Kerry smiles, as she says, "Looks like somebody is in need of a walk." Tony smiles as he says, "Yeah. We could all use some fresh air, I bet. We can make it a family walk." She grins as she says, "I'd like that very much." He kisses her lips sweetly, and Josie barks, as to urge them out the door. Before she has an accident.
Tony and Kerry get dressed, and leave out of the door. As they begin their walk, taking in the scenery, and talking. Tony's phone rings, and by the ringtone. He already knows who it is, and he really doesn't feel like answering it. But he knows that if he doesn't answer, she'll just call back. He's walking along with Kerry, and acting like he doesn't hear the phone ringing. Kerry laughs as she says, "So we're just going to act like your pocket isn't ringing?" He looks at her, with a look of annoyance and humor as he says, "What ringing?" She laughs as she says, "Tony. Go ahead. I can keep walking her to give you privacy." He responds, "I don't need privacy Ker. You don't have to go anywhere."
She smiles at him, and nods to him, to answer the phone. He takes a breath, and pulls the phone from his pocket, but it stops ringing. He smiles thinking, he's dodged a bullet. But then it rings again, and he answers the phone via speaker. From the start, the call is one of annoyance, as Jane says, "I thought you'd never answer." He replies, "I wasn't. But I knew you'd just call back." Kerry hits him, and mouths, stop it."
He shrugs his shoulders at her as to say, it's not his fault, and she shakes her head, as she hears Jane say, "Look, I don't have time to play games with you. I have other things to do with my time. I'm just calling because you forgot to RSVP for the cookout." He quickly replies, "No. I didn't forget. I'm not going."
She responds, "What do you mean you're not going? My family is coming in and the girls will be there too. You have to be there Tony." He hears the demand in her voice, but he disagrees, as he says, "Jane. We both know that we haven't been at family events together for the last 8 years. Half the time you were the one missing, and yet. Everything managed to go off without a hitch. So, why would it matter now?"
His reference to her absence upsets her as she replies, "I can't believe you're holding my work schedule against me. You know I wanted to be there for those events. But I had to work. I never held your work assignments against you!"
Kerry feels like she's eavesdropping, despite being allowed to hear the conversation. She's privy to their past married life, but that still doesn't prepare her to hear this conversation happening.
Tony hears her anger, and responds, "Jane, calm down. I am not holding anything against you. I'm just being honest, by stating the facts, and you know it." She still wants to argue, despite his words being true. So she says, "What I know is that I have always showed up for you when you asked. I have always done it for you. Just because you asked. So why can't you do this for me? It's one weekend, and then you can go back to her."
Kerry hears the rage behind her response, and the jealousy dripping from her words, wrapped around the implied insult, of not saying her name. She's caught off guard by what she's heard, she's unsure of how to feel. Until she hears Tony angrily say, "First of all Jane. You know Kerry's name, so show some respect, and use it. Just as I do when Barbara's name comes up. Do you understand?" Kerry looks away, because she's sure her facial expression, is going to disturb him in some way.
As she tries to find a way to straighten her face, she hears Jane spitefully say, "I am not a child damn it. Don't talk to me like that." He quickly responds, "Then stop acting like one, and use your manners. Do I make myself clear?"
Jane begrudgingly responds, "Yes. Crystal clear." Just as he tries to temper his mood, and says, "Good." She says, "I really didn't mean it in a disrespectful way. I know she's your priority." If someone didn't know better, they'd think that maybe she was trying to be polite in her response. If it didn't sound so rude, as her words hung in the air. Kerry instantly wants to climb under a rock, and take Josie with her right now. Because the look on his face, is one she hates. She knows he's enraged, and there's nothing can do to stop him now.
Tony's anger level has shot up to an octave 8, and he isn't falling for his ex-wife's snarky comments. So he says, "Jane, just stop. Let's stop this before it goes any further okay. This isn't about Kerry or even Barbara. It's never been about other people in our lives. This situation between us happened long before either of us found happiness elsewhere, and the one thing I am not going to let you do is rewrite history!" Kerry feels his rage, and she looks at him, trying to calm him, because of his voice level. He's not screaming, but he's definitely struggling not to be.
Jane hears his anger, and she hadn't heard him this way in a long time. She wasn't ready for him to be this upset. But the horse is out of the barn now, and she knows there's no turning back. But yet she still tries to back off, as she says, "Tony. Please. Let's not talk about this right now. There's no need to dredge up the past. We've moved on."
Her tone is calmer, and she is obviously trying to pull back the reigns. Kerry can hear it in her voice. But she still sees the anger raging in Tony, and he's not done. So despite her hand being on his shoulder, and him looking into her eyes.
He angrily says, "It's too late for that now Jane. You bought this up. So let's finish it. You're making it seem like I'm abandoning you. But the fact is, anytime you've shown up for me, as you say, it's been because of a political event. Which included those dinner party's you'd beg me to show up at, just so you could present the perfect family façade, and argue with your republican friends, which isn't exactly the definition of showing up for me I'd agree with. That was all for you. Not me."
His words cut through the air, and completely shuts Jane down. She knows she opened this door with her comment. But she didn't see his retort being this strong. After venting his frustrations on her and having nothing else left to say, he says, "Look. I'm done talking to you about this. I'm in the middle of something anyway. Good-bye."
He hangs up the phone, without waiting for her reply, and the silence that wraps around Kerry and Tony as they begin walking, in complete quiet, is deafening. Both of them are in thought, there are no words to be said, which can reframe this moment. Kerry isn't sure what to say, if anything, and he's not sure of what to say either. Is there anything that can be said? Anything at all that can make some sense of this moment? We'll see in the next installment.
Thanks for reading this fan fiction tale. I appreciate the support for this story. I am sorry for the delay. But, I plan to update more regularly now. Especially with the summer being upon us. In the next installment, we find out how the plan with Judy unfolds. How will Shonda react to their usurped idea of keeping her out of the loop? Will this open the door to real tension on the set? Once the cast finds out about Bellamy's little stunt? Also that conversation with Jane got heavy. Is it done? All this and more in the next installment of Timing is Everything.