Angela let out a sigh of relief when she came into the kitchen the next morning to find only Mona sitting at the kitchen table. She'd overslept, not entirely by accident. The kids were on their way to school and she hoped Tony was as well.
"Good morning, dear," Mona greeted.
"Morning, Mother."
Mona watched as Angela poured herself a cup of coffee. Much like she'd done with Tony the day before, she only needed to look at Angela to know something had changed. She wished it wasn't sadness she was picking up from her daughter. As much as she loved Tony, she would have rather the situation be reversed, though she knew Angela would likely be the more forgiving one. She still had hope that these two kids would quit the soft-shoe routine and get together one of these days.
"What?" Angela questioned once she realized her mother was staring.
"You talked with Tony, hmm?"
Setting her coffee on the table as she sat, her eyes widened. "You knew?"
Smiling sympathetically, she nodded.
"For how long?"
"Yesterday morning."
"And you didn't say anything to me all day?!"
"It was better coming from him. Besides, I encouraged him not to tell you."
"How could you do that?" Angela asked.
"To spare you. Despite what you may think, I don't like watching you get hurt. At least not by other people."
"If you had told me, I wouldn't have…"
"Wouldn't have what?" Mona probed.
"Forget it." She rose from the table and dumped the untouched coffee in the sink. "I've got to get to work. We've got to."
"What happened, Angela?" Mona insisted as she stood as well.
Leaning against the edge of the sink, avoiding eye contact, she admitted, "He didn't exactly… need to tell me. I figured it out when I invited Kathleen here."
"Why would you do a bonehead thing like that?"
"It wasn't just Kathleen," Angela argued. "It was his entire study group. I felt bad about kicking them out the night before, so I was trying to make it up to Tony. I had no idea. Kathleen was the first to show and I could tell by the way Tony was acting that something was going on. I asked to talk to him in here and I didn't have to finish my question for him to confirm it."
Linking her arm through Angela's, Mona said, "I know it was a shock, but try not to be too upset with him."
Pulling back, Angela gasped, "You're taking his side?"
"I'm not taking either side. I'm just saying that there's no use harping on it. It happened, now you'll both move on."
"How can you say that like it's no big deal? You know how I feel about Tony."
"The fact is that you two were hardly in a relationship. Did you ever discuss not seeing other people?"
"Not… in so many words."
"Then is it really fair to hold it against him?"
"I'm not holding it against him. I stepped aside and I'm letting him do what he needs to do. That doesn't mean I'm not hurt. Though I doubt they'll be spending time here, I'll still see Kathleen. It's uncomfortable, especially after yesterday."
"Hold on," Mona said, a look of confusion crossing her eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"Tony and Kathleen!" Angela whined. "There's bound to be a time she calls and I answer or a time she drops by to see if Tony's around. I doubt he's told her about our situation. And if last night was any indication, Tony is going to act strange whenever he has a date with her."
"They're still going out?"
She nodded.
Letting out a breath, Mona said, "That much I didn't know."
"He didn't say anything this morning?"
"I only saw him for a minute. He rushed out. Didn't even make breakfast."
Crossing her arms, she grumbled, "Guess he saved that bit of information just for me."
"Then I suppose your sour face is justified."
Rolling her eyes, Angela made her move towards the living room door. "I'm trying to be understanding but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. I think I've done a pretty good job not overreacting."
Mona followed. "Maybe some distance will be good for both of you. You've become so dependent on each other for everything and yet you're at a standstill. Even teenagers get more action than you two in a 'relationship'."
Keeping her eyes forward as she gathered her briefcase and purse, she said, "I just want to forget about it. I was up half the night feeling sorry for myself and I'm ready to do something productive. I don't know what this means for me and Tony, but I'm not going to sit around any longer and hope to find out."
Changing gears, she continued. "Peter was kind enough to move last night's meeting to today, so I'll need you to take care of things at the office. John is in California and might be checking in. I'll try and remember to call with some notes. Actually – just tell him Peter and I will call once we're done at the studio. I plan on being finished around noon and back to the office by one, one-thirty." She looked at her watch. "Well, maybe closer to two. I don't know if we're going to make the next train. No matter. Gives me time to stop for coffee."
Mona hung back as she watched Angela scramble out the door. This wasn't going anywhere good, she thought. It didn't sound like one of their typical tiffs. The energy in the air was profoundly different. She felt a coldness from Angela more than the despair she might've expected from the situation. In hindsight, Tony gave off a sense of defeat. He wasn't one to give up without a fight – even when he was wrong.
She knew about some talk the two of them had almost a year ago in Jamaica and that they no longer pretended they weren't hot for each other, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was something deeper going on that they weren't leading on to. Wasn't there a trip they took together a couple of months ago? South Carolina? But then again, she would have known. Just like she knew Tony had been with Kathleen. She did regret her advice to Tony knowing now that it wasn't a simple fling. And yet, Angela seemed calm. Depressed, but calm. It seemed odd, but wasn't everything about their relationship?
Mona shook her head as she grabbed her purse and shut the door as she left. This wouldn't be the end-all for them – she felt fairly confident about that, however, she sensed they were in for a long and taut summer.
Blind nun with a flat…
