Having made a quick exit from the house trying to avoid another confrontation with Mona, Angela began to feel guilty and worried about having left Tony alone to deal with her mother knowing he would be easy pray for her not to mention, she left without kissing him goodbye.

She had anticipated that her mother would drill for information she wasn't certain there was to be had but she hadn't quite prepared for how intuitive her mother would be to her weekend escapades. "How could the humming have given it away?" She thought.

Arriving at the Bower Agency, early, Angela went straight to her office to call Tony in hopes that she could catch him before he left for school.

Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring, "Come on Tony, please still be there." Ring ring, she was about to hang up when she heard, "Bower residence." A very out of breath Tony on the other line.

"Oh, thank God I caught you."

"Just barely, I ran back in when I heard the phone keep ringing. Everything okay?"

"Ya, everything's okay here, how's it going there? I'm sorry I took off so quick, did Mother give you a hard time?"

"Oh God Angela, I couldn't even look at her! I know she knows something, but she didn't say, and she didn't press me too much. Just kept digging about you being sick and what did I do all weekend. I made an excuse about an early class so I could get away, but I don't think she's going to let this go, be prepared."

"Yes, I know, that's why I drove, less time for me to be alone with her and hopefully we can stay busy today and she'll forget about it."

"Your Mother forget about something she has a suspicion about, HA! Good luck with that."

"Ya, ya, I know but at least she won't say anything to me at work, so I'll be safe for now. We have to play this cool. I really let her get to me when she brought up my humming."

"Humming?" You were humming? What's that gotta do with anything?"

"Oh, you know my mother, she thinks that I sing and hum "Climb Every Mountain when I, well you know," she giggled.

"Oh really? And is this something that happens often?" He questioned mysteriously.

Blushing, "Only when I'm happy." She whispered.

"Well, I guess I need to make you happy more often, maybe you can sing to me again? You know, Fever!"

"Tony!"

"Oh, come on, you know how sexy you were on that stage singing?"

"I thought you said I went overboard, no middle gear, just low and high?" She chuckled.

"Well maybe I lied, maybe I like your high gear as long as it's reserved for only me." He quipped. "Maybe we can meet in your office again tonight and you can sing to me?"

"Oh, Tony, now that's something I can look forward to because you know...

"Never know how much I love you
Never know how much I care
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear

You give me fever
When you kiss me
Fever when you hold me tight
Fever! in the morning
Fever all through the night"

She sang

"That's right baby, don't ever forget it!" He purred.

"Oh, I won't and sorry I left without saying goodbye. I missed your kisses."

"Awww sweetheart, I missed yours too but it's okay, I would have done the same thing, but you beat me to it." He laughed.

"Ha ha, funny! We just need to relax and act normal. I think we're trying too hard."

"Ya, you're right but damn that mother of yours, how does she sniff this stuff out like that?"

"It's a gift," she laughed, "More like a nightmare really." She chuckled.

"Well baby, I've got to go, I love you, have a good day and stay strong against Mona's prying."

"Oh, I will. I love you. Study hard."

Exchanging kissy sounds, they bid each other goodbye again and prepared to face the day.

Morning at the Bower Agency was quite busy with Angela's meeting with her new client, a potato chip company looking to go healthy by baking their chips and not frying them, campaign strategy meetings and back to back calls with marketers, publishers and film crews. Having barely had time to think about the fiasco of the morning at home, Angela rang Mona's desk to ask her to pull the swimwear campaign file bringing her face to face with her mother, alone for the first time since their kitchen encounter.

"Thank you, Mother," she uttered as she extended her hand up to Mona to collect the file, not taking her eyes off the file she was reading to avoid eye contact.

"You're welcome dear, anything else?"

"No, no, thank you, that'll be it." Still looking down.

"How are you feeling?" Mona suddenly spat trying to get a reaction from her daughter.

Looking up for the first time, Angela calmly replied, "Fine, fine."

"Good, I wouldn't want you to overdue yourself being as you were so sick this weekend."

"Thank you, Mother, I'm fine, if you would excuse me though, I have work to do." She got up and walked to her filing cabinet, trying to busy herself from looking at Mona again.

"Very well, I'll leave you to your work." She turned and walked out of the office, back to her desk.

"Thank you, please hold all my calls." Angela called out as Mona left.

Sitting back down at her desk, the phone rang,

"Bower Agency," Mona answered.

"Good morning, is this Angela Bower's office." A pleasant voice on the other end asked.

"Yes, it is, how can I help you?"

"Is Mrs. Bower available?"

"No, I'm sorry, she's not, may I help you with something?"

"Yes, this is Veronica at the Guerlain Spa at the Plaza Hotel, Mrs. Bower left her credit card here on Saturday. Should we messenger it, or would she like to pick it up?"

"The Guerlain Spa?" Mona inquired.

"Yes ma'am, her husband and her were here Saturday, Mrs. Bower left her credit card after their couple's massage."

"Couple's message? Her husband?" Mona coughed inquisitively.

"Yes ma'am, perhaps you can just have Mrs. Bower call us and we can make arrangements?" Veronica now sounded a little uneasy by Mona's inquiries.

"No, no, this is her mother, please messenger it to my attention, Mona Robinson at the Bower Agency."

"Very well, thank you Mrs. Robinson, we'll have it right over."

'Oh no, thank YOU!" Mona emphasized as she hung up the phone, a satisfied smile plastered on her face.

"Sick huh, in bed huh, they were in bed alright, but it wasn't because of any sickness." Mona uttered to herself as she sat at her desk feeling proud of her discovery. "So, the plot thickens! Just what were they doing at The Plaza Hotel."

Pacing the room, waiting for the messenger to arrive, Mona pondered how she would confront Angela about her weekend rendezvous. Would she be blunt? "Nahhhh, no fun!" Would she be sneaky? "Nahhhh, too easy." Would she be evasive and let Angela hang herself? "Yaaa, I'll torture her some and make her squirm." She thought.

The messenger finally arrived at quarter to noon and Mona quickly took the envelope from him, tipping him twenty dollars for his trouble and bidding him a quick goodbye.

Knowing Angela's calendar would be clear for lunch, Mona opted to forgo her lunch plans so she could have Angela all to herself as the rest of the staff would be leaving for lunch themselves.

Tick tock, tick tock, the clock struck noon and the light to Angela's office extension turned from red to clear, she was off the phone and Mona was cleared for takeoff.

Knock, knock, Mona racked on the door.

"Come in!"

"Hello dear, busy?"

"No, just finishing up!"

"Good!" Mona walked in, taking a seat in front of Angela at her desk.

"Can I help you with something?" Angela hesitantly asks, trying not to offer an invitation for her to starts asking questions.

"No, no, just wanted to see how you were doing? Feeling okay?"

"Fine, fine," her cheeks heating with anticipation of Mona's potential confrontation.

"Good, glad to hear. After all, I wouldn't want you to have any sort of relapse from your weekend illness." Mona snickered.

"Thank you, Mother, for your concern, I feel much better. If that's all, I do have work to do." Suggestively trying to get rid of her mother.

"Oh Angela, but it's lunch, you really should get something to eat. Keep up your energy, I would hate for you to lose your strength again and wind up in bed all week. How about we go grab something together?"

"No, really Mother, I'm fine, thank you for the offer but I do have a lot of work to do and I'm really not very hungry. I'll call something in later if I feel like eating. Now if you'll excuse me?" Angela rose from her chair to mess with the file cabinet once again hoping Mona would take the hint and cease her inquisition into her health.

"Very well dear." Getting up to leave.

"Thank God!" Angela thought to herself, sighing a breath of relief.

Approaching the door, Mona turned quickly back towards Angela, 'Oh by the way dear, this just arrived for you by messenger from The Plaza Hotel."

"The Plaza Hotel," Angela shrieked as she turned to face Mona, her eyes wider than pools.

"Yes dear, The Plaza Hotel, apparently you forgot your credit card there. How nice of them to track you down here and send it back to you, don't you think?"

"Oh yes, wonderful." Angela stammered. "Gosh, I must have left it there Friday. You know they have a lovely little boutique there; I took a long lunch and did a little shopping Friday afternoon." Angela covered.

"Oh, how nice, what did you buy?" Enjoying the fifth-degree inquisition she was putting Angela through.

"Oh, just a pair of earrings and a... a scarf, yes a lovely scarf." She stuttered.

"That's lovely dear. Very well, I guess I'll be off to lunch now, are you sure you don't want to come."

"No, no, thank you Mother, I'm fine." The red of her cheeks cooling as she relaxed with the thought that her story had been bought.

"Very well, oh by the way Angela,"

"Yes Mother?"

"Veronica at The Guerlain Spa said to give you and your husband her regards." She exited the office, closed the door, and doubled over laughing.

Shocked, Angela froze, her mouth open, sweat formulating on her brow and her breathing short and rapid. She felt lightheaded and dizzy! Collapsing onto the corner office couch, Angela began to rub her head, "Oh my God, oh my God," she kept repeating unable to move or react any other way. "Tony, oh my God, I've got to call Tony. No, I can't call Tony, he'll freak out. But I've got to call him, he's got to know she knows. I can't believe I left my credit card there. Jesus, this can't be happening." She spoke to herself.

Trying to regain her composure, Angela reached for the phone to call Tony. She barely got the first three numbers dialed when her door swung open again and Mona reappeared,

"Hold it right there little miss, you don't think I'm going to let you off the hook that easy and give you time to call Tony to come up with some other cockamamie story do you?" Mona spat with a cocky tone.

Placing the receiver back down on the phone, Angela looked up at Mona, her eyes defeated and lost. The toll of the lies catching up with her emotionally, while the excitement of possibly sharing the most wonderful weekend of her life with someone, overwhelming.

Looking down at her hands in her lap, unable to make eye contact with her mother, Angela whispered, "How do you always know? How?"

"It's a gift!" Mona quipped, walking towards Angela, sitting next to her on the couch, wrapping her arm around Angela's shoulder. "Now, tell mummy your secret." Mona kidded as she brought Angela into a tight embrace.

Still unable to produce coherent words, Angela sat, staring at her hands, not knowing what to say, a million emotions running ramped through her body.

Sensing Angela's uneasy, Mona's maternal instinct kicked in, "Was it everything you dreamed of?"

Finally, relaxing and giving into her emotions, Angela's body melted into Mona and she cried, "Oh mother, it was everything and more." Tears of joy swelling in her eyes.

Smiling, Mona raised Angela's chin to meet her eyes, "Then why all the lies?"

Sighing, "Because Tony and I agreed to keep it between us, at least for now. He's worried about how it'll look to Jonathan for us to, well you know, when we're not married and he still has reservations about being my housekeeper and what people will say and he doesn't want Jonathan to have to defend our relationship more than he already has to and also he's worried about giving Sam the wrong idea and.."

"And what?" Mona interjected. "Who cares what people say, not like it's any of their damn business anyway what you and Tony do or don't do. It's bad enough you kept your feeling for each other buried for how many years, now this? How long can you keep this a secret?"

"Tony cares, Mother! You know how he is, and I agreed for his peace of mind. He asked to keep it to ourselves at least till he graduates and he's no longer my housekeeper. He's worried people will say that I, "Pay him for his services.""

"That's ridiculous Angela, you would have to pay him a lot more for that." She joked.

"Mother!"

"Kidding, just kidding. You know it won't be easy!"

"Yes, I know, we both know and yesterday sure didn't get off to a good start. First Sam also walked in on us then poor Jonathan. I felt like an absolute heel lying to him like that when the poor thing was so miserable, and we missed the call from Mr. Thompson. I'm a terrible mother." She cried

"Now, now, you're not a terrible mother, you can't help that you were finally getting some pleasure and ignored your son's torment!" She laughed.

"Thanks a lot Mother! As if I didn't feel bad enough already!"

"Sorry, Angela, but no, you're a wonderful mother and Jonathan is old enough to deal with and understand this. He would want nothing more than for you and Tony to be happy and together. Tony is like a father to him, hell, he is a father to him, much more so than Michael ever was. You don't think he would have a problem with you and Tony being together in the, you know, biblical sense, do you?"

"No, I don't think so, but Tony does, and I want to respect his wishes. We're not married and sharing a bed next door to my teenage son is just not something we feel we want to do right now."

"So, what are you going to do, sneak around like some lovesick teenagers until you get caught?" You said Sam almost walked in on you and she's never there. How long do you think it'll take Jonathan to walk in on you? And won't that make it worse him finding out that way?"

"I don't know mother; we're taking it one day at a time and we're going to be careful. We only have a few more months before Tony graduates and then we'll see what happens. But you have to swear, please mother, swear that you won't say anything?"

"Oh Angela, keeping sex a secret is just not my style!"

"Yes mother, I know, but PLEASE, do this for Tony and me. No jokes, no comments, no, well, really just act like you always have as if you didn't know anything." A skeptical, pleading look.

"Alright, alright, not like it would be hard to act like you two are sourpusses, you've made it so easy for seven years."

"Thank you, Mother, I knew I could always count on you for your sensitivity and wise cracks!"

"That's what I'm here for dear, happy to help!" Hugging Angela's shoulders. "So now, tell me all about it, I want all the details, how did you end up at The Plaza Hotel, and a couple's message none the less."

"Well Mother, I think I'll keep some details to myself." She blushed.

"Ya, ya, I'm sure it was boring anyway, now spill the beans!"

"Oh Mother, it was the most romantic, wonderful, perfect night of my life, I felt like Cinderella gone to the ball and my carriage didn't turn into a pumpkin at midnight." She glowed recalling her and Tony's evening together. "It was the most beautiful thing!" She gushed.

Mona listened attentively as Angela described the dress, the carriage ride through Central Park, the beautiful hotel, the dinner, and dancing, even the romantic room but fell short of giving too many details of their time together. The smile on Angela's face was all Mona needed to know how happy she was and how happy Tony made her both emotionally and physically. They laughed and cried like schoolgirls sharing their deepest secrets.

"Mother, do you remember the first time Tony told me he loved me?"

"Ya, when you tried to poison him with your anniversary dinner and he ended up in the hospital," she laughed.

"Appendicitis Mother, not my cooking!"

"Ya, ya, whatever and?"

"And you asked me how I felt about him but I was scared that it wouldn't work out and I'd lose everything and you asked what if it worked out and it was good, really good," she blushed.

"Ya!"

"Mother, you were right, it was good, REALLY GOOD," she emphasized. "It was perfect!"

"I always knew it would be dear, it just took you two seven years to figure it out." She rolled her eyes with a smile.

"Oh Mother," she leaned in for a hug, "I've never been so happy and it's not just because of the, well you know," she shyly smiled, "I never knew someone could make me feel so beautiful, so happy, so loved. I just can't imagine my life without him." Tears swelling in her eyes again.

"I know dear, I know and I'm so happy you two knuckleheads finally came to your senses but honey, now what are you going to do about this sleeping arrangement? Are you really going to be able to live this lie? Sleep twenty feet away from him and not have extracurricular activities?"

"We'll figure it out," she blushed remembering their rendezvous in her office. "Maybe you can help us every now and then by clearing the house for us?" A devilish smirk on her lips.

"You wanna come use my hot tub?" Mona snickered.

"Ummm, that could be fun." Angela giggled.

Mother and daughter spent the rest of the afternoon away from the office enjoying some time together, a rarity for them but a newfound closeness and bond had been made.

Angela felt a sense of relief that she wouldn't have to lie anymore, at least not to her mother, and she hoped that with Mona's help, perhaps she wouldn't have to lie to Jonathan or Sam anymore either.

Now, how to tell Tony their secret was no longer a secret, how would he take it? Tony was a very private person and she knew how much keeping their relationship to themselves meant to him but she also knew that he would understand her mother's uncanny ability to sniff this stuff out and find comfort that she promised not to say anything.

Mona loved to give her daughter a hard time and use her as the butt of many jokes but one thing was for sure, nobody wanted Tony and Angela to be happy more than Mona and Angela knew she would never jeopardize their relationship by putting them in an uncomfortable situation that meant so much to them. If anything, Mona might go overboard to keep up the farce that Tony and Angela had a boring and platonic relationship and Angela was perfectly okay with that!

For the time being, Angela would enjoy their occasional rendezvous in her office, a periodic midnight bedroom swap where they would cuddle and spoon before returning to their respective beds and with Mona's help, a few stolen weekends to themselves. Together, they would make it all work; for them and for their family!

To be continued...