Ch 12: A Whole New Ball Game
With all the work that had gone into trying to get Tony and Angela together the night of Isabel and Paul's wedding, Lena had been nervous about trying something else. She had taken comfort in her belief that they were nearing the end of their journey to find each other. Some how the rules had now changed and she along with everyone else in the group began to be nervous about the couple's future. Yet as the days and weeks went by, Lena realized that she didn't have as much to worry about as she thought. Even with Angela's new boyfriend, Geoffrey "vith a G", in the picture she knew deep down there wasn't anything to worry about.
With Mona playing defense, their job was pretty easy. She was always hinting and pushing them, trying to help them along. Lena and the rest just had to help make sure that Tony and Angela were actually paying attention to her hints. They'd give a few elbow nudges here and there. Sometimes, some help with a few distractions or the rearranging of schedules to make sure they had a moment or two to talk or share a quiet moment.
Slowly, but surely little things happened to bring the twosome closer. Lena was so pleased to see how much of it happened without an ounce of help from "The Family." A vase and a baseball card. A dance in the living room. A kiss in a van. Their little dances and innocent flirtations made Lena hope again that sooner or later things would work out for them, that there was a way they could make things work. Tony had even tried moving into his own place, but the familiarity of home and Lena's innocent whisperings of homesickness in his ear eventually brought him back.
Things seemed to be progressing until the day of the street fair, when Tony met up with Frankie, a girl from his old neighborhood. Lena felt her own heartache as she saw the look on Angela's face when the chemistry between Tony and his old friend, sparked a dance and a kiss. Lena wanted to run to put her arm around Angela, smack Tony and to make Frankie disappear, but with a firm hand on her shoulder, Joseph stopped her.
Lena watched as Joseph snapped his fingers. The world around each of them completely frozen in time. Tony and Frankie kissing in front of the world. Angela sitting alone at the table with her hand on her lips and her heart on the floor.
"I know this is hard for you." Joseph said to Lena, as he walked over to Angela.
"No kiddin'." Lena said sarcastically, trying hard to keep her dignity by not saying what she was really thinking.
"Lena, she has to figure it out."
"What do jou mean 'figure it out? She loves him. She knows she does." She took a seat in front of Angela and reached over to brush away a tear that had stopped just under her tear duct.
"Does she?"
"Well. . .of course. I mean, isn't it obvious?" She pointed with both hands. "Day after day de feelings she has when she sees him, when she spends time with him."
"It maybe obvious to you Lena, but you're not her.
Every man she's ever loved for has left her. Me, her father and with the divorce, Michael. She's terrified of letting herself feel vulnerable enough to put herself out there again. She doesn't wear her emotions out in front of the world."
"But she's got tu know dat dat's what she's feeling."
"I think at this point, lying to herself is easier."
"Easier den what? Being alone? Being scared tu feel anything? Being jealous of something dat jou can't have because jou were tuu afraid tu try?"
"Like I said, Lena. She's not you."
"Well, we've got tu do someting tu help her understand, tu let go, tu be honest. . .vith herself."
"Not we, you."
"Me? But what can I do?"
"How good of an actress are you?"
"Are you sure this is going to work, Robert?" Lena said trying to get used to the sound of her new voice.
"Of course it is." Robert said smiling at her.
"But I'm not a psychiatrist. How am I going to know what to say to her?"
"Don't worry so much, it's not like you're not getting any help." Joseph said as he pointed up to the ceiling.
"But why me? Kate or Marie would be so much better at this."
"This is YOUR assignment. Don't complain too much, you know what the "Big Man" does with complainers."
"No. . ."
"I don't think you really want to know, Beautiful Lena. Besides you're a perfect fit."
"But where is Doctor Bellows?"
"She's taking a nice relaxing break for a few Earth minutes. We'll make it up to her later. She won't even realize that she's been gone. Your time with Angela will become hers. She won't even know the difference. Besides, you're the only one that Angela can talk to."
"She talks to Tony and to Mona."
"But not like this. You seem to have a connection with her that even I don't. More so than even the one you have with Tony."
"I don't understand." Lena said.
"And I don't have time to explain it to you, Angela's in the waiting room. Are you ready?"
"No. . ."
"Remember about complainers?"
"Okay, if I'm going to do this, you need to let me do this."
"Alright, alright, alright." Joseph replied quickly. "Hey, you mean you're not even going to let us watch?"
"You're in the building." Lena said, winking her eye.
As Lena welcomed Angela into the room, her borrowed knowledge flowed right out of her mouth. She felt completely comfortable in Dr. Bellows' personality and mannerisms and they suited her. She knew just what to say, not just from a psychiatrist's point of view, but also from her desire to help Angela as a friend and guardian. She was so happy to get to talk to Angela, one on one as a mother and friend would. Not just listening to conversations and watching body language, as usual. She was even pretty happy with her own R.B.I. answer. In that thirty minute session, Lena felt the connection that Joseph had spoken about. Angela was opening up to her in a way that she had never imagined.
"Yes. . . I love Tony." Angela admitted twenty-seven minutes into the session.
The epiphany brought relief to Angela. Lena almost felt all of Heaven taking a sigh of relief as well.
The matchmaker in her couldn't help but say, "It might help if he knew that."
She knew she had Angela on the ropes. She had to give her an answer and she thought this line of questioning could only help. Yet, it almost seemed like Angela was wanting her to make the decision for her.
"Well, I wish I could hear it from him first. You know when I was a kid and I wanted to play with somebody, I always had to do the asking. With my ex-husband, I'm the one who got down on my knees. Even Mother doesn't hug me unless I hug her first. For once, I. . . I just want someone else to go first." Angela pleaded, feeling like she had a great excuse. "Well, what do you think Doctor?
In that moment of revelation, Lena felt the Dr. Bellow's in her take over and words of wisdom gush from her mouth.
In all seriousness, she found herself saying, "Angela. . I think you might lose him."
"Why did I say dat Robert?" Lena stressed about once they were in the living room with Tony again. "She's not ready tu do dat and it's not fair to ask her. She deserves to hear it first."
"But he's not there yet, Lena."
She walked up to Tony as he starred into space, leaning on the vacuum. "But he told her, he loved her. Remember de appendix?"
"Listen, Lena. If anybody believes that my daughter deserves a man like your son, it's me. If I could have picked almost any man in the world for her, I would have picked him. I'm not blind. I see the way she smiles when he walks into a room. I see the way he makes her feel after spending a few minutes talking alone with him. I see the blushes. If any one wishes that they could jump into the nearest body and shake some sense into them, it would be me. But I can't do that. I have to let her be strong enough to be brave sometimes, get hurt sometimes and at least for now, love him one-sidedly. She's not the only one that needs a break through. And sadly, I don't think that today is the last time she's going to be too afraid to speak and afraid of losing him to someone else.
"But I feel so helpless, Robert."
"What parent doesn't? How do you think the "Big Man" feels everyday?"
With a ring of the door bell, Lena stood in anticipation watching the scene between Frankie and Tony play out. A huge sigh of relief came to her heart as she realized what she knew deep down, that Tony didn't love Frankie. In that moment, she knew that today was not the day. Angela wouldn't have to be brave enough to tell Tony how she felt. She'd only have to be brave enough to love him alone.
