"Tony! This is the Minskoff Theatre! Black and Blue is showing now!" She excitingly says. "I didn't recognise it right away. I usually take the main entrance." She laughs. "I saw Black and Blue about 6, maybe 7 months ago. I took a few of my clients." Angela astoundingly looks at Luca. "That's why you look so familiar. You were there, we briefly spoke." The memory of their interaction floods both their minds as Luca turns red.
"I remember." He awkwardly says.
"What clients? You spoke? What?" Tony is extremely surprised.
"Remember Peter and Jon? The music guys." She knew he knew who she meant. He would never forget that as he met them when his study group first got together at her house. He just nods. "Well Jon had told me I absolutely had to see this one, so I had mother buy 4 tickets so we could all go."
"Mona went as well?" He is not able to supress his surprise.
"Well no, mother didn't. She just said to find someone else. Janet from the creative team overheard us, you know as I was freaking out and she told me she's been dying to see it. So I took them all." She smiles. "Jon loved it so much and the music Tony, oh it's brilliant. I enjoyed it. Maybe we could go?"
"You'd better hurry up.. the show is ending at the end of the month." Luca interrupted.
"But when did you go? I mean how could I have not notice? You usually tell me these things." He looks hurt.
"Well YOU were otherwise engaged at the time." She says calmly. "With school." She just eyes him. ~AND LATER SCREWING KATHLEEN!~ she is screaming internally.
~SHIT! Dumbass!~ he schools himself. "So how did you two meet?"
"Well through Peter and Jon. I guess Luca heard that an ad agency was coming with some big shots." She chuckles. "So he welcomed us and made sure we were well taken care of." She side-eyes him. Both knowing there is more to that story, both unwilling to go there.
"Good eye though!" Luca laughs. "It's so different from the other side."
"It is! But.." She turns to Tony. "Why did you take me here?"
"I will leave you guys to it now. Tony everything is set up. Remember the brick. I will be near Times Square and back around 2. Okay?" Luca smiles and says his goodbyes to them.
"Come on Angela." Tony pulls her towards the end of the hallway, but he stops at the bottom of the stairs. "What happened between Luca and you?" He turns. Angela's eyes grew in shock.
"It wasn't anything special. Just.." She sighs. "Let's just put it this way he tried to shoot his shot, as he knew I was with clients, and he missed." She bites her lower lip. "I was still waiting for.." She starts chewing the inside of her cheek.
"Me." He whispers. Angela gives him a sad smile.
"I guess I was." She takes his hand and squeezes it. "I'm happy we are still best friends Tony. I can't image not having you in my life."
"You won't ever have to imagine that. I'm here, I'm not going anywhere." He turns and walks up the stairs, still holding her hand. He opens the door to the roof and holds it open for Angela. She gasps.
"Tony!" She looks at him. "How? Why? This looks gorgeous!" Her face lights up. He can't help but smile.
"So you like it?" he lets her pass as he puts a brick between the door and the frame.
"I love it. We have the perfect view, we have the noises of the crowd and yet not the pushing and the pulling." Her eyes sparkle. ~Total privacy!~ She feels her breathing quicken.
"It isn't really as fancy as you're used to. But I had the dinner delivered at Luca, he heated it up for us to eat. He arranged the blankets, the picnic blanket and low chairs." He runs his hand through his hair.
"How do you know Luca?" Angela slowly makes her way to the makeshift picnic setting, Tony in tow. She looks around the blanket, she sees a bag, some cutlery, plates, wine, chilled champagne and appropriate glasses. "You thought of all of it."
"Well on the Luca subject." Tony smiles. "His parents used to live next to us, we grew up together and you won't believe this, he used to be the short, nerdy, smart and a truly amazingly good kid. Everyone picked on him, I wouldn't stand for it." Angela smiles at him. "So yeah, I took a couple of hits for him, but I also gave more than a couple of hits for him." Tony looks at her. "I know you don't like fighting.. although I have seen you fight once." He winks as she chuckles at the memory of that fight.
"I am usually not a fan of fighting, but I can see fighting for someone's honour. I mean that's why I started fighting Teresa, to defend your honour.. I guess. I mean she said such nasty things." Angela shivers at the thought of Teresa's words.
"Are you cold?" Tony immediately asks.
"No." She smiles at him. "It's just the memory of what Teresa said to you.. to the both of us. I mean it was so uncalled for."
"But you defended me beautifully." He smirks. "Come on, take your seat." As he takes her hand helps her on the low seat.
"Thank you."
"Always." He contemplates kissing her hand, but is afraid it might be too much for the moment. So he starts unpacking the food, plating as he goes. "Thank you Luca." Tony says with a smile as he notices he had placed a small heater on the blanket with an extension cord.
"What was that?" Angela breaks the silence.
"Luca." Tony points towards the small heater. "He knew I was taking you here, so he made sure you wouldn't be too cold." He smiles at her and hands her the plate. "There you go. It's nothing special, but I know you like it and it's easy to keep warm."
"Ohhh linguine alle vongole! You know I love that!" Her smiles grows. Tony fills their glasses then takes his plate and sits down. Angela looks around. "The view is amazing here. And well no lights needed." She chuckles. "You are so lucky you knew Luca. Does he do this often?"
"Never." Tony takes a bite of his dinner.
"Never? Why did he allow you to do this? On the roof? He is taking a risk there." She says with honest concern.
"Why? I don't know what made him change his mind about agreeing to it. Maybe the sincerity in my voice? I don't know. And trust me I told him to not allow me if it got him into trouble. He assured me that he wouldn't, that they trust him enough and he trusts me enough to not break his trust." He takes another bite.
"That's a lot of trust." She giggles. "Being here made me realise that I don't think you and I ever went to a Broadway musical or play. Have we now?" Tony shakes his head. "Maybe we could go. And maybe we could also take Jonathan and Samantha along as well.. you know as a family." Tony finishes his plate.
"That is a great idea Angela. But to be fair I think you are more in the loop when it comes to Broadway than I am. So I will definitely go with you, but you decide on the musical or play. Okay? And if the kids don't want to come along, we will just go together." He smiles at her. Her smiles grows.
"Oh Tony, I've heard that somewhere in the coming year Miss Saigon will be opening on Broadway. It was such a hit on the West End in London. I've read so many lovely reviews. I'd love to go and see that one. I don't know if the kids will like it, Samantha might.. But to be honest I am not sure about Jonathan." She finishes her plate.
"Deal. Let's do Miss Saigon then. You just plan the date and I will make sure I look handsome that night." He winks towards her.
~You always look handsome.~ She takes her glass, watches him over the rim of her glass and takes a sip, then cocks her head. "It's a date."
~Is she flirting with me?~ He takes a sip from his glass as Angela looks at the night's sky. ~No of course not.. too soon Micelli, too soon.~ He follows her eyes to the sky.
"Too bad the stars are so hard to see here." She muses.
"Too many lights." Tony just replies.
"I know. But I love looking at the stars." She looks at him and then back up. "I love how easy you can see them from our home. Too bad we can't see it as clear tonight."
~OUR HOME?!~ Tony internally screams. "Yeah.. too bad." Is all he answers.
After spending a few moments in silence Tony notices Angela shivering again. "Com'ere. Let's get the seats closer to the heater. He moves the seats and grabs the other blankets that Luca had put on the blanket. Angela and Tony sit back down. He throws a blanket over both their legs and then another blanket on the first one. He doubts for a moment, then puts his arm around her shoulder. "Better?" he asks. Angela nods, leans in to him and looks around.
"We still have 2 hours to go." She giggles. "Have you thought about how we are going to get home?" She side-eyes him.
"You know I always prepare well Angela. You've got to know me by now. Of course I've got everything arranged." He nudges into her. "Don't worry, we will be sleeping in our own beds tonight." He chuckles. ~Although I'd rather we sleep in the same bed.~ He looks up again.
~Of course..~ she feels a slight disappointment. ~Get a grip Angela.~ she rolls her eyes at herself.
"What?" Tony asks in surprise after seeing her roll her eyes. "What is wrong?"
~Shit!~ She has to refocus. "Nothing." She tries to brush everything off.
"No.. No, Angela." He releases her and turns to her. "You rolled your eyes. Why did you do that?"
"Nothing Tony, it is nothing, please don't make this into a thing and let it ruin our night."
"Why did you roll your eyes?" She thinks she has never heard his tone of voice that cold.
She closes her eyes, leaning her head back and sighs. "Okay, okay, to be honest, my mind has been all over the place ever since we brought Billy to Mrs. Napoli, mother not being here tonight and then the kids not being with us tonight either." She wasn't entirely lying. "And going home tonight.. with no one being there…" She opens her eyes and looks at his open face, she feels her chest tighten.
"I know." He says.
"No you don't Tony!" She says more intense than she meant. "And that's okay." Her voice slightly softer. "Everything will be okay once everyone is home again." She smiles. "I don't want this to ruin our night."
He covers her hand with his. "It hasn't and it won't." He smiles while softly squeezing her hand. "Want to try and look at all the people?" Angela shrugs. They both get up and walk towards the noise. Tony leans over to look at the street full of people.
"Don't do that!" Angela shrieks and pulls him back.
"What? Why?" He looks at her panicked face. "Oh the height." He smirks. "I forgot."
"You can see people from here too." She points down to the people below them. Tony sits on the ledge and smiles. "Please don't do that, come back here." She motions him to get of the ledge. He smirks.
"Make me." He teases. Angela's eyes grew.
"What?" She says in horror.
"Make me get off this ledge." He calmly says.
"Are you serious?" Her voice is a mixture of shock and horror.
"No I'm not." His voice is teasing and flirty. ~I am threading on thin ice here.~ He knows, but he want her near him. She slowly walks towards him, he can see her visibly swallow. She stops right in front of him, chewing the inside of her cheek. She extends her hand to him, he slowly takes it and pulls her close to him. Immediately putting his arms around her. "TONY?!" She is clearly panicking, immediately shuts her eyes and holds on to him. Tony turns his head up, looking at her and then turning to look at the crowds.
"Open your eyes Angela." His voice is soft and warm. "I've got you and I will never let anything happen to you." She opens her eyes, looks down and shivering in fear but she trusts him, she trusts him more than anyone. He tightens his grip.
"Oh wow.. I forgot how busy Times Square gets at New Year's Eve." Tony feels her heart beat fast. "Tony, I trust you, but can we please get away from the ledge." She steps back as he loosens his grip. "Please." She takes his right hand that is now on his hip. He quietly gets up and walks towards her as she steps back. "Thank you." He quickly walks up to he and holds her close.
"You're welcome." His warm breath on her ear makes her shiver. "Want to dance?" She just nods and holds on to him as he moves them around.
~This just feels so perfect.~ Angela sighs while being in his arms.
~We are where we belong.~ Tony loves holding her in his arms.
Angela leans her head into his, he turns his head slightly and takes in her scent. ~God I love you.~ He realises. He pulls her as close as he can.
All of sudden she pulls back a bit, she smiles at him. ~I wish I could take you lips to mine.~ She licks her lips, she knows she loves him, she had loved him for a long time, but her mind went back to seeing Tony make out with Kathleen on THEIR couch. ~Tony had the chance, but he decided to go another route, stop pining over him. You weren't his decision.~
"Penny for your thoughts?" Tony moves a strand of hair.
"It feels so good dancing again. It has been over a month. It feels so natural dancing with you." She smiles.
"It does, doesn't it?" He grins. ~She is still interested in me. She is still in the game.~ He looks at her and sees the doubt still in her eyes. ~I will convince you of my love for you Angela.~ He silently makes his promise to her.
Angela looks at the clock. "Tony?'
"Mmmhhh." He hums in her hair.
"Only 15 minutes to midnight." She whispers.
"Really?" He pulls back and looks at the clock. "Time really flew by us." He grins. They break the contact and go back to the set up. Angela takes her seat and throws the blankets over her legs. Tony starts opening the champagne and then filling the glasses. He takes the spot next to her and sits under the blankets. "You good?" He asks. She nods.
When the countdown starts, the get up holding their flute of champagne and chant along with the rest of the crowd. "HAPPY NEW YEAR." They hear the crowds scream.
Tony leans in and softly kisses her.
They look at each other and smile. "Happy New Year Angela." He licks his lips still tasting her on his lips.
"Happy New Year Tony." Their glasses clink, their eyes still on each other as they take their first sip.
Tony leans in again and takes her lips to his. Her body automatically reacts to his kiss as she opens her mouth to grant him access. Their kiss deepens, their tongues dancing as he moves one of his hands to her neck and the other one to the small of her back. All of a sudden her mind is flushed with the mental pictures of Tony and Kathleen together. She quickly pulls back, leaving him confused.
"No." She softly says as she keeps him at an arm's length distance. All the while her body is betraying her, her body is aching for his touch.
"I am so sorry Angela.. I didn't mean. I don't know.. I am so sorry." He is fully panicking.
"It's okay Tony, it's okay!" She is looking down at her feet. "I am sorry. I truly am. I just can't." He pushes her chin up, revealing her tear stained face to him.
"What is wrong?" Worry is taking over from the panic he just experienced.
"I can't do this Tony. I just can't." She tries to move away from him.
"Don't Angela, please don't. Just talk to me." She can hear his concern.
"I didn't mean to lead you on." She is avoiding his eyes.
"Angela look at me." Finally she looks him in his eyes. "You didn't lead me on."
"Yes I did, I wanted you to kiss me, I wanted to feel your lips on mine. God knows.." She looks up to the sky. "What my thoughts have been. But I'm not ready. I am truly not ready."
"What is it Angela? Talk to me. You've always been able to talk to me." He pleads.
"I know, but I can't talk to you about this Tony. I can't." She closes her eyes again.
"Why? Why can't you talk to me about this?" He pushes. "Please talk to me."
"I can't Tony!" She says with a hint of annoyance.
"Why not Angela!" He pushes harder.
"Because I don't want to hurt you, like.." She stops and looks at him again. "I don't want to hurt you."
"I don't think there is anything you can say that will hurt me." He tries again. "Tell me the truth." He pushes harder.
"You've hurt me Tony." She looks at him. "You've broken me. The one person I never thought who would hurt me, hurt me more than anyone ever has. And when you touch me, when you kiss me and put your hands on me. All I can see is Kathleen and you on our couch making out." This is the first time she confesses she had seen them making out on the couch. She watches Tony swallow hard. "I waited on you to be ready to be with me. I waited on you Tony! And you knew it, you knew how I felt about you and about us. And you gave it to someone else." Her voice was a mere whisper at the end.
"You saw us? On the couch?" He softly asks. His mind goes back to that afternoon.
"THAT's what you got from that?" She steps back. "Really Tony?"
He softly shakes his head, now his head is hanging low. "I really messed things up between us, haven't I?"
"No.." She slowly starts. "I don't know." His head shoots up to her, she can see the tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry." He shakes his head.
"Why? You did nothing wrong." He rubs his face. "I guess I only have myself to blame." His shoulders hang low.
"That's not really true, is it now?" Her voice shaking yet clear.
"It isn't?" He feels so confused.
Angela bites her lower lip as she chooses her words wisely. "Tony.." She starts and looks at him. "Remember what I said to you in the kitchen?" Tony nods. " Do really remember word for word what I said?" He frowns his brows. "Because I still do." She clears her throat. "I gave you a way out in the kitchen. Remember what you said after I asked you if it was over?" Tony nods. "What did you say Tony? I need you to say the words." Her tongue had become sharper.
"I don't know." His words hardly audible.
"You didn't know. You don't know how those words have haunt me that entire day. Then we had the conversation in my office when clearly meant what I said. Our relationship has always been OUR relationship. And I didn't know what was happening with us, but I do think I was right when I said that it was important to let it run its course. Tony, I do believe that we have become closer to each other than to almost anyone.." She takes a sharp breath. "And like I said then I don't want to lose that." Tony looks at her, he feels like all the oxygen has just left the atmosphere. "And I still believe that this was part of our journey and that we had to go through this to see if we can go any further. And yet now that we have gone through it.." Tears stream down her face. "I don't know if can go any further. Every time you intimately touch me and every time we kiss, my head goes to Kathleen and you. And then you still flirt with other women, which not only makes me incredibly insecure, it also hurts me." She stops and looks at him.
"Angela.." he starts.
"You know what's really crazy Tony?" He shrugs not knowing where this is going. "I still care." She sighs. "I care so much, I want you to be happy, I want you to stay my best friend but there is always a part of me that will wonder 'what if'. And I don't think I can stand to see you with another woman again. I.." Another sigh. "Can we just reset OUR relationship to before Kathleen and you?"
Tony feels a sigh of relief coming over him. "There is nuthin' I want more." He takes her hand into his. "I am so sorry Angela. I never realised how horrible I have made you feel and how much I've hurt you."
"Tony.."
"No, no Angela, let me finish. Your friendship and our family mean the world to me. And I can't believe I was stupid enough to risk it all and here you are still willing to forgive me. You are willing to forgive me right?" He has never felt more insecure than he does now.
Angela smiles. "Tony.. You don't know how much I've scolded myself for not telling you the truth from the start but I wanted.. know I needed you to chose me. And you didn't.." Tony opens his mouth but she puts up hand. "And I knew you needed to find out your feelings yourself. That's why I've started dating myself. The guys were all fine and sweet, but you've set bar quite high for men. Like Andy had a problem with me being a mom to Billy. I knew him and I wouldn't work."
"But can you forgive me?" He asks again.
"There is nothing to forgive Tony." She gives a little laugh but sees Tony insecurity in his eyes then sighs. "But if you need me to say it. Yes I forgive you." They both look at their joined hands. "But again there isn't anything to forgive, you were, are and always will be my best friend. There is friendship, respect and love between us. That is what makes us a family. And I feel, tonight.. I have finally been able to tell you everything that I've been carrying on with me on my chest. Honesty is the best way to heal from hurt. Yes you've hurt me and yes I've hurt me. I should have told you how I felt, but it was too hard. So from now, we will start our healing process."
"May I hug you?" She can still hear his insecurity.
"You've never asked before, don't start now." She says softly tugs on his hand. That's all the confirmation he needs as he pulls her into a tight hug. She holds on to him for dear life.
"You are and always will be my best friend, Angela. Your friendship and our family that's it, that's all I need right now." He hugs her tightly. "I love this fresh start." He pulls her back. "New year, new start. Happy New Year, Angela."
Angela smiles at him. "Happy New Year, Tony." ~Finally everything is said and now we are back to new beginnings.~ She hugs Tony again.
~One day at a time Angela, but one day you will be mine.~ He closes his eyes and takes in the moment
The End