The excitement from all of the attention rolled directly to an explosion between Shonda and Tony. When they arrived home, to their surprise Shonda was waiting in the lobby of the condo building. Clearly her feelings about what had transpired couldn't wait. As Kerry sips on her banana smoothie, she thinks about the conversation; recalling it verbatim. It was a game changing moment of mass proportions.
FLASHBACK
Kerry and Tony arrived at the condo separately, via private car after their flight back to Los Angeles. Kerry arrived first, and saw Shonda sitting in the lobby. To make sure she was seeing correctly; she removed her sun glasses as she passed the security desk, and walked over to her. As she approached her she took a breath, and Shonda saw her coming. She stood as Kerry asked, "Shonda, what are you doing here?" She angrily quipped, "Where, is he?" The anger in her tone is undeniable, and the snarl on her face is one Kerry knew all too well.
Nonetheless she played ignorant and asked, "Who are you looking for?" Shonda rolled her eyes and scoffed as she angrily said, "Don't play coy with me Kerry; I know he lives here with you. I'm not in the mood!" Before she could reply, Tony protectively said, "Neither am I; especially when people show up at my home uninvited."
They both turn around to face him, and the look on his face is unmistakable. He was clearly on guard, and ready for whatever Shonda had to throw his way. The tension in the air was so thick, she could hardly breathe. Kerry tried to be helpful in keeping the situation calm; they didn't need an outright fight to break out between them in the lobby. So she immediately asked, "Why don't we take this upstairs?"
Shonda snapped angrily as she said, "As if I want to be a visitor in your love nest. No thank you." Kerry rolled her eyes, and almost lost her cool, but she managed to maintain her sense of calm. The heat between the three of them rose in that instance, and the security guard at the desk cleared his throat. This action broke all of their attention, and Tony said, "Either you come upstairs, or leave Shonda. But we're not handling this in the lobby." He then escorts Kerry, and leaves Shonda standing alone.
Completely out of choices, Shonda agreed to follow behind them; she noticed they were out of her view. So she suddenly hurried along to catch up with them. They heard her footsteps speeding up behind them as they stepped onto the elevator. As Tony held the elevator for her; he looked at Kerry and said, "We're going to my unit." Kerry nodded, and agreed with his decision. She didn't want Shonda in their shared space, and didn't want her around Josie either, because Josie doesn't like her.
The elevator ride was the longest seconds of their lives. When they got off the elevator; they all followed Tony's lead. When they walk inside; Shonda noticeably looked around and dismissively said, "Nice place." Tony wasn't amused by her reply, and said, "I would say thanks, "But the tone of your comment screams bull shit."
Irritated, she shot him a look as she perused the unit, and said, "Aren't you a gentleman?" As she surveyed the surroundings, she saw it was tastefully decorated. And by the nuances of the space; it was apparent he lived alone here. So clearly they aren't living together as she suspected. He replied, "I'm pretty sure we're done with pretense; don't you think?" She could hear the annoyance in his voice, and so could Kerry. She felt the same way.
Sharing his annoyance, and ready to hear what nonsense Shonda had come to spew, and loving her man's wordplay with her. Kerry took a seat in the living room, as they stood within her view, and in close proximity, but in the dining room. As Tony offered Shonda a seat at the dining room table, which she declined. Kerry took in the scenery too. If she didn't know better; she'd believe he actually lived here too. His assistant did a great job staging the unit; she even saw fit to purchase his favorite cereal and display it on top of the refrigerator, and there was a pile of mail on the coffee table.
In an effort to move the conversation along Tony said, "Shonda, you're here for a reason; so why don't you tell us what that is?" Shonda looked at Kerry and saw she wasn't moving. Wanting to talk to Tony alone; she said, "Kerry, do you mind?"
Kerry looked up from her phone to see Shonda staring back at her, and asked, "Do I mind what?" Shonda sighed as she said, "I want to talk to Tony alone. This doesn't pertain to you." Kerry looked at her, and curtly replied, "This isn't your office; it's Tony's apartment, and if he is okay with me being here I'm staying." Tony promptly responded, "She's right; there's no need for her to leave Shonda. So say whatever it is you want to say. So we can all move on."
Shonda's anger rose, it was apparent in her demeanor. She let it out as she said, "Fine. What you did on that promo tour was selfish, hateful, disrespectful and completely unnecessary. Do you know the unnecessary chaos you've caused me?" Tony calmly said, "You're delusional. I answered a question that was posed to me, and at no point was I anything but complimentary to you."
Shonda scoffed, "Bull shit! I call bull shit on that. You purposely insinuated I was going to kill off your character! Damn you! Your acting career was flat lined before this role, and if you think you're going to bully me into doing what you want. You have another thing coming old man!" Kerry was fuming; she was biting her tongue, and it was a real battle.
Despite the insult; Tony didn't initially react to her remark, which angered her more. He maintained his cool; but used a poignant tone as he said, "What's bull shit Shonda is you making it seem as though my age, or my acting career is the subject here. Because it's not. Your inherently disrespectful and bullying ways are the subject. You're fine with pushing other people around but when they push back you lose your shit. Which is why you're here right now. It's interesting that this old man, with the flat lined career as you called it, is a part of the reason people are watching your damn show, and you can't stand it. Because that means you need me, and losing me means you lose this show. That must really fuck your head up huh?"
Kerry proudly, and smartly muttered under her breath, "That's an understatement." She didn't mean for her comment to be heard, but they both heard her. With them both looking at her at this point; she was cursing herself in her head on one hand, by the look on Shonda's face. But smiled in her head as she saw Tony's expression, who favored her comment.