Chapter 6

It was Saturday. Mona, Angela and Tony sat in the living room surrounded by papers and calendars. They worked for hours on the personnel files of Angela's employees but none of them indicated capability of such deceptive practices. A nervous fuss had broken out when Angela got a call from the agency. Rosie, her second private secretary who usually worked on Saturdays, was on the phone. Rosie had changed from Wallace & McQuade to the Bower Agency a few months ago. She and Mona had a good connection and Mona was happy getting support because her workload had become too much for one person. Rosie told Angela she had lost both accounts to Wallace & McQuade and she could do nothing to get them back. A former fellow colleague who worked for Grant Paxton had told her so under the pledge of secrecy. That had put Angela in such a rage that she paced back and forth through the living room, speaking frantically and gesticulating wildly.

"We have to go through again and again until we find something. The bank will block my accounts and I won't be able to pay the salaries next month. I can't let this happen."

"Dear, we went through these papers several times and found nothing. Please give me your day planner. It's the only thing we haven't examined yet and please, get back down to earth and sit down. You are driving us crazy with your running around."

"Mother I can sing the content of my planner forwards and backwards. There is nothing and it's… private." Angela wasn't happy with the idea that Mona was going to read her private notes.

"Angela, let your mother read the stuff, I'm sure she isn't going to be shocked when she reads with whom you were out to dinner." Tony rolled his eyes and pushed her.

"I haven't been out to dinner for a lifetime. You should know that."

"I know, but I like to hear it from you." Tony smiled affectionately.

Like always, the short flirtation calmed her down. After a brief deliberation, Angela took her planner out of her briefcase and handled it Mona.

"Ah, the book of dirty secrets. Let me see, you started both campaigns end of June and finished them in August. Wallace & McQuade took your complete ideas. That means we should start looking in August."

Mona skimmed through the leather bound red book. Her eyes scanned each name, each date and each remark, but nothing extraordinary caught her attention."

"Friday the twenty-sixth; 7pm Parents Association with Tony. Why is there a big red heart around that date, Angela?" Mona asked seemingly clueless.

"Mother, that's not up for discussion and by the way some people scribble little men by calling and I scribble hearts." Angela flushed, avoiding Tony's smiling eyes.

"But why are they only around Tony's name?"

"That's enough, Mona, don't tease her. We don't need this now." Tony tried to help Angela out of this awkward position but peeked over Mona's shoulder to cast a glance at the hearts. "Tony, I don't want you to look at it," Angela shouted. Too late. He had already seen her juvenile graffiti. He laughed, but then stopped; there was something that deserved closer attention.

"Angela, what happened the second Friday in August? It's empty."

"Hm, let me see. Oh I remember, I had no appointments that day because I flew to Chicago for that further education seminar that weekend. Nothing happened there. I didn't even have the papers with me. I left them here on the table."

"I remember that day, too. You left early to catch your flight. It was the day you were out with that girl later, Tony." Mona said thoughtfully.

"You were out, Tony? Angela asked, surprised, "who was this girl?" It was none of her business who Tony dated, but being in this awful situation, it seemed to be a legitimate question.

"It was all Mona's fault. She dragged me out with that girl who came to the agency looking for a job as a secretary," Tony groused," I didn't want to go, but Mona forced me."

"Mother, who was that girl? We are talking about a total stranger from out of nowhere. You should have told me about her." Angela was tensed up now. For the first time she had the feeling that they were on the right track.

"Let's see. She came into the office shortly before midday and wanted an appointment. I told her that we didn't have an opening for a secretary and she could leave her resume, but the minute I said there was no job she started to cry and couldn't stop. She said she was new in NYC and it was important for her to find work because if she didn't she'd have to go back to Providence and be forced to live with her parents again." Mona tried to remember every word.

"She was that young? What happened to her resume? I want to look at it," Angela was upset.

"She didn't give it to me. Tony came in and wanted to pick me up for an early Friday lunch. The girl saw him and was thunderstruck. I never saw a person change from total desperation to sky-high shouting for joy so quickly. Some girls appreciate high quality products, dear. I felt pity for her and Tony couldn't stand her tears, so I suggested they go out for a little sightseeing. It was Friday, Angela and as you weren't available I thought one of you should have a little fun. Not that Tony has this kind of fun with you; which I would prefer, but if you always hold him at arm's length, you can't blame him if he needs a physical distraction."

"Mona, stop it. You're letting your fantasy run away with you. You forgot you blackmailed me. Angela, I burned your Lagerfeld blouse when I ironed it and Mona said she'll tell you. She dragged the girl out the door and told her our address before I could say "beep". I didn't even know her name," Tony yammered.

"High quality products, mother? This is how you see Tony? He is a human being!" Angela couldn't believe what she heard so far.

"With needs, Angela, with human needs." Mona smiled, self-complacent.

"What happened next? Did you really date this girl, Tony? I'm…a little disappointed. What have you done with her? I mean… where have you been? Do you know anything about her?"

"Angela, please, no reason to be jealous, it's just like I told you. I didn't want to go out with her but your mother left me no other choice. What should I have done? Pretend to not be home? I'm not a school boy," Tony looked at her with those puppy dog eyes she couldn't resist.

"I'm not jealous, I'm… worried." Inwardly she knew she was both but now wasn't the right time to admit that.

"Ok, let's go on. She rang the doorbell, I let her in, we sat in the living room for a few minutes and before I forget: her name is Amber, Amber Sutton. She told me she was twenty-eight but I must admit she looked younger. We had a little small talk and then we left the house. I drove with her through NY, you know all that stuff: Empire State Building, Twin Towers and so on. We went to a small Italian restaurant, had a pizza and then she brought me back to Oak Hills Drive and that's all!"

"Sutton? I've heard this name but where? Let me think…," Angela desperately tried to remember, speaking to herself. Suddenly her face lit up, " now I know, it's the name of Peterson's new secretary. I heard it when I called him last week," Angela sighed in relief. The riddle was done.

"That explains a lot. You sat a long time in that car, Tony." Mona teased him.

"We just talked. Now when I think about it, she talked and I listened. She talked a lot and mostly about you, Angela, and the agency and she asked me on what you were currently working on. Now I know why."

"So you told her about my campaigns?"

"I didn't say a word. Hey, what do you think of me? I'm a loyal employee. Amber tried to get into the house again, but I told her good-bye." Tony was proud of himself that he managed to maneuver her out.

"Tony, I thought you enjoyed the evening. You let her go? Without anything? She was pretty. Black hair, green eyes. A rare combination." Mona couldn't believe how stupid this man was to let a chance like that fly away.

"Mona, I didn't even kiss her on the cheek. She annoyed me. I was tired from the week and if you hadn't blackmailed me I would have gone to bed at 10 o'clock."

"So let's summarize what we have: The great unknown Amber Sutton who interrogated you, Tony." Angela wasn't sure how to take this news; nor which part upset her more: that Tony has dated the enemy or the lost accounts.

"Hmm, I remember the papers in the living room but Amber wasn't alone in the room for a second and she didn't seem to realize what was laying on the table." Tony couldn't believe that this obvious simple-minded girl had been able to do such a thing to Angela.

Mona meanwhile started to think over that day again and fidgeted nervously around on the couch. An uneasy feeling stalked her.

"Angela, she was alone in the living room. She came back next day because she had allegedly forgotten her jacket and wanted to pick it up. I let her in and she waited in the living room while I was in the kitchen talking on the phone to my date for the night. Our talk lasted a bit longer than usual. I didn't expect that. He said such nice things to me and I said such nice things to him and he had such a sexy dark primal voice…" Mona smiled secretly and strolled down memory lane, "when I came back she was already gone."

"Mother, you're not going to tell me that you had phone sex while this Amber ruined my life." Angela was almost to the point of bursting. She closed her eyes but the picture was there: A dark haired girl rushing through her papers and her mother giggling on the phone. No doubt, the perpetrator was unmasked. Angela wasn't sure how to deal with this information. They had no evidence for the action.

"What if I try to talk with Jim Peterson? Should I confront him?" Angela turned everything over in her mind.

"He would deny any knowledge. The only thing we can do is to set a trap for him, Angela. I'm sorry, if I had any clue how dangerous this girl was I wouldn't have left her alone." Mona said ruefully.

"It's not your fault. Who could suspect anything like this? At least I have the answers to my questions. I have to figure out what I'm going to do with my overdrawn bank account. It looks like that I can't keep all my staff." Angela was worried.

"Nothing you can do this weekend. It has to wait until Monday." Tony rose from the sofa and stretched out. These long deliberations and sitting around so much had exhausted him. What he needed was movement because he was an active person and not used hanging around in one place for hours. "We are done for today. Time for a little fun. What if the new millionaire invites you in a fancy restaurant?"

"Sorry, bub, I'm out of here. I have a date." Mona turned to the door.

"With that telephone candidate?" Tony asked her teasingly.

"No, it turned out that his body could not live up to his voice, but I met his brother and he… "

"Mother, we don't want to know anything of his brother, please leave! Tony, I can't go out for dinner but if you want please don't let anyone stop you." Angela leaned back and closed her eyes. No way, that she was going out tonight. For sure she wouldn't savor it. What she needed was a strategy.

"I would like to drive out to Brooklyn and celebrate with the guys. I'll stay at Mrs. Rossini's for the night but I'll be back for breakfast. There is nothing we can do so why sit around here and speculate?" You're ok with me going out on my own?" Tony asked.

"Yes, everything is fine. I'm sorry, but I don't have the energy to go out tonight. Have some fun." Angela replied.

Tony had enough. He went over to the front door and grabbed his keys. One last look at Angela gave him the feeling it would be better if he stayed but he needed distraction tonight and there was nothing better than a night at Marty's Melody Room with beer, pool and old friends. To ease her mind, he turned around and hugged her quickly.

"Bye Angela, see you tomorrow."

"Bye Tony, have fun," Angela replied, surprised but happy about his unexpected gesture.