? These questions had been tormenting her mind day and night. When Tony had finally ended this relationship she had been so relieved and had made a secret promise to herself: she would be more straightforward from now on and would never again just stand on the sidelines. So when the next seduction had come around the corner in the person of Christine, a young, attractive legislative aid in Washington, D.C., Angela had taken matters in her own hands and had shown Christine as well as Tony her anticipation of the future - with Christine she had been very blunt, with Tony a bit more subtle.
The last weeks had been a complete bliss for Angela. After years of unfulfilled feelings for Tony she had been tired of only taking baby steps towards a romantic relationship, so she had pushed her luck, had put all her insecurities aside and had confessed her true feelings to him. Of course she had been terrified he would reject her again, as he hadn't graduated yet - a condition he once had imposed on himself before being able to decide about the future of their relationship. But she had been so exhausted from all the yearning for Tony as her lover instead of Tony as her best friend that she had taken that risk. And it had paid off! They had needed a few days to adapt to the new, unfamiliar situation and had chosen to keep it a secret to have the privacy to enjoy their love affair undisturbed. And they did! All the things she had been daydreaming about had become a reality and she felt as carefree and buoyant as hardly ever before in her life. After a few weeks, they had felt secure enough to share their happiness with others and she was looking forward to telling her friends everything about her wonderful state of mind.
Had she only known that her friends weren't too convinced that her love affair was indeed that wonderful ...
TONY
Two more blocks and Tony would see his buddies again, a casual night ahead of him. He felt blithe and thought that life couldn't be any better.
ANGELA
Angela pulled into the parking lot at the Taco Loco and was looking for a spot to park her Jaguar. Life was great and she was about to share with her two best friends how great it was.