Part Two: THE BUDDIES - THE LADIES

Chapter One

After weeks of spending every possible minute together, Tony and Angela were off for a separate evening with their friends. Tony was on his way to meet his Brooklyn buddies in Marty's Melody Room for a couple of beers and Angela was looking forward to a ladies' night at the Taco Loco with her best female friends.


THE BUDDIES

Vinnie, Philly and Tiny met half an hour before Tony was supposed to arrive at Marty's. They wanted to hash out how to address the sensitive issue. Being men, they were not very adept talking about emotional stuff, let alone each other's love lives. Their usual topics would be baseball, poker and ... women, sure, but women from another view. Philly would brag about his latest squeeze, Tiny would grumble about the hard time his wife and kids were giving him once again, and Vinnie would try to urge Tony into a double date with a gorgeous pair of twins. But it had been a long time since they were talking seriously with Tony about his emotional state and that had been after Marie's death when they had been very worried about him. Tony had been devastated and barely able to make it through the day. If he hadn't been responsible for his little girl, he might have given up. He had been vulnerable, weak and crestfallen and nothing had reminded his friends of the self-assured, strong and always cheerful man they used to know. Still, it had taken them some effort to overcome their inhibitions and talk to him about his grief. But eventually, after he had been retreating for weeks, they had found out how to help him. He needed distraction and they had had been willing to provide it: taking him to baseball games, hanging out at Marty's, playing pool or having dinner at Mrs. Rossini's.

Well, they were worried about him now too, so they would have to put aside their inhibitions once more ...

"Hey, Marty, I need a nice, cool beer!" Tiny shouted through the bar upon entering. He saw Vinnie and Philly sitting at their usual table, putting their heads together. "Hi Guys!" he greeted them.

"Hey, Tiny. Too late, as usual." Philly said, looking at him reproachfully. "I told you it's important, so couldn't you be on time just once?"

"Gimme a break! I'm a family man and have some obligations here." Tiny defended himself.

"All right, all right. Forget it! Tony will be here any minute. So, how are we gonna touch on our topic?" Vinnie tried to focus on the reason they had arranged this meeting after all.

"Why not ask him?" Tiny proposed frankly.

"Marvellous idea, Tiny! Would you like to do that?" Vinnie asked him with a mocking ring to his voice, puckering his lips. "Have you already made up your mind about how to word a nice question? I don't think Tony's gonna appreciate us meddling in his personal affairs."

"What do you mean 'meddling in his affairs'? We're his friends, right? We're supposed to tell him when we're not convinced he has chosen the right women, aren't we?" Vinnie tried to convince himself.

"Yeah, you're right. But it won't be easy to get him to talk with us about his fling." Philly pointed out.

"I don't think it's a 'fling'. As well as I know Tony, he is pretty serious about this relationship. He wouldn't have told us if it was just a short, little affair." Vinnie stated and the others knew he was right. They all had a gulp of beer and didn't know what else to say. Tiny just took a deep breath to propose something when the door opened and Tony stood in the door frame, spotting them at their favourite table in the corner.

"Hi Guys! Good to see you again! It's been a while. How is everyone? Marty, would you pour me a nice beer, please?!" After all the champagne and wine he had been drinking lately, he was really up for a refreshing beer. "Have you already ordered some food? I'm starving! What am I gonna treat myself to tonight? Let's see ... Pizza? Burger? Steak sandwich?"

It was obvious that he was in a good mood. His friends looked at each other and waited for the right moment to speak to Tony about his current relationship.


THE LADIES

Wendy and Isabelle had chosen the Taco Loco for their evening with Angela because on ladies' night they served a very good margarita and Angela loved margaritas. They knew that it would be easier to get her to tell them everything about her love affair with Tony if she had a little alcohol in her system. Both had been friends of Angela's for ages. They had seen the failure of her first marriage and it hadn't been easy to clean up the mess Michael left behind. She had felt rejected and lost and it had preyed on her mind that her husband had chosen to live with wild animals instead of her. She had spent weeks moping around the house and if she hadn't had a toddler to care for she probably would've never come out of her shell again. In the following years, they had tried more than once to hook her up with some good-looking, successful and affluent business man but she had always been very cautious to whom she would give her heart. When they had found out that Angela had hired a man as a housekeeper they weren't sure whether it was such a good idea. As expected, gossip had started right away as the entire neighbourhood couldn't imagine a man and a woman living platonically in the same house. First, they hadn't believed her either when she had kept on professing that she was not sleeping with him. Only when she had insisted vehemently they had started to buy it. Of course they had noticed the chemistry between them and had asked Angela more than once about it, but she would only smile - sometimes sweetly, sometimes sourly. Finally, a few days ago, she had called them both and had told them with a wavering voice that Tony and she finally were a couple.

Like Tony's friends, Wendy and Isabelle had met a littler earlier to forge out a plan about how to talk to Angela. The last thing they wanted was to spoil her happiness but they also felt obliged to let her know about their concerns. What else were best friends for?

"Hello, my Dear!" Isabelle kissed her friend on the cheek, waved at the waiter to bring her a glass of Chardonnay and took a seat at the nice little table that had been reserved for them. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late but we had this emergency operation which took a little longer than expected."

Wendy rolled her eyes at the oh so familiar excuse. "Well, Isabelle, always in charge, I know." she said with slight sarcasm in her voice but then raised her glass to propose a toast. "To our conversation with Angela. I hope it'll turn out well and she won't be mad at us. I'm sure she isn't suspecting anything like that."

"We wait until she had her second margarita. That will loosen her up! And then we just ask her what her plans are, whether it's an affair or a serious relationship." Isabelle proposed.

"Affair? Are you serious? Angela and an affair? No, no, I think she's pretty serious and we have to talk her out of this!" Wendy sighed thinking of the turn their conversation might take. She took another sip of wine to soothe her nerves and just inhaled deeply to slow down her pulse, when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Angela was standing right behind her ... radiant with happiness.

"Hi you two! I'm so glad to see you. Thanks for inviting me tonight. Ladies' night, huh? Are they still having these delicious margaritas?" Angela was in the best mood.

Wendy and Isabelle looked at each other winking. At least this part of the plan seemed to work.


THE BUDDIES

Tony had just ordered the second round of beers when Vinnie built up all his courage to touch the topic they were all so eager to discuss with him.

"So, Tony, how's life in Fairfield?" he began cautiously.

"Pretty good!"

Okay, that was obviously too subtle. "I mean ... uh ... you and Angela." Vinnie asked again, using a more forthright phrase.

"Oh, ... uh, everything's all right. We're having a good time." Tony wasn't sure where this was leading to. Why was he asking him this?

Philly wanted to stand by Vinnie's side. "Well Tony, is this something serious?" Why not get right to the point?

"What do you mean? Why would you want to know?" Tony was surprised and was still marvelling about Vinnie's question.

"Because we're your friends and we don't want you to make a stupid mistake!" Tiny now threw in. As always, not very carefully worded.

"Stupid mistake? You're lucky you're my friend, otherwise I would ask you to meet me out front! Anyway, this is none of your business." He was beginning to get really angry. He had come all the way from Fairfield to spend a nice, easygoing evening with his buddies and now they were quizzing him about his relationship and he didn't like it. One more question like this and he would be gone.

"Relax, Tony. Come on, you know Tiny. He's not really a master of words ..." Philly darted Tiny a reproving look. "What he tried to say was that we're worried about you."

"Why would you be worried? I'm happier than ever." Tony said, still not mollified.

"Okay, I tell you why we're worried." Vinnie complied. "But promise me you won't get mad."

"Let's see ..." Tony said through gritted teeth. He wasn't willing to give him that promise. So Vinnie tried to choose his words more deliberately and started to tell him what they were concerned about.

"We're worried because we think that your relationship with Angela might not last too long." He swallowed hard and continued. "And it's obvious how much she means to you, so we're afraid that if you take it too seriously you might end up being hurt."

Tony thought he had misheard what Vinnie just said. Were his friends really giving him advice in love matters? They should know that after Marie's death Tony would never give away his heart inconsiderately. That was why it had taken him seven long years until he felt secure enough to start a romantic relationship with Angela. And now that he had taken that hurdle, he couldn't be any more certain that she was the love of his life.


THE LADIES

Angela's friends stuck to their plan and waited until she had her second margarita before Wendy decided to throw the sensitive subject into the ring.

"Well, Angela, you seem to be beaming! How is your housekeeper doing?" 'Oy that sounded a bit too direct', Wendy thought by herself. Angela almost choked on her drink. Where did that come from all of a sudden? She was more than willing to share her bliss with her two best friends. As a matter-of-fact, she had really missed the opportunity to talk with someone about her new relationship with Tony, but the question sounded strange and Wendy's tone of voice was somewhat alarming.

"My housekeeper? You mean Tony?"

"Who else would I mean? Isn't Tony your housekeeper anymore?" Again, Wendy's voice had an odd ring to it. 'Maybe I had already too much wine to talk about this.' she thought in despair. She stared at Isabelle for help. Angela frowned and shook her head in lack of comprehension.

"What sort of question is this? Of course he's still my housekeeper!" Although ... was he still her housekeeper, now that they were a couple? Or was he her boyfriend, cleaning the house? She had to admit that the question wasn't so bad after all and began to realize where this conversation was leading to.

Isabelle started to support Wendy. "Oh come on, Angela, you know what Wendy's trying to ask you. Don't play dumb!"

"I'm not playing dumb. Why don't you ask me directly what you want to know instead of beating about the bush? If you want to know whether I'm happy, I'll tell you."

"So," Isabelle asked directly, as being told, "are you happy?"

"Yes, I am! Very much!" Angela was very assertive and almost shouted at them. She couldn't get rid of the feeling that Wendy and Isabelle had something on their minds they were reluctant to tell her. "Come on, lay it on the line, what's your problem?"

Wendy left it to Isabelle this time to take the lead. She took her glass, smiled at one of the cute Mexican waiters and nervously nibbled some tacos. Isabelle cleared her throat and said "Our problem is that you're diving head-on into a relationship that has absolutely no future." She mentally took cover for the outburst she expected to come. And she was right ...

"Absolutely no future? That's nonsense! Tony and I have been best friends for seven years, we know each other so well. What gives you the idea that our relationship has no future?" Angela was getting very angry and couldn't understand why her friends wouldn't allow her this piece of happiness. After years of trying to hook her to every available man in New York she thought they would be psyched for her once she found Mr. Right - and she most definitely had.