Ch 10 – Aftermath

Angela stood at the kitchen counter, her right hand hovering above the little bucket with ice. She was only going to submerge her fingers in its cold depths if she absolutely had to.

Tilting her head, she strained to hear what was going on in the living room. The two voices that came through most clearly were Tony's and Samantha's. Their Italian temperaments made it virtually impossible for them to keep it down when they were excited, angry, or both. But she still only caught every other word, which didn't add up to a meaningful whole.

She held her breath. Tony sounded defensive. Was that good or bad? Suddenly, there was her mother's laugh, followed by footsteps coming towards the kitchen door. And then Mona slipped into the room.

"Mother!" Angela said through gritted teeth as she lowered her hand into the bucket full of melting ice cubes and water.

"Angela, my poor baby. How are you?"

Mona came closer, wearing a look of motherly concern on her face that Angela did not believe for one minute, and rightfully so. Because before she could say anything in response, Mona's expression changed into one of amusement and she cackled, "But much more importantly: How is that comedian you decked?"

Angela sighed. "He's … fine, I suppose. We left right after it happened. He was still on the ground."

"Angela! What has gotten into you? I have never known you to resort to physical violence. Although, come to think of it – wasn't there an incident with some waitress? A couple of years ago, when you and Tony went to Brooklyn to pick up the kids? I seem to remember a black eye." She grinned and eyed Angela's hand in the ice bucket.

"Yes, Mother." Angela had almost forgotten about that, but it actually worked great with their story. "That … floozie provoked me. As did the comedian. I had to defend my honor. And Tony's."

"How chivalrous of you, dear."

"I didn't have much time to think about it. The comedian said some things about our relationship." She wiggled her fingers in the icy water, trying to maintain circulation.

"Oh? What did he say? If you don't mind, of course." Mona reached out and put her hand on Angela's forearm, making it impossible for her to lift her hand or move it too much inside the bucket.

"Well, I mind," Angela said, slightly irritated. "But alright, if you must know: He made fun of us for being on a date even though we're boss and employee." Why not add some of Tony's real-life concerns into the mix.

Mona nodded. "Well, what were you expecting? You have to admit – you two do have a weird relationship."

"What do you mean?" Angela felt pins and needles in her hand.

Mona looked at her, nonplussed. "For some reason only known to the two of you, you like to keep torturing yourselves, and everyone around you! You insist on being 'boss and employee' when you could be so much more. Don't even try to tell me you don't feel it." Mona tightened her grip on Angela's arm.

Angela took a deep breath. "You know as well as I do, Mother, that there are a lot of things to consider. Tony and I couldn't just …" she hesitated for a few seconds, looking for the right words, but failing to find them before her mouth rambled on, "tumble into bed with each other. Even if we wanted to. Which isn't to say that we would- Maybe it was for the best that this date didn't work out."

"Mh-hm." Mona squinted at her. "It's interesting that you would say that. 'Tumble into bed' … So I take it my little good-luck charm did get you thinking."

She was of course referring to the condom that was still burning a hole into Angela's purse.

She had indeed thought about it. In the backseat of the Jaguar, with Tony's insistent arousal between her legs, she had toyed with the idea. What if she were to reach into the front seat, retrieve her purse and suggest it to him?

"What if we just give in?"

Would he have said no? Likely. In a very respectful, loving way. Or maybe not? Maybe he would have surrendered to what she knew they both wanted. What could have been more perfect than their first time together on the same night that they first said 'I love you'?

Of course, the backseat of a car was not the most romantic or comfortable of places. But it would certainly have been memorable.

Given all the pressure that Tony was feeling, it was probably the smart, responsible thing to do to give themselves a little more time. Only, how much more was realistic? After tonight, she would miss him even more when she lay in bed all alone. And it would become even harder to pretend when they were around each other during the day.

"Hello? Anybody home?" Mona waved her hand in front of Angela's face.

Angela snapped back to the present. "Hm?"

"You were thinking about it just now!" Mona crowed.

"I was not!"

Angela's hand was going numb.

"Were, too," Mona said, tipping her nose. "I can almost smell it on you."

Instinctively, Angela tried to take a step away from her, which was of course impossible because of her hand in the bucket.

"Or do I have to go and check your purse?" Mona asked.

"Don't you dare, Mother."

"Alright, alright." Mona raised her free hand. Then she grinned and leaned back a little. Getting ready to pounce, Angela could feel it.

"It's just, Angela – and forgive me for being so blunt: The more I look at you, the more I can't help but think … My daughter got lucky tonight. Whatever 'lucky' means for Tony and you, of course. Maybe you held hands."

"Mother!"

"What? I'm telling it like I see it."

"Well, you're seeing it wrong," Angela lied. "In fact, Tony and I agreed that we should take it slow." Not exactly a lie, but maybe too close to the truth?

"Oh?"

"What I mean is: We're not going to go out again anytime soon."

"Why the hell not?"

"Because a guy who takes me to a comedy club for a first date clearly isn't very serious about it. We're good friends, and that's what we're going to stay. Once I'm done being angry at him," Angela added for good measure.

"You know, Angela, something about this sad tale of your terrible first date just isn't sitting right with me." Mona shook her head thoughtfully. "Taking you out to a comedy club – Tony may be a little rough around the edges, but he's not that much of an idiot. And neither am I."

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, I think you do," Mona said lightly. "Also, Tony is not half the liar you are." Her eyes were sparkling now.

That was true, unfortunately. Tony tended to acquire a certain … wooden quality when he wasn't telling the truth. He stumbled over his words and his ears turned red easily.

Angela wanted to say something, but didn't know what.

"Anyway, I may not have it all worked out just yet, the little charade you're playing here … But I'll get there." Mona said with an angelic smile and finally let go of Angela's arm. "And now we don't want your hand to freeze off."

Immediately, Angela lifted her hand out of the icy water. Mona went and grabbed a dishtowel off its hook, then threw it to Angela, who wrapped it around her frozen hand, weirdly grateful to her mother for putting her out of her misery. After almost 40 years with the woman, she was probably beginning to suffer from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome.

"Well, this is good night," Mona said cheerfully as she walked in the direction of the back door. "Sweet dreams, Angela."

Angela was finally about to say something lame like 'Good night and I still don't know what you mean', when Mona spoke up one more time.

"Oh, and by the way, dear: Don't think I didn't see that giant hickey you brought home from St. Louis. I thought only teenagers did that."

She winked and closed the door behind herself, leaving Angela to massage her aching hand.

ooooooooo

"Alright, alright! Yes, I will apologize!" Tony shouted as he pushed through the swing door into the kitchen. "Yes! Good night now, Jonathan!"

Tony waited by the door for a moment, signaling for Angela to remain silent before poking his head back into the living room.

"Just needed to make sure he's not eavesdropping," he said by way of an explanation when he looked at Angela again.

"How did it go?" she asked from her seat at the kitchen table. "If you want, there's some hot water left in the kettle. I'm still warming up my hand." She nodded at the steaming mug of tea in front of her.

Tony poured himself some hot water and dumped a teabag into it before sitting down next to Angela. "Hey, this is kinda like the night the pilot light went out on the stove," he commented.

Angela smiled at the memory. "I blew it out. Did I ever tell you that?"

"You did?"

"Yeah. I wanted you to come over. And to move back into the house."

Tony slid his hand next to hers on the place mat and nudged her pinky finger with his. "It's a good thing you did. Because I really wanted to come home."

They fell into each other's eyes for a second before Tony remembered her question from before.

"I'm not sure how it went in there. I'd say Sam believed us. She thinks I'm an idiot, but hey – that's what we wanted, right? Jonathan gave me a whole lecture on how to make a girl fall in love with me. So I guess we're good there, too. But I'm worried about Mona."

Angela sighed. "She suspects something. Has since we came back on Monday, I think."

Tony's eyes went wide. "Did you tell her?"

"No! Of course not!" Angela said, a little indignant. "You know as well as I do that she has some kind of sixth sense. And she saw my … she saw this." Angela pointed at her throat.

"Oh."

"She doesn't know the full extent. But she's going to be watching us."

Tony fiddled with the teabag as if it were a yo-yo, repeatedly pulling it out of the water and letting it sink back down. "Do you think she'll say anything to the kids?"

Angela swayed her head, thinking. "You know what? I don't think so. My guess is that she'll make some comments, or try to get us alone. You know how she can be. But she won't drag the kids into this. Not if she has reason to believe that this is real. I think she wants this too much to put it at risk."

She felt an awkward smile coming on. Now that she thought about it, this was the first time her mother had ever supported any of her romantic endeavors.

"And what are we going to do now?" Tony extended his pinky finger and hooked it over Angela's.

She shrugged. "We'll follow the plan. And we'll take one step at a time. I happen to think that we took a big one tonight. Don't you?" She leaned into him and touched her shoulder to his.

"Yeah," he said, his voice gruff with emotion as he leaned back against her.

"The kids were so enthusiastic about this date … Tony, I really think they want 'us', too. They won't be shocked when we tell them that we're- that things are changing between us."

He chuckled. "Yeah. I guess you're right. You should've seen the beating I took from them. So it's just me, huh? Holding us back?"

"That's not what I meant. You're not holding us back."

Tony sighed and looked at her, his brown eyes pleading. "After Christmas, okay? I called my guidance counselor at Ridgemont, and I'll go see her in January. I want to be able to lay out some kind of plan. For us. For the kids."

"And I get that. After four years, a couple more weeks aren't going to kill us." She smiled softly and put her hand on top of Tony's.

ooooooooo

Angela spent Saturday and Sunday and the first half of the following week buried in work.

Going away to St. Louis for a long weekend and leaving the Agency early again on Friday meant that she had ridiculous amounts of reading to do, strategy drafts to comment on, and budgets to approve.

Having hired Jack, she had less immediate responsibilities where Creative was concerned, but of course everything he signed off on still went across Angela's desk, if only for her to stay in the loop. She never found anything wrong with Jack's decisions, and her trust in him grew further.

It felt almost surreal to dive back into work for extended periods of time after the seismic shift that had taken place in her and Tony's relationship. Angela managed well overall, but every now and then she caught herself drifting off, remembering what it had felt like when Tony's fingers were digging into her hip, the taste of his kisses, the pressure between her legs and his frustrated grunt when they stopped themselves in the backseat of the Jaguar.

All week, Mona showed remarkable restraint. Aside from the occasional suggestive smile and unnerving wink, she didn't do anything to provoke them. Angela even began to wonder whether their late-night conversation in the kitchen had really taken place, or if it was a figment of her over-excited imagination.

On Tuesday night, Angela was relieved that the workweek was almost over. Thanksgiving was coming up, and she looked forward to four days off before everything would go crazy again in December.

This holiday would be unusual for a number of reasons. First of all, she wondered how she and Tony would fare, under the microscope of the family's observation for such a long stretch of time. And then said family would be a little smaller this time around – it was going to be her first Thanksgiving without Jonathan.

Michael and Heather had returned early from shooting a documentary about Australian wildlife and invited Jonathan to come out to California from Thursday until Sunday.

The whole situation was extremely short-notice – Michael had only called her on Sunday night – and Angela didn't especially want to spend Thanksgiving without her son. But when she told Jonathan that his father had invited him, he was eager to go, and so she had acquiesced.

Angela only hoped that Michael wouldn't send Jonathan back east with a suitcase full of crawly critters from Australia. She had heard frightening stories of poisonous water snakes and lethal spider bites.

This change of plans meant that Thanksgiving in Fairfield would include Tony and her, Mona and Samantha – the two most astute observers and romance enthusiasts in the family.

At least that was what it looked like until Tuesday evening, when Samantha came barging into the kitchen, late for dinner, her face aglow with excitement.

"Guess what, everybody!"

"What?" the four of them asked dutifully.

"Bonnie's cousin Jenny broke her leg doing gymnastics!"

"Oh, no!" Angela cringed. She didn't even know the poor girl, but a broken leg was never good news.

"So what?" Jonathan smacked around a spoonful of mashed potatoes.

"Jonathan!" Angela gave him a warning look.

"Could you be a little less happy about this, Samantha?" Tony said.

Sam stared at him. "Dad! Do you know what this means? Bonnie's family is going to Colorado over Thanksgiving. And now Bonnie has no one to ski with! So she asked me!"

Tony gave Angela a brief look.

"Skiing? To Colorado?"

"Yes, Dad! Can I go? Please, please, pleeeease!"

"Oh, I don't know, Sam. That sounds expensive. All the way out in Colorado, over a holiday weekend no less."

"The plane ticket and the hotel are already paid for. They can't get refunds for anything. If I don't go, the money will be wasted, and Bonnie will be all alone with her idiot brother and his friend and their parents!"

"Come on, Tony," Mona chimed in, "let her go. What kind of Thanksgiving is this beautiful young girl going to have, hanging around here with two boring old people?"

"What do you mean, 'two boring old people'? What about you?" Angela asked.

"Oh, I thought I'd told you, dear. I got invited to another mystery dinner party. They were so impressed with my … performance … the first time around, I'll be giving an encore." Mona smiled brightly, waggling her eyebrows.

Angela reached for her glass and drank a large sip of water.

"Dad! Please!" Sam folded her hands in a begging gesture and knelt on the kitchen floor in front of Tony. "Pleeease!"

Angela had to suppress a grin. Sam's penchant for theatrics was definitely something she had inherited from her father.

Tony looked at Angela again, who raised her eyebrows, willing him to consider what it might mean if Jonathan and Samantha were to be gone for the entire weekend. Their plans with Mona had only been for Thanksgiving dinner anyhow, and now that that seemed to be off the table, too …

She could see the gears in Tony's head turning. He didn't like to spend holidays without his daughter, and it certainly didn't help matters that she would be skiing in another state. Also, he hated it when other people paid for things that he couldn't afford. But the prospect of a whole long weekend alone together, here at home, had to carry some weight, too.

His eyes still fixed on Angela's across the table, Tony swallowed. Finally, he tore his gaze away from her and looked down to where Sam was still cowering on the floor.

"Well, okay, Samantha. You can go. But we're not paying nothing, do you hear me? You're no freeloader. Ask Bonnie's parents how much the lift pass is. We'll at least chip in for that. And you're bringing a gift."

"Dad!" Sam shrieked and, leaping to her feet, threw her arms around Tony's shoulders. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She kissed both of his cheeks profusely. Then she looked at the rest of the family. "It's not that I won't miss you guys. But oh, this is going to be the best Thanksgiving!"

Angela smiled to herself as she impaled a piece of broccoli on her fork. She was hoping for the same.